Treatise of the Passions and Faculties of the Soul, Chapter 17
CHAP. XVII. Of other causes of Desire, Infirmity, Temerity, Mutability of Minde, Knowledge, Repentance, Hope. Of the effects of it in Generall, Labour, Languor. In speciall, of Rationall Desires, Bounty, Griefe, Wearinesse, Indignation against that which withstands it. Of Vitious Desires, Deception, Ingratitude, Envy, Greedinesse, Basenesse of Resolution.
Other causes of Desires are Infirmity, Rashnesse, and Mutability of Mind, Which threeforeign. Arist. E…hic lib. 7. c. 8. I put in one, as having a neer Relation and dependance within themselves. For commonly impotent Appetions as those of Children, of sick, of incontinent Persons, are both Temerarious in …recipitating the Minde, and anticipating the …ictates of Reason which should regulate or re…raine them: as also mutable and wandring like …e Bee from one Floure unto another; Infirmity … suffering a man to hold fast his Decrees, and …rity not suffering him to resolve on any; and …stly▪ Mutabilitie making him weary of those …ings which weaknesse and rashnesse had unadvisedly transported him unto. Omnium Imperitorum Maximum in dicium est m… la mentis fluct…atio. Sen. Ep. 120. vid. ep. 10. & de Tranq. cap. 2. foreign. Aristid. Tom. 2 O…at. 1. Vid. etiam Plutarch▪ de …. Iliad▪ -▪animus in lubric… est: Weake minds have ever wavering and unfixed resolutions. Like fickle and nauseating stomacks, which long for many things and can eat none. Like sicke bodies, qu… mutationi …us ut remedys utuntur, as Seneca speakes, which tosse from side to side, and thinke by changing of their place they can leave their paine behind them. Like Achilles in the Poet:
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Now he leans on his side, now supine lyes,
Then grov'leth on his face, and strait doth rise.
This Sicknesse and Inconstancy of Desires is thus elegantly described by the old Poet L… cretius:Lucret. lib. 3. lactor, Crucior, agitor, … lor, versor in amoris … animi habe…. Ibi sum, ibi non sum, …b non sum ibi est Animus. I…a mihi ingenia sunt, quod lubet non lubet iam id continuo, &c. Plaut. Cistellar.
—Vt nunc plerum que videmus,
Quid sibi quis que velit nescire & quarere semper.
Commutare locum, quasi onus deponere possit.
Exit sape foras magnis ex adibus ille,
Esse domi quam pertasum est subit…, rever….
Currit agens mann…s advillam praci…itanter
Auxilium tectis quasi ferre ardentibus instet.
Oscitat extemplo tetigit cum limina Villae,
Aut abit in somnum gravis, at que oblivia quarit:
Aut etiam properans Vrbem petit, at que …evisit▪
Hoc se quis que modo fugit. At, quod scilicet ut … ▪
Effugere haud potis est, ingratis haret & ange….
We see how troubled Mortals still enquire,Nihil tam occupatum …am multiforme t…t ac tam variis motibus concisum ac la…ratum, quàm mala ment. Quin…il. lib. 12. c. 1. Non horam … cum esse potes, non …tia recte Pon…re …que ipsum … fugitivus & err…. Horat. Uid. Plutarch. de Tranquillit.
Yet nee're can find what 'tis which they desire.
One changeth place, as if he could unload
And leave his weights behind him. Runs abroad,
Weary of a great Palace; strait turnes back,
And hath not found the thing which he did lack.
Wearied both here & there, he mounts his steed,
And runs to th' neighbor town with swister speed
Than if he went to quench a fire. Being set,
He gapes and sleeps, and studies to forget
Why he came thither, haply turne his raine,
And to the City po…teth backe againe.
Thus guilty Man doth study how to shunne,
And scape himselfe, but nee're can get it done.
He bears the thing he flyes. What he would leave
Vnwelcome selfe unto it selfe doth cleave,
And cleaving doth torment.—
The more simple, One, and perfect Nature isforeign. Arist. …bic. lib. 7. c. ult. (as the Philosopher divinely noteth) the more it delighteth in one and the same uniforme operation. Mutability is not pleasant in it selfe; but …he delight of it ariseth out of the pr…vitie and …efect of Nature.
I might here insist on other more obvious causes of desire: As,
1 Knowledge and experience of the goodnesse of that which wee desire: as the Apostle also …elleth us, That Experience worketh Hope: And …e use to say, Ignoti n…lla Cupido. A man cannot …esire that of which he hath no Apprehension. …nowledge is Appetites Taster.
2 … and Repentance for the Evils wee…. feele, the contrary whereunto we are the more induced to desire. We never desire Health so eagerly as when Sicknesse teacheth us to valueQ…m q… in p… estate ba…u. it me…t …a a …. Plant. cop. iv. c. 7. 1. … it: For as in Colours, so in Actions or Affections, contraries doe set sorth and sharpe… one another. And as Labour Naturall makes a Man earnestly desire the Shadow, as Iob speak… so Sorrow which is Labour Mentall, doth make a Man earnestly. thirst after that which can remove the thing which … that sonow. The Apostle telleth us, That Desire and Zeale are the 2 Cor. 7. 11.fruits of godly Sorrow. David never panted so earnestly after Gods favour and presence, as when he felt what a Griefe it was to be without it… For in this case there is an Apprehension of … double goodnesse in the thing we desire, both as perfective unto Nature Indigent, and as medicinall unto Naturewronged.
Lastly Hope of speeding in our Desires: For the stronger any mans perswasions are, the more cheerfull and vigorous will bee his endeavours to succeed. But I shall content my selfe with the intimation of these things. And in the next, very briefly to runne over some Effects and Consequents of this Affection: Which are,
1 In regard of Desires at large, Labour and Paines: For they are onelyonly Velleities and not Volitions: halfe and broken wishes, not whole desires, which are not industrious; but … away in sluggish and empty speculations. aforeign. …. apud …. lib. 2.Th… Fisherman that will take the Fish, must be contented to be dashed with the Water. b…. E…ectra. Plata…ch. Iustit. l. …con. foreign, &c. foreign. Rb…s.And he that will expect to have his desires answered, must put as well his hands as his prayers unto them:
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Who takes God in his mouth, but takes no paine,
By devout sloath shall never gather gaine.
It was the just reproose of him in the Poetc Homer. …. foreign 341. 348. …. …. 325 who was upbraided with comming to the feasts, but withdrew himselfe from the labour of other Men. Nature hath often made the roots of thosed Aristot. apud La…rt. lib. 5. Plants bitter, whose fruits are sweet, to reach us that Delight is the fruit of Labour. And therefore the Philosopher telleth us, that Desire is usually accompanied with Sorrow.
Againe, Desires doe commonly worke a Lang…or c Arist. E…demi lib. 2 cap. 10. … Prou 13. 12.and sainting towards the thing desired, if they be either strong or hasty: For †Reg. 21. 4. …. 119. 20. 8… Vsqu… ad agri…m deside …. El. Lam. p…id. in Co…. Rom. 8. 22. 2 Cor. 5 …Hope deferred maketh the heart sicke. As Ahabs eager desire of Naboths Vineyard, cast him upon his bed. And David expresseth his longings towards Gods Law, by the breaking and fainting of his Soule. Cum expectatio longior est consenescit animus, & debilitatur mens.: Delaied expectation weakneth and withereth the mindes of Men. And therefore the Apostle expresseth strength of Desire by groaning, which is the Language of Sicknesse.
2 In regard of Reasonable and Spirituall Desires. The effects of this affection are:
1 Large. heartednesse and Liberality. That which a man earnestly desireth he will give much for,Pb…l. 3. 8. 9. 10. Matth. 13. 45. Mag. 2. 6. 7. Matth. 2. 11. Isa. 60. 5. 17. Psal. 68. 29. and bestow much upon. As when Christ became the desire of all Nations, they did dedicate all their desirable things unto him, as the foreign and trophies of his mercifull triumph over them. One man adornes the Gospell with his power, another with his wit, another with his wealth, another with his wisedome.
Those Abilities of Nature, Art, or Industry, which were before the armour of sinne, are then become the spoyles of Christ. Antonius out ofPl…tarch. in Anton. the strength of his desires towards Cleop…ra, bestowed many countries upon her.
2 Griese for any losse or hazard of the thing desired. As the Sea-mans needle which is jogged and troubled, never leaves moving till it finde the North point againe. Flagrantia sunt Nazar. Orat. Pan…gyr.animorum desideria cum solatia perdiderun…, as the Orator spake. Desires burne hottest when they are in danger of disappointment.
3 Wearinesse and Indignation against any thing which standeth between Desire and the fruitionSenec. Epist. 75. Abo…ice savi…r ib…. Plutarc…. Sympos. l. 4. …. Gr…l. l 3. c. 6. of that which is desired. Vehementior per me…us & pericula exibit: That which resisteth increaseth it. As a River goes with more strength where it is hindred and withstood. The Church did venture blowes when she sought her Love, and like the Palme Tree rose up above her pressures:Tertul. Ap…log. cap. …. plures efficimur quóties metimur a vobis, as Tertullian speakes to the Heathen. The more you mow us downe, the thicker wee grow; the more we suffer for him, the more we love and desire him. Saint Paul careth not for a dissolution▪ that he may goe to Christ, as a stone is contented to be broken in pieces, that it may move to its place.
Thirdly, For Corrupt and v…tious Desires; their… 1. 14. foreign. …. l 7. c. 2. foreign. ib cap. 7 u…. Hos. 4. 11. foreign c. 3. vid. c. 5. 9. Vid. Plaut. Asinar. Act 1. …cen. 3. Cicer. de Senectut. Effects are first, Deception, and haling of Reason as it were captive from determining, advising, or duly weighing the pravity and obliquity of them. So that the things which a man knowes in thesi, and at large, in hypothesi; and as to his owne parti cular interest or inconvenience he doth not at all attend. He can say them, he cannot apply them. As he who acteth a part on a Stage, knowes the things which he speaks, but is not a whit affected with them. And the Philosopher giveth the reason of it, the very same with S. Iames, foreign,…. 1. …1. Heb. 4. 2. … That Reason which overcomes Lust must bee foreign, Reason ingrafted; or to use the phrase of another Apostle, foreign, immixed and contempered with the soule, and not onelyonly extrinsically irradiating it. And these kinde of men are…. lib. 3. cap. 7. elegantly called by Iulius Pollux, foreign men willingly slavish, and foreign subdued and brought under by their owne affections. As Pl…tarch saith of Agiselaus, that he was ruled by Lysander his servant,Pl…tarch. in Lysander. he having only the name, but the other the execution of his power. This slavery of mens minds under the tyranny of lustfull desires is thus described by the Satyrist.
Mane piger stertis? surge, inquit Avaritia, ejaPersi… Sat. 5. vid. Arria…. Epict. l. 3. …. 24.
Surge▪ negas? Instat, surge inquit, non queo surge.
Ecquid agam rogitas? En saperdam adv…ho ponto,
Castoreum, stupas, h…benum, thus, lubrica Co….
What sluggard snore so long? saies lust, up rise,
Awake, get out. Darst thou say nay? it cries
The same againe, up, rise; I cannot. No?
Rise though you cannot, when Ile have it so.
What must I doe? what doe? up, wipe your eies
See, here's a goodly Ship of merchandise;
Shell▪ fish, Castoreum, Flax, black Indian woods,
Frankinsence, Wines of Coos and other goods.
Thus sordidly doe vaine men sell themselves, and as it were render up their Reason into the hands of vitious and greedy Affections, giving leave to their soules to suffer a ship wrack in that vessell which bringeth goods into their Cellars, and traffiquing their own judgment in exchange for a ship of wares.
Secondly, These kinde of Desires make menSe… ▪ de Benef. lib. 3. c…p. 3 & l. 2. c. 27. ungratefull and forgetfull of any kindnesse which hath already been done them. Memoria minimum tribuit, quisquis spei plurimum. As in bucket… at a well, the longer the line of the one is which moves downward, the shorter is the line of the other which riseth upward; so the larger our Desires are towards the future, the narrower our memories are of things past. And usually mens valuations of things are more in the performance, then when they are performed. And the reason,Na… serae maxuma par… movem hunc homines babent, quod sibi volunt, Dum id impetran… Boni sunt, sedid ubi jam p…es sese habeant, ex bonis pessumis & … Pl…ut. Captiv. nihil …què est gratum adeptis & concupiscentibus Plix. lib. 2. Ep. 15. is because as nature hath set our eies forward, and not behinde us: so the appetites of men, for which the eyes are the principall factors, looke naturally before them, not to what they Have, but to what they Hope. The eye whereby we looke backeward into our lives is the eye of Repentance, we there either see our selves bad, or little. And a man is an unwelcome object unto himselfe in both these Relations. But the eye whereby we looke forward, is an eye of Hope, and Desire, and by that we are represented to our selves better and greater then we are already. Iron moves not upward except the Loadstone be very neere it; But it mooveth downward, though the Center be never so remote. So much stronger are the motions of Desire, then those of acknowledgement and retribution.
Besides the apprehensions of Goodnesse in a thing are much other in the Desire then in the Review: as usually the Sunne and the Moone looke bigger at their rising, then when they are come over our heads. Desire lookes on nothing in them but that which pleaseth, Review findes that in them which displeaseth. When we desire Wine we thinke onelyonly on the sweetnesse, when we review it, we remember the headach. Besides what we desire is apprehended as the matter of our life, what is past, men apprehend as in the hand of death. Quickquid retro est mors tenet. AsSenec▪ de Brevi…, vi…ae & Ep. 120. …n our life, so in our delights, so much of them …s dead as is over and gone. We love our food when it is meate, we loathe it when it is excrement. When it goes into us we desire it, when it passeth through us we despise it. And the secret worke of concoction, (which is as it were the Review of ou… meat) doth distinguish that in them which the first Appetite tooke in … lumpe, and together.
And in truth in all secular and sublunary desires we shall ever finde that they are like the Apples of Sodome, Qu… contacta cin…rescunt, …. Apol. cap. 40.which have ashes hidden within their beauty, and doath l…king under them. All the matter of ou… secular or sensitive Desires are just like the meates we …ate, which goe much more into excrement, then into nonrishment and substance. Like the Cyptus tree which they say is very… cp…d Plutarch. A-Apopth. Cl…m. Alex. Paed. lib. 3. cap. 3. faire, but beares no fruit. Like the Egyptian Temples which are beautifull in frontispicio, b… ridiculous in penetrali. And if we looke well on them, we shall finde, that as they are mortall themselves, so they come to us through mortality. it was a bold, but true foreign of Seneca. … vivinous. We live by the deaths of other things. Our fullest Tables furnished with death nothing but feretra, the biers of birds and … ▪ Our richest garments the bowels and skinnes … other creatures, which worke out their owne … to preserve ours. Silke is a grave to the … that weaves it, before it is a garment for us. O… Offices and Honours seldome come to us but b… the mortality of those that prepossessed them▪ And our mortality makes them the …itter obje… of other mens Desires.
3 These Desires as they are forgetfull, so theyVid Senec. de tra. lib. 3. c. 31. Allen is gem… tibus liben…er …olumenta conquir… ▪ Ammian: Marcell. lib. 31. Egreeium Ex…mplum in vidi… etiam Ecclestas…icae ex cupidi…atibus … apud …un. dem Marcell… num inter Damasum, & Vrcisiaum. lib. 27. are envious, and looke with an evill eye upon others competion, accounting their successe our owne dammage. If a man should draw the genealogie of all the injuries and emulations of the world, we should finde the Roote of that great Tree to be nothing but lust. It was Desire and inordinate appetite by which the devill perswaded our first parents to picke a quarrell with their Maker. Whence come Warres and fightings, saith Saint Iames, but from lusts which warre in your members? When a man hath warre within, no wonder▪ if he have no peace without. He that cannot agree with himselfe, will disagree with all the world besides. The sea tosseth every thing which comes into it, not because it is wronged, but because it is unquiet. And a lustfull man will contend with every innocent man that prospers, not because this man doth him injury, but because he grudgeth this mans prosperity. As the sea representeth every strait thing that is put into it crooked, so lust every harmelesse thing perverse, and as Seneca speakes, hath…pist. 105. Odium sine inimico, hatred without an enemie. Greedy Desires are like a swollen and envious spleene, which sucks away substance from all the rest of the body.
4 These Desires are Hidropticall, and like a *Caelius Phodig. lib. c, 39. lib. 14. cap. 1.foreign in the stomacke which is not quenched, but enraged with that which feeds it. Vnnaturall Desires being herein very like unto naturall …ions, the further they proceed, the stronger and swifter they are. Like wind in a bladder they never fill the heart, but enlarge it. The Grecians…. in Anacharsi. lib. 1. … de Ben. lib. 2. c. …7. Ni…il … ma…i. uris, Imo … bus …p. cap. 120. P…n. lib. …5. c. 22. began their drinkings in little Cups, but proceeded unto Flagons: and many times those Appetitions which begin in modesty goe on unto impudence, and the more our lives hastens to leave the world, the more our lust hastens to possesse it. As it is noted of the Parthians, that the more they drinke, the more they thirst. And, which is a marvellous illogicall stupidity, the more continuall experience men have of the vanity of the world, the more greedy experiments they make to finde out solidity in it. Like your melancholy searchers after the Philosophes Stone, that never dote so much upon their project as then when it hath deluded them, and never flatter themselves with stronger hopes to be enriched by their Art, then when it hath brought them unto beggary.
Lastly, from hence it comes to passe that these kindes of Desires are Base, and diject the minde unto …ordid and ignoble Resolutions. For … nihil satis, nihil …urpe. He that hath never enough will count nothing base whereby he may ge… more. As the Historian saith of Otho, that he di… Adorare vulgus, jacere oscula, & omnia serviliter … …. Hist. l. 1.Imperio. Adore the people, dispence and scatte… abroad his curtesies, crouch unto any servil… expressions, to advance his Ambitious designes Like Antaus in the Poets, fall to the earth, … Hor…dot. Th… lia. Plutarch. in Solon….hee may grow the stronger by it. As … and Pisistratus who wounded, mangled, deformed themselves, that they might thereby insinuate,…. Marcel▪ lib. 25. and gaine their ends. As the Scripture noteth of Absolom, and the Historian of Iulian, that out of affectation of popularity, they stouped and delighted to converse with the lowest of the people. Which cunning humility, or rather sordidnesse of Ambition, Me…elous in the Tragedian, hath thus elegantly objected in a contentious debate unto Agame…non.
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You know how you the Rule o're Grecians got,
In shew declining what in truth you sough…:
How low, how plausible you apprehended
The hands of meanest men: How then you bended
To all you met: How your gates open flew,
And spake large welcome to the pop'lar Crew:
What sweetned words you gave even unto those
Who did decline, and hate to see you gloze.
Ho… thus with Serpentine and guilefull Arts
You screw'd and wound your selfe into the hearts
O'th'vulgar: And thus bought the power, which now
Makes you forget how then you us'd to bow.