Treatise of the Passions and Faculties of the Soul, Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII. Of the other Causes of Hatred, Secret Antipathy, Difficulty of procuring a Good commanded, Injury, Base Feares, Disparity of Desires, a Fixed Iealous Fancy.
THe first which I shall note isArist. Hist. Anim. l 9. c. 44. See Plan. N…t. Hist. l. 8. c. 4. 9. 10. lib. 9. c 6…. l 10. c. 37. 74. lib. 16. c. 13. l. 20. …n pro…m. lib. 2…. c 20. lib. 24 c. 1. Aelian. de Animal l. 3. c. 7. l. 4. c …. l. 5. …. 48. 50. l. 6. c. 22. 45, 4…. Plutarch S…mpos. lib. 2. 47. a secret and hidden Antipathy which is in the natures of some things one against another. As Vultures are killed with sweet smells, and Horse-flies with oyntments; the Locust will die at the sight of the Polypus, and the Serpent wil rather flye into the fire, than come neere the boughes of a wild Ash: some plants will not grow, nor the blood of some Creatures mingle together; the feathers of the Eagle will not mixe with the feathers of other foules. So Homer noteth of the Lyon, that hee feareth fire, and the Elephant nauseates his meat, if a Mouse have touched it. A world more of particulars there are which Naturalists have observed of this kind: from which naturall Antipathy it commeth, that things which never before saw that which is contrary to them, doe yet at the very first sight flye from it, as from an enemy toPlutarch. de Odio & …vid. their nature, nor will they ever be brought by discipline to trust one another.
—foreignIliad. …. 22.
foreign
foreign
Lyons with men will ne're make faithfull truce,
Nor can you any way the Wolfe induce
To Love the Lamb: they study with fixt hate,
The one the other how to violate.
And the like kind of strange Hatred wee may sometimes find amongst men; one mans disposition so much disagreeing from anothers, that though there never passed any injuries or occasions of difference betweene them, yet they cannot but have minds averse from one another; which the Epigrammatist hath wittily expressed.
Non amo te Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare;Martiall.
Hoc tantum possum dicere, Non amo te.
I love thee not, yet cannot say for what;
This onelyonly I can say, I love thee not.
Another cause working Hatred of a thing in the minds of men, is the difficulty and conceited impossibility of obtaining it, if it bee a good thing which wee either doe or ought to desire, which the Casuists call Acedia, being a griese of the appetite looking on a Difficult Good, as if it were evill because difficult; from whence ariseth a Torpor and Supine neglect of all the meanes, which might helpe us to it. Thus wicked and resolved sinners, conceiving happinesse as unacquirable by them, do grow to the Hating of it, to entertaine rancorous affections against those, which perswade them to seeke it, to envie and maligne all such they find carefull to obtaine it; to proceed unto licentious resolutions of rejecting all hopes of thoughts of it, & to divert their minds towards such more obvious and easie delight, asVid. Arist. Ethic. lib. 9. c. 4. will be gotten with lesse labour; thus Difficulty rendereth Good things Hateful; as Israel in the wildernesse despised the pleasant Land, because there were sonnes of Anak in it.
And this is one great cause of the different affections of men towards severall courses of life; one man being of dull and sluggish apprehensions, hateth Learning: another by nature quicke and of noble intellectualls wholly applyeth himselfe unto it, the difficulty perswading the one to despise the Goodnesse, and the Goodnesse inducing the other to conquer the difficulties of it: so one man looking unto the paine of a vertuous life, contemnes the reward; and another looking unto the Reward, endures the paine. And wee shall usually find it true, that either Lazinesse, fearing disappointment, or Love being disappointed and meeting with difficulties which it cannot conquer, doth both beget a kind of Hatred and dislike of that which did either deterre them from seeking it, or deceive them when they sought it. As shee, who while there was any Hope, did sollicite Aeneas with her teares and importunities; when heAenead. 4. was quite gone did follow him with her imprecations.
There is no Malice growes ranker than that which ariseth out of the corruption of Love; as no darkenesse is more formidable, than that of anArist. Politic. lib. 7. c. 7. Frat…rno pri mi maduerunt sanguine muris L…an. lib. 1. Eclipse, which assaults the very vessels of Light; nor any taste more unsavory than of sweet things when they are corrupted. The more naturall the Vnion, the more impossible the Re-union. Things joyned with glew, being broken asunder may be glewd againe; but if a mans Arme be broken off, it can never be joyned on againe: So those HatredsPlutarch. de amore frat. are most incureable, which arise out of the greatest and most naturall Love.
foreignEurip. Medea.
foreign:
When Love of friends is turn'd to Wrath, besure
That Wrath is deepe, and scarce admits a Cure.
Another very usuall, but most evill cause of Hatred, is Injury, when a man because hee hath done wrong, doth from thence resolve to Hate him. Too many examples whereof there are in Writings both sacred and prophane: Ioseph… Mistresse first wronged him in assaulting his chastity, and then Hated him and caused him to be cast into prison. Ammon first abused his sister Tamar, and then Hated her worse than before hee loved her. Phadra having solicited Hippolitus her husbands sonne unto incest; being denyed, did after accuse him to his father, and procure his ruine. And Aristotle proposeth it as a Probleme,Probl. Sect. 4. Sect. 11. Why they, who corrupt and violate the chastity of any, doe after hate them? and gives this reason of it, because they ever after looke on them, as guilty of that shame and sadnesse, which in the sinne they contracted. This cause of Hatred Seneca and Tacitus have both observed as a thingProprium humani inge…ii odisse quos laser…. …acit. vit. Agri. & Senec. de Ird l. 2. c. 33. usuall with proud and insolent men, first to Hurt then to Hate.
And the reason is first, because injurie is the way to make a man, who is wronged, an enemy; & the proper affection, which respecteth an enemy is Hatred. Againe, he who is wronged, if equall or above him that hath done the wrong, is then feared: and Oderunt quos metuunt, it is usuall to hate those whom we feare: if inferiour, yet the memory and sight of him doth upbraid with guilt, & affect with an unwilling & unwelcome review of the sinne, whereby he was wronged; and Pride scornes reproofe, and loves not to be under him in Guilt, whom it overtops in Power: for Innocence doth alwaies give a kind of superiority unto the person that is wronged; besides, Hatred is a kind of Apologie for wrong: For if a man can perswade himselfe to hate him whom he hath injured, he will begin to beleeve that hee deserved the injury which was offered unto him; every man being naturally willing to find the first inducement unto his sinne, rather in another than himselfe.
The next cause (which I shall observe) is Feare, I meane slavish Feare: for as Love excludeth Feare; so Feare begetteth Hatred; and it is ever seene: Qui terribiles sunt, timent: they that terrifie others doe feare them, as well knowing that they are themselves hated: for as Aristotle speaketh, Nemoquem metuit, amat; no man loves him whom he feares: which is the same with that of Saint Iohn, Love casteth out Feare: not a Reverend, submissive, awsull feare; not a cautelous, vigilant and obedient feare; not a feare of Admiration, nor a feare of Subjection; but a feare of slavery and of Rebellion, all flashes of Horrour, all the tossings and shipwracks of a torne mind, all the tremblings of a tormented spirit; briefely all evill and hurtfull feare. And this I beleeve is one principall reason of that malice and contempt of godlinesse, which shewes it selfe in the lives of Atheisticall and desperately wicked men, which as it ariseth out of the corruption of nature, so is it marveilously enraged by the fearefull expectation of that siery vengeance, which their pale and guilty consciences doe already preoccupate; for as their conscience dictates, that they deserve to be hated by God; so their stubbornesse and malice concludes that they will hate him againe; Let us eate and drinke, for toomorrow we shall dye.
There may be a double root of this Feare outward and inward. The outward is the cruelty and oppression which we suffer from the potent, and thereupon the lesse avoidable malice of the person hated (as it was the speech of Caligula, Oderint dum metuant) And here in our Aversation (if it observe that generall rule of goodnesse in passions, Subordination to Reason and Piety) is, not onelyonly allowable, but naturall, while it extends it selfe no further than the Evil which we wrongfully suffer. For I cannot but think that the spittle and scourges, the thornes and buffets, the reed and knees of those mocking and blasphemous Iewes were so many drops of that full Cup, which He, who knew no sinne, was so deepely desirous to have passe from him.
But then next, the inward root of Feare is the guilt and burthen of an uncleane and uncovered Conscience, for Pollution and weakenesse is naked, must needs be fearefull. And therefore that inference of Adam had truth in it, I was afraid, because I was naked: for having disrobed himselfe of Originall righteousnesse, hee was thereupon afraid of the curse and summons of an offended justice. Now from this feare may arise a double hatred; an hatred of a mans owne Conscience: for an evill man foreign as theEthic. lib. 9. cap. 4. foreign. Scholiast. in …ophecl. … dip. Ty…. Philosopher speakes, is not a friend unto himselfe, but flies and labours to runne away from himselfe, and is never in so bad company, as when he is alone, because then he keeps company with his owne Conscience.
Which is the reason why some mens hatred of themselves hath proceeded so far, as to make themselves the Instruments of that small measure of Annihilation, which they are capable of. Wherein notwithstanding they discover, how farre their sury should extend against themselves if they were as omnipotent to effect, as they are ready to desire it: for he that hates a thing, would if he were able, pursue it even unto not being. There is no man but hath a naturall hatred of Toads, Serpents, Vipers, and the like venemous Creatures. And yet that man which hates them most, if his Conscience be naked and let loose to flye upon him, if that worme that never dies (unlesse killed with our Saviours blood) begin thorowly to sting and gnaw him, would thinke himselfe a wise Merchant, if he could exchange beeings with the worst of these. The Worme▪ and Viper of Conscience is of all the Creatures the most ugly and hatefull. A wicked man, when he doth distinctly know himselfe, doth love every thing, save God, better than himselfe.
—Diri conscia factiIuvenal.
Mens habet attonitos & surdo verbere cadit
Occultum quatiente animo tortore slagellum.
The mind being conscious of some dire offence,
Fils them with feares; a Torturer from thence
Shaketh, and with redoubled blowes doth urge
The unheard lashes of an hidden scourge.
Nor can I esteeme this a corrupt, though it be a miserable passion; for as a bad man is to himselfe the worst, so is he by consequence the hatefullest of all Creatures.
The second Hatred, which may arise from that Feare which is caused by a secret guilt of minde, is of all others most corrupt and rancorous, namely an hatred of the Authors or Executioners of Iustice; of the equity and justnesse of whose proceedings, we are from within convinced; such as is the malice and blasphemy of malefactors against the Iudge, and of Devils and damned men against God and his righteous judgments, which yet they cannot but acknowledge that they most worthily doe endure: for it is the nature of proud and stubborne creatures (as was before observed) Odisse quos laserint, first to wrong God, and then to hate him.
Another particular cause of this passion may be a Disparity of Affections and Desires: for notwithstanding there bee many times Hatred where there is Similitude (as those beasts and birds commonly hate one another, which feed upon the same common meat, as the Philosopher observeth)Hist. Animal. and sundry men hate their owne vices in others, as if they had not the trade of sinne enough to themselves, except they got a Monopoly, and might ingrosse it; yet this ever proceeds from an apprehension of some ensuing inconveniences which are likely to follow there-from, as hath beene formerly noted: So that in that very similitude of Natures, there is a disagreement of ends, each one respecting his owne private benefit.
Now the Corruptions herein are to be attended according to the Nature of that disparity whereon the passion is grounded; which sometimes is Morall, wherein it is laudable to hate the viti ous courses, in which any man differres from us, or we our selves from the right rule of Life; so that the passion redound not from the quality to the person, nor breake out into an endeavour of his disgrace and ruine, except it bee in such a case, when our owne dignity or safety, which wee are bound more to regard, being assaulted, is in danger to be betrayed, unlesse prevented by such a speedy Remedy. Sometimes this Disparity may be in actions Civill, and with respect to society: and then as the opposition, which hatred discovereth, may be principally seene in two things; Opposition of a mans Hopes, and of his Parts and abilities, by crossing the one, and undervalewing the other: So corruption may easily proceed from two violent and unreasonable grounds, Ambition and Selfe-love; the one pursuing its hopes, the other reflecting upon its worth. And to this particular may be reduced, that Hatred, whichariseth out of a Parity of Desire, as amongst Competitors for the same Dignitie, or Corrivalls for the same Love, or Professours of the same Arte, either by reason of Covetousnesse, or Envy, or ambition, a greedy desire of their owne, or a discontented sight of anothers good.Mallem bic primus esse, quàm Rom… secundu…. Caesar de … quodam dum Alpes transi…t Pluiarc….
Nec quenquam jam ferre potest Caservè priorem
Pompeiusve, parem—
Thus two great Rulers doe each other hate,
Casar no Better brookes, Pompey no mate.
And these are very unfit affections for society, when private love of men to themselves shall devoure the love which they owe unto their Country.Plutarch. de g…rund: Rep. More noble was the behaviour of Themistocles, and Aristides, who when they were ever imployed in the publique service of State, left all their private enmities in the borders of their own Country, and did not resume them til they returned, and became private menagaine.
The last cause which I shall observe of Hatred may bee a setled and permament Intuition of the object, a penetrating, jealous, and interpreting fancy: because by this means a redoubled search and review doth generate a kinde of habituall detestation; it being the nature of Evill commonly to shew worse at the second or third view. And that first, because the former Act doth worke a prejudice, and thereby the after apprehension comes not naked, but with a fore-stalled resolution of finding Evill therein: and next, because from a serious and fastoned search into the Object the faculty gaineth a greater acquaintance with it, and by consequence a more vehement dislike of it, the former knowledge being a master and light unto the latter. But light and wandring fancies (though they may bee more sudden in the apprehensive of Evill, and by consequence liable to an oftner Anger, yet by reason of the volubility of the minde joyned with an infirmity and unexercise of memory, they are for this cause the lesse subject to deepe and rooted hatred.
VntoUnto this Head may bee referred that Hatred which ariseth from excessive Melancholy, which maketh men sullen morose, solitary, averse from all society, and Haters of the light, delighting onelyonly like the aZeph. 2. 14. If. 34. 11 14, 15Shrieke▪ Owle or the Bitterne in desolate places, and bMatt… 8. 28.monuments of the dead▪ This is that which is called c… de Neur… in M… … ▪ Pl…. lib. 8 c. 2…. … Eclog 8. …. M…la de situ orb… l. 2 …erus de prae…g. d…mon. l. 3. c. 2…. …. de Civ. Dei. l. 18. c. 17. Olaus … de Reg. Septen…r. lib. 18. c. 45. 46. 47. Lu…. in Asine.foreign, when men fancy themselves transformed into Wolves and Dogs, and accordingly hate all Humane society. Which seemeth to have bin the distemper of dDan. 5. 21.N…buchadnezar, when hee was …hrust out from men, and did eate grasse with the beasts. eCi…r. de Ami…. & lib. 4. Tuscul. quaest. Suidas in Timon. … lutarch … in Al…ibiade & A…tonie. La…t. in Timone. …. Adve…. l. 24. cap. 33.Timon the Athenian was upon this ground branded with the name of foreign, The Man. Hater, because he kept company with no man, but onelyonly with Alcibiades, whereof he gave this only account, because hee thought that man was borne to doe a great deale of mischiefe. And we read even in the fSo…. l. 4. c. 18. …. l▪ 4. cap. 26. …. lib. 5. c. 29.Histories of the Church, of men so marvelously averse from all converse or correspondence with men; that they have for their whole lives long, some of sixty, others of ninety yeares, immured themselves in Cels and silence, not affording to looke on the faces of their neerest kindred, when they travelled farre to visit them. So farre can the opinion of the minde, actuated and furthered by the melancholy of the body, transport men even ou… of humane disposi… on, which the g…. polit. lib. 1. cap. 2.Philosopher telleth us is naturally a lover of Society, and therefore he saith that such men are usually given to contention, the signe and the fruit of hatred.