The Vanity of the Lives and Passions of Men, Chapter 14
CHAP. XIV.
Of the vanity of the paſsion of Ʋndantedneſs.
IF Diamonds were as common as Pipples, and Vertues as natural to men as Vices, they would not be ſo precious, nor valued at ſo high a rate as they are in theſe days, for it is the rarity of things more then their goodneſs that makes them to be eſteemed among men: for Inſtance, Bread is the only ſtaff of mans life, and the beſt food that Nature hath appointed for his ſubſiſtence, and yet becauſe it is common, it is little regarded, for Beggers will hardly give men thanks if they give them nothing but dry bread. But this paſſion I am to ſpeak of, is not onelyonly rare, (ſith one man among one hundred is not indowed with it) but alſo good and excellent, and therefore the more to be eſteemed and valued of men, as a rare and precious Jewel: By it mens hopes are attained, all fears expelled, and deſpair ſuppreſſed, and were it not a Paſſion, I ſhould call it a Vertue, becauſe of the reſemblance it hath with Fortitude: For Undantedneſs is the Spring of all true Valour and manly courage, and by it all the generous actions that have been acted ſince the Creation till this day, have had their beeing and ſucceſsful end: And therefore moſt judiciouſly, and properly placed by the Moraliſts after Deſpair, and before Fear, to mitigate by the excellent proprieties of it, the evil qualities of the two others; for were it not for this paſſion, men would be diverted from undertaking any noble deſign by Fear and Deſpair, who have a natural propriety to withdraw the vitall ſpirits into the Center of the body, which hinders the natural faculties to do and execute their functions, and makes men timerous and remiſs to undertake any noble action: but Undantedneſs cauſeth the blood, and the vital ſpirits that reſide in it to dilate themſelves to the utmoſt parts of the members of the Body, and ſo gives them life and vigor, and makes men apt and fit to undertake and execute all noble enterprizes. Now for the better deſcription of this noble Paſſion, I will inlarge my ſelf upon theſe particulars.
1. On the Definition of this Paſſion.
2. On the Cauſes of it.
3. On the Nature and Proprieties of it.
4. On the evil and good Effects of it.
5. On the Spiritual Uſe of it.
Firſt, This Paſſion hath ſeveral names, ſome call it Confidence, and have good reaſon for it, becauſe it is its unſeperable companion: others call it Audacity, but this terme doth blemiſh the true Nature of it,The definition of the paſſion of Undantedneſs. for audacious and preſumptuous men, are held to be under one and the ſame predicament: other call it boldneſs, but this word is often taken for Impudency, but the French call it Hardieſſe, which doth expreſs moſt properly the nature of it, which is Undantedneſs in the Engliſh Tongue; And here is the definition of it, according to the judgment of the beſt Moraliſts:Boujou. fol. 7 23. Ʋndantedneſs, ſaith one, is an affection and aſſurance to eſchew an evil, and to overcome all the difficulties of it: Ʋndantedneſs, The Biſhop of Marſeilles in pag. 401.ſaith another, is a Paſsion of the ſoul which ſtrengtheneth the ſame, and makes it confident, it can overcome the moſt difficult evils that can befall it in this life, and doth alſo incourage it, to proſecute the good that is moſt difficult to obtain. And to this laſt definition I aſſent; as concerning the ſame the beſt of the two, for it doth truely expreſs the nature of this paſſion, which is the third paſſion incident to the Iraſcible Appetite.
2. The Cauſes of it are many, but they may be reduced to theſe ſix; the two firſt are Natural, the two middlemoſt accidental, and the two laſt ſupernatural:The firſt natural cauſe of undantedneſs, is a hot and moiſt temper of the body. The firſt Natural cauſe may be a moiſt and hot temper of the body; for the Naturaliſts have obſerved, that all ſuch as are of that conſtitution of body have ordinarily an undanted ſpirit: The Natural reaſon of it is, that this hot and moiſt temper doth ſuppreſs the Melancholick humor, and its evil proprieties and effects, whereby the blood that is hot and airy, an ful ofvital ſpirits, and the bilia that is dry and fiery, and the flegm that is cold and moiſt, being thus mixt become of a dilative nature, and by the motion of the heart, ſpread themſelves into all the utmoſt parts of the body, and inableth the minde to undertake, and the body to execute all maner of generous deſigns, be they never ſo difflcult or perillous. The ſecond natural cauſe of Undantedneſs may be the largeneſs of the heart of men, for it hath been obſerved by the Phyſitians, when they have opened the bodies of valiant and undanted ſpirits, that their hearts were larger then the hearts of ordinary men;See Plutarch in the life of Themiſtocles. and King Xerxes King of Perſia having cauſed the body of Leonidas King of Sparta to be opened (partly out of admiration of his valour, and in part out of curioſity,The ſecond natural cauſe of undantedneſs is the largeneſs of the harts of men. to ſee whether the heart of ſuch an undanted ſpirit was larger then the hearts of common men) he found the ſame to be as big again, and hairy all over; a natural propriety incident to ſuch as are of a hot and moiſt conſtitution of body, to abound in hair. The Natural reaſon why men with larger hearts then others ſhould be addicted to Valour and Undantedneſs, is this, that the larger the heart is, the morevital ſpirits it can contain, which are the eſſential cauſes of Valour and Undantedneſs; and therefore it may very well be that the largeneſs of the heart is a natural cauſe of Undantedneſs:That tall and burly men are commonly leſs valorous then ſhort and middle ſtaſtured men. Divers men are of opinion, that tall and burly bodied men are more addicted to Valour and Undantedneſs then ſhort and middleſtatur'd men, but they are miſtaken, for tall men have ſmaller hearts then others, and are alſo commonly more fainthearted then other men; and the Naturaliſts give this reaſon for it; If their hearts, ſay ſay, were proportionable to their body, they might have reaſon to be of that opinion, but it is commonly ſmaller, becauſe Nature extended its vertue to the utmoſt parts, deprives the inward parts of it: Beſides, all the vitall ſpirits reſide in the bloud, and in the heart, and by its motion they are diſperſed through all the parts of the body: Now the farther diſtant theſe parts are from the heart, the longer time are the vital ſpirits a going to quicken and vivifie them; and by conſequence tall and burlybodied men are fuller of Fleſh then of Spirits, and leſs couragious then others. It is true, that they have a preſuming undantedneſs, becauſe of their ſtrength, but what is done by ſtrength proceeds from Strength and not from Valour, which doth reſide in the heart, and in the minde, and not in the arms, and in the ſinews. And the moſt valorous and undanted ſpirits of this Age, and of other Ages, were for the moſt part ſhort, or at the moſt of a middle ſtature; Leonidas, See Plutarch in Peleopidas life.and Peleopidas were but ſhort men; and Sir Francis Veere, and Sir Francis Drake, and the Marſhal de Biron, and the Marſhal Gaſtion were all ſhort men: I conclude then, that Valour and undantedneſs doth reſide in the heart and minde, and not in the ſtrength of the body, and that ſome of all ſtatures may be valiant and undanted. The firſt accidentall cauſe may be the innocency of men, and the juſtice of their Cauſe, for as Salomon ſaith,Prov. 28.1. The wicked flee when no man purſueth, but the righteous are bold as a a Lyon; and it is daily ſeen, that three true men will overcome half a dozen of theeves; And when men fight for the preſervation of the Liberties of their native Countrey, and the lives of their wives and children, and all the means they have, they fight commonly like Lyons. The ſecond accidentall cauſe of Undantedneſs may be, The relations, ſupport, or alliances that men have with potent and powerful Princes or States, for the confidence they have to be backt and ſupported by them, doth make them undertake with undanted courage difficult and perillous enterpriſes;The two accinentall cauſes of the undantedneſs of men. for Inſtance, The Hollanders, a ſmall Commonwealth, being at the firſt ſupported by Elizabeth Queen of England, and afterwards by Henry the fourth King of France, have for many years together undantedly waged war with the great King of Spain; and likewiſe the Kingdom of Sweden, a petty Kingdom, in compariſon of the Empire of Germany, being ſupported by Lewis the 13th King of France, hath with an undanted courage waged war many years with the Houſe of Auſtria. See the Hiſtories of Germany, England, and France.Thirdly, The firſt ſupernatural cauſe of the undantedneſs of men, may be their zeal to Religion, for men do commonly fight like Lyons for the preſervation of the true Religion, as the Proteſtants have done in Germany, and in France, who were but a handful in compariſon of the Roman Catholikes, and yet they have obtained divers famous victories over them. And notwithſtanding Machiavel out of an Atheiſtical mpudency, doth maintain that the Proteſtant Religion doth extinguiſh all true Valour and Undantedneſs in the heart of men, yet divers inſtances migh t be produced to prove that none are ſo couragious and undanted as thoſe that are truly religious;The two ſupernatural cauſes of undantedneſs. for the wicked and prophane do fight but out of deſpair; but true Chriſtians fight out of aſſurance that they ſhall prevaile, becauſe God takes their part. The ſecond ſupernatural cauſe of undantedneſs may be the true eonfidence that men have in the Omnipotency of God, who is able by ſmall means, nay, without means if it pleaſeth him, to make them obtain unexpected Victories, and come off with honor and reputation, from the moſt perilous enterpriſes they undertake, as it ſhall be proved by inſtances, when I ſhall ſpeak of the Effects of Undantedneſs.
Thirdly, The Nature and Proprieties of this Paſſion of Undantedneſs will beſt appear in a comparative way: by ſhewing the differences there are between it and Temerity: firſt, undantedneſs is ever accompanied with Prudence and Juſtice,The nature and proprieties of undantedneſs deſcribed in a comparative way with thoſe of Temerity. but Temerity tramples them both under its feet: ſecondly, Men of undanted courage never imploy their valour but upon ſome noble occaſion, as the defence of their native Countrey, or for the increaſe or glory of it; but men tranſported with Temerity run headlong upon all occaſions, and will rather ſhew their valour to murder their deareſt friends in a Duel upon ſome trivial word ſpoken unadviſedly, then to meet the enemy of their Countrey in the Field: thirdly, Men of undanted courage are cautious in all their undertakings, and will not attempt things, except they fee ſome probability they may come off with honor and reputation, unleſs it be in deſperate caſes, that threaten the ruine of their Prince, or of their native Country, for in ſuch caſes they will willingly ſacrifice their lives, as Leonidas did at the ſtraites of Thermopilae: But men tranſported with temerity, will hazard their lives for things of no moment, that con… her do them nor their Countrey good: fourthly, Men truly valorous … with patience and great magnanimity … and offences that are … their own perſons, and … of ſuch offences and injuries which blemiſh the honour of their Prince or Countrey, but ſuch as are poſſeſſed with temerity, vindicate with ſeverity the offences done to themſelves, and connive at thoſe that are done to their Prince, or native Country. It hath been a ſubject of much debate among the Moraliſts, which of theſe two famous Conquerors, viz. Alexander or Ceſar, See Quintius Curtius in Alexanders life.did excel one another in Undantedneſs of courage; the greater part hold that Alexander in his actions had ſhewn to have more temerity then prudence and true undanted valour, and that Ceſar in his actions had been more unjuſt, but leſs temerary, and had far excelled Alexander in Valour and Courage: firſt, The undertaking of the conqueſt of Aſia by Alexander, was more juſt then Ceſars; for he undertook to ſuppreſs the Perſian Monarchy, that had ever been a mortall enemy to the Greeks; but Ceſar undertook to ſuppreſs the liberties of his native Country that had raiſed him to his honors and dignities, and had intruſted him with their Armies for their defence, and not for their overthrow: ſecondly, All the Actions of Ceſar but one, (that was when he commanded the Maſter of a Ship to croſs the ſea in a moſt impetuous ſtorm,See Plutarch in Ceſars life. ſaying, Fear not, for thou carrieſt in thy Ship Ceſar and his Fortune; which ſavored over-much of Temerity) were guided with much Wiſdom and Prudence; but all the Actions of Alexander were guided by vaine hopes, and his undertakings were raſh and temerary, for there was no humane probability that an Army of fourty thouſand foot, and ten thouſand horſe ſhould be able to encounter and foile, two or three millions of men, but they were raw, and unexperienced ſouldiers, whereas Ceſar had to oppoſe the moſt expert Commanders and well trained ſouldiers that were in the world, his onelyonly excepted, and therefore his undanted courage was far the greater in over-coming of them. But ſome will object, How came it then to paſs that their actions were ſo ſucceſsful and fortunate, ſith the firſt were accompanied with Temerity, and the ſecond with Injuſtice? It may be anſwered, God in his infinite Wiſdom had long before decreed that Alexander ſhould give the laſt period to the Perſian Monarchy,Dan. 7.6.7. and be the firſt Erector of the Grecian Monarchy, and Ceſar the firſt Founder of the Roman Monarchy, which was to excel in Strength and Power all the former Monarchies; and it was Gods Wil and Decree that gave their Temerary, and unjuſt deſigns ſuch ſucceſs, and not their prudence, nor undantedneſs.The evil effects of undantedneſs when it is abuſed.
Fourthly, The Effects of Undantedneſs are of two ſorts, Evil and Good, the evil proceed from the abuſe that men make of ſo noble a Paſſion, but the good are eſſential and natural to it: firſt, As there is nothing ſo good, but may be abuſed by the corrupt and depraved inclination of men; even ſo this noble Paſſion whoſe natural object is Vertue, Prudence, and Juſtice, is extraordinarily abuſed by the evil intentions of men, who make it the Emiſſary of their wrath and revenge.Gen. 34.26. The undanted courage of Simeon and Levi was by them made the agent and inſtrument of their cruel revenge upon all the Inhabitants of Shechem, and upon Hamar and Shechem, the Father and the Son; and had not God out of his mercy towards the old Patriarch Jacob, been pleaſed to ſend a panick fear upon the Cities that were round about them,Gen. 35.5. their raſh temerity had been the cauſe of their utter ruine: ſecondly, The undanted courage of Joab, who was a man of valour from his youth, was made by his immoderate ambition the inſtrument of the two baſe and horrid murders of Abner, 2 Sam. 3.27. 2 Sam. 20.9.and of Amaſa, two more righteous men then he: thirdly, The undanted courage of Alexander, of Marius, of Sylla, of Cataline, and of Ceſar, was by their ambition made the inſtrument of the ſhedding of an ocean of humane blood:See the Hiſtory hf France. fourthly, The undanted courage of the Duke of Guiſe, and of the Marſhal de Biron, was made by their exceſſive ambition the inſtrument of the deſolations that hapned in the civil war of France, and of the troubles that hapned in Henry the fourths dayes, and of their own diſtruction, and fatall end: whereby it appears, that if Valour and Undantedneſs of Courage be abuſed, and are not accompanied with Prudence and Juſtice, that it is a deſtructive paſſion to mankinde, and to the owners themſelves.
But the good Effects of Valour and Undantedneſs that is guided by Prudence,The good effects of undantedneſs that is guided by Prudence and Juſtice. and grounded upon Juſtice, are always honorable to their owners, and profitable to the publike, as it ſhall be proved by Inſtances: firſt, The undanted courage of David that was then but a young ſtripling in oppoſing the rage of the great Champion of the Philiſtins, Goliah, who was ſo preſumptuous as to defie the Army of Iſrael, and by conſequence God himſelf,1 Sam. 17.10. was honorable to him, and a cauſe of joy and comfort to all Iſrael: ſecondly,1 Sam. 14.14, 15, 16. The undanted courage of Jonathan and of his Armor-Bearer, who aſſailed a whole Gariſon of the Philiſtins, and put them to rout, was honorable to him, and was the cauſe of a great deliverance to all the people of Iſrael: thirdly, The undanted courage of Scevola, See Livius in the firſt Decade, leb. 2.who having attempted to kill the King Porſena, killed his Secretary by miſtake; and having been taken and brought before the King, burned his own hands in the flame of a torch with an admirable conſtancy, to inſinuate in the ſaid Kings minde, that there was three hundred young men more in his Camp that had vowed to kill him, as he had eſſaied to do; by which unparallel'd undantedneſs, the King concluded a Peace with the Romans, whereby Mutius Scevola obtained great honor, and the Roman Commonwealth a great deliverance: fourthly,See Livius in the firſt Decade, lib. 2. The undanted courage of Horatius Cocles another Roman Citizen, who was ſo valorous, as to oppoſe himſelf to the whole Army of the ſaid King Porſena, See Livius in the firſt Decade, lib. 2.to hinder it from paſſing over a wooden bridge erected upon the river of Tiber which led into the City of Rome, and made the ſame good till the bridge was broken down behinde him, and then threw himſelf into the river and ſaved himſelf by ſwimming over; by which noble action he obtained great honor,See Plutarch in Themiſtocles life. and preſerved the City of Rome from ruine: fifthly, the undanted courage of a Greek ſouldier in the ſeafight that was fought between the Greeks and the Perſians near to the Iland of Salamina, is worthy of eternal fame; for the Galley which he was in, having boorded and grappled a Perſian Galley, the enemies having cut off the iron hooks, he ſet his right hand to hold it, and that being cut off, he ſet his left hand, and that being alſo cut off, he held the Galley faſt with his teeth, till his head was cut off from his body: ſixthly, The like undanted courage was ſeen in a Chriſtian ſouldier when the City of Vienna was beſieged by Soliman the Great, Emperor of the Turks, for in a great ſtorm that the Turks gave to win a great Baſtion, or ſtone Bulwork, which lieth next to the Gate that leads to Breſsbourgh in Hungaria; a Turkiſh Janiſary having climbed the ſaid Bulwork, with a Turkiſh Flag in one of his hands, to plant the ſame at the point of the Bulwork, a Chriſtian Souldier grappled with him, and flung him and himſelf, from the top of the Bulwork, to the bottom of the Ditch, and ſo were both ſlain; chuſing rather to ſacrifice his life for the preſervation of the City, then to preſerve the ſame, by betraying the truſt that was repoſed on him.See the Turkiſh Hiſtory, in Solimans life. Theſe are the laudable effects of true Valor, and of an Undanted courage.
Fifthly, The Spiritual Uſes that may be made of this noble Paſſion of Undantedneſs, may be theſe. Firſt,Epheſ. 6.16. It may ſerve as a ſhield, to caſt back the fiery darts of the temptations of Satan. Secondly, It may ſerve as a precious antidote, to expel the venome of all maner of Afflictions, Tribulations, and Perſecutions, that can befal a Chriſtian in this life, ſpecially if it be grounded upon a true confidence in Chriſt; for as the Prophet David ſaith,Pſal. 56.4. In God I have put my truſt, I will not fear what fleſh can do unto me. And certainly, if the Undanted courage of men proceed from a true confidence in God, they ſhall never be moved, but ſhall be like the middle region of the Air, which is in a perpetual tranquility, when the undermoſt is diſturbed by impetuous Storms and Tempeſt,Rom. 8.31. for as Saint Paul ſaith, If God be for us, who can be againſt us? Thirdly, This Undanted confidence in the mercies of God, will comfort a Chriſtian at the hour of death, when all other worldly comforts do forſake him; for that is the onelyonly perillous time, in which men have moſt need of this Grace of Spiritual Confidence, and Undantedneſs; becauſe, if Satan, that roaring Lyon, doth then miſs of his prey, men are for ever freed of his paws; and therefore he doth then moſt beſtir himſelf, and uſes the uttermoſt of his wiles, to intrap the weak and ſickly ſouls, into his ſnares. Fourthly, This undanted Confidence made Shadrach, Dan. 3.19.Meſhach, and Abednego, to diſpiſe the burning flames of a Furnace, ſeven times more fierce then it was ordinarily heated; and made the Prophet Daniel to contemn the rage of the hunger-bitten Lyons,and 7.22. when he was caſt into their Den, by the malicious envy of the Princes, Preſidents, and Governors of Perſia. Fifthly, By Faith, and this undanted Confidence, all the ancient Heroes of the old Teſtament, named in the eleventh Chapter of Saint Pauls Epiſtle to the Hebrews, Heb. 11.26.did ſuffer with admirable patience thoſe Anguiſhes of Body, and perplexities of the Minde there ſpecified, becauſe they had reſpect unto the recompence of the reward. Sixthly, This undanted Confidence, cauſed the Apoſtle Peter, and others, to deſpiſe the threatnings and beating of the High Prieſt; and to rejoyce,Acts 5.41. becauſe they were counted worthy to ſuffer ſhame for his Name. And alſo, it made all the Martyrs that ſuffered in Queen Maries days, to bear with admirable patience, the greateſt torments that could be inflicted upon them.
It doth then appear by theſe diſcourſes, that an undanted Confidence in God, ſerves as a ſhield in time of perſecution to Gods children; and that Valor, and an undanted Courage, guided by Prudence, and grounded upon Juſtice, is always honorable to the owners, and profitable to the publike; and that raſh Undantedneſs, is nothing but meer vanity, temerity, and vexation of Spirit, &c.