cheerful speeches, fair promises, and good words, persuade him, advise
him. Many, saith [3447]Galen, have been cured by good counsel and
persuasion alone. Heaviness of the heart of man doth bring it down, but
a good word rejoiceth it, Prov. xii. 25. And there is he that speaketh
words like the pricking of a sword, but the tongue of a wise man is
health, ver. 18. Oratio, namque saucii animi est remedium, a gentle
speech is the true cure of a wounded soul, as [3448]Plutarch contends
out of Aeschylus and Euripides: if it be wisely administered it easeth
grief and pain, as diverse remedies do many other diseases. 'Tis
incantationis instar, a charm, aestuantis animi refrigerium, that true
Nepenthe of Homer, which was no Indian plant, or feigned medicine,
which Epidamna, Thonis' wife, sent Helena for a token, as Macrobius, 7.
Saturnal. Goropius Hermat. lib. 9. Greg. Nazianzen, and others suppose,
but opportunity of speech: for Helena's bowl, Medea's unction, Venus's
girdle, Circe's cup, cannot so enchant, so forcibly move or alter as it
doth. A letter sent or read will do as much; multum allevor quum tuas
literas lego, I am much eased, as [3449]Tully wrote to Pomponius
Atticus, when I read thy letters, and as Julianus the Apostate once
signified to Maximus the philosopher; as Alexander slept with Homer's
works, so do I with thine epistles, tanquam Paeoniis medicamentis,
easque assidue tanquam, recentes et novas iteramus; scribe ergo, et
assidue scribe, or else come thyself; amicus ad amicum venies.
Assuredly a wise and well-spoken man may do what he will in such a
case; a good orator alone, as [3450]Tully holds, can alter affections
by power of his eloquence, comfort such as are afflicted, erect such as
are depressed, expel and mitigate fear, lust, anger, &c. And how
powerful is the charm of a discreet and dear friend? Ille regit dictis
animos et temperat iras. What may not he effect? As [3451]Chremes told
Menedemus, Fear not, conceal it not, O friend! but tell me what it is
that troubles thee, and I shall surely help thee by comfort, counsel,
or in the matter itself. [3452] Arnoldus, lib. 1. breviar. cap. 18.
speaks of a usurer in his time, that upon a loss, much melancholy and
discontent, was so cured. As imagination, fear, grief, cause such
passions, so conceits alone, rectified by good hope, counsel, &c., are
able again to help: and 'tis incredible how much they can do in such a
case, as [3453]Trincavellius illustrates by an example of a patient of
his; Porphyrius, the philosopher, in Plotinus's life (written by him),
relates, that being in a discontented humour through insufferable
anguish of mind, he was going to make away himself: but meeting by
chance his master Plotinus, who perceiving by his distracted looks all
was not well, urged him to confess his grief: which when he had heard,
he used such comfortable speeches, that he redeemed him e faucibus
Erebi, pacified his unquiet mind, insomuch that he was easily
reconciled to himself, and much abashed to think afterwards that he
should ever entertain so vile a motion. By all means, therefore, fair
promises, good words, gentle persuasions, are to be used, not to be too
rigorous at first, [3454]or to insult over them, not to deride,
neglect, or contemn, but rather, as Lemnius exhorteth, to pity, and by
all plausible means to seek to redress them: but if satisfaction may
not be had, mild courses, promises, comfortable speeches, and good
counsel will not take place; then as Christophorus a Vega determines,
lib. 3. cap. 14. de Mel. to handle them more roughly, to threaten and
chide, saith [3455]Altomarus, terrify sometimes, or as Salvianus will
have them, to be lashed and whipped, as we do by a starting horse,
[3456]that is affrighted without a cause, or as [3457]Rhasis adviseth,
one while to speak fair and flatter, another while to terrify and
chide, as they shall see cause.
When none of these precedent remedies will avail, it will not be amiss,
which Savanarola and Aelian Montaltus so much commend, clavum clavo
pellere, [3458]to drive out one passion with another, or by some
contrary passion, as they do bleeding at nose by letting blood in the
arm, to expel one fear with another, one grief with another. [3459]
Christophorus a Vega accounts it rational physic, non alienum a
ratione: and Lemnius much approves it, to use a hard wedge to a hard
knot, to drive out one disease with another, to pull out a tooth, or
wound him, to geld him, saith [3460]Platerus, as they did epileptical
patients of old, because it quite alters the temperature, that the pain
of the one may mitigate the grief of the other; [3461]and I knew one
that was so cured of a quartan ague, by the sudden coming of his
enemies upon him. If we may believe [3462]Pliny, whom Scaliger calls
mendaciorum patrem, the father of lies, Q. Fabius Maximus, that
renowned consul of Rome, in a battle fought with the king of the
Allobroges, at the river Isaurus, was so rid of a quartan ague.
Valesius, in his controversies, holds this an excellent remedy, and if
it be discreetly used in this malady, better than any physic.
Sometimes again by some [3463]feigned lie, strange news, witty device,
artificial invention, it is not amiss to deceive them. [3464]As they
hate those, saith Alexander, that neglect or deride, so they will give
ear to such as will soothe them up. If they say they have swallowed
frogs or a snake, by all means grant it, and tell them you can easily
cure it; 'tis an ordinary thing. Philodotus, the physician, cured a
melancholy king, that thought his head was off, by putting a leaden cap
thereon; the weight made him perceive it, and freed him of his fond
imagination. A woman, in the said Alexander, swallowed a serpent as she
thought; he gave her a vomit, and conveyed a serpent, such as she
conceived, into the basin; upon the sight of it she was amended. The
pleasantest dotage that ever I read, saith [3465]Laurentius, was of a
gentleman at Senes in Italy, who was afraid to piss, lest all the town
should be drowned; the physicians caused the bells to be rung backward,
and told him the town was on fire, whereupon he made water, and was
immediately cured. Another supposed his nose so big that he should dash
it against the wall if he stirred; his physician took a great piece of
flesh, and holding it in his hand, pinched him by the nose, making him
believe that flesh was cut from it. Forestus, obs. lib. 1. had a
melancholy patient, who thought he was dead, [3466]he put a fellow in a
chest, like a dead man, by his bedside, and made him rear himself a
little, and eat: the melancholy man asked the counterfeit, whether dead
men use to eat meat? He told him yea; whereupon he did eat likewise and
was cured. Lemnius, lib. 2. cap. 6. de 4. complex, hath many such
instances, and Jovianus Pontanus, lib. 4. cap. 2. of Wisd. of the like;
but amongst the rest I find one most memorable, registered in the
[3467]French chronicles of an advocate of Paris before mentioned, who
believed verily he was dead, &c. I read a multitude of examples of
melancholy men cured by such artificial inventions.
SUBSECT. III.—_Music a remedy_.
Many and sundry are the means which philosophers and physicians have
prescribed to exhilarate a sorrowful heart, to divert those fixed and
intent cares and meditations, which in this malady so much offend; but
in my judgment none so present, none so powerful, none so apposite as a
cup of strong drink, mirth, music, and merry company. Ecclus. xl. 20.
Wine and music rejoice the heart. [3468]Rhasis, cont. 9. Tract. 15.
Altomarus, cap. 7. Aelianus Montaltus, c. 26. Ficinus, Bened. Victor.
Faventinus are almost immoderate in the commendation of it; a most
forcible medicine [3469]Jacchinus calls it: Jason Pratensis, a most
admirable thing, and worthy of consideration, that can so mollify the
mind, and stay those tempestuous affections of it. Musica est mentis
medicina moestae, a roaring-meg against melancholy, to rear and revive
the languishing soul; [3470]affecting not only the ears, but the very
arteries, the vital and animal spirits, it erects the mind, and makes
it nimble. Lemnius, instit, cap. 44. This it will effect in the most
dull, severe and sorrowful souls, [3471]expel grief with mirth, and if
there be any clouds, dust, or dregs of cares yet lurking in our
thoughts, most powerfully it wipes them all away, Salisbur. polit. lib.
1. cap. 6. and that which is more, it will perform all this in an
instant: [3472]Cheer up the countenance, expel austerity, bring in
hilarity (Girald. Camb. cap. 12. Topog. Hiber.) inform our manners,
mitigate anger; Athenaeus (Dipnosophist. lib. 14. cap. 10.) calleth it
an infinite treasure to such as are endowed with it: Dulcisonum reficit
tristia corda melos, Eobanus Hessus. Many other properties
[3473]Cassiodorus, epist. 4. reckons up of this our divine music, not
only to expel the greatest griefs, but it doth extenuate fears and
furies, appeaseth cruelty, abateth heaviness, and to such as are
watchful it causeth quiet rest; it takes away spleen and hatred, be it
instrumental, vocal, with strings, wind, [3474]Quae, a spiritu, sine
manuum dexteritate gubernetur, &c. it cures all irksomeness and
heaviness of the soul. [3475]Labouring men that sing to their work, can
tell as much, and so can soldiers when they go to fight, whom terror of
death cannot so much affright, as the sound of trumpet, drum, fife, and
such like music animates; metus enim mortis, as [3476]Censorinus
informeth us, musica depellitur. It makes a child quiet, the nurse's
song, and many times the sound of a trumpet on a sudden, bells ringing,
a carman's whistle, a boy singing some ballad tune early in the
streets, alters, revives, recreates a restless patient that cannot
sleep in the night, &c. In a word, it is so powerful a thing that it
ravisheth the soul, regina sensuum, the queen of the senses, by sweet
pleasure (which is a happy cure), and corporal tunes pacify our
incorporeal soul, sine ore loquens, dominatum in animam exercet, and
carries it beyond itself, helps, elevates, extends it. Scaliger,
exercit. 302, gives a reason of these effects, [3477]because the
spirits about the heart take in that trembling and dancing air into the
body, are moved together, and stirred up with it, or else the mind, as
some suppose harmonically composed, is roused up at the tunes of music.
And 'tis not only men that are so affected, but almost all other
creatures. You know the tale of Hercules Gallus, Orpheus, and Amphion,
felices animas Ovid calls them, that could saxa movere sono testudinis,
&c. make stocks and stones, as well as beasts and other animals, dance
after their pipes: the dog and hare, wolf and lamb; vicinumque lupo
praebuit agna latus; clamosus graculus, stridula cornix, et Jovis
aquila, as Philostratus describes it in his images, stood all gaping
upon Orpheus; and [3478]trees pulled up by the roots came to hear him,
Et comitem quercum pinus amica trahit.
Arion made fishes follow him, which, as common experience evinceth,
[3479] are much affected with music. All singing birds are much pleased
with it, especially nightingales, if we may believe Calcagninus; and
bees amongst the rest, though they be flying away, when they hear any
tingling sound, will tarry behind. [3480]Harts, hinds, horses, dogs,
bears, are exceedingly delighted with it. Scal, exerc. 302. Elephants,
Agrippa adds, lib. 2. cap. 24. and in Lydia in the midst of a lake
there be certain floating islands (if ye will believe it), that after
music will dance.
But to leave all declamatory speeches in praise [3481]of divine music,
I will confine myself to my proper subject: besides that excellent
power it hath to expel many other diseases, it is a sovereign remedy
against [3482] despair and melancholy, and will drive away the devil
himself. Canus, a Rhodian fiddler, in [3483]Philostratus, when
Apollonius was inquisitive to know what he could do with his pipe, told
him, That he would make a melancholy man merry, and him that was merry
much merrier than before, a lover more enamoured, a religious man more
devout. Ismenias the Theban, [3484]Chiron the centaur, is said to have
cured this and many other diseases by music alone: as now they do
those, saith [3485]Bodine, that are troubled with St. Vitus's Bedlam
dance. [3486]Timotheus, the musician, compelled Alexander to skip up
and down, and leave his dinner (like the tale of the Friar and the
Boy), whom Austin, de civ. Dei, lib. 17. cap. 14. so much commends for
it. Who hath not heard how David's harmony drove away the evil spirits
from king Saul, 1 Sam. xvi. and Elisha when he was much troubled by
importunate kings, called for a minstrel, and when he played, the hand
of the Lord came upon him, 2 Kings iii. Censorinus de natali, cap. 12.
reports how Asclepiades the physician helped many frantic persons by
this means, phreneticorum mentes morbo turbatas—Jason Pratensis, cap.
de Mania, hath many examples, how Clinias and Empedocles cured some
desperately melancholy, and some mad by this our music. Which because
it hath such excellent virtues, belike [3487]Homer brings in Phemius
playing, and the Muses singing at the banquet of the gods. Aristotle,
Polit. l. 8. c. 5, Plato 2. de legibus, highly approve it, and so do
all politicians. The Greeks, Romans, have graced music, and made it one
of the liberal sciences, though it be now become mercenary. All civil
Commonwealths allow it: Cneius Manlius (as [3488]Livius relates) anno
ab urb. cond. 567. brought first out of Asia to Rome singing wenches,
players, jesters, and all kinds of music to their feasts. Your princes,
emperors, and persons of any quality, maintain it in their courts; no
mirth without music. Sir Thomas More, in his absolute Utopian
commonwealth, allows music as an appendix to every meal, and that
throughout, to all sorts. Epictetus calls mensam mutam praesepe, a
table without music a manger: for the concert of musicians at a banquet
is a carbuncle set in gold; and as the signet of an emerald well
trimmed with gold, so is the melody of music in a pleasant banquet.
Ecclus. xxxii. 5, 6. [3489]Louis the Eleventh, when he invited Edward
the Fourth to come to Paris, told him that as a principal part of his
entertainment, he should hear sweet voices of children, Ionic and
Lydian tunes, exquisite music, he should have a —, and the cardinal of
Bourbon to be his confessor, which he used as a most plausible
argument: as to a sensual man indeed it is. [3490] Lucian in his book,
de saltatione, is not ashamed to confess that he took infinite delight
in singing, dancing, music, women's company, and such like pleasures:
and if thou (saith he) didst but hear them play and dance, I know thou
wouldst be so well pleased with the object, that thou wouldst dance for
company thyself, without doubt thou wilt be taken with it. So Scaliger
ingenuously confesseth, exercit. 274. [3491]I am beyond all measure
affected with music, I do most willingly behold them dance, I am
mightily detained and allured with that grace and comeliness of fair
women, I am well pleased to be idle amongst them. And what young man is
not? As it is acceptable and conducing to most, so especially to a
melancholy man. Provided always, his disease proceed not originally
from it, that he be not some light inamorato, some idle fantastic, who
capers in conceit all the day long, and thinks of nothing else, but how
to make jigs, sonnets, madrigals, in commendation of his mistress. In
such cases music is most pernicious, as a spur to a free horse will
make him run himself blind, or break his wind; Incitamentum enim amoris
musica, for music enchants, as Menander holds, it will make such
melancholy persons mad, and the sound of those jigs and hornpipes will
not be removed out of the ears a week after. [3492]Plato for this
reason forbids music and wine to all young men, because they are most
part amorous, ne ignis addatur igni, lest one fire increase another.
Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing
melancholy that it causeth; and therefore to such as are discontent, in
woe, fear, sorrow, or dejected, it is a most present remedy: it expels
cares, alters their grieved minds, and easeth in an instant. Otherwise,
saith [3493]Plutarch, Musica magis dementat quam vinum; music makes
some men mad as a tiger; like Astolphos' horn in Ariosto; or Mercury's
golden wand in Homer, that made some wake, others sleep, it hath divers
effects: and [3494]Theophrastus right well prophesied, that diseases
were either procured by music, or mitigated.
SUBSECT. IV.—_Mirth and merry company, fair objects, remedies_.
Mirth and merry company may not be separated from music, both
concerning and necessarily required in this business. Mirth, (saith
[3495]Vives) purgeth the blood, confirms health, causeth a fresh,
pleasing, and fine colour, prorogues life, whets the wit, makes the
body young, lively and fit for any manner of employment. The merrier
the heart the longer the life; A merry heart is the life of the flesh,
Prov. xiv. 30. Gladness prolongs his days, Ecclus. xxx. 22; and this is
one of the three Salernitan doctors, Dr. Merryman, Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet,
[3496]which cure all diseases—Mens hilaris, requies, moderata dieta.
[3497]Gomesius, praefat. lib. 3. de sal. gen. is a great magnifier of
honest mirth, by which (saith he) we cure many passions of the mind in
ourselves, and in our friends; which [3498]Galateus assigns for a cause
why we love merry companions: and well they deserve it, being that as
[3499]Magninus holds, a merry companion is better than any music, and
as the saying is, comes jucundus in via pro vehiculo, as a wagon to him
that is wearied on the way. Jucunda confabulatio, sales, joci, pleasant
discourse, jests, conceits, merry tales, melliti verborum globuli, as
Petronius, [3500] Pliny, [3501]Spondanus, [3502]Caelius, and many good
authors plead, are that sole Nepenthes of Homer, Helena's bowl, Venus's
girdle, so renowned of old [3503]to expel grief and care, to cause
mirth and gladness of heart, if they be rightly understood, or
seasonably applied. In a word,
[3504]Amor, voluptas, Venus, gaudium,
Jocus, ludus, sermo suavis, suaviatio.
Gratification, pleasure, love, joy,
Mirth, sport, pleasant words and no alloy,
are the true Nepenthes. For these causes our physicians generally
prescribe this as a principal engine to batter the walls of melancholy,
a chief antidote, and a sufficient cure of itself. By all means (saith
[3505] Mesue) procure mirth to these men in such things as are heard,
seen, tasted, or smelled, or any way perceived, and let them have all
enticements and fair promises, the sight of excellent beauties,
attires, ornaments, delightsome passages to distract their minds from
fear and sorrow, and such things on which they are so fixed and intent.
[3506]Let them use hunting, sports, plays, jests, merry company, as
Rhasis prescribes, which will not let the mind be molested, a cup of
good drink now and then, hear music, and have such companions with whom
they are especially delighted; [3507]merry tales or toys, drinking,
singing, dancing, and whatsoever else may procure mirth: and by no
means, saith Guianerius, suffer them to be alone. Benedictus Victorius
Faventinus, in his empirics, accounts it an especial remedy against
melancholy, [3508]to hear and see singing, dancing, maskers, mummers,
to converse with such merry fellows and fair maids. For the beauty of a
woman cheereth the countenance, Ecclus. xxxvi. 22. [3509] Beauty alone
is a sovereign remedy against fear, grief, and all melancholy fits; a
charm, as Peter de la Seine and many other writers affirm, a banquet
itself; he gives instance in discontented Menelaus, that was so often
freed by Helena's fair face: and [3510]Tully, 3 Tusc. cites Epicurus as
a chief patron of this tenet. To expel grief, and procure pleasure,
sweet smells, good diet, touch, taste, embracing, singing, dancing,
sports, plays, and above the rest, exquisite beauties, quibus oculi
jucunde moventur et animi, are most powerful means, obvia forma, to
meet or see a fair maid pass by, or to be in company with her. He found
it by experience, and made good use of it in his own person, if
Plutarch belie him not; for he reckons up the names of some more
elegant pieces; [3511]Leontia, Boedina, Hedieia, Nicedia, that were
frequently seen in Epicurus' garden, and very familiar in his house.
Neither did he try it himself alone, but if we may give credit to
[3512]Atheneus, he practised it upon others. For when a sad and sick
patient was brought unto him to be cured, he laid him on a down bed,
crowned him with a garland of sweet-smelling flowers, in a fair
perfumed closet delicately set out, and after a portion or two of good
drink, which he administered, he brought in a beautiful young
[3513]wench that could play upon a lute, sing, and dance, &c. Tully, 3.
Tusc. scoffs at Epicurus, for this his profane physic (as well he
deserved), and yet Phavorinus and Stobeus highly approve of it; most of
our looser physicians in some cases, to such parties especially, allow
of this; and all of them will have a melancholy, sad, and discontented
person, make frequent use of honest sports, companies, and recreations,
et incitandos ad Venerem, as [3514]Rodericus a Fonseca will, aspectu et
contactu pulcherrimarum foeminarum, to be drawn to such consorts,
whether they will or no. Not to be an auditor only, or a spectator, but
sometimes an actor himself. Dulce est desipere in loco, to play the
fool now and then is not amiss, there is a time for all things. Grave
Socrates would be merry by fits, sing, dance, and take his liquor too,
or else Theodoret belies him; so would old Cato, [3515]Tully by his own
confession, and the rest. Xenophon, in his Sympos. brings in Socrates
as a principal actor, no man merrier than himself, and sometimes he
would [3516]ride a cockhorse with his children.—equitare in arundine
longa. (Though Alcibiades scoffed at him for it) and well he might; for
now and then (saith Plutarch) the most virtuous, honest, and gravest
men will use feasts, jests, and toys, as we do sauce to our meats. So
did Scipio and Laelius,
[3517]Qui ubi se a vulgo et scena in secreta remorant,
Virtus Scipiadae et mitis sapientia Laeli,
Nugari cum illo, et discincti ludere, donec
Decoqueretur olus, soliti———
Valorous Scipio and gentle Laelius,
Removed from the scene and rout so clamorous,
Were wont to recreate themselves their robes laid by,
Whilst supper by the cook was making ready.
Machiavel, in the eighth book of his Florentine history, gives this
note of Cosmo de Medici, the wisest and gravest man of his time in
Italy, that he would [3518]now and then play the most egregious fool in
his carriage, and was so much given to jesters, players and childish
sports, to make himself merry, that he that should but consider his
gravity on the one part, his folly and lightness on the other, would
surely say, there were two distinct persons in him. Now methinks he did
well in it, though [3519] Salisburiensis be of opinion, that
magistrates, senators, and grave men, should not descend to lighter
sports, ne respublica ludere videatur: but as Themistocles, still keep
a stern and constant carriage. I commend Cosmo de Medici and
Castruccius Castrucanus, than whom Italy never knew a worthier captain,
another Alexander, if [3520]Machiavel do not deceive us in his life:
when a friend of his reprehended him for dancing beside his dignity,
(belike at some cushion dance) he told him again, qui sapit interdiu,
vix unquam noctii desipit, he that is wise in the day may dote a little
in the night. Paulus Jovius relates as much of Pope Leo Decimus, that
he was a grave, discreet, staid man, yet sometimes most free, and too
open in his sports. And 'tis not altogether [3521]unfit or misbeseeming
the gravity of such a man, if that decorum of time, place, and such
circumstances be observed. [3522]Misce stultitiam consiliis brevem—and
as [3523]he said in an epigram to his wife, I would have every man say
to himself, or to his friend,
Moll, once in pleasant company by chance,
I wished that you for company would dance:
Which you refus'd, and said, your years require,
Now, matron-like, both manners and attire.
Well, Moll, if needs you will be matron-like,
Then trust to this, I will thee matron-like:
Yet so to you my love, may never lessen,
As you for church, house, bed, observe this lesson:
Sit in the church as solemn as a saint,
No deed, word, thought, your due devotion taint:
Veil, if you will, your head, your soul reveal
To him that only wounded souls can heal:
Be in my house as busy as a bee.
Having a sting for every one but me;
Buzzing in every corner, gath'ring honey:
Let nothing waste, that costs or yieldeth money.
[3524]And when thou seest my heart to mirth incline,
Thy tongue, wit, blood, warm with good cheer and wine:
Then of sweet sports let no occasion scape,
But be as wanton, toying as an ape.
Those old [3525]Greeks had their Lubentiam Deam, goddess of pleasure,
and the Lacedaemonians, instructed from Lycurgus, did Deo Risui
sucrificare, after their wars especially, and in times of peace, which
was used in Thessaly, as it appears by that of [3526]Apuleius, who was
made an instrument of their laughter himself: [3527]Because laughter
and merriment was to season their labours and modester life.
[3528]Risus enim divum atque; hominum est aeterna voluptas. Princes use
jesters, players, and have those masters of revels in their courts. The
Romans at every supper (for they had no solemn dinner) used music,
gladiators, jesters, &c. as [3529]Suetonius relates of Tiberius, Dion
of Commodus, and so did the Greeks. Besides music, in Xenophon's
Sympos. Philippus ridendi artifex, Philip, a jester, was brought to
make sport. Paulus Jovius, in the eleventh book of his history, hath a
pretty digression of our English customs, which howsoever some may
misconstrue, I, for my part, will interpret to the best. [3530]The
whole nation beyond all other mortal men, is most given to banqueting
and feasts; for they prolong them many hours together, with dainty
cheer, exquisite music, and facete jesters, and afterwards they fall a
dancing and courting their mistresses, till it be late in the night.
Volateran gives the same testimony of this island, commending our
jovial manner of entertainment and good mirth, and methinks he saith
well, there is no harm in it; long may they use it, and all such modest
sports. Ctesias reports of a Persian king, that had 150 maids attending
at his table, to play, sing, and dance by turns; and [3531]Lil.
Geraldus of an Egyptian prince, that kept nine virgins still to wait
upon him, and those of most excellent feature, and sweet voices, which
afterwards gave occasion to the Greeks of that fiction of the nine
Muses. The king of Ethiopia in Africa, most of our Asiatic princes have
done so and do; those Sophies, Mogors, Turks, &c. solace themselves
after supper amongst their queens and concubines, quae jucundioris
oblectamenti causa ([3532]saith mine author) coram rege psallere et
saltare consueverant, taking great pleasure to see and hear them sing
and dance. This and many such means to exhilarate the heart of men,
have been still practised in all ages, as knowing there is no better
thing to the preservation of man's life. What shall I say, then, but to
every melancholy man,
[3533]Utere convivis, non tristibus utere amicis,
Quos nugae et risus, et joca salsa juvant.
Feast often, and use friends not still so sad,
Whose jests and merriments may make thee glad.
Use honest and chaste sports, scenical shows, plays, games; [3534]
Accedant juvenumque Chori, mistaeque puellae. And as Marsilius Ficinus
concludes an epistle to Bernard Canisianus, and some other of his
friends, will I this tract to all good students, [3535]Live merrily, O
my friends, free from cares, perplexity, anguish, grief of mind, live
merrily, laetitia caelum vos creavit: [3536]Again and again I request
you to be merry, if anything trouble your hearts, or vex your souls,
neglect and contemn it, [3537]let it pass. [3538]And this I enjoin you,
not as a divine alone, but as a physician; for without this mirth,
which is the life and quintessence of physic, medicines, and whatsoever
is used and applied to prolong the life of man, is dull, dead, and of
no force. Dum fata sinunt, vivite laeti (Seneca), I say be merry.
[3539]Nec lusibus virentem
Viduemus hanc juventam.
It was Tiresias the prophet's council to [3540]Menippus, that travelled
all the world over, even down to hell itself to seek content, and his
last farewell to Menippus, to be merry. [3541]Contemn the world (saith
he) and count that is in it vanity and toys; this only covet all thy
life long; be not curious, or over solicitous in anything, but with a
well composed and contented estate to enjoy thyself, and above all
things to be merry.
[3542]Si Numerus uti censet sine amore jocisque,
Nil est jucundum, vivas in amore jocisque.