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← ExitThe Anatomy of Melancholy

Reading language

Democritus Junior to the Reader

I hate all hereditary slaves, and that duram Persarum legem, as Brisonius cals it; or as Ammianus, impendio formidatas & abominandas leges, per quas ob noxam unius, omnis propinquitas perit, hard law that wife and children, friends and allies should suffer for the fathers offence.

No man shall marry until he be 25. no woman till she be 20. nisi aliter dispensatum fuerit. If one die, the other party shall not marry till six months after;

and because many families are compelled to live niggardly, exhaust and undone by great dowers, none shal be given at all, or very little, and that by supervisors rated, they that are foul shal have a greater portion; if fair, none at all, or very little: howsoever not to exceed such a rate as those supervisors shal think fit.

And when once they come to those years, poverty shall hinder no man from marriage, or any other respect, but all shall be rather inforced then hindered, except they be dismembred, or grievously deformed, infirm, or visited with some enormous hereditary disease, in body or mind; in such cases upon a great pain, or mulct, man or woman shall not marry, other order shall be taken for them to their content. If people overabound, they shall be eased by Colonies.

No man shall wear weapons in any City. The same attire shall be kept, and that proper to several callings, by which they shall be distinguished. Luxus funerum shall be taken away, that intempestive expense moderated, and many others.

Brokers, takers of pawns, biting usurers, I will not admit; yet because hic cum hominibus non cum diis agitur, we converse here with men, not with gods, and for the hardnesse of mens hearts I will tolerate some kinde of usury. If we were honest, I confesse, si probi essemus, we should have no use of it, but being as it is, we must necessarily admit it.

Howsoever most Divines contradict it, Dicimus inficias, sed vox ea sola reperta est. it must be winked at by Politicians. And yet some great Doctors approve of it, Calvin, Bucer, Zanchius, P. Martyr, because by so many grand lawyers, decrees of Emperors, Princes Statutes, customs of Common-wealths, churches approbations it is permitted, &c. I wil therefore allow it.

But to no private persons, not to every man that wil, to orphans only, maids, widows, or such as by reason of their age, sex, education, ignorance of trading, know not otherwise how to employ it, and those so approved, not to let it out apart, but to bring their money to a common bank which shall be allowed in every city, as in Genua, Geneva, Noremberg, Venice, at 5, 6, 7. not above 8 per centum, as the supervisors, or ærarii præfecti shall think fit.

And as it shall not be lawful for each man to be an Usurer that will, so shall it not be lawful for all to take up money at use, not to prodigals and spendthrifts, but to merchants, yong tradesmen, such as stand in need, or know honestly how to imploy it, whose necessity, cause and condition the said supervisors shall approve of.

I wil have no private monopolies, to enrich one man, and begger a multitude, multiplicity of offices, of supplying by deputies, weights and measures the same throughout, and those rectified by the Primum mobile, and Suns motion, threescore miles to a degree according to observation, 1000. Geometrical paces to a mile, five foot to a pace, twelve inches to a foot, &c. & from measures known it is an easie matter to rectifie weights &c. to cast up all, and resolve bodies by Algebra, Stereometry.

I hate wars if they be not ad populi salutem, upon urgent occasion, Odimus accipitrem, quia semper vivit in armis. offensive wars, except the cause be very just, I will not allow of.

For I do highly magnifie that saying of Hannibal to Scipio, in Livy, It had been a blessed thing for you and us, if God had given that minde to our predecessors, that you had been content with Italy, we with Africk. For neither Sicily, nor Sardinia are worth such cost and pains, so many fleets and armies, or so many famous Captains lives.

Omnia prius tentanda, fair means shall first be tried. Peragit tranquilla potestas, Quod violenta nequit. I will have them proceed with all moderation: but hear you, Fabius my General, not Minutius, nam qui Consilio nititur plus hostibus nocet, quam qui sine animi ratione, viribus:

1087.Burtonp. 66, u: “Lib. 2. de reg. Persarum.” Editor: Brisson, on the Persian kingdom, book 2; exact passage uncollated.

1088.Burtonp. 66, x: “Lib. 24.” Editor: The passage is Ammianus Marcellinus 23.6.81, in the description of Persian laws. Burton compresses its account of terrifying laws and laws under which an offender’s entire kinship group perishes. His printed book number 24 is retained.

1089.Burtonp. 66, y: “Aliter Aristoteles, a man at 25. a woman at 20. polit.” Editor: Aliter means “otherwise.” The printed ages match Burton’s body text, despite that opening word. Aristotle, Politics 7.16, instead recommends about eighteen for women and thirty-seven for men. The discrepancy is retained.

1090.Burtonp. 66, z: “Lex olim Licurgi, hodie Chinensium; vide Plutarchum, Riccium, Hemmingium, Arnisæum, Nevisanum, & alios de hac quæstione.” Editor: “Formerly the law of Lycurgus, today that of the Chinese; see Plutarch, Ricci, Hemmingius, Arnisaeus, Nevizanus, and others on this question.” The authorities and exact scope of the comparison remain uncollated.

1091.Burtonp. 66, a: “Alfredus.” Editor: Alfred; exact legal source uncollated.

1092.Burtonp. 66, b: “Apud Lacones olim virgines sine dote nubebant. Boter. l. 3. c. 3.” Editor: “Among the Spartans, maidens formerly married without dowries. Botero, book 3, chapter 3.” Exact passage uncollated.

1093.Burtonp. 66, c: “Lege cautum non ita pridem apud Venetes, ne quis Patritius dotem excederet 1500 coron.” Editor: “Not long ago the Venetians provided by law that no patrician should exceed a dowry of 1,500 crowns.” Burton’s historical claim has not been independently established.

1095.Burtonp. 66, d: “Bux. Synag. Iud. Sic Iudæi. Leo Afer Africæ descript. ne sint aliter incontinentes ob reipub. bonum. Ut August. Cæsar. orat. ad cœlibes Romanos olim edocuit.” Editor: “Buxtorf, Jewish Synagogue. So the Jews. Leo Africanus, Description of Africa: lest they otherwise be unchaste, for the commonwealth’s good, as Augustus Caesar once taught in his address to unmarried Romans.” Exact passages uncollated; the generalisations are Burton’s.

1096.Burtonp. 66, e: “Morbo laborans, qui in prolem facile diffunditur, ne genus humanum fœda contagione lædatur, juventute castratur; mulieres tales procul a consortio virorum ablegantur, &c. Hector Boethius hist. lib. 1. de vet. Scotorum moribus.” Editor: “A person suffering from a disease easily transmitted to offspring is castrated in youth, lest humankind be harmed by foul infection; women of that kind are banished far from the company of men, etc. Hector Boece, History, book 1, on the ancient customs of the Scots.” Burton’s cited account, not an independently established description.

1097.Burtonp. 66, f: “Speciosissimi juvenes liberis dabunt operam. Plato 5. de legibus.” Editor: “The handsomest young men shall devote themselves to producing children. Plato, Laws, book 5.” Printed attribution retained; exact passage uncollated.

1098.Burtonp. 66, g: “The Saxons exclude dumb, blinde, leprous, and such like persons from all inheritance, as we do fools.” Editor: The historical legal comparison is retained but remains uncollated. Fools here is an old legal and social designation associated with intellectual incapacity.

1099.Burtonp. 66, h: “Ut olim Romani, Hispani hodie, &c.” Editor: “As formerly the Romans, and today the Spaniards, etc.” The comparison concerns colonies as an outlet for population.

1101.Burtonp. 66, i: “Riccius lib. 11. cap. 5. de Sinarum. expedit. sic Hispani cogunt Mauros arma deponere. So it is in most Italian cities.” Editor: “Ricci, Expedition into China, book 11, chapter 5, as printed; so the Spaniards compel the Moors to lay down their weapons.” Printed book number, exact passage, and comparisons uncollated.

1102.Burtonp. 66, k: “Idem Plato 12. de legibus, it hath ever been immoderate vide Guil. Stuckium antiq. convival. lib. 1. cap. 26.” Editor: “Likewise Plato, Laws, book 12; see Wilhelm Stucki, Antiquities of Feasting, book 1, chapter 26.” Exact passages uncollated.

1103.Burtonp. 66, l: “Plato 9. de legibus.” Editor: “Plato, Laws, book 9.” No clear l anchor is visible in the body. The note is provisionally attached to the discussion of lending at interest; its placement and printed book number require collation.

1106.Burtonp. 67, m: “As those Lombards beyond Seas, though with some reformation, mons pietatis, or bank of charity, as Malines terms it, cap. 33. Lex mercat. part. 2. that lend money upon easie pawns, or take money upon adventure for mens lives.” Editor: Lombards here are moneylenders; a mons pietatis is a charitable lending institution. Malynes, Lex Mercatoria, part 2, chapter 33, as printed; exact passage uncollated.

1107.Burtonp. 67, n: “That proportion will make merchandise increase, land dearer, and better improved, as he hath judicially proved in his tract of usury, exhibited to the Parliament, anno 1621.” Editor: The author is not named in this entry; attribution remains unresolved. The claimed effects are Burton’s report, not an established economic result.

1108.Burtonp. 67, o: “Hoc fere Zanchius com. in 4 cap. ad Ephes. æquissimam vocat usuram, & charitati Christianæ consentaneam, modo non exigant, &c. nec omnes dent ad fœnus, sed ii qui in pecuniis bona habent, & ob ætatem, sexum, artis alicujus ignorantiâ, non possunt uti. Nec omnibus, sed mercatoribus & iis qui honestè impendent, &c.” Editor: “Zanchi, commentary on Ephesians chapter 4, calls approximately this form of interest entirely just and consistent with Christian charity, provided they do not exact it, etc.; not everyone should lend, but those whose wealth is in money and who cannot otherwise use it because of age, sex, or ignorance of a trade. Nor should loans go to everyone, but to merchants and those who will spend honestly, etc.” Printed ellipses and irregular construction retained; exact passage uncollated.

1109.Burtonp. 67, p: “Idem apud Persas olim, lege Brisonium.” Editor: “Likewise among the Persians formerly; read Brisson.” Exact passage uncollated.

1111.Burtonp. 67, q: “Idem Plato de legibus.” Editor: “Likewise Plato, Laws.” Exact passage uncollated.

1113.Burtonp. 67, r: “Lib. 30. Optimum quidem fuerat eam patribus nostris mentem a diis datam esse, ut vos Italiæ, nos Africæ imperio contenti essemus. Neque enim Sicilia aut Sardinia satis digna precia sunt pro tot classibus, &c.” Editor: “Book 30. It would have been best if the gods had given our fathers such a mind that you were content with dominion over Italy and we over Africa. For Sicily or Sardinia are not a sufficient price for so many fleets, etc.” Livy 30.30, Hannibal’s appeal to Scipio. Burton’s English changes the plural gods to God and expands the abbreviated marginal quotation.

1114.Burtonp. 67, s: “Claudian.” Editor: Claudian, Panegyric on the Consulship of Manlius Theodorus 239–240. The maxim is repeated in marginal note x below.

1115.Burtonp. 67, asterisk at qui Consilio: “Thucidides.” Editor: Thucydides; the precise source of this Latin formulation remains unlocated.