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Robert Burton

The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

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The Anatomy of MelancholyTreatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

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Facing Pages · Branch 1052 of 1495

Treatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

Book Mode

1651 English

710–711

The Lord is near them that are of a contrite heart, Luk. 4. 18. A true desire of mercy in the want of mercy, is mercy it self; a desire of grace in the want of grace, is grace it self; a constant and earnest desire to believe, repent, and to be reconciled to God, if it be in a touched heart, is an acceptation of God, a reconciliation, Faith and Repentance it self.

For it is not thy Faith and Repentance, as Chrysostom truly teacheth, that is vailable, but Gods mercy that is annexed to it, he accepts the will for the deed: So that I conclude; to feel in our selves the want of grace, and to be grieved for it, is grace it self.

I am troubled with fear my sins are not forgiven, Careless objects; but Bradford answers, they are; For God hath given thee a penitent and believing heart, that is, an heart which desireth to repent and believe; for such a one is taken of him (he accepting the will for the deed) for a truly penitent and believing heart.

All this is true thou replyest, but yet it concerns not thee, ’tis verified in ordinary offenders, in common sins, but thine are of an higher strain, even against the Holy Ghost himself, irremissible sins, sins of the first magnitude, written with a pen of Iron, engraven with the point of a Diamond.

Thou art worse then a Pagan, Infidel, Jew, or Turk; for thou art an Apostate and more, thou hast voluntarily blasphemed, renounced God and all Religion, thou art worse then Judas himself, or they that crucified Christ: for they did offend out of ignorance, but thou hast thought in thine heart there is no God.

Thou hast given thy soul to the Divel, as Witchers and Conjurers do, explicitè and implicitè, by compact, band, and obligation (a desperate, a fearfull case) to satisfie thy lust, or to be revenged of thine enemies, thou didst never pray, come to Church, hear, read, or do any divine duties with any devotion, but for formality and fashion sake, with a kinde of reluctancie, ’twas troublesome and painfull to thee to perform any such thing, præter voluntatem, against thy will.

Thou never mad’st any conscience of lying, swearing, bearing false witness, murder, adultery, brybery, oppression, theft, drunkenness, idolatry, but hast ever done all duties for fear of punishment, as they were most advantageous, and to thine own ends, and committed all such notorious sins, with an extraordinary delight, hating that thou shouldest love, and loving that thou shouldest hate.

In stead of Faith, fear and love of God, repentance, &c. blasphemous thoughts have been ever harboured in his minde, even against God himself, the blessed Trinitie: the Scripture false, rude, harsh, immethodicall: Heaven, hell, resurrection, meer toyes and fables; incredible, impossible, absurd, vain, ill contrived; Religion, Policie, and humane invention, to keep men in obedience, or for profit, invented by Priests and Law-givers to that purpose.

13143.BurtonSource page 710, c: “Abernethy, Perkins.”

13145.BurtonSource page 710, d: “Non est pœnitentia, sed Dei misericordia annexa.” “It is not repentance, but God’s mercy joined to it.”

13152.BurtonSource page 711, first asterisk: “Cecilius Minutio, Omnia ista figmenta male sanæ religionis, & inepta solatia à poetis inventa, vel ab aliis ob commodum, superstitiosa misteria, &c.” “Caecilius in Minucius: all those inventions of an unsound religion, foolish consolations devised by poets, or by others for gain, superstitious mysteries,” and so on.

13153.BurtonSource page 711, second asterisk: “These temptations and objections are well answered in John Downams christian warfare.” “These temptations and objections are well answered in John Downame’s Christian Warfare.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Treatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

p. 1052

The Lord is near those with a contrite heart, Luke 4:18. A true desire for mercy when mercy is lacking is itself mercy; a desire for grace when grace is lacking is itself grace. A constant and earnest desire to believe, repent and be reconciled to God, if it is in a heart that has been moved, is acceptance by God, reconciliation, faith and repentance itself.

For what has effect, as Chrysostom truly teaches, is not your faith and repentance but God’s mercy joined to it: he accepts the will for the deed. I therefore conclude that to feel the lack of grace within ourselves and grieve over it is itself grace.

I am troubled by the fear that my sins are not forgiven, Careless objects. But Bradford answers that they are: God has given you a penitent and believing heart, meaning a heart that desires to repent and believe. He regards such a heart—accepting the will for the deed—as truly penitent and believing.

All this is true, you reply, but it does not apply to you. It holds for ordinary offenders and common sins, while yours are of a higher order, against the Holy Spirit himself: unforgivable sins, sins of the greatest magnitude, written with an iron pen and engraved with a diamond point.

You are worse than a pagan, unbeliever, Jew or Turk, for you are an apostate and more: you have deliberately blasphemed and renounced God and all religion. You are worse than Judas himself or those who crucified Christ, for they sinned out of ignorance, whereas you have thought in your heart that there is no God.

You have given your soul to the devil, as witches and conjurers do, explicitly and implicitly, by pact, bond and obligation—a desperate and fearful condition—to satisfy your lust or take revenge on your enemies. You have never prayed, attended church, listened, read or performed any religious duty with devotion, but only for form’s sake and to follow custom, with a kind of reluctance. Any such performance was troublesome and painful to you, contrary to your will, against your will.

You have never had any scruple about lying, swearing, bearing false witness, murder, adultery, bribery, oppression, theft, drunkenness or idolatry. You have always fulfilled duties from fear of punishment, when they were most advantageous and served your own ends, and committed all such notorious sins with extraordinary delight, hating what you should love and loving what you should hate.

In place of faith, fear and love of God, repentance and so on, blasphemous thoughts have always lodged in his mind, even against God himself, the blessed Trinity: Scripture is false, crude, harsh and disordered; heaven, hell and resurrection are mere trifles and fables—incredible, impossible, absurd, empty and badly devised. Religion is statecraft and human invention, devised by priests and lawmakers to keep people obedient or to make a profit.

13144.The opening wording corresponds to Psalm 34:18. Burton prints Luke 4:18, a related passage that speaks in the King James tradition of healing the brokenhearted. Both the printed locator and the distinction are preserved. Touched means inwardly moved, particularly by an awareness of sin.

13146.Vailable means effective or availing. The marginal Latin names repentance and divine mercy; Burton’s body adds faith and the acceptance of intention. No work or homily is specified for the Chrysostom attribution.

13147.John Bradford’s letter to John Careless, preserved in Foxe’s Acts and Monuments, contains this assurance and the explanation of a heart that desires to repent and believe. The exchange is cited testimony, not a confession by Burton.

13148.The iron pen and diamond point echo Jeremiah 17:1. First magnitude borrows the language of ranking stars by brightness. Burton is again stating the sufferer’s objection, which he will answer by distinguishing unwanted thoughts from final, wilful rejection.

13149.The hierarchy of religious outsiders belongs to the imagined self-accusation and to Burton’s Christian polemical vocabulary. Apostate means one who abandons a previously professed faith. The translation retains the accusation rather than endorsing its ranking of people.

13150.Band means bond, particularly a binding undertaking. Explicit and implicit pacts belong to the period’s demonological account of witchcraft. The passage continues the sufferer’s catalogue of accusations. The Latin phrase and its English restatement are both translated.

13151.To make conscience of something means to consider it as a matter of moral obligation or scruple. The catalogue deliberately accumulates accusations; it is not evidence that a particular person committed them all.

13154.Burton shifts from thou to his while presenting thoughts he condemns. Policie here means political contrivance or statecraft. The margin invokes Caecilius, the pagan speaker in Minucius Felix’s Octavius 11; Burton abbreviates and extends that speech. These objections are not the conclusions of the dialogue or of this edition.

About This Reading Edition

Robert Burton’s Anatomy ranges across medicine, philosophy, poetry, religion, and everyday life in its inquiry into melancholy. This complete parallel edition pairs the 1651 English text with a close modern English rendering, preserving the three Partitions, Democritus Junior’s address to the reader, verse, and the historical index.

Historical Text and Translation

The historical text follows the sixth edition, printed at Oxford for Henry Cripps in 1651, using the McGill University Library copy. The supplied edition documents missing printed pages 98–99 supplied from another 1651 copy at the Bavarian State Library. Historical folio labels and their irregularities remain visible; web reader numbers identify reflowed passages and do not claim to reproduce PDF pagination.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared the close modern English rendering and editorial matter. All 8,755 original and modern passage pairs remain aligned, with verse breaks, italics, continuations, and linked annotations preserved. Burton’s 6,781 historical notes retain their attribution; 6,895 editorial notes remain distinct. The introduction, Note on the Text, contextual lexicon, indexes, source documentation, and bibliography are included. The engraved frontispiece remains available in the original downloads.

Rights

Burton’s historical text is in the public domain. The modern English rendering, introduction, notes, and editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and appear with the site owner’s permission. The complete supplied PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown files remain available unchanged. The PDF and Word edition preserve the original parallel page layout.