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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 MelancholyMember 3 Charity Combining All Three Kinds of Love Pleasant Profitable And…

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Member 3 Charity Combining All Three Kinds of Love Pleasant Profitable And…

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1651 English

426–427

MEMB. 3. Charity composed of all three kinds, Pleasant, Profitable, Honest.

Besides this love that comes from Profit, Pleasant, Honest, (for one good turn asks another in equity) that which proceeds from the law of nature, or from discipline and Philosophy, there is yet another love compounded of all these three, which is Charity, and includes piety, dilection, benevolence, friendship, even all those vertuous habits; for love is the circle equant of all other affections, of which Aristotle dilates at large in his Ethicks, and is commanded by God, which no man can well perform, but he that is a Christian, and a true regenerate man;

This is To love God above all, and our neighbour as our self; for this love is lychnus accendens & accensus, a Communicating light, apt to illuminate it self as well as others.

All other objects are fair, and very beautifull, I confess; kindred, alliance, friendship, the love that we owe to our country, nature, wealth, pleasure, honour, and such moral respects, &c. of which read copious Aristotle in his Morals; A man is beloved of a man, in that he is a man; but all these are far more eminent and great, when they shall proceed from a sanctified spirit, that hath a true touch of Religion, and a reference to God.

Nature binds all creatures to love their young ones; an hen to preserve her brood will run upon a Lion, an Hinde will fight with a Bull, a Sow with a Bear, a silly Sheep with a Fox. So the same nature urgeth a man to love his Parents, (dii me pater omnes oderint, ni te magis quam oculos amem meos!) and this love cannot be dissolved, as Tully holds, without detestable offence: but much more Gods commandment, which injoyns a filial love, and an obedience in this kind.

The love of brethren is great, and like an arch of stones, where if one be displaced, all comes down, no love so forcible and strong, honest, to the combination of which, nature, fortune, vertue, happily concur; yet this love comes short of it.

——— Dulce & decorum pro patriâ mori,

it cannot be expressed, what a deal of Charity that one name of Country contains.

* Amor laudis & patriæ pro stipendio est;

The Decii did se devovere, Horatii, Curii, Scævola, Regulus, Codrus, sacrifice themselves for their Countries peace and good.

Una dies Fabios ad bellum miserat omnes, Ad bellum missos perdidit una dies.One day the Fabii stoutly warred, One day the Fabii were destroyed.

8441.BurtonPrinted page 426, x: “Ut mundus duobus polis sustentatur: ita lex Dei, amore Dei & proximi; duobus his fundamentis vincitur; machina mundi corruit, si una de polis turbatur; lex perit divina si una ex his.” “As the world is supported by two poles, so God’s law by love of God and neighbour; it is bound by these two foundations. The world’s structure falls if one pole is disturbed; divine law perishes if one of these is.” The compressed syntax and printed vincitur and una are retained.

8443.BurtonPrinted page 426, dagger: “8. & 9. libro.” Books 8 and 9 of Aristotle’s Ethics.

8445.BurtonPrinted page 426, asterisk: “Ter. Adelph. 4 5.” Terence, The Brothers, act 4, scene 5.

8446.BurtonPrinted page 426, y: “De amicit.” On Friendship, attributed here to Cicero.

8448.BurtonPrinted page 427, z: “Charitas parentum dilui nisi detestabili scelere non potest, lapidum fornicibus simillima, casura, nisi se invicem sustentaret. Seneca.” “Love of parents cannot be dissolved without a detestable crime; it is very like an arch of stones, which would fall unless they supported one another.” Seneca. The margin joins parental love to the arch image, while the body applies that image to brothers.

8451.BurtonPrinted page 427, a: “Dii immortales, dici non potest quantum charitatis nomen illud habet.” “Immortal gods! It cannot be said how much affection that name contains.”

8454.BurtonPrinted page 427, b: “Ovid. Fast.” Ovid, Fasti; the couplet is 2.235–236.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Member 3 Charity Combining All Three Kinds of Love Pleasant Profitable And…

p. 693

MEMBER 3 Charity combining all three kinds of love Pleasant profitable and honourable

Besides the love that arises from usefulness, pleasure or honour—for justice requires one good turn in return for another—and the love that proceeds from natural law, training or philosophy, there is another love combining all three: charity. It includes piety, affection, goodwill, friendship and all such virtuous dispositions; for love is the equant circle of all other affections, which Aristotle discusses at length in his Ethics. God commands it, and no one can properly practise it unless he is a Christian and truly born anew.

This is “to love God above all, and our neighbour as ourselves”; for this love is “a lamp that kindles and is kindled,” a light that communicates itself, able to illuminate itself as well as others.

All other objects are fair and very beautiful, I admit: kindred, marriage ties, friendship, the love we owe our country, nature, wealth, pleasure, honour and such moral considerations. Read Aristotle’s ample account in his Ethics. One human being is loved by another simply as a human being; but all these loves become far more distinguished and great when they arise from a sanctified spirit with a true feeling for religion and a regard for God.

Nature binds all creatures to love their young: a hen will attack a lion to save her brood, a hind will fight a bull, a sow a bear, a helpless sheep a fox. That same nature urges a person to love his parents—“Father, may all the gods hate me if I do not love you more than my own eyes!” As Cicero holds, this love cannot be broken “without a detestable offence.” How much more binding, then, is God’s commandment, which enjoins a child’s love and obedience.

“The love of brothers is great, like an arch of stones: if one is dislodged, all comes down.” No love is so powerful, strong and honourable, with nature, circumstance and virtue happily joining to unite it; yet even this love falls short of charity.

It is sweet and honourable to die for one’s country—

“It cannot be expressed how much affection that single name, country, contains.”

Love of praise and country serves as pay;

The Decii “devoted themselves to death”; the Horatii, Curii, Scaevola, Regulus and Codrus sacrificed themselves for their country’s peace and welfare.

One day had sent all the Fabii to war; One day destroyed those sent to war.

One day the Fabii fought bravely; One day the Fabii were destroyed.

8440.Charity here is Christian love of God and neighbour, broader than almsgiving. Honest means morally honourable, while dilection means love or affection. The astronomical image of an equant circle presents love as a principle ordering the other affections. Regenerate means spiritually born anew. The claim that this love requires Christianity belongs to Burton’s theological argument.

8442.Lychnus is a lamp. Accendens and accensus make love both a source and a recipient of illumination. The marginal comparison makes love of God and love of neighbour the two supports of divine law, as two poles support the world.

8444.Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, books 8–9, examines friendship, including friendships grounded in usefulness, pleasure and virtue. Burton incorporates this moral scheme into his Christian account of charity. Alliance here includes connections through marriage, not only political treaties.

8447.Silly means weak or defenceless; a hind is a female deer. The filial declaration is attributed to Terence’s Adelphoe 4.5. Cicero, On Friendship 27, describes the natural bond between parents and children as breakable only by a detestable crime. Burton moves from natural affection to the stronger obligation of a divine command.

8449.Seneca, Letters 95.53, compares human society to an arch supported by its parts. Burton applies this to brothers. His margin begins with parental love, echoing Cicero, On Friendship 27, before the Senecan image. The combined wording and differing applications remain. The closing “it” is read as charity, this member’s subject.

8450.Horace, Odes 3.2.13. Burton omits est, “is,” from the familiar Latin line. The statement praises patriotic self-sacrifice within his survey of natural and civic loves; he will subordinate these to Christian charity.

8452.Stipendium means pay, especially soldiers’ pay. The sentence presents praise and patriotism as rewards in themselves. The printed asterisk has no separately recoverable corresponding marginal text on this page; an exact source is not supplied here.

8453.The list gathers Roman and Greek exemplars of devotion to a community. Se devovere refers to dedicating oneself to death, particularly the Roman Decii. Not every figure named simply died for the state; Burton compresses different stories of courage, sacrifice and public service. Curii is retained without substituting another name.

8455.Ovid, Fasti 2.235–236, on the destruction of the Fabii. Burton follows the Latin couplet with his own English couplet. Both are preserved and modernized separately: his “stoutly warred” is a freer rendering of the Latin “sent to war.”

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.