The Anatomy of Melancholy

One who loves in this way will be hospitable and contribute to the needs of the saints. If possible, he will live at peace with everyone, “feed his enemy if he is hungry and give him drink if he is thirsty.” He will perform the seven works of mercy, “place himself on equal terms with the lowly, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep,” Romans 12.

He will speak truth to his neighbour and be courteous and tender-hearted, “forgiving others for Christ’s sake, as God forgave him,” Ephesians 4:32. “He will be like-minded,” Philippians 2:2, “of one judgement; humble, meek and patient,” Colossians 3. “Bear with one another, forget and forgive,” verses 12, 13 and 23; whatever he does will be done wholeheartedly for God, not for people. “Be compassionate and courteous,” 1 Peter 3. “Seek peace and pursue it.”

He will love his brother in deed and truth, not merely in words, John 3:18; “and he who loves God, Christ, will love the one begotten of him,” John 5:1, and so on. We should willingly do all this if we truly felt this charity, this divine love; if we would carry out what we are commanded, forget and forgive, and bring our conduct into accord with these Christian laws of love.

O happy human race, If your hearts were ruled by the love That rules the heavens!

Angelic souls! How blessed and happy we should be if we loved like this; how we might triumph over the devil and have another heaven on earth!

But we cannot do this; and the cause of all our woes, miseries, discontent and melancholy is the lack of this charity.

We “oppress one another,” despise, plot, vex, torture, harass and press one another’s noses hard to the grindstone; provoke, rail, mock, slander, challenge, hate and abuse. Hard-hearted, implacable, malicious, spiteful and unrelenting as we are, we expend ourselves, our goods, friends and fortunes to satisfy our desires or private resentment, over toys, trifles and irrelevant occasions, to revenge ourselves on an enemy and ruin him and his family.

All our thought, effort and business goes into plotting mischief: mining and countermining, defending and attacking, protecting ourselves, injuring others, harming everyone, as though we were born to do harm. We pursue our designs with such eagerness and bitterness, such rancour, malice, rage and fury, that neither marriage nor blood ties, neither love nor fear of God or humankind can restrain us. No reparation or settlement is accepted, no service will suffice, no submission.

Though he fall on his knees, as Sarpedon did to Glaucus in Homer, admit his error, surrender with tears in his eyes and beg pardon, we will not relent, forgive or forget until we have destroyed him and his family, “made dice of his bones,” as the saying goes, seen him rot in prison, banished his friends, followers “and all the hated race,” and rooted out him and all his descendants.