t as
he supposeth, and withal acts a lord's part, takes upon him to be some
statesman or magnifico, makes conges, gives entertainment, looks big, &c.
Francisco Sansovino records of a melancholy man in Cremona, that would not
be induced to believe but that he was pope, gave pardons, made cardinals,
&c. [2591]Christophorus a Vega makes mention of another of his
acquaintance, that thought he was a king, driven from his kingdom, and was
very anxious to recover his estate. A covetous person is still conversant
about purchasing of lands and tenements, plotting in his mind how to
compass such and such manors, as if he were already lord of, and able to go
through with it; all he sees is his, _re_ or _spe_, he hath devoured it in
hope, or else in conceit esteems it his own: like him in [2592]Athenaeus,
that thought all the ships in the haven to be his own. A lascivious
_inamorato_ plots all the day long to please his mistress, acts and struts,
and carries himself as if she were in presence, still dreaming of her, as
Pamphilus of his Glycerium, or as some do in their morning sleep. [2593]
Marcellus Donatus knew such a gentlewoman in Mantua, called Elionora
Meliorina, that constantly believed she was married to a king, and [2594]
"would kneel down and talk with him, as if he had been there present with
his associates; and if she had found by chance a piece of glass in a
muck-hill or in the street, she would say that it was a jewel sent from her
lord and husband." If devout and religious, he is all for fasting, prayer,
ceremonies, alms, interpretations, visions, prophecies, revelations, [2595]
he is inspired by the Holy Ghost, full of the spirit: one while he is
saved, another while damned, or still troubled in mind for his sins, the
devil will surely have him, &c. more of these in the third partition of
love-melancholy. [2596]A scholar's mind is busied about his studies, he
applauds himself for that he hath done, or hopes to do, one while fearing
to be out in his next exercise, another while contemning all censures;
envies one, emulates another; or else with indefatigable pains and
meditation, consumes himself. So of the rest, all which vary according to
the more remiss and violent impression of the object, or as the humour
itself is intended or remitted. For some are so gently melancholy, that in
all their carriage, and to the outward apprehension of others it can hardly
be discerned, yet to them an intolerable burden, and not to be