t grieve? Or set him upon a steep rock, where he
should be in danger to be precipitated, could he be secure? His heart would
tremble for fear, and his head be giddy. P. Byaras, _Tract. de pest._ gives
instance (as I have said) [2666]"and put case" (saith he) "in one that
walks upon a plank, if it lie on the ground, he can safely do it: but if
the same plank be laid over some deep water, instead of a bridge, he is
vehemently moved, and 'tis nothing but his imagination, _forma cadendi
impressa_, to which his other members and faculties obey." Yea, but you
infer, that such men have a just cause to fear, a true object of fear; so
have melancholy men an inward cause, a perpetual fume and darkness, causing
fear, grief, suspicion, which they carry with them, an object which cannot
be removed; but sticks as close, and is as inseparable as a shadow to a
body, and who can expel or overrun his shadow? Remove heat of the liver, a
cold stomach, weak spleen: remove those adust humours and vapours arising
from them, black blood from the heart, all outward perturbations, take away
the cause, and then bid them not grieve nor fear, or be heavy, dull,
lumpish, otherwise counsel can do little good; you may as well bid him that
is sick of an ague not to be a dry; or him that is wounded not to feel
pain.

Suspicion follows fear and sorrow at heels, arising out of the same
fountain, so thinks [2667]Fracastorius, "that fear is the cause of
suspicion, and still they suspect some treachery, or some secret
machination to be framed against them, still they distrust." Restlessness
proceeds from the same spring, variety of fumes make them like and dislike.
Solitariness, avoiding of light, that they are weary of their lives, hate
the world, arise from the same causes, for their spirits and humours are
opposite to light, fear makes them avoid company, and absent themselves,
lest they should be misused, hissed at, or overshoot themselves, which
still they suspect. They are prone to venery by reason of wind. Angry,
waspish, and fretting still, out of abundance of choler, which causeth
fearful dreams and violent perturbations to them, both sleeping and waking:
That they suppose they have no heads, fly, sink, they are pots, glasses,
&c. is wind in their heads. [2668]Herc. de Saxonia doth ascribe this to the
several motions in the animal spirits, "their dilation, contraction,
confusion, alteration, tenebrosity, hot or cold distemperature," excluding
all mat