A Succinct Philosophical declaration of the nature of climacterical years, occasioned by the death of Queen Elizabeth. (⸪) Written by T: W: printer's device of Thomas Thorpe consisting of a boy with wings on his right arm and with his left hand holding or fastened to a weight, construed in the emblem tradition a talent kept from rising by the burden of poverty (McKerrow 142) LONDON Printed for Thomas Thorpe, and are to be sold in Paul's Churchyard at the sign of the Crane, by Walter Burr. 1604. A Succinct Philosophical declaration of the nature of climacterical years, occasioned by the death of Queen Elizabeth. AFter the death of Queen ELIZABETH, who died in the 70. year of her age, which was the climacterical period of her life, diverse pregnant wits, and curious Philosophers were assembled by chance together, & among sundry other learned Discourses, one demanded of me, what were these climacterical years, their nature, and effects: For (quoth he) I have heard many Philosophors and Physicians talk of them, but as yet I never thoroughly could pierce or penetrate them. I answered him, that the Treatise thereof required longer time, than that place and present occasions afforded, but that afterwards at more leisure he should understand them, if he were desirous to learn: The Gentleman importuned me so much, as at last he drew me to write this Discourse which followeth: & for that it seemeth not altogether impertinent to this explanation of Passions, I think it not unfit to be inserted in the last Book of the Passions of the Mind; because the same temper of body, and propension to death, which is the base of climacterical years; the very same confers much, either to move Passions, or hinder the operations of the soul, as in the progress of this discourse shall plainly appear. Clymax in Greek signifieth a stair or a Ladder, and metaphorically is applied to the years of a man or woman's life; as if the whole course of our days were a certain Ladder, compounded of so many steps. True it is, that as the constitutions of men's bodies are, for the most part, of two sorts, the one is firm and strong, the other more weak and feeble: so the Physicians by long experience have observed, that the fatal ends of them who be of a lusty constitution, finish for most part in some score of years, and so they number such persons periods by twenty, 40. 60. 80. 100 120. And to Other count them by ten. this purpose said Moses, * whose eyes were neither darkened, nor any tooth loosed. * Centum viginti Deut. 31. 2. annorum sum hody, non possum ultra egredi, & ingridi: I am now an hundred and twenty years old, I can no more go out and come in, that is, no longer live: and so it fell out, for that * same year Deut. 34. 7. he died. And GOD himself said of man * Erunt Genes. 6. 4. dies illius centum & viginti anni. The days of man shall be an hundred and 20. years. The next climacterical year in them of and virile constitution is an 100, and so the Scriptures report. Numerus dierum vitae hominum ut Eccles. 18. 8 multum centum anni. The number of the days of the life of men at most is an 100 years. Another kind of men whose complexion is weaker, have a lesser kind of measure, as they have shorter life; and yet these also be of two sorts, some stronger, some weaker: the first climacterical years are nine, eighteen, twenty seven, thirty six, forty five, fifty four, sixty three, scutcheon two, eighty one; the seconds are, seven, fourteen, twenty one, twenty eight, thirty five, forty two, forty nine, fifty six, sixty three, scutcheon. Of these two ages spoke David when he said. Dies annorum Psalm 89. 10. nostrorum in ipsis septuaginta anni. Siautem in potentatibus octoginta anni amplius eorum labour & dolour. The days of our years are seventy years, and if in Potentates they be eighty, the labour and grief is greater. The most dangerous of all these passages or steps, are the forty nine, compounded upon seven times seven: and sixty three standing upon nine times seven, and next to these is scutcheon, which containeth ten times seven; they number them also by nine, and so make eighty one, the most perilous as comprehending nine times nine. These observations then of Physicians presupposed as true, for men that are wise, virtuous, and experimented in their faculties ought to be believed (for wisdom and experience protect them from error, and honesty from lying and deceit) it were good to examine and search out the cause of these notable alterations and dangers of death in the climacterical years, for those humours which altar the body, and dispose it to sickness, and death; the same bend the soul to take inordinate affections and passions. I have heard some Physicians resolve this doubt into the influence of heavens, to wit, that so many courses of the Sun, Moon, and Planets from the time of a man's Nativity, work such effects; so that some men, let them live never so orderly, after so many circular motions of the Sun and Moon have warbled over their heads, upon necessity they must fall into one sickness or another, and so die. Some others ground this variety and dangerous diversity, upon the singular providence of God, who hath created all things In numero, pondere & mensura: and therefore hath prescribed infallibly the periods of men's lives, according to that Psalm: Notum fac mihi domine finem meum: & numerum dierum meorum quis est: ut sciam quid desit mihi. Ecce mensurabiles posuisti dies meos. Psalm, 38. Make known unto me O Lord mine end, and the number of my days, that I may know what I want. Lo thou hast put my days mensurable, that is, prescribed certain bounds and limits of age not passable: and therefore both Philosophers and Physicians conclude, that a man with many disorders, surfeits, exercises, etc. may shorten the natural course of his life, but that he cannot any way prolong it, & pass the prefixed instant of his death: the similitude we have in a candle lighted, for let a man use all the diligence possible, the light and fire feeding upon the candle, perforce will consume it at last; and God or any Angel beholding the quantity of the wike, tallow, time of the year (for in cold weather a candle consumeth more than in hot, Per antiperistasin) and other circumstances may precisely foretell, that such a candle cannot continue burning longer than such a minute of such an hour; in a shorter time it may be consumed with wind, witches, snuffe-falling, or such like things which waste it away, but longer it cannot be prolonged: after the same sort standeth the courses and the lists of our lives prescribed by God and prefixed by nature: and so God hath appointed these Septuarie, and Nonarie years as best seeming his wisdom and providence. These manners of declaration I will not confute, for albeit I do think them both in some things most true, yet they are too general and remote to answer and satisfy fully our demand. The difficulty, no doubt, is exceeding hard, and rather I believe it to be true for the authority of Physicians, then for any credit I can give to their reasons; for indeed all that I have heard discourse thereupon (and I have heard some very fine wits) and what I have read, doth not content nor satisfy my mind. Therefore I will set down my Philosophical conceit (for in this speculation Physic dependeth upon Philosophy) and first suppose that customs, habits, changes, and great alterations in men's bodies come seldom upon a sudden, but by little and little grow and increase by tract of time; and as we say. Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed sepe cadendo, Sic homo fit doctus, non vi, sed sepe legendo. The dribbling drops by falling oft, Not might, make marbles thin: So men by oft perusing books, Not force, do learning win. Galen to declare the nature and force of custom Galen. de Consuet. c. 2. and what effects it worketh in us, demandeth this question: how it cometh to pass, that some men's natures abhor exceedingly some sorts of meat, and are not able to disguest them; as for example, saith he, some cannot abide beef, others shell fishes; and we have many who cannot so much as endure the sight of cheese, others of apples: And yet these same persons by little and little are brought to eat, disguest, yea and greatly to like them? He answereth, that all beasts and men have natural propensions, to such meats as are consorting with the natural proprieties of their bodies, and abhor such things as are contrary; and therefore the Lion feedeth upon flesh, not upon hay; and the Ox upon hay not upon flesh; yet it falleth out that by tract of time, those meats which we detested, after by use become familiar, for they alter the body, and by the suck of their nourishment, change the affections and qualities of the stomach, in such sort, as that meat, which before was molestfull, and in very deed hurtful, becometh savoury and healthful: and this he proveth, not only to be true in men and beasts, but also in seeds and trees, whose fruit in some countries are poison, transferred into other soils where they receive another kind of nourishment, they become, not only by tract of time; not hurtful, but very healthful; not poisonful, but pleasant. Secondly, it is to be considered, that our bodies generally have certain courses, passages, stations or periods, wherein they notably change their actions and operations: till 21. years, or 25. at the most, we grow in height, for some come to their full growth sooner, some later: from 25. to forty two, or forty five, we grow in breadth or thickness, from this, till the end of our days we decline: the cause of these three notorious alterations is our natural beat or humidum radical, (which in mine opinion is nothing else but the vital temper, and qualification of every solid part of our bodies) the which residing in a moist body, causeth it to grow, like the heat in a loaf of Dowe set in the Oven: afterwards, what with internal heat, external drying of the winds, and sun, and other continual exercises, which daily exsiccate the body, & draw out the undeguested moisture, the innated heat is not able to rouse up the body any more in height, but spreadeth it abroad, and so enlargeth, and engrosseth it: after which continual working, heat is weakened, and so by little and little still decayeth: and finally resolveth in dissolution. Thirdly, in this septuarie number of our years, although we cannot discover such notorious differences, as in the three former passages, yet in these likewise, we may observe some markable change. At the first seventh year, men commonly note, that then the child beginneth, to have some little sparks of reason: and for this cause, the Cannon Law permitteth such, directed by their parents or Tutors, contrahere sponsalia, to make a promise of future marriage. In the fourteen year, the youth is thought to have the perfect use of reason, & then the Cannons account him capable of marriage. At twenty one, a man is reputed able judiciously to dispose of his goods, and faculties, and therefore the Common-law riddeth him then of his wardship, and the Cannons give him leave to take the order of subdeacon: the first seven years are called infantia, the second pueritia, the third adolescentia, the fourth, that is, from twenty one to twenty eight, juventus, from thence to forty nine, he is esteemed to stand in statu virili, the next till sixty three is senectus, after, till scutcheon & seventy seven, for most part ensueth decrepita aetas. In all these periods, or climacterical years, it is to be noted, that although the change in that year be perceived most palpably, and sensibly, yet in all the precedent, they were preparing, working, and something disposing thereunto: as for example, we must not think that the least drop of rain, which in effect breaketh the stone, doth it of itself, for that were impossible, but it doth it in virtue, and by force and working of all the former: And perhaps for this cause they were called anni scalares, for that every year precedent, was a step to the last, wherein the Ladder or stairs were ended. Fourthly, there is a great dispute among Physicians, what should be the cause of the Paroxysms, or fits in Agues, and once I myself being troubled with a tertian Ague, in Italy, in the City of Como, there came two Physicians my dear friends, and a Doctor of Divinity all at one time to visit me, and even then I stood in expectation of my fit. After many compliments & discourses about my sickness, at last I demanded these two Doctors of Physic, that they would resolve me in one doubt about my disease: they answered, with a good will: Well, said I, you both conclude, and it stands with good reason, that this sickness of mine proceedeth from excess of choler: now I would know of you, when my fit is past, is the choler all disguested, consumed, and voided away or no? If it be consumed, why doth my Ague return? if it be not consumed, why doth mine Ague departed? The Physicians here answered one contrary to another: for the first said it was disguested: Why then returneth mine Ague? For this cause quoth he, the Ague proceedeth not only of choler, but of choler putrefied, corrupted, and poisoned. Now sir, the choler poisoned is consumed, but other choler which remaineth, is not corrupted, but by the next paroxysm it will be corrupted: Well, said I, what thing is that which corrupteth & poisoneth that good choler, which before was not corrupted? It seemeth strange to me, how so much precisely should be corrupted, and the other being so near lying by it, or rather united with it, yea mingled in it, not to be infected: In truth I remember not what he answered, but I am sure he satisfied none of us all. The other Doctor of Physic said, it was not consumed, but nature feeling the force of that poison, united herself to fight against it, and so allayed most of the vehemency, vigour, and malignity thereof: and he gave an example of a pot of water set on the fire, for quoth he, if the coals be covered with ashes, the hot water cooleth, blow the fire and it warmeth and boileth, let ashes return, or the fire die, the water returneth to the first coldness: So quoth he, the poison of the choler, by nature's might is overcome, when the Ague departeth, but after that those spirits and forces, which nature had united, are dispersed, the fire is quenched, and choler again corrupted. But quoth the other Physician, so the sickness should never departed, for if your choler be still in cooling and heating, and nature now fight, now ceasing, when I pray you shall this combat be finally ended? Marry sir quoth his fellow Doctor, in this sort, nature mitigateth the forces of choler this fit, and allayeth them: now nature in the mean time, is strengthened with good food, and the humour either purged, or quailed with physic, and so by little and little it is quite disguested. Not so said the other, for then the second fit should always be less than the first, and the third less than the second, and so forward to the last: but this is false, for his third and fourth fits, were much more vehement, then either the first or second. And beside, by this declaration, no man should ever die upon an Ague. For if in every fit, the sickness ceased not, until the humour were allayed, then certainly in Agues, (which are mortal) the fit should never pass, which is most false. With this the Doctor of Divinity, who was a very good Philosopher, and for that he had been much troubled with maladies, he was like many wrangling Gentlemen, a pettifogging Physician at his own costs, as they be pettifogging Lawyers thorough their own suits. Why said the Divine, may we not hold that the Ague is in the liver and heart? No quoth the Physicians both, that can not be, because no Physician ever held, that any Ague was in partibus solidis, that is, in the heart & liver, etc. except the Hectic. Well said the divine, I say not that it is in the heart and liver immediately, for that I will confess perforce must be choler, but I say the fountain and spring, the root and origen to reside in the liver, the which immediately causeth corrupted blood and inflamed choler, for they being extraordinarily corrupted themselves with vehement heat, cannot but engender blood, spirits, and humours of like infection and corruption. And by this way I answer the first doubt: that when the Ague easeth, choler is diguested: Why then returneth it again? Marry sir, because the heart and liver being out of temper, in that space of time engender so many more perverse humours, as oppress nature, so vehemently and dangerously, that she must employ all her might to resist them, abate them, extinguish them. In truth Master Doctor (said I) this opinion I like very well, and I will confirm it, for since mine Ague first began, these Physicians have inculcated nothing so much unto me, by word and deed, as to cool my liver: to this effect all their syrups and waters of Endive, Sicory, and Barley tended. And with this discourse we ended our dispute, & mine Ague: the which with this pleasant conference passed away. Fiftly, Plato avoucheth, that Agues have ages Plato in Dialog. de Natur. like men, as also consummations and ends, with whom Galen consenteth: This sentence of Plato, Valesius a worthy Physician explicateth in this manner. As there are two sorts of diseases, sharp and Valesius de Sacra Philo. cap. 7. chronical, both which have their decretory days, but not alike, for the sharp have odd days, especially seven: the chronical twenty, sixty, eighty, a hundred: so there are two prerogations or courses of life: the one is common to many, the other to few, and such as are of a most lively constitution: both of them have their climacterical or decretory years. The first we number by seven and nine, the latter we count by ten, and the last period is a hundred and twenty. To this Discourse of Valesius let us add a certain point of experience and doctrine of Galen, Galen. lib. 1. de diebus decretorijs c. 12. who in the decretory days of a fever, which numbereth by seven specially, he will tell you the fourth day, whether the Ague will leave the patiented the seventh, or whether he shall die upon the seventh day, or no: and also withal, he teacheth to foretell the very hour of death upon the seventh day. Last of all, out of these considerations we may gather as much as will sufficiently (I hope) satisfy the Question proposed in the beginning of this Section, viz: why in these climacterical years men commonly die? To which I do answer, That for every six years or eight, men still gather up more or less humours, which prepare the way for an Ague in the seven or nine: As we said before, when the fit is past, the heart and liver prepare humours for the next ensuing, and in case they be not sufficient in the seven, they multiply to the nine; if in this they fail, than they pass to the fourteen, then to eighteen, etc. And for this cause physicians council their Patients to purge in the Spring and Authumne, to hinder the increase of humours, albeit they feel themselves nothing diseased at all. This we may declare by the example of them, who are infected with hereditary diseases, as the gout, or the stone: for albeit they evidently appear not till old age, yet in all the progress of their years, the parts and humours insensibly are prepared. Or we may say, that in six or eight years the liver and heart which are fountains of blood, and origens of humours are so infected and corrupted, that in the last year they engender more unnatural superfluous humours, than can stand with the right and natural constitution of the body. But some will say, by this opinion a man should ever be sick, for he should never want corrupted humours, wherein sickness consisteth. To this I answer; first, that health consisteth not in indivisibili, in an indivisible point, so that it admitteth not some few peccant humours withal, but hath a certain amplitude, like as if into a But of strong Canary Wine, a man every month should put in half a pint of water, every day a spoonful, at the months end, yea the years end, the Wine would be almost as potent, as at the first, yea and perhaps more, if it be well helped. Secondly, we see that Custom breedeth qualities and alterations so insensibly, as in long time (till they come to a full growth) they can hardly be perceived. Thirdly, I doubt not but he that hath for example the first fourteen year of his life for his climacterical, in the precedent years, shall gather more corrupted humours, than he whose climacterical year is nine and forty, and also feel himself proportionally more weak, albeit he can not well perceive; for I myself have known a man, almost with half his lungs rotten with a consumption, and yet boldly avouch that he was strong, for Ab assuetis non fit passio. Some will object, that we see by experience many men die within the space of a day or two, who before were as sound and whole, as could be: neither in their urine, blood, or pulse appeared any sign of sickness, or superfluous humour. To this I answer, that such a man was either oppressed with some vehement Passion, or some violent exercise, or some other extrinsical cause, which accelerated, perverted, and extraordinarily augmented the humour, and so caused death: for as I said above, although a man (considering the common course of his days) can not pass his prefixed time and climacterical period, yet by many means he may shorten it. Much more I could say, prò and contrà, for this Declaration, but because it were something too Physical, and not so necessary for this Moral Treatise, therefore I will bury it with silence: for this point, in very truth, is so intricate, that I perceive, the best wits are exceedingly troubled to extricate themselves out of it. And therefore, as this I esteem probable, so I would give any Physician most hearty thanks, who in few words would teach me a better way. I said in brief, for I have seen some such long tedious Discourses, as I loathed to peruse them, doubting lest the uncertain profit, would not repay the certain pain. Finis.