The Sweating Sickness

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Caius John. The Sweating Sickness

The boke of Jhon Caius against the sweatyng sicknes

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Man beyng borne not for his owne vse and cõmoditie alone, but also for the commõ benefite of many, (as reason wil and al good authoures write) he whiche in this world is worthy to lyue, ought al wayes to haue his hole minde and intente geuen to profite others. Whiche thynge to shewe in effecte in my selfe, although by fortune some waies I haue ben letted, yet by that whiche fortune cannot debarre, some waies again I haue declared. For after certein yeres beyng at cambrige, I of the age of XX. yeres, partly for mine exercise and profe what I coulde do, but chefely for certein of my very frẽdes, dyd translate out of Latine into Englishe certein workes, hauyng nothynge els so good to gratifie theim wt. Wherof one of S. Chrysostome de modo orandi deum, that is, of ye manner to praye to god, I sent to one my frende then beyng in the courte. One other, a woorke of Erasmus de vera theologia, the true and redy waye to reade the scripture, I dyd geue to Maister Augustine Stiwarde Alderman of Norwiche, not in the ful as the authore made it, but abbreuiate for his only purpose to whome I sent it, Leuyng out many subtile thinges, made rather for great & learned diuines, thẽ for others. The thirde was the paraphrase of the same Erasmus vpon the Epistle of S. Jude, whiche I translated at the requeste of one other my deare frende.

These I did in Englishe the rather because at that tyme men ware not so geuen all to Englishe, but that they dyd fauoure & maỹteine good learning conteined in tongues & sciences, and did also study and apply diligently the same thẽ selues. Therfore I thought no hurte done. Sence yt tyme diuerse other thynges I haue written, but with entente neuer more to write in the Englishe tongue, partly because the cõmoditie of that which is so written, passeth not the compasse of Englande, but remaineth enclosed within the seas, and partly because I thought that labours so taken should be halfe loste among them whiche sette not by learnyng. Thirdly for that I thought it beste to auoide the iudgement of the multitude, from whome in maters of learnyng a man shalbe forced to dissente, in disprouyng that whiche they most approue, & approuyng that whiche they moste disalowe. Fourthly for that the common settyng furthe and printĩg of euery foolishe thyng in englishe, both of phisicke vnperfectly, and other matters vndiscretly diminishe the grace of thynges learned set furth in thesame. But chiefely, because I wolde geue none example or comforte to my countrie men, (whõ I wolde to be now, as here tofore they haue bene, comparable in learnyng to men of other countries) to stonde onely in the Englishe tongue, but to leaue the simplicite of thesame, and to procede further in many and diuerse knoweleges bothe in tongues and sciences at home and in vniuersities, to the adournyng of the cõmon welthe, better seruice of their kyng, & great pleasure and commodite of their owne selues, to what kinde of life so euer they shold applie them. Therfore whatsoeuer sence that tyme I minded to write, I wrate ye same either in greke or latine. As firste of all certein commentaries vpon certein bokes of William framinghã, maister of art in Cambrige, a man ot great witte, memorie, diligence and learnyng, brought vp in thesame scholes in Englande that I was, euer frõ his beginnyng vntil his death. Of the which bokes, ij. of cõtinẽtia (or cõtinence) wer in prose, ye reste in metre or verse of diuerse kindes. One a comforte for a blinde mã, entitled ad Aemilianum cæcum consolatio, one other Ecpyrosis, seu incendiũ sodomorũ, the burnyng of Sodome. The thirde Laurentius, expressyng the tormentes of Saincte Laurence. The fourthe, Idololatria, Idolatrie, not after the trade and veine of scripture (wherein he was also very well exercised) but conformable to scripture and after the ciuile and humane learnyng, declaryng them to worshippe Mars, that warre, or fight: Venus, that lyue incontinently: Pluto, that folowe riches couetousely; and so forth through all vices vsed in his time. The fiueth boke Arete, vertue: the sixth, Epigrãmes, conteined in two bokes, whiche by an epistle of his owne hand before ye boke yet remainyng, he dedicated vnto me, purposyng to haue done many more prety thynges, but that cruell death preuẽted, and toke him away wher he and I was borne at Norwiche, in the yere of our Lord M.d.xxxvij. the xxix. daie of September, beynge then of the age of xxv. yeres, vij. Monethes, and vj. daies, a greate losse of so notable a yonge man. These workes at his death he willed to comme to my handes, by which occasion after I had viewed thẽ, and perceiued them ful of al kyndes of learnyng, thinkyng thẽ no workes for all mẽ to vnderstande with out helpe, but such as were wel sene in all sortes of authours: I endeuoured my selfe partely for the helpe of others, & partly for mine owne exercise, to declare vpon theim the profite of my studie in ciuile and humane learnynge, and to haue before mine eyes as in a worke (which was alwaies my delyght) how muche I had profited in the same. Thys so done, I ioyned euery of my commentaries to euery of hys saied bokes, faier written by Nicolas Pergate puple to the saied Maister Framyngham, myndyng after the iudgement of learned men had in thesame, to haue set theim furthe in prynte, if it had ben so thought good to theim. For whyche cause, at my departynge into Italie, I put an Epistle before theym dedicatorye to the right Reuerend father in God Thomas Thirlbye, now Bishoppe of Norwiche, because thesame maister Framyngham loued hym aboue others. He after my departure deliuered the bokes to the reuerende father in god Jhõ Skippe, late bishop of Hereforde, then to D. Thirtle, tutor to the sayd maister framynghã, frõ him to syr Richard Morisine, now ambassadoure for ye kinges maiestie with thẽperour, then to D. Tailour Deane of Lincolne, and syr Thomas Smithe, secretarie after to ye kynges Maiestie, all great learned men. Frõ these to others they wente, among whome the bokes died, (as I suppose,) or els be closely kept, that after my death they may be setfurthe in the names of them which now haue thẽ, as their workes. Howe soeuer it be, well I knowe that at my returne out of Italie (after vj. yeres continuance ther) into Englãd, I coulde neuer vnderstand wher they wer, although I bothe diligently and desirousely sought thẽ. After these I translated out of Greke into Latine a litle boke of Nicephorus, declarynge howe a man maye in praiynge confesse hym selfe, which after I dyd geue vnto Jhõ Grome bacheler in arte, a yong man in yeres, but in witte & learnyng for his tyme, of great expectatiõ. That done I beganne a chronicle of the citie of Norwiche, of the beginninge therof & thinges done ther frõ time to time. The matere wherof yet rude and vndigested lyeth by me, which at laisure I minde to polishe, and to make an end of that I haue begunne. And to be shorte, in phisicke diuerse thynges I haue made & settefurth in print bothe in Greke and Latine, not mindyng to do other wise, as I haue before said, al my life: For which cause al these thinges I haue rehersed, els superfluous in this place. Yet see, meaning now to counseill a litle agaynst the sweatyng sickenes for helpe also of others, notwithstandyng my former purpose, two thynges compell me, in writynge therof, to returne agayne to Englishe, Necessite of the matter, & good wyl to my countrie, frendes, & acquaintance, whiche here to haue required me, to whome I thinke my selfe borne.

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Good wyll to my countrie frendes and acquaintance, seynge them wyth out defence yelde vnto it, and it ferefully to inuade thẽ, furiousely handle them, spedily oppresse them, vnmercyfully choke them, and that in no small numbers, and such persons so notably noble in birthe, goodly conditions, graue sobrietie, singular wisedõe, and great learnynge, as Henry Duke of Suffolke, and the lorde Charles his brother, as fewe hath bene sene lyke of their age: an heuy & pitifull thyng to here or see. So that if by onely learned men in phisicke & not this waye also it should be holpen, it were nedeful almost halfe so many learned men to be redy in euery toune and citie, as their should be sweatynge sicke folkes. Yet this notwithstandynge, I wyll euery man not to refuse the counseill of the present or nighe phisicen learned, who maie, accordyng to the place, persone, cause, & other circũstances, geue more particular counseil at nede, but in any wise exhorte him to seke it with all diligence. To this enterprise also amonge so many learned men, not a litle stirreth me the gentilnes and good willes of al sortes of men, which I haue well proued heretofore by my other former bokes. Mindynge therefore with as good a will to geue my counseil in this, and trusting for no lesse gentlenes in the same, I wyll plainly and in English for their better vnderstandynge to whome I write, firste declare the beginnynge, name, nature, and signes of the sweatynge sickenes. Next, the causes of the same. And thirdly, how to preserue men frõ it, and remedy them whẽ they haue it.

This disease is not a Sweat onely, (as it is thought & called) but a feuer, as I saied, in the spirites by putrefaction venemous, with a fight, trauaile, and laboure of nature againste the infection receyued in the spirites, whervpon by chaunce foloweth a Sweate, or issueth an humour compelled by nature, as also chanceth in other sicknesses whiche consiste in humours, when they be in their state, and at the worste in certein dayes iudicial, aswel by vomites, bledinges, & fluxes, as by sweates. That this is true, the self sweates do shewe. For as in vtter businesses, bodies yt

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