OF LOVE.                                  7S
 

X.

OF LOVE.

The stage is more beholding to love than the life
of man. For as to the stage, love is ever matter of
comedies, and now and then of tragedies ; but in
life it doth much mischief—sometimes like a siren,
sometimes like a fury. You may observe that,
amongst all the great and worthy persons (whereof
the memory remaineth, either ancient or recent),
there is not one that hath been transported to the
mad degree of love ; which shows that great spirits
and great business do keep out this weak passion.
You must except, nevertheless, Marcus Antonius,
the half-partner of the empire of Rome, and Appius
Claudius, the decemvir and law-giver ; whereof the
former was indeed a voluptuous man, and inordinate ;
but the latter was an austere and wise man ; and,
therefore, it seems (though rarely) that love can find
entrance, not only into an open heart, but also into a
heart well fortified, if watch be not well kept.    It is