desire according as they are disposed togither In all these neither Physicall reason nor Art nor naturall power hath anye place and for this cause it is more abhominable sith it contemneth the lawes of Phylosophie and contrarie to all reason inuocateth wicked Spirites that by theyr helpe they may haue their desire And herein are they deceyued that they thinke the Spirits to bee subiect vnto them and that they are compelled at mens pleasures which is impossible for humane force is farre inferiour to that of the Spirites And againe they fowly erre to dreame that the cursed spirits are called vppe and figured by vertue of those naturall meanes which they vse Moreouer they notoriously offende when they goe about by inuocations deprecations and sacrifices to appease them and vse them for the benefite and commoditie of man For this were without all comparison more easie to bee attayned at the handes of God or of good spirites But vet the malignaunt spirits will not yeeld vnto vs in those things which are very hurtfull and daungerous saue so farre forth as it pleaseth God who ruleth and gouerneth mankinde for the sinnes of men to permit and suffer them These wayes and meanes therefore are besides the rules and precepts of Wisedome nay rather they are contrarie vnto them and the Phylosophers did neuer make account of them Now concerning Charmes Characters and such like trumperies that are vsed in these dayes I adindge them to bee all false and doubtfull For some are without all shewe of reason whereof the Philosophers haue made mention in the woorkes of Nature and Art to the ende they might conceale secrets from the vnworthie as if it were altogither vnknowne that the Load-stone could attract Iron and one desirous to woorke this feate before the people shoulde make Characters and pronounce Charmes that by this meanes he might bring it to passe this worke of his should be erroneous and deceitfull After this maner there are many thinges hidden in the Philosophers bookes wherein a wise man must beware that neglecting the Charmes and Characters he onely attend and make tryall of the worke of Nature and Art And then he shall perceyue things liuing and without life to concurre and agree in Nature for the conformitie and likenesse of their Natures and not by vertue of the Charme or Character whereas the simple people suppose manie things to bee wrought by Magicke which are nothing else but the secretes of Art and Nature Yea the Magitians themselues doo vainelie repose such confidence in theyr Charmes and Characters as though they should receyne power from them that in the meane time they sorsake the woorke of Arte and Nature And by this meanes both these kinde of men are depryued of the benefite of VVisedome theyr owne follye so constrayning Neuerthelesse there are certaine deprecations long since sramed and instituted by faithfull men or rather ordained by God himselfe and his Angels that may retaine their pristine and ancient vertue as it is yet to bee seene in many Countreyes where they make certain prayers ouer Iron red hot ouer the water of y e riuer such like there by to approue the innocent and cōdemne the guilty and these things are thought to be brought to passe by the authority of the prelates For euē the priests them selues do vse Exorcismes as we may reade in the consecration of blessed water and the old law of the water of purification whereby adultery breach of wedlock was fifted out And ther are many other such like things But as for those things that are contained in the Magicians books we must vtterly reiect them though they bee not altogether deuoyde of truth because they be so stuffed with fables that the truth cannot be discerned from fal shoold So that we must giue no credit to such as say that Solomon and other learned men made them for these bookes are not receiued by the authoritie of the Church nor of wise men but by Seducers that take the bare ietter and make newe bookes themselues and fill the world with their new inuentions as daily experience teaeheth vs. And to the ende men might be the more throughly allured they giue glorious titles to their workes and foolishly ascribe them to such and such Authors as though they spake nothing of themselues and write base matters in a lostie stile and with y e cloke of a text do hide their own forgeries But as for Characters they are either words vnder the sorme of some letters containing in them the matter of a praver or else they are made sor the seruice and worship of certaine Stars at speciall times Of Characters in the first sence we are to iudge in the same sort as we did of prayers but as for these latter figures and Characters it is well knowne that they haue no vertue nor efficacie at all vnlesse they be sramed in their proper seasōs For which cause he that maketh them as he findeth them in the books obseruing only the figure wherein he solloweth his sampler is iudged by al wise men to do iust nothing But contrariwise he that worketh according to the aspect of the heauens in due constellations is able not onely to dispose of his Characters but euen of all his works as well artificiall as naturall agreeable to the influence of the heauen Neuerthelesse for so much as it is very difficult to perceiue the certainty of heauenly bodies many are ouertaken with grosse errors few there are that can truly profitably order any thing And hence it is that the common Mathematicians iudging and working by Magick Starres and by workes as it were iudgements at choyse times become nothing famous although they bee right cunning and throughly acquainted with the Arte and are able to bring many things to passe But it must not bee forgotten that the skilfull Phisition and any other of what profession soeuer may to good purpose vse Charmes and Characters though they bee fained after the opinion of Constantinus the Phisition not as though Charmes and Characters coulde worke any thing but that the Medicine might bee the more willingly and readily receyued and that the minde of the patient might bee excited become more confident and bee filled with ioye for the Soule thus affected is able to renue many things in his owne bodie insomuch that it may recouer his former health through the ioy and hope it hath conceiued If therefore the Physition for the magnifying of his worke doo administer any such thing that his patient may not dispayre of his health it is not to bee abhorred if wee will credite the sayde Constantinus For hee in his Epistle of those things which may be hanged about the necke graunteth that Charmes and Characters may thus bee vsed and in this cause defendeth them for the soule hath great power ouer the body through his strong and forcible operations as Auicennae sayth in his Bookes of the Soule and in his eight booke of liuing
means wherof that which before lay hid doth now appear neither can the moysture be separated but is retained by the drinesse And in like maner we see that whosoeuer is in the worlde is retained by or with his contrarie as heate with colde and drinesse with moysture Thus when each of them hath besieged his Companion the thin is mingled with the thicke and those things are made one substance to wit their soule hote and moyst and their body colde and drie then it laboureth to dissolue and subtiliate by his heate and moysture which is his soule and striueth to enclose and retaine with his body that is colde and drie And in this maner is his office changed and altered from one thing to another Thus haue I tolde thee the truth which I haue both seene done giuing thee in charge to conuert natures from their subtilitie and substances with heate and moysture into their substances and colours Now if thou wouldst proceed aright in this mastery to obtaine thy desire passe not the boundes that I haue set thee in this booke CHAP. VI. The manner how to fixe the Spirit KNowe also that when the bodie is mingled with moysture and that the heate of the fire meeteth therewith the moysture is conuerted on the body and dissolueth it and then the spirite cannot issue forth because it is imbibed with the fire The Spirits are fugitiue so long as the bodies are mingled with them and striue to resist the fire his flame and yet these parts can hardly agree without a good operation and continuall labour for the nature of the soule is to ascend vpward whereas the center of the soule is And who is hee that is able to ioyne two or diuers things togither where their centers are diuers vnlesse it be after the conuersion of theyr natures and change of the substance and thing from his nature which is difficult to finde out Whosoeuer therefore can conuert the soule into the bodie the bodie into the soule and therewith mingle the subtile spirites shall be able to tinct any body CHAP. VII Of the Decoction Contrition and washing of the stone THou art moreouer to vnderstand that Decoction contrition cribatiō mundification and ablution with sweet waters is very necessary to this secret and mastery so that he who will bestow any paines herein must cleanse it very well and wash the blacknesse from it and darknes that appeareth in his operation and subtiliate the bodie as much as hee can and afterwarde mingletherwith the soules dissolued and spirits cleansed so long as he thinke good CHAP. VIII Of the quantitie of the Fire and of the commoditie and discommoditie of it FVrthermore thou must bee acquainted with the quantity of the fire for the benefit and losse of this thing proceedeth from the benefit of the fire Wherupon Plato said in his booke The fire yeeldeth profit to that which is perfect but domoge and corruption to that which is corrupt so that when his quantitie shall be meete conuenient it shal prosper but if it shall exceed measure in things it shal without measure corrupt both to wit the perfect and corrupt and for this cause it was requisite that the learned should poure their medicines vpon Elixir to hinder and remoue from them the burning of the fire his heate Hermes also said to his father I am afraide Father of the enemie in my house to whom he made answer Son take the dog Corascene the bitch of Armenia put them together and they shal bring a dog of the colour of heauen and dip him once in the sea water for he shall keepe thy friend and defend thee from thy enemie and shall helpe thee whersoeuer thou become alwaies abiding with thee both in this world and in the world to come Now Hermes meant by the dog bitch such things as preserue bodies from the scorching he ate of the fire And these things are waters of Calces and Salts the composition whereof is to be found in the Philosophers books that haue written of this mastery among whome some haue named them Sea-waters and Birdes milke and such like CHAP IX Of the Separation of the Elements of the Stone THou must afterward bother take this precious Stone which the Philosophers haue named magnified hiddē concealed put it in a Cucurbit with his Alembick diuide his natures that is the foure elemēts the Earth the Water the Aire and the Fire These are the body and soule the spirit and tincture When thou hast diuided the water from the earth and the aire from the fire keepe both of them by themselues and take that which descendeth to the bottom of the glasse beeing the lees and wash it with a warme fire til his blacknesse be gone and his thicknesse departed then make him very white causing the superfluous moysture to flie away for then hee shall bee changed and become a white calx wherein there is no cloudie darkenesse nor vncleannesse and contrarietie Afterward returne back to the first natures which ascended from it and purifie thē likewise from vncleannes blacknesse and contrarietie and reiterate these works vpon thē so often vntil they be subtiliate purified and made thin which when thou hast done thou shalt acknowledge that God hath bin gracious vnto thee Know brother that this work is one stone into which Gatib may not enter that is to say any strange thing The learned work with this and from hence proceedeth a medicine that giueth perfection There must nothing be mingled herewith either in part or whole This Stone is to be found at all times in euerie place and about euery man the search whereof is not troublesome to him that seeketh it wheresoeuer he be This Stone is vile blacke and stinking It costeth nothing it must bee taken alone it is somewhat heauie and it is called the Originall of the world because it riseth vp like things that bud sorth This is his reuelation and apparance to him thut maketh inquirie after it CHAP. X. Of the nature of the Stone and his birth TAke it therefore and worke it as the Philosopher hath told you in his booke when he named it after this maner Take the Stone no Stone or that is not a Stone neither is of the nature of a Stone It is a Stone whose myne is in the top of the mountaines and here by mountaines the Philosopher vnderstandeth liuing creatures wherupon he saide Sonne go to the mountaines of India and to his caues pull out thence precious stones which will melt in the water when they are putte into it And this water is that which is taken from other mountaines and hollow places They are stones Sonne and they are not stones but we call them so for a Similitude which they haue to stones And thou must know that the rootes of their mynes are in the ayre and their tops in the earth and it wil easily be heard when they are pluckt out of
purging superfluities He that vnderstandeth let him vnderstand and he that is ignorant let him bee ignorant stil for it is not to be bought with mony it is neither to be bought nor sold. Conceiue his vertue value and worth and then begin to worke wherof a learned man hath said God giueth thee not this masterie for thy sole audacity fortitude subtilitie without all labour but men labor and God giueth them good successe Adore thē God the creator that hath vouchsafed thee so great fauor in his blessed works CHAP. XV. The maner how to make the Stone white NOwe therefore when thou wilt enterpise this worthy worke thou shalt take the precious stone and put it in a Cucurbite couering it with an Alembicke being well closed with the lute of wisdome and set it in vorie hote dung then shalt thou distill it putting a receiuer vnder it whereinto the water may distill and thus thou shalt leaue it till all the water be distilled and moysture dryed vp and that drynesse preuaile ouer it then shalt thou take it out drie reseruing the water that is distilled vntill thou hast neede of it thou shalt take I say the drie bodie that remayned in the bottome of the Cucurbite and grinde it and put it in a vessell in greatnesse answerable to the quantitie of the medicine and burie it in verie hote horse-dung as thou canst get the Vessell beeing well shut with the lute of Wisedome and so let it rest But when thou perceyuest the dung to waxe colde thou shalt get thee other that is fresh and very hot and therein put thy Vessell Thus shalt thou do by the space of fortie dayes renuing thy dung so oftenas occasion shall serue and the Medicine shall dissolue of it selfe and become a thicke white water which when thou beholdest to be so thou shalt weight it put there to so much of the water which thou hast kept as will make the halfe of his weight closing thy Vessell with the lute of VVisedome and put it againe in hote horse-dung for that is hote and moyst and thou shalt not omit as I haue sayde to renue the dung when it beginneth to coole till the tearme of fortie dayes be expired for the Medicine shall be congealed in the like number of dayes as before it was dissolued in Again take it and note the iust weight of it and according to his quantitie take of the water which thou madest before grind the body and subtiliate it and poure the water vpon it and set it againe in hot hors-dung for a weeke and a halfe that is to say ten daies then take it out and thou shalt see that the bodie hath already drunk vp the water Afterward grinde it againe and put thereto the like quantitie of that water as thou didst before bury it in dung and leaue it there for ten dayes more take it out againe and thou shalt find that the body hath already drunke vp the water Then as before grinde it putting thereto of the foresayd water the foresayd quantitie and bury it in the foresayd dung and let it rest there ten dayes longer and afterward draw it out so shalt thou do the fourth time also which being done thou shalt drawe it forth and grinde it and burie it in dung till it bee dissolued Afterward take it out and reiterate it yet once more for then the birth is perfect and his worke ended Now when this is done and that thou hast brought this thing to this honourable estate thou shalt take two hundred and fiftie drams of Lead or Steele and melt it which beeing molten thou shalt cast thereon one dramme of Cinna barus that is of this Medicine which thou hast brought to this honourable estate and high degree and it shall retaine the Steele or Leade that it fly not from the fire it shall make it white and purge it from his drosse and blacknesse and conuert it into a tincture perpetually abiding Then take a dramme of these two hundred and fiftie and proiect it vpon two hundred and fiftie drammes of Steele or Copper and it shall conuert it into Siluer better then that of the Myne This is the greatest and last worke that it can effect if God will CHAP. XVI The conuersion of the foresaid Stone into red ANd if thou desirest to conuert this masterie into Golde take of this medicine which as I saide thou hast brought to this honourable estate and excellencie the waight of one dramme and this after the manner of thy former example and put it in a vessell and bury it in hors-dung for fortie dayes and it shall be dissolued then thou shalt giue it water of the dissolued body to drink first as much as amounteth to halfe his waight afterward vntill it bee congealed thou shalt bury it in most hot dung as is aboue sayd Then thou shalt orderly proceed in this Chapter of Gold as thou hast done in the former Chapter of Siluer and it shall be Golde and make Golde God willing My Sonnekeepe this most secret Booke and commit it not vnto the handes of ignorant men beeing a secret of the secretes of God For by this meanes thou shalt attaine thy desire Amen Here endeth the secrets Alchimy written in Hebrew by Calid the sonne of Iarich An excellent discourse of the admirable force and efficacie of Art and Nature written by the famous Frier Roger Bacon Sometime fellow of Merton Colledge and afterward of Brasen-nose in Oxford SOme there are that aske whether of these twaine bee of greatest force and efficacie Nature or Art whereto I make aunswere and say that although Nature be mightie and maruailous yet Art vsing Nature for an instrument is more powerfull then naturall vertue as it is to bee seene in many thinges But whatsoeuer is done without the operation of Nature or Art is either no humane worke or if it bee it is fraudulently and colourablie performed for there are some that by a nimble motion and shewe of members or through the diuerfitie of voyces and subtillitie of instruments or in the darke and by consent doo propose vnto men diuerse things to bee wondred at that haue indeede no truth at all The worlde is euerie where full of such fellowes For Iuglers cogge many things through the swiftnesse of their hands and others with varietie of voyces by certaine deuices that they haue in their bellies throats or mouthes will frame mens voyces farre of or neare as it pleaseth thē as if a man spake at the same instant yea they will counterfeite the soundes of bruit beasts But the causes hidden in the grasse or buried in the sides of the earth proue it to bee done by a humane force and not by a spirit as they would make men beleeue In like maner wheras they affirm things without life to moue verie swiftly in the twilight of the euening or morning it is altogither salse and vntrue As for concent it can faigne any thing that men
Creatures and in this poynt all wise men agree and for this cause sicke folkes are suffered to see playes and pleasaunt thinges are brought vnto them yea oftentimes following theyr humour wee giue them many contrary thinges because the affection and appetite of the soule ouercommeth sicknesse Nowe forsomuch as the truth must in no wise bee empayred wee are diligently to consider that euery Agent not onely substances but likewise Accidens of the third kinde of Qualities worketh a vertue and maketh an apparance in the outward nature and that there are certain sensible vertues in things This therefore may worke a vertue and kinde out of it selfe and the rather because it is more excellent then other corporall things but cheesely for the worthinesse of the soule And men do not exercise only through heat but their spirits are stirred vppe within them as they likewise are in other liuing creatures And we see that some creatures are changed and do change such things as are obedient vnto them as for example The Basiliske slaieth a man if it doo but beholde him the wolfe maketh a man hoarse if it spie him first and the Hyena as Solinus reporteth in his wonders of the worlde and other Authors will not suffer a dog to barke within his shadow Yea Aristotle sayth in his booke of Vegetables that the frutes of the female Palme trees wax ripe by the smell of the male Palmes and in some regions Mares conceiue with yong through the very sent of the horses as Solinus recordeth and many such things happen through the kinds and vertues of creatures and plants euen many strange wonderfull things as Aristotle affirmeth in his booke of Secrets Now if plants and liuing creatures cannot attaine vnto the excellencie of mans nature they shall much lesse be able to worke vertues kinds and sende foorth colours for the alterations of bodies without them whereupon Aristotle saith in his booke of Sleep Watching that if a menstrous woman beholde her selfe in a looking glasse shee will infect it so that there will appeare a cloude of bloud And Solinus reporteth that in Sythia there are women which haue a double Ball or Apple in one eye which caused Ouid to say Nos quoque pupilla duplex who when they are angry slay men with the very looking on them And we know that a man of an ill complexion hauing some contagious disease as the leprosie or falling-sicknesse or a sharpe ague or very bad eyes and the like poysoneth and infecteth others that are in his company but contrariwise men of a good and healthie complexion especially yong men do comfort others and make men ioyfull with their presence which commeth to passe by reason of their delicate Spirits theyr holsom and pleasant vapours their kindly natural heate I say it is by meanes of the spirits and vertues which proceede from them as Galen teacheth vs in Techin And these things become hurtful if the soule be corrupted with many grosse sins beeing coupled with a diseased body of an euill complexion and in like case is it if there be a feruent appetite and vehement desire to hurt and mischiefe For then the nature of the complexion and soundnesse woorketh more forcibly by the cogitations of the soule and longing desires that it hath For which cause the Leper that earnestly wisheth and with exceeding carefulnesse intendeth to infect some body that standeth before him doth both more speedily and dangerously infect him then he could haue done if he had not before hand thought hereof desired and purposed it For Nature as Auicen teacheth in the foresayde places obeyeth the thoughts and vehement desires of the Soule yea there should bee no operation at all in men if the naturall vertue in the members did not subiect it selfe to the thoughts and desires of the soule For as Auicen teacheth in the thirde of the Metaphysickes the first moouer is a thought and the next a desire conformable to the thought And last of all the vertue of the Soule in the members which yeeldeth obedience to the desire and thought and that both in euill and good VVhereupon when these thinges are to bee seene in a man a good complexion health of bodie youth beautie comly proportion of the members and a Soule free from sinne an earnest thought and vehement desire to someworke then whatsoeuer may be effected by the kinde and vertue of man by the spirits and naturall heate it must of necessitie be more forcibly and throughly wrought by these such like Spirites Vapours and influences then if anie of these were wanting especially if there bee an earnest desire and forcible intention So then many straunge matters may bee brought to passe by the woordes and workes of man when all the forenamed caules doo concurre and meete together for wordes proceede from within by the thoughts of the Soule and desire commeth by the motion of the Spirites heate and vocall arterie And the generation of these thinges hath open wayes through which is a great passage of Spirits heate euaporation vertue and kindes which may bee made by the Soule and heart By reason whereof there are alterations and chaunges made in thinges spirituall other things beeing answerable by words according to that naturall power which is due vnto them For wee see that by reason of these and such like arteries gaspings and yawnings and many resolutions of the Spirites and of heate arise from the heart in the inwarde partes which sometimes hurt vs when they proceede from a crazie body that is of an euill complexion and againe they greatly profite and comfort vs when they come from a pure and sound bodie of a good complexion In like sort therefore there may be some naturall operations in the generation and pronunciation of woordes with an intent and desire of working so that not without good cause we vse to say that a linely voyce is of great efficacie not because it hath that vertue which the Magitians dreame of or that it is able to make and alter as others thinke but because it is as nature hath ordained We must therefore be verie circumspect in these things for a man may easily tread awry and many erre in both partes Some denie that there is any operation but others exceede and flie vnto Magicke And hence it is that there are so many bookes in the worlde of charmes and characters praiers coniurations sacrifices and such like that are meere Magicke as the booke of the offices of Spirits the book of the death of the Soule the booke of Art notorie and infinite more of the same kinde that containe not in them the power of Art or Nature but are wholy stuffed with the idle denises of vaine magitians Yet it must be remembred that many bookes are ascribed to Magitians which in truth are not such but containe in them the excellencie of wisdome Now amongst these which are suspected and which not euerye mans particular experience shall instruct him
For if in any of them wee can meete with a worke of Nature or Art let vs make choyse of that if not let vs leaue it as suspicious and ill beseeming a wise man It is the part of a Magitian so to handle thinges needlesse and superfluous for as Isaak iudgeth in his booke of Feuers the reasonabie Soule is not hindered in her operations vnlesse it be detayned by ignoraunce And Aristotle sayeth in his booke of Secretes that in such matter a sounde and healthy person may doo any thing that is expedient for men though not without the influence of diuine vertue in the third of the Meteors he saith that there is no vertue but it cōmeth from God and about the latter end of his Ethicks he affirmeth that there is no vertue neither Moral nor Naturall endued with acelestiall vertue without a diuine and celestiall influence So that when we speake of the power of particular agents we do not exclude the regiment of the vniuerial agent and first cause For euery first cause hath a greater influence in the thing caused then the second cause as it appeareth by the first proposition of causes Now will I begin to recount vnto you strange things performed by Arte and Nature and afterwards I will shew you the causes and manners of things wherein shall bee nothing Magicall so that you shall confesse all Magicke power to be inferior to these and vnworthie to be compared with them And first of all by the figuration of Art it selfe There may bee made instruments of Nauigation without men to rowe in them as huge Shippes to brooke the Sea onely with one man to steere them which shal saile farre more swistly then if they were full of men And Chariots that shall mooue with an vnspeakeable force without any liuing creature to stirre them such as the crooked Chariots are supposed to haue beene wherein in olde time they vsed to fight yea instruments to flie withall so that one sitting in the middle of the Instrument and turning about an Engine by which the winges being artificially composed may beate the ayre after the maner of a flying bird Besides there may bee made a small Instrument in quantitie to lift vppe and let downe things of great ' waight then which there is nothing more commodious to weigh with For by an Instrument of three fingers high and three fingers broad and lesse quantitie may a man ridde himselfe and his companions from all daunger of imprisonment and lift them vp and let them downe Yea such an Instrument may easily be made where by a man may violently draw vnto him a thousand men will they nill they and any other thing Moreouer instruments may be made where with men may walke in the bottome of the Sea or Riuers without bodily danger which Alexander the great vsed to the ende he might beholde the secrets of the seas as the Ethick Philosopher reporteth and these haue bin made not onely in times past but euen in our dayes And it is certaine that there is an instrument to flie with which I neuer sawe nor know any mā that hath seene it but I full wel know by name the learned man that inuented the same In a worde a man may make an infinite sort of such things as bridges ouer Riuers without postes or pillers and instruments and engins neuer heard of before But physicall figurations are far more strange for in such maner may we frame perspects and looking-glasses y t one thing shall appeare to be many as one man shall seeme a whole armie and diuers Sunnes and Moones yea as many as weeplease shall appeare at one time for in such wise sometimes are the vapours figured that two or three Sunnes and two Moones appeare together in the ayre as Plynie witnesseth in the second booke of his naturall History For by the same reason that one thing may seeme to be many things it may likewise seeme to be infinite things because that when once it hath exceeded his vertue there is no sette number to be assigned for thus Aristotle reasoneth in the Chapter Devacuo So that by this meanes a man may strike infinite terrors into any citie or army insomuch that either through the manifolde apparitions of stars or of men gathered together against them they should vtterly perish but in especiall if there follow such an instrument whervvith at the first they may be had For so may the perspects be framed that things most farre ost may seeme most nigh vnto vs and cleane contrarie So that we may reade verie small letters an incredible distance from vs and beholde things how little soeuer they bee and make starres to apseare wheresoeuer wee will And it is thought that Iulius Caesar did from the Sea coastes in Fraunce marke and obserue the disposition and situation of the Castles and Citties of the lesser Brytannie by the helpe of great glasses Bodyes also may so bee framed that the greatest things shall appeare to be the least the highest to bee the lowest the most secret to bee the most manifest and in like sort the contrarie Thus did Socrates perceiue that the Dragon which dest oied the Citie and countrey adioyning with his noysome breath and contagious influence did lurke in the dens betweene the mountains And thus may all things that are done in cities or armies be discouered by y e enemies Again in such wise may bodies be framed that venimous and infectious influences may be brought whither a man will And thus it is reported that Aristotle instructed Alexander through which instruction the poyson of a Basiliske beeing list vp vpon the wall of a citie against an armie brought it into the Citie And besides all these we may so frame perspects that any man entring into a house hee shoulde indeede see golde and siluer and precious stones and what else he will but when he maketh haste to the place hee shall finde just nothing But it appertaineth to higher powers of figurations that beames should bee brought and assembled by diuers flexions and reflexions in any distance that wee will to burne whatsoeuer is opposite vnto it as it is witnessed by those perspects that burne before and behinde according as certaine authours teach in their bookes treating of these matters But the greatest and cheefest of all figurations and things figured is to describe the heauenly bodies according to their length and breadth in a corporall figure wherein they may corporally moue with a daily motion These things are worth a kingdome to a wise and discreet man Let these things suffice for examples of figurations though many other wonderfull things might be produced Now hereunto there are certaine other to be annexed without figurations In any distance that wee will wee may artificially make a burning fire of Salt Peeter and other things as also of oyle red Petrolium and such like and moreouer of Amber of Naptha white Petrolium and the like according to that which Pliny reporteth
power of liuing creatures and stones and such like things to the end that he might be acquainted with Natures Secrets but especially to attaine the knowledge howe to lengthen the life boasteth of himselfe that he liued a thousande and fiue and twentie yeares And the possibilitie of the prolongation of life is hereby confirmed because the soule is naturally immortall and able not to die for euen after it had bin polluted with sinne it was able to liue about a thousande yeares and afterwardes by little and little the length of life was abbreuiated and waxed shorter Now this abbreueation must needes bee accidentall therefore it may either in the whole or in parte bee prolonged And if we will seeke out the accidentall cause of this corruption we shall finde that it proceedeth not from the heauen nor anie thing else but for lacke of a due regiment of health For in this age of ours the fathers are corrupted and therefore begette Sonnes of a corrupt complexion and composition and theyr Sonnes for the same cause doo corrupt themselues and this corruption descendeth from the fathers into the Sons so long till at the last the shortnes of life doth continually preuaile as it appeareth this day Neuerthelesse it cannot hence be necessarily inferred that life shall alwayes bee shortned because there is a time appoynted for humane things and for the most what men liue seuentie yeares and the rest of theyr dayes are altogether labour and sorrow But there may a remedie bee founde out for the particular corruption of euery man that is to say if euerie one for his parte from his youth vpwarde will exercise a perfect gouernment of health which consisteth in meate and drinke in sleepe and watchfulnesse in motion and rest in euacuation and constriction in the ayre and in the disposition of the minde for if anie man would obserue this manner of gouernment from his natiuitie he should liue as long as his nature which he receiued of his parents would permit him and be brought to the farthest end of that nature falne from originall iustice but this he can no way passe for this regiment affordeth no remedie against the auncient corruption of parents Yet it is impossible that a man should with such moderation carrie himselfe in all these thinges as the rule of health requireth and therefore it is of necessitie that the abbreuiation and shortning of our dayes should spring from this head also and not onely from the corruption of our parents But the science of Physicke doth sufficiently prescribe and determine this maner of regiment though neither rich nor poore learned nor vnlearned no not euen the Physitions themselues howe absolute so euer they bee are able indifferently to obserue these things in themselues nor in other men Notwithstanding Nature fayleth not in things necessarie nor Art beeing perfect and compact yea rather it is able to breake out against accidentall passions and either wholy or in part to abolish them And in the beginning when the age of men first began to decline a remedie might easily haue beene found out but after sixe thousand yeeres and more it is a difficult matter to prescribe a remedie Neuerthelesse wise men mooued with the foresaid considerations haue endeuoured to finde out wayes not onelye agaynst the defect of euery particular mans regiment but also agaynst the corruption of Parents not that men should be able to reach vnto the life of Adam or Artephius by reason of the corruption which daily encreaseth but that they might prolong their liues for a hundred yeares or somewhat more beyonde the common age of men now liuing so that the diseases vsually accompanying olde age might bee kept backe for a time and though not vtterly prohibited and taken quite away yet they might be mittigated and diminished that the life might be profitably prolonged beyonde the expectation of men but alwayes within the vtmost bounds and limits For there is one tearme of Nature appoynted to the first men after sinne entered into the worlde and another alotted to euerye man by the proper corruption of his parents These two wee cannot passe for though wee may passe the latter yet are wee not able to arriue vnto the former I am of opinion that a wise man may in this age attaine thereto the possibilitie and aptnesse of humane nature beeing the same nowe that it was in the first men and no maruaile seeing that this aptnesse extendeth it selfe to immortalitie as it was before sinne and shall bee after the resurrection But if you say that neither Aristotle Plato Hippocrates nor Galen attained hereto I aunswere that they were ignoraunt euen of manye meane vertues which afterwarde were familiar to those that were studious These therefore might easily bee hidden from them though they laboured to finde them out but they busied themselues too much in other matters and waxed olde in a trice spending their life in base and vulgar things and yet they were acquainted with many secrets For we knowe that Aristotle sayth in the Predicaments that the quadrature of a Circle may bee knowne although it bee not yet knowne Whereby hee confesseth that both himselfe and all men till his time were ignorant of it But now a dayes wee see that the truth is knowne so that Aristotle might well be ignoraunt of the greatest of Natures Secrets And againe wise men are at this present ignorant of many things which the common sort of Students shall knowe hereafter So then this obiection is altogether vaine and foolish Thus hauing produced certaine examples declaring the power of Art and Nature to the end that out of those few we might collect many out of the parts gather the whole out of particulars inferre vniuersals wee see howe farre forth it is altogether needlesse for vs to gape after Magicke when as Nature and Art are sufficient Nowe I minde to prosecute euery one of the foresayd things in order and deliuer their causes and the wayes howe to worke them particularly And first of all I consider that the secrets of Nature contayned in the skins of Goates and sheep are not spoken of least euery man should vnderstand them As Socrates and Aristotle willeth for he affirmeth in his booke of Secrets that hee is a breaker of the celestiall seale that maketh the secrets of Art and Nature common adding moreouer that many euils beride him that reuealeth secretes And in the booke intituled Noctes Atticae in the comparing of wise men togither it is reputed a great folly to giue an Asse Lettice when Thistles will serue his turne and it is written in the booke of Stones that hee impayreth the Maiestie of things that diuulgeth mysteries And they are no longer to bee tearmed Secrets when the whole multitude is acquainted with them if wee regard the probable diuision of multitude which euermore gainsay the learned For that which seemeth vnto all is true as also that which is so iudged of by the wise and men ofbest
account Wherefore that which seemeth to many that is to the common people so farre forth as it seemeth such must of necessitie bee false I speake of the Common sort in that Sence as it is heere distinguished agaynst the learned For in the common conceytes of the minde they agree with the learned but in the proper principles and conclusions of Arts and Sciences they disagree toyling themselues about meere appearances and sophistications and quirks and quiddities and such like trash whereof wise men make no account In things proper therefore and in secretes the common people do erre and in this respect they are opposite to the learned but in common matters they are comprehended vnder the lawe of all and therein consent with the learned And as for these commyn things they are of small value not worthy to bee sought after for themselues but in regarde of things particular and proper Now the cause of this concealement among all wise men is the contempt and neglect of the secretes of wisedome by the vulgar sort that knoweth not how to vse those things which are most excellent And if they do conceiue any worthy thing it is altogither by chance and fortune they do exceedingly abuse that their knowledge to the great damage and hurt of many men yea euen of whole societies so that he is worse then mad that publisheth any secret vnlesse he conceale it from the multitude and in such wise deliuer it that euen the studious and learned shall hardly vnderstand it This hath beene the course which wise men haue obserued from the beginning who by many meanes haue hidden the secrets of wisedome from the common people For some haue vsed Characters and verses and diuerse others riddles and figuratiue speeches as Aristotle witnesseth in his book of Secrets where hee thus speaketh O Alexander I will shew thee the greatest secret in the world God grant thou maiest keepe it close and bring to passe the intention of the Art of that stone which is no stone and is in euery man in euery place and at all seasons and is called the end of all Philosophers And an infinite number of thinges are founde in many bookes and sciences obscured with such darke speeches so that no man can vnderstand them without a teacher Thirdly some haue hidden their secretes by their maners of writing as namely by consonants only so that no man can reade them without he knowe the signification of the words and this is vsual among the Iewes Chaldeans Syrians and Arabians yea and the Grecians too and therefore there is a great concealing with them but especially with the Iewes for Aristotle sayth in the aboue named booke that God gaue them all maner of wisedome before there were any Philosophers and all nations borrowed the principles of Philosophy of them And thus much we are plainly taught by Albumasar in his booke named the larger Introductory and other Philosophers and by Iosephus in his eight booke of Antiquities Fourthly things are obscured by the admixtion of letters of diuerse kinds thus hath Ethicus the Astronomer cōcealed his wisdome writing the same with Hebrew Greeke Latin letters all in a row Fiftly they hide their secrets writing them in other letters then are vsed in their owne counrty to wit when they take letters that are in vse in forreine nations and feigne them according to their own pleasures This is a very great impediment vsed by Artephius in his booke of the Secrets of Nature Sixtly they make certain formes not of letters but such as are vsed by diuiners and enchanters which according to the diuersitie of pricke and notes haue the power of letters and these likewise hath Artephius vsed in his science Seuenthly there is yet a more cunning sleight of occultation behind by the helpe of Art notory an art wherby a man may write or note any thing as briefly as he will as swiftly as he can desire And in this sort haue the Latine authours hidden many secretes I deemed it necessary to touch these tricks of obscurity because happily my self may be constrained through the greatnesse of the secrets which I shal handle to vse some of them that so at the least I might helpe thee to my power I giue thee therefore to vnderstand that my purpose is orderly to proceed in the exposition of those things whereof I made mention before as to dissolue the Philosophers egge and search out the partes of a philosophicall man And this shall serue for a beginning to the rest Take salt and rub it diligently in water and purifie it in other waters after by diuerse contritions rub it with Salts and burne it with sundry assations that it may bee made a pure earth separated from the other Elements which I esteeme worthy of thee for thestature of my length Vnderstand me if thou art able for it shall vndoubtedly bee composed of the Elements and therefore it shall be a part of the stone which is no stone and is in euery man which thou shalt finde at all tymes of the yeare in his owne place This done thou shalt take oyle after the maner of a searecloath and of viscous cheese not able to be cut at the first wherevnto all the fierie vertue must bee diuided and separated by dissolution now it must bee dissolued in a sharpe water of an indifferent sharpenesse with a light fire and decocted vntill his fatnesse be seuered as the fat in flesh by distillation that no part of the oylinesse and blacke vertue wherein the vrine is distilled may get out Afterward let it bee decocted in Vineger till it be dryed into a coale which is the cause of addustion and that his blacke vertue do appeare But if it be not cured therof let it be done againe be watchfull and attentiue for my speech is difficult The oyle will dissolue both in sharpe waters and in common oyle that worketh more apparauntly or in a tart oyle of Almondes ouer the fire so that the oyle may bee sundred and the hidden spirite remaine both in the partes ofliuing creatures and in Sulphur and Arsenicke For the Stones wherein there is an Oyle of a superfluous humiditie haue certaine boundes of their humours partly because there is no strong vnion sithens one may be dissolued from the other by reason of the nature of the water which is put to liquefaction in the Spirite which is the meane betweene his parts and the oyle Dissolution therefore beeing finished there will remaine a certaine pure humiditie in the spirit which though it bee throughly mixt with the dry parts which are mooued to and fro in it yet is the fire able to resolue it beeing called by the Philosopher a melting Sulpur and sometime Oyle sometime an ayrie humour sometime a comunctiue substaunce which the fire dooth not separate sometime Camphora and wash it This is the Philosophers Egge or rather the ende and accomplishment of the Egge And let so much of the