he knows that Hay so dried and made would starve his Cattel and that that proves the best Hay which is made when the Sun shines clear and in a fresh gale of Wind For'tis the pure thin Spirituous Vapours of the Air that penetrate all Bodies and keep the Spirits of each thing living in all Preparations A Man would think it almost impossible for those that make it their whole business to prepare Medicines to be so sottishly Ignorant of the Nature of things and the Knowledg of themselves What a clutter do they keep with their vast Volumes of Pharmacy and musty old Rules And yet when all is done one may modestly avow that an ordinary Husband-man has abundantly more understanding in the proper and natural way of preparing the Food for his Cattel than these Worshipful Rabbies have either in the Preparations of their own or Patients Food or Physick and the Common People seeing what these Men of reputed Learning do follow them like Apes never questioning whether it be good or bad so verifying the Proverb where The Blind leads the Blind c. Tell me I pray what Virtue or true Life hath Carduus Wormwood Centaury Winter-Cherries and many other sorts of Physical Herbs when dried in the Saturnine Shades and then exposed to the dull thick Airs of Shops Cellars Garrets and Herb-womens Stalls and other close sulpherous Places more fit for the Generation of Vermin and Insects than any thing else 'T is confessed a Man may use some of the before-mentioned Martial Herbs as coursly as he will nevertheless they will retain the strong fulsom bitter Taste and Qualities of Mars and Saturn because it is the Original and very Center of their Life and therefore cannot be destroyed except such Herbs be annihilated but the pure Essential Virtues and Balsamick Body are wholly destroyed Therefore Medicines made of any Herbs prepared as most Physitians and Apothecaries do are loathsome to Nature and the Stomach and they have no power to assist Nature or cure those Diseases which the wise Anclents have appropriated them unto Now if Physicians and Apothecaries do not understand these things that are so plain and evident to every Shepherd and Husband-man they may well be suspected in their Compositions for if the first Preparation be wrong and the true and living Virtues destroyed let the wisest of them all use what Art they will they can never obtain the lost Virtue nor make a good Medicine thereof indeed such Herbs and Things may serve their turn to make up their confused Compositions which do consist of as many Ingredients as there are Weeks in the Year most of which are of as disagreeing Natures as Light to Darkness or Summer to Winter for this cause most of their Medicines prove ineffectual for the Physical Virtues of most of the Simples are destroyed for want of Care and Understanding either whilst they remain intire or else by such an undue Composition where things of quite different Natures confound each other For if two things of contrary Natures he added together they make a degree of Variation and produce a Juice or Virtue of a third Nature but then if you add a third Ingredient whose predominant Quality is contrary both to the first and second then such a Composition or Medicine does make three degrees of variation and produceth a Juice or Vertue of a contrary Nature and Operation to both the first and second Ingredients which I have particularly demonstrated from the Arts of Dying and Painting in the Chapter Of mixtures of Food so that when ten or twenty several things are added together they make such a Confusion and as it were strife in Nature that such Physick or Food has not the true Nature nor Operation of any one of them and being unnatural the Stomach and whole Nature of Man doth loath them for in such Mixtures things not Homogenial or agreeable to each other being jumbled together there thence ariseth an inward and secret strife for Mastery and so that Quality becomes strong which before their incorporating was weak and so contra making that Property appear which lay hid and hides that which before was most manifest so great is the power of the Sympathy and Antipathy of things For this Cause the Ancients did forbid those Varieties of Mixtures both in Food and Physick for they saw from an inward eye of understanding the great danger of compounded Dishes or Medicines and that the common use of them did generate compounded Diseases which no Medicine hath Power or any Physician Skill to Cure Therefore the generality of Men in former Ages and also those in this who live on simple Meats and Drinks and observe the Rules of Sobriety are free from those torturing Diseases that the Superfluous and Intemperate are subject unto such as use due Labour and Exercises and live on Bread Butter and ordinary Cheese Milk-Pottage Gruels and the like and drink small Beer and observe the Rules of Chastity and lie on hard Beds few of this sort of People are troubled with the Gout Dropsy Stone Palsy Consumption windy Diseases or the like nothing being a greater Evil to Nature than those improper and unnatural Mixtures both of Food and Physick the first being the very Radix of Diseases and the second does increase and prolong them Physicians may pretend and boast as much as they will of the Excellency of their Dispensatory-Ware 't is certain that such Diseases as are generated by degrees by the frequent use and eating of compounded Foods which generally consist of disagreeing Ingredients as aforesaid and made meerly to prolong the pleasure of the Throat are not to be routed by all their Regiments of Compounded Recompounded Decompounded and Surrecompounded Medicines as daily Experience shews Therefore let no Man have Faith or repose Confidence in such adulterated confused Nauseities but fear the Lord and learn to know the Power of Temperance before it be too late for when once Diseases have invaded the Body and wasted the Spirits then 't is a difficult matter to root out such Disorders either by Temperance or Medicine but still the first has the greater Power to give Relief there being far greater Danger in rich compounded Foods and Cordial Drinks and compounded Potions of Physick than most imagine or can be sensible of except they separate and enter into Self-denial and observe both Quality and Quantity of Meats and Drinks and then their Eyes will be opened and see the Errors of those things which formerly they practiced It is not for nothing that Mankind is so miserably afflicted with such a number of Torturing Diseases nor is it through any Natural Defect as some vainly suppose for Mankind in his Radix is the most compleat soundest and healthiest of all Creatures endued with the greatest and strongest natural Spirits and had he not depraved himself by Disorders and Superfluities would have exceeded all other Animals as to health Do we ever read of any of the Prophets or
brisk and they do not only afford a greater quantity of Spirits when separated but much stronger and fiercer than any other Vegetables that are of a lean Hungry Nature Therefore People of this Complexion tho' they are strong and brisk yet if they commit Intemperances that are beyond the power of the natural heat to throw off then they are in far greater danger than those that are of a much weaker Nature and Complexion for the Reason before assigned which daily Examples do confirm as when such healthy People fall into Diseases what terrible sharp Fevers do attend most of them which destroy the Life in a few days Therefore the strongest natur'd People ought to be sober and not lay heavier Burthens than Nature can bear for he that hath the healthiest and strongest Constitution may easily oppress it neither is it safe to put too much Confidence in their strength nor to boast of it or commit such out-rages against their own Natures as many young People do in the way of Pride to out-do their Fellows and then glory in it For the strongest Castle will quickly yield by continual Batteries Of the Phlegmatick Complexion Those in whom this Complexion is predominant are not so quick and active either in the doing or apprehending of things as the Cholerick but more slow and of a fofter Nature their central Heats are but weak in comparison of the former and if they incline to inordinate living either in Meats or Drinks or Idleness they are apt to grow Fat and their Bodies swell with gross phlegmatick Humours because their natural heat is but weak and the digestive faculty of the Stomach cannot make so perfect a Concoction as the Cholerick Complexion so that great part of their Food is turned into gross Juices which fret the Body and make it heavy and dull All sorts of strong spirituous Drinks do agree better with this Complexion than with the Cholerick and if they do not exceed in quantity will not so soon precipitate them into Fevers but if they drink much it will swell their Bodies and Members to a wonderful bigness as we see some both Men and Women are which great drinking doth destroy the edge of the Appetite and increases their desire to drink for their natural Heats and Stomachs are not able to make any profitable Concoction nor separation of such quantities of Drink as they swallow down whence are generated abundance of raw Humors that do not only swell the Body as aforesaid but load the Joynts with windy and watry Diseases and also obstruct the passage of the Breast for all fat People have narrower passages than those that are lean and spare and fetch their Breath with more difficulty because the Vessels of the Stomach and Breast are contracted thro' the drinking of too much strong Drink and eating too little Food and what they do eat too rich in Quality Yet is it very easie for this Complexion and all others to prevent Fatness and heavy Dropsical Humors which many of this sort of People are subject to if Order and Temperance be but observed with regard to both quality and quantity of Meats and Drinks with proper exercise especially in the open Air and walking by River-sides and running Waters which do wonderfully open the Passages and beget and sharpen Appetite and cause good Digestion For tho' one Complexion is more apt to grow Fat than others yet Experience teaches that it is Idleness and Superfluity that is the grand cause thereof look amongst ordinary working-people in Country-Towns and you shall very rarely see any of the Husband-men or Field-workers very Fat though in such places are People of all Complexions but Cities and great Towns are the Nurseries of fat Punchinello's where there is good store of Strong Drink and Wine rich Food with ease and idleness I am not ignorant that fat People have an Apology for themselves viz. That they eat and drink less than many lean Folks This is true but lean spare rawbon'd People have for the most part great Heats which do digest and throw off all superfluous matter their Appetites are sharp and piercing also they are generally of active Spirits given to Labour and Action which destroys all matter for Fatness But most that are inclinable to the Phlegmatick Complexion are of contrary and colder Nature as aforesaid their Appetite not so sharp nor digestive faculty so strong and if discretion care and order with proper exercise be not observed great part of their Food and Drinks for want of heat is turned into gross raw Humours which cause an heaviness on the Spirit the Oyl from whence their Light of Life does shine becomes of a watrish Nature therefore such People ought to have understanding in the ordering of their Lives for want whereof many do by various sorts of Intemperances destroy their Healths Also many will take and follow the Paths and Examples of others which they ought not to do for what may be good Food for one may be the contrary for another therefore every one ought to learn the degrees and power of his own Nature For the differences of mens Constitutions are such and their Natures so contrary that 't is impossible to give any particular rule to fit every ones Conveniency so that there isa necessity for every one to see with his own Eyes and in this respect the Proverb is punctual truth Every man to himself is either a Fool or a Physician A man may speak somewhat that may be useful in a general way and helpful to many if minded but the power of doing is in a man's self and if one do but in any tolerable degree know his own composition and the power of his own nature he may very easily help himself for man's Will is free and if he be well informed and his Faith his own and he do not make the ways of the Multitude to be his Rule and their Faith his as many do then he may and hath power by wisdom to alter his Complexion for the better One of the chief causes why so many run themselves into Error and Diseases and Death it self is because they never look into themselves nor observe the operations of their own Nature but look what others do that do they and take the advice of every fool especially if he be a learned Fool without any examination whether it be proper or not Meats and Drinks good for this Complexion are all sorts of drying warming things as Bread eaten with Oyl let Butter be eaten sparingly Cheese is good not new but old also all Gruels and Pottage that are made with quick Fires and not too much boyled but thin brisk and lively for such things are easie to be concocted and quick on the Stomach likewise all spicy Herbs both boyled and raw in their Seasons that is betimes in the Spring and again after Michaelmas viz. in October and November but Flesh they ought to eat sparingly especially from Iune to the last of
For of all sorts of Food People ought to have the greatest care of FLESH not only in the well ordering it before it be killed but also in seasoning of it with Salt and in the preparing or dressing Flesh being more unclean in its own Nature than either Herbs Fruits or Grains which I suppose most People will confess and that they are far more agreeable and friendly to Nature and not so dangerous to Health nay give me leave to add that they are also more pleasant for its chiefly the continual custom of eating Flesh and the conceit of the great Nourishment it contains beyond other things that makes men so much desire it which Opinion is false most sorts of Flesh indeed are endued with much matter but great part thereof is of a gross Phlegmy nature which quickly will cause the whole to fall into Putrifaction if the strong sharp fierce power of the Salt be wanting And when it is salted the matter for Putrifaction is so great that the Salt cannot continue it long sweet but so soon as the pure Radical Spirits in the Flesh through time are either evaporated or suffocated then the Salt hath no longer power to preserve it from Corruption A man may as well say that green Corn or Grass breeds better nourishment in Cattle than either Hay or dry Corn for indeed it generateth and fills the body fuller of gross Phlegmatick matter and makes such Cattle heavy and dull and great Bellies apt to faintyness and Diseases but Hay and dry Corn generate a firmer Flesh and more brisker spirits makes them drink well appear with moderate Bellies but clean strong Limbs able to endure hard Labour without prejudice to their Health The very same is to be understood of Flesh if compar'd with Fruits Herbs and Grains and Food made of them which do as far transcend Flesh in virtue and good sound clean Nourishment and to preserve Health and Strength as Hay and dry Corn do exceed either green Corn or Grass in the preservation of Strength and Health in working Cattle All sorts of Food either for Man or Beast from which the Sun and Elements have exhaled or dryed away the gross phlegmatick Body are not only cleanner but fuller of Spirit and Life not subject to Corruptions but breed a firmer Nourishment as all Husband-men and Shep-herds will tell you Therefore Bread Butter Cheese and all sorts of Food made of Flour and dried Fruits are strong healthy Diet. Of the Melancholy Complexion People of this Complexion that have their Significator in their Radix weak are slow and of dull heavy Dispositions subject to be surprized with fear and suspicions apt to be froward full of mental Reserves seldom forgetting Injuries hollow hearted giving fair Words when their Thoughts are quite contrary addicted to Witchcraft or fore-speaking of things which sometimes do take place when they have low poor Spirits to deal with whose predominant Quality in Nature is weaker and under the Dominion of their Spirits otherwise not For the awaken'd Evil and dark Wrath in this sort of People viz. their vehement wishes or evilwords do carry the power of that Principle whence they were conceived and enter the same Principle in those to whom they are directed And if those wrathful Spirits be not either through the strength of the predominant Quality in the Complexion or through the power and virtue of the Holy Spirit and Faith in God withstood and overcome which often is done then these Evil Rapes viz. such Wishes and Words will take place whether it be in Man or Beast for this evil revengeful dark Spirit not being so withstood enters into the dark Centre and Poysons in the Body and by simile incorporates there-with awakening and strengthening them and then the Body and all the Senses fall into Distress and most terrible Diseases according to what Poysons and Salts were kindled This is called Witchcraft and indeed is one sort of it there is another which is not fit for this place and this sort of People are called Unlucky-Tongued But on the contrary if those People of the Melancholy Complexion be well dignified in their Radixes then the fore-mentioned evil significations are abated nevertheless they are ponderous and slow in learning and conceiving of any thing but when once obtain'd they make it their own and improve it they are capable of great Learning but they must have Time for this cause all You ths born under such Constellations are very dull in the beginning of their Studies but if continued under good Masters will in time exceed either Mercurial or Venerial Boys for they have greater and stronger Spirits both to retain whatever they learn and to endure more Pains and Labour to obtain any Science besides they are not so apt to run out of one thing into another being more fixt in the Root of their Natures They are generally slow of Speech and Action naturally pensive and covetous by reason that the Sanguine Nature which proceeds from Venus Sol and Mercury is in this Complexion as it were hid or lockt up under the harsh Forms of Saturn and Mars under whom such as are born are apt to be Hard-hearted full of Revenge Covetous c. not but that they are endued with the Sanguine Nature as well as those born under Venus Mercury or the Sun but the same is Captivated as aforesaid under the harsh Forms which is the chief cause People do so much differ in their Tempers But if you can unlock this Saturnine Cabinet and set the Spirit at Liberty as the Maulster does in his Saturnine Grain viz. Barley enfranchizing the pure Balsamick Spirits that sweeten the whole Body you will find it debonair and jovial and of a very agreeable Conversation The Truth is Strong Beer Ale Wine or any spirituous Drinks freely taken will melt down this sullen Saturnine Gravity into Mirth and Gaity for we daily see how free and merry such People will be if at any time they have tipled a little extraordinarily during the time of the Operation of their Liquor For strong Drinks make all sorts of People more free and to forget sorrow because they open the gross Body and cause the Spirits to have their free Operation the said Drinks being Spirituous incorporate with its simile viz. with the spirit and makes it for the present more powerful but when the Operation of such spirituous Liquors are over then both the Saturnine and other People return to their Natural Dispositions but with fewer Spirits which causeth a dull heaviness to attend most after such Drinkings because the Internal heat and spirits are too violently awakened and stirred up which caused them to evaporate and thence proceed Indispositions and Disorder Great Drinkings are injurious to the Health of most that use that Trade only this Saturnine People may sometimes drink a Cherping Glass or two without any danger to their Health especially when they come to forty years of Age for before all sorts of strong
all the Senses and send dark Fumes into the Head the truth of this all People are sensible of and it is for no other Reason but because the pure Spirits and sweet Water or Oyl in the Wood is totally suffocated in making it into Charcoal and then the Original Poysons and fierce Fire is no longer moderated but does burn and manifest it self in its own Nature and Form this makes the difference between the Fire of Wood and Charcoal the one being pleasant and wholsom the other the contrary and yet they have but one Foundation the very same is to be understood in the Humane Nature and in all other Creatures and in every thing according to its Nature For this cause when a man has through any kind of Intemperance or Superfluity over-charged Nature by which the pure essential Spirits are either evaporated or suffocated and the Oyl whence the natural Life hath its true being becomes as it were sower'd and made keen and sharp then immediately follow Fevers for all Fevers do proceed from the awakened Poysons which is the Original of every Life which should not be stirred or awakened For this cause most People when sick are afflicted either with Internal or External Fevers some greater others less according to the Age or Strength of each mans Nature and when men dye in the strength of their Lives and especially such as have strong Fires what terrible Fevers will such have which burn and consume Nature in a moments time But those that dye or are sick in Age and are of weaker Heats their Fevers are more gentle if People understood this they would not be so guilty of Intemperance and so over-charge Nature for the meek friendly Life will not indure any Violence or Inequality without prejudice to the Health for as soon as the pure Spirits are wounded or evaporated Nature falls into an unequal motion and then the wrathful fierce Fires are stirred up and then Nature is in danger Take what Creature or thing you will if you wound the pure Spirits the Balsamick Body presently turns sower for one cannot subsist without the other and when this is done then in a moments time the poysonous fierce Fire does of its own accord manifest it self which it could not do so long as the pure Spirits and Balsamick Body were strong and did predominate which does moderate and cause this Fire to burn more gentle For this cause all wise and seeing men have advised to Temperance and have commended all simple and mean Food and Drinks especially those things in which the Qualities of Nature stand nearest Equality for all such Food and Drinks do distribute and administer due and moist Nourishment to both Body and Spirits in an Harmonial way which is very agreeable to Nature for all things desire Concord and Unity it being the highest degree that Nature can attain to also all sorts of Food and Drinks that do chiefly consist of Equality do powerfully beget and maintain its Likeness in the Body and also in the Mind And so on the contrary high rich Foods which consist of many Ingredients and of disagreeing Natures and Drinks in which the Fire burns too fierce do often prove dangerous to Health because such things are unequal in themselves and except they be taken very sparingly they awaken their Likenesses in the Body causing Nature to be unequal in her Operations Therefore after eating and drinking such things there follows Indispositions the Veins glowing with Heat Fumes and Vapours flying up into the Head with a dull Heaviness which is caused by the Inequality of the Food and the greatness of the Qantity which do for a time until the natural Heat hath overcome the Food and made seperation suffocate the pure Spirits and the Oyl of Life by its gross Juices and affording too much Nourishment and if such Food and Drinks be continued there are but few Constitutions that can withstand the Inconveniencies that attend such a Life but Abstinency and a sober Diet with Exercise are the only means to abate all superfluous matter and indeed it hinders the Generation of all offensive Humours ABSTINENCY is the only Physitian that a man can make use of for it secretly does digest all kind of Obstructions and that with great ease and pleasure to the Patient far beyond the common and gross Drugs which Physitians administer Also ABSTINENCY is the most skilful Cook giving a most pleasant taste to every mean thing by which a simple Person becomes skilful for he can distinguish the Taste and the inward Sweetness of each thing and he is thereby stirred up with an inward inclination to praise and admire God in the use of all his Blessings ABSTINENCY does weaken and abate the Fury of the most Cholerick complexioned People that they become more Sanguine it openeth the Gate of Humility and is a Friend to Charity it encourageth Hope and is the only Enemy of that base and cruel Spirit Suspicion the universal Fomentor of mankind ABSTINENCY is a sure Counsellor and a Conductor of all the observers thereof in the way of Truth encreasing Faith and causeth them to eye and follow the divine Hand of Providence giving Peace and Tranquility to the Mind and Health to the Body many are the Vertues and Benefits thereof it also gives the advantage of Time and Opportunity and is the fore-runner of Wisdom it openeth the hidden and secret Doors of Nature in a mans self and renders him capable of all Discipline and is the only Enemy to all Evil and a Friend to all Vertue The Wise and Prudent in all Ages have accounted her their chief Friend and Guide by her Vertues they have overcome the inward Enemies of their Members ABSTINENCY also preventeth the Generation of all superfluous matter whence Diseases in the Body do proceed she abateth the desires because a small matter will suffice a regular Appetite resisting Pride and careth not for Estimation she conquereth all her Enemies and maketh no noise she beats â—o Drums nor dischargeth no Guns she punisheth â—ot the Body with Labour nor burdeneth the Mind with Care she wearieth not the Life by Sea nor by Land to obtain that which will not stand her in stead she will not admit of any Controversies nor Law-suits she will not contend for much because a little supplies her Wants she standeth still and is silent and yet obtaineth all things CHAP. III. A Discourse of the several sorts of Flesh commonly Eaten THough I have before shewn the inconveniencies of the feeding upon Flesh so commonly and in such excess as is now-a-days practised and rather recommended the Lovers of Wisdom and Health to the more innocent use of Grains Fruits and Herbs yet since there is no stemming the Tide of Popular Opinion and Custom and People will still gorge themselves with the Flesh of their Fellow-Animals I have thought fit here to give a particular account of each sort of Flesh that at least you may chuse that which is
and Communication for they saw the inconveniences and dangers that all such things brought on man but in this Dark Gluttonous and Drunken Age there is no regard had to such things every man does imagin himself to have greater Understanding than the Ancients and Prophets so that there is little or no distinction made accounting all things as it were of a like nature and operation whence doth proceed innumerable Disorders and Diseases for the total Preservation of mans Health both of Body and Mind does consist in the Quantity and Qality of Meats Drinks Exercises Communications Customs and the good or ill Properties of Food all things have a secret Power in themselves to alter and change Nature either for better or worse or to Vertue or Vice according to the Natures and Degrees either of Evil or Good in each thing Of the Flesh of Fowls There are various sorts of Fowls most of which men eat some Wild others Tame of the two the Wild are the wholsomest for Food their Nature is more airy and cleaner and of a dryer substance affording a better and firmer Nourishment better Blood and purer Spirits than the Tame the cause of this is the Cleanness of their Food great Motion and their continual being in the open pure Air next in Goodness to these are those Fowls that have free Egress and Regress and are chiefly fed with Corn such do also afford a good clean Nourishment But all such Fowls that are kept up and fatted and crambed in Coops being hindred both from Action and Motion their Flesh is of a grosser substance than the former not so wholsom hard of Concoction of a stronger Taste and Smell generates a thick gross Nourishment as indeed all other Creatures that are fed or made fat after that manner are much the Unwholsomer not being so Healthy if frequently eaten as those Creatures that are at their own Liberty for Motion and Action are absolutely necessary for to preserve Nature from Diseases and other evils not only in Men but also in all other things for it Purges and cleanses the Body from all such superfluous matter which is contracted by Meats and Drinks and other Accidents that happen to most Creatures it causeth the Blood to have its free Circulation and generates pure brisk lively Spirits as daily Experience doth teach Therefore all such unnatural ways and inventions of fatting any Creature after such a manner ought not to be if People have regard to their Health For all sorts of Flesh is in its own nature not only more Unclean but it is of a grosser substance affording more matter for the generation of Diseases than either Herbs Fruits or Grains neither is there any Art found whereby to exhale or destroy the gross Phlegmatick part of Flesh as there is in Fruits and Grains Therefore Flesh will sooner fall into Putrifaction than other things whose Humidity is exhaled by the vertue and power of the Sun and Elements It being a general mistake for to imagine that those Fowls and other Creatures that are hastily fatted by being penned up close and having superfluity of Food should have the best and most Nourishment Indeed they are fuller of gross Juices and Matter but good Nonrishment and pure Spirits and Blood do not proceed from the gross Phlegmatick body in any Creature but from the lively spirituous Parts and the more gross and phlegmy any Body is the fewer and duller are the Spirits of that thing if this were not so then Horses fed with Grass would be stronger and livelier than those that are fed with Hay and Corn. Are not all Creatures when their Bodies are fraighted with much matter disabled thereby to go through with their Labour or Exercise their Spirits quickly evaporated or spent and soon out of Breath faint and weak Which comes to pass through the super-abounding phlegmy matter which suffocates the Spirits and stops the Passages weakening the natural Heat and Action of the Stomach Therefore both Men and all other Creatures that do feed on Food that is of a dry Nature and Substance the gross Phlegm being destroyed as in Corn Hay Fruits and many other things and are inclined rather to Leanness than fulness are not only stronger and abler to endure Labour but they have far greater and more Lively Spirits are of quicker Apprehensions and fitter for Exercises both of the Body and Mind which does also further appear in all such Flesh that is so fatted it is not so sweet nor will it so readily take Salt nor keep so long without falling into Putrifaction Likewise the fat of all such flesh when salted will in a little time waste and consume the phlegmy gross part which is so strong that the pure essential spirituous parts thereof are destroyed whereas the very same Creatures being fed with Corn or dry Food having their Egress and Regress in the open Air being killed in their season and Salted will continue much longer than the former being much wholsomer and more pleasant breeding good Nâ—urishment better Blood and Spirits CHAP. IV. The Proper and most Natural way of Boyling Roasting Frying Baking c. of Flesh and other Food THE proper and natural way to Boyl Flesh and other Food that the Spirits and Life of it may be preserved is fiirst To put your Flesh into a Pot or Vessel that is large and can hold good store of Water For this Element of Water being of it self sweet and pleasant does cleanse and sweeten all things especially Flesh which is full of gross matter but you are to note that your Flesh is not to be put into your Pot or Vessel unless it first Boyl for if it lie in the Water and receives Heat but Gradually it dulls and makes flat the spirituous part thereof Likewise when your Flesh is put into your Vessel let your fire be increased that it may not lie long in the Water before it boyl and as soon as it boyls you are to uncover your Vessel and to keep it boyling quick without intermission till it is ready for eating The Pot or Vessel is not to be Covered any time of the boyling for thereby the sweet and refreshing Influences of the Air are hindered that they cannot have their free Egress and Regress which does as it were suffocate and destroy the pure and Volatile Spirits in the food for the Air is the Life and preserver of the Spirit and the Spirit is also the Life and preserver of the Balsamick Body in every thing and in what thing soever the Spirits suffer violence the sweet Body and Oyl turneth Sower as is most manifest in all fermented Liquors if such Liquors be exposed to the open Air the Spirits will evaporate and then the sweet Body turneth Sower and becomes of a heavy dull Nature and Operation but in the preparation of all gross phlegmy Bodies the free Influences of the Air keep the Spirit Living till such Bodies are digested and the Spirits set at Liberty then if
most of them of an opening and cleansinn Nature for they gently cleanse and purge the Passages and Bowels But all these Summer Fruits are best and safest Prepared being mixt with things of a drying and warming Quality or rather made into Drinks and when such Juices have passed through Fermentation the Phlegmy Body is digested and the spirituous Parts set at Liberty which do tincture the gross Body so that the Spirit and true Life is made thereby Predominant over the body of Phlegm such Drinks being drunk moderately prove very friendly to Nature especially to such as are Aged People which do most need spirituous Drinks Green Food is not capable either in Man or Beasts to generate so good Nourishment nor so firm as dry neither are the Spirits so brisk and lively the gross Juices of such Food do as it were suffocate the pure Spirits and turn the Balsamick Body sower as it farther appears by all sorts of Animals that live on green Food in this season are they not apt to faint and to be subject to many Diseases their Flesh and Fat being soft and greasy but those that live on dry Food their Bodies are freer from gross Phlegmatick matter their Fat and Flesh is of a firmer substance and their Spirits stronger and livelier and more capable they are to endure Labour without Prejudice to their Health it is also manifested by all Grains Seeds and other Fruits that are cut or gathered before the Sun and Elements have dryed away or exhaled the gross Phlegmy moisture all such things will presently Putrifie and Stink being loaded with so great store of Humidity but if they be gathered the Sun and Elements having dryed away the Humid Parts then all such things will keep sound and good for several Years for this cause all sorts of Food in which Phlegm does abound are very dangerous in this season if Temperance be wanting as our daily experience teaches 5thly In this Season the Sun also declines in strength and vigour which being the central Power and Life of all things they likewise do proportionably decline as appears in Herbage as for Example If you cut Grass in September which is then the Food of most sorts of Cattel the Hay made thereof is of a weak fading Nature and Vertue in comparison of that Hay which was made in Iune or Iuly which is of a lively brik strong substance and vertue for the Earth which is the Mother of all things in this Season is weak and impotent because she hath already put forth her strength and manifested her lively Vertues in the first spring or rising of the Sun for the Winter is the Rest and Sabbath of the Earth in which time she recovers strength-and vertue because she does then as it were cease from all her Labours and the Vegetative Quality stands as it were still and the more Frost and Snow and the drier the Winter is the more strength and vigour the Earth obtains such dry Weather cloaseth up the Pores by which the strength and vertue is prevented from having any Evacuations which is manifested by the goodness and great Increase of all Herbs Fruits and Grains being all filled with a Powerful Lively brisk Spirit and Vertue therefore in the first spring and rising of the Sun every thing rejoyceth and becomes very fragrant by vertue of the sweet Influences of this Coelestial Body and the Power of the Earth so that at this time all things seem to strive with a most lively motion to manifest their most inward Vertues this is the time for People to eat Herbs both Boyl'd and Raw Sallets and Pottages made thereof such Food at the Rising of the Sun are endued with a brisk lively Vertue and Strength and of an opening and cleansing Nature Purging the Blood and are good against all kind of Obstructions Also all sorts of Diseases are by vertue of Sobriety and Temperance and the use of good Medicines then easier cured than at any other of the Year it is also the Briskest and Healthiest Season and the same Intemperances and Disorders which may be the occasion of generating Diseases in the latter part of the Summer in this time will hardly be felt for now all things rejoyce and seem to concur for the Preservation of Nature 6thly In this Season viz. from the middle of Iune to the last of September most sorts of Cattel breed many Diseases First from the continual Heat and gross humid Air which in this season is more sulpherous the Pleasant Influences and Spirits of the Air are dull and thick which causes a dull and fainty Indisposition to possess the Bodies and Spirits of all Creatures Men themselves can witness the Truth of this Moreover all Creatures are more subject to sweat by which the Spirits do evaporate likewise the Food of most Creatures is Grass which is of a gross Phlegmatick Nature and generates not only an unfirm Nourishment but also fills the Body full of evil Juices the Fat and Flesh being of a soft greasy Nature having but few Spirits and those that are very impure the Blood of most Cattel being thick and gross which is the cause their Flesh will not take Salt as at other seasons also about this time most sorts of Cattel especially those that come from remote parts of great Cities are more or less Heated and Surfeited by Driving and other Accidents they being not formerly used to Driving the Weather being Hot and Fainty the Air thick and humid and they being loaded with much gross Flesh and Fat all these things concurring makes their Flesh unwholsom and subject to Corruption especially Sheep and Lambs whose Spirits and Lives are so tender that they cannot endure any kind of violent motion without manifest danger to their Health It is very rare that any Mutton or Lamb is good in this Season they not being free from the aforesaid Accidents you may easily distinguish by the Taste Smell and Colour of that which is killed off the Common without driving and other Accidents and that which is killed in London with driving the Bodies of all Creatures being in this season full of Phlegmy matter that every little Accident will wound the Spirit then presently the Body suffers many Inconveniencies and if such Cattel be kill'd before they have time to recover such Injuries their flesh is of a dull heavy Phlegmatick Nature the Spirits are few and those that are are impure for these reasons it will not take salt nor eat sweet as others will which are free from such Inconveniencies for salt has no Power to Preserve such Flesh from Putrifaction because as is mentioned before the Spirits are impure for those gross Bodies are Preserved by the Vertue and Power of the Spirit and in such flesh where the spirits are few and impure and the Flesh gross and full of Phlegmy matter the salt cannot incorporate therefore in this season use what Art you can in salting your Flesh it will not eat so sweet nor keep
of Vermin and Insects which is caused through the Contraction of gross thick fulsom Matter for want of Motion all which running Waters are not subject to But although Water be Natures common drink for Man as well as Beasts yet since now a-days Men generally betake themselves to other Liquors we shall briefly treat of them likewise Of Ale and its Nature and Operation as also of Beer Ale hath the first place of all Drinks made with Malt and is of greatest Antiquity That Ale is best that is made after this manner 1st That the Liquor or Water that you put to your Malt be made boiling-hot but not boyl and then put it into your Mash-Tub or Vessel and let it stand a little while before you put your Malt to it which will somewhat moderate the fierce heat of the Water thereby rendring it more capable to receive the Vertues and sweet Quality of the Malt which violent hot Water will not do so well for it doth not only hurt the pure Spirituous Parts of the Malt but will six or harden the Malt so that the Sweetness and good Vertues will not so easily give it self forth into the Water also if you put the Malt into the Water very hot then it will Tinge or cause the Wort to become of a red Martial Colour but on the contrary the cooler the Water is when you put in the Malt the Paler or more Venerial will the Colour of your Wort be which is the best Colour of the two for all Ale that does look Clear and White is to be preferred before that which hath a high Martial Red Colour And in some parts of England there is such Ale made which is much liked but this commendable White Colour depends also upon the well making of the Malt viz. in the Fewel and degrees of the Fire they dry or fix it with for if the Heat be too strong or fierce or if the egress or regress of the Air be hindred or any other Accident happen of the like nature then such Malt will make Ale and Beer to look of a Reddish Martial Colour which is not to be commended though some ignorantly cry it up For the predominant Quality in all sorts of Corn stands in the White and all the pure Water and sweet Body of it proceeds from the predominant Quality of Venus therefore the more gentle mild and natural the Preparation is from the beginning to the end the more wholsom and Balsamick will the Ale be If the Malt be dryed with too hot or fierce a Fire whence the Colour happens to the Ale it shews Violence done to the essential Spirits which also happens in Brewing when the Malt is put to the Water too hot or by overmuch boyling of the Wort which is not commendable in Ale for good Ale may be made with little or no boyling and indeed there is not much reason for the much boyling of any sort of Drink made of Malt except you design to keep it a great while For the boyling of Ale doth cause a too great Evaporation of the Volatile Spirit and Balsamick Vertues which will not endure the harsh Fire for this cause strong Wort will wast and evaporate as much in quantity in one Hour as Small shall in three and more Besides boyling these Liquors destroys their mild gentle cleansing Qualities and fixes them making them hotter and fiercer in Operation for the more you evaporate or destroy the sweet Body of any thing the stronger and fiercer the Original Qualities become and appear more external but so long as the pure Volatile Spirit and sweet Balsamick Body predominates the strong fiery Original Spirit of Saturn and Mars lies as it were hid and seeing all the friendly and wholsom Vertues of Ale reside in the sweet Body you ought not to destroy That by over-much boyling Nay I will add that the best and most wholsom Ale may be made and not boyled at all as some in this Nation do which does but wast it in Quantity and make it worse in Quality so that it becomes hotter in Operation and a friend to the generation of the Stone Every one knows or may know by experience that Beer heats the Body more than Ale the reason is the Balsamick Vertues in Beer are in part destroyed by boyling so that it becomes more like a Spirit and therefore it will keep longer and because of its lasting most People imagin it the best which is a great mistake for they might as well say that the best Sack drawn off by Distillation into a Spirit is better to drink than the Sack was whereas I think the contrary is known to every body of common sense The nearer you bring any thing to its Original by destroying the balsamick Vertues and middle Qualities or vegetative Vertue the longer that thing will keep sound this is manifest in all Spirits drawn from any Wines or other balsamick Liquors for this reason Beer that is boyled most will longest keep from turning sour or flat but still this is no Argument that it is therefore the best and wholsomest for the predominant Quality in all strong Beer especially if it be kept to be â—tale is of a fierce harsh Martial and Saturnine Heat of a hard greedy Nature which infects the blood with fretting eating Humours very prejudicial to Health also it generates the Stone not so much from the Hops which many accuse as the chief cause but for that the pure sweet body is in so great a measure destroyed in the boyling it to such an height that it might keep not but that the Hops do help to heat the body and cause the Stone and other Diseases but not purely and meerly as they are Hops but this comes to pass from the Preparation For Hops in their own Nature have no such operation to cause the Stone but altogether the contrary for Hops are of an opening cleansing Nature and they powerfully purge by Urine and make excellent Medicines against the Stone Dropsical Diseases but all their natural medicinal Vertues are destroyed in their being boyled in the Beer and then there remains in them chiefly the Martial harsh fiery Property which helps to preserve the Beer from growing flat or eager but it augments its heat and makes it of a harsher operation And as the boyling of Ale destroys the sweet cleansing purging Quality and causes it to evaporate just so it does by Hops and so much the more because in them the volatile Spirit stands as it were external for the Sun and Elements have exhaled the gross Phlegmy substance and thereby sets the spirituous at liberty only being close stuffed into bags preserves them from evaporating whilst there they continue but as soon as they come into the fierce boyling Liquor or Wort these essential Vertues and good Qualities are destroyed and flee away but still there remains the original strong bitter Quality which cannot be destroyed by boyling except they be annhilated for it is
the digestive Faculty of the Stomach dulls the edg and sharpness of the Appetite causes Sweating and a general weariness in the whole Body and disables it to perform all its Labours and Exercises The cause of so great Inconveniencies proceeds from warm Clothes c. which hinder the most friendly Element of the Air from penetrating the body whereby the Spirits become weak and fainty For as nothing hurts the Body more than hot sulpherous Airs so there can be nothing that does more cheer and refresh the Spirits than cold pleasant Airs which is known by every mans Experience 3dly Warm and close Houses c. are attended with these evil Effects the Air which is the Life of the Spirit is hindred from having its free egress and regress by the close drawing of the Window-Shutters Hangings and Curtains which suffocates the pure volatile spirit of the Air benums and stupifies the Senses and causes an Indisposition from external heat to possess the whole Body besides it is pernicious to the vital Spirits dulls the Appetite weakens the Stomach and depraves the senses of Tasting and the digestive Faculty 4thly Soft and Warm Beds with Curtains drawn before the Windows and about the Beds produce these following bad Consequences both to the body and mind the Air being as it were pen'd up becomes hot and sulpherous because the pure thin vapours and spirits thereof are suffocated and so consequently must needs be very injurous to them that lie thus in their Beds Moreover the Air cannot penetrate the Body and so being destitute of Motion the Stomach and natural Heat is deprived of its free operation and this is the Reason that Suppers are not so well digested but oftimes become Noxious causing an unnatural kind of Sleep creating an Aptitude in the external parts to glow with a burning and unnatural kind of Heat this ill custom is too frequently used by those who are sick but especially those that lie in Child-bed to whom often the consequence is more dangerous The Chambers of most sick People are kept so very close that it will disorder a Healthy Person to continue there three or four hours and if so what detriment then do you think must of necessity attend the sick by reason of such hot sulpherous Airs And indeed considering how low and weak their Spirits are nothing can be more hurtful to them than this is under these Circumstances For these pure thin vapours and spirits being destroyed by those sulpherous ones the poysonous and deadly Vapours are stirred up which have a powerful influence upon the Body by way of simile and wound the pure Spirits in the Body causing an unnatural Heat in all the external parts with a fainty kind of weakness This becomes as offensive as the Heat and Air which proceeds from Charcoal and is of the same nature and operation for in the making of Charcoal the pure Spirits in the Wood which is its true Life or that sweet Water or Oyl whence the Light hath its bright shining Quality is suffocated and in a manner destroyed for the Spirits are the Life of the Oyl and the Oyl is the house and pleasant habitation of the Spirits and in all Preparations where the one is destroyed the other dieth as in this of making of Wood into Charcoal where both the pleasant Qualities are destroyed the free Influences of the Air being hindered the Spirits and Oyl which are of a friendly nature and operation become thereby suffocated The fire that Wood sends forth has a bright shining Light its heat is friendly and refreshing but Charcoal tho it has the same Foundation and is Wood in the original yet these two friendly Qualities being destroyed and suffocated in the making thereof it comes to be of another nature and operation as if it had not been Wood. For these Reasons Charcoal will not flame nor give a bright light but its flames are of a sulpherous Colour for having lost its Moderator or friendly Life the original Poysons take place and its Fire becomes much stronger than that of Wood and the heat and fumes thereof burdensom to the pure Spirits of those that are near such Fires the dark wrathful Vapours do awaken their simile in the Body If this were rightly understood by a delicate sort of People in the World I am perswaded they would not fear every small blast of wind neither would they deprive themselves of the most pleasant and benign Influences of the Air which keeps the essential Spirits living in every Creature and is indeed the excellent support of the whole nature of all Beings giving to them Life and Vigour And therefore you dainty Dames that are so nice that you will not endure this pleasant Element to blow upon you unless it be in a hot and sulpherous day in which it has not half that power and vertue that it has in cooler Weather you I say who are so Curious do but consider a little seriously what is said and your own experience may convince you that there is nothing better than pure and clear Airs to cheer and comfort Nature and to make the Spirits brisk and lively Are there any more healthy than those whose Imployments and Exercises are in the open Air Are there any who can endure Labour with less Prejudice Are there any who are generally more Robust Any that have better and sharper Appetites than they Likewise those that use the Country-Air much enjoy in a great measure the abovementioned advantages It will be very convenient then to use a Medium in reference to Clothes Houses and Beds and of the two Coolness is much safer from ones Birth to the Grave than Heat both inwardly and outwardly Pleasant and gentle Airs shut the Pores that the Radical Moisture and Spirits cannot evaporate they strengthen Nature give an edg to the Appetite the thinner and meaner a man's Clothes are the stronger and brisker he is and his natural Heat and digestive faculty is also the stronger besides thin Clothing except in cold Weather makes People fitter for Labour and less burdensome preserves the natural Heat and keeps it more Central Therefore it is that all Creatures that are born and bred in cold Climates are stronger and better able to endure Hardship and toilsom Labour than those that live in hot Climates and are greater Eaters and Drinkers of Strong Food and Drinks for this cause most People in cold Countries are inclined to the Intemperances of Gluttony and Drunkenness more than in hot so great is the power and operation of open cold Air it does wonderfully strengthen Nature and nothing can be a greater injury to Health than for People to accustom themselves to Tenderness the more they do wear the more they may so that at last they may have need to carry their Beds on their backs for by degrees it weakens the Body and causes so great a tenderness that they find it very troublesom to have the fresh cool Air to blow upon
digestive Quality and there is as great a necessity of the one as the other for the support of Health that which is accounted the worst is as good and benefical to Nature as the best for when the finest Flour is separated from the coursest and branny parts neither the one nor the other have the true Operations of the Flour of Wheat This may be illustrated by the Example of Milk which of it self is mild and nutritive but when it is turned into a Curd or thick Substance there remains a thin and wheyey part both which has not the true Nature Quality and Operation of Milk the Curd being of a hard tough and obstructing Nature and the Whey of a cleansing cold Nature affording but a little Nourishment By what has been said we may gather that the eating of fine Bread is inimical to Health and contrary both to Nature and Reason and was at first invented to gratifie Wanton and Luxurious Persons who are ignorant both of themselves and the true Vertue and Efficacy of natural things But there is a great deal of Care and Skill to be observed in making of Bread that Bread which is Leavened provided it be not too much is the best for the sower Quality that is in it does much help Digestion and sharpens the Appetite and is altogether as pleasant to those that are used to it as Bread made with Yest it is both Wholsomer and of greater Antiquity and more agreeable to the Stomach likewise that Bread is best that is light and full of small Eyes as they call it being well kneaded and throughly baked for the good working of Bread does not only make it pleasant to the Pallat but also renders it easier of Concoction smooth and free from crumbling some make it with warm others with cold Water it matters not which is used for good Bread may be made with either but it is to be noted that after you have wetted and kneaded your Dough you should let it lie an hour or two then work it up into Loaves this way of doing it will make it more light and pleasant but let not your Loves be too big nor too little for your Bread both bakes and eats best when the Loaves are of a middle Size In some Countries they make their Bread with Leaven and the mixture of the Lees of Wine and this makes excellent Bread but care must be taken that your Oven be not too hot nor your Fire too quick but it should be heated gradually and if your Oven chance to be too hot let it stand a while until the fierceness of the Heat be gone or else your Bread will not only be scorched and burned on the outside but will be also unbaked in the in-side if it is not baked enough then it is offensive to the Stomach heavy and unpleasant to the Pallat if over-baked then it is dry and does not afford good Nourishment moreover it is to be baked with a good brisk Heat and not to stand long in the Oven for thereby it will lose that brave Colour wherein it resembles that which it is made of viz. Wheat Bread is one of the best sorts of Food free from Corruption and other evil qualities yet it is made better and worse according to the Judgment of those that make it and according to the kneading and baking thereof that which is not well-wrought will neither bake so well nor so soon as the other Wheaten Bread bakes sooner without than with Rye or Barley Barley is of a Saturnine Grain and of a courser and colder quality than Wheat and affords less Nourishment if the branny parts be not separated from the Flour thereof then it makes excellent Bread and is as well Physick as Nourishment for those that are afflicted with Obstructions of the breast especially such as have proceeded from superfluous and frequent eating of Fat Meats and excessive drinking of strong Liquors the Bread being of a drying and apperitive operation helps Concoction and cleanses Nature and is to be preferred before fine Wheaten Bread Our Citizens and others that live at ease and feed too plentifully on rich and fat Meats have their Stomachs made so slippery by the oily kind of quality of the things they eat that the Retentive faculty of the Stomach cannot long retain the Nourishment but letting it slip out of the Stomach as it were half Concocted causeth griping Pains in the Bowels and flatuous gouty Humours in the Joynts Barley Bread and other mean Food with drinking moderately and using Field Labour and Exercises are excellent Antidotes against these and many other Diseases Rie also is an excellent Grain of a cooling opening Quality it makes some of the best Bread if it be mixed with Wheat for it is not so apt to obstruct Nature as Bread made of Wheat alone 'T is true this Bread at first will not be very toothsome and pleasant to those that are accustomed to eat and drink of the best and richest things neither will it appear to be so wholsom for it is apt to gripe a little but this proceeds from the Nature of the Grain which is to open and cleanse And I dare affirm that they who use it will attribute many good Vertues to it such as these It cools the Body it opens and frees the Passages from Obstructions and prepares and sharpens the Appetite but it is to be supposed that the branny parts be used with the flour otherwise it is not so wholsom yet the coursest of the Bran is to be separated from the other I have more than once told you that the purest and finest of the Flour of most Grains is of a glutinating clamming and obstructing Nature But on the contrary this Grain contains within it a certain slippery and moist Quality which helps Concoction and sharpens the Appetite therefore they are not to be separated for as the one has a Nutrimentive Quality and Operation so the other has a Digestive and opening Quality the Qualities of Nature standing as it were in equal weight and measure there can be no supervacuous and unnecessary Property in this or any other sort of Bread for when once the sweet Harmony and Concord of the parts are broken the Nature of the thing is changed and contrary operations must needs follow in one and the same body That the branny and husky part is good in any Grain it will further appear by this one familiar Example If you give to Horses that commonly eat Oates Wheat Barley c. wherein is more flour and less brau than in the other it will heat the Blood and cause Diseases for as the latter is stopping and obstructive and over-heats the body so the other is cooling and cleansing but the better way of feeding this kind of Animals is to give them the Corn in the Straw which upon trial will be found to be excellent strengthening and nourishing Food and that from the Straw and Chaffy part mixed with their
Oates which opens unstops and cleanses the Passages from all kind of Obstructions This is further confirmed if we look into the Country where the Peasant that has no better than course Bread and other hard and mean fare is healthier stronger and more agile and sprightful than the City-Cormorant whose bruitish Appetite cannot be satisfied with any other thing than the costliest and richest Varieties that Nature can afford These latter sort of People accustoming themselves to the highest and finest Preparations of Food and Cordial Drinks are certainly the most unhealthful Men in the World because this sort of Food being in its own nature too Spirituous does prey upon the natural Heat causing either a suffocation or evaporation of the Spirits and contracting the Vessels of the Stomach whereby the whole body seems to languish Every sort of Food has its various operations upon the body and spirit of a Man and that by way of simile Therefore all Meats and Drinks ought to be equally compounded of a body and spirit as most things are in themselves before the Artist makes the separation the Food as the Man should be compounded both of body and spirit And to conclude I know of no separation that should be made of the one from the other but what is done inwardly by the act of the Stomach and natural Heat Of Pease and Beans Beans and Pease are Mars's Grains being drier and courser than the former Pease of the two are the finest and easiest of Concoction they are both of a Windy Quality yet being eaten when they are dryed are not only wholsomer than the Green but also afford a better and finer Nourishment not so apt to generate Crudities in the Body when they are boyled in plenty of Water the Winter-season is the most proper time for eating of them for then the natural Heat being more central the Stomach is much the stronger they are a good Food for young healthy People But Green-Pease and Beans are indued with a gross Phlegmatick Nature and being frequently eaten generate many gross raw Humours in the Body but in the declining part of the year when the Sun and Elements have consumed and dryed away the gross humid parts they thereby become firmer and wholsomer Food and will continue good and sound for several years but if they be cut down before the Sun has acted its part in extracting the gross Juices they will presently corrupt Therefore the frequent eating of such green Pease is of evil Consequence and detrimental to the Health they afford not only unfirm Nourishment but also cause Obstructions Fevers and Pains in the Bowels with Fluxes and a great many other Maladies That this kind of Nourishment is not good will further appear by giving you an Example from Cattle which when they are fed with green Food as Grass or the like their flesh and fat is soft greasy and full of phlegmy gross Matter neither will it take Salt nor keep half the time as that which is fed with Hay Corn and the like nay they are fainter and weaker and more apt to tire in their Labour and to take Surfeits than those that feed with Hay c. I do not say but green Pease may be eaten now and then for they are in their Nature opening and slippery which is caused by the great Quantity of Phlegmy Matter that is in them Yet these Rules should be observed in the dressing of them boyl them in good store of River-Water let your Fire be quick and your Pot open all the time of their boyling and they are to be put in when the Water begins to seeth and not before By this way of Preparation they are made wholsomer than otherwise they would be There is a sort of Bean called by the French English Bean but we commonly call them Kidney or French Beans they run upon sticks like Hops these are mostly eaten when Green they are of an opening and cleansing Nature purge by Urine and help Concoction the usual way of dressing them is to boyl them in the Shells and to eat them together They far exceed and are much better than other Pulses that are eaten green being in their nature and operation more mild and gentle Of Herbs Raw and Boyled The best raw Sallets are made of Spinage Parsley Sorrel Sage Pepper-grass with a small quantity of the Tops of Penny-Royal and Mint for all these have a chearing and warming Quality but Lettice and Onions should be sparingly put in because they are endowed with a gross thick Juice and are of a poysonous Nature sending Fumes into the Head whence proceeds a dull kind of Drowsiness and propensity to sleep which is offensive to the Eyes and Brain There are other Herbs made use of in Raw Sallets but the fore-mentioned are the best and most material Ingredients The proper season for eating them is from the beginning of February to the middle of Iune the earlier in the Spring so much the better and the more frequently they are eaten at this season so much the wholsomer for they are opening and cleansing powerfully the Blood is purified the natural Heat is tempered and encreased the Spirits are made brisk and lively the Appetite is quickned and Concoction facilitated Raw Herbs are a sublime kind of Food and are to be preferred before that which is boyled for the pure Volatile Spirit in the Herbs whence the Animals fragrancy proceeds cannot endure the violence of the fire but in boyling a great part of it is evaporated for this cause boyled Herbs lie heavier and colder in the Stomach than Raw which is scarcely credited by any for they that love boyled Herbs do generally eat much Flesh with them and so cannot discern the operation they have The strength and comforting Quality of every thing consists principally in the spirituous parts which are lost in the boyling and so they become just of another Nature that lively Tincture and spirituous part which it had whilst raw can never be retriv'd by all the Ingredients Nature or Ar 〈…〉 can afford Do not all Creatures eat their Herbs raw and are they not sustained by them to admiration They are powerful Preservers of Life and Health far beyond all the contriv'd Preparations of other Food In most Countries of this World the Inhabitants thereof do eat England excepted their Herbs Raw both in hot and cold Climates This kind of Food is preferrable to the great Quantities of Flesh Butter Cheese c. which are too often eaten among us these latter not only affording too great store of Nourishment but being naturally hot they over-heat the Blood and are heavy to be digested by reason of the oyly fat matter all such things do plentifully contain they dull the Appetite and obstruct and as it were fur the Passages Besides the Vertues we have ascribed to Raw Herbs God Almighty has created them for the use of Man and they were the first Food which was allotted him after the Fall where he
eat them than they would Frogs Snails yea Snakes for they all have one and the same Original and are generated from a like matter These Creatures or rather Vermin for so I may call them are produced from Putrifaction gross and unclean matter and would be abominable to Humane Nature if they were known to be such besides the Diseases they cause they also defile the Spirits by awakning their Similies they prove frequently to be of Ill Consequence both to the Body and Mind These Fish that have no Scales are unclean and the Nourishment they afford are of a moist and slimy Nature But on the contrary those that have both Scales and Fins are wholsomer and are of a dryer Substance and easier of Concoction those that are bred in clear gravelly running Waters and Rivers are sweet pleasant and wholsom if taken in their proper Seasons Both the Seller and Buyer of Fishes are guilty of great mistakes about them the Fisher-man does commonly let them dye of themselves or by throwing one upon another causes one rather to suffocate another this way does a great deal of harm to the Fish as well as to other Creatures viz. Cows Sheep c. But the better way is to give them a wound so soon as you take them out of their proper Element rather than to suffocate them for by this the pure Essential Spirits and Balsamick Body suffers Violence There is a custom among some to keep Fish alive until they have a mind to eat them this is chiefly practised among the Dutch Though it be a very good Custom yet a great many commit Errors in this particular for they are oft-times kept in a small quantity of thick standing Water until they languish and grow weak fainty and poor But if you have a mind to keep them let them be put where there is plenty of good Water Do not put any great quantity together neither keep them too long before you use them CHAP. VIII Of the Mischief of Variety of Meats and Drinks and the Inconveniences of Improper Mixtures and on the other side what Foods are fit to be Compounded THE mixture of several things of disagreeing Natures is common in this wanton Age to most sorts of People except such as are constrained through pure Necessity to live on simple Meats and Drinks but in this adding of divers sorts of Food together so as to render them Wholsom or not very Prejudicial to the Health there is required a greater Understanding than ordinary House-wives are endued with or indeed the best Cooks for their business is to gratifie the Extravagant Fancies and Liquorish Pallates of those they belong to rather than to study to prepare what is agreeable to Nature For when you mix two three or four things together if the predominant Quality in each be of contrary Natures then such Food will produce a disagreeing Nourishment in the Stomach whence must arise an inward Strife and Contention for mastery so that oft-times the pure Vertues and Spirits suffer violence and become suffocated This is manifest in all sorts of Herbs Woods Earths and Drugs which Dyers and Painters use two of which being mixt produce a third of a kind and nature contrary to both and if you add a third Ingredient of a Nature contrary to those two it will become a fourth Species The same thing happens in Eatables As you alter the Taste of any simple Food by adding one or more Ingredients So you vary its Nature so that it becomes not only of another Taste but a quite different Operation for this cause there ought to be great Caution and Discretion used in Mixing of Food or else you bring all into Confusion We ought to understand the Nature of each Ingredient and what Iuices and Nourishment two or more things conjoyned will produce for each particular makes some Variation either for the better or the worse for all Tasts in Food have the very same Original as Colours and Cooks ought to be as skilful as Painters in their Mixtures which if well observed most People would be free from desiring such Compounded Dishes most Men through ignorance of the Nature and Operation of things imagining that the more both mean and rich Ingredients are mixed together the greater and better the Nourishment The contrary whereof is true for such things do generally produce a Nourishment of a contrary Nature to most of the Ingredients as is evident in Painting for Example take Indigo Ultramarine or any Blew and mix it with White and it makes a Skie to what degree you please but then put a third viz. mix a Pink Colour and makes a Green which is a fourth Colour of a contrary Nature to both the first second and third also mix Verdigrease and Pink and it makes a Green take Lake and Ultramarine and it gives a deep Purple mix Lake and White together and you have a Pink Colour and if you would have the deepest Black take the whitest Ivory you can get and burn it and the Ashes will perform your desire so likewise Copporas Gauls and Logwood dye a Black though none of them are so Furthermore it is to be noted that there are but Seven perfect Colours in the World which have their Original from the seven Constellations viz. Black Red Yellow Blew Lake Green and White each of which does contain the true Nature of all the seven but that Quality that predominates denominates the Colour and all the other lie as it were hid or captivated but when another or contrary Colour is mixt or incorporated therewith then both those Colours lose their right in Nature and thro' an inward strife and contention there is a Third awakned which before the mixture lay hid and captivated and this third is of a contrary Nature to both the first and so you may by continual Additions of other Colours alter it into a fourth a fifth a sixth and so on for from an apt Commixture of these seven Colours an ingenious Artist in Painting can imitate and represent the Colours of all things in the whole Universe The like is to be understood of Tastes and the nature of Food mixing of two things of contrary Qualities produces a third Iuice different from each of them and if you add a third Ingredient that is in nature contrary to both the first it will awaken another Nature which lay hid or captivated and so there arises a fourth thing and this it performs by Simile making that propriety in Nature strong which was weak and causing that to become manifest that before did disappear As in the before mentioned Instance of mixing Blew and White that produces a Sky-colour which is one degree of Variation but then mix Pink-colour with these two and it makes a Green which is quite contrary to both the first and second Now before the Pink was so added this same Green was essentially in both the Colours but not manifest till the Pink captivated both the first and second
the latter are in the external parts of the Body as the Flesh or at deepest in the Blood as all Itchy and Leprous Distempers are such as catch them have them in the same parts But on the contrary when the Diseases are inward and hid in the Body it frequently happens that such as are infected therewith find not the ill effects in the very same parts but elsewhere yet arising from the same cause Nor do Diseases thus transferred use to make People sick in the beginning but steal on by degrees so that there are very rarely any Remedies applyed till it be too late And as strong Constitutions many times keep off the Assaults of contagious Diseases so neither are all weak-spirited People liable to receive Injuries and Diseases this way for there are many who have naturally weak impotent Spirits and consequently feeble Bodies who yet are as free from catching Diseases as any others because they are clean and sound so that the Rays and pernicious Vapours and bad Airs have no power to seize on them wanting a Friend or Confederate Traytor within to let them in nor can they incorporate themselves by reason of the antipathy of Nature For as every thing or Spirit is received by its Simile so on the contrary it is withstood and resisted by its opposite for this cause one is in danger of receiving Injuries this way and another not and contagious Airs are not fatal to all but in the greatest Sicknesses or Epidemical Pestilences many all the while continue sound and well and these as well weakly People as those that are strong and healthy nay many weakly People continue sound whilst those that are much more strong and healthy are seized and die For the Air being unclean and corrupted by the humid poysonous Vapours and Species penetrates all parts of the Body and where-ever it finds matter of its own kind or capable to receive its Influences then it powerfully stirs and awakens the inward or central Poysons of Nature which before lay hid or captivated in the Embraces of the sweet Oyl and thence presently follow violent burning Fevers which in few days cut off the thred of Life For every Life in its Root stands in the highest Persons so that there is matter in every man if it be kindled able to destroy the Life in a moment And therefore we often see by experience a man sound and well one day and the next near the Grave or the whole Mass of Blood corrupted as in the Small-Pox or the like For when the inward central Poysons are awakned they are so strong that they can and do often convert the whole Body and Flux of Humors into their own Property viz. into a Poysonous and Leprous Matter 'T is vulgarly believed that Distempers do oft-times seize the Body thro' Fear which is true in a Sense but first it is to be noted That the Spirit was wounded by some Gleam or Ray and the poysons awakned before-hand for all fear and dread doth arise from the Spirits which are often wounded before a man can be sensible hence arises that which we call a Pannick Fear that is a Dread Consternation or Astonishment which we can give no Reason for also the Spirits are often hurt by a Voice or hearing a Word spoken from the Mouth of another The very Air conveys the Speeches of diseased People more especially if there be fit and prepared matter for Diseases for then 't is done in a moments time insensibly for as soon as those dreadful Vapours incorporate with and awaken the Poysons in the Body presently the Phantasie and imaginative Faculty of Nature is filled with fear and dread more or less according to the degrees of those Poysons and strength or weakness of the Natural Spirits and Radical Moisture It is further to be considered that sometimes the state of the Body is such and the Spirit so weak that every small Intemperance Uncleanness ill Air c. will easily seize the Spirits and wound the Health the true Causes of which are known but to few as when Coelestial and Terrestrial Influences do concur then every little Accident indangers Nature For there are many secret Reasons why Diseases are more apt to seize the Body and Spirits at one time than at another and on the contrary a man may commit extream Outrages and Intemperance at some times of his Life and yet continue his Health tho' every Intemperance sows some Seeds of Diseases if Abstinence and Cleanness duly observed afterwards do not root them out for these if followed will cleanse and purifie Nature and digest all such Superfluities as disorders have contracted For these Reasons a man ought never to be over-confident or think himself secure from Sickness which often surprizes us when least we expect it which happens for want of the presence of and being governed by the good Genius for though Distempers for the most part proceed from irregular Lives and other Accidents of the like Nature yet it must be acknowledged that many cruel Diseases are occasioned by Rays Gleams Surprizes Fears Ioy Sorrow c. which seize the pure Spirits and cause a suffocation of them so that in a Moments time the Radical Moisture and Balsamick Vertues turn eager a loathing and weariness ensues and Nature having lost her way the Stomach grows sick and indisposed and its Action ceaseth because the same chiefly depends on the strength and goodness of the Volatile Spirits and Radical Moisture then also the Pallat forfeits its property of distinguishing whence most sick People complain they cannot taste the natural Sweetness of Meats and Drinks If this were not so People would not be able to live ten twenty or thirty days in Fevers and other Sicknesses with such small quantities of Sustenance But what they take in such Sicknesses affords but little Nourishment and that which it does is very impure for Nature is then in strife and contends with her Enemy using her utmost effects to vanquish him At this time a skillful Physitian is very useful and of as great an advantage to Nature as Auxiliary Recruits coming in to the Relief of an Army engaged in a doubtful Battle It is most manifest that what Food is agreeable to one is not to another and so of all other things and therefore 't is sottish Ignorance to argue that because one man does not receive harm by lying in or with such a Bed or Person therefore another shall not For this is no Rule as we have sufficiently demonstrated and shewed the Reasons thereof Nor must you forget that all soft warm Feather-Beds do not only help to transfer Diseases from one to another but also they are Unwholsom and Unhealthy in themselves as is before-mentioned And indeed next to Temperance in Food nothing is more Healthy than sweet hard Beds and to lie single or not more than Two at most in a Bed especially young People for lying alone cools the Body and keeps it in an equal
should they be forced to Sleep as the Custom of some is but to go to sleep as Nature inclines them Also they must not sit or lie too long without Motion for 't is that gives Spirit and Life to all young Creatures It is to be noted also that Womens Distempers as to Windiness and many other Weaknesses are much encreased by their straight Garments and Lacings which do press and wound the strength of that part it being one main Reason of their shortness of Breath contracting the Passages and Vessels of the Stomach which causeth also Sickness with pricking pains in the sides and often sends Fumes into the Head nothing being more Injurious to them than those Bodice and Stays which are as stiff and hard as Boards which makes the Stomach Waste and Back so feeble that many when they leave them off they feel themselves so weak that they are forced to continue them neither can they hardly turn themselves in their Beds but seem as if they were unjoynted which causeth many other Inconveniences as growing deformed and makes Labour and Exercises burthensom If these Rules be followed and observed by any they will find great benefit thereby and be eas'd of much Trouble and prevent a great Number of Diseases and lay Foundations for an healthy sound Generation CHAP. XII The Cause of SURFEITS and how to prevent them and keep the Body in Health As also of large Drinking after Meals and of eating of Suppers WHen any one finds himself much wearied or very hot through some violent action or fainty through Labour or long fasting or any other Accidents of the like Nature which may have wasted the Radical Moisture and spent the pure Spirits whereby the whole Body becomes heavy dull and indisposed Then to recover Nature and the Spirits and yet at the same time prevent the Diseases called Surfeits these following Rules are absolutely necessary for every one to observe 1. Before eating or drinking you ought to rest by sitting still and silent or taking a small nap of sleep or if conveniency will permit go to Bed and keep your self warm for an hour or two or three according to the greatness of the occasion which will recover the Spirits and strengthen the natural Heat and sharpen the Appetite refreshing the whole Body and chearing all the Senses so that you shall not only eat and drink with tenfold more pleasure and delight but with much more safety as to Health For no Meats or Drinks though of the highest Preparation have such Power to recover and restore the Spirits and make the sweet Oyl in the Body burn clear as Rest hath for which cause a man can fast longer from Food and with less prejudice to his Health than from Rest or Sleep Nevertheless in some of these times of Weariness there is necessity of present eating or drinking but then it ought to be done sparingly and such Food as is easie of Digestion as thin brisk Gruels Pottages and the like and that in a small Quantity for when the Spirits are spent by any of the forementioned Accidents the natural Heat of the Stomach is so weakned that it cannot bear any great Quantity of Meats or Drinks nor such Foods as are too strong in Quality without manifest danger to the Health All Inequality in this state is very perilous for when the Radical Moisture is wasted the natural Spirits are dull and impure which cannot be restored but only by Rest for the quickness and sharpness of the Stomach and digestive Faculty does chiefly consist in the Goodness and Quantity of the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits And for this cause those that are tired with Labour a less Quantity of strong Drink or Food will overcome them Also those that are endued with strong Spirits and whose Radical Moistures are pure and free from Obstructions have good and sharp Appetites and can eat and drink greater Quantities without prejudice to their Health but on the contrary such as have but weak Heats and few Spirits have but little Stomachs and faint desires to eat their Stomachs being full before their Bellies and the same is to be understood when the Spirits and Natural Heat are impared and made impotent by Accidents Therefore Rest after any kind of Weariness be it what it will is a most safe means to preserve Health and prevent the generation of Diseases 2. It is to be noted that Surfeits and Obstructions are not as many suppose contracted at the first or second Inconveniency except the Accident or Disorder be very great but by degrees every Excess sows some seeds for Diseases which would be prevented if care were taken and Nature not overcharged especially at the forementioned times viz. when the Spirits are weakned or spent for then the sweet Oyl and Radical Moisture immediately turns sourish and then follows an unnatural Heat and Disorder through the whole Body with a dizziness in the Head for the Volatile Spirit is the true Life and Being of every thing Many lively Instances might be given to demonstrate this as we see in all the Vegetations of the Earth if the spirituous parts be any way destroyed or suffocated that Herb Seed or Grain decays and becomes of no use or vertue which is likewise manifest in all Spirituous Liquors as Beer Ale Syder Wine c. if by long keeping or other accidents the spirituous parts be wasted or evaporated immediately the sweet Quality as it were dieth and then the bitter sour astringent Properties predominate and appear in their own Forms which whilst the spirituous and sweet Qualities were strong and not violated did lie hid being therein incorporated So that were it possible for Man by any Art to retain the Volatile Spirit in any Liquors or other things then such things would continue firm and good in all their parts forever The same is to be conceived in the Humane Nature and therefore all People ought to consider the danger the Spirit is in on all Disorders and Superfluities for presently the Appetite is dulled and the Pallate cannot taste or distinguish the pure Relish of any sort of Food For where the Spirits are weak all the Properties of Nature become unequal in their operation and rise up with a kind of violence or hunger after the sweet Oyl with eagerness to devour it which is the true Life Pleasure and Moderator of all the other Properties and Qualities and therefore when once the same is wounded the whole System of Nature is disordered and all her Oeconomy disturbed And this is really the very Root of all Distemperatures both of the Body and Mind which if every one did understand and take care that Nature were not overcharged might easily be prevented But though Nature doth frequently complain sigh groan and languish under many such Inconveniences and burdens yet few there be that ever think or consider the cause from whence such Indispositions proceed but for the most part through Ignorance take wrong measures for if
ought to be eaten in the Morning and the smaller quantity and such as is easiest of Concoction in the Afternoon viz. Milk-Pottage Milk and Flour Milk as it comes from the Cow after 't is cold eaten with Bread Water-Gruels c. Now the Reason of this is because in the Morning the Spirits thro' Rest are restored fresh and brisk and the Sun is not come to the Meridian but by that time it arrives there the Food is pretty well digested for you must note that when the Sun comes to the Meridian it doth more or less exhale or cause some Evaporations of the natural Spirits especially in hot Seasons and therefore Nature is then more indisposed dull and heavy than at other times Also the fore-part of the day hath spent the Spirits by Labour Exercise c. For this cause most People do find themselves dull and heavy after Dinner There is nothing that does more help Concoction than the cool refreshing Influences of the Air for it strengthens the natural Heat and makes it more central for which cause People in cold Weather have greater and stronger Appetites and more Spirits than in hot and therefore are able to endure more Action so likewise such as are bred in cold Countries are harder stronger and for the most part longer liv'd than those that inhabit in over-hot Regions for Heat dries up the thin spirituous Vapours and Radical Moisture in the Body and causes the internal Heat and Moisture which should serve for the help of Concoction to spread it self into all the external parts of the Body for all outward Heat does by simile draw forth the internal heat and causes the pure Spirits to evaporate For this very Reason mens desires are much after Drink in hot Seasons and on the contrary for Food in cold thus likewise the heat of Beds where most People wrap themselves up very warm takes away the Appetite for let a man go to Bed some-what hungry yet after he has slept his Stomach shall seem dull and his desire of eating gone till his motion for a while in the Air does recal it and the same quantity of Food eaten for a Supper which proves burdensom to him that goes to Bed shall be most pleasant and lightsom to one that sits up all night so great is the power of Air and Motion Therefore all hot soft Feather Beds with thick Coverings which most People use themselves to with Curtains drawn c. so that their Chambers are in the next degree to Bagneo's or Hot-Houses are very inconvenient for they weaken the Back and Joynts destroy the Appetite and render the whole Body so delicate and tender that every little Inconveniency is felt and such People can scarce endure the fresh Air to blow upon them without some prejudice to their Health which doth increase stoppages and all Windy Diseases but on the contrary open fresh Airs Rooms that have large Windows and fair Prospects and the Bed open hard and clean so that the refreshing Influences of the Air may pass freely will strengthen the whole Body beget and increase Appetite and make the spirits powerful whereby Nature does avoid many Inconveniences and Diseases CHAP. XIII Of Windy Diseases the Reason thereof in Nature and why English People especially Women are so much troubled therewith Also an Account of the Inconveniency of eating and drinking between Meals THE Generation of Windy Diseases in the Body arise from many Causes but chiefly from Three viz. 1. From eating and drinking of too great quantities of various sorts of gross fat Food and strong Drinks of disagreeing Natures which stretch the Vessels of the Stomach beyond what is natural and generate evil Juices of a sower keen quality and sharp griping Nature for it is not purely Wind or an airy quality that doth so gripe and pain the Body and send up such Fumes and Vapours into the Head for if it were so Nature would find some way to discharge it which perhaps might make a noise but not be so painful But this windy substance is mixed with a sharp sower thin poysonous matter that runs out of one place into another and causeth griping pains and all this chiefly proceeds from Repletion and too much Nourishment and uncocted matter For when Meats and Drinks are taken that are either ill prepared or too much in quantity or of a contrary quality to the Constitution then the natural Heat of the Stomach and digestive Faculty cannot concoct such Foods nor make any perfect separation nor cast out those evil Juices and Venoms which all sorts of such Food doth contain but especially Flesh and fat strong Meats which are apt to lodge in Vessels and cause Pains and Swellings for what part or Member soever of the Body is by any Accident made weak these evil Humours will flow unto and seize that part in an especial manner thus If the Brain be weak it causeth a violent Head-Ach to continue for several days together with a dizziness but if the more central parts as the Breast and Passages be impotent then you shall find all the Faculties of the Stomach debilitated and its rententive Property so impaired that it cannot retain the Food whence proceeds loathings and vomitings but on the contrary if the Centre be well fortified with a powerful natural Heat then the Stomach easily flings them off and they disperse themselves into the Members and more external parts which causeth swellings and grievous pains in the Hips Legs and Arms or where-else it happens often shifting from one part to another which some call the Windy Gout a Disease tho' very painful yet not so dangerous as when it lies and centers it self near the Heart and vital Parts for when they lodge about the Stomach such People are not well either full or fasting for after eating this Humour doth so sower the Food that it makes the Stomach sick and subject to sower belchings and the whole body to swell and sickish Qualms to arise And this enticeth many to take a dram of Brandy or other strong spirituous Drink to help Concoction which seems to give some ease for the present but in a little time the same Inconveniency will return and then again away they run to their Doctor Brandy-Bottle and thus come to accustom themselves to such strong fiery Liquors whereby they yet more and more weaken the Stomach and cause the before-mentioned Windy Diseases to encrease so that in a little time they shall not be able to eat any Food without a Dram after it nay it will come to that at last that they will not be able to digest their Food either with it or without it the Liquor will make such a Prey of Nature causing the Head never to be free from dulling Fumes and Vapours Now these Diseases are very rarely cured by any of the Medicines that are appropriated to them because most People do more or less continue the same Disorders which were the first cause thereof For no
Medicines have such Power either to prevent or remedy these Disorders in the Body as Temperance Cleanness and good Order for they have an inward Power and certain Efficacy for that purpose and if Temperance be continued it will augment the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits and by degrees strengthens the natural Heat of the Stomach which only hath the Power to draw all such windy gross sharp matter from all parts of the body and so cast it out if thro' length of time it be not become too central for the natural Heat hath a magnetick Vertue that forcibly attracts all such matter as burdens Natures even from the most inward Cavities and furthest Ciroumference unto it self and there digests and throws it off both upwards downwards if a proper degree of Temperance be observed both in quantity quality fresh supplies of Food Drink come not too often For so powerful is this attractive Faculty of the Stomach that it will draw the very Flesh off the Bones as is most manifest both by men beasts if the Stomach be not supplied with convenient quantities of Meats and Drinks for this Heat which serves for concoction separation is never idle but always continues its motion action so long as the Spirits are lively that there doth remain any Oyl in the Lamp For this cause moderate Fasting hath been commended by all wise men a clean well prepared Diet hath great Power not only to prevent Diseases both of the Body Mind but also to root them out especially when the cause of such Diseases as generally it happens have arisen from over-charging of Nature with too great quantities of Flesh Fish the more because People make no distinction between Clean Unclean nor of the Seasons of the Year of the Surfeits or Diseases the Cattle are subject unto whose Flesh they eat nor regard the improper Mixtures of such Food c. 2. The second cause of Windy Diseases I assign to be the frequent eating and drinking of Hot Foods I do not mean such as are hot in their own nature operation but such as having been prepared by Fire are eaten before those fiery sulpherous Steems are evaporated for they are of a very pernicions venomous quality and altogether of a contrary Nature to the genuine Heat of Nature particularly of the Stomach also for this fiery heat will no longer incorporate it self with such Foods Broths c. than it is forced by the constant heat of the fire for as soon as they are taken from thence this sulpherous Steem or humid Vapour will hastily separate of its own accord which does manifest that this Heat is an Alien that Nature casts it out as an Enemy for indeed it contains three venomous qualities that are absolutely pernicious to Health viz. 1st The first is an harsh Fire of a Saturnine Martial Nature of a keen sharp fretting operation which dulls the pure Spirits infects the Blood with a Maingy itching Humour 2dly It contains a gross deadly poysonous Water or humid quality that does incorporate it self with the grossest parts of the Air fly away in a steem or vapour if Food be eaten before those fiery evil vapours be separated evaporated it swells the body hurts the natural Heat of the Stomach insensibly but certainly generates both Windy Watery Diseases filling the inward Vessels of the Body with evil venomous Juices sending Fumes into the Head disordering the whole body this more especially in Women Children who as we have shewed you before are by Nature much more liable to Windy Diseases than men 3dly If this furious Steem be by any Vessel that covers the Meat after 't is taken out of the Pot or off from the Spit so that it cannot fly away but is stopt turned back or confined to stay with such Food after 't is prepared then will it re enter into it and make it flat and heavy alter the Taste of it so that it will be strong gross on the Pallat heavy on the Stomach It is also to be noted that the common eating of Hot Foods does possess the Blood with a salt sharp fretting Humour like a Mainge if Children were not accustomed to such things from their Mothers Breast it would more sensibly break out upon them in that kind For this very Reason in Dogs and many other Creatures if such hot Broths or Food be given them it will cause the Mainge in their Blood the very same it occcasions in the human Nature but not externally so manifest because rendered more familiar by use 3. The Third Cause not only of Windy Diseases but of many others is Peoples eating and drinking too often Nothing more burdens Nature or generates more crude sharp Humors for when fresh Food is thrust into the Stomach before the former is digested it mixeth with the half-concocted Food which does surprize Nature and disturb her Work and fouls the Stomach causeth sower Belchings makes the Vessels to swell and in some Constitutions is attended with griping Pains and Indispositions through the whole Body c. for the natural heat is so oppressed with these continual supplies of Food before it calls or is ready for them that it cannot make any perfect Separation which is a main cause of Windy Diseases filling the Vessels with unconcocted Juices which powerfully obstruct the due Functions of Nature and hinders the Circulation of the Blood and Spirits which is the reason that when such People do travel or labour and oft-times only upon the Change of Weather they are indisposed and presently tired and out of Breath and troubled with an inward heat and drought continually calling for Supplies of Drink which does but promote Disorder and swell the Body and make the Exercise more burthensom For indeed drinking between Meals is very injurious to all sorts of People except to those that labour hard and sweat much for such may drink but very moderately or else they may quickly out-do Nature but for others that live easie Lives and do not sweat to be sipping or rather pouring down strong Drink and Wine between Meals does prove of very evil Consequence for it destroys the edge of the Appetite and makes the Stomach disordered always seeming as if it wanted something and in some Constitutions an hot heavy dulness for all strong Drinks received in a greater quantity than the Stomach can conveniently master leave a sowr heavy stinking Matter behind them in the Body which furrs the Passages with a slimy Substance and which causeth loss of Appetite shortness of Breath Rheums with sharp tickling Matter that first ascends into the Head and offends it and then falls back again into the Breast and upon the Lungs whence Coughs and Consumptions proceed Also in some People it begets a kind of unnatural hunger or craving in the Stomach or a sharp gnawing Pain which causeth many to eat
but they are never the better satisfied nor eased but rather increase the Pain thereby I am confident abundance of People can witness this to be true from their own Experience and yet will not consider or regard the true Reason or Causes of it For it is a gross Mistake when any shall feel their Stomachs gnaw or gripe in this manner to run presently to the Cupbord and think thereby to cure that defect which for the most part does but increase it and no longer gives ease than the Food or Drink is in the Mouth for this evil habit of the Stomach does not proceed from want of Food or Nourishment but through sharp crude superfluous Matter which dulls and disables the Natural Heat that it cannot perform its due Office of Digestion for where Food is thus too frequently cramm'd in the digestive Faculty has not power to make separation which does as it were suffocate the pure Spirits and then presently the sweet Oyl or Juices of such Food turns either of a keen sowr or bitter Quality according to the disorder or nature of each man's Stomach and Constitution which depraved Juices disperse themselves into several parts of the Body enfeebling the Joynts and Members wounding the Spirits and making room for outward Colds and the like Accidents to take place for Colds do rarely seize any part of the Body provided the Accident be not too extream except first there be some inward defect or weakness as may appear by those that are troubled with stoppages of the Breast whom every petty Accident nay even the alteration of the Air shall sensibly afflict But as Nature abhors all Extreams so on the other side over-long Fasting does help to generate windy Diseases especially in infirm People whose natural Heats are weak and Spirits few for they will soon grow fainty and Fumes and Vapors will be apt to fly up into their Heads and when they come to eat a small matter makes them sick for too long fasting does spend and evaporate the Spirits and waste the Radical Moisture and hurt the digestive Faculty so that after eating and drinking the Senses seem to be stupified and the whole Body sleepy and indisposed and besides after such long Fasting People are apt to strain Nature by taking more Meat and Drink than she can bear Therefore a Mean is safest in all things for if any refrain from Food too long the Action of the Stomach is so vigorous and its attractive Faculty so powerful that it preys on the natural Spirits and radical Moisture so that you shall then find a very imperfect Appetite whence comes that common Saying I have out-fasted my self or My Stomach is gone For the strength and perfection of the Palate and Stomach consists in the strength and vigor of the Spirits and radical Moisture therefore both superfluous eating and drinking and also immoderate fasting do generate Diseases and cause Indispositions both in the Body and Mind Therefore it is not so commendable nor so healthy to make but one Meal in twenty four hours as to make two moderate Meals in that space for otherwise there is apt to be too great an Emptiness and too eager an Hunger which makes People give themselves such a freedom of eating as thereby the Vessels aâ—e stretched by the great quantities of Food which makes such have great Bellies and prove fat and gross But though they will eat but once a day yet many of them that are able to come by it do give themselves the liberty of drinking lusty Evening-draughts which do so stupifie the Senses and heat the Blood and furr the Passages so that it is no wonder that they are not prepared for a Breakfast In a word there is nothing so safe nothing so pleafant as Temperance and to observe proper times and feasons for eating and drinking and keeping within the bounds of what is necessary both in quantity and quality And this we must aver That as the world goes few there are that hurt their Health with Fasting in comparison of those Multitudes that destroy themselves by Superfluities nor is it so dangerous a consequence if any competent care be taken It is also to be observed That all kinds of Food ill prepared is hurtful and apt to forward those Windy Distempers for any Food that is too much or too little drest or under or over-prepared is prejudicial to the Health but over-prepared is the more hurtful of the two unless where it is very much too little done for over-preparation be it of what you will does in a great measure destroy the brisk lively Spirits which renders such Food of a heavy dull gross Nature and Operation so that it cannot administer such proper Nourishment nor can the natural heat of the Stomach draw such pure Spirits from it as otherwise it would yield for it cannot give what it has not 'T is therefore a great Error as to Health to overprepare Food as the custom of some is viz. to boil Flesh so long till 't is ready to fall to pieces which many do because the Broth should draw forth all the strength and vertue also they boil it in but small quantity of Water with the Pot or Vessel covered by which means the Broth loseth its proper and natural Complexion and becomes of a dull reddish Colour mixt with black which is very pernicious both to those that are in health and such as are already sickly but especially for weak consumptive people whom Physicians generally order to eat of such Pottages for their natural Heats being weak and Spirits low these unnatural Preparations gross Foods do further the growth of their Distempers for all such Pottages have lost their pure spirituous parts and volatile vertues in the preparation and are loathsom to Nature especially to weak people because by the small quantity of Water long boiling and the grosness of such Flesh the lively Vertues and Tiuctures are destroyed and therefore such Goods lose their natural Colour and fragrant Sent and become strong and fulsome for no preparation ought to be continued any longer than the crude body be opened and the gross matter digested for if it be continued longer then the pure spirituous parts will evaporate The Intention of kinds of Preparation is to digest the phlegmatick gross Parts that thereby the spiritual Vertues may he set at liberty but then if the Preparation be continued your Fire will serve you as the Celestial Fire viz. the Sun and Elements do the Husband-man when he makes his Hay or the Malster his Malt for first the Sun exhales the gross Body and phlegmatick Parts of the Grass or Herbs and sets the Spirit at liberty which perfumes the whole Field with most delectable Odors but if this Hay be continued too long in the Sun and open Air its spirituous Quality will also be exhaled and then it will become like Salt that hath lost its savour good for little but the Dunghil The very same is to be
unclean fierce Qualities will grow so powerful that they will not only eat and drink such things but also desire them for all Creatures have one only foundation and each Particular contains the true Nature of the whole only the Qualities and Properties of Nature do differ so in one one Quality is strong in another the contrary which makes that great Variation which we see and admire amongst the Creatures as to their Dispositions Shapes Forms Tones Sounds c. And hence proceeds the possibility of altering changing strengthening and awakening of Dispositions Inclinations and Qualities in each Creature This was the grand cause in the beginning why Man was prohibited the eating of Flesh and Killing and why Moses in the Wilderness did not permit the Children of Israel to kill and eat Flesh during their forty years Travel for the Wilderness represents this World which all must pass through and deny themselves the Vanities oppression and Violences thereof or else they cannot enter the Holy Land but must fall in the Wilderness for those that have through the divine Power of the Lord escaped the hands of the Egyptians and are got clear of the Land of Bondage and have left Pharaoh and his Host swallowed up in the Red Sea ought not to long or lust after the Violences and Flesh Pots of the Land of Vanity but to continue in the Spirit of Meekness Love Humanity Self-denial and to do unto all Creatures as a man would be done unto himself which is the true Path of the New Life that leads into the right-hand-way and goes to the heavenly City For those wise Philosophical Seers into the divine and humane Mysteries were sensible of the manifold Evils that attended Mankind by his joyning himself with the unclean Beasts and by killing and eating their Flesh which did so powerfully-awaken and strengthen the inhumane Properties in Man that he by degrees became delighted in all kind of violent cruel bloody Actions not only to the inferiour Creatures but also to those of his own kind whence Cruelties and Murthers have been so mightily encouraged that scarce any have been counted of Noble Birth and Blood but such as have been famous Man slayers and destroyed many of their own Species Some of the Eastern-Sages from a true understanding of the Law of God in Nature declared against these Inhumanities and sanguinary Customs as Pythagoras and his Followers to this day in some Parts of the East-Indies who by their good Examples and innocent Lives do draw off many of the Savage People from the same to a more pure and peaceable course of Life For First They taught them the ill Consequences of Oppression Violences Killing and Eating the Flesh of their Inferiours and making themselves the Sepulchres of the dead Bodies of Beasts And when they had done this then it followed that they would not strike harm oppress or kill those of their own kind for he that does scruple to use violence unto or kill a Sheep or Cow will to be sure be far from hurting or murthering a Man And thus for many Ages have they led peaceable and harmless Lives in Unity and Amity with the whole Creation shewing all kind of Friendship and Equality not only to those of their own Species but to all other Creatures hurting or enslaving none but allowing them all those Privileges and Freedoms that the Creator had given to all the Inhabitants of the World nor cutting off the Thred of their Lives before their appointed time And it has been observed that these Men sinde their time of Love and Clemency to the Creatures have not only been bless'd with the Goods of this World and Dew of Heaven far above their wild savage Neighbours but also were never known to contend oppress fight kill or commit Man slaughter but have lived these many hundred Years in Peace and Concord with all the Creation whereas before they were convinced that it was an Evil to destroy and eat the Flesh and Blood of Beasts they made no more of killing and oppressing Men than a Wolf doth of devouing a Sheep or one of our Butchers of knocking down a Cow The very same and far greater Advantages would come to pass amongst Christians if they would cease from Contention Oppression and what tends and disposes them thereunto the killing of Beasts and eating their Flesh and Blood and in a short time humane murthers and devilish seuds and cruelties among each other would abate and perhaps scarce have a being amongst them For Separation has greater power than most imagine whether it be from evil or good for whatsoever any man separates himself from that Property in him is presently weakned As suppose a man separate himself from any kind of Intemperance Violence or Uncleanness and joyn himself to Vertue then presently the wrathful unclean Nature is weakned and grows faint for want of its proper Food but on the contrary the humane and divine Principle grows strong Likewise Separation does wonderfully dispel the dark Clouds of Ignorance and makes the Understanding able to distinguish between the good and evil Principles first in himself and then in all other things proportionably but so long as men live under the power of all kind of Uncleanness Violence and Oppression they cannot see any Evil therein because the humane and divine Principles are so weak feeble and as it were dead because their Counsels are continually disobey'd and instead thereof the Spirit of Errour is followed For this cause those that do not separate themselves from Uncleanness Oppression and the like Evils but are contented to follow the Multitude in the Left-hand way and resolve to continue the Religion of their Forefathers though thereby they do but mean Custom the greatest of Tyrants 'T is I say impossible for such People ever to understand or know any thing truly either of divine or humane Mysteries nor can any man penetrate thereinto except he first separate himself from all evil and unclean Ways of the Multitude and their Customs for 't is the departing from Evil and the practice of Good that crowns a Man with Wisdom Vertue and Understanding and renders him capable to put the right intrinsick Value upon things and reckon them at their true price for it is generally acknowledged amongst men the highest Folly to judge of those things which they have never known nor been experienced in Who would ask an honest Tarpawlin-Seaman's Advice in a Law-Case expect a Plough man should relish the Delicacies of an excellent Lesson of Musick or think a Cobler fit to value some curious Master-piece of Vandike or Lilly's Painting So improbable it is that men should have judgment in any Science Art or common Trade if they had not separated themselves from other Matters and applied themselves some time to such Crafts or Sciences And yet so vain are most men as to suppose themselves capable to judge of divine and humane Mysteries tho' they are still hurried with the Violences and wallow in
how the thing is in it self they themselves are as blind as Bats and the Reason is they are like the Old Hagg that Seneca somewhere mentions who never put her Eyes into her Head but when she went abroad Thus some of our silly Travellers will tell you forty Stories of France Spain and Italy but of the Rarities the Commodities the Manufactures the Laws and Privileges of England their Native Country they are utterly ignorant What a Madness is it for me with toil and hazard to ramble to the Ends of the Earth to dig in the Mines of Potosi or pick up the glittering Dirt of Guinea when God hath furnish'd me at home with a Soil that yields me precious Oar much more noble and useful Now that these Hear-say-Men or Book-Philosophers called The Learned are as ignorant as any nay commonly more than any others of the true knowledge of God in themselves appears undeniably by their walking contrary to the Ways of Vertue by their compelling and forcing others to their Self-invented Belly-Forms that are utterly destitute of the Life of Truth who do commit the greatest Outrages against God and against his People but chiefly the Learned It is they that set the Rabble on to torment the innocent and simple-hearted and all such as are of contraÌ„ry Forms to themselves All which are the Effects of the awakened fierce Wrath and does declare that the Devil and Hellish Powers do predominate in their hearts and that Love Mercy Meckness and doing as a Man would be done unto have no being in them and it will be so as long as Men prefer Vanity Tradition and their Belly before the Man that told the Woman of Samaria all things that ever she did which is Iesus Christ the true Light that enlightneth every Man that cometh into the World It was not therefore without deep Understanding that the more prudent in all Ages did esteem the knowledge of themselves before all other Attainments and recommended it as a thing principally necessary to every Man for all that do know the Power of God in themselves and are guided by the Voice of Wisdom and live in the friendly Love of God have abandoned and utterly exiled all Hatred Pride Malice Back-biting Fighting Killing Violence and Oppression whatsoever either of Man or Beast and in them meek innocent Dispositions and Inclinations do reign using and doing unto all Creatures as one would be used and done unto for Violence and all kind of Cruelty and Oppression is as contrary to such Natures as Darkness to Light And we may affirm That never any Men have harmed oppressed killed or used any kind of violence to any innocent Creature from the excitement or power of this Divine Principle Therefore let every one consider this they that find Hatred Envy the Spirit of Oppression and Violence to dwell in them may certainly conclude themselves in the fierce wrath of God for all such Dispositions and Inclinations do proceed from that dark Root of Bitterness which is all contrary to the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Great is the whole Mystery of Godliness but especially Christ manifest in the Flesh viz. That the eternal Love and Light of God should dwell essentially in man for after Man suffered his Will and Desires to enter into Vanity and Bestiality the Lord said It is not good nor safe for Man to be alone but promised him the Seed of the Woman the holy Principle of divine Light and Love which will bruise the head of the Serpent in all that adhere to and follow its Counsel that is it will destroy the works of the Devil and then all Violence and Oppression departs from that Man and that Saying is fulfilled The Lord is my Strength my Safeguard and Portion And every Man thus qualified is taught of God Iehovah is his Tutor and his Guide the mighty Counsellor so that he will no longer run after other Gods nor contend for any thing but Truth and Righteousness and to live a sober harmless innocent Life in the sight of God and Man and doing unto all as he would be done unto And such purified Souls amidst all the Hurries the Storms and Agitations of the World round about them do securely ride at Anchor in a blissful Calm and are satisfied with their Portions and know their Centre and to them all Contention ceaseth and there is Peace on Earth as in Heaven 9. There is no necessity for Mankind to oppress burry and kill the Beasts and eat their Flesh and Blood as many ignorantly affiâ—m crying out What shall we do with them They will over run us and eat us up if we do not kill and eat them But I answer That there is no sort of Cattel but is otherwise of use besides to be eaten and Horses are not eaten and yet what Nation complains of having too many of them But some will say Many of them are killed by Violence and Oppression which is confessed But if there were no Horses destroyed that way but used moderately and gently yet there would be no fear of having too many of them the like may be said of other innocent Creatures 10. The eating of Flesh and killing of Creatures for that purpose was never begun nor is now continued for want or necessity or for the Maintenance of Health but chiefly because the high lofty Spirit of Wrath and Sensuality had gotten the Dominion in Man over the meek Love and innocent harmless Nature and being so rampant could not be satisfied except it had a proportionable Food and of all others Flesh has the greatest affinity as is mentioned before And if all Men would refrain eating of Flesh there would be no cause for them to complain for want of Food for the Almighty has in all particulars been gracious and bountiful unto all Creatures but more especially unto Mankind for whom he hath spread a plentiful Table furnishing the whole Earth with a great multitude of variety of Herbs Fruits Grains and Seeds fit for Food which do afford a Nourishment of a most excellent Substance and far beyond Flesh as it doth appear by all that have applied themselves to such harmless innocent Foods especially in decayed Natures and sick as all with one voice consent as well the Learned as they call them as the Simple For when People are ill and Nature weakned with Distempers they all advise them to Pottages Grewels and various sorts of Foods made of Herbs Fruits and Grains but no Flesh must come near them during their Weakness Now if these Vegetables and Fruits do afford such an excellent nourishment and have such a natural and secret Power to help and recover Nature and restore lost Health and Srength how much more then shall they maintain and preserve it when it is restored But Flesh was never desired because Men found any defect in the nourishment of Vegetables and the like but because it hath a Simile with that unclean Nature and fierce Wrath that now became predominant
Vine viz. under the Government of the divine Principle of God's Eternal Love Here all Contention ceaseth no hideous Cries nor mournful Groans are heard neither of Man nor Beast no Chanels running with the Blood of slaughter'd Beasts no stinking Shambles nor bloody Butchers no roaring of Canons nor firing of Towns no loathsome stinking Prisons nor Iron Grates to keep Men from enjoying Wife Children and the pleasant Air nor no crying for want of Food and Cloths no Rioting nor wanton Inventions to destroy as much in one day as a Thousand can get by their hard Labour and Travel no swearing nor stabbing Heaven with dreadful Execrations no galloping Horses up Hills without any consideration or fellow-feeling of the Creatures pains and burthens no deflouring of Virgins and then expose both them and their own Seed to all the Miserie 's imaginable nor no Letting Lands and Farms so dear that the Farmer must be forced to oppress himself Servants and Cattle almost to death and all too little to pay his Rent no Disobedience of the Inferiour nor Oppression of the Superiour but the first knows how to obey and the last how to govern neither is there any Want because there is no Superfluity nor Gluttony No Noise nor Cries of wounded Men no need of Chirurgeons to cut Bullets out of their Flesh nor no cutting off Hands broken Legs and Arms no roaring nor crying out with the torturing pains of the Gout nor other painful Diseases as Leporous and Consumptive Distempers except through Age and the Relicks of some Strains they got whilst they lived in intemperate Egypt neither are their Children afflicted with such a great number of Diseases but are as free from Distempers as Lambs Calves or the young ones of any of the Beasts who are preserved sound and healthful because they have not outraged God's Law in Nature the breaking of which is the Foundation of most or all cruel Diseases that afflict Mankind there being nothing that makes the difference between Man and Beasts as to Health but only Superfluity and Intemperance both in Quality and Quantity Man in his first state was made the soundest healthiest of the greatest Spirit and the longest life'd as witness the Antients in the first Ages of the World But when Man enter'd with his Will into Violence Oppression and Cruelty then the Lord said That Man had corrupted the Earth and filled it with Violence that is the Elements and Properties of the Humane Nature was corrupted and become unequal in their Operation every particular Quality did endeavour to get the upper hand Here the Harmony was broken and Discord took place here was the Strife Then the Lord shortned Man's Life but not before he became intemperate and did Violence not only unto himself but to all other Creatures therefore they do groan to be delivered into that first State and glorious Liberty Man was created in which if he had continued in Obedience and lived under the Government of the innocent Principle of God's Light and Love all the inferiour Creatures would have enjoyed all the Privileges and Liberty which were ordained for them according to their Capacity For this Cause whensoever any of the inferiour Creatures are oppressed hurt or killed they do by a natural Disposition and Inclination cry unto the Fountain whence they proceeded and groan for Deliverance which will never be until Men with their Wills and Desires enter into the innocent Principle of God's Love and holy Light whence doth arise no Disposition of Hatred Violence or Oppression it being as contrary to it as Light is to Darkness All Cruelty and Blood-shedding do proceed from another Fountain as different in Nature and Operation as the common consuming Fire doth differ from the Light thereof which is of a most friendly pleasant Quality and benevolent Operation but the Fire is fierce and altogether the contrary yet nevertheless the harsh Fire is the cause of the Light and if there were no Fire there would be no Light The Fire is the Father and the Light is the Son and they are Emblems of the Father and Son or of the internal Fire and Light The Light of this internal Fire is a most pleasant chearing Quality of Life but the Fire in its own Nature is a strong harsh sulphurous Property a devouring lofty proud Spirit who endeavours to consume all things and the internal dark Fire is its Root and the Scripture saith Who can dwell with everlasting Burnings God is a Consuming Fire to all that are not cloathed with the Son's Wedding-Garment of Light Love and Innocency therefore the scrupling Violence and Oppression both to Man and Beast and denying our selves of other Vanities and Superfluities is of great moment and the only Path that leads Men to the holy Land preserving both the Body and Soul in health For this Cause in the Beginning the Lord put Man into a Garden which doth truly signifie Innocency and gave him a great number of fragrant Herbs Seeds Fruits and Grains which are all endued with an innocent Nature and Operation but when he had precipitated his Will and Desires into the Principle of Wrath then presently the Earth was filled with Violence and the Element of his Body and Soul was corrupted then Distemperatures took place in him and his Life was shortned but not before Therefore the Eating of Herbs Seeds Grains and Fruits is of far greater consequence than most imagine and they may justly be esteemed the Food of good Angels for their Innocency excellent Virtues Fragrancies and Odours and therefore they were the Food ordain'd for Man whilst he remained in his Angelical State and if he had continued in Innocency he would never have desired any other Food but when by Desire he awaken'd the fierce Wrath and lived under the Power and Government of its Nature then he could not be satisfied without doing Violence and Killing for innocent Herbs and Fruits had no Simile with that Nature that had gotten the upper Dominion in him for every Property as I have told you before must have its own Food or else it cannot subsist then it was and not before that the Lord permitted Men to kill and eat the Flesh and Blood of Beasts which would never have been had Man continued in Innocency And therefore great are the Benefits and manifold Privileges that now do accompany all those that have attained to that state of Purity and Innocency which our first Parents were cloathed with their Minds being freed from Snares and their Bodies from superfluous Labours therefore can say We have no need of Lawyers Honesty Justice and Prudence makes their Trade nothing worth and but a few Physicians and none of them keep neither Coaches nor Chariots they are not clothed with Gold Silver nor Plush Coats our Temperance keeps them poor The true Knowledge of God and Nature in our selves destroys the Trade of divining for Money Our Superiours are not proud nor ambitious neither do they spend the choicest and
Therefore let none think themselves unworthy because they have not the Learning of Babel or because they are simple for such as are unlearned and empty if they come to the Lord in Humility and Faith he will abundantly teach them and plentifully fill them with all good things The most natural and proper way of making of Cordials with any kind of Herbs Seeds Flowers Spices and Drugs either simple or compound Take any sort of Herbs Seeds Flowers Spices or Drugs either simple or compound but the first is to be preferred before the latter the Drugs and Seeds are to be bruised or cut what Quantity you think convenient infuse them in Ale Beer Cyder Wine or Spirit of Wine but remember that they do not continue above one hour in your Liquor but if the Quantity of Seeds Herbs Drugs or Flowers be great and but little Liquor then half an hour will be a sufficient time for you to continue your Infusion the same is to be understood if your Herbs or ingredients be of a strong bitter Quality as Wormwood Featherfew Tansie and the like your Vessel ought to be close stopt all the time of your Infusion then strain out your Liquor putting it into Bottles and when 't is setled sweeten it to what degree you think fit with Refined-Sugar which is to be preferred before any kind of Syrups for they are broken flat Bodies like any sort of Food that is prepared twice and therefore when mixed with any kind of Liquor or Drink they give it a sickish fainty Taste being dull heavy and unpleasing to the Stomach Which of you that prefer the use of Syrups so much if you were to have your Drink sweetned when you are in health would chuse Syrups to do it with I believe scarce one man of an hundred but rather White-Sugar with which when you have sweetened your Infusion or Liquor prepared as aforesaid you have a Cordial far more friendly to Nature and more impregnated with the real and natural Virtues of the Herbs Seeds Drugs c. which you have made choice of to use than any that is or can be drawn by Distillation for the Reasons beforementioned But if you let your Ingredients lie soaking two three four five Days or a Week more or less as is usual for most people to do then the pure Volatile balsamick Virtues and Tinctures will become either suffocated or evaporated for all sorts of Menstrums or Liquors do first extract or receive the pure subtle spirituous Qualities especially of all such Herbs Seeds Grains or Flowers as have already passed through any kind of Digestion or Fermentation as all dry Herbs have that are prepared according to our Rules and also all green Herbs that are Spicy and Aromatick do the same therefore if continued too long in such Liquors the pure Virtues and sweet spirituous parts become suffocated by degrees and then presently appears the strong gross bitter sower and astringent Qualities which poysonous Properties do prey upon and devour the sweet Body and pure Spirits for which cause all such Infusions or Cordials have a strong fulsome smell and taste and equally unpleasant to the Nose the Pallate and the Stomach Many Examples I could instance to demonstrate this but I shall only name one which is very plain familiar and material viz. in Brewing Alc and Beer First you make your Liquor boiling hot then put the Mault to it and stir it letting it stand together one hour or thereabouts and then you let that Liquor run off and so have a brave friendly Sweet Wort. But should you have done as most Physicians Apothecaries and others do viz. have let your Mault and Liquor stood infusing five or six Hours a Day a Week or the like I appeal to your selves if your Wort would not have turned sower sharp keen and of no use or virtue except for Stilling whereby 't is evident that all Infusions that are continued beyond their proper time do lose all their good Virtues more especially if they be such things as have already passed through any kind of Fermentation or Digestion the gross Bodies of all such things being in a Degree opened whereby the Balsamick Virtues become as it were volatile which before lay hid or captivated in the Body of Phlegm as is most manifest in all Grass or Herbage Take an handful of Grass and smell to it does it not send forth a gross fulsome earthy smell and scent but if you expose the same Grass two or three Days to the Sun and open Air which will exhale and destroy the fulsome phlegmy parts and more earthy substance opening the Body and then the Spirituous parts become so volatile that it will perfume the whole Field And if this Preparation be not discontinued the same Sun and Elements will exhale and destroy the good Virtues also and for this cause I told you that dryed Herbs Seeds and Grains are to be preferred before Green except some Spicy Herbs whose pure Virtues stand a degree more external than others and such are best to be used Green But others when infused green impart their gross phlegmy Substance to the Liquor Dryed Herbs Seeds Grains and the like when committed to any proper Liquor do more freely give forth their good Virtues than the Green for the Spirituous Qualities and sweet Body is more ready to infuse it self than other the astringent bitter or sower Qualities but they follow close at the heels of the good Virtues and if the Infusion or Preparation be not rightly timed then these fierce original strong Qualities will suffocate the Supple spirits and in a moment the sweet Body turns sower eager and astringent and the use of all such things proves very destructive to the Health of the Body and are very unpleasant to the Pallate and Stofor as there is a most pleasant sweet friendly Power and Virtue in all Herbs Seeds and Grains so on the contrary there is a strong gross poysonous fulsom Quality there being nothing so good but it hath an evil in it nor any thing so evil but there is an essential good in it therefore there is required Wisdom and Understanding in all Preparations whether for Food or Physick The Proper Natural way of making Physical Decoctions Posset-Drink c. with Herbs and Seeds so as they may not lose their Virtues The most essential way to make Decoctions of either Herbs or Seeds is after this manner First Take what Quantity of good River-water you shall think fit making it boyling hot or you may boyl it a little but the former is best viz. to make it as hot as good House-wives and Brewers make their Liquor into which they put their Mault for the much boyling of Water does not only evaporate the spirituous Qualities thereof but it fixeth it so that it hath not that power to draw or extract the Virtue and good Properties of such Ingredients as shall be added for which cause few Brewers will suffer their Liquor to boyl or
to every one It hath never been known that this troublesome Vermin was ever seen in Warehouses Kitchins Parlours Dining-rooms or any places where Beds have never been except they have by accident been brought into such Rooms or Warehouses by Furniture of Chambers that have been troubled with them tho all such places have the same Furniture as Chambers except Beds 5. From the same Substance or Matter whence Bugs are bred is also occasioned the generation of many nasty Diseases in the Blood so that the destruction of the Matter that breeds them is of greater Consequence than most people are sensible of And if these following Rules be observed I dare affirm That the Generation of Bugs will cease and also many other Inconveniences and Distempers that are got by this sort of Uncleanness will be avoided First You are to destroy all Press-Bedsteads which stand in Corners of Rooms being made up with Boards so close that the Air cannot penetrate or dry up and consume the moist sulpherous Vapours that are contracted These Sorts of Beds that stand so are apt to have them more than others Also you are to set your other Sorts of Beds as near as you can in the most airy places of your Rooms exposing them to the Air the most part of the Day with your Chamber-windows open that the Air may freely pass which is the most excellent Element that does sweeten all things and prevents Putrefaction In the Night also you ought not to have your Window-Curtains drawn nor your Curtains that are about your Beds for it hinders the sweet refreshing Influences of the Air so that the Air of all close places becomes of a hot sulpherous Nature and Operation the thin pure Vapours which do wonderfully refresh Nature are as it were suffocated And this preventing the Influenees of the Air is in an especial manner observable when people are sick or out of order as tho the sweet pleasant Air had been the cause of their Disease such Rooms being so very close with great Fires in them that if a Healthy Person do but continue three or four Hours in them the fulsome Steams and thick Vapours will much disorder him and take away the edge of his Appetite And if so what will the Operation be on those whose Spirits are weak and disordered with Distempers What is more pleasant and healthful than good Air It chears and comforts the Spirits it opens the Passages of the Joynts and Nerves it purifies the Blood creates an Appetite increasing Strength and Vigour But on the contrary hot thick sulpherous Airs do not only obstruct the Passages of the Spirits but suffocate them loading the Joynts and Nerves with evil Juices whereby the Limbs and Members become full of pain causing a general Tenderness to possess the whole Body and destroying the Appetite and the power of the digestive Faculty in the Stomach Also do not all Houses and Places grow Musty and contract too great store of Moisture if the Air be any way prevented by Window-shutters or the like that it cannot have its free egress and regress Therefore moderate Cloathing hard Beds Houses that stand so as that the pleasant Briezes of Wind may air and refresh them and also Houses that are full of Wâ—â—â—ows are to be preferr'd For where the Air hath not its free Influences the Spirit becomes dull and heavy this being the true Life of the Spirit in every thing 7. Now the certain means and way not only to prevent the Generation of this Vermin but also to preserve Health and Strength is Straw or rather Chaff-Beds with Ticks of Canvas and Quilts made of Wooll or Flocks to lay on them which certainly is the most easy and pleasant Lodging that can be invented and a little Custom will make it appear friendly to Nature and in every respect far beyond the softest Feather-beds on which when a Man lies down he sinks into them as into an Hole with Banks rising on each side of him especially if two lye together when first they go to Bed they lye close and after a little time when they begin to be hot or sweat they are generally willing to lye a little further off that they may cool themselves but cannot do it without great difficulty and trouble by reason of the softness of the Bed and those Banks that rise on each side Besides such soft Feather-Beds do over-heat the Reins and Back making all the parts tender and causing Sweating and many other Inconveniences to attend the Body Feather-Beds also are nothing so easy as Quilts after a little time being accustomed to them they are also extream fulsome and by their Heat they do powerfully dry up the Radical Moisture causing a general Faintiness to attend the whole Body But on the contrary hard even Beds that lye smooth are not only easy through Custom as is mentioned before but a Man may turn freely both Sleeping and Waking They harden and strengthen the whole Body especially the Back and Reins make the Nerves and Sinews strong preventing the immoderate Evacuations by Sweating and keeping the Body in a temperate Heat Besides such Beds may be often changed with but little Trouble and less Cost they send forth no stinking Fumes or â—â—eams as Feather-beds do but are sweat and clean Certainly nothing is more healthy next to Temperance in Meat and Drink than clean hard Beds 8. All sorts of Beds especially Feather-beds ought to be changed driven or washed at the least three or four times in a year or else it is impossible to keep them sweet and clean and to prevent the Generation of Vermin or the other Inconveniences before-mentioned Would not every one condemn a Man if he should wear a Shirt a year and lye in one pair of Sheets seven years Which if any should do it would not so much endanger his Health nor bring half the Inconveniencies on his Body as old stinking Feather-beds do which possibly stunk before ever they were lain on by reason of the fulsom Excrements that the Quills of the Feathers contain Also Feathers do certainly contain an unclean putrified Matter that hath a near affinity with the Nature of Bugs and therefore Feather-beds are more apt to breed them than Wooll or Flocks tho both will do it if the fore-mentioned Rules be not observed But if you are not willing or so lowly-minded as to have Straw or Chaff-beds under your Quilts then you may have Flock-beds with Canvas-Tickings which may be both aired and washed as often as you please with little Trouble and Charge If any shall question the Truth of what I have alledged concerning Beds I desire they would please but to try the Experiment by filling a Bed with the freshest and cleanest Straw or Chaff which will smell very pleasant and having so done let them lye on it half a year in a corner of a Room as Beds generally stand and then smell to it and instead of sending forth a Pleasant Scent as it did
from what Cause those Disturbances arise Thus many that were brave healthy Virgins are no sooner Married and become Child-bearers but they grow weak feeble and full of Diseases and Disorders which is the more remarkeable since the same or the like is not to be instanced in any other Creature This should teach Men to behave themselves friendly and with as Even and Pleasant a Temper as possible they can to their young Wives because nothing does so much Injury to Women especially when Pregnant or great-with-Child as a cross surly Carriage from those from whom they expect Indulgence and a pleasant Humour For let us complain never so much of Shrews and Scolds yet I must do Truth that Justice as to avow That the Crosness and Ill-carriage of the Wives has not the hundredth part of that power to hurt and wound the Healths of Men as the unkindness and ill deportment of Husbands have to prejudice the Women for that Sex being of a weak tender Nature their Fires burn but weak and their predominant Quality stands in the meek Element of Water so that every little Affront from those they Love wounds them to the very Heart and does very often awaken even the very Central Spirits whereby Nature is put into an agonious trembling Condition whence proceed Suffocations of the Spirits and Stoppages of the due Circulations and thence variety of Diseases Futhermore Married People ought not by any kind of Arts of compounding or preparing of Meats or Drinks endeavour to heighten and strain Nature whereby they may be the better able to gratify their Lusts and Extravagant Wantonness for all such things are an Affront to Nature and force her out of her simple way and tho for the present by such Arts the Party seems more vigorous yet he shall soon find that the same decays and renders him much more weak and impotent than if he had never medled with such Abominations Nor ought any to suffer their Imaginations Wills or Desires to enter too violently into the Venereal Properties for the Imagination of Mankind is so strong and powerful that it can kindle and awaken all the Central Properties whereby many particular Persons tho by their Constitutions cold and but weakly do yet through Imagination and strong Desires stir up Nature to a great height even to the ruin of their Healths for Nature never ought to be spurred or strained but suffered gently to go on in her own Pace and her own Way The lawful use of the Marriage-Bed is never hurtful to mature Age if Nature be not stimulated on by some unnatural Course or Superfluity either of Imagination Meat Drinks Idleness or the like but rather makes People more lightsome and pleasant as being a thing purely Natural but if raised or forced on by Art then there is no Intemperance or Superfluity does so soon wound the Health or bring so many Inconveniences on both Body and Mind 4thly The most proper Age for Men to Marry at is from Twenty six Years of Age to Thirty or thereaabouts for then Nature has attained to the highest degree of Maturity so that the moderate use of Lawful Sheets will not hurt besides at those years it is to be supposed Persons will if ever be come to some degrees of Discretion Understanding Staidness and Moderation to know their Duties and how to behave themselves to their Wives and Families There is nothing more injurious to the Health of the Body than a too early Acquaintance with Venus or immoderate use of her in Youth whilst Nature is a growing it does in some Constitutions weaken the Spermatick Vessels and the retentive Faculty so that Nature is never able to out-grow it For the Female Sex from Eighteen to Twenty six is a very proper time to alter their Condition and of Virgins commence Women 'T is a very ill custom People have got to Match their Daghters almost as soon as they are out of their Hanging-Sleeves and I know no excuse for it but the Licentiousness of the Age which is such that if Parents do not provide Husbands for their Daughters at Fourteen they are ready to provide them themselves or do worse The Proverb is certainly true and in more Senses than one He that Marries a Girl marrs a Woman it spoils their Growth hastens on Diseases causes a breed of small sickly puling Children makes her a Mistress before she understands her self whence ill management of the Family and forty other Mischiefs too tedious to enumerate 5thly As Nature Reason and the Law of God require Women to separate themselves when their Uncleanness or Monthly Visits are upon them for Conception at such times is unnatural and fails not to intail Leprous and Filthy Diseases on the Children then begot as Boils Botches Kings-Evil c. so it will be also convenient for Men sometimes to lye alone for the lying of Man and Wife together always in the same Bed is apt to decrease Love and make it cold and also destroys the Health and Courage of Man whereas their separating provided it be done freely and prudently and not in discontent or sullenness and lying alone sometimes for a season encreaseth the strength of the Body and makes the mind more vigorous and renders their coming together again more desirable and pleasant it being an hard thing for many Men to have such esteem as they ought to have for those things they over-tharge themselves withal tho they be the best of Enjoyments And this lying alone is the rather to be urged because Women have no natural Inclination to Venereal Actions after Conception setting aside their depraved Desires and Imaginations arising from the provocations Men may use which do kindle and violently stir up the hidden or sleeping Properties of Venus and strain and force Nature out of her Way and Operation therefore no Woman ought to know her Husband after known Conception till after they be delivered and well again All the Creatures of the Field even the whole Creation may be Examples either to teach or upbraid Mankind in this particular yet few there be that are sensible of the greatness of this Sin nor of the evil Consequences that attend Mankind by the Practice thereof Indeed Custom makes the greatest Evils easy and familiar and even excusable in the Eyes of most People but not in the sight of God and Nature For this cause Mankind is afflicted with many and great Perturbations and Distempers which no other Creatures are subject unto because Men break the good Law of God in Nature and turn the natural use of things into Wantonness which cannot pass unretaliated for the Divine Eye and Providence takes notice of all the Good and Evil Works of Mankind and Rewards every one according to its Intrinsick Nature which we ought to regard and not esteem a thing Good or Lawful meerly because Customary and because the multitude do it but rather for that very Reason we ought to suspect it for there is scarce a
but the Inventions of proud Man are generally obscure scarce intricate and difficult That which I advise is only this As soon as you have cut or prickt your self or perceive any of the before-mentioned Accidents to trouble you and that your Flesh is envenomed suck it with your Mouth and spurt out what you draw from it and continue so to suck ever now and then the more constantly you do it the sooner the Cure will be effected But if the Hurt be great or dangerous then for the more speedy and certain Cure you ought to put Milk or Milk and Sugar in your Mouth and so suck the part afflicted and then spurt it out and repeat it several times and then let it rest a while and afterwards do the same again and if your Wound be great or the Flesh raw or some Flesh cut off then when you have done sucking of it one time in the interim till you come to suck it again lay a Poultice of Bread and Milk on the place and next time you have suckt it lay fresh on again This is a certain Cure if you continue it and it will perform the work in a shorter time than any Plaisters Oyntments or any such things But sometimes the Venoms of such Sores are so great that it will require a proportionate time and in such cases it will be requisite to suck it the oftner and you need not despair of healing it to admiration The same is to be understood of Wens and Moles For the Attractive Faculty of the Mouth and Stomach is so strong that it does by a secret power and virtue draw away the inward poyson that is kindled or awakened by such Accidents and prevents the Flux of Humors for when any part of the Body is hurt or wounded the Violence does certainly stir up or awaken the Mercurial Poysons of that part which do not only cause the Flesh to burn and heat but those Original Poysons do so violently attract matter unto themselves that the Wound or Hurt will quickly swell or putrifie for the Attractive Faculty of Nature stands in and hath its power from the Poysons of Saturn and Mercury Now these Venomous Spirits that are so violently awakened by the Wound the constant sucking with the Mouth does in a secret and most hidden but real and certain way draw forth from the part afflicted which does not only cool it but hinders and totally prevents the flowing of the Humors from the adjoyning part also dislodges the poysonous matter from that very part so that by this way of Sucking the Member or part where the Wound happens is rather made less than bigger for that which causeth any Wound to swell and putrifie is a certain Spirituous Poyson which this attractive Faculty of the Mouth does draw forth and spits it away so that then the Flesh will not heat swell nor putrifie For the same Reasons Dogs and some other Creatures do certainly cure any Wound they receive or other Accident of like Nature by their continual Licking of their Hurts for when those hot Venoms are removed Nature needs no other Remedy but can help her self by her innate power Therefore in managing of the Cure of all Hurts or Wounds the Artist's chief work should be to allay or draw forth those original Poysonous hot Sulpherous Spirits that are so violent in their Operation that they cause that part to burn swell and rage with great extremity of Pain For when in any part of the Body the pure essential Spirits and Balsamick Virtues are wounded or hurt by any kind of Violence presently the Original or fierce Brimstony Spirits are awakened and then they appear in their own Form which so long as the pure Spirits and Balsamick Oyl remained entire were hid or rather moderated and burned gently and friendly and gave life and motion to Nature but as soon as the pure Oyl and Spirits are wounded the aforesaid latent fierce Spirits break forth and shew themselves and become of a furious Nature and Operation The very same is to be understood in the Vegetable Kingdom if you destroy the pure Spirits and sweet Oyl or Balsamick Virtues in any thing then the original Forms of Saturn and Mars appear as is manifest in Charcoal and Brandy For all things both Vegetables Animals and Minerals have but one only ground and foundation and he that understands one by the same Spirit may see into the Grounds and Reasons of them all Nay the chief Cause and Foundation of all Diseases and Distempers in the Body is from the same Ground for when by Accidents or Intemperance the pure Natural Spirits and sweet Oyl in the Body suffers Violence be it in what part of the Body it will then presently the Poysons in that part are stirred up and then there is pain felt there and thence follow those terrible Feavers and Diseases that destroy Life in a moment The Mouth and Attractive Faculty of the Stomach does not only draw forth of the Wound Bruise or Sore green or old the poysonful Spirits which cause Pain and Swelling but by a secret Balsamick Virtue heal such Hurts But where the Hurt is full of Matter and subject to putrifie then it will be convenient to put the Juice of Limes Lemmons or some such keen sharp Juice into your Mouth and so suck your Wound and spurt it out and then take more into your Mouth several times for several days together and not be weary in a day as some are for Nature cannot destroy those kindled Poysons in an instant but it will certainly do it in a shorter time than either Salves Plaisters or Oyntments viz. in two three or four Days most ordinary Hurts will be cured if you apply your Mouth to the sucking of it often both in the Night and the Day And therefore I commend this way of Cure especially to the Country-people who often fall into such ill Accidents as Cuts Pricks Thorns Splinters Bruises and the like which often cost them dear viz. the loss of an Hand or a Leg Nay many times in small Hurts in the Flesh having no Understanding to help themselves but relying upon other Unskilful People many have not only lost their Limbs but their Lives But such as shall use the Means before-mentioned shall by God's Blessing prevent all such Dangers If the Wound or Hurt happen in a place where you cannot come at it with your own Mouth you may get some Body else to do it Also it is convenient that all Wounds Prieks or Cuts when first made should be made to bleed as much as may be without prejudice to the Body for in the Blood the fiery wrathful poysonous Spirits pass away and then the Cure is effected much the soonner But such as do not bleed nor can be made bleed are more dangerous and not soon or easily healed Besides it is to be understood when the Wound bleeds freely there is not any suffocation of the pure Volatile Spirits or at least
wise not in that Degree as when it does not bleed For which cause all such Beasts Fowls or Fish as are killed to be eaten if they bleed freely their Flesh becomes sweeter and pleasanter to the Pallate and easier of concoction and breeds better Nourishment and is far Wholsomer and Healthier than those Creatures that are strangled in their Blood as many Land-Creatures are commonly and Fish in general which is Uncleanness in the highest Degree and proves unhealthy to the Eaters thereof But because this Remedy here prescribed is so easily procured without Money or Price and so truly Natural I am still afraid that not only the Learned but many of the Vulgar will despise this simple way For Man is so depraved from the innocent Ways of God and Nature that he despiseth all in comparison of his own Art and most men esteem and give place to those things they do not understand and on the contrary despise and slight the things that they do know and so long as any particular thing remains a Mystery they admire but as soon as they come to know it they trample it under their Feet with disdain Therefore all the Phylosophical Ancients hid the Divine and Natural Reasons of Things because they could not find any or very few capable of that Doctrine CHAP. XXI Of Harmony and the Power thereof the several sorts of Musical Instruments and under what Planet and Sign each of them is AS the end of natural Motions is Rest and nothing more refreshes a Mind wearied with Labours than the sweet Airs of Musick and Harmony so now drawing towards a Conclusion of this Treatise I shall put a period thereto with some unvulgar Considerations of the Nature of Sounds and Melody Of all kinds of Harmony as well Vocal as Instrumental whose variety is beyond any Humane Number together with the various Notes Cryes and Tones of Birds and Beasts the Number Seven is the Radix viz. the seven Properties or Constellations as is manifest by the seven Notes or Distances on Musical Instruments for those Seven Notes are the Basis of all Musical Composition The Number Eight is a Beginning again or a Replication or Repetition of the same And which soever of these Seven Forms or Constellations does carry the Upper Dominion either in any Instrument of Musick Words or Voices of Men Sounds Notes or Cries of Birds or Beasts that same Property does impress its Signature thereon The same is to be understood of the variety of Shapes Figures and Forms in the Animal Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms and also of Colours there being but Seven Perfect Colours from which a Skilful Painter can very lively imitate all Appearances Shapes or Colours in the Universe the Number Seven being the Fountain whence all the Wonders of the Creator do proceed it being the highest Number in the outward Principle Thus when the Saturnine Property shall have the chief Dominion or Government in any Creature or Instrument of Musick then the Words Voice Cries Tones or Sounds thereof are sad hoarse heavy slow melancholy and unpleasant as if they were pressed to the Centre But when Mars shall bear sway then their Notes Words Cries or Sounds are rough loud fieree sharp threatning and jarring as if the Centre of Wrath were kindled for this Cause all Words of Men Sounds of Instruments and Notes or Tones of other Creatures in whom the Properties of Saturn and Mars do predominate are dolorous melancholy and frightful as is manifest by all sorts of Wild Savage Beasts and Birds of Prey as Wolves Swine Bears Lyons Owles Kites Ravens c. all which are chiefly under the Regiment of Saturn and Mars But all Creatures and Instruments in which Iupiter is predominant their Sound Words Notes and Tones are grave constant sweet and friendly Where Sol rules they are venerable filled with Majesty and a certain kind of lofty Grace When the Property of Venus bears sway the Voice or Notes are delicate fluent merry charming and voluptuous carrying with them a sweet Violence If Mercury have the greatest Interest then they are more remiss and various but very sweet and pleasant And lastly when the Moon shall have Dominion the Tones Sounds or Voices are loud shrill wanton and unconstant yet fluent pleasant merry and fit for Revelling It is to be noted that every particular Creature but more especially Man does contain the true Properties and Natures of all these seven Forms or Constellations but that Form or Constellation which does predominate does sign the Words Sounds Voices and Notes in each Creature and all the other do follow and intermix their Sounds and Tones in subserviency therewith that so in some where the Properties are near an equality 't is a difficult matter to judge what Quality is chief but those that can distinguish the Forms and what Sounds each gives may with regard had to the shape and figure of each Creature be capable to determine the Complexion and what Property has the chief dominion over it But still it is to be noted That each Creature can alter and vary its Words Voice Sounds and Notes by an innate Power according to the state of the Mind for the Will in all Creatures according to the capacity and nature of each is the Primum Mobile having power as it pleaseth and as occasion and necessity requires to stir up and awaken other Centres or Natures either for the better or the worse as the Will shall give it self unto or be precipitated in any of the Seven Forms or Properties whence often do proceed various gestures motions words sounds and voices which do vary and differ from the predominant Quality of the Complexion being at some times more sanguine mild and friendly but at other times fierce and angry or dull heavy venomous and melancholly or hollow and strained as if Nature were forced out of her way Thus 't is apparent Man may speak friendly to one and fierce and doggedly to another at the same time as his occasions passions and interests are for every word sound voice note or cry of Men and other Creatures does not only declare what Centre and Property it proceeded from and which does predominate in them but does also stir up the like Centres or Properties and thereby excite those of their own kind to various Passions according to the equality or inequality of the Fountain Spirit or Form whence they were generated either to Love Trouble Ioy Grief Pleasure Anger Concord or the contrary and so make Impressions and impose their Properties on those to whom they were directed Every Word Sound Tone or Note having the Key in it self to open the Gate of its like Property and there to joyn or incorporate for this cause Angry words beget Anger and on the other side A soft Answer turneth away wrath Whence is manifested the great power and efficacy of words sounds and harmony especially if the Composition shall be agreeable unto and follow the Coelestial Harmony it will
evil and venomous Qualities in themselves and rightly managed are altogether as useful as the Pure being the original of Life and cause of Motion so that there is nothing bad that the Lord has made but as it becomes separated from its Original state of Unity and Harmony 2. Of all sorts of external Harmony Vocal has the highest Graduation and is not only best liked but makes the greatest Impression on the Hearers forasmuch as it ariseth by an Harmonious consent of the humane Soul having a nearer Affinity to their Fantasies than the Sounds of Instruments by which it easily penetrates by its Motions the well-tempered Air and so into the airous Spirits of the Hearers transferring the Affections of the Singer and piercing even into the Inwards of the Soul For all Harmony both Vocal and Instrumental but especially the former have a certain secret Power to moderate various Passions and Diseases especially when they happen to be more Mental than Corporeal for then if the Lessons Compositions Instruments and Genius of the Musician shall by sympathy correspond and agree with the dismayed Property of the Distempered it will by degrees raise and strengthen the weak Properties and bring Nature into a more equal Operation Great various and wonderful are the Uses Effects and Benefits of Harmony Unity and Concord it is certainly the true and real Paradisical Life The Instrumental and Vocal being a shadow or similitude of the Inward or Heavenly and as it contains many great Secrets so if used in the fear of God its Effects then prove beneficial but if contrariwise it be practised it becomes the greatest Curse for the higher any thing is graduated in Nature if not well used the Evil thereof becomes the greater What Sounds and Tones proceed from the four Elements respectively From the Earth proceeds heavy dull slow melancholly Tones and Sounds rather a Noise than Harmony mournful and unpleasant she never insnareth any by her Charms From the Water flow various mixed wanton Tones and Sounds as it were unconstant From the Fire sparkles up a brisk lively Harmony but fierce and penetrating loud and jarring From the Air are breathed in sweet ravishing harmonious Tones and Sounds Sanguine and delightful this Element being the Radix of all Sounds and Harmonies What Planet and Constellation governs each Instrument of Musick Bells are under Mars and Saturn and the Sign Aries They afford a Melancholly harsh sort of Musick loud and penetrating their dolesome Tones are from Saturn suitable to accompany dying Groans and attend Mourners at Funerals their harsh jarring Sounds proceed from Mars They are most adopted to Robustick Natures who generally take the greatest delight in their Harmony Ringing moderately used is a good Exercise for strong Bodies but rude and not so delicate and genteel as the practice of other sorts of Musick and is also apt to be prejudicial by too much Violence Drums are under the dominion of Saturn and Mars in the Signs Capricorn and Aries which their dull heavy melancholly rattling jarring Sounds do manifest for as they arise from the dark wrathful Centre in Nature so they carry with them the power of the same Properties and therefore do encourage Wrath and Violence the pleasant Element of Air which is the Life of all Harmony is here encompassed or penned up so close that it cannot have its free Egress and Regress which suffocates the thin spirituous Vapours thereof and that causeth Sounds heavy dull and frightful The Air being the pleasant Life in all things and the original of all Sounds Voices and Harmony and in what Things Instrument or Creature soever the Properties of Saturn and Mars are strong and the sweet Influences of this Element obstructed from that Thing or Creature can proceed no delightful Sounds or Mélody but dull heavy dolorous Jarrings Noises or Sounds for there is no true Life Light Harmony or pleasant Sound can arise from any in which the Properties of Nature are unequal in their qualifying or operation for then the wrath of Nature becomes fierce and raging and destroys the Moderator or friendly quality and so Nature can no longer continue in equal weight and measure Trumpets are under the dominion of Mars but their Sounds and Harmonies are of a two-fold Nature and Operation they have their fierce encouraging wrathful Sounds from Mars and their losty Majestical Harmonies from Sol they afford a Masculine Musick which encourages Warlike Inclinations and Dispositions animating both Men and Beasts with a certain delight and Warlike Charming Bag-Pipes are under the dominion of Venus and Mars in the Sign Scorpio this sort of Musick is sometimes used in Wars but the Sounds and Harmonies thereof are more Effeminate and Venereal than Martial fitter for Peace than War and for the Shades of Venus than the Fields of Mars being an excellent sort of Harmony for Shepherds to entertain their innocent Flocks with which Sheep much delight in Organs are under the Empire of Iupiter and Sol in the Sign Leo the Sounds and Harmonies of this Instrument are Great Noble and full of Majesty Sweetness and Gravity they seem to be as much Divine as Humane or to afford some Glimpse or Simile of the heavenly Joy and Consort in this Instrument the Air and the pure thin Spirituous Vapours thereof have their free Influences whence those lofty brave friendly Sounds and Harmonies do proceed Waits are under the Dominion of Iupiter in the Sign Libra the Sounds and harmonious Consorts of this Instrument are great noble and pleasing to Nature but if the Players thereon be not well skilled they quickly awaken Mars's property which causeth the Sounds to be a little too loud rough ratling or jarring Flutes or Recorders are a brave noble Instrument being skilfully handled and make some of the best Harmonies of Pipes being agreeable to both Vocal and Instrumental Musick their Sounds and harmonious Tones are grave and full of Majesty attractive and delightful especially in open Fields and near Rivers and Fountains of Water being under the Dominion of Iupiter and Mercury in the Sign Sagitary Flagolets are under the Dominion of Mercury and the Moon in the Sign Cancer this Instrument is not so noble as the former its Sounds and Harmonies are more Youthful than Grave being a good Field-Musick more proper for Shepherds and Herds-men or Carters and drivers of Horses and the like than for Consorts in Houses being shrill loud penetrating and violent but if well handled it makes pleasant Harmony in open clear still Airy places Hautboys are much of the Nature of the last being under the Dominion of the Moon and Mars in Cancer a good Field-Musick for such as look after Cattel but not proper for House-Consorts unless the Player have greater skill and a better hand than is common its Sounds being wild loud and penetrating The Base-Viol is under the Dominion of Iupiter and Sol in the Sign Libra its Sounds and Harmonies are Grave Noble Great and Delightful Pleasant and Alluring
do good Offices to all the Creation and especially to Strangers as standing manytimes most in need of them French-man Worthy Sir your Civilities have rescued me from that common Error of thinking that out of Europe or the Pale of Christendom dwells nothing but Rudeness and Barbarism I find no less Courtesie in this than in the other Hemisphere and perceive People may be born at some thousand Leagues distance under different Climates and where the same Stars are never seen nay which is more under various Religions and Rites of Worship wholly strange to each other and yet may agree well enough if they would give their minds to it in the practice of the common Duties of Humanity Heathen There is no doubt of it Sir for the Modes and Customs of your Country differ just as much from Ours as Ours do from Yours and therefore we are not for that vanity to scorn or laugh at much less hate and plague each other but rather impartially consider which is most agreeable to Nature to the noble divine Principle and the real benefit of humane Life But waving this Discourse pray what is the present News in Europe French-man That Question will lead us to the very Antipodes of what we were discoursing of for nothing is more frequent among us than Contentions Controversies and Wars Heathen For what I pray French-man Some for Empire some for Glory but most about Religious points and the nearest way to Heaven Heathen Now in my Opinion neither of these things should administer occasion for such Violences and Confusions For if men considered the weight and cares of Empire those that are without it would rather fly from than fight for it And that Prince's Dominions are wonderous small that cannot imploy all his Vertues in meliorating his own Subjects rather than in invading oppressing and ruining those of his Neighbours Nor can I understand that any Glory is to be got by destroying men I think 't is rather matter of Praise to beget them Your Alexander and yoâ—r Caesar for we have heard of their Names and the former spread the Venom of his Ambition even into these parts made some Millions Fatherless yet could neither of them boast of one Son of his own but both died Childless And then for Religion that methinks should teach you quite the contrary especially your Christian Doctrine which I have heard enjoins you to love your Enemies to turn the left Cheek to him that smiteth you on the right c. French-man 'T is very true the Principles of our Religion are such but the general Practice now-a-days runs quite contrary Heathen And yet Practice is the Life of any Religion If you do verily believe those Principles of Christianity to be true why do you not follow them in your Conversations If you do not believe them why do you call your selves Christians If you do believe them and yet resolve not to practise them you are wilful obstinate Rebels and greater Affronters of Christianity than we that do not make profession of it Can any thing be more absurd than to turn Earth into a kind of Hell under pretence of driving men to Heaven and to commit Murthers and Cruelties for the sake of the God of Life and Love Alas Sir the Infinite Deity delighteth not in Manslaughter Strise War and Contention enter not into his Tabernacle Above all is clear bright serene calm and quiet 't is in the lower Regions of the Air only that Storms are generated and Thunder and Lightning break forth God is no Respector of Persons but as your own Prophets say every one that doth well is accepted of him he causeth the blessed and glorious Body the Sun to shine on the just and unjust and commands the sweet Influences of the Coelestials to fall upon all The Blessings of the four Worlds are equally distributed to all men as well Inferior as Superior He sustains and preserves the universal Systeme of Nature by the hand of his out-spread Providence and when the Sons of Men by their sinful Vanities Oppressions and Violences have awakened his Wrath he does not presently dart down the Thunder-bolts of his Vengeance on their guilty Heads but first sends his Brackmannys to tell them of their Evil and call them to repentance And if Mankind will walk in the right Way and dwell in the everlasting Regions of Bliss they must endeavour to imitate their Creator whence our Seers call Man the Image or Likeness of God and the Horizon of both Worlds since in him the Superiors and Inferiors are united Now if People would study to be truly like their Maker Violence War and Oppression would have no place in the World French-man I perceive you are much for peace and quietness yours is a strange Religion indeed that will not allow of the Noble Feats of Arms and the Arbitrament of the Sword Heathen For ought I can hear your Religion allows the same as little as mine and threatens that whoever uses the Sword shall perish by the Sword French-man And yet the Cause or at least the Pretence of most of our Wars is Religion and 't is by the Profession of Arms that men amongst us become great and honourable Heathen If Killing be so honourable Butchers sure with you are a worshipful Company French-man Butchers of Beasts are but meanly regarded but Butchers of Men are celebrated as the only Hero's Heathen And after what fashion I pray do these Hero's live French-man For the most part they are such as love to eat to Gluttony and think that day ill spent wherein they are not drunk their Discourse is nothing but Boasts and Rotomantado's intermixt with such horrid Oaths and Blasphemies that modest men tremble more at their Talk than for fear of the fury of their Arms where-ever they come they carry Ruine and Confusion with them destroying Men and debauching Women deflouring of Virgins ravishing of Matrons Robbing Plundering firing of Houses devouring what they can and destroying the rest is their Profession and Delight and this they call Living at Discretion Heathen If these be the Christian Hero's I wonder what are your Devils I hope these are none of those that you said do contend so much about the Right way to Heaven French-man Yes I 'll assure you none more ready to Kill and Damn all that will not be of the Religion they pretend to We have in our Country a parcel of People called Hereticks and Hugonots their Conversation is generally Iust and Honest and they are Peaceable and Obedient to their King and as ready to serve him and do good to their Neighbours as any But they will not join with us in our Religions Opinions and Ceremonies Heathen As how I pray French-man Why they will not acknowledge our supream Caliph at Rome to be Infallible They will not say their Prayers to a Statue an Image or a Picture because they fancy those fine things can neither hear them nor help themselves They will not own that
And the reason is because they forsake Nature and let loose their Desires which having once cast off the Bridle of Moderation run on without stop or bounds French-man But I perceive you are for Liberty of Conscience and that every one may follow his own Opinion and Phantasie and of so we should have a mad World such a License is destructive to Government and the very Nurse of Rebellion Heathen I do not well understand what you mean by Opinion and Phantasie People will think as they list do you what you can But this I know that he that fears God and hurts not his Neighbour oppresseth not the Creation and obeys the Civil Laws of that Country he lives in and freely pays all Duties and Tributes to the Prince that protect him is a good and faithful Subject to God and his King Nor have we any temptation to Rebellion for to us all Governments are alike as long as they protect us from Violence I have read something of your Europian Affairs and if I mistake not in France Spain c. where the Laws are to force People to be all of a mind there have been abundance more Rebellions Insurrections Plots and Conspiracies against the Government than in Countries where Liberty of Conscience is publickly allowed whence I rather infer that not the indulging but restraining Liberty of Conscience is the grand Cause of those Disorders amongst you 'T is certain every man ought to have Liberty in Well-doing and to be punished only for the contrary And we Bannians scarce know any thing that is a greater Evil than for men to contend hate envy oppress fight and destroy one another because they are not in all particulars like themselves For men naturally are as various in their Intellects as in their Shapes Forms and Complexions for the Shape and Form of every Body is according to the Nature Equality or Inequality of the Spirit The Lord hath made all things to differ there is not any two things in the four Worlds alike in all particulars therefore whosoever is offended with another because he is not persuaded or does not understand just as he does is in truth offended with his Maker who is the Author of that Variety If two things were exactly in all respects alike they must become the fame the nearest similitude of things is made by casting them in a Mould and yet even then they differ French-man You say right and therefore to make all mens Understandings of a size our Churchmen prepare Moulds for them viz. Creeds Liturgies Systems of Divinity and the like wherein they cast and fashion all mens Understandings so that none but must own these though he do not understand a word of them nor must dispute them though his Heart and his Brain tell him they are false and impious Heathen This is much such an Uniformity as I have heard in some of your Books was practised by the Tyrant Procrustes who dwelling near a common Road seized all Travellers and carried them to his Bed which was framed exactly for his own Stature and if their Bodies were longer chopt off their Feet or Heads to make them fit and if too short strained their Bones and Sinews out with Engines to a due proportion Was not this Gentleman a great lover of Decency Order and Uniformity If there were not Variety there would be no Motion for it is the various working Power and as it were Strife between the Properties that causeth all Vegetation and Manifestation if there were but one thing there would be nothing or a standing still which the Iews great Prophet seems mystically to shew when he saith God made all things out of Nothing For there was no Manifestation or Appearances before God moved himself on the Face of the Waters which moving seems to signifie the Strife of the various Forms Qualities and Properties of the hidden Nature without which nothing could be generated But here I must be silent for we are counted Heathens already and I do not know what worse Censures may pass upon us if we too far explain those Notions which though founded in Nature are yet so disagreeable to the Conceits and Practice of the Multitude But this we are sure of that men ought not to hate or suppress any thing but Evil for Man's most deadly Enemies are within himself whence one of the wisest of the Iews Kings affirmed That he that overcame his own Lusts and Passions was a greater Conquerour than he that subdued a City French-man For my own part I shall for the future be more careful how I credit Reports we in our Country are told by our Learned that you are meer Heathens Infidels Idolaters and Worshippers of the Sun Moon and all the Host of Heaven Heathen I nothing wonder that you Europeans should be mistaken about us who live so remote since you seem so little to understand the Opinions of each other amongst your selves every one misrepresenting the Sentements and Doctrines of all that differ from him 'T is true we do highly esteem and admire all the Heavenly Host and those Refulgent Quires of the Coelestials especially that glorious Eye of the World the Sun as being the Handy-works and Wonderful Powers of the incomprehensible Creator and think it part of our Duty to express our Gratitude and Veneration to the one onely Fountain whence all those amazing wonders proceed for he that contemns the Streams cannot truly honour the Fountain Do not your own Prophets teach you to Honour Rulers and Governours because they derive their Government from God And if you do not only worship and bow the Knee one to another who are at best but brittle animated Dirt but also reverence the work of your own Hands as a Man cloathed in goodly Raiment and the like how much more ought we to have in high Veneration those wonderful Fountains of Light Heat Motion and Vitality which are the manifested Powers of God and his upper Vice-gerents and Lieutenants over the Lower world Did not you tell me but now that you esteemed your Hugonots worthy of Death or Persecution because they would not pay Esteem and Adoration to a few painted Cloats the Pictures of their fellow Creatures which you call Saints not knowing whether they be truly so or not and yet will you condemn our Brachmans for directing their Esteem to these glorious Master-pieces of the Creation If you count such lifeless pitiful things as Wood and Stone or things painted and fashioned by Man fit to be Representations of your Gods and means whereby to enliven your Phantasies and Minds to an higher degree of Devotion which was the sole intent of the first Inventors of those things what regard then ought we not to have of those living Powers of God the Coelestial Bodies by whose sweet and friendly Influences all created Beeings are preserved and nourished What is more exciting to a well disposed Mind than to behold that glorious Body the Sun with the innumerable Train