silent only giving the Tutor an account of what he shall discourse and act and within the limits of the fore-mentioned time of a year or two the Learner shall be able to Speak properly easily and readily with a true Accent or Pronunciation as tho' he had been bred up in that Country whose Language he learns Thus briefly and with my wonted freedom I have given you my Thoughts of this Matter but how far they may concur with your Judgment and Inclination is wholly to your self only I desire you to believe they are sincerely intended for your Benefit by him who is SIR Your affectionate Friend and very humble Servant T. T. LETTER XXXI Of Times for EATING SIR YOurs of the 18th of August is before me and am heartily glad of you and your Familys good Health and Welfare and in particular take notice of your Question which when you was in London we had some discourse about viz. The best and properest times of the day for Eating our common Meats and the Natural and Physical Reasons thereof which you desire more fully This Question we have in our Way to Health and some other of our Writings given an account of to which we referr you however the Talents the ever Blessed Creator and Preserver of all Beings hath given me are always Devoted both to the Publick and Private which please to take as followeth THE goodness or badness of Concoction of Foods doth cheifly consist in the strength or weakness of the natural Spirits and according to their Degrees and Powers so is each Person 's Digestion better or worse quicker or slower the Root and Centre of a strong Stomach stands in the Fire therefore all such as are dignified with strong heats such are likewise endued with brisk lively Spirits and consequently with their respective Virtues and Vices cleanness or the contrary so is each Person in Health Strength Sickness and Weakness likewise the times of the day for Eating and Drinking do also add or diminish to each Person 's Health Strength Briskness or dull cloudy Heaviness for this cause we have in several of our Writings given Direction for the times that is to Eat about 8 of the Clock in the Morning and about 3 or 4 in the Afternoon Now the natural Reasons for it is First The length of time between 4 in the Afternoon and 7 or 8 in the Morning is considerable and more hours than half the Day and Night by which the Digestion of the Meats and Drinks are compleatly Concocted and the Stomach freed and as it were cleansed from all superfluous Matter and thereby is rendred fit and capable to receive proper Meats and Drinks and though the Appetite so early in the morning be not so sharp and craving as it is in the day after Labour and Motion in the open Air occasioned by the heat of the Bed and Stilness or gentle Motion but this kind of Dulness that most have so early proves a Benefit rather than the contrary for both craving or sharpness of Appetite doth frequently centre in a kind of Gluttony from whence the old Proverb did take its Birth Too long Fasting and too sharp an Appetite makes a gluttonous Meal and the like is to be understood in too great Drought both being a kind of Distemper and never passes off without leaving behind some signal Evil or at leastwise sowing Seeds and laying sure Foundations for Diseases But the indifferency and cleanness of the Stomach and Appetite in the morning prevents this sort of Gluttony and yet at the same time the Meats and Drinks find a well-prepared Stomach and a Ware-house where there is sufficient place and room to stow the Foods without prejudice to Nature whereas great hunger and strong or too sharp Appetites is in many Persons apt to continue the pleasure of the Palate in Eating and Drinking much longer than the conveniency or necessity of the Stomach and therefore most after such Meals do Experience a heavy hot cloudy Indisposition Secondly Sleep and Rest from action and motion are the principles from which the natural Spirits take their Birth and are hereby continually recovered and sustained and on the other side Motion Exercise and Action are means and methods that waste spend and weaken Now it is clear that in a Morning every Persons Experience doth witness a more brisk lightsomness and that the Body and Mind are more able and fitter to perform all actions of the Body and likewise to exert the Functions of the Mind far exceeding what they are in the Afternoon or latter part of each day and as each Person is more capable and better prepared for all the Actions of Life in the first part of the Day or Morning The like is to be understood of the Actions of the Stomach because all the power of Concoction and Digestion consists in the strength weakness goodness and badness of the natural Spirits for this cause it always proves an evil for any Person to consume or waste the natural Spirits too much either by Labour Fasting or any other Motion or Exercise before Eating because Meats and Drinks do require as strong Spirits and many for the Concoction and Digestion of Foods as Labour Motion and the brisk actions of Life do or rather more as most can or may experience for the cloudy heavy hot weariness and unnatural Disposition that follows after such great Meals of Food and strong Liquors which do overfill and stock the Stomach or Natures Magazin with too great quantities and of contrary qualities proves far harder to bear and of more dangerous consequence than either hard Labour motion or action of the Body for this cause every Person ought to Eat and Drink before the brisk lively natural Spirits are too far spent either by motion labour or too long Fasting by which they are preserved so that such a one shall be capable to go through the fatigue and business of the day with ease and pleasure and thereby free Nature from various Indispositions and from Sowing of Seeds for future Diseases for these reasons all Persons will find by experience after a little use and custom that an early Breakfast as we call it of some sort of Pottages within half or one hour at the most after they rise always Drinking a Draught of Small Ale or Beer before they eat that is so soon as they are up will prove of far more advantage both for Health Pleasure and performing all the actions of Life and Business than a Breakfast about 9 or 10 of the Clock and a Dinner about 12 1 or 2 as the Custom is which doth for the most part prove burthensom all the last part of the day and prejudicial to Nature For this is to be noted that the Meats or Foods after they come into the Stomach do not afford nor distribute their nutritive Vertues under the length or time of 5 or 6 hours or at leastwise that a Person can be sensible or feel a refreshment proceeding
property that governs the Creature so that as soon as the Body of any thing is opened it may thereby be distinguished what Form or Principle ruled in the Center of Life and he that has the true Use of this Faculty may easily discern the Complexion of any Creature It is an invisible Power it s Body is the Air which in a very short time will convey the Scent to a considerable distance and is received into our Bodies by the Assistance and Mediation of the Air which is a thin Spiritual Body penetrating into all parts doing good or harm according to the respective Qualities that have the Ascendant incorporating with great Vigour with every thing it finds like its self upon which account gross stinking Foggs Scents and Vapours are unclean and extreamly hurtful to the Mind and Body being continually drawn into the Central parts and Wound the Health 〈◊〉 a Spiritual and Invisible manner The contrary is to be understood of good Smells and clean thin sweet Airs c. Now every Scent or Smell whether good or bad clean or unclean does by custom and continual communication beget and strengthen its Simile by which the grossest and most impure Airs become easie and familiar otherwise several stinking Trades and Employments would not be tolerable nor in any degree Healthful for as Gods Love is one and the same in all things so is his Handmaid Nature which uses all possible Endeavours to provide and Arm her self against the Assaults of her common Enemies Custom and Habit begetting their own properties and rendring those things easie which would otherwise never be endured Moreover such troublesom gross Smells are naturally more agreeable to some People than to others as being endued by their Constitutions with greater talents of suitable matter whereby they live as healthy as those who are accustomed to clean and finer Airs Nay some Mens Natures and Complexions are so agreeable to these gross Scents and thick Vapours that they find themselves Disordered when they come into more pure and subtile Airs as is evident in such who Live and are Born in Cities and great Towns A Consideration is also to be had to the Meats and Drinks any Person feeds on which prepare the Body to a better bearing of Scents or Smells whether clean or unclean for Food is the substance of each Mans Body and Spirit and for this cause London and some great Cities are as healthy and as few Dye in them as in the Country in proportion to the number of People notwithstanding the cleanness and goodness of the Air Besides the Foods in many Countries of England are grosser and worse prepared than in great Cities great part of them living on Hogs Flesh ill Ordered and Cooked eaten fresh or very little Salted also penning them up in close Sties during the time of their Fatning is very prejudicial to the Flesh which subjects the Eaters to a great number of unclean Diseases in their Bodies as Mangy Scabs Sores and Boils these things ought to be well considered because they do very much Affect the Body in order to the manner of its receiving the impressions of Airs Scents and Smells Again there is not the same likeness and affinity between the Countryman's Food and Air that he lives in as there is between the Citizens the Country Air being fine and full of Brisk Lively Spirits and the Cities the contrary neither is there the same Agreements in the Methods of living whereby the fineness of the Air is rendred of little value or benefit to them for what the one Builds up the other Destroys Now the Sense we are discoursing of is the common Officer that communicates these Airs and Scents to the whole Body whether they be good or evil and the Body nor the Mind cannot be hurt with them if this Sense will powerfully withstand and oppose them and not suffer them to enter for each Sense hath a Gate which it can open or shut as it pleases and therefore when any Person is among gross and unclean Smells he can hold his Nose But the best way is if he is forced to stay there any considerable time to draw the Air into his Mouth and expell it again the same way by keeping it open by this means a Man may in a great measure avoid the Injury which such Smells would otherwise do for neither the Taste Sight Hearing nor Feeling can be Afflicted with any evil or good Smell not communicate the evil of the bad nor the vertues of the good to the Central parts of the Body nor Affect the natural Spirits each must do its own Business they cannot Act for one another Nevertheless there are some Scents and Smells so highly graduated in the dark direful nature of sullen Saturn and fiery Mars which neither the Temper nor Constitution of Man or other Animals are able to sustain or endure They are of such a vehement subtle and resistless operation that they surprize and destroy all the Faculties and Powers of Life in a Moment Their Motion is so quick as admits no Guard or Prevention There are no Antidotes against their force neither in Foresight nor Physick Italy and Spain can give many fatal Demonstrations of this Truth who are so exquisite in the mixing preparing and compounding of Scents that they have dominion over the very Air to what Extent or Limit they please Nay they will force the Air to Conspire with their Black Designs and retain the Infection till their Mischiefs are Compleated Likewise there are several sorts of Minerals and Metals that in the Melting Refining and Separating send up such Mortal and Inimical Vapours that no Use or Custom in the World can ever render familiar and healthful the more crude and foul any Metal is the more gross and poysonous are its fumes when it passes the fluxes of the Fire as Quick-silver Lead and many other Metals On the other side the higher any Metal is in its Nature Refined and Purged the finer sweeter and more pleasant are the fumes it sends up from the Fire when Melted and Refined and consequently more healthy and agreeable to the Workman The very same is to be understood of the Fat of Beasts or other Animals 't is better or worse clean or unclean according to the Graduation or Birth of the Creature which is declared by their Shapes Forms and Figures to the distinguishing Eye also the Cries and Tones they send forth Likewise when the Flesh oâ—… Fat is Burned and the Centre of the Body opened the fume oâ—… smell informs you what property of Nature had the Principle Government in the Creature the scent of the Dung or Ordure of most Creatures will afford a manifest Discovery of their originaâ—… Qualities whether clean or unclean c. This is apparently evident let a Hog eat the same Grass Corn or Food as Sheep Oxen Cows c. yet the Swines Breath Urine and Dung will never have the same Scent or Smell with the other so that
Constitution and Disposition compels them to it But most Beasts Birds and Fish their Rest and Sleep is nothing but a continual waking in comparison of Man's deep and dead Sleep The principal cause why the Creatures are not so drowned in this drowsy Death is they have not broken God's Law but live more intire and according to their Original their Meats and Drinks being more suitable to their Original Natures whether they be clean or unclean for to Unclean Creatures unclean Food is suitable and agreeable to its Qualifications and to the Clean clean Foods are in proportion suitable and therefore all the Beasts are not only more wakeful and less subject to the Sleep of Death than Man having all their Senses more ready lively brisk and at all times more at command for they rarely gratify the four Head Senses to disturb and torment the Sense of Feeling and therefore are not so terribly pestered with such a number of cruel Diseases as Man therefore it is most clear that all the great Powers called Senses are dull heavy and as it were half Dead when sleeping but when waking are brisk and lively all according to the Meats Drinks Employments Communications and Exercises for Mankind by rapacious unclean Meats and Drinks makes himself of another Complexion and his Constitution is another thing than originally it was nothing being so deplorable and so great an Evil as to act and live in a contrary Method to its own Creation and this is the greatest Curse that can fall upon any Creature this is Man's greatest Fall and Misfortune which can never be cured except he again enter into Resignation or Self-denial viz. Into Equality or Union that is into Temperance and Cleanness and live according to his Original State and Constitution But so long as he oppresses the Creatures and violates their Well-being and Quiet he can never have reason to expect to be freed from far greater than the inferiours and therefore this Feeling Power is rarely free from Trouble and Perplexity as being subject to all kinds of irregular Courses both of the Body and Mind there is no Disorder or Intemperance but does fall on it as all our Labour Care Love Hate Hope Fear Hunger Cold Heat evil Communications and all Words and Works this Sense is the Centre or House both of Joy and Sorrow both in Time and Eternity For this cause Mankind ought to be on his Guard at all times and Seasons being beset on all sides both within and without with a great number of Temptations and evil Customs the Degeneration of Man is such that all things he meddles with is a Share to him being deprived of the true use of the Powers Qualities and Principles of himself and being in the Dark he uses all his Senses to a wrong purpose so that all those high and noble Intelligences are sullyed and made subject to the gross inferiour unclean Powers which doth continually load and lay as it were intollerable Burthens on this universal Sense every Action and Motion of Life Inclination and Disposition doth influence that it being the Touch-stone which doth demonstrate from what Principle or Root each Action and Motion of Life doth proceed and take their Birth whether from the Evil or Good Now this Sense is the Judge both of the Body and all its Actions and also of the Desires and Inclinations so that Man hath no occasion to look abroad for Councellors or for a Judge they all dwell in himself he is the Thing viz. The great Mystery wherein all the Treasures both of Time and Eternity are to be understood and therefore the Apostles might well say that whatsoever could be understood or known of our Great Creator and of his great Powers in Nature was manifested in Man and as clear to be seen as the Sun at Noon but who can see the Sun if he be Blind Is it not a most miserable and deplorable Condition Mankind hath fallen and sunk himself into that he hath lost the Understanding and distinguishing Power of his own Composition and of his own Senses and that he hath not the use of them to that degree as the Beasts have as we shall demonstrate when we treat of the Common Animals for it is not possible for any Man to understand the whole if the parts of the Things or Qualities it is compounded of be not distinguished this is most clear and manifest in all Sciences Arts and Trades which do all arise and take their Birth from Man and the Mystery contained in his Microcosm for if all Sciences Arts and Trades yea a thousand Mysteries and rare Inventions that have are and will be found out and brought to light had not been originally Essential in the very Centre of Man then it had been impossible to have brought them to light What great Pity and Lamentation is it that Man who is endued with so many great noble and worthy Faculties and in whom is contained all the great Mysteries of Time and Eternity and made to live in and under the Operation of the United and Illuminated Powers of God's Law should suffer his Will and Desires to enter into the dark Magick of Discord Fierceness Wrath Violence Intemperance Uncleanness and Oppression of all the innocent Inhabitants of the Earth and at the same time to plague and to torment himself for the Groaning of those Creatures that suffer Pain never fail to procure Misery to the Actors thereof It is farther to be noted that that thing which is Pleasure to the Sense of Tasting and a Delight to the Sense of Seeing doth often prove a torment to the Sense of Feeling as in Gluttony and Drunkenness which do frequently distemper the Body and perplex the Mind The like the Sense of Seeing doth bring on this Sense by presenting curious Objects to the Intellects whicâ—… puts Man on the Rack till he hath obtained his desires and wheâ—… that is done there is no more satisfaction than before for iâ—… Wisdom be obliterated then there is nothing can give satisfaction for such do all things by Custom Tradition and President asking no question Now if Mankind hath lost the use of those grosser Powers how can he then be capable of the more Intellectual and Divine Operations of Gods eternal Law and Holy Light The first foundation of this Stupidity Blindness and Erroâ—… was gross Eating Drinking and Uncleanness for nothing hath so much Power and Authority on the Body and Mind 〈◊〉 Meats and Drinks which do sustain and support both Body aâ—… Spirits and according to their respective Virtues or Vices they nourish and incline to this or the other thing so that nothinâ—… hath so great power to preserve the intrinsick Vertues and gooâ—… Properties in Man as Sobriety Temperance and Cleanness and on the other side nothing doth so much fully the worthy and iâ—… telligible Faculties as Intemperance Disorder and Uncleanness This is clearly manifest in that noble Sense the Smelling whicâ—… is as we have said an
Stars and Configurations of the Heavens and yet all you say are of various Fortunes Shapes Figures Inclinations and Dispositions I answer now all that you take notice and affirm is a grand Truth and yet we must tell you that this doth not at all invalid or make void Judicial Astrology but that it is most evident that the Planets and Heavenly Bodies have an innate and powerful influence on all Suâ—…lunary Bodies or Things for it is most evident that by the circular Motions Configurations and Influences of those mighty Powers of God or Heavenly Bodies all material things are influenced altered and changed out of one thing or quality into another all the Elements bow before those great Powers and never fail to yield their Obedience and therefore as they retreat towards the Chambers of the South our fruitful Season ceases and the reviving Beams of the Great Eye of the World forsakes our Horrizon we are attended with cold Winds short Days long Nights Rainy Cloudy dark Weather with an intermixture of Frost and Snow which doth during the absence of the Sun and other ruling Constellations strip the Vegetable World of all its Ornaments so that Nature becomes like Old-Age and lies Bed-ridden till the return of this Glorious Body whose presence gives as it were a new Life Vigor and Strength unto all the Undergraduates and Off-spring of this World and for this cause no Man can or dare deny their influences conduct and power in and over visible things but as to the Forms Shapes Manners Strength Weakness Riches Poverty Honour Dishonour Healthiness and the contrary which variously do attend Persons in all Places and Countreys Born at one and the same time and under the same Stars and Constellations which as is said before doth not invalidate the Astrological Science or Influence of the Heavens on Mankind for the causes and reasons following viz. First every Seed produces or generates a Body and Spirit in some proportionable degree according to its Qualifications and Nature never failing to bring forth some new Essence that did not manifestly appear in the old Stock or Parents and although a thousand Persons should be Born at the rising of the same Constellation and under the same Elevation and Configuration of Heaven nevertheless each of these Persons will wonderfully and strangely vary both in their Shapes Forms Inclinations and Fortunes The reason is plain and as it were bare-fac'd for is there not a strange variety in the Foods Drinks Inclinations Dispositions Labours Communications Customs and Educations As for Example suppose that in one City or Town there are ten Persons have ten Sons Born at one and the same minute and they Educate and bring them up in ten several Arts and Trades every one of these Persons shall by the secret power of their Employment be influenced and subjected to the Method and Manners of those that are of the Employment Is not this clearly seen in all sorts of Business and the same is to be understood in Communication Now if those External Conversations as they may properly be termed are endued with such a mighty Energie and Power to seek out their Similies and thereby impose their propertys on the Humane Nature as in a great degree to encrease and change the Inclinations Dispositions Words and Works What then must Meats and Drinks do which are the very Essences and Substances of the Humane Nature every Son and Daughter is endued with all the Qualifications of their Parents and the Seed is made and generated from all the Qualifications of the Father and Mother First from the quality and quantity of their Meats and Drinks clean or unclean well or ill prepared proper or improper Mixtures Likewise it is influenced and as it were inspired by each Persons Employment Communication Words and Works for every Variation not only in Meats and Drinks but also in all other things or manners of Life do beget and produce variety of Shapes Forms Dispositions and Inclinations This is wonderfully manifested in the Husbandman's Art do not the mixtures of various Earths together alter and change the Vegetables for the better or worse stronger or weaker and every sort of Dung or Earth according to its quality and quantity is thereby rendred capable and do bring a newOff-spring of Vegetables called Weeds or Herbs that were never seen to appear in that spot of Land for the mixtures of Earths that are of differing qualities do alter and change the complexion of such Land or Earth by which secret power of Qualities that property that was strong becomes weak and that quality that was in the complexion weak and did as it were disappear becomes most powerful and manifest The very same is to be understood in the Art of Representation doth not a skilful Painter by an apt commixture of various Earths and Drugs most curiously represent all the wonderful variety of the Colours both of the Animal Vegetable and Mineral Worlds which is all done by the Sympathetical Power and Secret Operation of the mixtures and compounding the four grand qualities the Heavens and the Elements do continually sow and shower down Seeds of Varietys As for Example cast up Gravel or Clay that to all appearance is destitute of all the Sal Nitral or Seminary qualities of Vegetation nevertheless being for some time exposed to the Sun and common influences of the Elements such Gravel or Clay will become covered with various sorts of Herbage likewise it is farther to be observed that the Religion Customs and Manners of each Place or Countrey do powerfully alter and change the Complexions of Mankind either for the better or worse Virtue or Vice as suppose there should be a scrutiny made viz. a thousand Male Children of the most roughest fiercest cholerick Complexions should be sent to be Nursed and Educated in a Bannian Countrey where there is no Fighting Quarrelling not Killing either of Men or Beasts or of any Living Creature but all their Methods and Manners are sedate and calm where these young cholerick Sparks have nor do not see any other Precedent or Example but Clemency Mercy and an humble Deportment of their Elders to Men and Beasts esteeming it one of the greatest Sins or Crimes that Man is capable to commit against God and the whole Creation to oppress hurt or kill either Man or any Living Creature and let these Youths remain amongst them till they be 20 or 25 years of Age in which time they will be throughly grounded and fixed in their Religion and Customary Methods not letting them know from whence they came nor from what Parents they proceeded and then you may be assured that he that is fiercest by Complexion all the Rhetorick and profits or interest in the World will not be able to perswade such a one either to Kill Oppress be Drunk or go freely into the Armies of Princes to destroy those they never saw nor had no occasion of Quarrel The like is to be understood in all Religions can
Mathematicians do tell us that the Orb or Circle of each Planet is far greater than the whole Globe of Earth and Water which hitherto no Man in the general hath doubted what they have found true by the Observations of the most Learned and Ingenious of all Ages for some thousands of years and if so what morâ—…l Man can guess the wonderful Creatures and Inhabitants that may possibly dwell and inhabit those Spacious Airy Plains for so they seem to us and who can tell but that the Globe of Earth and Water may appear to the Creatures of those Worlds as they do to us and consequently that the Mathematicians and Astrologers of those unknown Worlds may make as great ado about the influences of our Planets Stars and Constellations as we do of theirs and give us the same Titles and Names as we do them but we have never ravelled in their Regions nor conversed with the People and World of the Moon and therefore shall submit and be silent in this guessing Philosophy It is further to be considered that the good and evil Successes or Fortunes to the Ascendants Planets and Significators that as Astrologers say are showered down upon Mankind by the benevolent and malignant influences of those great Luminaries and Coelestial Bodies which are various and strange if all be true as Philosophers say Now the Evils and Misfortunes are as it were beyond Humane number in comparison of the Good and whatsoever Misfortune or Evil doth happen or befall Mankind is by many of those cunning Men attributed to the Configurations and Directions of Planets and Significators or some one of them to Saturn they say when ill lignified he powerfully inclines his Sons and Daughters to Oppression Violence Killing Covetousness Back-biting Envy Strife and all kinds of evil Words and Works And the like is to be understood of the other Six Planets whereas it is as clear as the Sun Beams at Noon-day that all the Intemperances Evils and Outrages Mankind doth commit against God and his Neighbour are generated and midwifed into the World by Customs Presidents evil Communications and Examples as appears by the foregoing and if this be true how angry then will those great Illuminated Powers of Heaven be with Man for laying the Cause and Foundation of those great Evils upon them as when the fair Sex are vain proud wanton and foolish to say that Venus that great and wonderful Illuminated Body and Queen of Love is the cause that inclines them to such Wickedness or when a young Man is ingenious sharp and witty and turns all into Cheating to attribute it to Mercury and when any Person is vain wanton and unconstant to lay the cause on the Moon and her Influences or when a Man is fierce devilish hard-hearted cruel and subject to Wrath Passion and Violence to lay the cause on Mars and when false in Religion to attribute it to an unfortunate Iupiter and when proud and subject to Vain-glory and boasting to fix it on the Sun when in Truth the Original cause of most or all Evils and Sins take their first birth in the center of a Mans self and the People he Lives amongst and communicates with so that Mankind doth mightily add to his evil Course of Life by laying the cause where he should not and belying those innocent Powers which wicked Trade he hath followed ever since he transgressed Gods Holy Law and Commandment putting the evil from himself and laying the cause on some other thing of which its said that our Mother Eve was the first Precedent or Example Now what Mankind have to say for themselves when they shall be brought to the Test I cannot imagine for it seems impossible for Astrologers that they should pass their Accompt without making retalliation or satisfaction so that the Wisemen have made but poor work of their Studies It is likewise further to be Noted that no Creatures or Sublunary Bodies are subject or compelled to obey the Influences of the Heavenly Bodies but only such as have kept and Lived under the Law of God and observed and not broken the limits of their Natural Orbe or Circle in which each specifick Body or Creature was Originally Created and brought forth as we have hinted before for all the wonderful and most amazing of the Heavenly Luminaries called Stars Planets and Signs and though their number be far beyond all Humane Numeration nevertheless each of them doth keep within the limits and bounds of their Orbs and Original Circles and doth alway move with an exact and regular motion keeping and obeying the Voice and great Law of their Creator And for this cause all Corporeal Beings that live and move within the Limits of their first Law and have not at any time broken nor in any degree exceeded its bounds are all subject to the Laws Orders and Methods of Heaven and to all the Influences of those great Powers vulgarly called Stars Planets and Constellations and they do with the highest diligence endeavour to observe and imitate their Superior Powers every Creature observing both time and season so that all things are done and brought forth in an exact and wonderful Method and Order which is strangely amazing and surprizing to any considerate Person Do not all the numerous Off-springs of the Earth obey the Motions Influences and Voice of the Heavenly Bodi or Constellations And are not the Children or Fruits of our Mother Earth better or worse strong or weak vertuous or the contrary all according to the Benevolent or Malevolent Influences or Configurations of the Stars Constellations and Elements The like is to be understood of the Sensitive Creatures called Beasts of which there is an unaccountable variety nevertheless each doth in a most wonderful manner and curious method observe and constantly obey the Original Law God stamped on them and their Young Ones or Children learn and observe the same without the invading fierce Rods of School-Masters or Tutors and as the Heavenly Bodies and Governing Powers of the Great Creator do all work move and govern in a most exact and regular Order and Method The like is to be understood of all the Children or Off-spring of the Elements who keep their first Law and therefore they do all as exactly keep and observe their times and seasons alway moving within the compass and bounds of their own Circles or Orbs they were Created in and their whole business both of Motion Inclination and all the Actions of Life is to imitate and observe the Laws and Commands of their Superiors viz. the Heavenly Bodies But the contrary is to be understood of the Humane Race who have defaced their noble Image by breaking the Law of their Creator and thereby have destroyed the Orbs and Limits of their own Circle so that they are as it were blind and know little or nothing of the wonderful Operations of their own Heaven nor are they in any degree sensible of their own Natures or the Principles they are compounded
are all Passions and the chief Discoverers of Ignorance Blindness and Disunity but must quietly submit to God's Divine Hand that is never wanting to all such that Live within the Bounds and Limits of his Eternal and Unalterable Law All such will feel and enjoy the Pleasant Fruit of Paradice both in Time and Eternity but when the Eye of the Mind and Intellectual Powers are Dark and Ignorant and when the opposite Powers to all Cleanness Virtue and Temperance are awakened then all the Desires and Hopes do Proceed and are Generated from those Ruling Fierce Invading Violent Unclean Spirits and Powers which stir up and forces the Husband to leave his Loving Wife and Tender Children exposing-them to all kind of Ruin and Misery the Son to leave his Father and Loving Mother and open his Breast to Guns and Swords and to all manner of Cruelty and Hardship others to Rob Plunder and Steal some to undertake long hard and hazardous Voyages and a thousand difficult Enterprizes which no Man would ever do if he did not hope to escape the danger and come off well Who would be a Soldier if he were sure to be killed and had no Hopes or what Person would break open a House if he did not hope to do it and not to be taken none of these wickednesses and violences would be done if that Gentleman called Hope did not flatter them and entice them to it So that it 's most manifest that Men do hope against Reason Wisdom Understanding and all known Virtues who are all sure to Feel the Smart sooner or later LETTER VI. Of FIRES SIR I Have received yours wherein you desire to be informed the best Method of making Grates and Coal-Fires in Kitchens and Chambers the which I shall endeavour to Answer 1. TAKE two Fire-stones about 14 or 16 Inches high from the Hearth which you may fix to a Back of Bricks in Depth about 7 8 9 or 10 Inches the wideness in the Front 12 or 14 Inches in proportion to the Depth that is to say if the Depth be 7 Inches then the Front 14 Inches wide between which Stones you are to place a Grate made much in the nature of a Gridiron viz. It must stand moveable upon 4 Legs not exceeding 3 4 or 5 Inches at most from the Hearth the last of which will serve for the greatest Kitchin-Fires and the first for Chambers with 2 3 or 4 small Bars made round about the bigness of your little Finger and about 3 or 4 Inches distant from each other the uppermost Bar to be the strongest all fastned in 2 sides of Iron ascending from the 2 front Legs as high as the top of the Fire-stones which will be all flat on the top in the front the bottom Bars to lie flat and not edgeways a little distance from each other Note that the Stones at the sides and the back behind must be both made upright without any shelving as the usual Custom is and between the Grate and the 2 Stones at the sides and the back of Bricks behind you must leave the same distance as you make between the Bars at the Bottom of your Grate so your Grate will go in and come out easily which will powerfully draw the Air on all sides and behind and make the Fire Burn strong and clear so that you will have no occasion to use any Bellows to blow it the reason whereof is it being as deep or of the same compass at the bottom as on the top and the Grate not standing close either to the sides or to the back the Air freely circulates on all sides so that your Fire burns many degrees stronger than the Customary sloping Grates which are high from the bottom of the Hearth and sloping which prevents Attraction and Circulation of the Air whereas the low standing of this Grate together with the depth and upright standing of the sides and back as is mentioned before makes it burn so clear and strong that it will Heat Iron fit for Forging and Boil and Prepare any sort of Food not only in less than half the time but much sweeter and cleaner The best way of kindling this Fire is with a few small Sticks Shavings or Splinters upon which put your Cinders and a few fresh Coals then you may light it with a Candle and it will burn without blowing with Bellows for blowing weakens and destroys the Sulphur or Sal niter in the Coals for this cause Fires that are blown will not Cake or Coagulate and consequently will not burn near so strong as those that are not blown Besides this Fire will burn quicker or in a shorter time and sooner fit for use and not so apt to smoak the House nor the Foods that are prepared by it If you have not Fire-stones for the sides Bricks will perform the same and are more lasting The Charge of the Grate Stones or Bricks are much less thâ—… the common Grates and their Appurtenances the whole of the smaller sort will not cost above 12 or 14 s. the larger not exceeding 20 or 26 s. Moreover the low standing of this Grate does prevent the Chimney drawing up the heat whereby the Room is maâ—…e much warmer and the Hearth made so hot that you may Bake small things thereon provided that you place Backs to reflect the heat as is used in Roasting of Meat and warms the Legs of those that sit by them which other Fires seldom do These Fires will Boil any thing in your Pots without having Hangâ—… to them placing only 2 small moving Bars of Iron which wâ—… reach from one side to the other of the Brick-work which mâ—… all be flat and even on the top for your Pot or Vessel to stâ—… upon LETTER VII Of Bricks and various sorts of Earth SIR YOurs I have received and shall endeavour to answer your Request viz. The best and most natural way of making Bricks Tiles Mortar Plaister and Flooering Of Bricks 1. DIG up your Earth between Michaelmas and Christmas that it may have sufficient time to mellow ferment or digest which will render it more apt and fit to Temper and about March or April it will be fit to Tread or Temper which ought to be done more than doubly what is usual for the goodness of the Bricks wholly depend upon the well performance of its first Preparation for the Earth in its self before it is wrought is generally brittle and dusty and as it were without Band or Stability but by adding small quantities of Water by degrees to it and working and incorporating of it together does open the body by which the Astringent Sal nitral Power of nature does appear and tinge the whole with a tough Glewy strong Band or Substance which without these reiterated Stroaks Beatings or Temperings could not have been manifested for this Saturnine Tough Constringent Band or Oily Substance is hid and captivated in the innermost Centre even as the sweetness in Barley is not nor cannot
the Father and Mother the Son or Fruit cannot but must partake and bear a Simile of its Parents whence it proceeded for if the Foundation of any Creature be Evil the end must centre in the same for most of the great Out-rages Evils and Calamities that fall on and attend Mankind do arise and proceed from his acting and living under the Government of the disunited and self-ful Principles and Powers of his own Composition as was hinted before Therefore that Man should have the Knowledge of future Events either of this World or of that which is to come it would be a great addition of Evil and Misery to him seeing he transacts the Affairs of his Life under the conduct of such violent evil Principles and mischievous Methods Traditions and Customs But if Mankind had but one grain of true Wisdom and did see ever so little into themselves or own Magia then a Man would easily guess what Events such violent oppressive Methods of Life would produce and bring to pass both in the Evil and also in the Good for Nature and God's Law is always one and the same and true for ever for every Principle and governing Quality begets and brings forth Children like it self and endues them with all the Qualifications of the Father both in Body and Mind Soul and Spirit and where he is willing to presage or promise unto himself or Posterity any Good he must Live first and transact all the Methods of his Life in harmlessness and innocency avoiding Violence and all sorts and kinds of Oppression either to Man or Beast using all the Creatures to a good end and purpose and above all not to do or enter on any Action of Life without applying ourselves and taking the Advice of that Divine Power Principle and Advocate that dwells in the Centre of every Man's Soul whose Rule and Prescriptions if obeyed will render our present Momentary Lives comfortable and Dying-Beds easy and our future State most Happy My Dear Friend I doubt not when we shall meet in the Heavenly Regions but that we shall have a most undoubted Confirmation and Illustration of those Truths and wonderful Mysteries we have discoursed of in our Writings which the Ages to come will have cause to Praise God for who is the Giver of Gifts and the Revealer of Secrets to the Sons and Daughters of Wisdom from whom this Knowledge hath proceeded which undoubtedly in future Times will draw many into the innocent Method of God's Law which if Mankind Lived in would quickly ease the Soul of that great dread and fear of what shall happen after Death for nothing can hurt or perplex that Soul that hath lived a harmless Life neither in Time nor Eternity all Dread Fear and Srrrow comes in at the Door of Violence and Hurtfulness as also our not governing our selves nor the Creatures according to the Right of Nature and the one only Original Law and this great violent tormenting Monster doth first take its Birth in Man's Meats Drinks Exercises and Employments Words and Works are the Fruits that are generated from the central Powers and natural Spirits so that those evil Principles and Qualities are conveyed from one Generation to another the Children being Essentially endued with all the Principles Dispositions and Qualifications of the Father and that which makes another considerable addition to those Grand Fountains of Evil Violence and the breaking of God's Holy Union is the evil and preposterous Education of our Children and the wicked Examples and Precedents of Fathers Mothers and all concerned in Bringing them up so that what evil Qualifications are wanting in the Seed are made up and compleated in their Education which hath and doth take such deep root that every Generation are more and more Wicked notwithstanding the continual Preaching Teaching and Admonishing of the Clergy of all sorts and their threatning the Evil-doers with eternal Damnation and Happiness to those that do well and the Severity of the Magistrates too nevertheless all will not do because Precedents Examples and the continual practise of all Violence and Wickedness do take deeper root and make far greater Impression than Words and Precepts What great matter can be expected for Men to hear two or three hours Discourse of the excellency of Virtue and at the same time both Teachers as well as the Hearers do practise Evil and Violence all the Week Now when these things are understood and well considered how is it possible that Mankind can arrive at the Haven or Port of Rest or what satisfaction can that Soul have whose Methods of Life hath been in opposition to true Innocency and Virtue having lived and acted by and under all selfish violent and tyranical Spirits and Customs and though many of them be tolerated by Religion Laws and Tradition as those supream and highest Evils are viz. The Oppression and Killing those of our own kind and all the rest of the innocent Inhabitants of Heaven and Earth and Eating their Flesh too those violent Practises of Life the poor Soul can never excuse it self of or get over at the hour of Death when all the Natural or Spiritual Powers must be separated and the Soul left Naked to its Works which attracts a new Body to cloath it self with there can be no true satisfaction or content in that Soul that hath lived in Oppression and whose daily Practise hath been to break the Union both in himself and in all other things The Customs of Nations Laws of Princes and Ignorance will not obliterate those Evils that diametrically oppose God's eternal Law both of the Creation and his Divine Providence of Preservation whence do arise in Mens Minds and Souls in Sickness and at the hour of Death great Horror Trouble and Anxiety and through Blindness and Ignorance do place the cause of their dissatisfaction on some inferior Evil which they are guilty of too as was mentioned before Therefore he that would Live well and Die in Peace must first know God his Law and himself secondly do no Hurt thirdly do all the Good he can fourthly Live and Sustain his Life with harmless and innocent Meats and Drinks fifthly practise all innocent Employments sixthly observe the Rules of Justice Mercy and Clemency seventhly to Educate their Children in all Submission Honesty and Innocency and give them no Examples of Evil Violence or Oppression for in their tender Age the true and lasting Foundation of Unity true Virtue and innocent Methods of Government and Life are laid it being impossible for Mankind or any particular Person to act in a true and regular Method in Inclinations Words Works and Employments if he be ignorant of God's central Law planted in himself and the Qualities and Principles he is made and compounded of If this great and necessary Knowledge be wanting and not distinguished this Secret and wonderful Mystery of our selves being not known all Thoughts Inclinations Words and Works of Life are either done by chance or proceed
little contributed in as much as what from the one and the other cause we do experimentally find there is not one of Thirty or Forty that ever attains to any competency of knowledge in this Art or to perform a Part at Sight so that their Time Labour and Money spent therein is much worse and redounds more to their damage than if so much had been given clearly away for the Tree is not only lost but even the Season for Planting and Sowing also Wherefore upon the whole matter it must necessarily follow that if shorter easier and quicker Methods be not gone upon for the obtaining a competent stock of Knowledge and assurance in it than is now generally taught it will be the part of every considerate Person to desist from the pursuit of it and to engage and advise others as much as he can to the contrary But Sir your longing and earnest desire after Wisdom and true Knowledge having penetrated into the very Center of my Magia or Magick Powers as I may call them has generated many thoughts and true Mathematical Notions in my Head concerning thisScience ofMusick which I shall make bold toMidwife into the World in due Season whether with or without the leave of our Musical Gentlemen but first communicate them unto you for your approbation and satisfaction and having premised that I have already shewed in my Book Entituled A way to Health the Excellency of Musick in General and particularly the principles and Birth as Sounds and Harmony to which I referr you I shall endeavour in this place to lay down a short and easy way and method for Learners to obtain a competent Knowledge of this noble Science The first thing then that you are to teach your Children whom you design for Musick is to read and know the proper Names and the Notes and the Gamut and to distinguish them in their several places and distances Secondly you are to teach them the time and length of each Note by expressing them with the Voice and motion of the Foot if it be Instrumentals but if Vocal then with the motion of the Hand and this any Musical Child will readily learn and perform in less than four Months if they be kept to the practice thereof but two or three hours in a day When that is done then teach them to strike the Notes with the Bow or Finger according to what Musick it is and be sure to make them keep and constantly beat the time of each Note with the foot and never suffer them to neglect the motion of it or of the Hand and as soon as they can strike the Strings any thing clear and firm then proceed to some easy Lesson not to strike one Note or Bar without measuring of them with the motion of the foot and Voice too and tho' the Child cannot Sing them yet in Speaking of them in time together with the fore-mentioned motion of the foot will not only confirm them in the dividing of the time but also beget a natural motion and habit both in the Members of the Body and Intellect or Mind too Or else you may teach Children to strike the Strings then make them to do it in time always using the motion of the Foot or Hand and so proceed never suffering them to neglect the said motion of the Foot and Speaking or Voice which is a double confirmation and will give the Learner assurance making them to understand the dividing of time much sooner Now by either of these Methods you may learn any Child of Six Seven or Eight years of Age to play any indifferent Lesson Base or Division at sight within the space of one year which I caused one to do in less than Ten Months and when he could do that learned to Sing and take out all indifferent Songs without a Master in four Months space for the greatest difficulty in learning of this noble Science consists chiefly in understanding of the Time since by the wonderful and secret Art of dividing it all Musical Harmony is performed and without it there is none either in Man or Birds but only a Voice Tone or Noise undistinguishable and therefore Musical Harmony is nothing else but a proper and most natural method of Talking in Tune or a kind of a Simpathetical agreement between Words Tones and Sounds divided into longer or shorter Sentences which can never be nicely or properly performed either in Vocal or Instrumental Musick but only by the motion of the Members of the Body as well as the Intellectual part of Man For all Arts Sciences and Trades whatsoever are learnt by a three-fold Method or Birth the first whereof is done by opening the hidden or Magick powers in us vulgarly called Thoughts or Imaginations the second is when those Thoughts or Desires are formed into Words or Sentences and the third Birth is the putting of these two into Motion and Action whereby Thoughts and Words become in a kind Essential Substantial or Material which so long as the Art or Science remains in the Magia only could never obtain Essentiality but continued as an Ideal power and as it were unknown easily cut off lost or forgot But when the Thoughts or Magick Powers are formed into Words they then become more External and do thereby obtain as I may say a Sidaereal or Airy Body which is much more difficult to be obliterated than that which is retained in the Thoughts or Magia of the Mind but still Words being no more than a composition of the Airy Powers can by no means become really substantial but only by being put into Action which is clearly demonstrated and understood in the learning of all Arts Sciences Trades and Employments not but that the Five Senses may be made capable of great Distinguishings and Understandings by being accustomed to hear Musical Harmony but they can never perform or do any thing except such do midwife the Magick Powers of Hearing into Words Motion and Action which Crowns the whole with Essentiallity and gives it an existence and therefore it s almost impossible for any Person to be a compleat Artist in any common Trade Art or Science by the use of the Sense only except such things be performed by the Motions and Actions of the Body and Members thereof for while any Art remains in the Magia only of Thoughts or Words it can never be performed from that very reason or constitution of such Bodies if I may call them so which are invisible and as it were Aethereal and cannot be incircled or made Essential so that our Thoughts and Imaginations pass and repass leaving no Precedent or Foot-steps behind them that any thing can be learned thereby and tho' Words may be said to approach nearer unto a Corporiety than Thoughts yet they being too slender and their Airy Bodies invisible they cannot make such a deep impression nor become so substantial and significant as the Motions or the Members of the Body and for this cause
Skill and Cleanliness in working brown Sugar into white and surely the more Sugar is freed from its Grossness and Molosses the more compact and harder is its Body and the more Spirits and Life there is in it and will perform all the uses in Housewifery to a greater perfection is of a finer Taste of a more excellent Complexion and causes all things wherein it is mixed to be more wholsom and pleasant so that our Scruplers may assure themselves that the Sparklings and Grain and hardness of white Sugar is not at all occasioned by any mixture of Lime but by its own fineness as being freed from the grosser part of Molosses quality which is soft gross and of a black or dull â—…mplexion as is already noted Besides the Sal nitral Powers and Vertues that imbibe and give themselves forth â—…nd incorporate with the Water are invisible and spirituous Qualities as much unseen and unknown to Mankind as the Powers and Vertues that dwell in the Center of all vegetative and animal Creatures which give them a lively Birth and Complexion and tho' we know each Creature increases grows and multiplies that the inward Power from whence this proceeds remains a Mystery and altogether invisible to us now for the Satisfaction and better Information of such as persist in a Belief that there is some Trick of the Workman in preparing a Compost or Mixture of Lime or some such thing in white refined Sugar Let them take common Water as that of the Thames or River which for the most part is not very fine not clear into which let them infuse such a quantity of slacked Lime as Refiners do and in a short time the Compost or dusty Body of the said Lime will sink to the bottom and the Water will become as it were purged or rarified from all its Impurities and thereby be rendred much finer and clearer than other Water that comes from the same Spring besides the Lime-water will keep sweet and free from all kind of stinking Foulness a considerable time longer than any other common Water that is entire or without this Ingredient of Lime Now it is with this clear and fine Water that both brown and white Sugars are boiled up and that which endues both sorts with its sparkling lively Grain and brisk spirituous Body and without which no Art could raise it to such a compleat and useful Commodity and become so lively and brisk in Operation unto which most or all the best and exhilerating Cordials made by Physicians Apothecaries and Housewives owe their Original also so that let them believe or not it is manifest there is no such Mixture of Lime Allum or the like thing in our Refiners white Sugar Farther whereas there are many Arts and Trades that are Preparers both of various sorts of Meats Drinks and Medicine that do adulterate each particular thing in their Preparations and Methods for Gain and Interest I need not name any that is not so with the Refiners of Sugar for they have a powerful Circle that surrounds them I mean their own Interest also which is said never to Lie whereby they are confined from using or practsing any ill Methods in the Operation of Sugars be the same what it will for if they do themselves are the Sufferers and for this means they use all the regular ways they can to make and advance their Commodity to the higest degree of Whiteness Fineness and Clearness as appears by what I have already said Towards the beginning of this Letter concerning nine Pounds of the Juice of Canes making but one Pound of brown Sugar and one of Molosses and if you consider that an hundred Weight of this brown Sugar makes but about thirty three Pound of single refined white Sugar and that thirty three but fourteen of double refined Sugar it 's next to a Demonstration of what 's above asserted Then as to the various degrees both of Colour and Goodness of brown or Muscovado Sugar it proceeds from three Causes First from the Goodness or Badness of the Land the Canes grow on Secondly from the good or bad Seasons and Times of the Year it is made in And thirdly from the Art and Skill of the Chief Workman Boiler Note that Muscovado Sugar which is of a lively whitish and bright Yellow with a sparkling Grain has the first place the next is that which tends towards an Ash Colour having a large sandy Grain or Body and is a good Sugar for Refiners so is the first also but being dearer by 3â—… 4 s. per Cent. than the other it 's a better sort for Grocers and therefore Refiners generally work the second The third is of a darkish sad Colour and of a good Grain or Body being proper for refining but somewhat inferiour to the other two besides which there are several other sorts and degrees of goodness in this Commodity the worst of all being of a kind of a deep reddish Colour having generally a soft weak Grain and Body and makes the poorest work in refining both in Quality Colour and Quantity so that the value of Muscovado is always in proportion to its Colour and Strength There is another white Sugar of various Colours exceeding our Muscovado called Lisbon Sugar because it came first from Brasil but since our Settlements in the West-Indies great Quantities have come from Barbadoes altogether as good as the Lisbon Sugar tho' most of our Housewives do mightily esteem this last named calling it a fat Sugar as supposing it endued with a better sweetning Quality than our Refiners white Sugar and therefore will give four or five Shilling per Cent. more for it whereas ours is much whiter dryer and cleaner but such is the fondness of our Women for Brasil Sugar that our Grocers have frequently sold our moist Barbadoes clayed Sugar for Lisbon And now since I have mention'd clayed Sugar it will not be improper to give some Account of it in this place this sort therefore is made white by an Operation they call Claying the Pots of Muscovado Sugar wherein they take a kind of whitish Clay somewhat like Tobacco-pipe-clay and temper it with Water for that purpose to about the thickness of a Pancake Batter or thereabouts they pour it with a Ladle on the Sugar in the Pots near an Inch thick which Clay has a strong I may say a wonderful Operation and Power over the Sugar to purge the grosser flatulent or treacly Substance downwards and to cause the Pot of Sugar which generally contains about half an hundred of brown Sugar to become much less in Quantity and of several Colours and Goodness viz. In that part of the Pot which is next the top towards the Clay for three or four Inches deep the Sugar is very white near the whiteness of our refined Sugar and so the whole Pot is in degrees till you come to the battom every degree downwards growing worse and worse for which reason the Makers and Clayers of this Sugar
than that which they leave or reject Now the Stomach cannot make so easy a Digestion thereof as it can of Foods made of Vegetations if properly managed in the Preparation which is the reason why some have refrained Eating of Animals whereby they have obtained an higher degree of Health and Pleasure than they had before Now it is to be noted that as Fermentation in Vegetables breaks and destroys the Rest of that thing so Drinks that have passed thro' these fiery Operations are changed for the worse that is the original Unity by this Motion is disturbed and there is an unequal working struggling and dividing Power between tâ—…em each Quality endeavouring to be Lord over the other whereby the whole sinks into its original Form and all such Liquors in a short time become sharp harsh or flat so that both the Water and the Juices of the Fruits become divested of their natural Bodies which as long as any thing remains entire incircles all the spiritual Powers or original Principles and preserves them in the Unity wherein they were Created wherefore all Fermented Drinks and more especially those that are strong never fail to operate like themselves so that as the original Forms are by this Art divided in a self-ful domineering Operation the very same they do in the Stomach wherefore the common drinking of such Liquors are Experimentally found baneful to Mankind by the great number of cruel Diseases that more particularly of latter years have been introduc'd amongst us especially Gravel Stone Gout and the like Evils which the Natives of all such Countries who constantly drink Water know nothing of tho' it is not such Liquors alone that are thus destructive to Humane Nature for since sensible Creatures I mean Flesh and Fish are become our principal Food Mankind not only inherits all the Disorders and Diseases such Creatures as he Eats are subject to he having little or no regard to Cleanness Uncleanness Season of the year and of Generation but the worst of all is these cruel Distempers are convey'd down and entailed upon our Children and Posterity and therefore grow more and more upon us and there are no Medicines found out that will Cure them for the Stomach cannot draw any proper Aliment from things that have passed thro' the fierce unequal Operations of Fermentation because Inequality cannot administer Equality each thing operating like it self and for this cause if Mens Foods were to be managed after the manner of Drinks they would in a short time destroy Mens Health and sink the Body into Death and hence it is and I presume with very good reason too that I have given Water the Preheminence before all Liquors as in respect to Food I have done to Herbs Seeds Grains and Fruits whatever the unthinking World may imagine to the contrary and since we find there can be no greater Character of the Virtues of Meats and Drinks than their long keeping sound and good and that Fruits Grains and Seeds together with Water do so much longer than Flesh Fish or Fermented Liquors one should think there could be no difficulty made in the choice of them seeing the Almighty hath provided such amazing varieties of Vegetables for us and much easier to be got than either Fish or Flesh. But to return to the Art of Fermentation as to the Original thereof it was first found out and promoted by the Egyptians or Eastern Philosophers and Physicians for as soon as Man had depraved and separated himself from his Original state of Unity all the Original Qualities and Principles in him were terribly stirred up by his longing free Will after all Intemperances and Evils to which he was continually tossed to and fro so that many destructive dark Inventions have and do still take their rise from thence which did and ever since have filled the whole Earth with Violence and as such Inventions and evil Customs have been admitted and incouraged so have our Diseases proportionably encreased which has occasioned the more prudent and sober part of former Ages to think of and invent equivalent Medicines or Antidotes and so went to work raking as it were into the Center of all Elemental Things and Creatures and more especially into the three Grand Kingdoms of Nature viz. the Animal Vegetable and Mineral to find out an Universal Medicine that might be able to cope with or Cure Universal Distempers concluding there was no Vice so great but there was a Virtue as great which if obtained might be effectual to that end But herein the most Learned and Ingenuous of all Ages have found themselves grosly mistaken as experience witnesseth yet for all their continued Failures every Age and Country are still pestered with a great number of those Philosophical Heads that tell Lies in the face of the Sun and magnify what they can do in this kind especially on Minerals It s true they have been able by the power of their Calcinary Fires to Flux and Refine Metals into a much higher degree of purity and fineness which has proved very beneficial to Mankind as being thereby fitted for various profitable uses But all this while they found no such thing as the Seeds of Metals nor yet any Ferment that was capable to divide the Original Forms or to bring them into a working boyling active power or strifeful opposite motion which Qualifications and Operations do appear in all things that are capable of Fermentation as we see in Vegetables but instead of extracting or obtaining such Seed or Ferment they procured all the opposite qualities for their fierce Fires did in a moment destroy all the Seminary or Living powers of such Metals of what kind or nature soever they were and totally obliterated the Characters and Powers of Multiplication The very same thing happens in the Vegetative Kingdoms for if you offer any Seed or Grain to the heat of common Fires a little will kill all the Spermatick or Seminary Quality which that moment puts a final stop both to the progression and multiplication of the said Seed or Grain and no better can surely be expected from such fiery Tryals in the Animal Kingdom Will any Person of common understanding believe you should you tell him that by Killing of Beasts and refining their Flesh and Blood with harsh and strong Fires you can obtain the Seed and that by the virtue and efficacy thereof with the help of some Menstruum you can multiply the same Species of Creatures from Tenfold to Ten Thousand as some of the Learned in the Art of Refining are apt to talk and boast of But so far it is from being in Mans power to effect this that we see if two Beasts of different kinds couple together the Creature that proceeds from such is rendred uncapable of Generation so fruitless have most of our Spagyrick Philosophers in all Ages been mostly both in their fiery Operations on Minerals and Animals and all they have done has been but to draw a circle of Darkness