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cause_n	blood_n	death_n	life_n	1,450	5	4.3647	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01683	The mirror of alchimy, composed by the thrice-famous and learned fryer, Roger Bachon, sometimes fellow of Martin Colledge: and afterwards of Brasen-nose Colledge in Oxenforde. Also a most excellent and learned discourse of the admirable force and efficacie of art and nature, written by the same author. With certaine other treatises of the like argument; Speculum alchemiae. English	Bacon, Roger, 1214?-1294.; Bacon, Roger, 1214?-1294. De secretis operibus artis et naturae. English. aut; Khālid ibn Yazīd al-Umawī, 7th cent.; Simon, of Cologne, d. 1442?.	1597 (1597)	STC 1182; ESTC S100517	44,892	89

drink the weight of which moysture we haue not here determined Then againe worke them with an operation vnlike the former first imbibing and subliming it and this operation is that which they call Albification and they name it Yarit that is Siluer and and white Leade And when thou hast made this compounde white adde to him so much of the Spirit as maketh halfe of the whole and set it to working till it waxe redde and then it shall be of the colour Alsulfir which is verie red and the Philosophers haue likened it to golde the effect hereof leadeth thee to that which Aristotle saide to his Disciple Arda wee call the claye when it is white Yarit that is Siluer and when it is red wee name it Temeynch that is Golde Whitenesse is that which tincteth Copper and maketh it Yarit and that is rednesse which tincteth Yarit that is siluer maketh it Temeynch that is Gold He therefore that is able to dissolue these bodies to subtiliate thē to make them white and red and as I haue said to compound them by imbibing and conuert them to the same shall without all doubt attaine the masterie and performe the worke whereof I haue spoken vnto thee CHAP. II. Of the things and instruments necessarie and fit for this worke IT behoueth thee to knowe the vessels in this masterie to wit Aludela which the Philosophers haue called Church-yards or Cribbles because in them the parts are diuided and cleansed and in them is the matter of the masterie made compleat perfect and depured And euery one of these must haue a Furnace fit for it and let either of them haue a similitude and figure agreeable to the worke Mezleme and many other Philosophers haue named all these things in their bookes teaching the maner and forme there of And thou must know that herein the Philosophers agree togither in their wrytings concealing it by signes and making many books thereof instruments which are necessarie in these foure foresaid things As for the instruments they are two in number One is a Cucurbit with his Alembick the other is Aludel that is well made There are also foure things necessarie to these that is to say Bodies Soules Spirites and VVaters of these foure dooth the masterie and minerall worke consist These are made plaine in the Philosophers Bookes I haue therefore omitted them in mine and onely touched those things which they passed ouer with silence which he shall easily discerne that is but of indifferent iudgement And this booke I haue not made for the ignorant and vnlearned but for the wise and prudent CHAP. III. Of the nature of things appertaining to this worke KNow thou that the Philosophers haue giuen them diuerse names for some haue called them Mynes some Animal some Herball and some by the name of Natures that is Naturall some other haue called them by certaine other names at their pleasures as seemed good vnto them Thou must also know that their Medicines are neere to Natures according as the Philosophers haue said in their bookes that Nature commeth nigh to nature and Nature is like to nature and Nature is ioyned to nature and Nature is drowned in nature and Nature maketh nature white Nature doth make nature red and generation is retained with generation generation conquereth with generation CHAP. IIII. Of Decoction and the effect thereof KNow thou that the Philosophers haue named Decoction in their Bookes saying that they make Decoction in thinges and that is it that engendreth them and changeth them from their substances and colours into other substāces and colours If thou transgresse not I tell thee in this booke thou shalt proceed rightly Consider brother the seed of the earth wheron men liue how the heate of the Sunne worketh in it till it be ripe when men and other creatures seede vpon it and that afterwarde Nature worketh on it by her heate within man conuerting it into his flesh and blood For like hereto is our operation of the masterie the seed whereof as the learned haue sayde is such that his perfection and proceeding consisteth in the fire which is the cause of his life and death without somwhat comming betweene and his spiritualtie which are not mingled but with the fire Thus haue I tolde thee the truth as I haue seene and done it CHAP. V. Of Subtiliation Solution Coagulation and commistion of the Stone and of their cause and end KNow that except thou subtiliate the bodie till all become water it will not rust and putrifie and then it cannot congeale the fitting soules when the fire toucheth them for the fire is that which congealeth them by the ayd therof vnto them And in like maner haue the Philosophers commanded to dissolue the bodies to the end y e heat might enter into their bowels Again we returne to dissolue those bodies congeale them after their solution with that thing which cōmeth nigh to it vntil we ioyne all those things which haue beene mingled togither by an apt and fit commixtion which is a temperate quantitie Whereupon we ioyne fire and water earth and ayre togither when the thick hath bin mingled with the thin the thinner with the thick the one abydeth with the other and their natures are changed and made like wheras before they were simple because that part which is generatiue bestoweth his vertue vpon the subtill and that is the ayre for it cleaueth vnto his like and is a part of the generation from whence it receyueth power to moue and ascend vpward Cold hath power ouer the thick because it hath lost his heate and the water is gone out of it and the thing appeared vpō it And the moisture departed by ascending the subtil part of y e aire and mingled it selse with it for it is like vnto it and of the same nature And when the thicke bodie hath lost his heat and moysture and that cold and drinesse hath power ouer him and that their parts haue mingled themselues and be diuided and that there is no moysture to ioyne the partes diuided the parts withdraw themselues And afterwards the part which is contrary to colde by reason that it hath continued sent his heat and decoction to the parts of y e earth hauing power ouerthem and exercising such dominion ouer the cold that where before it was in the thicke body it now lurketh and lieth hid his part of generation is changed becomming subtil and hot and striuing to dry vp by his heat But afterward the subtill part that causeth natures to ascende when it hath lost his accidentall heat waxeth cold then the natures are changed and become thicke and descend to the center where y e earthly natures are ioyned togither which were subtiliate and conuerted in their generation and imbibed in them and so the moysture coupleth togither the parts diuided but the earth endeuoureth to drie vp that moysture cōpassing it about and hindring it from going out by

their places for there will be a great noyse Goe with them my sonne for they will quickly vanish away CHAP. XI Of the commistion of the Elements that were seperated BEgin composition which is the circuite of the whole worke for there shall be no composition without marriage and putrefaction The Marriage is to mingle the thinne with the thicke and Putrefaction is to rost grinde and water so long till all be mingled together and become one so that there should bee no diuersitie in them nor separation from water mingled with water Then shall the thicke labour to retaine the thinne then shall the soule striue with the fire and endeuour to beare it then shall the Spirite labour to be drowned in the bodyes and poured foorth into them And this must needes bee because the bodye dissolued when it is commixt with the Soule it is likewise commixt with euerie part therof other things enter into other things according to theyr similitude and likenesse and are changed into one and the same thing And for this cause the soule must partake with the commoditie durablenesse and permanencie which the body receiued in his commixtion The like also must befall the Spirite in this state or permanencie os the soule and boby sor when the Spirit shall bee commixt with the soule by laborious operation and all his partes with all the partes of the other two to wit the soule and bodie then shall the Spirite and the other two bee conuerted into one indiuisible thing according to their entire substance whose natures haue beene preserued and their partes haue agreed and come together whereby it hath come to passe that when this compounde hath met with a body dissolued and that heate hath got hold of it and that the moysture which was in it appeareth and is molten in the dissolued body and hath passed into it and mixt it selfe with that which was of the nature of moysture it is inflamed and the fire defendeth it self with it Then when the fire would been flamed with it it will not suffer the fire to take holde of it that is to say to cleaue vnto it with the Spirit mingled with his water The fire will not abide by it vntill it be pure And in like manner doth the water naturally flie from the fire wherof when the fire hath taken hold it doth forth with by little and little euaporate And thus hath the body beene the meanes to retaine the water and the water to retaine the oyle that it should not burne nor consume away and the oyle to retaine tincture and tincture the precise cause to make the colour appeare and shew forth the tincture wherein there is neither light nor life This then is the true life and perfection of the worke and masterie which thou soughtest for Be wise therefore and vnderstande and thou shalt find what thou lookest for if it please God CHAP. XII Of the solution of the Stone compounded THe Philosophers moreouer haue taken great paines in dissoluing that the body and soule might the better be incorporate for all those things that are together in contrition assation and rig ation haue a certaine affinitie and alliance betweene themselues so that the fire may spoyle the weaker of nature till it vtterly fade and vanish away as also it again returneth vpon the stronger parts vntil the bodie remaine without the Soule But when they are thus dissolued and congealed they take the parts one with another as well great as small and incorporate them well together till they be conuerted and changed into one and the same thing And when this is done the fire taketh from the Soule as much as from the body neither more nor lesse and this is the ceuse of perfection For this cause it is necessary teaching the composition of Elixir to afford one chapter for expounding the solution of simple bodyes and soules because bodyes doo not enter into soules but do rather withhold and hinder them from sublimatiō fixation retention commistion and the like operations except mundification go before And thou shalt know that solution is after one of these two wayes for either it extracteth the inward parts of things vnto their Superficies and this is solution an example whereof thou hast in Siluer that seemeth cold and drie but being dissolued and that his inwards appeare it is found hot and moyst or else it is to purchase to a body an accidentall moysture which it had not before and to adde hereunto his owne humiditie whereby his parts may be dissolued and this likewise is called solution CHAP. XIII Of the coagulation of the Stone dissolued SOme among the learned haue said Congeale in a bath with a good congelation as I haue tolde thee and this is Sulphur shining in darknesse a red Hiasinth a firy deadly poyson the Elixir that abideth vppon none a victorious Lion a malefactor a sharpe sworde a precious Triacle healing euery infirmitie And Geber the sonne of Hayen sayd that all the operations of this masterie are contained vnder fixe things to put to flight to melt to incerate to make as white as Marble to dissolue and congeale That putting to flight is to driue away and remoue blacknesse from the spirit and soule the melting is the liquefaction of the body to incerate belongeth properly to the body and is the subtiliation thereof to whiten is properly to melt speedily to congeale is to congeale the body with the soule alreadie prepared Againe flight appertaineth to the body and soule to melt whiten incerate and dissolue belong vnto the body and congelation to the soule Bee wise and vnderstand CHAP XIIII That there is but one Stone and of his nature BAuzan a Greeke Philosopher when it was demaunded of him whether a stone may be made of a thing that buddeth made answere yea to wit the two first stones the stone Alkali and our stone which is the life and workmanship of him that knoweth it but he that is ignorant of it and hath not made it and knoweth not how it is engendred supposing it to be no stone or that conceiueth not with himselfe whatsoeuer I haue spoken of it and yet will make a tryall of it prepareth himselfe for death and casteth away his money for if he cannot finde out this precious stone another shall not arise in his place neither shall natures triumph ouer him His nature is great heate with moderation He that now knoweth it hath profited by reading this booke but he that remaineth ignorant hath lost his labour It hath many properties and vertues for it cureth bodies of their accidentall diseases and preserueth sound substances in such sort that their appeareth in them no perturbations of contraries nor breach of their bond and vnion For this is the sope of bodies yea their spirit and soule which when it is incorporate with them dissolueth them without any losse This is the life of the dead and their resurrection a medicine preseruing bodies and

purging superfluities He that vnderstandeth let him vnderstand and he that is ignorant let him bee ignorant stil for it is not to be bought with mony it is neither to be bought nor sold. Conceiue his vertue value and worth and then begin to worke wherof a learned man hath said God giueth thee not this masterie for thy sole audacity fortitude subtilitie without all labour but men labor and God giueth them good successe Adore thē God the creator that hath vouchsafed thee so great fauor in his blessed works CHAP. XV. The maner how to make the Stone white NOwe therefore when thou wilt enterpise this worthy worke thou shalt take the precious stone and put it in a Cucurbite couering it with an Alembicke being well closed with the lute of wisdome and set it in vorie hote dung then shalt thou distill it putting a receiuer vnder it whereinto the water may distill and thus thou shalt leaue it till all the water be distilled and moysture dryed vp and that drynesse preuaile ouer it then shalt thou take it out drie reseruing the water that is distilled vntill thou hast neede of it thou shalt take I say the drie bodie that remayned in the bottome of the Cucurbite and grinde it and put it in a vessell in greatnesse answerable to the quantitie of the medicine and burie it in verie hote horse-dung as thou canst get the Vessell beeing well shut with the lute of Wisedome and so let it rest But when thou perceyuest the dung to waxe colde thou shalt get thee other that is fresh and very hot and therein put thy Vessell Thus shalt thou do by the space of fortie dayes renuing thy dung so oftenas occasion shall serue and the Medicine shall dissolue of it selfe and become a thicke white water which when thou beholdest to be so thou shalt weight it put there to so much of the water which thou hast kept as will make the halfe of his weight closing thy Vessell with the lute of VVisedome and put it againe in hote horse-dung for that is hote and moyst and thou shalt not omit as I haue sayde to renue the dung when it beginneth to coole till the tearme of fortie dayes be expired for the Medicine shall be congealed in the like number of dayes as before it was dissolued in Again take it and note the iust weight of it and according to his quantitie take of the water which thou madest before grind the body and subtiliate it and poure the water vpon it and set it againe in hot hors-dung for a weeke and a halfe that is to say ten daies then take it out and thou shalt see that the bodie hath already drunk vp the water Afterward grinde it againe and put thereto the like quantitie of that water as thou didst before bury it in dung and leaue it there for ten dayes more take it out againe and thou shalt find that the body hath already drunke vp the water Then as before grinde it putting thereto of the foresayd water the foresayd quantitie and bury it in the foresayd dung and let it rest there ten dayes longer and afterward draw it out so shalt thou do the fourth time also which being done thou shalt drawe it forth and grinde it and burie it in dung till it bee dissolued Afterward take it out and reiterate it yet once more for then the birth is perfect and his worke ended Now when this is done and that thou hast brought this thing to this honourable estate thou shalt take two hundred and fiftie drams of Lead or Steele and melt it which beeing molten thou shalt cast thereon one dramme of Cinna barus that is of this Medicine which thou hast brought to this honourable estate and high degree and it shall retaine the Steele or Leade that it fly not from the fire it shall make it white and purge it from his drosse and blacknesse and conuert it into a tincture perpetually abiding Then take a dramme of these two hundred and fiftie and proiect it vpon two hundred and fiftie drammes of Steele or Copper and it shall conuert it into Siluer better then that of the Myne This is the greatest and last worke that it can effect if God will CHAP. XVI The conuersion of the foresaid Stone into red ANd if thou desirest to conuert this masterie into Golde take of this medicine which as I saide thou hast brought to this honourable estate and excellencie the waight of one dramme and this after the manner of thy former example and put it in a vessell and bury it in hors-dung for fortie dayes and it shall be dissolued then thou shalt giue it water of the dissolued body to drink first as much as amounteth to halfe his waight afterward vntill it bee congealed thou shalt bury it in most hot dung as is aboue sayd Then thou shalt orderly proceed in this Chapter of Gold as thou hast done in the former Chapter of Siluer and it shall be Golde and make Golde God willing My Sonnekeepe this most secret Booke and commit it not vnto the handes of ignorant men beeing a secret of the secretes of God For by this meanes thou shalt attaine thy desire Amen Here endeth the secrets Alchimy written in Hebrew by Calid the sonne of Iarich An excellent discourse of the admirable force and efficacie of Art and Nature written by the famous Frier Roger Bacon Sometime fellow of Merton Colledge and afterward of Brasen-nose in Oxford SOme there are that aske whether of these twaine bee of greatest force and efficacie Nature or Art whereto I make aunswere and say that although Nature be mightie and maruailous yet Art vsing Nature for an instrument is more powerfull then naturall vertue as it is to bee seene in many thinges But whatsoeuer is done without the operation of Nature or Art is either no humane worke or if it bee it is fraudulently and colourablie performed for there are some that by a nimble motion and shewe of members or through the diuerfitie of voyces and subtillitie of instruments or in the darke and by consent doo propose vnto men diuerse things to bee wondred at that haue indeede no truth at all The worlde is euerie where full of such fellowes For Iuglers cogge many things through the swiftnesse of their hands and others with varietie of voyces by certaine deuices that they haue in their bellies throats or mouthes will frame mens voyces farre of or neare as it pleaseth thē as if a man spake at the same instant yea they will counterfeite the soundes of bruit beasts But the causes hidden in the grasse or buried in the sides of the earth proue it to bee done by a humane force and not by a spirit as they would make men beleeue In like maner wheras they affirm things without life to moue verie swiftly in the twilight of the euening or morning it is altogither salse and vntrue As for concent it can faigne any thing that men

in his second booke namely that in a certaine Citie hee defended himselfe against the Romane armie for hee burnt an armed souldior with diuers things which he cast at him The Greeke fire is not much vnlike these and many other burning things Besides there may be made perpetuall lights and bathes burning without end for we haue knowne many that are not burned but purified But ouer and besides these there are other things of Nature that will amaze and astonish vs to heare of them for noyses may bee made in the aire like thunders yea with greater horror then those that come by Nature for a little matter fitted to the quantitie of a thumbe maketh a horrible noyse and wonderfull lightning And this is done after sundry fashions whereby any citie and armie may be destroyed after the manner of skilfull Gedeon who hauing onely three hundreth men discomfited the hosts of the Madianites with broken pitchers and lamps fire issuing out with an vnspeakeable noyse These are maruailous things if men knewe how to vse them effectually in due quantitie and matter But nowe I will propose many strange things of another kind which although they haue no great profite yet are they a most apparant demonstration of wisedome and may be vsed for the prouing of any secet things which the rude multitude gainsay being like to the attraction of Iron by the Adamant For who would beleeue such an attraction vnlesse he behelde it and there be many wonders of nature in this drawing of the Iron that are vnknowne to the common people as experience teacheth the studious But these things are greater and more in number for there is the like attraction of all mettals by the Stone of golde and siluer and the Stone runneth to Vineger Yea plants and the parts of liuing creaturs beeing locally diuided the one from the other will not withstanding by a naturall motion concurre and come together again Now when I had beheld these and such like things and considered them well I thought nothing incredible neyther in diuine nor humane things Yet there are greater behinde then these For the whole power of the Mathematickes according to the practise of Ptolomy in the. 8. de Almagesto setteth but an instrument vppon the superficies wherein all things that are in the heauen shall be truely described with theyr lengths and breadths but that they should naturally mooue with a daily motion is not in the Mathematicians power Yet doth the faithfull and industrious practisioner earnestly desire to make it of such a matter and after such a manner That the heauens should be naturally moued with a daily motion seemeth impossible vnto him because many things are carryed with the motion of the heauenly bodyes as Comets and the sea when it floweth and other things eyther wholy or in parte for then should all instruments of Astrology be in vaine as well those which haue beene inuented by the learned as those that haue beene deuised by the common sort neyther shoulde a Kings treasure bee skant comparable Moreouer there may yet greater things bee performed though not in respect of their straungenesse yet if wee regarde a publike or priuate commoditie namely to gette as great plentie of golde and siluer as we list not by a possibilitie of Nature but by the perfection of Art for asmuch as there are seuenteene manners of golde whereof eight in number haue a commixtion of Argent-uiue with gold Now the first kinde of golde is made of certaine parts of golde and some partes of siluer vntill wee reach vnto the two and twentieth degree of Gold alwayes augmenting one degree of gold with one of siluer and there are as many more of the admixtion of Brasse with Golde So that the last manner consisteth of foure and twentie degrees of pure golde without the admixtion of any other mettall and nature cannot proceede any further as experience teacheth But Art may augment gold very much in the parts of purity and likewise accomplish it without fraude or couine But this is a greater matter then the former that although the reasonable soule cannot bee constrained yet may she be effectually disposed indued and prouoked freely to change her maners affections and desires according to another mans pleasures and this may be effected not in one particular person alone but in the whole body of a Citie or people of a Kingdome And such a matter Aristotle teacheth in his booke of Secrets as well of a nation as of an army or priuate person These things are almost as much as nature or Art are able to performe But yet the last decree wherein the perfection of Art can doo oughts with all the power of nature is the prolonging of life for a great space and the possibilitie hereof is approued by many experimēts For Plynie reporteth that there was a Souldiour lustie and strong both in body mind that continued healthy beyond the accustomed age of man who when Octauianus Augustus asked him what he did that made him liue so long made aunswere in a riddle that he vsed oyle outwardly and sweet wine inwardly But afterwards there sell out many such things for on a time as a husband man was plowing he chanced to finde a golden vessell with a precious licour which he surmising to be the dew of heauen washt his face with it and dranke thereof and was incontinently renewed in Spirite in body and in quicknesse of witte for which cause of a plow-man hee was made porter to the King of Sicily this hapned in the time of king Ostus Besides it is confirmed by the testimony of the Popes letters that Almanichus beeing Captaine among the Saracens took a medicine by the benifit wherof he prolonged his life fiue hundred yeares For the king to whom hee was prisoner receiued Ambassadors from king Magus with this medicine but forasmuch as he suspected it to be poyson he would needes make a tryall of it in this Captiue In like manner the Queene of Tormery in great Britany seeking after a white Hart lighted vppon an Oyntment wherewith the Keeper of the forrest had noynted his whole bodie the soles of his feete onely excepted he liued three hundreth yeares without corruption saue that hee was troubled with the goute in his feete And wee haue obserued many Countrey-men in our dayes who without the counsell and adulse of Phisitions haue liued a hundred and three score yeares or there abouts And these things are approoued by the works of bruit beasts as namely in the Hart the Egle the Serpent and many other that by the vertue of hearbes and stones renewe theyr youth For which cause wise men haue addiected themselues to search out such a secret prouoked thereunto by the example of brute Beastes deeming it to bee possible for man to obtaine that which is not denied to vnreasonable creatures And hence is it that Artephius in his Booke intituled the Wisedome of Secretes diligently obseruing the force and

power of liuing creatures and stones and such like things to the end that he might be acquainted with Natures Secrets but especially to attaine the knowledge howe to lengthen the life boasteth of himselfe that he liued a thousande and fiue and twentie yeares And the possibilitie of the prolongation of life is hereby confirmed because the soule is naturally immortall and able not to die for euen after it had bin polluted with sinne it was able to liue about a thousande yeares and afterwardes by little and little the length of life was abbreuiated and waxed shorter Now this abbreueation must needes bee accidentall therefore it may either in the whole or in parte bee prolonged And if we will seeke out the accidentall cause of this corruption we shall finde that it proceedeth not from the heauen nor anie thing else but for lacke of a due regiment of health For in this age of ours the fathers are corrupted and therefore begette Sonnes of a corrupt complexion and composition and theyr Sonnes for the same cause doo corrupt themselues and this corruption descendeth from the fathers into the Sons so long till at the last the shortnes of life doth continually preuaile as it appeareth this day Neuerthelesse it cannot hence be necessarily inferred that life shall alwayes bee shortned because there is a time appoynted for humane things and for the most what men liue seuentie yeares and the rest of theyr dayes are altogether labour and sorrow But there may a remedie bee founde out for the particular corruption of euery man that is to say if euerie one for his parte from his youth vpwarde will exercise a perfect gouernment of health which consisteth in meate and drinke in sleepe and watchfulnesse in motion and rest in euacuation and constriction in the ayre and in the disposition of the minde for if anie man would obserue this manner of gouernment from his natiuitie he should liue as long as his nature which he receiued of his parents would permit him and be brought to the farthest end of that nature falne from originall iustice but this he can no way passe for this regiment affordeth no remedie against the auncient corruption of parents Yet it is impossible that a man should with such moderation carrie himselfe in all these thinges as the rule of health requireth and therefore it is of necessitie that the abbreuiation and shortning of our dayes should spring from this head also and not onely from the corruption of our parents But the science of Physicke doth sufficiently prescribe and determine this maner of regiment though neither rich nor poore learned nor vnlearned no not euen the Physitions themselues howe absolute so euer they bee are able indifferently to obserue these things in themselues nor in other men Notwithstanding Nature fayleth not in things necessarie nor Art beeing perfect and compact yea rather it is able to breake out against accidentall passions and either wholy or in part to abolish them And in the beginning when the age of men first began to decline a remedie might easily haue beene found out but after sixe thousand yeeres and more it is a difficult matter to prescribe a remedie Neuerthelesse wise men mooued with the foresaid considerations haue endeuoured to finde out wayes not onelye agaynst the defect of euery particular mans regiment but also agaynst the corruption of Parents not that men should be able to reach vnto the life of Adam or Artephius by reason of the corruption which daily encreaseth but that they might prolong their liues for a hundred yeares or somewhat more beyonde the common age of men now liuing so that the diseases vsually accompanying olde age might bee kept backe for a time and though not vtterly prohibited and taken quite away yet they might be mittigated and diminished that the life might be profitably prolonged beyonde the expectation of men but alwayes within the vtmost bounds and limits For there is one tearme of Nature appoynted to the first men after sinne entered into the worlde and another alotted to euerye man by the proper corruption of his parents These two wee cannot passe for though wee may passe the latter yet are wee not able to arriue vnto the former I am of opinion that a wise man may in this age attaine thereto the possibilitie and aptnesse of humane nature beeing the same nowe that it was in the first men and no maruaile seeing that this aptnesse extendeth it selfe to immortalitie as it was before sinne and shall bee after the resurrection But if you say that neither Aristotle Plato Hippocrates nor Galen attained hereto I aunswere that they were ignoraunt euen of manye meane vertues which afterwarde were familiar to those that were studious These therefore might easily bee hidden from them though they laboured to finde them out but they busied themselues too much in other matters and waxed olde in a trice spending their life in base and vulgar things and yet they were acquainted with many secrets For we knowe that Aristotle sayth in the Predicaments that the quadrature of a Circle may bee knowne although it bee not yet knowne Whereby hee confesseth that both himselfe and all men till his time were ignorant of it But now a dayes wee see that the truth is knowne so that Aristotle might well be ignoraunt of the greatest of Natures Secrets And againe wise men are at this present ignorant of many things which the common sort of Students shall knowe hereafter So then this obiection is altogether vaine and foolish Thus hauing produced certaine examples declaring the power of Art and Nature to the end that out of those few we might collect many out of the parts gather the whole out of particulars inferre vniuersals wee see howe farre forth it is altogether needlesse for vs to gape after Magicke when as Nature and Art are sufficient Nowe I minde to prosecute euery one of the foresayd things in order and deliuer their causes and the wayes howe to worke them particularly And first of all I consider that the secrets of Nature contayned in the skins of Goates and sheep are not spoken of least euery man should vnderstand them As Socrates and Aristotle willeth for he affirmeth in his booke of Secrets that hee is a breaker of the celestiall seale that maketh the secrets of Art and Nature common adding moreouer that many euils beride him that reuealeth secretes And in the booke intituled Noctes Atticae in the comparing of wise men togither it is reputed a great folly to giue an Asse Lettice when Thistles will serue his turne and it is written in the booke of Stones that hee impayreth the Maiestie of things that diuulgeth mysteries And they are no longer to bee tearmed Secrets when the whole multitude is acquainted with them if wee regard the probable diuision of multitude which euermore gainsay the learned For that which seemeth vnto all is true as also that which is so iudged of by the wise and men ofbest