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A19403 A short discouerie of the vnobserued dangers of seuerall sorts of ignorant and vnconsiderate practisers of physicke in England profitable not onely for the deceiued multitude, and easie for their meane capacities, but raising reformed and more aduised thoughts in the best vnderstandings: with direction for the safest election of a physition in necessitie: by Iohn Cotta of Northampton Doctor in Physicke. Cotta, John, 1575?-1650? 1612 (1612) STC 5833; ESTC S113907 131,733 158

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him a witch there shall thereby be allowed vnto the diuell a large commission which his malice will easily extend beyond the latitude as by right obseruation of many learned in their own experiences hath ben● and may be oft truly noted I do not deny nor patronage witches or witchcraft but wish that the proofes and triall thereof may be more carefully and with better circumspection viewed and considered that rash determination beguile not the wise nor condemne the innocent vpon whom the diuell can with more nimblenesse and agilitie transferre his owne euill workes then either they can auoide it or others easily espie it Euerie thing whereof euerie man cannot giue a reason is not therefore a miracle There are many things whereof few men many whereof no man can attaine the reason yet euerie man knoweth to haue a reason in nature Behold a toy for an example There is seene in the hand of a iugler a thing as it is indeed sodainly in a moment without perceptible motion it is againe seene as it is not That there is a cause of the change who knoweth not what it is who knoweth except to whom it hath bene made known With great wonder and admiration haue diuers in this age shewed mercenarie spectacles incredible euen vnto the beholding eye and yet in the actors by meane vnderstandings deprehended to be nothing but agilitie and nimble cunning by continuall practise and custome working desperatenesse into facilitie Thus with common wonder haue some walked and danced voon cords Some are written to haue leaped and danced vpon the edges of sharp swords without hurt vnto thēselues with pleasure vnto the beholders Some haue credibly bene supposed to deuoure daggers and other sharpe and dangerous weapons That naturally the loadstone draweth iron the meanest know the reasō or cause the wisest neuer knew There are wonders in nature wonders aboue nature these are subtilties the other miracles That fire and aire contrary to their owne particular nature of the owne accord descend and waters ascend that the heauie mettals of iron and lead contrary to their owne naturall motion should with such admirable swiftnesse in so short a moment passe so large a distance through the aire from a small flash of a little flame these and such like are subtilties because the cause and reason thereof doth vnfold it selfe to few or not to all yet vnto the learned That the Sunne should stand still in the firmament the Moone be ecclipsed in no interposition the bodies of men should flie in the aire or walke vpon the face of the water these and the like are miracles because hereof is neither power nor reason in nature And as in the former to be easily drawne to admiration and to ascribe naturall effects to supernaturall causes is grosse ignorance so in the latter to enquire naturall causes in supernaturall effects is profane curiositie In both these extremes men too commonly erre the learned for the most part in the latter the vnlearned in the first the one too wise the other starke fooles None truly learned or that truly know the face of nature whose scholers the learned euer professe themselues can be vpon the vaine flashes of seeming wonders lightly moued to denie or call into question the power and force of nature With therfore the common amazed thoughts of vulgar people to be blasted by the stupiditie of euery idle feare to gape after witchcraft or to make nature a diuell or a bugbeare must needs be base procliuitie and vnlearned lightnesse To admit also nothing aboue or beside nature no witchcraft no association with diuels at all is no lesse madnesse of the opposite and extreame But those whom true learning and wisedome hath well instructed know how to stay themselues and to consist in a temperate mediocritie betweene both these The actions of the diuell are discouered by the proper notes and difference First they are euer euill either in themselues or in their end Secondly they are aboue the power and course of nature and reason This appeareth manifestly in his violent cariage of so many heards of swine headlong into the sea mentioned in the Gospell in his bringing fire from aboue so sodainly to deuoure so many thousands of Iobs sheepe These with other such like carry in their mischiefe and hurt the stamp of such an author and in the transcendent and supernaturall power thereof the testimonie of a spirit This is plaine and by these notes men may learne to distinguish between an imaginarie and a reall diuellish practise Now the doubt remaineth how we may in these workes and practises of the diuell detect the conuersation and commerce of men I do not conceiue how any markes in the flesh or bodie of any one may be any triall or manifest proofe for besides the grant that likenesse may deceiue who can assure me that the diuell may not as easily secretly and insensibly marke the flesh of men as their soules vnto destruction If the diuell may marke them without their knowledge and consent shall his malice be their offence or how shall I be assured he cannot so do He that can do the greater can do the lesse He that could giue vnto the Son of God a view of all the kingdomes of the world in one instant which was no doubt a speciall straine of his vtmost spirituall cunning considering he was then to deale with wisedome it selfe can that cunning finde no meanes to make a small scarre impresse or tumor in flesh Who dare presume to say God will not suffer him Who euer so farre entred into the counsell of God or measured what therein he doth permit If no holy writ no reason manifest it proud and blasphemously daring is obseruation in so infinite and vnmeasurable a subiect I denie not that the diuell by couenant may sucke the bodies and bloud of witches in witnesse of their homage vnto him but I denie any marke of neuer so true likenesse or perfect similitude sufficient condemnation vnto any man and beside and aboue all other notes or marks whatsoeuer iudge it chiefly and principally and first to be required that both the diuels propertie therein also the parties consent thereto may be iustly and truly euicted which is oft too lightly weighed It may be with good reason iudged that the diuell doth not blush to be both bold and cunning there to set his marke yea and make his claime where he hath no interest But when the diuell doth appeare in workes and signes proper to himselfe and therewith shall be euident either directly or by good consequent the act of any man consenting or cooperating there law may iustly take hold to censure and there also the former presumptions and markes denied sufficiencie while alone and single may now concurring be admitted and allowed I speake not this in contradiction of other learned iudgements but retaining
disease The heauens indeed do oft and much also preuaile in raising allaying increasing diminishing enraging and calming the inward causes but euer by a proportion either with the temper and constitution of the sicke or the humours of their bodies whether originally bred or after by time acquired Saturne is therefore said a great Lord ouer melancholy bodies in like manner the Moone ouer phlegmaticke Iupiter and the Sunne in sanguine Mars in cholericke whether in their seuerall reuolutions apart or their coniunctions and combinations and according to the greater or lesse proportion of their peculiar humors in the bodie and the dispositions of the particular parts of the body they more or lesse exercise their rule Therefore also according as meanes more or lesse accrew to lessen or increase their proportion so more or lesse manifestly are their effects and operations weakned or quickned If the wise Physition foreseeing the euill approach of a maligne and Saturnine aspect by discreete preuention abate and withdraw the melancholy humor from the body Saturne shall thereby want a part of his proportion and as the greater abundance thereof doth necessarily more aduance and promote his efficacie so the exiguitie there of must needs abridge and obscure it The like may be said of all other aspects in their seuerall destined and appropriate humours For the constellation of it selfe simply cannot effect anything nor can build or ruine any being which first hath not the seminarie and prime foundation thereof in it self both as his subiect and his meanes And this is the true cause that the body either by Physick reduced to iust temper in it selfe or to an equall contemper of all the humors or of it selfe strong and healthfull in the most different constellations doth commonly find indifference of alteration And this is the reason that many in the most Saturnine and deadly constellations liue as the contrary also cause that many in the most faire and Iouiall die From this vncontrouersed ground Astronomers generally themselues aduise and prescribe meanes both to preuent the harmes of influences to come and also to redresse them present and giue vnto the Physitions hand powers and remedies to command countermand delay allay and abolish And from this reason P●olomy himselfe the Prince and father of Astrologie in vnfortunate aspects doth aduise to consult the prudent Physition and by his counsell and helpe to decline the maligne constellation For right remedies rightly administred vnto the diseases and their inward causes by the decree of God and Nature necessarily oppugne allay preuent and expell diseases and therefore are not prescribed vnto outward causes but onely vnto the inward And although the outward cause haply first raised or impo●ed the disease yet in the cure is not that cause so much respected but his effect which is the disease it selfe or the inward causes by which and through which the outward had admission to their effects If the inward causes the antecedent and the immediate be remoued it is a miracle and a thing supernaturall that there should remaine his effect the disease but the outward cause may be remoued and yet his effect therein not follow him Thus corrupt and hote constitutions of the aire and constellations from the heauen breed pestilent and hote diseases in the body and the diseases still remain when the constitutions or constellations are changed but when the pestilent hote humors and dispositions within the body which are inward causes are throughly remoued there can no such effects continue be farther fed or maintained The outward cause may also be continually present yet particular subiects or bodies feele or participate no effect but if the inward cause grow in quantity or quality vnto the excesse it is impossible it should not in the same moment produce the like sensible effect For example in some heauenly coniunctions or combinations there may arise an hydropicall constellation though many particulars be nothing therwith affected or therto therby inclined but if hydropical humors or causes abound within the body it is impossible they should there be without not only the imminence but present cōsecutiō of the dropsy By these examples it is not obscure that the heauens are a forreine inuasion and therefore more easily admit interception and that diseases are euer to be suspected because euer present Where there is an vnproportioned congruitie or susceptibilitie in the bodie and humors with the heauenly inclination there the heauens haue no edge Where the disease hath once taken possession in the body the necessitie of his effect is absolute and vnauoidable howsoeuer the heauens or any outward causes are disposed He therefore that finding the inward disposition shall for the superstitious feare of starres delay with speed to seeke present remedie or in hope of forrein supply from constellations neglect certaine rescue more neare hand is a foole a mad man or worse then either The first is continually acted by common simple deluded people the other patronaged by obstinate defendants of vaine paradoxes and the third by our impudent Astrologers prostitute for gaine I commend not senslesse morositie in the peruerse reiection of true Astronomie so farre as is commodious for Physicke vse which reason it selfe experience and all the Ancients worthily extoll but with reason and authoritie I dislike superstitious and needlesse curositie in the ouer-religious esteeme thereof He that obserueth the wind shall not sow and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reape saith Salomon Ecclesiastes 114. And I cannot but detest the shamelesse dayly cousenage and imposture heathenishly practised by many vnder the colour pretext and false shadowes of true Astronomy An example here of may not impertinently for better illustration be here proposed A gentleman of Northampotonshire diseased by an immedicable vlcer of the reines was moued by his friends after my despaire of his recouerie signified priuatly vnto them to call the aduice of a famous Ephemerides-master who coming vnto him and not knowing and therefore not considering his disease from the counsel table of his Ephemerides pronounced that if the patient suruiued 3. or 4. daies which we must suppose were of an il aspect vntill the next ensuing Tuesday which was it seemeth a fairer influence he made no doubt of his recouerie and life But he suruiued three moneths or thereabout and in the interim neither did the aforesaid ill disposed starres any apparent hurt nor the wel disposed any eminent good but after the forenamed three moneths the starres brake promise the disease kept touch the gentleman died The reason in the disease was manifest without a new creation or generation a part in it selfe radically and in the whole substance perished can neuer be restored The disease therfore could not lie nor all the heauens could performe either a new generation because the patient could not again enter into his mothers womb nor a new creation because the world could not againe
Artist his right description and election THE FIRST BOOKE CHAP. I. The Introduction THE dignitie and worth of Physicks skill consisteth not as is imagined commonly in the excellence and preheminence of remedies but in their wise and prudent vse It is an ancient true saying that wholesome medicines by the hands of the iudicious dispenser are as Angels of God sent for the good of men but in the hands of the vnlearned are messengers of death vnto their farther euill Good medicines are in themselues excellent instruments of health and life but require a learned workeman iudiciously to guide them vnto their destined end It is order and not confusion that is euer safe and happie and knowledge which worketh by election and true reason and not rash boldnesse which doth good by chance and vncertaine euent that is the light and safe guide of vnderstanding mindes Who knoweth not how much opportunity aduanceth in all performances how descreete obseruation of smallest circumstances aduantageth how wise and learned cunctation and sometimes anticipation make fortunate an action Who seeth not in euerie dayes experience how necessarie it is by a mature and iudicious eye to foresee in all attemps the after vnauoydable hinderances Who discerneth not that without prudent circumspection and prouident forecast blinde rashnesse and ignorance do alwaies hazard oft vnrecouerably ouerthrow all good successe Through want of knowledge to mistake time is losse of labor and of time Ignorant slownesse doth come too late and rash haste doth stumble he that knoweth not the danger doth easily runne vpon the rocke Thus is it easie for the vnlearned to erre and those that want vnderstanding to fall into the snare If then all enterprises prosper by wise aduice it is wisedome in matters of meanest moment to consult with a wise and iudicious friend in cases of health and life certainly euery man is not a sufficient counsellor He that considereth the multitude of causes in diseases their infinite kindes manners and natures the varietie of accidents their sodaine and variable mutations the soone lost occasions and hardly gained opportunities the wisedome which circumstances require the care and vigilance which the subiect exacteth the doubts which repugnances bring the resolutions which necessities vrge shall find the most exquisite powers of vnderstanding iudgement wit discretion and learning herein exactly sifted From the varietie of causes of diseases what varying differences arise in the manner quantity qualitie and times of remedies euery one requiring a separate and distinct respect and dispensation euen in the same disease and person The immediate cause from the mediate the antecedent from the continent the necessarie from the casuall and contingent require both a diuers handling and also a distinction in order of handling neither is there a like consideration of the externall and internall the positiue the priuatiue the materiall the immateriall those that are single and alone and those that are ioyntly and with others Sometimes many causes are coincident in one effect sometimes many diseases from one cause Sometimes the same cause receiueth a difference from it selfe and exacteth an exact difference in his owne remedies Sometime the same cause is so farre vnlike it selfe that it seemeth not it selfe being either more then it selfe in quantity or a monster to it selfe in malignant quality As causes diseases according to their causes so no lesse materiall are accidents to be distinctly knowne and considered Some of them bring certaine knowledge some artificiall coniecture some matter of presumption and probability Some are manifest some anxious and ambiguous some significant by themselues some consignificant with others Some are of vertue in singularitie some in multitude some are considered as signes and causes some as neither some as both Some accidents go before the disease some accompany some follow after Ordinarily the disease doth draw all attendance vnto it selfe sometimes the accident doth obscure the disease Some accidents alone are ciphers but added vnto other make vp a iust account some prognosticate some iudicate some are idle some iudicate the constitution of the sicke some the humour some the diseased part some the disease it selfe and some the issue Sometimes diseases are discouered by no signes at all but by an exact and exquisite disquisition of a sound and solert iudgement So that according to the kindes places courses changes and courses of accidents varie significations iudications and prognostications and follow safe administration and application of apt remedies vnto the more speedy benefite of the sicke facilitie of cure and securitie of after health Diseases their causes and circumstances wisely distinguished and knowne do point a discreete knowing workman to a more certaine issue without which as the beginning of cure must necessarily be rash so must the end be doubtlesly vncertaine Hence it must needs be apparent that by the common neglect and ignorance herein the monopolizing of cures vnto the prerogatiue of this or that secret and thereby the contempt of the due permutation of medicines according to requisite circumstances and necessities and the omission reiection of the wholesome administratiō of the generall remedies without which the particular are vaine and preposterous do commonly turne to the common perdition of most valetudinary men From hence also it doth come to passe that many disea●es beyond their owne nature and besides the constitution of the sicke grow so commonly so easily rooted and vnobseruedly confirmed in mens bodies that oft they can neuer haue end which by due ordering should neuer haue had beginning Hence grow so frequent the multitude of strange and vnnaturall changes and new fashions of fits euen through the too common vse of wholesome remedies in vulgar and prophane hands For through this presumption either by idle trifling and vaine flattery of ease dangerous diseases quickly in short time grow too proud for any medication or else in the other extreme by too much haste and violence are hunted out of their owne course and so metamorphize themselues into wilde and vnaccustomed shapes Hence likewise it cometh to passe that diseases in their owne kind easie and of small continuance by the wrong and iniury of remedies without aduice admitted and celebrated are not onely extended to a lingring age of many daies but from daies to weekes from weekes to yeares yea oft vnto a longer life then the sicke himselfe after him inheriting his children and posteritie It is a verified and true saying Worse are the bad after-consequences of ill applied medicines then diseases themselues Although this be often apparent euen vnto the common sence of vulgar sight yet much more infinite are the impeachments and ruines of health by the learned seene and discouered daily whereof a common eye is not capable while vnperceiued mischiefes stealingly insensibly enter with vnpriuiledged remedies and by some present benefite or ease
pedlarie wares remaining keepe shop in their owne hose or else in their guts who wanting other vse imagine them sufficiēt to make cleane the kitchin Let thē that desire their meate in the stomacke should long finde good cookerie take heede who put herbs into the pot It hath bene required and by some imposed that a Physition should be both Surgeon and Apothecary himselfe It is easily decided In iudgement skill knowledge and ability of direction it is very requisite and necessary and the contrary is not tollerable in a true architect but euery particular execution or manuall paines and trauell is neuer vniustly sometime necessarily and oft more conueniently distributed and deuided vnto others whose vicissitude assistance and oft more ready handling thereof is as sufficient nothing inferiour yea for operary proofe and cunning handworke far without enuy superior because the maine and continuall exercise therein doth therein also make the meaner iudgement better apted and more prompt Galen indeed himselfe in necessity want of other whose better and more speciall practise and exercise therein might make it their more proper performance put his owne hand vnto chirurgie but when he found it another distinct office as an ease vnto himselfe and a commodious liberty inlarged helpe to his other imploiments studies and care he thereunto referred hand-operation though euer haply conferred his mind iudgement In like maner Hippocrates refuseth by oath to meddle in Chirurgerie expresly in the extraction of the stone of the bladder and leaueth it vnto those that are therein exercised The fewer offices the lesse distraction where lesse distraction there is the better bent vnto the more maine and proper scope Where therefore with as sufficient supply by others the suffection or deputation may ease of a burthen as indifferently else were imposed there the businesse lesse and the diligence and incumbence equall the remaining taske must needes be completely and absolutely attended perfected Concerning the Apothecarie included in the Physition indeed the first Ancients were Apothecaries vnto themselues because in themselues onely was then newly sprouting in the infancie the inchoation of that skill and therefore as yet they could not communicate perfection vnto others But now time and age haue accomplished it the Physitions eye and skill hath vsed anothers hand both as a needfull and requisite helpe in the mechanicall ministery and also as an aduantage and ease to the more necessary laborious and studious trauels of his mind In ordinarie dispatches therfore it is vnauoidably necessary an Apothecarie be euer at hand as faithfull as his owne right hand and in extraordinarie the Physitions owne heart must onely trust his owne hand and his owne eye witnesse their consent This equitie may satisfie curiositie CHAP. VII Of Practisers by Spels NOw to leaue both Surgeon and Apothecarie the opposition against the vse or need of either doth put in mind in the next place not to forget those who professe the performances vses and end both of Surgeon Apothecary yea and Physition himselfe without their helpe or need such are such as cure by spels and words If men beleeue as reason would and as reasonable men should for men are no men if vnreasonable of any effects from spels among the wise is no true reason or cause and without reason can be no right perswasion Betweene a true cause and his proper effect there is an immediate necessity betweene a cause by accident and his effect there is a mediate consequution but this cause being onely ni opinion can be no more then opinion and in opinion is no truth Some finding spels to do no good obiect as a good they do no hurt This hurt I am assured they do while men haue gaped after such shadowes they oft in the meane season haue lost the substance their life and health which while due season offered vnto them that had learned to know oportunitie bad scholers were still at spelling schoole To speak more seriously of such a toy If the faithfull and deuout prayer of holy men vnto which the promise of God and the blessings of men are annexed hath no such assurance or successe of necessarie consequent without laborious industry and the vse of good meanes how can religion or reason suffer men that are not voyd of both to giue such impious credite vnto an vnsignificant and senslesse mumbling of idle words contrarie to reason without president of any truly wise or learned and iustly suspected of all sensible men It shall be no error to insert a merrie historie of an approued famous spell for sore eyes By many honest testimonies it was a long time worne as a iewell about many necks written in paper and inclosed in silke neuer failing to do soueraigne good when all other helps were helplesse No sight might dare to reade or open At length a curious mind while the patient slept by stealth ripped open the mystical couer and found the powerful characters Latin which Englished were these The diuell digge out thine eyes and fill vp their holes with his dung Words without meaning are nothing and yet so here are best Of nothing can come nothing much lesse good yet so it was and yet it was not so oathes and testimonies auouching the one religion truth denying the othes Thus ofttimes things haply begun in sport and ieast with light minds by vaine opinion grow to sooth and earnest It is strange in these daies to behold how this follie doth laugh euen wise men to scorne while their vnreasonable parts of imagination and fancie so iuggle with their iudgements and vnderstanding that they can scarce containe themselues from beleeuing and consulting with such ridiculous folly Thus able is fancie not onely to deceiue sense but to obscure our reason If there be any good or vse vnto the health by spels they haue that prerogatiue by accident and by the power and vertue of fancie wherein is neither certaintie nor continuance Fancie according vnto the nature thereof can seldome be long fixed vpon any thing because naturally being euer full of fiction it must needs easily and continually be transported Fancie therefore can be no ordinarie or common remedie being but rarely fixedly detained and where it is most earnestly bent yet hardly of long continuance If fancie then be the foundation whereupon buildeth the good of spels spels must needs be as fancies are vncertaine and vaine so must also by consequent be their vse and helpe and no lesse all they that trust vnto them I speake not of inchanted spels but of that superstitious babling by tradition of idle words and sentences which all that haue sense know to be voide of sense as the other diuellish The one if there be no remedie we must permit vnto fooles in the other we cannot denie the diuell CHAP. VIII The explication of the true discouerie of
after described as some say It is not vnusuall with the sicke oft to imagine indifferently as well things inconsiderate and incomposed as truths and therefore are their imaginations of no validitie without better proofe or reason which I thinke before sufficiently satisfied And in this gentlewoman hauing her head where her disease had so manifestly deeply seated it selfe therefore so mightily oppressed it was more easie for any faculitie therein to mistake and erre then to conceiue aright And therefore though it might haply manifestly appeare which may be and is ordinarily rather the abusiue impression of some indiscreete whispering about the sicke that she of her selfe primarily and without suggestion conceiued the forme or shape of a witch yet is that no sound proofe or clearing of the question of witchcraft in generall nor any reasonable euidence against one particular since the trials of truth are not sterred by imaginations It is lastly obiected that certaine witches lately dying for sorcerie haue confessed themselues to haue bewitched this gentlewoman I grant the voluntary and vncompelled or duly and truly euicted confession of a witch to be sufficient condemnation of her selfe and therefore iustly hath the law laid their bloud vpon their owne heads but their confession I cannot conceiue sufficient euiction of the witchcraft it selfe It is knowne euidently vnto men learned that the subtill serpent and deceiuer the diuell doth vsually beguile delude and deceiue those that trust in him by his iugling collusions perswading oft times those actions and euents to be his gratification of their malicious affections which are indeed the very workes of nature and oft times the rare effects onely of hidden causes in nature A witches confession therefore being onely grounded vpon his credite information and suggestion whose nature custome and propertie is and euer hath bene to lie and deceiue is a meane poore and vncertaine proofe of witchcraft though a iust condemnation vnto the witch her selfe being proued an associate with the diuell in any sort Her death therefore doth satisfie the law for her offence but is no sound information of the iudgement of the witchcraft Thus according to that whereof my selfe could take notice in this gentlewoman if more full information of others obseruations in those things that by my selfe were not seene or noted faile me not I haue truly and fully described euery materiall accident and circumstance and to all the knowne or conceiued likely doubts and difficulties therein haue carefully and directly answered and therein also haue I suppose satisfied the ingenuous and reasonable with breuitie at full Now to conclude the former explication of the question of witchcraft in generall I intreate the Reader to call vnto mind the formerly mentioned feares and doubts of witchcraft which vnknowne accidents and diseases easily impose vpon mindes herein vnacquainted and not discerning their cause and reason and in them farther for future good to consider the possible contingence of many more of like nature and sort in other the like cases elsewhere hapning and here vnmentioned In both and with both let also be recalculate and cast the strange and slie suggestions of the fancie and imagination sometimes countenanced by admired casuall euents and chances sometimes applauded by ignorant credulitie and sometimes aduanced by superstition in all and euery of these still with the vulgar sort aduantaging the same error and opinion of witchcraft I haue so much the rather thus farre laboured for that ordinarily herein I see truth and iudgement too much peruerted the diseased their health and life thereby neglected and many times simple ideots and fooles oppressed whose weaknes doth oft seeme guiltie because euer vnable to defend it selfe Euery one in these cases is not fit or competent arbiter it requireth the learned and not learned in word and superficiall seeming but indeed truly iudicious and wise whom euer to preconsult in these occasions is onely safe is right expedient and euer necessary CHAP. IX Wisards THe mentione of witchcraft doth now occasion the remembrance in the next place of a sort of practitioners whom our custome and country doth call wisemen and wise-women reputed a kind of good honest harmles witches or wisards who by good words by hallowed herbes and salues and other superstitious ceremonies promise to allay and calme diuels practises of other witches and the forces of many diseases But these being of the same nature with those before mentioned to vse spels and as they before so these now sometimes onely superstitiously vaine sometimes diuellishly assisted I will referre these vnto them and onely dismisse them both with a short historie Anno 1602. a poore boy of Pychley in Northamptonshire was sodainly surprised with a vehement conuulsion drawing his head and heeles violently backward and in that sort carrying his whole body into a roundnesse tumbling vp and downe with much paine and inward groning The parents of the child posed with the strangenesse presently accused witchcraft sent for a wisewoman her wisedome came vnto them At the same time it fortuned my selfe to be in the towne with a patient of mine a worthy and vertuous Lady there inhabiting who moued me to see the bewitched child and vpon the motion together with her Preacher then liuing in her house I went vnto the place where the child lay There among other standing silent and vnknowne I beheld the fits heard also the wisewoman wisely discoursing and among other things of the like nature declaring vnto the cōpany that the lungs of the child were as white as her kercher With this and some other such like kercher learning I silenty departed When I was returned vnto my patient I there professed my opinion concerning the manner and nature of conuulsions with their seuerall causes amongst the rest not omitting the strange accidents which did oft fall out in such diseases by wormes Not long after when the cunning of the wisard was now growne without profite stale and forsaken the child auoyded a great and long worme and immediatly after recouered without other helpe or meanes and so hath continued euer since Thus the serpent beguiled the woman and the woman beguiled though not Adam many foolish sonnes of Adam At length a poore worme gaue them demonstration of their ridiculous folly Such teachers are fittest for such schollers whose grosse ignorance is euer so farre in loue with it owne preiudicate conceite that though they were brayed in a mortar yet cannot this loue be beaten out of them for any loue of truth or reason I did not therefore trouble them with my patience to instruct them nor they molest me with their impatience to heare CHAP. X. Seruants of Physitions Ministring helpers NoW to fulfill our iust computation of Emperickes and therewith to conclude their mention and number the last but not the least that offer themselues ordinarily in this kind and name are suchas either by oft seruing Physitions or by
Philosophie reason experience with an vnitie of consent confirme If then a mans action be his owne if the end his owne the effectuall prosecution thereof vnto the end his owne if God himselfe haue granted this priuiledge vnto all men as indifferent and common vnto all whom he hath created vnder the condition of men what creature shall intercept the endowment of the Creator what shall take the honour of this gift from him that gaue it or the right thereof from him that thence receiueth it The heauens cannot so blaspheme their Maker though men thus dare belie the heuens to iustifie their owne impietie All things depend vpon the prouidence of God and from him and by him are ordained second causes which indeed in nature haue their necessitie but in the will of man haue a power onely to moue or incline and not to force This is the reason that though man by his starres be borne to infinite miseries diuersly mouing and affecting him continually from the earth from the sea from the land from the aire from the fire from his owne affections infirmities diseases from diuers haps and casualties yet vnto him that knoweth the free gift of his Maker and the good that he hath done for him none of all these things by any necessitie in themselues therto can touch him or once come neare him For whether calamitie approch from aboue or below from maligne constellation or other inferior or terrestriall incumbrances man by his spirit of vnderstanding by prudence and circumspect prouidence hath a large immunitie whereby he may and oft doth auoide these violences and delude their forces The wise man saith Salomon foreseeth the plague and hideth himselfe neither can any euill befall the wise which he may not and doth not either being to come by prouident foresight preuent or present by carefull industrie allay or past by diligence redeeme no influence or destinie being able to bring mans will and endeuour to an higher point then wisedome and goodnesse This is the reason that common calamities befall not all men alike yea rather to euery one vnlike This is also the reason that many borne vnder the same constellation haue different fortunes from each other and farre vnlike their like constellation nay it is oft seene and cannot be denied that many men by their owne industrie haue contradicted their starres whereby vnfortunately marked in their natiuities they haue triumphed ouer the heauens in the felicitie of their owne wisedome and vertue Of this sort haue bene not onely one Socrates and the great Philosophers but many common men Socratically disposed and endeuouring Contrariwise also diuers borne vnder good starres vnto good destinies in their growth haue either ouerunne or come short of their destinie For although the heauens doe worke by their hidden power and influence secret impressions procliuities and inclinations as in all things vnder heauen so in the constitutions and tempers of men in their generation conception and birth yet are their effectuall productions thereof in men themselues variously alterable according to education inclination occasion and circumstance and therefore as touching the absolute power of the heauens euer varying There is no man that can so farre deny himselfe a man as to make doubt of free arbitrarie choice in himselfe to do or not to do to like or dislike to do that he will to refuse that he nill For if heauenly influences compell or force mens actions and their wils be led and not free vniustly any man shall be vniust neither can the lawes of God or men be iust ordained against wilfull offenders but God is iust and lawes are righteous and therfore mens actions are their owne moued from an inward power and essence peculiar vnto themselues and from an end and intention which is their owne Touching those therefore that from the heauens promise to tell fortunes to cast figures to turne Ephemerides for natiuities for good haps for ill haps successes losses fortunate infortunate euents he that hath but common sense and reason and can thinke but worthily of himselfe may easily discouer their falshood imposture deceit and cousenage howsoeuer sometimes euents may countenance for hoodwinked happe may sometimes light vpon truth and craft working vpon credulitie may make any truth of any falshood Thus farre briefly concerning the powers of the heauens ouer the minds and willes of men their voluntary actions their consequences and issues Now concerning their vertue ouer the bodies and humours of the sicke and diseased No man can deny the heauens as generall and superiour causes to haue power ouer all things created vnder heauen by whose influence and radiation all things increase grow liue and are conserued and by whose recesse all things mourne wither fall and droupe This doth witnesse the sommer and the winter all other seasons which the heauens by their motion varying bring vnto all things vicissitudes changes and alterations and by their secret influence imperceptibly distill different and contrary inclinations tempers and affections Hence winter sommer spring and autumne breed their peculiar diseases Euill and maligne constellations beget plagues pestilences and other epidemiall contagions which the aire as the great mother of all things breathing doth fruitfully conceiue and plentifully bring forth Vnto what sight or sense hath euer bene vnknowne either the pride or splendor of the Sunne mounting in his glorious altitude or his eclipsed force and light somnesse opposed and abased Who is ignorant of the monethly metamorphosis of the Moone What thing is or can be insensible of the Cynosure and the nipping frosts Is not the glorie of the heauens ouer all and are not his forces in all Notwithstanding generall causes produce not particular effects and the heauens are but generall causes second causes outward causes remote causes mediate causes vnto those things which immediatly fall out in the bodies of men from inward causes contained within themselues and therfore soly hauing by their inseparate nearenesse an ineuitable and vnauoided necessitie in themselues The inward causes of diseases are the humors of the body which can neuer be separated from the body because in them consisteth the life and being of the body Therefore when either they corrupted frō their kind or offending in qualitie or quantitie raise diseases in the body how or by what meanes can the body choose but be therewith affected except it could leaue it selfe From any outward cause which is without and of another deuided and separate nature separation doth free from immediate necessitie or consecution Since then the heauens are outward causes and remoued causes therefore neuer necessarily or simply of themselues affect and the inward causes of diseases sticke nearer and so closely touch in their effects that they suffer no interposition it is manifest that the heauens haue no certaine or absolute h power in the diseased nor can match or equall the immediate force appropriate onely vnto the