from what Cause those Disturbances arise Thus many that were brave healthy Virgins are no sooner Married and become Child-bearers but they grow weak feeble and full of Diseases and Disorders which is the more remarkeable since the same or the like is not to be instanced in any other Creature This should teach Men to behave themselves friendly and with as Even and Pleasant a Temper as possible they can to their young Wives because nothing does so much Injury to Women especially when Pregnant or great-with-Child as a cross surly Carriage from those from whom they expect Indulgence and a pleasant Humour For let us complain never so much of Shrews and Scolds yet I must do Truth that Justice as to avow That the Crosness and Ill-carriage of the Wives has not the hundredth part of that power to hurt and wound the Healths of Men as the unkindness and ill deportment of Husbands have to prejudice the Women for that Sex being of a weak tender Nature their Fires burn but weak and their predominant Quality stands in the meek Element of Water so that every little Affront from those they Love wounds them to the very Heart and does very often awaken even the very Central Spirits whereby Nature is put into an agonious trembling Condition whence proceed Suffocations of the Spirits and Stoppages of the due Circulations and thence variety of Diseases Futhermore Married People ought not by any kind of Arts of compounding or preparing of Meats or Drinks endeavour to heighten and strain Nature whereby they may be the better able to gratify their Lusts and Extravagant Wantonness for all such things are an Affront to Nature and force her out of her simple way and tho for the present by such Arts the Party seems more vigorous yet he shall soon find that the same decays and renders him much more weak and impotent than if he had never medled with such Abominations Nor ought any to suffer their Imaginations Wills or Desires to enter too violently into the Venereal Properties for the Imagination of Mankind is so strong and powerful that it can kindle and awaken all the Central Properties whereby many particular Persons tho by their Constitutions cold and but weakly do yet through Imagination and strong Desires stir up Nature to a great height even to the ruin of their Healths for Nature never ought to be spurred or strained but suffered gently to go on in her own Pace and her own Way The lawful use of the Marriage-Bed is never hurtful to mature Age if Nature be not stimulated on by some unnatural Course or Superfluity either of Imagination Meat Drinks Idleness or the like but rather makes People more lightsome and pleasant as being a thing purely Natural but if raised or forced on by Art then there is no Intemperance or Superfluity does so soon wound the Health or bring so many Inconveniences on both Body and Mind 4thly The most proper Age for Men to Marry at is from Twenty six Years of Age to Thirty or thereaabouts for then Nature has attained to the highest degree of Maturity so that the moderate use of Lawful Sheets will not hurt besides at those years it is to be supposed Persons will if ever be come to some degrees of Discretion Understanding Staidness and Moderation to know their Duties and how to behave themselves to their Wives and Families There is nothing more injurious to the Health of the Body than a too early Acquaintance with Venus or immoderate use of her in Youth whilst Nature is a growing it does in some Constitutions weaken the Spermatick Vessels and the retentive Faculty so that Nature is never able to out-grow it For the Female Sex from Eighteen to Twenty six is a very proper time to alter their Condition and of Virgins commence Women 'T is a very ill custom People have got to Match their Daghters almost as soon as they are out of their Hanging-Sleeves and I know no excuse for it but the Licentiousness of the Age which is such that if Parents do not provide Husbands for their Daughters at Fourteen they are ready to provide them themselves or do worse The Proverb is certainly true and in more Senses than one He that Marries a Girl marrs a Woman it spoils their Growth hastens on Diseases causes a breed of small sickly puling Children makes her a Mistress before she understands her self whence ill management of the Family and forty other Mischiefs too tedious to enumerate 5thly As Nature Reason and the Law of God require Women to separate themselves when their Uncleanness or Monthly Visits are upon them for Conception at such times is unnatural and fails not to intail Leprous and Filthy Diseases on the Children then begot as Boils Botches Kings-Evil c. so it will be also convenient for Men sometimes to lye alone for the lying of Man and Wife together always in the same Bed is apt to decrease Love and make it cold and also destroys the Health and Courage of Man whereas their separating provided it be done freely and prudently and not in discontent or sullenness and lying alone sometimes for a season encreaseth the strength of the Body and makes the mind more vigorous and renders their coming together again more desirable and pleasant it being an hard thing for many Men to have such esteem as they ought to have for those things they over-tharge themselves withal tho they be the best of Enjoyments And this lying alone is the rather to be urged because Women have no natural Inclination to Venereal Actions after Conception setting aside their depraved Desires and Imaginations arising from the provocations Men may use which do kindle and violently stir up the hidden or sleeping Properties of Venus and strain and force Nature out of her Way and Operation therefore no Woman ought to know her Husband after known Conception till after they be delivered and well again All the Creatures of the Field even the whole Creation may be Examples either to teach or upbraid Mankind in this particular yet few there be that are sensible of the greatness of this Sin nor of the evil Consequences that attend Mankind by the Practice thereof Indeed Custom makes the greatest Evils easy and familiar and even excusable in the Eyes of most People but not in the sight of God and Nature For this cause Mankind is afflicted with many and great Perturbations and Distempers which no other Creatures are subject unto because Men break the good Law of God in Nature and turn the natural use of things into Wantonness which cannot pass unretaliated for the Divine Eye and Providence takes notice of all the Good and Evil Works of Mankind and Rewards every one according to its Intrinsick Nature which we ought to regard and not esteem a thing Good or Lawful meerly because Customary and because the multitude do it but rather for that very Reason we ought to suspect it for there is scarce a
temperately which formerly they have spent in superfluity and of late have altogether declined but with Colour of using moderately many are ensnared and by degrees led again into Captivity It being for Example more difficult to drink Wine with a just Moderation than to drink no Wine at all And 't is the part of a wise Man if he sees an hundred things lawful to deny himself of ninety of them being certain of this that every inferior thing a Man toucheth or communicateth with has a special Power and natural Inclination to beget its own property and by degrees enslave the more noble Properties in Man Therefore 't is safer to deny ones self many of those things that are lawful and mean as well as those things that are not because Men has Power either by Sense or Understanding to hinder the Influences and Spiritual Impressions of Nature if he shall joyn himself to any thing whether it be Meats Drinks Imployments or Communications there being no Caviates that can prevent those Inconveniences but only Scruple and Self-denial which has been and alone is the first step and also the last to all Virtue and Wisdom He that can regulate himself and his Imaginations Words Communications Meats Drinks and Imployments may preserve his Spirit pure and potent and make his Soul thereby an unpolluted Temple of God which is the Supream Musick attainable where all the various Forms do incorporate and imbrace each other in an holy Consort of Love and where there is no despising envying or persecuting of one another because they are of different Forms Shapes Figures Complexions Inclinations or Understandings of which Vocal and Instrumental Harmony is a true Similitude Therefore it is much to be pitied that those that are Players on Instruments and skilled in Musick be not more Temperate Sober Grave and Wise for the wicked Wantonness and vain Lives of some of them have brought a Scandal on Musick and most People being ignorant of the Nature and Eccellency of Harmony have charged Musick as tho that had been the chief Cause of those Evils some of them have committed against God Themselves and the Law of Nature But this is a grand Mistake for the Original Cause of all Evil and Sin proceeds from a Man 's own Lusts and Passions and not from any outward thing 'T is true Man hath the two Seeds and Tinctures in himself and as he shall give his Will up unto either Evil or Good so he has power to attract unto himself either Virtue or Vice out of all things and also to use them either to the Praise of his Creator or profit of himself or the contrary as the Apostle saith Unto the Pure all things are Pure but to the perverse the contrary for the Lord appears to every Man either in his Love or Anger according to what Principle he hath suffered his Will to enter into as the Scripture saith That the Lord is an angry jealous God and a consuming Fire And yet again it saith That he is a merciful gracious God full of Love and Pity and will shew Mercy unto the third and fourth Generation of those that fear his Name and live in Unity Therefore Musick is not at all to be contemned or slighted for the badness of some that pretend to its outward Practice for they still are Strangers to its inward Power and Efficacy For Concord and Harmony are the best Accomplishments and sublimest Gifts that can be attained in this World the pleasures of Time and Eternity enduing both Soul and Body with perpetual Health it being that happy state which Man and all other Creatures do travel with great Desires and Groanings to be delivered unto even that holy Unity whence all proceeded But Unity Concord and Intellectual Harmony have hardly any thing in the hearts of Men for if they had then there would be Peace and Love not only amongst Men but to the whole Creation for that Paradisical State in this World which many have hoped to see and do expect shall come viz. that all Mankind shall live in perfect Love Concord and Harmony can never be expected to come to pass except Men do take other Measures than hitherto they have done For before any can attain to such a blessed harmonious Condition he must first live in the Observation of God's Law in the outward Nature for the greater cannot be understood if the lesser be not put into practice Man cannot by his Prayers move the Lord in his holy Fountain of Love except he lives in the Power and Operation of the same Fountain nor can attract the sweet Influences of the Elements and Coelestial Bodies any other way but by living and observing the simple innocent Law of Nature For this cause those that live under the Dominion of the Spirit of Discord Pride Envy and Contention their Devotions cannot move the Lord in this principle of his Love and Mercy but on the contrary moves him in the stern Wrath and therefore is said to be an Abomination unto him For this Reason there ought to be more care in every one to know what Spirit reigns in the hidden Ground of the heart than about outward Forms Every one that feareth God and worketh Righteousness saith the Apostle is accepted of the Lord who makes no difference of Forms for every Form is either Good or Evil as the People are either Virtuous or the contrary Therefore it is highly necessary for every one to study the knowledg of himself that he may understand the differences of Spirits and from what Fountain or Property every Thought Word and Work does proceed and to recommend and promote such Self-study and Heart-knowledg is the scope of this whole Treatise which being once attained unto a Man may be able to correct himself and Tune his own Instrument whence will proceed Concord Love and Harmony without which there is no Satisfaction either in this World or that which is to come For to fear God and keep his Commandments is the true Musick which all Mankind ought to be skill'd in and practise This is both the Glory and the Happiness the Ioy and Solace of created Beeings the celebrated Musick of the Spheres the Eocho of Heaven the Business of Seraphims and the Imployment of Eternity Amon. FINIS A DIALOGUE Between an East-Indian Brackmanny OR Heathen-PHILOSOPHER AND A French-Gentleman Concerning the Present Affairs in EUROPE LONDON Printed for D. Newman and R. Baldwin at the King 's Arms in the Poultrey and near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane 1691. A Dialogue between an East-Indian Brackmanny or Heathen Philosopher and a French Gentleman c. Heathen SIR I will not be so inquisitive as to ask what Accident or Occasion brought you into these Oriental Regions Be it either Curiosity or Business a natural desire of improving your Understanding or intension of Commerce I speak you heartily welcome and shall to my power be ready to serve you esteeming it both my Duty and my Happiness to
the latter are in the external parts of the Body as the Flesh or at deepest in the Blood as all Itchy and Leprous Distempers are such as catch them have them in the same parts But on the contrary when the Diseases are inward and hid in the Body it frequently happens that such as are infected therewith find not the ill effects in the very same parts but elsewhere yet arising from the same cause Nor do Diseases thus transferred use to make People sick in the beginning but steal on by degrees so that there are very rarely any Remedies applyed till it be too late And as strong Constitutions many times keep off the Assaults of contagious Diseases so neither are all weak-spirited People liable to receive Injuries and Diseases this way for there are many who have naturally weak impotent Spirits and consequently feeble Bodies who yet are as free from catching Diseases as any others because they are clean and sound so that the Rays and pernicious Vapours and bad Airs have no power to seize on them wanting a Friend or Confederate Traytor within to let them in nor can they incorporate themselves by reason of the antipathy of Nature For as every thing or Spirit is received by its Simile so on the contrary it is withstood and resisted by its opposite for this cause one is in danger of receiving Injuries this way and another not and contagious Airs are not fatal to all but in the greatest Sicknesses or Epidemical Pestilences many all the while continue sound and well and these as well weakly People as those that are strong and healthy nay many weakly People continue sound whilst those that are much more strong and healthy are seized and die For the Air being unclean and corrupted by the humid poysonous Vapours and Species penetrates all parts of the Body and where-ever it finds matter of its own kind or capable to receive its Influences then it powerfully stirs and awakens the inward or central Poysons of Nature which before lay hid or captivated in the Embraces of the sweet Oyl and thence presently follow violent burning Fevers which in few days cut off the thred of Life For every Life in its Root stands in the highest Persons so that there is matter in every man if it be kindled able to destroy the Life in a moment And therefore we often see by experience a man sound and well one day and the next near the Grave or the whole Mass of Blood corrupted as in the Small-Pox or the like For when the inward central Poysons are awakned they are so strong that they can and do often convert the whole Body and Flux of Humors into their own Property viz. into a Poysonous and Leprous Matter 'T is vulgarly believed that Distempers do oft-times seize the Body thro' Fear which is true in a Sense but first it is to be noted That the Spirit was wounded by some Gleam or Ray and the poysons awakned before-hand for all fear and dread doth arise from the Spirits which are often wounded before a man can be sensible hence arises that which we call a Pannick Fear that is a Dread Consternation or Astonishment which we can give no Reason for also the Spirits are often hurt by a Voice or hearing a Word spoken from the Mouth of another The very Air conveys the Speeches of diseased People more especially if there be fit and prepared matter for Diseases for then 't is done in a moments time insensibly for as soon as those dreadful Vapours incorporate with and awaken the Poysons in the Body presently the Phantasie and imaginative Faculty of Nature is filled with fear and dread more or less according to the degrees of those Poysons and strength or weakness of the Natural Spirits and Radical Moisture It is further to be considered that sometimes the state of the Body is such and the Spirit so weak that every small Intemperance Uncleanness ill Air c. will easily seize the Spirits and wound the Health the true Causes of which are known but to few as when Coelestial and Terrestrial Influences do concur then every little Accident indangers Nature For there are many secret Reasons why Diseases are more apt to seize the Body and Spirits at one time than at another and on the contrary a man may commit extream Outrages and Intemperance at some times of his Life and yet continue his Health tho' every Intemperance sows some Seeds of Diseases if Abstinence and Cleanness duly observed afterwards do not root them out for these if followed will cleanse and purifie Nature and digest all such Superfluities as disorders have contracted For these Reasons a man ought never to be over-confident or think himself secure from Sickness which often surprizes us when least we expect it which happens for want of the presence of and being governed by the good Genius for though Distempers for the most part proceed from irregular Lives and other Accidents of the like Nature yet it must be acknowledged that many cruel Diseases are occasioned by Rays Gleams Surprizes Fears Ioy Sorrow c. which seize the pure Spirits and cause a suffocation of them so that in a Moments time the Radical Moisture and Balsamick Vertues turn eager a loathing and weariness ensues and Nature having lost her way the Stomach grows sick and indisposed and its Action ceaseth because the same chiefly depends on the strength and goodness of the Volatile Spirits and Radical Moisture then also the Pallat forfeits its property of distinguishing whence most sick People complain they cannot taste the natural Sweetness of Meats and Drinks If this were not so People would not be able to live ten twenty or thirty days in Fevers and other Sicknesses with such small quantities of Sustenance But what they take in such Sicknesses affords but little Nourishment and that which it does is very impure for Nature is then in strife and contends with her Enemy using her utmost effects to vanquish him At this time a skillful Physitian is very useful and of as great an advantage to Nature as Auxiliary Recruits coming in to the Relief of an Army engaged in a doubtful Battle It is most manifest that what Food is agreeable to one is not to another and so of all other things and therefore 't is sottish Ignorance to argue that because one man does not receive harm by lying in or with such a Bed or Person therefore another shall not For this is no Rule as we have sufficiently demonstrated and shewed the Reasons thereof Nor must you forget that all soft warm Feather-Beds do not only help to transfer Diseases from one to another but also they are Unwholsom and Unhealthy in themselves as is before-mentioned And indeed next to Temperance in Food nothing is more Healthy than sweet hard Beds and to lie single or not more than Two at most in a Bed especially young People for lying alone cools the Body and keeps it in an equal
Medicines have such Power either to prevent or remedy these Disorders in the Body as Temperance Cleanness and good Order for they have an inward Power and certain Efficacy for that purpose and if Temperance be continued it will augment the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits and by degrees strengthens the natural Heat of the Stomach which only hath the Power to draw all such windy gross sharp matter from all parts of the body and so cast it out if thro' length of time it be not become too central for the natural Heat hath a magnetick Vertue that forcibly attracts all such matter as burdens Natures even from the most inward Cavities and furthest Ciroumference unto it self and there digests and throws it off both upwards downwards if a proper degree of Temperance be observed both in quantity quality fresh supplies of Food Drink come not too often For so powerful is this attractive Faculty of the Stomach that it will draw the very Flesh off the Bones as is most manifest both by men beasts if the Stomach be not supplied with convenient quantities of Meats and Drinks for this Heat which serves for concoction separation is never idle but always continues its motion action so long as the Spirits are lively that there doth remain any Oyl in the Lamp For this cause moderate Fasting hath been commended by all wise men a clean well prepared Diet hath great Power not only to prevent Diseases both of the Body Mind but also to root them out especially when the cause of such Diseases as generally it happens have arisen from over-charging of Nature with too great quantities of Flesh Fish the more because People make no distinction between Clean Unclean nor of the Seasons of the Year of the Surfeits or Diseases the Cattle are subject unto whose Flesh they eat nor regard the improper Mixtures of such Food c. 2. The second cause of Windy Diseases I assign to be the frequent eating and drinking of Hot Foods I do not mean such as are hot in their own nature operation but such as having been prepared by Fire are eaten before those fiery sulpherous Steems are evaporated for they are of a very pernicions venomous quality and altogether of a contrary Nature to the genuine Heat of Nature particularly of the Stomach also for this fiery heat will no longer incorporate it self with such Foods Broths c. than it is forced by the constant heat of the fire for as soon as they are taken from thence this sulpherous Steem or humid Vapour will hastily separate of its own accord which does manifest that this Heat is an Alien that Nature casts it out as an Enemy for indeed it contains three venomous qualities that are absolutely pernicious to Health viz. 1st The first is an harsh Fire of a Saturnine Martial Nature of a keen sharp fretting operation which dulls the pure Spirits infects the Blood with a Maingy itching Humour 2dly It contains a gross deadly poysonous Water or humid quality that does incorporate it self with the grossest parts of the Air fly away in a steem or vapour if Food be eaten before those fiery evil vapours be separated evaporated it swells the body hurts the natural Heat of the Stomach insensibly but certainly generates both Windy Watery Diseases filling the inward Vessels of the Body with evil venomous Juices sending Fumes into the Head disordering the whole body this more especially in Women Children who as we have shewed you before are by Nature much more liable to Windy Diseases than men 3dly If this furious Steem be by any Vessel that covers the Meat after 't is taken out of the Pot or off from the Spit so that it cannot fly away but is stopt turned back or confined to stay with such Food after 't is prepared then will it re enter into it and make it flat and heavy alter the Taste of it so that it will be strong gross on the Pallat heavy on the Stomach It is also to be noted that the common eating of Hot Foods does possess the Blood with a salt sharp fretting Humour like a Mainge if Children were not accustomed to such things from their Mothers Breast it would more sensibly break out upon them in that kind For this very Reason in Dogs and many other Creatures if such hot Broths or Food be given them it will cause the Mainge in their Blood the very same it occcasions in the human Nature but not externally so manifest because rendered more familiar by use 3. The Third Cause not only of Windy Diseases but of many others is Peoples eating and drinking too often Nothing more burdens Nature or generates more crude sharp Humors for when fresh Food is thrust into the Stomach before the former is digested it mixeth with the half-concocted Food which does surprize Nature and disturb her Work and fouls the Stomach causeth sower Belchings makes the Vessels to swell and in some Constitutions is attended with griping Pains and Indispositions through the whole Body c. for the natural heat is so oppressed with these continual supplies of Food before it calls or is ready for them that it cannot make any perfect Separation which is a main cause of Windy Diseases filling the Vessels with unconcocted Juices which powerfully obstruct the due Functions of Nature and hinders the Circulation of the Blood and Spirits which is the reason that when such People do travel or labour and oft-times only upon the Change of Weather they are indisposed and presently tired and out of Breath and troubled with an inward heat and drought continually calling for Supplies of Drink which does but promote Disorder and swell the Body and make the Exercise more burthensom For indeed drinking between Meals is very injurious to all sorts of People except to those that labour hard and sweat much for such may drink but very moderately or else they may quickly out-do Nature but for others that live easie Lives and do not sweat to be sipping or rather pouring down strong Drink and Wine between Meals does prove of very evil Consequence for it destroys the edge of the Appetite and makes the Stomach disordered always seeming as if it wanted something and in some Constitutions an hot heavy dulness for all strong Drinks received in a greater quantity than the Stomach can conveniently master leave a sowr heavy stinking Matter behind them in the Body which furrs the Passages with a slimy Substance and which causeth loss of Appetite shortness of Breath Rheums with sharp tickling Matter that first ascends into the Head and offends it and then falls back again into the Breast and upon the Lungs whence Coughs and Consumptions proceed Also in some People it begets a kind of unnatural hunger or craving in the Stomach or a sharp gnawing Pain which causeth many to eat
Fruits Grains or Seeds would answer the ravenous Appetite thereof and therefore it required Blood which is the highest Life in the humane Nature and cannot be procured but by Violence and has the nearest Affinity to the Wrath of any thing in the whole Creation whence it is said Blood requires Blood And this may be illustrated in every particular Man when he does suffer the fierce Wrath and Fire to burn in him he becomes like a raging Bedlam nothing can calm or satisfie him except he doth some Mischief kill and oppress for in such a Fit Blood and Revenge is sweet unto him and assoon as he has glutted himself with Blood that wrathful Property is satisfied And as it is thus in the little World the same is to be understood by way of Analogy in the great For this cause the Lord declared That whoever did kill a Man his Blood he would require at his Hands The Reason and Equity of which Law comprehends all Creatures and therefore it is said That Beast that shall shed Blood or kill any other Beast should be slain So that 't is without doubt the original cause of killing of Beasts and offering them in Sacrifice was to see whether it would have satisfied that fierce poysonous Wrath which Man had so terribly awakened by his Violence and corrupting the whole whence the Deluge proceeded But after the Flood which had so swept away all Mankind except eight Persons to prevent the like dreadful Judgment for the future Sacrifices and the Blood of Beasts was used to assuage the Wrath and to make atonement for the Sins of Men because the Blood of Beasts has both the nearest affinity to the original Properties of Man's Life and also to the awakened Wrath as well within as without him for Men cannot kindle the Wrath within themselves but they must do it without them also But â—â—ill the Scripture saith That the Blood of Bulls and the like would not satisfie the Justice and awakened Wrath of God nor make a perfect Atonement for the Sins of Mankind and therefore besides their daily Sacrifices the High Priest was once every Year to go into the second Tabernacle but not without Blood which he offered for himself and for the People Also it is said that the way into the Holiest Tabernacle of all was not made manifest whilst the first Tabernacle was yet standing whence it appears that all the Sacrifices and other Circumstances of Worship in the time of the Law did proceed from the Wrath especially Sacrifices and Killing which cannot flow from the divine Principle for that holy Principle of Love and Light was not manifest whilst the first Tabernacle did stand that is so long as the first Principle of God's fierce Wrath did predominate But all Sacrifices Violences and Killing do cease in all those whom the Lord doth appear to in the power of his Son Jesus Christ but so long as Men are captivated in the first Tabernacle of Wrath the Holiest of all is not manifest that is the holy and good Love of God in his Son is not known or manifested in them and therefore it is said Sacrifices and Offerings for sin thou didst refuse that is the divine Principle had no pleasure in Violence in the Blood of Beasts and Groanings of the Creation but then steps in the Holy Principle of Love and saith Lo I come to do thy Will O God! That is to destroy the Works of the Devil and establish everlasting Righteousness and he taketh away the first that is the kindled Wrath Violence and Oppression and establisheth the second that is his eternal Light and Love in Jesus Christ in whom alone he is well pleased which brings glad Tidings unto all Mankind and to the whole Creation especially if Men become the Sâ—â—s of God for then all the inferiour Creatures would be delivered into glorious Liberty It does appear by what the Apostle saith That all Sacrifices Killing and Blood of Beasts could not sufficiently appease God's Wrath nor reconcile Man unto God otherwise than as if one Man kill another the Blood of him that is slain doth call for Vengeance on the Slayer but all this while the Principle of God's fierce Wrath is by their violence and oppression increased and strengthened even so it was in all Sacrifices Men by their Violences had corrupted the Earth and awakened God's Wrath which called for Vengeance even as the Blood of a particular Man doth on a Beast for all kind of Violence be it either little or much doth call for vengeance and retaliation if not confessed repented of and by the power of the divine Love of God forsaken which holy Principle of God's eternal Love and Light in his Son was not manifest unto them as the Apostle saith because the first Tabernacle or Principle of God's Wrath had through their Cruelties and Evils gotten the Ascendent over them so that the divine Principle could not have its operation in them so long as they continued in their sins committing those Violences and Oppressions for the first Tabernacle or Wrath in Man must be done away before the second can take place that is before the holy Light of the Son of God can reign and rule in our hearts for nothing can allay overcome or make the stern fierce Wrath of the Father to bow or satiate its fiery hunger in Mankind but only the eternal Fountain of his meek Love in Christ from whom as the Scripture saith there does flow Rivers of living Waters which alone can allay the fiery Wrath and reconcile Men to the God of Peace and bring to nought the lofty proud violent Desires and vain Thoughts and Inclinations in Man and by its operation gives them an Eye of discerning to distinguish of God's Love and Anger in himself and makes the fierce harsh Fire of Wrath to burn more gentle so that instead of its raging Fierceness it becomes a meek and cherishing Fire which is the pleasant motion in every Life that tunes a Man up to an intellectual Harmony causing all the Properties and Qualities to kiss and incorporate with each other whence arises a most pleasant Crasis or Euphony of Temper Thoughts and Operations A Similitude whereof we have in a Musical Instrument that is skilfully tuned and plaid upon where there are various Strings and Notes whence proceed different Sounds but all conspiring to make up most ravishing and delightful Harmony the dull melancholy harsh jarring Notes of Saturn and Mars being made pleasant by the incorporating of the melodious Sounds of Venus Iupiter the Sun and Mercury Do not the Foundations of all Harmony both in Men and all other things arise from the Basis viz. from the first Principle or Tabernacle for if there were no Fire there would be no Light so if there were no Basis there could be no Trebbles or if there were yet there could be no Harmony if one were without the other What Harmony do Men make to themselves or others when
Simile Use and Custom to some degree of Wisdom Silence being in much esteem amongst us counting it a very difficult thing to hear the Voice of Wisdom if the Ears are not first made good by Silence for he that cannot distinguish Sounds cannot tune his Instrument and consequently he can make no Harmony the like is to be understood of the various Voices in Man if he do not understand by the Sound of each Voice and from what Centre it had its Birth and what Property doth predominate in each Voice then such an one cannot rightly and properly distinguish the Voice of Wisdom from others for this cause many do take the one for the other We do not admire any Study so much as the knowledge of our selves esteeming that to be only profitable both to the Body and Soul We have but few Merchants amongst us and those that are are ready to break for their Wares have but little Credit with us We do not need Wine Sugar Spices Fruits Drugs nor indeed none of the Novelties brought from the West and East-Indies accounting them not proper nor agreeable to our Natures We know that the Herbs Fruits Grains Seeds and Drugs that grow under the elevation of our own Pole are more Homogeneal We are of the Kingly Prophet David's Mind counting all those needless Dainties the price of Blood for the most part procured by great hazard trouble and labour And if David counted Water which was procured by hazard of a Man's Life the price of Blood it being a most necessary thing for the support of the Life and he at that time in great need of it how much more then must we esteem those needless things the price of Blood that are procured by the loss of Life and Health Our married Men and Women are not like the Moon the farther she is distant from the Sun the clearer and greater light she gives but when she draws nearer her light is lessened Our Women do not spend most of their time in superfluous Dressing and decking themselves like painted or gilded Looking-glasses which present a false Face We love and marry them for Vertue more than for Money Honour or Beauty because none of these things make them so Praise-worthy as Sobriety Modesty Obedience and good Works They are so friendly to us as not to charge us or put us to that unnecessary Labour and Trouble of rich Attire or other Superfluities their modest Looks and honest Behaviours do not only engage us to love them but leads all that cast their Eyes on them to Continency and Chastity We do not know the Expences of either Apothecaries Doctors or Doctresses they prevent that by good living neither do they teach or train their Children from their Breasts to Gluttony but supply them with proper Meats and Drinks both in Quantity and Quality which makes them strong lusty brisk and healthy of clean sweet Tempers not apt to cry or be disordered but play like Lambs neither are they so subject to immature Deaths of good Genius's apt to all sorts of Learning not subject to the Ioint-Aches King's-Evil Leprous Diseases which do proceed from our well-Tillage and Manuring of our Ground in the beginning also we take care to keep it clean from Weeds and to sow good Seed in the proper times and seasons We do make it our business to understand the Nature and Quality of each Soil for some Men's Transgression the Earth is naturally subject to bring forth evil Fruit or Vegetation not so profitable for use and if there be not special care taken and industry used the good Fruit will be over-run and much weakned by the Thorns and Briars and hinder the good Seed from taking Root and so become corrupted in the Bud We do also esteem that Country most miserable that doth neglect the proper Tillage and Education of Children it being the grand Fountain of all Superfluity Gluttony Seditions and Murthers and a contempt of God's Law written in the Heart Scriptures and Book of Nature for this cause the Learned Moses commanded That the drunken gluttonous disobedient sons should be stoned to Death Therefore we have Laws and Customs that do compel all Fathers to instruct their Children in all Modesty Honesty Cleanness Sobriety and Silence before their Elders and we trust not the education of them to others for if we will not take pains with them our selves how can we believe that others will We account it more profitable for them to be educated and instructed in the Precepts of Wisdom and Knowledge of Nature than for us to spend our Time wear our Health out and perplex our Minds to get Riches and Money which for the most part are the very Seeds of Oppressions and Intemperances We do not admit the importing of Wine or any strong Drinks to be made that is capable to make Men drunk not that we do esteem those brave noble Creatures unlawful but because the young Men and simple low-spirited People have not government to use it as it ought or to the best advantage of Nature but altogether the contrary Therefore the Wise amongst us do refrain it and prohibit themselves for their sakes We had rather the excellent Fruit of the Vine should be lost than our People destroyed in the use of it therefore if any amongst us do make or invent any sort of Drink that will make Men drunk they are punished with perpetual Servitude and the Drinkers thereof with little less Drunkenness being the leading-Card to all Evils We have not forgot the many Burdens Miseries cruel Slaveries and Oppressions we endured whilst we remained in intemperate Egypt though the Foolish Ones have And if we should give liberty again to Drunkenness Gluttony and the like Vanities we may justly expect the same measure and to have no more Mercy than Pharaoh and his Troops had for wheresoever Superfluity and Gluttony is there you may be sure Oppression doth reign which doth powerfully stir up the Wrath therefore the first step towards the Land of Peace is for Men to abstain from all Uncleanness and Violence which the Prophets and Holy Men of God proclaim'd in all Ages We know that to be lawful that is needful and sutable to Nature's wants being sensible that every Extreme begets its Simile both in the Body and also in the Mind whether it be Meats Drinks Words Exercises or Communications We cannot do Violence or oppress any thing but first we must be strong in the fierce Wrath whence the Violence doth proceed neither can we do any thing whether in the Evil or Good but first we must be strong in that Principle whence the Good or Evil doth proceed therefore it may be truly said Wrath and Fierceness hurts all things and all things hurt that but on the contrary Innocency hurts nothing and nothing hurts that it being an irrepugnable Tower against all Evil and Violence Living well is the best defence against Men's inward and outward Enemies It is also a custom
the Root of its Life Now this bitter Quality in Hops is of a harsh astringent Nature and very hot as the original Spirit in all things is For this cause all Beer that is boyled much and hath store of Hops in 't will keep a long time but then it heats the body and causes the Stone if it find matter to work upon and several other Infirmities so that 't is no ways to be accounted so good as Ale For Ale is a very excellent sort of Drink if well ordered and as the predominant Quality in Beer is Martial and Saturnine Hot and Fierce so on the contrary that in Ale is Solar and Venerial viz. Sweet and Balsamick indued with a mild soft friendly Nature and gentle operation it sweetens the blood opens the body and purges by Urine Hops are very wholsome to be put into Ale in a small Quantity but they ought not to be boyled but thus you may do it fill your Copper or Vessel you use for that purpose with your Wort make it boyling hot then take what Quantity of Hops you please and infuse them about half an hour and then strain them out not letting it boyl at all and then for certain you have all the Vertues of the Hops that are proper for the body for the Wort will extract and receive the pure spirituous Parts and balsamick Vertues of the Hops in as little or less time than the hot Liquor did the sweet Quality of the Malt in the Mash-Tub There is the very same cause and reason for the one as for the other Likewise the Ale ought to be throughly wrought or fermented that thereby it may be cleansed from its Yeasty substance which most Ale in London is clogged with which makes it grow sour in a few days and besides before 't is sour it fouls the body and sends dull dark Fumes into the Head palls and flattens the edge of Appetite and disorders the Stomach But none of these Inconveniences happen when Ale is well brewed and has wrought as it should do wherein special care is to be taken that it be not set to working whilst the Wort is too hot for that causes too violent a motion which weakens the original Heat suffocates and wounds the pure Spirit which some call fretting and this does in some degree destroy the balsamick or sweet Body and whenever it happens or that your Drink works too much or too furiously be it Ale or Beer it will not keep but turn sour or eager sooner than the other that is put to work in such a degree of heat as it will but just move or ferment gently and mildly for if your Wort be put a working before the fiery heat or sulphurous Vapours be extinguish'd which are of a contrary Nature to the genuine natural Heat of the Wort as containing the fierce Spirits of the Fire then presently the balsamick body is wounded and turns sour sooner or later according to the degree of the motion for this fierce motion or working wastes the pure spirituous Balsam and awakens the original Qualities of Saturn and Mars viz. an astringent Eagerness or sour hard Quality that would not have been manifested if this irregular Motion had not excited it On the other side the Wort ought not to be cold for then the spirituous Quality becomes as it were flat for the Heat that proceeds from Fire and remains in such Liquor is a great Quickener and Awakner of all the Properties and of good use in this respect provided it be not too fierce And further note That all stale hard Beer whether strong or small is more or less injurious to most mens Health especially those whose Natures are subject to breed the Stone and Gravel Of Small-Beer There are generally great Errors committed in brewing Small-Beer viz. most House-Wives and some Brewers let their first Liquor stand too long in the Mash-Tub with the Malt that is to say an hour and a half or two hours which stirs up and awakens a fulsom sour and keen Quality which would be prevented if it stood but one hour And this is not only injurious to the Ale or best drink but hurts and spoils the Small-Beer that comes afterwards for if once the original gross keen Qualities be awakened there is no Charm to lay them again no Remedy or Art can help but all such Small Beer will prove not only ungrateful to the Palate and Stomach but breeds bad Blood causing sharp salt Humors which help to increase that general Disease called The Scurvy And except Beer and Ale be every way well prepared Water is a far better Drink and more wholsom for all Small Beer made after the vertue of the Malt is washed out is of a weak fainty sour Quality and very injurious for the first and second Liquors having drained and carried away all the sweet friendly vertues what remains is a meer loathing to Nature only many are used to such Drinks so that they cannot well distinguish the evil Natures and Tastes thereof To mend the defect of this gross fulsom small Wort many will boyl it a long time with those Dregs of Hops that have been once or twice boyled before in the Ale or strong Beer whereby there is not the least wholsom vertue left in them but only the strong gross astringent bitter Quality so that in such Small Beer as if People studied to do their Bodies a mischief there is a concurrence of evil Juices which if you set Custom aside are an Abomination to Nature It is therefore to be noted That those that will boyl Hops in Beer or Ale ought not to boyl them more than once that is in one Furnace of Liquor or Wort but infusing of Hops in boyling-hot Wort but not actually boyling half an hour or an hour at most is far the better way except you brew Beer for a long Voyage at Sea But as for those that have no such necessity but may brew when they please there is no reason if Health and the true natural vertues of Drinks be consulted that Been should be kept purposely till 't is stale and then drunk for since the Custom of brewing Beer in England which is not much more than two hundred years and keeping it till it be stale Experience shews us that many Diseases have thereby been occasioned which hardly had any being before For no Drinks or Liquors that are prepared by fire can be made to keep a long time without hurt to the balsamick and sweet Body Therefore all stale hard Beer be it strong or small is neither so good to preserve Nature nor yet so pleasant except custom to a depraved Pallat render it so as mild Beer especially as mild Ale well brewed and wrought that it become and is free from that yeasty Quality so loathsom that even Nature spues it out which the Ale in London and many other places in England is subject to I say when mild Ale is thus well qualified there is
time Our Friends Abstinence Temperance and Cleanness do continually shew us the vanity of such things and spur us on and hasten us towards the Land of Peace We do not look back for fear we should awaken the Centre the original Poisons and then our sweet Water would be in danger of being dried up as it came to pass in Lucifer and his Legions there being but nine Figures or degrees of Wisdom attainable by mortal Men the tenth Number viz. o is the highest and those that have gradually passed through the Nines must stand still in silence and leave off all numbering and suffer God's Holy Spirit to work the Will and the Deed in him as he pleaseth We have no Butchers Fowlers nor any that belong to the Trade of Killing Violence or Oppression amongst us most of them revolted and join'd themselves to Pharaoh before they came out of Egypt and were destroyed with his Troops in the Sea of Blood or Wrath and those of them that passed through the Red Sea were cut off in the Wilderness for finding their Trade very bad and low and the nearer they came to the Land of Peace the worse it grew so they began to tumult and complain and murmur against the Lord that he dealt so hardly with them Which awaken'd the Centre of Wrath and destroyed them so that none of this sort of People enter'd the holy Land that flows with Milk and Honey and not with the Blood of the humane nor bestial Nature Neither have we any Billings-gates all that sort of People are our Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water And but very few Inns of Court-Gentlemen or Templers all of them that escaped the Egyptian Plagues were destroyed with Corah Dathan and Abiram in the wild Nature of this World or Wilderness Neither have we many Churches and yet have a great number of Temples in which we worship the Lord but there be no Bells in them that are compounded of imperfect Metals therefore we have no need of those robustick Musicians viz. Ringers to call the People to worship such Musick is too Saturnine and Martial for us No every one of us hath his own Bell and none can ring or make Musick of it but himself which being skilfully handled makes a more sweet soft and pleasing Harmony than the Egyptian Bells who are loud harsh and penetrating and all the Ringers are rude cruel and inhumane Our young People do not learn to ring any Bells but their own which when well learned calls them to the Worship of God in the proper Times and Seasons even as the good Spirit of God shall teach them as the Scripture saith The holy Men of God taught and spoke as the Holy Spirit moved in them We do not admit any to be Magistrates or Governours over us but only those that by Industry Prayer and Meditation have attained to a more excellent Understanding of God Nature and Themselves than their Neighbours which doth render them fit to govern We account none capable to govern others that have not first learned in all particulars to govern themselves It is contrary to our Philosophy to mix or compound our Food with things of disagreeing natures We use no double Preparations the more simple our Food is the more agreeable it is to our Nature and best sustains our Healths It is not a Custom for our Women to give or suffer their Children to drink any kind of Beer or Syder whilst their Food is chiefly Milk there being nothing more contrary to Milk than such sharp Liquors Milk being of a sweet gentle mild friendly Nature and Operation having no manifest Quality that doth too violently predominate there being a certain Harmony between the Properties of Nature in Milk and therefore it hath always been found by Experience to be the best Food for Children and all young People administring proper Nourishment in Equality to all Parts But on the contrary all sorts of Beer Syder and other fermented Drinks are of a sowr keen or sharp Quality and for this cause being mixed with Milk it turns or separates the wheyish part from the thick the same is to be understood if Children or others drink after eating of Milk if they do not forbear a convenient time till the Stomach hath made separation and alter'd the Property of it Besides the constant drinking of such Liquors do sowre the Stomach and generate a keen or sharp Quality which is apt to turn the Milk into an hard tough substance and thereby puts Nature to great difficulty to concoct or make Separation Doth not our daily Experience shew us that all Curd of Milk is hard of Concoction and burthensome to the Stomach For this Cause many having used themselves to drink plentifully of strong Drinks and to the eating of compounded Food which have so sowr'd the Stomach and alter'd it from its simplicity that the eating of this friendly harmless Food becomes offensive to them and disagreeing especially to some particular People whose Stomachs are as it were naturally inclined to generate a sowre Matter For this cause if any shall drink immediately after eating of Milk it will cause them to puke up the thin wheyish parts whilst the hard substance remains in the Stomach which doth foul and hinder Concoction For these Reasons it is much better for all Children and young People whose Food is chiefly Milk to drink Water it being the most like Milk of any Drink of a mild gentle friendly Nature and Operation which is farther manifested by its being mixed with Milk they mix or incorporate themselves as one entire Body making no variation or separation as other Liquors will and therefore it hath been found by Experience in all Ages to be the best and most natural Drink for all People but more especially for Women and Children who are endued with tender Spirits and gentle Heats and if their Meats and Drinks have not a near Affinity both in quality and quantity to their Natures it will quickly put them out of Tune and cause them to fall into Diseases and then Nature will become unequal in her Operations Every like doth with highest diligence endeavour to beget its Simile both in the Body and Mind Water being in its own nature so clean simple and innocent that it doth not only wash and cleanse the Mouth throughly and all the Vessels of the Stomach from such gross thick Matter that doth stick and furr them but it doth distil its moist Nourishment into all parts of the Body without making any noise or causing an unequal Motion cooling and refreshing Nature strengthens Concoction thins the Blood causing it to circulate freely makes the natural parts brisk and lively For this cause those Women and Children that do constantly drink Water are not subject to so many Diseases as others whose practice is to drink strong Liquors We have but one sort of Bread which is neither coarse nor fine We never change the Fashions of our Garments nor deck them
the sweet Oyl and Balsamick Virtues or Humour Radicalis turns sour and loseth its friendly Nature and Operation and the harsh astringent fierce original Poysons do rouse themselves raging and domineering and put Nature into an agonious Condition which can no way be allayed or moderated but either by the Secret and Divine hand of God which strengthens and raiseth up the half Dead or fading Oyl and wounded Spirit or by a Balsamick Medicine which may by simile incorporate it self with the wounded Spirits and Radical Moistures and so reinforce and restore them to their former strength and power and then immediately the raging Fury of the bitter astringent and sour Properties becomes moderated not annihilated and then the strife and contention of Nature ceaseth and the Cure is effected Therefore every Physician should understand how to prepare such a Medicine as can by its innate power and virtue thus incorporate it self and operate in raising up the languishing powers of Nature or else he is not fit to be called a Doctor The Old Physick-Mongers tell us that Mallows and Marsh-Mallows which differ but very little in their Qualities being variously applyed will cure near Fifty Diseases or Defects of Nature which are generated and do proceed from as various Causes and as Different Matters Seeds and Radixes but how unlikely improbable nay impossible it is that one Herb should effect so many Disagreeing Cures let Reason and Experience judge Infinite almost is the variety of Constitutions whence the same Intemperances that will load one man with fat and phlegmy gross moist Humours occasioning various Dropsical Diseases will in another produce Leanness and Consumption Much drinking of Wine and Srong Liquors puffs up some Bodies and wears away others And the same is to be understood of all things in the Vegitable Animal and Mineral Kingdoms therefore there is an absolute necessity to study to know the Properties and Qualities of a man 's own individual and specifick Nature and Complexion and not rely upon and trust to the adulterated Medicines ahd phantastick Directions of ignorant Physicians there being nothing that brings so many both Natural and Divine Benefits unto a man as the true knowledge of himself and is yet the least minded of any thing in this World What pains and slavery do Youth undergo to learn a few strange Words be able to tell the Name of a thing in Latine and Greek or three or four Languages and when all 's done they know not one Tittle more of the Essence Nature or Use of the Thing than if they had called it in plain English as their Granum does What Drudgery do they submit unto to learn some ordinary Mechanick Trade which yet in general are more laudable by half because more useful than many of those Crafts which idle men call Sciences others run all sorts of hazards the Scorchings of the Tropicks or the Ice of the Northern Pole cannot affright them they 'l venture into New Worlds and become acquainted with Stars that never peep'd into our Hemisphere only to get a little useless uncertain perishing and many times harmful and destructive Riches They 'l be acquainted at Iava and Iapan the Streights of Gibaltore and the Bay of Mexico but all the while are meer Strangers at home to understand their own Constitution to know what is good and profitable for the Conservation of their Being how to preserve their Body in Health and their Mind in Serenity to make their Lives truely comfortable and their Deaths happy These are things that scarce any man studies for or labours after Greedy we are to amass White and Yellow Dirt and fill our Houses with that Lumber which sillily we call Goods but utterly neglect the true Knowledge of God and Nature in a Man's self which does furnish one with all kind of profitable and permanent Riches Pleasures and Delights both of Time and Eternity and which yet are so easie to be acquired as we need not serve an hard Apprenticeship or hazard our Health or Life by Sea or Land to obtain it But the Minds of people are set wholly upon outward Trumpety admire nothing but Shews and Titles and Vanity Money and Babylonish Learning are their Idols If a Fantastical Blade in a Velvet Iacket tells the people that one Herb will cure a hundred various Diseases in as many particular people of contrary Complexions and Natures though he himself with that Herb or any other cannot cure one of them or if he bids them jumble an hundred things together most of them being of contrary Qualities and tells them 't is an excellent Medicine though he knows not the true Nature of the several Parcels much less the Qualities of the Whole yet all is swallowed as an Oracle his Authority is not to be disputed he was a great Man could speak several Languages and was such a King's Doctor and has writ abundance of Books and keeps his Coach and has got a bushel of Money by his Practice Will you question such a man's Iudgment Whereas if we may speak a bold Truth 't is certain there have been in all Ages a sort of a Letter-Learned Curers of both the Souls and Bodies of men which have proved the Pests the Vermine and Evil Savage wrathful Beasts of the Earth that have destroy'd all the good Fruits of God in this World and as soon as such good Fruits begins to bud in mankind are ready with the Beetle of Aristotle or Aquinas an Old Aphorism or a New Canon to beat it down under their feet and extinguish it These are the AEgyptian Necromancers that bewitch poor people to admire and run after them and like our common Vagabond Gypsies the intent and design of all their Canting and their Skill is to have their hands crossed with a piece of Silver or Gold and to juggle your Money out of your Pockets For to gain the greater Veneration and Esteem they have invented abundance of hard Words or speak in unknown Tongues making the people believe thereby that they know the more of God and Nature Whereas they are only Changers of Words and know nothing of the Inward Virtue and Life of things whether Divine or Natural If a man could name any particular Herb or Disease in an hundred several Languages what would this better him as to the Inward Virtue of that Herb or the Nature and Cure of that Disease All Languages are but one in the Root und therefore to speak with several Tongues has never been known to make a man wise where a good natural Genius is wanting But unto the Study and Knowledge of God and his Divine Principles of Love and Light I recommend all the Lovers of Wisdom which is sufficient to teach them all things Divine and Natural and to heal all their Diseases for so saith the Kingly Prophet David Psal. 107. 20. The Lord sent his word and healed them and delivered them from destruction And again Psal. 30. 17. I cryed unto the Lord
And the reason is because they forsake Nature and let loose their Desires which having once cast off the Bridle of Moderation run on without stop or bounds French-man But I perceive you are for Liberty of Conscience and that every one may follow his own Opinion and Phantasie and of so we should have a mad World such a License is destructive to Government and the very Nurse of Rebellion Heathen I do not well understand what you mean by Opinion and Phantasie People will think as they list do you what you can But this I know that he that fears God and hurts not his Neighbour oppresseth not the Creation and obeys the Civil Laws of that Country he lives in and freely pays all Duties and Tributes to the Prince that protect him is a good and faithful Subject to God and his King Nor have we any temptation to Rebellion for to us all Governments are alike as long as they protect us from Violence I have read something of your Europian Affairs and if I mistake not in France Spain c. where the Laws are to force People to be all of a mind there have been abundance more Rebellions Insurrections Plots and Conspiracies against the Government than in Countries where Liberty of Conscience is publickly allowed whence I rather infer that not the indulging but restraining Liberty of Conscience is the grand Cause of those Disorders amongst you 'T is certain every man ought to have Liberty in Well-doing and to be punished only for the contrary And we Bannians scarce know any thing that is a greater Evil than for men to contend hate envy oppress fight and destroy one another because they are not in all particulars like themselves For men naturally are as various in their Intellects as in their Shapes Forms and Complexions for the Shape and Form of every Body is according to the Nature Equality or Inequality of the Spirit The Lord hath made all things to differ there is not any two things in the four Worlds alike in all particulars therefore whosoever is offended with another because he is not persuaded or does not understand just as he does is in truth offended with his Maker who is the Author of that Variety If two things were exactly in all respects alike they must become the fame the nearest similitude of things is made by casting them in a Mould and yet even then they differ French-man You say right and therefore to make all mens Understandings of a size our Churchmen prepare Moulds for them viz. Creeds Liturgies Systems of Divinity and the like wherein they cast and fashion all mens Understandings so that none but must own these though he do not understand a word of them nor must dispute them though his Heart and his Brain tell him they are false and impious Heathen This is much such an Uniformity as I have heard in some of your Books was practised by the Tyrant Procrustes who dwelling near a common Road seized all Travellers and carried them to his Bed which was framed exactly for his own Stature and if their Bodies were longer chopt off their Feet or Heads to make them fit and if too short strained their Bones and Sinews out with Engines to a due proportion Was not this Gentleman a great lover of Decency Order and Uniformity If there were not Variety there would be no Motion for it is the various working Power and as it were Strife between the Properties that causeth all Vegetation and Manifestation if there were but one thing there would be nothing or a standing still which the Iews great Prophet seems mystically to shew when he saith God made all things out of Nothing For there was no Manifestation or Appearances before God moved himself on the Face of the Waters which moving seems to signifie the Strife of the various Forms Qualities and Properties of the hidden Nature without which nothing could be generated But here I must be silent for we are counted Heathens already and I do not know what worse Censures may pass upon us if we too far explain those Notions which though founded in Nature are yet so disagreeable to the Conceits and Practice of the Multitude But this we are sure of that men ought not to hate or suppress any thing but Evil for Man's most deadly Enemies are within himself whence one of the wisest of the Iews Kings affirmed That he that overcame his own Lusts and Passions was a greater Conquerour than he that subdued a City French-man For my own part I shall for the future be more careful how I credit Reports we in our Country are told by our Learned that you are meer Heathens Infidels Idolaters and Worshippers of the Sun Moon and all the Host of Heaven Heathen I nothing wonder that you Europeans should be mistaken about us who live so remote since you seem so little to understand the Opinions of each other amongst your selves every one misrepresenting the Sentements and Doctrines of all that differ from him 'T is true we do highly esteem and admire all the Heavenly Host and those Refulgent Quires of the Coelestials especially that glorious Eye of the World the Sun as being the Handy-works and Wonderful Powers of the incomprehensible Creator and think it part of our Duty to express our Gratitude and Veneration to the one onely Fountain whence all those amazing wonders proceed for he that contemns the Streams cannot truly honour the Fountain Do not your own Prophets teach you to Honour Rulers and Governours because they derive their Government from God And if you do not only worship and bow the Knee one to another who are at best but brittle animated Dirt but also reverence the work of your own Hands as a Man cloathed in goodly Raiment and the like how much more ought we to have in high Veneration those wonderful Fountains of Light Heat Motion and Vitality which are the manifested Powers of God and his upper Vice-gerents and Lieutenants over the Lower world Did not you tell me but now that you esteemed your Hugonots worthy of Death or Persecution because they would not pay Esteem and Adoration to a few painted Cloats the Pictures of their fellow Creatures which you call Saints not knowing whether they be truly so or not and yet will you condemn our Brachmans for directing their Esteem to these glorious Master-pieces of the Creation If you count such lifeless pitiful things as Wood and Stone or things painted and fashioned by Man fit to be Representations of your Gods and means whereby to enliven your Phantasies and Minds to an higher degree of Devotion which was the sole intent of the first Inventors of those things what regard then ought we not to have of those living Powers of God the Coelestial Bodies by whose sweet and friendly Influences all created Beeings are preserved and nourished What is more exciting to a well disposed Mind than to behold that glorious Body the Sun with the innumerable Train