the Egyptians might be joyned and cleave to the Israelites to the end that they thereby might be able to draw the Egyptians unto them as by a magnetical power And was not this amongst other things a mean in order hereto that the Children of Israel were commanded to borrow of the Egyptians Jewels of Gold and of Silver and Raiment to the end that for the recovering of these they might be put upon pursuing after the Israelites their hearts and minds sticking fast and cleaving to the beloved Goods and Jewels the Israelites had taken from them Yea may not yet possible a greater mystery lie hid under the veil of this outward Narrative For seeing that here was designed a total and perfect ingrafting of the whole man with his three chief parts viz. Body Soul and Spirit may not we suppose that according to a mystical understanding by Gold the Spirit by Silver the Soul and by Raiment the Body of the Egyptians is signified to us viz. that all these three were to be ingrafted into the Israelites Is not this likewise hinted to us Exod. 3. 22. where God commanded the Israelitish women to borrow these things from the Egyptians without making any mention of men at all And may not we suppose this to have been the reason for that this transplantation in order to a new Birth and Life could not be accomplished but by women And is not this transplantation further intimated to us in that God expresly commanded the Israelites that they should take the Jewels and Raiment by which in a mystery was signified the Spirit Soul and Body of the Egyptians as might be easily made out which they had borrowed of the Egyptians and put them upon their Sons and Daughters because the Egyptians were 〈◊〉 enter into them and by their means be ingrafâ—ed into the Lineage of the Children of Israel And is it not clear from hence that the Sons â—nd Daughters which were afterwards be got and â—orn of the Children of Israel were even those very Egyptians which perished and were drowned 〈◊〉 the Red-Sea And that consequently the Children of Israel by bestowing them upon their Children did restore to the Egyptians what formerly 〈◊〉 had onely borrowed of them And was not Pharaoh himself the King of Egypt â—he chief means of accomplishing this great work 〈◊〉 his being hardened for which end God had raised him as himself saith to Moses Exod. 4. 21. Chap. 7. 3. Chap. 9. 16. To which also the Apostle hath an eye Rom. 9. 17. What think we also was the reason why God in order to the delivering of the Children of Israel slew all the First-Born of the Egyptians both of Men and Beasts and thereupon commanded the Children of Israel to sanctifie to him all the First-Born of Man and Beast with this express injunction that when their Children should ask of them why they did so they should give them this answer That therefore they Sanctified to the Lord every First-born both of Man and Beast because the Lord for to deliver them had slain all the First-born of the Egyptians Exod. 13. 14 15 16. What else can be the kernel of Wisdom and Mystery that lies concealed under the shell of the History but this that God would thereby signifie seeing that what he kills he makes alive again according to the Testimony of Holy Writ Deut. 32. 39. Wisd. 16. 13. Tob. 13. 2. that the First-born that were killed in Egypt were in the first place made alive again in the First-born of the Children of Israel Doth it not likewise seem probable that the transplantation of those First-born of the Egyptians was chiefly into the Tribe of Levi because God Sanctified them to himself instead of all the First-born of Israel and set them apart for the Priesthood and Temple service What may we likewise think to be the reason comporting with that Divine Wisdom which every where shines forth in Holy Writ why the Women even all the Israelitish women and particularly Miriam the Prophetess as the chief and leader of the Chorus went out with Timbrels and made the Air resound with their Voices and Instruments when they saw the dead Bodies of the drowned Egyptians lying upon the Shore of the Red-Sea and without doubt by this Spectacle were put in mind of the Gold and Silver Jewels and Raiment of theirs which they were now possessed of as likewise that according to the Divine Disposal they were the causes of their Death And may it not here be worth our enquiry whether these very thoughts of theirs might not be a mean by which the drowned Egyptians entred into the Women of Israel and so in process of time were born of them in order to their Renovation 15 Q. Forasmuch as we read Deut. 7. 22. that God commanded the Israelites not by destroy the Heathen People all at once but by degrees and time after time that the Beasts of the Field might not increase upon them c. Doth not this seem to bear this understanding viz. that because the Children of Israel did onely seed on the tame and clean Beasts whereas the Heathen did promiscuously make use of the wild Beasts of the Field for food and that in case the Heathens had been destroyed all at once the said wild Beasts would have grown too numerous wherefore the command was given to destroy them by degrees that some of them might remain to consume the Beasts of the Field May we not therefore conclude from all this that forasmuch as the said Beasts of the Field served for food and nourishment to the Heathen they by this means became ennobled into Mankind and when those Heathens that were afterwards destroyed by the Israelites they entred by Revolution into them by which means an advance and melioration was brought about First of the Beasts by their being ennobled and then of the Heathens by their being ingrafted into the Line of the Sons and Children of God and from thence still to advance further and further from one degree of exaltation and melioration to another until all at last return to unity again Thus we se that all the Israelites that came out of Egypt Caleb and Joshuah onely excepted did even in like manner perish in the Wilderness and did not enter into the Promised Land but were fain to revolve several times before they could arrive to a certain step or degree of perfection 16 Q. We read further Levit. 25. That the Land of Canaan was to be divided amongst the Children of Israel by lot according to the names of the Tribes of their Fathers and that the Law was made by God himself that the Inheritance of every Tribe was to abide with it and could not be alienated or devolve to another Upon which account also the year of Jubile was appointed 〈◊〉 which whatsoever had been alienated was to â—turn to its first owners to the end that every â—e being repossessed of the self-same Land which 〈◊〉 the first casting of Lots
fell to be the Portion â—d Propriety of their fore-Fathers and which â—as as it were the foundation-root of their â—hole stock and all the boughs and branches â—owing on the same and from whence not oneâ— they derived their nourishment and increase but â—eir very Bodies themselves I say that they might â—gain as it were be planted into the same and â—ecome united with it and that so by means of their â—oprietary enjoyment of it the said Land might â—evolve in them according to the Divine Ordiâ—nce and Appointment in order to its further â—erfection and glorification And this Inheritance â—hus divided by Lot not onely Sons but Daughters â—lso with some restrictions had a share according 〈◊〉 Gods Laws given by Moses And so it was adâ—dged and determined by God himself in the case 〈◊〉 the Daughters of Zelophehad Num. 27. 36. viz. 〈◊〉 to them should be granted the free possession 〈◊〉 their Fathers Inheritance for their Father had â—st never a Son behind him yet with this caution â—â—at they must marry into the Family of the Tribe of their Father And may not we with â—round conclude that this was thus appointed to â—he end the deceased fore-Fathers Predecessours â—nd Fathers of these Daughters might by revolâ—ing through them be restored again to their own â—heritance as also for to shew that in case of the want of Sons the Souls may revolve through Daughters May not we likewise here be informed of the reason why the Children of Israel were commanded that the surviving Brother should raise up the seed of his Brother deceased without leaving any Heirs And will it not follow that the Husbands which the Daughters of Zelophehad married being of their Tribe by their Wives raised up seed to Zelophehad deceased without leaving an Heir Male that might perform the same 17 Q. Moreover do not we meet with another proof of this Doctrine of Revolutions in Lev. 18. where certain Rules and Limitations are given by God himself about Marriages with those that are near of kin determining what is lawful and what unlawful in that matter and when we narrowly inquire into the ground of the said Rules and Restrictions must not we conclude that though it be wholly natural for men to cohabite with women yet that God himself set these bounds to the end that the order and way of Nature which is appointed for mankind might not be neglected perverted broken or removed And is not this the greatest and most universaâ— Law and Ordinance which the Creator once for all hath established in Nature viz. that in all natural propagations there might be a continuaâ— processions or going forwards Now that in Nature it is so ordered that Life goes always forwards and that Parents do live in their Children doth not daily experience teach us this Thus we see that when a Mother finds her sick Child drawing near to death she is so highly afflicted and anguished that she oft wisheth to die for her Child Of which we have examples that Fathers have offer'd themselves to be hang'd for their Sons whereby they gave sufficient evidence that their own lives were sensible of and did suffer what ever happened to their Children Now this Law of Nature could never be broken in whatsoever degree of affinity or consanguinity Man and Wife might be related together if according to the common opinion God should for every Birth create a new Soul and put it into the Body for so no such confusion or perverting of the order of Nature could happen Whereas on the contrary according to our Hypothesis which supposeth many Souls concentred and united together every one of which in a due order and procession must manifest and display it self in many different births and propagations would it not sollow that from such a promiscuous and disorderly commixture a great confusion would arise to the subversion of the order of Nature For was it not therefore thus ordained by God because he is a God of Order And must not his will incontestably take place 18 Q We will here omit many passages and examples relating to this matter which might be alledged out of the five Books of Moses and onely make reflection on some passages in the Ten Commandments When we read Exod. 20. 5 6. That God will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him but shew mercy to thousands of them that love him and keep his commandments May it not bear this Sense That forasmuch as formerly hath been hinted concerning the Conception and Birth of Man every Child is generated and formed of the Seed of his Parents and that each of these Seeds is twofold viz. Male and Female so as the Child is as it were made up of four Is it not therefore worth our enquiry whether or no all out-working must not happen in four Generations For do not we observe that when a Father begins to grow covetous the said vitious disposition increaseth in his Child and in his Grand-child arrives to extreme covetousness And then when this Vice hath attained to its full growth and maturity the great Grand-child proves a Prodigal and Spend-thrift because he hath had nothing of the said covetous inclination transmitted to him but rather is possessed with an hatred against it forasmuch as by means thereof he hath been oft pressed and forced against his will and thus being made sensible of the evil of it he takes up an hatred against it and consequently falls into the opposite extreme so that he lavishly spends all what his Forefathers in their Covetousness had scraped together and leaves nothing but Poverty to his Child which Poverty then occasions that his Child 's great Grand-child becomes disposed to grow up from this humble reduction to a new propagation And the same may be said of any other Vices whatsoever For ought we not always to keep in mind this great and fundamental Maxim That God never punisheth for sin but with this aim that his creature thereby may be amended and his Salvation promoted forasmuch as Sin which is finite cannot come in any competition with the infinite Emanation of the Grace of the Creatour in his Creature He being in the highest degree Righteous and Good and gives to man the fruits of his own doing For man himself works his own suffering and punishment but God in and by the same works out and manifests His own Glory Would it not therefore prove a very false imagination for any one to think that God for every Birth doth create a new Soul and afterwards eternally punish the same for sin which according to the meaning of some it could not avoid nor was once guilty of For this can never comport with the infinite Righteousness and Mercy of God Nor according to this Supposition can it be true which is said in Scripture that we all sinned in Adam for how could we sin in him except we had lived and been in him
in great quantity in the Oare of the perfectly united Metals is by mortification transmutation or calciâ—â—ation changed into an acid Salt it ceaseth to be Sulphur Now forasmuch as all of the said Sulphur can be changed into a Salt so as that it cannot be re-changed into Brimstone back again because the Salt serveth onely as a mean to dissolve the two perfect Sulphurs in order to unite them and whereas the white incombustible Sulphur can never be changed into Salt how can we then make out three parts or principles which concur to the composition of Metals For two Fathers to one Mother would be monstrous and superfluous forasmuch as both of them are but one and the same Likewise also there cannot be two Mothers to one Father in order to the bringing forth of one Birth for so there would be two Births out of each Mother one For it cannot be denyed that for to generate a Child whether Boy or Girl of which the one hath more of the Fathers nature and property the other more of the Mothers there needs onely a union of Man and Wife and it is impossible that a third thing should be superadded essentially 12 Q. Thou hast now shewed that to thâ— birth and production of Metals Male and Female viz. a white and red Sulphur are required Nowâ— we see that in the most perfect Metals as Gold there is but little of this red Male Sulphur as its yellow colour doth witness which red Sulphur doth essentially joyn and is united with the Femaleâ— white Sulphur and so brings it into such a compact body What is the reason then that so great a quantity of combustible Sulphur is found in the Mines where Metals are which Sulphur may be changed into Vitriol in which several Metals in the Mines have been found dissolved R. Thou mayst find an answer to this in the answer to the next fore-going question and in this question itself also viz. that this Vitriol which proceeds or is prepared from the said Sulphur may be serviceable and helpful to dissolve Metals but not to make them 13 Q. We have been in part informed concerning the red Male Sulphur but may not likewise an instruction be given us concerning the white Female unwoven or unwrought Sulphur which is not yet united to the red Sulphur or come to be a Metal and is found by it self alone as also together with the Metals how may we find and distinctly understand the same R. Concerning the white Female Sulphur which in the German Tongue is called hutteâ— rauch and by Artists Ars Senum or Arsenicum and is found by itself and likewise with the perfect as well as imperfect Metals in great quantity it is unnecessary for us to treat of it at large here because the Books of Metallurgist's do give us sufficient information where the said Sulphur is to be 〈◊〉 with in great quantity This Arsenicum is by the Greeks called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 probably from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Man and in the Hebrew the word that signifies a Man is Geber from whence we may infer that Geber the famed Author hath writ with understanding and like a man concerning this subject This Arsenick may also be compared to the Serpent of which mention is made Gen. 3. not onely because of the poisonous property common to them both but also because the Serpent was to eat the dust of the Earth even as the Serpent Arsenick must eat Ophir or dust of the Earth also according to what elsewhere hath been hinted viz. that Ophir signifies Dust Gold or Sand. 14 Q. Is it not necessary to have some information also concerning the Natural and Mechanical Weavings of both these Sulphurs R. When these Sulphurs are each of them alone or by themselves they continue brittle as Stones so that they cannot be wrought with the Hammer and when they are added to Metals by fusion they spoil them and make them impure As for instance When we take Arsenick and melt it down with Silver or Copper it robes and spoils the Silver and makes it impure and Copper it makes white hard and brittle Also when we take Arsenick which is somewhat more fixt by reason of a little red Sulphur which is in part nraurally interwoven with it as white Zink called Spelter which partakes of Lead and is in the Silver-oare at Goslar found in a Lead-mine that contains Silver and which sublimes and sticks fast to the sides of the Furnace partly in the form of a Glassie crust or rind the other part of it being fusible like to Regulus of Antimony when I say we cast a fourth part of this in to molten Copper it mechanically or externally interweaves itself with the said Copper so as the Copper by means of it gets a golden colour higher than any common Brass which is made of Copper by the addition of Lapis Calaminaris For when this stony glassie crust which sticks to the sides of the Furnace is taken thence and put to Copper it will not melt with it in order to make Brass of it But when this glassie matter hath been buried several years in the Earth the Salt of the Glass dissolves therein and becomes nitrous and by this means becomes a good fluxing powder and being ground to powder it is added to Copper instead of Lapis Calaminaris and produceth a gold coloured Brass as was mentioned insomuch that at Goslar some Goldsmiths make Rings and Chains of the same which to the eye may pass for Gold but is not so in weight But when any one goes about to hammer this Metal whilest it is hot as they do Gold Silver Copper and Iron it breaks all to pieces under the hammer For the white volatile Sulphurous Zink which as a strange guest is unnaturally through heat forced into the Copper as soon as it grows hot and that the Copper is swelled up sublimes away gradualâ—y through the Copper which is the cause why 〈◊〉 must of necessity break when struck with a hammer But when it is grown cold we shall find upon the Anvil in the place where it was laid to cool a white vapour the same as the Lapis Calaminaris doth in Brass evaporated sublimed and sticking to the Anvil and then it will let itself be wrought with a Hammer as Copper and other Metals are By which instances we may partly understand the natural and partly also the mechanical texture in Metals To what hath been already said this further may be added that when we take the common Arsenick by itself which is very volatile and poisonous and mix it with Copper it makes the Copper white and hard indeed but cannot by reason of its volatility abide in the fire so long as Spelter doth forasmuch as it doth not partake of the red Sulphur and consequently is not so fixt and constant For the volatility in Arsenick and Mercury is the cause that when the fire enters into the same
Dutch Tongue is called wild flesh for that the same is not natural but a Disease and is like an Excrecence growing on a Tree of which several reasons may be given which for brevities sake are here omitted May not we therefore conclude that the foresaid nervous capillary Filaments of which the Skin is woven together are not there in vain but that they serve for motion dilatation and contraction 65 Q. Moreover seeing that the foresaid nervous Skin is covered with a thin and smooth upper Skin full of little Pores or Sweat-holes and small Hairs through which all the spiritual Powers of the whole man especially in his Face which is an Epitome of and represents the whole man do continually flow out from and enter and that in the appearance of Light as we do see in some persons that a light fire or shining glance doth continually proceed from their Faces and Skins and that when in the dark we rub their Skin with a piece of Cloath the said Cloath will appear full of light-shining flames in like manner as hath been mentioned before concerning the Hair of the Head Moreover experience teacheth that in great and dangerous Diseases the said upper Skin doth peel off and the Hair of the Head falls which is worth our observation as hath partly been mentioned though we find also that in other Accidents yea without any during the whole life of man the said upper Skin doth continually wear away and is renewed again in order to the continuation of mans life insomuch as the whole man in all his parts not so much as the Nails of his Feet and Hands or Flesh excepted is continually renewed which we may perceive by setting a mark at the root of our Nails for we shall find that in the time of three months the same will be grown up to the top of them The same is likewise demonstrable from hence that when a man by sickness hath lost the greatest part of his flesh he recovers the same again in three months accounting from the time he begins to recover Yea the very Bones of man from which the Flesh hath its original are not exempt from this Renovation for don 't we see that out of living broken Bones a moisture proceeds by means of which they are conglutinated again Now how can we conceive that this could ever be brought about without a continual Renovation and alteration of the Bones and their moisture The Seed of man likewise which contains in it and comprehends the whole man in all his parts the Bones as well as the Flesh doth evidence this for we see that a Child that is generated of the said Seed doth not onely resemble his Father in shape and flesh but also in his bones from which the flesh is produced And also because the Spirit of man doth properly dwell in the Bones which probably was the reason why Joseph commanded the Children of Israel to take his bones along with them out of Egypt viz. that his Spirit might go long with them which Spirit is that which forms the Body seeing it is impossible that a Body as such should bring forth a Spirit but the Spirit must bring forth the Body which Spirit therefore may be supposed to be that Rib of which Eve was built And may not we from all this conclude that the Bones must be renewed as well as the other parts of mans Body forasmuch as all proceeds from one and the same Spirit And doth it not follow from all this that the whole man according to all his parts not the meanest or least point excepted must be subject to a continual and never-ceasing Revolution 66 Q. This continual Revolution of Man is not onely to be gathered from the Sickness and Health of man according to what before hath been mentioned concerning his never-ceasing giving out and taking in but may likewise be inferr'd from other accidents happening to persons that are in perfect health amongst which the following instance will I suppose not be unacceptable to the Reader A known Friend was on a time carried a Prisoner out of Germany towards Rome to be laid up in the Inquisition there and passing through many great Cities and places in Italy in all which the Streets and Houses Doors and Windows were filled with People that flock'd to see him because the report was that he was to be burnt at Rome Forasmuch then as upon this account all eyes were fixed upon him as being desirous to eye him earnestly and to have a full view of him and he on the other side had as great desire to look upon them as being free and unconcern'd in his mind so as their imaginative sight could gain no entrance into him or be received by him and consequently all the central Aspects which they cast upon him were fain to concenter elsewhere and so made up a kind of shadowy Person or Image which sate with his back towards him insomuch that he could not imagine that the People gazed upon him but upon the Person that sate before him at which he was much surprized because he did not then apprehend the reason of it For further confirmation of this another person that was a Preacher once propounded this Query to the fore-mentioned party whence it was that many times as he was preaching he had seen a person in his own shape and likeness standing before him who as he thought preached instead of him forasmuch as when his Sermon was ended he found himself as fresh and lively as he was before he had begun to preach The fore-mentioned party hereupon related to the Preacher the fore-going accident which had hapned to himself which as he was doing these following thoughts opened in him viz. whether this might not be the reason of what the Preacher had related to him that forasmuch as his words were at that time received by his Hearers and taken root in them he again received back from them the strength or power he had given forth and thus seeing his Hearers continually received his image and word with delight and satisfaction and gave forth the same again to him himself all this while continuing free and unconcerned that from all this it could not be otherwise but that he must see the back of his image which his Hearers had made or fram'd before him XII Concerning the Stomack of Man 67 Q. Forasmuch as the Body of Man according to the testimony of Scripture is and should be the Temple of God 2 Cor. 3. 13. and Chap. 6. 19. 2. Cor. 6. 16. And that in the Temple at Jerusalem there was an Altar of Burnt-offering upon which many Beasts c. was offered and seeing that all the meat a man feeds upon enters into the stomack might not the stomack be compared with the said Altar And might it not properly be called an Altar in the Temple of God on which all right and well ordered food for the life of man is to be offered up For
People they were and why God upon the account of this their relation to Lot and Abraham and their wonderful Original did take care of them and expresly commanded the Children of Israel that in destroying the other Nations they should spare these All which we pass by to avoid prolixity And as for Lot who was the third Person that was an instrument of implanting the Sodomites into Abraham was not he himself two several ways ingrafted in and united with Abraham viz. First by his Birth as being his Brothers Son and then again when Abraham with the hazard of his own Life delivered him together with all the Inhabitants of Sodom out of the hand of their Enemies 10 Q. How the Philistines became ingrafted into Abraham may not this be easily gathered from the 20 Chapter of Genesis as being most expresly hinted throughout that whole Chapter from the beginning to the end which the inquisitive Reader may be pleased to turn to and read over well weighing and considering the several passages of it viz. how Sarah became spiritually impregnated by Abimelech the Father of Kings according to the signification of that name in the Hebrew and how all the Births of his House and of his whole Kingdom entred into her which may it not be inferred from hence For that all the wombs of Abimelech's house were shut up by the Lord for Sarah Abrahams wife's sake Which afterwards were opened again upon Abraham's Prayer and so were healed and restored by the fruitful and proliferous intercession of Abraham with whom they were already spiritually united This I leave to the understanding Readers own consideration 11 Q. Do not we likewise find a plain Argument and Evidence for proof of the Revolution of Souls in the History of Dinah Gen. 34. For can any firmer or surer union and alliance of two different People be imagined than was that which was entered upon and concluded betwixt Jacob and his Sons on the one side and Hamor and his Son Sichem and all the People of the Land on the other side as being ratified by the strong and indissoluble tie of Matrimonial Union And seeing that this high and weighty undertaking which was carried on with so much earnestness and concern did to outward appearance come to nothing What may we therefore suppose was the cause why the Divine Wisdom ordered the same to be so exactly and carefully set down in writing without omitting of the least circumstance thereto belonging if there were not some exceeding great Mystery hidden in Spirit under this History And what can this Mystery be else but the spiritual union transplantation and ingrafting of this People by means of a conjugal band and the slaughter which followed thereupon into the Tribes of the Children of Israel especially those of Simeon and Levi who had already in their wrath Prophesied and said That they would be United and become one People in case they would be Circumcised and who killed them and took all their Goods Children and Wives to themselves For that a peculiar providence of God did superintend this whole affair and directed all to an end sutable and comporting with the Divine Wisdom and Designe is not this clear from hence that God caused a fear and terrour to fall upon the inhabitants of the land so that they did not pursue after Jacob and his sons as we see Gen. 35. 5. 12 Q. And are not some other passages concerning Jacob and his Sons well worth our consideration with referrence to his Hypothesis As that concerning Judah who was the fourth Son of Jacob by Leah of whose Tribe Jesus was born how he raised the seed of both his Sons in his Daughter-in-Law Thamar concerning which mention hath been made already 13 Q. And is not the History of Moses and the Children of Israel alike memorable And the Doctrine of Revolution very plainly held forth in the same For seeing that God began a new Union in Moses in order to reveal himself to produce a new World and to settle a new Government as before he had done in Noah and Abraham Is it not on this account that the Wisdom of God not without a singular Mystery represents to us Exod. 2. 2 3. how Moses when he was yet a Child swam upon the waters in an Ark of Rushes as before in the Creation Gen. 1. it is mentioned that the Spirit of God moved upon the Waters and as Gen. 7. 8. Noah saved himself in the Ark upon the Waters as was formerly mentioned And forasmuch as Divine Wisdom had chosen Moses to be a Leader and Governour of this new rising Birth and that no new one can be without a dying of the old and foregoing was it not therefore fitting that Moses himself from the very beginning of the work should enter upon dying as when the Lord came unto him and would have killed him Exod. 4. 24. And seeing that by means of him all the Egyptians were to be transplanted into the Israelites and consequently be made partakers of Circumcision was not that expression of Zipporah Prophetical think we when she said to Moses Thou art to me a bridegroom of bloods and that because of Circumcision Now in order to the production of this new World and Birth was it not needful for the old to perish and that in the Water as being the first matter forasmuch as every new Birth and Creation proceeds from the water as Christ himself witnesseth John 3. 5. Now this great Renovation as a kind of new Creation which was to be carried on for the good and salvation of two Nations in order to the rising of a new Life what was it else but the transplantation of the Egyptians into the Israelites And to the end that the same might be brought about was it not necessary for the Egyptians to die before forasmuch as without the Death of the old Birth no such new one can arise according to the testimony of Christ John 12. 24. And forasmuch as every Birth must take its beginning from a Child-like Being may it not have been for this reason that the Divine Wisdom so ordered it that Pharaoh who was the head of the Egyptians and their Center caused all the male Children of the Israelites to be drowned to the end that afterward by the right of Retalliation the Egyptians might be drowned likewise and by means of the drowned Children of the Israelites be transplanted into their Mothers For may not we suppose that the troubled and vengeance-crying spirit of the Fathers and Mothers did constantly remain united with their drowned Children as in whom their Life was entred in the water and was operative there until the right of Retalliation was fulfilled and executed upon those that were the cause of their Deaths 14 Q. To the end therefore that this right of Retalliation might be fulfilled upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians and they drowned likewise was it not necessary that an union of the Spirits of both Nations should precede so as
increase and glorification of our Beings by means of this never ceasing melioration and Revolution As also this may teach us to have more certain proper and becoming thoughts of God forasmuch as one onely World is much too little to know God in and find him out to perfection And that therefore there are Worlds without End for that we can never come to an end in the knowledge of God For whatsoever the mind can comprehend is less than the mind itself and consequently man is much more happy in feeling and perceiving of God than he would be in comprehending of him which is altogether impossible For there is another way of perceiving God in mans mind besides that which is meerly intellectual in the understanding which when it is felt the mind loseth itself in the perception of a sweetness which is altogether incomprehensible and therefore inexpressible and doth not proceed from mans own will or from himself but purely and alone from God and surpasseth all understanding Herewithal I shall conclude this discourse of the Return of Humane Souls and hope that therewith I have satisfied the Reader and my promise at once which I made in the Preface to the forementioned 200 Queries concerning the Revolution of Humane Souls to which I for further satisfaction do refer him which Treatise upon the desire of a Person of Quality some years ago I did dictate to a Friend who afterwards retaining the Sence put it in another Method he also adding to it several things of his own which was afterwards published by me without my name at London above a year ago by Robert Kittlewel in Fleet-street over against St. Dunstan's Church at the sign of the Hand and Scepter Now the promise which I there made was to this purpose that in case I should perceive this little Book to prove acceptable I would publish two other Treatises whereof the one should treat of the same matter which is the subject of the said 200 Queries viz. concerning the Revolution of Humane Souls but in another way and method than it was handled there and the other a Latin Treatise whose Title is De Revolutionibus Animarum Tractatus Primus Manuscripto haud it a pridem ad nos perlato ex operibus Rabbi Jitzchak Loriensis Cabalistarum Aquilae Latinitate donatus This last Tractate I have caused to be added to Cabalae Denudatae Tom. 2. Sive Libro Zohar restituto and is Printed at Franckfort on the Mayn Not as if I approved all that is therein contained for I find several things there concerning which I desire to be further satisfied and to have my difficulties answered by the Leaned Jews themselves but onely to the end the said Treatise might be more known and consequently also the opinion of the Jews concerning this matter The former of these two Treatises is the same I here expose to the unprejudiced judgements of all men as perswading my self since upon the request I then made none to my knowledge hath been found that openly in print hath objected any thing against the said Two Hundred Queries that the same hath found acceptance or entertainment at least with understanding and unprejudiced minds Thus then I have acquit my self of my promise and do now renew to the Courteous and Truth-loving Reader my former request that in case any one should be found whom this Discourse might not fully satisfie as to the main point it treats of and is able to produce some thing better and more consonant to Holy Scripture and sound Reason whereby as well the Divine Attributes might be better salved and the difficulties â—rising about the same more easily removed that he would have the goodness in a short and compendious writing for Truth needs no amplification to signifie and impart his meaning and ground with becoming discretion in full assurance that the same shall be most lovingly and gratefully accepted by me as well as all others who are lovers of Truth and Wisdom Moreover if for the time to come I should chance to meet with any person that understands my way of speaking and is disposed to take it in writing from my mouth it is probable that for the common good I may hereafter endeavour in another Treatise to supply the defects of this which will be published in Latine by enlarging my self upon this point of the Revolution of Souls as well as upon the other fore-going matters In the mean time I am not without hope in case I should remove into another Land and that â—â—y intended Treatise should be writ in some other language but that some Lovers will be found who may have the Curiosity to Translate it AN APPENDIX WE observe and see daily how that young Children who are void of all Images have a continual hunger after Knowledge which God naturally hath planted in them and therefore seek to satisfie themselves of every thing they see or hear And according as their Life increaseth in strength this hunger increaseth also even until they be full grown at which time they are filled and have got seed of their own and so are enabled to give forth something again and therefore are not then so fit as before to receive and take in because in this very time of their Age their first Revolution happens as wherein they pass from Childhood to Youth which time comprehends a perfect Revolution of the Sun of twelve Years or twelve Circumvolutions through the twelve Signs of the Zodiack And this is the natural reason why the Jews observe this Rule amongst them and have kept the same ever since the time of Moses that when a Boy is twelve years and a day old he is then bound to keep all the Commands and Prohibitions of the Law which are six hundred and thirteen in number and together with the seven Precepts of Noah make out six hundred and twenty Now if he shall keep these Commands it is needful that he first know them and have learnt them wherefore the Parents are obliged in Conscience to inform and cause their Children to be instructed in the Law given to their Fathers that they may not bring the guilt of their Children upon themselves in case their Children should not keep the said Commands But when the Parents have discharged their duty in this matter then the guilt falls upon the Children themselves and they must answer for it And the very same duty is incumbent on Christians in their measure now forasmuch as our Saviour himself hath given us an instance hereof when he was twelve years of age as we may read Luke 2. 46. whose example sure we have reason to follow Now it is there said of him that he was found in the Temple in the midst of the Doctors both hearing them and asking them Questions and that all that heard him were astonished at his Understanding and Answers In like manner Paul also testifieth of Timothy 2 Tim. 3. 14 15. That from a child he had known the Scriptures
and exhorts him to continue in the doctrine he had learnt It is also absurd and unnatural to force and tie young Children that are full of Life and desire to know and do all things to one onely thing which makes them presently to be weary of and loath the same and is the cause of great disorder For whereas Children naturally desire to be at work and in motion they are commonly forced and plagued to sit many years together as it were in Prison for to learn to Read Write c. until they have got into their heads not without great pains and trouble many of their School Books by which means these Parents who have many Children and no great estate are necessitated to use unjust ways that they may be able to pay for the Education of their Children and to keep them at School Things being thus it may be demanded whether a way might not be found out whereby this great mischief and disorder might be prevented and youth better educated without burthening on overcharging of their parents and for better service and profit to the Publick and Government For seeing God himself hath naturally planted this hunger in youth he must also have ordained natural means in order to the satisfying of the said Hunger Indeed he hath given this hunger for no other end but that it might be satisfied And therefore it is worth our enquiry whether this very hunger itself will not afford us the truest and best directions for to satisfie the same as we see that a Child as soon as it is born seeks for the Breast of the Mother to satisfie its hunger In answer to this I will here set down briefly in part what my own experience hath taught me concerning this matter We find that Dogs and other Beasts which have their peculiar natures and properties when we desire to fit them for some service or other will not be forced or by violence compelled to the same We have an instance of this in a young Water-Spaniel that is to be taught to take the water and fetch any thing thence who if he beat first forcibly thrown into the water it makes him shie of it and will very hardly afterwards be brought to take it but if the said Spaniel by degrees with bread or otherwise be allured into the water till he come beyond his depth and begin to swim of himself it by this means becomes his delight and he longs for the word of command from his Master to go into the water And the same is the case with Children for neither are they easily brought to do or comprehend a thing by force or at least not so well and dexterously for Nature in all things will be free and without compulsion Wherefore in the education of Children we must first of all observe and have a care not to confound their Senses and not to force that in through the Sight which must enter and be comprehended by the Ear and also that we do not seperate or divide the Senses where they ought in concord to agree together but that all may be done in good order with reference to all the Senses In this manner by observing the foresaid Rules I have experienced that Children have been taught several Handicrafts at once and that without any great pains taking in order whereunto the day hath been so divided that onely one hour hath been allotted for every Art or Handicraft by which means the Children have been so stirred up in their desire that the more they have learnt the more they have still longed to learn so as they have thought the day too short for them And thus after they had every one in order learnt four Arts they were come so far as to be able to look out and learn an Art of themselves without being taught and never have had any need of a Master I will briefly declare how I first was led to this way of Practise and give some short directions how the same may be further carried on in the Education of Children What regards the Sense of Hearing I have experienced that in places where Musick Schools have been kept that the neighbours Children have onely by hearing them Sing in the School learnt to Sing yea even little Children that were carried in arms have uttered their first words with a Musical tone or harmony And at Brussels in some places where the Italians commonly resort little Children are found of four or five years of age whose Fathers are Spaniards their Mothers Flemmings and their Servants French that can speak the Languages of all these four Nations Again I have seen that where several Children Boys and Girls eight in number viz. five Brothers and three Sisters have been together in one room the Boys have been instructed by their Paedagogue in the Latine Tongue and that the common way by poring upon Books as Grammars c. that the Girls meerly by the Ear have taken in and remembred those Latine Words and Rules which their Brothers could not The reason of which is because the Girls had their Ears free and therefore did more easily apprehend the voice and words of their Brothers Paedagogue whereas on the contrary it was much more difficulty to take that in by the Eye and breaking of their Heads which they ought to have apprehended by their Ear this method being contrary to Nature for by their Eye they make to themselves forced and undue Images which by means of a voice would have entred freely naturally and rightly formed through their Ears Whereas the other way false and dead Images are conveyed into Children and take up the room of true and living Images in their understanding by which means their understandings and judgements become darkened disordered and quite spoiled In the third place I have known a Preacher who made about twenty persons men and women all poor people that got their bread by Spinning of Wool to come into his House one Hour in a Day which yet this poor people could hardly dispence with to be so long from their labour and read to them part of the first Chapter of Genesis one word after another first in Dutch and afterwards in Hebrew making every one of the said persons to repeat every word round and thus he continued for half an hour reading some verses and oft repeating the same and they after him The other half hour he read in like manner some verses out of the New Testament in Dutch and Greek And as soon as he perceived that they began to understand somewhat of the said Languages being encouraged thereby he continued the same method until in a short time he had taught them not onely to read perfectly but also to understand both the said Languages I have also my self often and especially once for my diversion taught two men and two women in eight days time allowing onely one hour a day to read Hebrew perfectly and to understand the first Chapter of Genesis
season it Have salt in your selves and have peace one with another Mark 9. 50. 50. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones for I say unto you that in Heaven their Angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven Mat. 18. 10. 51. Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy brother But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the Church but if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican Mat. 18. 15 c. 52. Then came Peter to him and said Lord how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times Jesus saith unto him I say not unto thee until seven times but until seventy times seven Mat. 18. 21 22. 53. Judge not according to the appearance but judge righteous judgement John 7. 24. 54. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water John 7. 38. 55. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believ'd on him if ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free John 8. 31 32. 56. Notwithstanding in this rejoyce not that the spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoyce that your names be written in Heaven Luke 10. 20. 57. What is written in the Law how readest thou And he answering said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy Neighbour as thy self And he said unto him Thou hast answered right this do and thou shalt live Luke 10. 26 c. 58. Which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves And he said He that sheweth mercy on him Then said Jesus unto him Go and do thou likewise Luke 10. 36 37. 59. But rather give alms of such things as you have and behold all things are clean unto you Luke 11. 41. 60. But wo unto you Pharisees for ye Tithe Mint and Rue and all manner of herbs and pass over judgement and the love of God these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone Luke 11. 42. 61. In the mean time when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people insomuch that they trod one upon another He began to say unto his Disciples first of all Beware ye of the Leaven of the Pharisees which is Hypocrisie For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed neither hid that shall not be known Luke 12. 1 2. 62. And I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you fear him Luke 12. 4 c. 63. And he said unto them Take heed and beware of coveteousness for mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth Luke 12. 15. 64. Fear not little flock for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom Luke 12. 32. 65. Sell all that ye have and give alms provide your selves bags which wax not old a tresure in the Heavens that faileth not where no thief approacheth neither moth corrupteth Luke 12. 33. 66. Let your loins be girded about and your lights burning and ye your selves like unto men that wait for their Lord when he will return from the wedding that when he cometh and knocketh they may open unto him immediately Luke 12. 35 36. 67. When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding sit not down in the highest room lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee Give this man place and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room But when thou art bidden go and sit down in the lowest room that when he that bade thee cometh he may say unto thee Friend go up higher then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee Luke 14. 8. c. 68. Then said he also to him that bade him When thou makest a dinner or a supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbours lest they also bid thee again and a recompence be made thee But when thou makest a feast call the poor the maimed the same the blind Luke 14. 12 13. 69. If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple And whoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple Luke 14. 26 27. 70. So likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my Disciple Luke 14. 33. 71. And I say unto you Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations Luke 16. 9. 72. Take heed to your selves if thy brother trespass against thee rebuke him and if he repent forgive him And if he trespass against thee seven times a day and seven times in a day turn again to thee saying I repent thou shalt forgive him Luke 17. 3 4. 73. In that day he which shall be upon the house top and his stuff in the house let him not come down to take it away and he that is in the field let him likewise not return back Luke 17. 31. 74. And he spake a Parable to them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint Luke 18. 1. 75. For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh Wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh What therefore God hath joyned together let no man put asunder Mat 19. 5 6. Mark 10. 8 9. 76. But Jesus said Suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 19. 14. Mark 10. 14 15. Luke 18. 16 17. 77. And he said unto him Why callest thou 〈◊〉 good there is none good but one that is God 〈◊〉 if thou wilt enter into life keep the Command ments Mat. 19. 17. 78. But Jusus called them unto him and said Ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them but it shall not be so among you but