Inclination to continue a miserable Life doth not only proceed and arise from the sense Men have of Sin and the breaking of God's Law for which eternal Punishment is threatned though this seems to be sufficient cause to be the Root of each Man's fear of Death which doth not consist in his Transgressions but from that eternal Life and invisible Spiritual Power that supports and dwells in the Body which in all Creatures doth with the highest diligence imitate that Fountain from whence it proceeds 〈◊〉 it is not to be doubted that if a number of Men should be Educated and 〈◊〉 up and under Custom and Methâ—… that did not teach 〈◊〉 believe the Immortality of the Soâ—… 〈◊〉 Rewards for Virtuâ—… nor Punishments for Vice neverthelâ—… the fear and dread of all Violence Oppression and Death would be the same as now it iâ—… and with other Creatures for God's eternal Laws in Nature are the same yesterday to day and for ever or from Eternity to Eternity and Man makes Laws and imitates Customs that are varied and changed out of Evil into Good and out of Good into Evil but God's Law and 〈◊〉 in all the Operations of the Spiritual Powers are in a consâ—… fix'd Method and it is clear that the greatest Evil and 〈◊〉 thing that can be done to Man or any other sensible Creature is to put a Period to the Life before it hath obtained its highest Limit and this sort of Violence doth in all its Circumstances Diametrically oppose the Creating and likewise the Preserving Power of God and the greatest breach of Unity Now that which will make Death and the Thoughts thereof easiest is a clean harmless sober temperate and innocent Life Living within the Compass and Bounds of God's Law that is to do unto the whole Creation and Creatures as a Man would be done unto and if this was done nevertheless every one would Live eternally in this World if they could because the Spirit which is the Life of the Body hath an eternal Original and would be cloathed with a proportionable Body for no Spirit nor Spiritual Power can be known to it self or be a Self-subsisting Individual Creature or be capable of Joy or Sorrow neither in this World nor in that which is to come if it be not comprehended within the Circle of a Body and therefore the Philosophical Apostle Paul tells us that if the Dead rise not or if there be no Resurrection that is new Bodies they were the most miserable of all Creatures which is as if he had said that if after the Death of these Mortal Bodies if the Eternal Spirit or Immortal Soul did not obtain or cloath it self with a suitable Body that is an Immortal one then their Works and good Deeds could not follow them neither could the Holy Men and Saints be capable of enjoying those eternal Blessings promised to all those that observe the Laws of their Creator and keep his Commandments for if there be no new Bodies then the Soul and all the Spiritual Powers that circled and dwelt in this gross Body must of necessity at Death mingle themselves into and with the eternal Fountain and thereby be eternally Annihilated â—…s to Individuality or of being known to it self and consequently not capable either of Joy or Sorrow And note that according to the Disposition and Complexion of the Spiritual Powers such Bodies they are cloathed with and therefore it is not to be doubted but that every Man in the World to come shall be cloathed or obtain a suitable Body proportionable to the Spirit and Soul and such as in the time of the Body did freely immerse and enter into all kinds of Fierceness and Violence Killing those of their own kind and all under-graduated Creatures their new Bodies shall obtain a Figure or Form in proportion And therefore the Scripture doth say and speak of the Heavenly City and Angelical Powers without the Gates are Bears and Dogs for the Spirit is the Original of the Body and not the Body of the Spirit and according to the Equality or Ineâ—…ality of the Spirit or Spiritual Powers such a Figure or Form that obtains for the great and wonderful variety of Forms of Bodies and Figures of things do arise and proceed from the variety of the Spirits and Spiritual Powers which could not have been manifested but only by means of the Body nor be known to themselves It is likewise further to be noted that Death doth at once obliterate and put a period to the five great Princes or Councellors called Senses in which by and through whom the living Powers and Spirits of Eternity do manage and transact all material things in this Visible World or Corporeal Body and at the same time Buries them in the great Abyssal Mystery separating the loving Husband from the affectionate and tender Wife and all other visible things that are near and dear to the Senses and innate Affections and all that claims an interest to the outward Corporality the sensitive Body and Spirit of this World have a right unto and are necessitated to plunge or leap into the grand Mystery of Eternity and that which doth increase and multiply the fear and dread thereof and makes it so exceeding timerous to pass through or over this Sea into Eternity is First Mens living and acting contrary to Gods innocent Laws of Nature and the embracing of evil Customs and Traditions most of which do diametrically oppose all the innocent uniform Powers and Laws of Concord the ignorances thereof being the greatest evil in this World for it is almost impossible for any Person to obtain the Unity if he doth not distinguish the Power of God in himself and the Principles of his own Nature and Composition and for this cause many of the Justest and best of Men that have noâ—… only been soberly and religiously inclined but have as it were transacted all their Affairs with softness and equity according to the settled Religion and Custom of the Nation and Place they are Educated in nevertheless those great and unnatural Evils Violences and Oppressions most or all Nations commit against God and his Holy innocent Law do so strong and powerfully spring and boil up in the center of Mans Soul so soon as the Eternal Spiritual Powers do see and feel that their body or circle of Corporality shall be taken away or they separated from them 〈◊〉 there is a great and wonderful Consternation or Tumult all the Centers Powers and Principles being awakened and as it were grating or rubbing one against another occasioning great Disorders and Agonys between the Nature Spiritual Powers and Principles all being unwilling to shift or quit their Body or natural â—…tation and be put to seek a new one and being as is mentioned before altogether ignorant of then doth arise in the Center of the Soul various Accusations of their not doing this or the other thing or of some mis-spent time or neglect of the â—…mon Duty of
TRYON's LETTERS UPON Several Occasions Viz. 1. Of Hearing 2. Of Smelling 3. Of Tasting 4. Of Seeing 5. Of Feeling 6. Of the Making of Coal-Fires 7. Of the Making of Bricks Tyles c. 8. Of Religion 9. Of Dropsies 10. Of various Opinions in Religion 11. Of the Humanity of Christ. 12. Of an Afflicted Mind 13. Of Faith Hope and Charity 14. Of God's Permission for Killing and Eating of Beasts 15. Of a Soldier 's Life 16. Of the Fountain of Darkness 17. Of the Fountain of Love and Light 18. Of Cleanness 19. Of Flesh-Broaths c. 20. Of the Right and Left Hands 21. Of the Corpulency of the Body 22. Of Fevers 23. Of Education 24. Of Smells 25. Of Predestination 26. Of Death 27. Of Judicial Astrology 28. Of Perpetual Motion 29. Of Musick 30. Of Languages 31. Of Times for Eating 32. To a Planter of Sugar 33. To a Gentleman in Barbadoes 34. To a Planter about the Manufactury of Cotton 35. Of the Making of Sugar 36. Of the Burial of Birds 37. Of Fermentation By THO. TRYON Author of the Way to Health Long Life and Happiness LONDON Printed for Geo. Conyers at the Ring and Eliz. Harris at the Harrow both in Little Britain 1700 TO THE READER THESE following Letters which were occasionally Written both at the Request of divers Friends and Country-men at home as well as of some Strangers from abroad their various Questions then readily answered according to that Capacity and Talent the Giver of all Gifts hath endued me withall in conformity to that grand and important Commandment of our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ that we should not hide our Light under a Bushel but expose it on the House-top are now contrary to my original Intention in Writing exposed to publick View the Consideration of their being loose Papers and so subject by Time and other Casualties to be lost of my having the number Seventy in my view and daily expecting to be called to Inherit that Land which Adam the Great Father of Mortality hath entailed upon all his Posterity as also that the Publication of them might prove of some moment and advantage not only to private Persons but even to the publick in the present and future Ages together with the Auxilary Influences of some of my Friends and Acquaintance powerfully disposing of me thereunto tho' at the same time I cannot but expect to meet with some Readers who will alledge our Performance in this kind to be unnecessary seeing many of those Subjects here treated of have been already handled in some of my former Wriings and not only so but that in some of the said Letters themselves the same things seem to be repeated and insisted on again and again which even in the softest Language can be represented no otherwise than Tautology in us But to this it may be easily answered that Necessary and practical Truths cannot be too often taught and repeated till they are well understood learned and distinguished neither were the great Mysteries of Time and Eternity by any other Way or Method manifested or brought to light but only by a constant Repetition according to the Saying of the Great Apostle of the Gentiles that the visible things that appear and are constantly repeated shew the great and invisible Power of God And indeed it is impossible for any Mortal to speak or treat aright of God or Nature or to display the wonderful Operations of things and their respective Complexions without knowing and distinguishing the original Principles I mean the four grand Qualities which some of the ancient Philosophers called Sulphur Mercury and Salt but are since better and more familiarly understood by our common Names of Saltish Bitter and Sweet Qualities which are the said first Principles both in the Animal Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms and according to their respective Degrees or Gradations in each Creature or Thing such not only is the Form Nature and Name thereof but he that can distinguish the Signature and which of these four hath the Ascending or Ruling Power in any Animal Herb Seed Tree or Mineral together with the Strength or Debility of the other three Qualities in their several degrees such an one according to his proportion of Knowledge and distinguishing Faculty is thereby rendred capable to judge of the Constituent parts of the said Thing or Creature and therefore no Man can pretend to know or prescribe the Nature Virtues or Vices of any Created Being without this Knowledge for you are to understand that all visible Beings or Creatures do arise and deduce their Birth from Number Weight and Measure that is from certain original Principles which the Great and Wonderful Creator hath limited them to or incircled in which are as so many Eternal Fountains from whence all the Great Noble and Beneficial Sciences Arts Trades and Employments in the World take their Birth and undoubtedly the nearer any one comes to or imitates Nature and God's Law that is his Original the more curious and excellent such a Person becomes thereby But for a more clear Illustration of this grand Truth even to meaner Capacities Are not the original Foundations and Principles of all Sciences Arts Trades and curious Inventions bounded and incircled within the compass of such and such Numbers and whatever curious Notion or Thing is brought to light must be done by a constant Repetition of those original Numbers and more particularly in the wonderful and demonstrative Science the Mathematicks whereby so many useful and excellent things are effected for the Preservation and Benefit of Mankind Is not all done and perfected by a constant and perpetual Repetition of Nine Figures And are not the Seven Notes the very Centre and Basis of all Musical Harmony both Vocal and Instrumental no Lesson Division Song or Tune being to be made or composed without the perpetual Repetition of them The like is to be understood of the most ingenious and admirable Art of Representation or Painting wherein by the apt mixtures of the Seven Colours for the original ones which are called perfect Colours do not exceed that number a Skilful Artist can represent the various Colours of Animals Vegetables Minerals c. The same may be farther demonstrated in Words and Speech and that too in a most wonderful manner it being a grand breach of the Mathematicks tho' few consider and apprehend it and what a strange thing is it that the vast and amazing varieties of things in the almost infinite Distributions of them together with their Productions Terms and Utensils for all Sciences Arts Occupations and curious Employments should be all moved distinguished and understood by the Composition of the Four and Twenty Letters without which no Man can understand or distinguish one thing from another which said Letters are but so many Notes or Figures that while each stands alone and is not joined to any other does not distinguish or express any thing that is intelligible and therefore are then of no Force Use
but the consideration thereof wiâ—… afford you some Benefit LETTER IV. Of the Sense of Seeing SIR BY the Receipt of yours I find you have a great desire to have my Iudgement of that most Stupendious and Wonderful Sense of Seeing in Answer whereunto I shall according to my Talent endeavour to Explicate the Variousness Virtues and Powers of that most amazing and admirable Faculty NOW as that wonderful Eye of Heaven the Sun is the very Centre of Light of all the numberless numbers of Creatures being the Foundation and Well being of them all who by its illuminating Beams Communicates Life and Light to all the Host of Heaven and Earth without which all would be a dark Chaos of Misery and Confusion Words are too short to set forth the Uses and Excellencies of this Sun of God in which the Preserving and Divine Power is understood and manifested And as this high illuminating Spirit and Power is the Eye which doth enlighten and preserve every Member and Part of the Great World being its Soul or Centre The like is to be understood of the Sense of Seeing in us for as the Sun is the Eye of the Macrocosm so is the Sense of Seeing the Light of the Microcosm which doth enlighten every Member and Part thereof for Man is a compleat Image of God and his Handmaid Nature and doth contain the true Nature and Properties of the whole and therefore is called a Little World or an Extract from the Great and as this high and mighty Power the Sun doth enlighten direct and conduct all and by whose Power and illuminating Beams all this wonderful variety of Beings and Creatures are understood and distinguished And as the World would be a miserable Chaos if the glorious Eye of Heaven were withdrawn but one moment even so it would be with Man for this Sense of Seeing is both in the Great and the Little World the true Guide of all Action and Motion and in this Sense or Light is contained the Secret or Central Fire which by Motion and continual Circulation of contrary Qualities becomes manifest warming and preserving the whole being the Root and Original of Vegetation and the true Father of the Light for Fire and Light are inseparable they dwell eternally together for this cause where the Light is weak or but little there the Fire is as impotent as is most manifest in all the Northern parts of the World most part of the Year being terrible-Cold Frosty Weather the Elements being Congealed for want of Heat The contrary is to be understood in the Southern parts of the World where there is Light Heat is always at hand and in what thing soever the Central Fires are potent there the Light is also strong powerful and lasting there being always a proportionable Nature between the Light Fire or Central Heat of each thing both in Animals Vegetables and Minerals for this cause Children and all Young People have a clearer and more penetrating Sense of Seeing than those of Age because their Light burns clearer and all their Humours are clean vigorous and free from dull cloudy Vapours the Elements of Water and Fire being thin and more pure do rarify each other by which the Oil of Life or Salnitral Vertues are clean and free from gross obstructing Matter from whence the Fire hath its bright clear shining Quality so that in Youth all the Operations of the Elements are more brisk lively and powerful than in Age as appears not only in the Sight but in all the Actions of Life For as the Natural and Central Fires decay the Light equally grows weak some sooner some later according to the degrees of the Decay or Weakness sometimes this decrease of natural Heat is Universal and when this happens the whole Body doth quickly dwindle and fall into Death but very often this Decay of the Natural Heat happens in the Intelligible part the Head by some accident of Obstruction the Vessels or Optick Nerves becoming stiff or as it were glewy the Porous Parts or Vessels being narrowed or small which does prevent the free Ingress Egress and Regress of the fine thin rarified Spirits that are generated thro' the whole Body which every moment doth ascend by certain Circular Motions into the Head or most Intelligible Part which if at any time the whole Road or common Passage of those fine thin rarified Spirits be stopt or obstructed the Person so Afflicted immediately falls and nothing but Death follows and that in a moments time this being the Original occasion of sudden Death so that many Sound Healthy Persons by such like Obstructions fall into Death who otherwise might have Lived many Years as being free from Diseases For this cause Temperance and Cleanness both in Quality and Quantity of Meats and Drinks are as it were the Spring-head of Health and the Generater of fine clean nutriment good Blood pure Spirits noble Dispositions and Inclinations whatever Cormorants and unclean Belly-gods may Dream to the contrary Nature and God's Law is always true and cannot lie Every thing under the Government of the glorious Eye of Heaven doth arise proceed and follow its first Matter and carries in its Bosom or Centre a Key that can readily join and unlock all the secret Doors of Nature's Cabinet and finding out and incorporating with its Simile encreasing and strengthening the same which is the highest Joy and Solace of all Corporal and Incorporal Beings For this cause as any Persons Meat Drink Employment and Communications are either from the dark cloudy Root clean or unclean so the Humours Blood Dispositions Inclinations Words and Works all proceed and go on in a streight Line or Method therefore to be either too much in the Sun or Shade begets Complexions for Meats and Drinks are the Centre and Substance of our Lives and in them are contained the true Nature and Property of all Qualities Principles and Dispositions enduing the Eater with their Qualifications If this were not true Man could not Subsist or have his Life continued whatever the unthinking do or may imagine to the contrary every thing knows its own Voice and Cries after its own Dam or Mother and the Senses are the Officers Carriers or Conveyers of all things to the Central parts and Understanding so that all the hidden Powers and Qualities are awakened each Quality having its peculiar Appetite do direct and draw unto its self both Corporally and Spiritually not intermeddling with the Business of its Neighbour So this wonderful penetrating Sense is the only Guide of the Body and capable Power to present unto the Understanding and Judgement the Forms and Signatures of all things in the Animal Vegitable and Mineral Worlds by which an enlightened Philosophical Mind can in some degree by the Form and Signature understand the Complexion of each and consequently their Uses It is this Sense that doth likewise present unto the Intellectual part of Man all delightful and pleasant Prospects serene Airs and agreeable clean
was ordained viz. to an ill purpose and to their own damage to violate and oppress those of their own kind and all the innocent Inhabitants of the Earth breaking down all the Natural Laws and Bonds of Friendship between each other and destroying the Uniformity of all the under graduates This Sense is the greatest and most noble of all others for it makes the most hidden and mysterious things to appear and that which was and is inclosed in the very Centre of Darkness to become manifest that which was without motion to become Living that which was Cold to become Vigorous and full of Heat and Splendor by its peculiar power Mankind can as it were behold at once half the Globe Water and Earth with the wonderful Varieties and Mysteries therein contained In a word it is the Pleasure and Well-being of every Life and true Guide of all Actions The Eyes are the Gates through which the Spirits of life pass and repass having their ingress egress and regress through the whole Body on all sides by Pores but those that pass through the Eyes are more fine and transparent carrying with them a fiery powerful life and therefore if these two Gates are kept open too long the whole Body in a very little time becomes dull heavy and indisposed not being able to perform any Action or Exercise and this weight or heaviness will come on so strongly even like Death it self that all the powers of the Understanding and Mind cannot maintain the motion and vigour of the Body neither can the most choice Foods or Cordial Drinks but all become still and as it were benum'd For this cause persons may fast longer from Meats and Drinks than from Sleep therefore these Gates must be shut six or eight Hours in every twenty four or else Nature and our Bodies cannot subsist nor be able to go on with common business neither continue in a state of health so great is the necessity of Rest Therefore poor mean Meats and Drinks with a due proportion of Sleep will support and sustain Nature far bey ond the richest Foods and strongest Drinks with half the proportion of Sleep Wherefore all young People or Children ought to have their full time of Sleep and rest that making them strong lively and vigorous and fit for all Actions of Life Besides the Eye-lids are not only useful to preserve the fine thin pure Natural Spirits of Life from the usual motions by which all Actions and Exercises of life are performed but by their closing there is a kind of Cessation from their circular motions so that in this time of sleep the Spirits regain strength and vigour and thereby a new Life and Motion is Generated They likewise serve to many excellent uses in Nature so it defends this delicate tender Sight from all evils that may happen without in 50 60 or 70 years they are also of excellent use at all times or seasons to shut out the Light that the Evils Vanities Intemperances and Disorders lewd Sports and Plays that are daily Acted by Mankind to the great prejudice of himself and dishonour of God which all good Men ought to turn from and not so much as suffer this Glorious Light of Heaven to represent them to our understanding But above all to keep the Eye-lids of young People shut that they may not see the wickedness of this World at leastways as little as may be for vain things are the Pests and Distempers of every Age and whosoever avoids and shuns them as much as in him lies is the more happy And all Tutors and Parents instead of Tricking and Dressing their Children in Bravery and bringing them to Plays and Balls and Dancing Schools should represent to them all sorts of poor Tradesmen and Industrious People bringing them to places where they may see all sorts of poor indigent People who not only rise early but notwithstanding hard Labour and Pains fare very hard having ragged Cloaths and Shoes without Soles being all Dirty going about the Streets Cold and Hungry having no Food to Nourish them Also Weavers and Throwsters where great numbers of Boys and Girls are employed These and many others for want of Conduct and Education become barbarous in their Deportment Women as well as Men. These ought to be represented as Examples to those whose better circumstances will give them the advantage of Learning and Sobriety That it is not as some vainly imagine viz. Lost time to be well taught and skilled in several Arts and Sciences and that betimes too for Seeds Sown and Trees Planted in season bear the best Crop and brings forth the noblest Fruit and whatsoever thing you would not have your Children inclined to never let them see it for Children and young People use all Industry to imitate what they see Example and Precedent going beyond Precept The first is a compleat birth and substance the other but a Notion and no more than Air or Spirit without a Body which passes and repasses and is lost in an invisible breath or fume being quickly obliterated and forgot There are three degrees to be commenced before any thing in the mind of Man attains a compleat birth or come to be substantial the first degree is the Original thought or desire the second is this being modelled and banded to an fro by the five Councellors the inward Senses the Reason and Understanding being always at their Elbows to give necessary advice and this thought being represented to the Judgment to know whether it be fit or reasonable it should be Coyned into Words the next degree is putting these Words into Actions which does Crown the whole and makes the Birth substantial and compleat whether it be in the evil or in the good and can hardly ever be obliterated For instance if a Man think or imagine an evil thing and stop there he may easily repent and thereby annihilate it but if he bring this thought before the Judge by the Councellors and it is by them commanded to be Coyned into Words then if it be an evil thing it will be much harder repented of but if it proceed without Correction into Action then as is said before the case is much more difficult therefore Actions and Evil Precedents do Wound all People very deep more especially Children and young People therefore you ought not to let them see any thing that you would not have them practice as Soldiers in an Army Training fine Horses in their Furniture nor any sort of Shows or Games Fighting and Killing either of Man or Beast nor let them play with Dogs or such like Creatures for whatsoever is seen acted or practised takes deeper root than either that which is a Care Thought or Word every particular thing works on its likeness according to its power and whatsoever is done in the evil by Examples and Precedents the like is to be understood in the Vertuous and good courses of Life And were it possible to make Mankind intelligible
this great Sense of Life viz. the Feeling is universal and no part of the Body can subsist without it not so much as one moment and therefore when this Sense is Disordered or any Obstruction or Distemper invades it the whole becomes heavy dull and melancholy and Death quickly ensues so on the other side when it is in order the Motions and Circulations of the Body and Members are free from Obstructions then it is the true Pleasure of Life and all the other Senses are Subservient to this and rejoice in its Prosperity as being their Prince and King the Industry of all the others is to support and maintain this For if this Sense of Feeling sink none of the others are or can be well by the Innate Power of this Mankind and all Creatures viz. Animals distinguish between Joy and Sorrow Grief and Pain Sickness and Health Temperance and Gluttony also Hunger and Fullness Heat and Cold Weight or Lightness Hardness and Softness Fineness and Courseness Smoothness and Roughness Thickness and Thinness in a word in this Sense is apprehended and comprehended all Pleasures Touches and Embraces and as it were the very Centre of all natural Enjoyments both of the Body and Mind and therefore the great various and wonderful Powers of the whole Bows before it and with all endeavours each in its respective place to serve it with the highest diligence for the Life and Centre both of Joy Sorrow Pain and Pleasure is in this universal Sense Therefore all Powers yield their Obedience to it for this cause whensoever this Sense is Encountred or Invaded by any universal Disorder Intemperance or Uncleanness the Life of that part that suffers the Disorder immediately Perishes This the Learned call the Dead Palsy and several other Names they give this Disease which of all others is one of the most Dolorous and Melancholy which do attack and invade many Persons through disorderly Living and Intemperance Drinking and Eating both in Quantity and Quality such things that are too gross hard spirituous and of a strong fulsom Composition and Preparation from whence Juices of a proportionable Nature are Extracted which do infallibly generate thick gross Blood and impure Spirits which do as it were narrow stop and swell the Highways and natural Roads viz. The Porous Passages of the Body and the Nerves do by these thick Juices become stiff and Glewy so that the Blood and Spirits being touched with these Diseases and Infirmities cannot have their free Ingress Egress Regress and Circulation but are waylaied and stopt according to the degrees of these Obstructions the Diseases and the Distempers are more or less Now all Fumes and Vapours that many thousands of People especially Women are subject to as the Gout and all Obstructions Falling Sickness and several other cruel Maladies they are procured and likewise transferred from one Age to another for want of Wisdom Temperance and Cleanness in the Methods of Life for every Person does desire and incline to such and such Meats and Drinks Exercises and Communications according to the ruling Qualities and predominant Humours and their Equality and Inequality and the Nourishment Humours Blood Spirits and Dispositions are in proportion whence the Seed is Generated as being the Essence of all the natural Properties and Powers for this cause most or all the variety of new and old Diseases are transferred conveyed and intailed on their Posterity c. Therefore there is hardly found any Medicine capable to Câ—… them being so deeply rooted in the very Centre of Nature Now as these Diseases have encreased since Trade hath advanced so likewise have improper Compositions and Hetrogenial Preparations gotten great footing in the World bâ—… which every Age doth produce a new Off-spring of Diseases 〈◊〉 known or hardly heard of before as in this Nation since Stroâ—… Beer Ale and Wine became common Drinks and our comâ—… Foods compounded and mixed with Spices Sugar Spanish Fâ—… and several other Ingredients we say since this there aâ—… great number of cruel Distempers started up in Man's Body 〈◊〉 were not heard of before for every sort of Meat and Drâ—… hath the Key in its self to seek embrace and feel out its own likeness and hath an Innate Power in its Bosom or Centre to generate an Off-spring of its own Nature in proportion to the Nourishment such a thing affords as the Gout Stone Rhumatism Rickets and many Leprous or Scabby Diseases which within 70 80 100 or 200 years have been Midwifed into our Nation Now it is to be observed that all the other four Senses when they have gratified themselves and taken Pleasure even to the highest degree of Luxury Do slip their Necks out of the Collar as the Proverb has it leaving all their evil Works and Deeds of Darkness to this poor and most deplorable Sense of Feeling who is bound under the Iron Gates of various severe and intollerable Diseases all their malignant Influences the Taste Smell Hearing and Seeing shut their Gates and take their Rest but the Feeling is rarely ever quiet or easy Sleep and Rest gives them Resurrection and a new Life but the Feeling remains uneasy every Member and Joint akes and the whole Body is Indisposed Sleep being nothing else but a Transitory Death or an Occultation to a Renovation and therefore no Man nor other Creature can Subsist and Live except they Die near or altogether a third part of the time that is alotted them So that our Lives are a constant or continual Dying this being Matter of Fact why should Mankind be so fearful and timerous of Death seeing he that Lives 100 years is Dead more than 30 of it which time is an unaccountable to him as those that are really in Eternity where there is neither Time nor Place Near and Far off being altogether the same and no Man would be more concerned to Die than he is to Sleep if he had not broken the Law of his Maker by invading and bringing Desolation on all the Host of Heaven and Earth which is the Secret and Original of Mankinds Fear and the true cause of his Uneasiness and Perplexity for in this World there is no Creature that Lives without a continual Dying or becoming as it were Invisible Do not all the Herbs Fruits Seeds and Grains and whatever else appears in Bodies Shapes and Forms They we say do daily Die that they may be capable to reinvest themselves in new vigorous Bodies and do not all the Beasts of the Field every moment as it were enter into Death that they may be able to maintain a short Momentary Life though the Beasts do not enter so deeply into Death as Man Their Sleep being but a kind of waking in comparison of Mans for what Creature in the World is so drowsy and heavy as Man Nor is there any thing that sleeps so sound and deep or do require so much as he except some few that are called by the name of Sleepers whose Nature Original
times and tho' they are the swiftest of any others in Motion yet none of them can hold out so long for most certain it is that the swifter and quicker the motion of any Creature is the sooner the same is tired and wants rest Wherefore it 's a weak Imagination in any to suppose that several of our Birds that are not seen in the Winter fly into Foreign Countries beyond the Seas of which Sea-faring Men and Travellers know nothing at all not but that there are various sorts of Fowls and Birds seen 500 or it may be 1000 Leagues off at Sea but then they are such whose Constitutions are more or as much Watry as Earthy and Airy and that cannot only rest on the Water but also get great part of their Food from that Element being much of the Nature of our Ducks Swans and the like so that upon the whole 't is no ways probable that our Summer Birds do remove themselves into Transmarine Countries to Winter nor to make their Exits in but rather according to their Airy Original Die in places more agreeable to their Natures as I before noted so that the wonderful and most amazing Wisdom of the Great and ever Blessed Creator appears in through and over all his Works in that every particular specifick Body and sensible Creature is made compleat and wants nothing that can render it more Happy provided it keep within the bounds of its own Circle and Law and no additions then can contribute to its farther Blessing and tho' the degrees are wonderful and various as to Virtue and the contrary and that each from their own Qualifications have obtained their Names which originally distinguished their Natures according to the Meliority of them or otherwise yet the meanest and lowest degrees of Created Beings even the Reptiles of the Earth are altogether as compleat and happy in themselves as those that are in Nature and Composition many degrees higher Graduated so that the meanest have no Inclination to change Conditions with the highest nor the highest with the lowest every individual Species being content to dwell with in its own bounds wherein its Happiness consists and upon this ground there is no sensible Creature in the World that is miserable but only such as have broken the Bounds and natural Limits of their and others that are forc'd to break it so that upon the whole Man must be the only miserable Creature under Heaven both in respect to the Depravation of his own Nature and his having by Fraud and Cunning spread his Malignity and evil Influences thro' and over all the Under-graduates of Animals forcing many of them to act and yield Obedience to his violent Hands contrary to the Law wherein God had Circumscribed and their own natural Instinct Sir If I have made any undue Excursions in this my endeavouring to answer your desire I hope you will excuse me and attribute it to the barrenness of the Subject and not to any other design in me than to serve you as becomes SIR Your Friend and Servant T. T. LETTER XXXVII Of FERMENTATION SIR T IS much more out of Complaisance to your Desires than any real Opinion I have of my own Ability I shall attempt to answer the Abstruce Questions you were pleased to propose unto me in your Letter of the 26th of September concerning the wonderful Power of Fermentation together with the Reasons why the Fat Flesh and Blood of Animals cannot be fermented nor separated as all Vegetations can be nor one Quality Changed nor Transmuted into another AND first I am to observe to you that the Animal Ferment of the Stomach is not only higher Graduated as appears by its Virtue in Turning or Transmuting the Insensible into Sensible Creatures but by not dividing or separating the Original Forms and Qualities from their natural Operations or Phlegmy gross Bodies as common Fermentation does or according to that way and manner as Artists Ferment the Juices of Herbs Fruits and Grains whereby the gross Body is destroyed or sunk into 〈◊〉 stinking Liquor that invests the Original fiery Principles of their natural or gentle Methods but only by a fiery turbulent rendring thunder-like Motion and before which all those unbounded Powers and Principles were still and quiet being incircled in the Embraces of the sweet Quality and phlegmy Body as tho' no such fierce invading Fires or Principles had been there Now this comes to pass because Fermentation opposes all the regular Motions of Nature and the Eternal Law of the Creator as being a Death and total Destruction to Multiplication and Progression and not unlike unto the Deaths of Animals which cannot be effected without terrible fierce Agonies and indeed the dividing the Spirit from the Body without such a fierce turbulent and irresistible Motion is not to be done as is clearly evinced in all sweet Liquors or Juice whatever who when their sleeping silent Powers or original Properties are disturbed as they are in a full or strong Ferment all the Art in the World cannot incircle or tame them But the Fermentation of Food in our Stomachs as well as of all Beasts is performed after another manner imperceptible to the Creature wherein all is quiet and silent provided the Meats and Drinks be of a suitable Quality and not too great in Quantity And these sweeter Juices or Spirits that Nature draws or extracts for her Support are not divested of or separated from their natural Cloathing or Bodies neither are the sweet Qualities of such Foods Transmuted into fiery Spirits or first Principles for in such Cases the Body and Life could not be supported and continued but instead thereof the Nutriment is divided and distils its Virtues into Body and Spirits that is into Blood from whence are made and generated Flesh Bones Fat Spirits Inclinations Dispositions Words and all Actions of Life and for this reason the more equal our Meats and Drinks are the better is the Nutriment and consequently all the Off-springs proceeding from thence hence it is that the frequent Eating and Drinking unequal Foods never fail to beget and lay open the fierce Gates and invading Powers of Inequality called Sickness and particularly the Drinking of strong Spirits or Brandy does always prove baneful except in a Medicinal way because the original Principles are divested of their Body and Transmuted into a fiery Circle out of which there is no deliverance or progression so that you see the Stomach or Chymical Furnace does that in a silent Method which the outward Fermentation performs in a tumultuous Manner for in the first Elaboratory Natures Fires are so mild and friendly thâ—…t they do not disinherit the original Principles and Forms of their native Right or Propriety nor divide them into self-ful Desire or Transmute their beloved Spouse I mean the sweet and most aimable Quality into original Fires as the other does no no the original fierce Principles of all Food put into the Stomach do still notwithstanding the digesting melting
or separating Quality of the Stomach hide themselves and continue in the Arms and sweet Embraces of the uniting sweet Quality so that there is no such Division or Transmuting the Body and sweet Virtues into a fiery Principle as is done in Fermentation and Distilling therefore if the Meats and Drinks be temperate and equal in their Qualities the Nutritive Juices are the same thro' the whole Body and the Volatile Salt of such Foods influences the whole with its pleasant Virtues whence proceeds a brisâ—… lightsome Temper which is the highest pitch of Health not but that the equallest and best Meats and Drinks have the same fiery Principles hid in them as a Mystery which are not known nor perceived by the nicest and most curious Palates so long as is already hinted the Thing or Food remains entire But still they are there for they are the Father as we call it being the original of those things I mean the first and the last as is more apparent by the Excrements of all Animals and also by their Bodies when they fall into Putrefaction wherein there is a considerable quantity of Sal Petre or Nitre contained and in some more than others according as the Constitution of the Creature is hotter or colder but the hottest affords the most which being refin'd by Water and the help of Fire is separated from the phlegmy gross Parts of which Gun-powder is made that with the addition of other Sulphurs viz. Brimstone and Charcoal being the head Principle of that cruel fierce Fire which excâ—…eds all others as proceeding from grosser darker and more Excrementitious Matter and as it were generated in the very Abyss of evil Qualities wherein the Light and uniting good Qualities of Nature are wholly extinguished and as in the Art of Fermentation and Distillation all the sweet Virtues of the Vegetable Kingdom are Changed or Transmuted into a burning fiery Spirit the like Putrefaction does in the Bodies and Excrements of Animals and as this last is more heavy gross stinking and baneful so is the Production thereof And here give me leave to observe to you that there is no other way found out to separate or incircle the fiery Sal Nitral original Principles of Animals from their sweet Virtues than by Putrefaction all the Art and Skill of Man being not able to touch or unlock their Sulphur or Oily Bodies so strongly are their sweet Properties incircled by the Animal Digestion which does every moment advance and transmute Insensible into Sensible things and Inanimate into Animation by which wonderful Method and secret Operations of Nature Vegetables become higher Graduated and attain to the farthest pitch any Created thing can attain to which is a Sensitive Life and about which such a powerful and natural Circle is drawn as will admit of no farther Progression or Advance So that now it clearly follows that those things that have passed thro' the Animal Kingdom or Digestion of any sensitive Creature will not produce so clean a Nutriment and fine Spirits as Vegetables do each Production or Thing being mild or fierce and turbulent clean or the contrary according to the original from whence it proceeded and therefore I say farther 't is past the Skill of the most Ingenious Spagyricks to Extract any Cordial sweet Virtues from those original Sal Nitral Powers that all putrified Excrements or Bodies of Animals are endued with nor to cloath or reinvest them in their former Estate Beauty Virtue and Splendor that is to incircle them in the Royal Bodies of Phlegm wherein all the united Powers and four grand Qualities were contained before such Vegetations or Things had passed thro' the digesting Powers and Faculties of the Animal Kingdom that is the Stomach and all the circular Motions of Nature But this must be performed by the Progression and Hand-maid of God by whose circular Motions and Operations 't is effected For Example take some Compost or putrified Bodies or Excrements of Animals wherein is contained a considerable quantity of Sal Nitre or Salt Petre more or less according to the Disposition of the Creature for the original Salts from whence they proceed are of proportionable Complexions and therefore the Experienc'd Husband-man manages his Land accordingly some Dung being better for one sort than for anotâ—…r now lay these Excrements or putrified Matter upon poor Land wherein the Sal Nitral Qualities are weak and impotent and they do as it were in a moment by the assistance of Heat and Moisture together with the sweet Influences of the Sun and Elements mix and confederate with the fading Sal Nitral Properties of such Land whereby it brings forth considerable Crops of all sorts of Herbage Seeds Grains Trees and the like and this no Art is capable to imitate Now this degree of Equality that Vegetations have obtain'd by a gradual Progression and mystical Operation of Nature Fermentation does as it were in a moment disunite whereby the original Forms become tumultuous each Form with a rapid invading Motion laying as I may say violent Hands on the Child of Love which is the sweet Quality so that by this friction boiling and fierce Motion the whole Liquor or Thing becomes sharpned or racy which while the original Principles remain'd united to the sweet Quality all was silent and as it were asleep without Motion or Action and this is evident in the Art both of Brewing and Distilling and this turbulent Motion or Ferment is stronger or weaker according to the degrees and strength of the sweet Quality and heat of the Season Now Fermentation is an opposite and contrary Motion to Nature and so threatens the total Destruction of the whole being as it were a Death to the united Powers and uniform Principles and a prevention of all farther Progression and therefore whatever is done by Art this way can never be retrieved or the Forms and Properties of Nature united but only by the fore-mentioned way The same is to be understood in the Animal Kingdom for as soon as the four grand Qualities be awaken'd or rouz'd up then great Agonies are immediately felt according to the degrees of Fermentation and here by the way I am to observe that all Spagyrical Fermentations of Animals as aforesaid is Diametrically opposed and forbid by the Laws of God and Nature and indeed if that did not stand in Mankind's way it 's not to be doubted but he would long since have Extracted lofty high Drinks from the Blood Flesh and Fat of Animals as also from the Flesh of Fish seeing he loves such Liquors so well and consequently would have been Drunk with the Blood of his Fellow Creature and indeed there has been no Art wanting in Man to Extract the more Essential parts from the meaner that is to get the Blood and Gravey as they call it but instead of obtaining the finer cleaner Juices they have an addition of contrary Qualities that is heavy gross dull unclean Matter that is more subject to an hasty Putrefaction
than that which they leave or reject Now the Stomach cannot make so easy a Digestion thereof as it can of Foods made of Vegetations if properly managed in the Preparation which is the reason why some have refrained Eating of Animals whereby they have obtained an higher degree of Health and Pleasure than they had before Now it is to be noted that as Fermentation in Vegetables breaks and destroys the Rest of that thing so Drinks that have passed thro' these fiery Operations are changed for the worse that is the original Unity by this Motion is disturbed and there is an unequal working struggling and dividing Power between tâ—…em each Quality endeavouring to be Lord over the other whereby the whole sinks into its original Form and all such Liquors in a short time become sharp harsh or flat so that both the Water and the Juices of the Fruits become divested of their natural Bodies which as long as any thing remains entire incircles all the spiritual Powers or original Principles and preserves them in the Unity wherein they were Created wherefore all Fermented Drinks and more especially those that are strong never fail to operate like themselves so that as the original Forms are by this Art divided in a self-ful domineering Operation the very same they do in the Stomach wherefore the common drinking of such Liquors are Experimentally found baneful to Mankind by the great number of cruel Diseases that more particularly of latter years have been introduc'd amongst us especially Gravel Stone Gout and the like Evils which the Natives of all such Countries who constantly drink Water know nothing of tho' it is not such Liquors alone that are thus destructive to Humane Nature for since sensible Creatures I mean Flesh and Fish are become our principal Food Mankind not only inherits all the Disorders and Diseases such Creatures as he Eats are subject to he having little or no regard to Cleanness Uncleanness Season of the year and of Generation but the worst of all is these cruel Distempers are convey'd down and entailed upon our Children and Posterity and therefore grow more and more upon us and there are no Medicines found out that will Cure them for the Stomach cannot draw any proper Aliment from things that have passed thro' the fierce unequal Operations of Fermentation because Inequality cannot administer Equality each thing operating like it self and for this cause if Mens Foods were to be managed after the manner of Drinks they would in a short time destroy Mens Health and sink the Body into Death and hence it is and I presume with very good reason too that I have given Water the Preheminence before all Liquors as in respect to Food I have done to Herbs Seeds Grains and Fruits whatever the unthinking World may imagine to the contrary and since we find there can be no greater Character of the Virtues of Meats and Drinks than their long keeping sound and good and that Fruits Grains and Seeds together with Water do so much longer than Flesh Fish or Fermented Liquors one should think there could be no difficulty made in the choice of them seeing the Almighty hath provided such amazing varieties of Vegetables for us and much easier to be got than either Fish or Flesh. But to return to the Art of Fermentation as to the Original thereof it was first found out and promoted by the Egyptians or Eastern Philosophers and Physicians for as soon as Man had depraved and separated himself from his Original state of Unity all the Original Qualities and Principles in him were terribly stirred up by his longing free Will after all Intemperances and Evils to which he was continually tossed to and fro so that many destructive dark Inventions have and do still take their rise from thence which did and ever since have filled the whole Earth with Violence and as such Inventions and evil Customs have been admitted and incouraged so have our Diseases proportionably encreased which has occasioned the more prudent and sober part of former Ages to think of and invent equivalent Medicines or Antidotes and so went to work raking as it were into the Center of all Elemental Things and Creatures and more especially into the three Grand Kingdoms of Nature viz. the Animal Vegetable and Mineral to find out an Universal Medicine that might be able to cope with or Cure Universal Distempers concluding there was no Vice so great but there was a Virtue as great which if obtained might be effectual to that end But herein the most Learned and Ingenuous of all Ages have found themselves grosly mistaken as experience witnesseth yet for all their continued Failures every Age and Country are still pestered with a great number of those Philosophical Heads that tell Lies in the face of the Sun and magnify what they can do in this kind especially on Minerals It s true they have been able by the power of their Calcinary Fires to Flux and Refine Metals into a much higher degree of purity and fineness which has proved very beneficial to Mankind as being thereby fitted for various profitable uses But all this while they found no such thing as the Seeds of Metals nor yet any Ferment that was capable to divide the Original Forms or to bring them into a working boyling active power or strifeful opposite motion which Qualifications and Operations do appear in all things that are capable of Fermentation as we see in Vegetables but instead of extracting or obtaining such Seed or Ferment they procured all the opposite qualities for their fierce Fires did in a moment destroy all the Seminary or Living powers of such Metals of what kind or nature soever they were and totally obliterated the Characters and Powers of Multiplication The very same thing happens in the Vegetative Kingdoms for if you offer any Seed or Grain to the heat of common Fires a little will kill all the Spermatick or Seminary Quality which that moment puts a final stop both to the progression and multiplication of the said Seed or Grain and no better can surely be expected from such fiery Tryals in the Animal Kingdom Will any Person of common understanding believe you should you tell him that by Killing of Beasts and refining their Flesh and Blood with harsh and strong Fires you can obtain the Seed and that by the virtue and efficacy thereof with the help of some Menstruum you can multiply the same Species of Creatures from Tenfold to Ten Thousand as some of the Learned in the Art of Refining are apt to talk and boast of But so far it is from being in Mans power to effect this that we see if two Beasts of different kinds couple together the Creature that proceeds from such is rendred uncapable of Generation so fruitless have most of our Spagyrick Philosophers in all Ages been mostly both in their fiery Operations on Minerals and Animals and all they have done has been but to draw a circle of Darkness