the blood drawne from the body it is most euident by the example of witches The Deuill sucketh blood from them this blood remaining with the Deuill participates of his maligne nature and hauing recourse by the spirits thereof vnto the Witches body maketh all their blood sympathise with that the Deuill hath and so the blood changeth the Witches nature and they become maligne and Diabolic all Here againe you may see that hee wresteth my Text beyond his true intended sense But I will yeeld him his desire and will please the Gentleman in his humour The act of his neate wiping Sponge vpon this Text. The Doctor proueth it by the example of blood sucked by the Deuill from Witches which remaining with the Deuill and sympathising with the blood in Witches bodies changeth their nature and makâ—…s them become maligne and Diabolicall O profound example Here Master Doctor 〈◊〉 a ground of his Argument which neither true philosophy nor orthodox Diuinity will giue vs leaue to assent vnto The Witches blood remaining with the blood-sucker the Deuill sympathiseth with the blood of the witches body How can this be How can blood a substance corporeall remaine with the Deuill incorporeall c Here this his Sponges validity is squeesed out O wonderous wit of our Sponge-bearer O light and spongy vnderstanding of so weighty a conception But if indeed Angels as he saith were incorporeall how could meate and drink a substance corporeal remaine with the Angels which Abraham entertained if they were incorporeall or if they assumed bodies accidentally could they eare and drinke with them naturally or was Abraham so senselesse to offer counterfeit shapes meat and drinke Surely a man so profound in diuine mysteries would not haue beene so absurd as to haue offered them his food if he had knowne that it would not naturally haue nourished them The same absurdity might iustly haue beene imputed vnto Lot Verily it is aboue the reach of Worldlings to scan rightly or discouer iustly this doubt But suppose it be granted that Angels and Deuils be not corporeall but spirituall creatures yet he confesseth elsewhere that the Deuill can indue and put on an organicall body namely of a man a Dog or Cat and consequently those Angels indued humane shapes I pray you when a squirt or syrynge or boxing glasse draweth is it the organ or the spirit in the organ that draweth Man operateth not with his body but with the inward spirit neither doth blood act any thing of it selfe but by the occult viuifying spirit which acteth in it Mans throat and tongue serue as organs of voyce but it is the Spirit that acteth If the Deuill enter into a body as he did into the Swine and humane bodies did he not make vse of the organicall voyce of the Beast and those men to speak vnto Christ But it was the spirituall act of the Deuill which did mingle it selfe with the aëry spirit of the Beast and man possessed and made it to answer according to the will of the Agent so I say that by the ayde of the creatures mouth and spirit which it indued it did suck the blood not that the blood in his grosse nature did abide with the Deuill in his spirituall substance but I say that the spirituall substance in the blood which participates of ayre is easie to ioyne and make an vnion by the contract with that of the Deuill euen as we see that Amber when it is burnt sendeth forth his spirit which vniting or mingling it selfe with the ayre infects it with his odoriferous nature and so there is an actuall communication made betweene the ayre and the fume betweene the spirit of the one and the other betweene a Priuy-house or plaguy Botch infecting and the spirit of the ayre infected the which ayre communicateth also that infection vnto the spirit of the smeller Againe doe we not see in one infected with the plague that first it was a corrupt spirit which by the virtuall contact ofit did infect not the blood onely but the inuisible spirits in the blood And doe we not see also that the same inuisible spirit so infecting doth inuisibly also infect the inuisible ayre about it and though it be in part exspired out of the body and blood yet it hath such communication with the blood that for all that the inuisible fume infecteth abroad not leauing neuerthelesse his persecution at home If therefore the Botch of the Plague in one man which the Prophet Abaku ' termeth the Daemonium or Deuill of the South doth infect the spirituall blood of another it is not the bodily Botch that doth it but the infected spirit in it The corporeall Boâ—…ch therefore we compare to the body assumed by the Deuill and the corrupting spirit vnto the Deuill Wherefore as we see that after the Botch of the one hath touched the person of another the spirit easily by reason of the reciprocall similitude of them communicate with one another so that although the party that hath the Botch departeth neuer so farre yet neuerthelesse the malignant spirit 〈◊〉 with the blood of the last infected and conuerteth it absolutely into his malignant nature Is it then impossible that the spirituall maligniâ—…y of the Deuill by a contactuall sucking of the blood should contaminate with the malignity of his spirit the spirit of the blood of the party sucked and leaue it so infected and changed vnto his owne nature as the venemous spirit of the Plague into a plaguy disposition Did not the Deuill worke the very same feate with Iudas his spirit when it was said 〈◊〉 Diabolus in cor 〈◊〉 vt traderet Christum hee sent or put it into the heart of ludas to betray Christ That is hee infecteth his spirit first and those spirits corrupted his thoughts or vnderstanding for without the helpe of a medium the Deuill being expelled from Heauen can not attempt the heauen of mans vnderstanding But to answer Master Foster at his owne weapon I meane that quick-sented Gentleman that so soone can smell a Rat What doth he thinke that Deuils haue not tenuia corpora Yea verily for he hath for it as he sayeth authorities of Scripture Counsels Fathers and Schoolemen to confirme so much But by the way he saith The Doctor who impiously attributes composition in God dareâ—… falsly attribute corporeity to Deuils In the first place M. Foster hath the Deuill the father of lyes for his Foster-father who can both foster and father vntruth vpon any one But as I haue said before the simple Frier Marinus Mersennus saith so namely because I auerred that the Spirit of the Lord filled and animated the heauenly Spirit Ergò saith he Fludd maketh God a part of Composition and therefore Master Parson holding the Friers words as an Oracle without pondering the sense of the businesse blundereth out like a Parrat these very words of the Frier The Doctor doth impiously attribute Composition vnto God But if I say that God is
spirit of the lesser world or man For the selfe-same spirit that viuifieth the ayre in the great world after a foure-fold fashion bringeth forth the very same effects in the lesser which I proue in this manner The Prophet saith A quatuor ventis adueni ô spiritus perflato interfectos istos vt reuiuiscant c. Come O spirit from the foure winds and breath vpon these flaughtered persons that they may liue againe and the breath came into them and they liued and they stood on their feet By which words wee may gather these foure things First that it was one onely Spirit which was indued with the property of the foure winds according to whose variety in properties the foure winds were animated with contrary natures that they might worke after a foure-fold manner in the Catholike element of the world to effect the will of the Creator in any manner whatsoeuer Next that this Spirit which is the essentiall actor and mouer in the winds was that incorruptible spirit of the Lord by the which hee vseth according to that of the Apostle to viuifie all things and vnto that of the Prophet dare â—…atum populo spiritum calcantibus terram to giue breath vnto the people and a spirit to all that trace on the earth or vnto that of Iudith emittere spiritum creare omnes creaturas to send foorth his spirit and to create by it all creatures or according to that of Esdras Spiramine suo facere omnia serutinare â—…mnia in absconditis terrae to make all things by his breath and to search out by it all things that are in the bowells of the earth or according vnto that of Iob Apponere homini animam suum cuilibet creaturae nam fi spirituÌ„ seuflatum suuâ—… ad se reciperet veltraheret omnis caro expirato giue man his spirit of life and to euery creature for if God should receiue or draw vnto himselfe his spirit all flesh would expire And therefore in this place when the dead bodies should arise againe hee commanded the Prophet to say Come spirit from the foure winds as if hee should say Come O thou Catholike and Vniuersall spirit of life of the world and doe thy office in viuifying and making the dead to liue againe Thirdly that this same spirit is it by which the Apostle doth acknowledge that God worketh all in all sometimes giuing life by taking away the killing Northerne cold and dissoluing the deadly or immobil congelation of spirits which did stupifie them as it were with the sleepy and restfull enchantment of Morphaeus by his Southerne or Easternely properties which is to liquifie resolue and giue a new motion and life to spirits congealed and stupified by the Northern property and therefore Dauid saith in the foresaid Text Emittit verbunâ—… liquefacit ista simul ac efflat ventum suuÌ„ effluunt aquae Hee sendeth forth his Word and melteth them as soone as hee bloweth forth his wind the congealed and as it were dead waters â—…oue and flow againe whereby we ought to obserue that it is Gods Word or his incorrupble spirit which animateth the winds Fourthly that the very selfe-same spirit which viuifieht and giueth life and motion vnto the great worlds spirit and at his pleasure by a contrary property killeth stupifieth ceaseth to act by life motion congealing mortally doth performe the very selfe-same office when the will of the Father is in the Catholike spirit of the little world or man yea in euery creature And therefore Iob saith It is God that wounâ—…eth or striketh and it is he that cureth the reason heere hee sheweth in the place before mentiened as also wee may find in Deuteronomy I will kill and I will make aliue againe and Salomon saith Thou hast the power of â—…fe and death in thine hand Thou bringest vnto the graue and bringest backe againe and the Sonne of Syrach Vita mors bonum malum à Deo sunt Life and death good and euill are from God Wherefore as this secret and mysticall spirit hath breathed into the dead a blast of life so that very blast or breath is essentially of the nature property and Will of the Breather which was to make aliue by a quickning and not a stupifying spirit and thereupon created spirits which were before congealed and mortified became now quickned and liuely and were closed in an externall body and in an ayery or bloody vehicle which by vertue of this quickning blast his spirit did moue in the channels or veines and arteries being animated by the vertue of that spirit of life And this is the reason that God did ordaine so strict precepts touching the blood of the creatures as is said before namely that it should not be eaten as is aboue related because in it is the spirit of life or the soule of the creature in which is the spirituall vertue of the foure winds For in this action of life hee exerciseth the very same property in the heart of the creature or little world as hee doth in the heauenly sunne of the great world For as the Sunne is hot operating by rarefaction and exciting vnto motion and therefore reuiuing and multiplying as well in vegetation as in generation graines plants and other animated things of the earth powring downe from aboue the beames of life and light vnto the inferiour creatures euen so this incorruptible spirit or blast of life thus infused into man is the spirituall Sunne of the little world who maketh the heart which represents the body of the celestiall Sunne his Tabernacle from which by the arteries and vaines he sendeth forth his beames and animateth the vniuersall spirit of mans fabrick and maketh the blood agill fluent and liuely euer mouing and operating vnto the nourishment and preseruation of the members as well with naturall as vitall spirits cauâ—…ng both corporall and spirituall vegetation and multiplication of parts in euerie specificall bodie But now that I may in this place touch in few words though somewhat allaterally Master Fosters Aristotelicall limited spheare of Actiuity which the old Schoolemen haue so tumbled and tossed in their externall Phantasies without any centrall regard vnto this true and essentiall viuifying and vegetating spirits dilatiue or contractiue power I would faine know whether any worldly philosophicall Axiome can conclude or limit this princely spirit of the foure Winds which bloweth and breatheth as well in the great world as little when where how farre and at what distance it pleaseth I will first giue an example of his action from each wind in the great world and shew you how it commandeth carrieth and dilateth the spirit of the vegetable Creature Wee can gather and collect the virtuall operation of the vegetable ad distans by no meanes but by the scent as for example Rosemary and Sassaphras c Doe emitt their spirit into the Aire at a proportionated distance more or lesse
it pleaseth and therefore at what distance it listeth as well with the vertues of heauen as with the dwellers on the earth If this great Aduersary to the Weapon-Salue-Salue would but consider the wonderfull operation that this Catholicke spirit produceth in this cold and contracting facultie as when he moueth from the North and maketh snow frost and Ice by the contracting of the thin spirit of the world into a thick body and sucketh vp the fountaines of the earth on high all which is done by contracting his action from the circumference vnto the center or emission from the center to the circumference causing the common element to alter from a dilated spirit to a contracted body And againe from a contracted body to a dilated one for by an alteration quite opposite to his Boreall act or Northerne disposition it vndoeth in his dilating property and resolueth all that it did effect by his cold condition in mouing and making aliue againe the waters that were congealed rendring them diaphanous or transparent and spirituall or inuisible things though they were before thick opack dark corporall and visible And againe if he with discretion would consider how it doth depresse and strike downe into the earth the fountaines by his presence in his Sunny tabernacle which by his cold propertie were raysed out of the eartâ—… If I say hee would well ponder with himselfe how the â—…unne being now in the South beyond the Equinoctiall doth subtilitate there the thick Ayre and dissolue the frosty snowy and Icy effects which the cold did make in that Hemispheare whilest the Sunnes presence in the Northerne world did worke â—…ere contrary effects and how on this side the Equinoctiall by his contractiue faculty it partly sucketh vp the fountaines of the Southerne world out of the earth and partly by his dilatiue action depresseth on that side the said fountaines appearing in the Northerne Climats Then would he not call the action of this most potent spirit in question or limit it according to the phantastick opinion of some men within an imaginary spheare of actiuity being that this spirit is from him who filleth all and operateth all and in all and therefore consequently effecteth the great works of contraction and dilatation which are so apparant in euery Angle of the world Will he circumscribe this action of eleuating fountaines and againe depressing them within any spheare or orbe except it bee that of the round world Will hee thinke that this action made betweene the potentiall habit of priuation or cold and that of life and position which is heate requireth a small interuall to make the two extremes so farre distant from each other as the North is from the South to meete and concurre in a Symphoniacall proportion The hotter and more intemperate and consequently the more dilatiue the one Hemispheare is the colder and more contractiue is the opposite And therefore the more depression of fountaines there is by extreme heate in the one Hemispheare the more are they sucked drawne vp out of the earth by the attâ—…actiue vertue of the extreme cold of the other This I can and will be ready to demonstrate to any one that doubteth of this point by an ocular conclusion or demonstration It is euident therfore by this which we haue produced that this magneticall kind of cure is Donum Dei the Gift of God according vnto Paracelsus his opinion and not the act of the Deuill as Master Foster most vnchristianly hath published attributing against reason and conscience that vnto the Deuill the worst and foulest of spirits whose office is onely destructiue and wounding and not constructiue or healing which is the onely property of this best fayrest or purest of all spirits on whom attend all good Angels to doe his will as the Deuill hath his bad angels to destroy You may therefore see by this Gentle Reader how life is breathed into the creature by Gods good Spirit of life how his seate or vehicle in which he moueth is the blood how that fat flesh and bones haue their life and vegetation from the spirit that moueth in the blood how this spirit operateth priuatiuely by contracting his beames of life from the circumference vnto the center of the Creature where it resteth or rather ceaseth to operate the effects of his office of life as it is made manifest in the dead congealed blood or graineof wheat and againe it operateth positiuely to life by which it reuiueth that which was dead by sending out his act from the centre to the circumference of the creature as it doth in the graine of Wheat buryed in the ground or the congealed blood cleauing eyther to stick or weapon conueyed to the oyntment as his most naturalest earth I shewed you how the spirit is all one and vndiuisible and therefore that this which resideth in the salue and that which operateth in the body are concatenated or continuated essentially one to another as being all one spirit though it commeth from the foure winds not diuided I say in essence but onely differing in property for it worketh contractingly by eold dilatingly by heate also that there is but one common vehicle which carryeth this spirit in the Etheriall substance of the blood And lastly that because the oyntment is made of mans blood mans fat mans flesh or mummy and the fumous excrescence of mans bones called vznie or the mosse that groweth on the skull according vnto my receit and for that the nature of the Catholike spirit thus specified is in the oyntment though not working and is stirred vp to operate by the vnion which it hath now from the beames of the liâ—…ely and operating spirit of the wounded no otherwise then the Sunne doth operate on the earth in which the dead graine of Wheat lyeth and with it calleth or stirreth vp the centrall spirit occult in the dead blood to operate as the Sunne beame doth the atome of life which is in the graine Therefore the mixtion of these two spirits now operating in one viuifying vnion makes them to tend vnto the fountaine of life as the graine rifing out of the earth would carry also his like which was clad in earth vpward toward his natiue home did not the heauy coats of the elements hinder his further ascent But because this earth or salue is more spirituall it sendeth out his power vnto the blood by that harmony which the continuation of spirit doth effect namely as it were by an vnison by reason of the vniformity of the specifick spirit belonging vnto man by the vnion whereof the foure discordant elements and euery member of mans body are vnited vnto a fympatheticall harmony adopted to the vse of life in the creature yea also forasmuch as the blood flesh fat and bones in all other vnreasonable creatures are framed out of one kinde of elementary forme and fashioned alike by the same operating spirit it is no maruell if his blood being brought vnto the
Weapon communicateth it to the blood fixed on it the blood to the spirits the spirits conducted by the ayre communicate it to the body and so the Patient is without application of plaister healed naturally c. It is plainely and euidently here to be discerned how he corrupteth my text to make it serue his owne ends For first I make no mention of a streight or direct Line onely I speake of carrying and direction of the vitall spirits from the body wounded vnto the Box of Oyntment and then of the magneticall attraction of the sanatiue vertue back againe by an inuisible Line protracted in the ayre Then he saith as from my text that the Weapon doth communicate the vertue of the Oyntment vnto the blood fixed on it But I neither said or meant any such matter for there is a neerer consanguinity betwixt the Oyntment and the blood then betweene the Weapon and the Oyntment But I care so little for him and his deuices as that I will let him haue his will The act of his cleansing Sponge vpon this Fiftly â—…deny Master Doctors Carrier viz. his direct inuisible Line carrying the sanatiue vertue so many miles from the Weapon vnto the Wound Surely this is Tom Long the Carrier who will neuer doe his arrant But the Sunne with his beames is a true Messenger betweene Heauen and Earth and so this Salue 〈◊〉 the Weapon and the Wound O incomparable comparison The Sunne is called quasi solus as hauing no pecre no creature working like it But the Doctor like another Archimedes can make one working by sending forth beames like it Though you call this my Messenger Tom Long the Carrier yet shall it doe his aâ—…ant so surely and returne so suddenly vpon you his slanderer being carried on the swift wings of verity that in the conclusion of this text it shall giue you but Iack Drummes entertainment for your reward I doe not say good Sir that as the Sunne-beame is a true Messenger betwixt Heauen and Earth so the Salue is a Messenger betwixt the Weapon and the Wound O admirable capacity of so learned a Gentleman in his owne conceit to imagine things that are not but I say that as the Sunne-beame is a Messenger betwixt Heauen and Earth so is the beame of the viuifying and incorruptible Spirit in the inward man which is his Heauen vnto the blood which lyeth hid in the Oyntment no otherwise then the graine of Corne in a good and fertill earth receiueth the viuifying comfort of the Sunne-beames by which after putrifaction of the graine it doth by a magnetick power draw the little soule now at liberty vpward towards his Fountaine of life from whence it descended the yeere before for the multiplying of the graine But because it is hindred by his elementary body it remaines houering in the ayre and by sucking down from aboue more of his like it multiplyeth from one graine vnto a great many Is it therefore impossible that the like might happen betweene the beame issuing from the body and the corrupted blood in the Oyntment the small Atome of life by 〈◊〉 of the dead blood arising and without impediment of his vnctuous earth sucked by little and little vnto his Fountaine of life But because all this is liuely expressed in mine answer vnto the very selfesame obiection made in the first and second Chapter of the second Member of this Treatise I will refer the Reader vnto those places where he shall finde all the Contents of this his insufficient Confutation answered his Sponge thorowly squeesed and all his rancor and venom pretended against this my Text quite crushed out and annihilated Then he proceedeth thus The Sunne is called quasi solus as bauing no peere no creature working like it but the Doctor like another Archimedes c. Good Master Parson semper excipio Platonem That incorruptible Spirit which as the Sonne of Syrach telleth vs was created before all things must be excepted Doe you marke this Sir For I told you that your Sponge in the inquisition of this text would haue but Iack Drummes entertainment I hope you will not preferre the visible Sunne either in glory or actiuity before this Diuine Spirit which giueth it glory and actiuity What The creature before the Creator The matter before the forme The Patient before the Agent Is this Master Parsons good diuinity Or doth Philosophy teach him thus much Whatsoeuer Tully telleth vs that this is reuer â solus in mundo actor It is certaine that it was this Spirit which put his Tabernacle in the Sunne of Heauen and by it only the Sunne liueth moueth and operateth here below and there aboue and it is one and the same Spirit which imparteth vnto all creatures and consequently vnto vs men the spirit of life by which we liue moue and haue our being It is he that hath reciprocally put his Tabernacle in man as well as in the Sunne and therefore are we termed the Members of Christ and Temples of the Holy Ghost Whereby the wisdome of Master Foster nay of a Christian Diuine may bee well skanned and discerned in saying in his text But D. Fludd like another Archimedes can make one working by sending forth beames like it c. No verily I will not be so bold to ascribe vnto my selfe that which belongeth onely vnto God my Creator howsoeuer Master Foster would ascribe it to the Deuill Concerning the full answer vnto this his Confutation I referre you as is said vnto the second Member of this Treatise I will proceede now vnto the greatest assault wherein his Sponge rubbeth very hard against my Text but preuaileth no more then they which goe about to wash away the colour of a Black-moore It will proue I hope a meere labour in vaine CHAP. VI. How contrary vnto our Spongy Cabalists intention it is proued first that euill spirits may contaminate and alter into their nature the aëry spirit of man as also that Deuils haue aëry bodies allotted vnto them in their creation Lastly the mutability and vnconstancy of the Consutor in his mayne Argument is discouered Doctor Fludds Text. FRom hence therefore ariseth that secret combination and vnion which is made betweene the euill spirit and the Cacomagicians or Witches by the which foolish men 〈◊〉 filthily deceiued by the Deuill whereupon the Deuill or malignant spirit by the alluerment of such a reward doth accomplish the will or desire of the witch And hereupon a compact is made betweene them namely that the spirit in what shape soeuer may sucke daily a portion of blood whereby the spirit lurking in the blood of the Magician may be made of one nature and condition with that of the malignant spirit and so his spirit was conuerted into a 〈◊〉 condition whereby it is impossible for him to depart from the worship of the Deuill Master Fosters Collection from the Text. That there is such a sympathy betwixt the blood in the body and
the last doe conuert themselues from the Deuill to God so God bee thanked this Weapon-Salue his Aduersarie led rather by a good Spirit then his owne will concludes truely and saith that it is not the good Angels and therefore much lesse the Deuill that can doe such a feate but God onely I reioyce at his conuersion though against his will Loe how he accordeth with his great enemy that damned Magitian Paracelsus as he tearmeth him who affirmed that it was Donum Dei As concerning his authors which he citeth against it I esteem them not there are as many for it of a better authority and Iudgement For they are neither your Schoolemen who deale onely in imaginary speculatiue Philosophy nor Ioanâ—…es Roberti the Iesuit and such like phantasticall Theorickes but learned Physicians great Philosophers both theorically and practically profound in the mysteries of nature and therefore the fitter persons to discusse a businesse of this physicall nature Amongst the which I nominat in the first place the Bishop Anselme who for his integrity deepe learning and holâ—…nesse of life is canonized a Saint and then amongst the deepe Philosophers and Physicians which haue been conversant in the Mysteries of God and nature Theophrastus Paracelsus who tearmes it iustly Donum Dei Cardanus Ioannes Bapista Porta Oswaldus Collius Ioannes Ernestus Burgrauius Rodulphus Goclinius Ioannes Baptista ab Helmont and many other excellent and well experimented Philosophers Physicians who as well by the practicall art of Alchymy then which there is no Science in the world that doth more ocularly bewray and discouer the hidden mysteries of Nature as other assiduall obseruations grounded vpon proofe and not on imaginary contemplation onely haue like true philosophers diued into this mystery of healing Men I say who haue beene as subtill to eschew and wary to foresee the Diuels craft yea and to distinguish his act from that of God in Nature as Master Foster or any other of his paedagogicall Rabbies And although some superstitious Physicians of this kingdome such I meane as are apter rashly to iudge this businesse then to ponder it with due consideration may seeme to bee aduerse vnto it yet they cannot choose but know that Plura latent quam quae patent there are many thousand things more that are hidden in the secret closet of nature then commonly man doth know or can at the first discerne And therefore if they are ignorant in this myâ—…ery it will prooue an effect of their highest wise-dome to hold their peace and not meddle in the censuring of it as being assured that there are many things hidden in Nature which fall not in the spheare of their capacity verbum Sapienti Againe I esteeme it a thing fit for freshwater Souldiers in Philosophy and not for a settled person in the secrets of nature to say Ipse dixit this man or that man saith or writeth thus and thus Ergo it is so because humanum est errare Ti 's most familiar euen in the wisest men to erre but it is the best wisdome in a Philosopher first to diue wisely into the Mysteries of God in Nature and then being confident to conclude demostratiuely and not according to other mens sayings but on his owne knowledge Now seeing Master Foster hath done his worst for the vilifying and calumniating of this excellent Medicine vnto which by manner of opposition I haue as yet but superficially and by way of solution of his obiections answered I hope you will giue mee leaue to doe my best to squeese out of his formidable Sponge the Weapon-Salues reputation which like a cormorant it hath deuoured and sucked vp The Question Whether the cure of wounds by the Weapon-Salue bee witchcraft and vnlawfull to be vsed I deny it and maintaine it two manner of wayes First Theologically Lastly Theophilosophically or by the purest naturall Philosophy CHAP. II. Herein the vertue and good operation of the Weapon-Oyntment is prooued to be the Gift of God and not any act of the Diuell MAster Foster saith that Paracelsus affirmeth the vertue of this medicine to bee Donum Dei the Gift of God wherefore hee is very angry with him and called him a witch a Coniurer and a Magitian Hee is well serued that will preach goodnesse either to a mad man or an vnthankfull person or to one that is zealous without vnderstanding But whereas Master Foster hath done his best to proue the vse of this ointment to bee Magicall prestigious and Diabolicall I hope I shall demonstrate the contrarie vpon the same foundations ascribing the due and right belonging vnto God vnto the right owner and depriuing the Diuell of that which by his instruments he hath falsely vsurped As before we presume to build any stately Palace wee must lay a strong foundation to vphold the whole fabricke thereof euen so before we enterprize to establish or reare a strong Castle of defence to serue as a firmer Negatiue opposition against mine Aduersaries affirmation I thinke it fit to collect some firme grounds or spirituall arguments which in lieu of corner stones may statuminate and prop vp the whole truth of the proposed Question and expresse the true resolution of it to bee cleane adverse and different from that which he maketh shew of I will therefore imitate him in making my entrance into this enquiry with this Sillogistical argument grounded on his owne confession which he maketh Pag. 7. The Angels of Heauen saith he cannot worke at such a distance onely God whose Essence is infinit and is omnia in omnibus all in all can worke thus If God therefore worketh all in all by himselfe without the essentiall Assistance of any created spirit or body then the Diuell is no Actor in the Weapon Salue but God worketh all in all of himselfe without the essentiall Assistance of any creature Therefore the Diuell operateth nothing of or by himselfe although he in his office is euill and destructiue much lesse in doing good as is supposed by the curing through the Weapon-Salue which is vtterly against his condition being created or ordained after his fall for another vse The Maior is euident because a Generall comprehendeth euery particular And therefore if God operateth all in all then the Diuell operateth nothing but curing is an operation and therefore a worke onely of God The Minor or the assumption is iustified by the Apostle in these words There are diuersitie of gifts but the same spirit and there are diuersitie of Administrations but one Lord and there are diuersitie of operations but one God and the same worketh all in all It is by one and the same spirit that the gifts of healing are giuen Whereby it is apparent that first God by his Spirit operateth all in all and among those operati-ons the excellent act and gift of healing is numbred Therefore it is not the Diuell but God who onely healeth Againe the prophet saith He sent his Word and healed them And the wise man saith
it is bounded with no limites and for this reason it is said the Spirit bloweth where it listeth and that without resistance that this spirit can conuert it selfe from an actiue and liuely power into a potentiall congealing c deadly property in the Creature by withdrawing his actuall beames from the circumference of the Creature whither it did emit them for liuely actiuities sake into the centre that is within it selfe where it doth in respect of the Creature rest and so depriueth the Creatures spirit by congealation of the motion act and life which by his spightfull Actiuity it did impart vnto the naturall spirits to make blood fat flesh and bones For this reason therefore I say namely because of the presence of this incorruptible spirit in the blood of the creature God in any case forbids the Israelites to eate of blood because saith the Text the life of the flesh is in the blood Here therefore obserue that the Spirit of life is from God who viuifieth all things the life of the blood and fat is in this spirit and of this Spirit wherefore it is written in another place Sanguinem adiâ—…em omnino non comedetis you shall by no meanes eate the blood and the fat for the life of the flesh is in the blood and the life of the bones is in the flesh It is easily therefore to be discerned what a concatenation heere is of members in succession which deriue their liues from one and the same radicall essence or spirit and are made by it to sympathise with one and the same harmony in the creatures composition being that he hath made of one blood all man-kinde as S. Paul doth fitly and consequently being all flesh and bones are made of one blood there must be a great relation betweene them and mans blood in generall and consequently betweene the blood and the oyntment which is made of them These things therefore being rightly pondered as infallible grounds wee conclude thus In the Question proposed wee are to obserue these fiue obiects namely first the wound secondly the blood which issueth from the wound thirdly the manner of conueyance from the oyntment to the wound at any reasonable distance fourthly the nature of the oyntment and lastly the manner of operation whereby the cure is effected First therefore concerning the wound it is a violation of the worke which the spirit of life did effect namely an effusion of blood in which the spirit of life is carryed and moueth a hinderance and dâ—…erting of the course of the naturall humors a diuision and solution of the fat flesh and other such like parts from their integrity and continuity an offence vnto that peaceable act of life effected by that incorruptible spirit of God which by this his property or attribute is apt to viuifie all in all For this cause therefore is this radicall acting spirit interessed in this businesse or vnnaturall action as finding his worke hindered and his essentiall action disturbed by the wound or violence offered For wheras the blood is the vehicle of it and his viuifying act was to circulate in the organicall blood and to cause transmutation of it into flesh and other parts for vegetation multiplications sake and for the preseruation of the induiduum Now is the same blood slused out at the mouth of the wound and made inutill and of none effect the body for the animating of the which this secret spirit is euer diligently enclined is debilitated and made drooping Wherefore as the incorruptible and viuifying nature hath intended to rectifie his humane spirit by her liuely actiuity so verily is she ready to oppose all violence offered and to correct repaire againe all that which violent irruption hath caused much like the wise Spider who when her web is made imperfect and in part broken doth her diligence to bring it againe to its wonted perfection Secondly the blood as it is the vehicle of the spirit of life though it be by the wound voided out yet retaineth in it this spirit of life but in another property for it doth not now act to liue that is to say it doth not send forth his beames from the centre to the circumference to cause life but contrarily being as it were displeased with the violence of the act contracteth it selfe from the circumference into the centre that is from action in the circumference of the creature into it selfe being contracted into the centre thereof where it seemeth to rest and so leaueth his bodily and ayery vehicle as congealed stupfied and dead and here is that mystery discouered namely the reason why the murtherer being brought before the murthered the spirit centrally resting in the blood doth miraculously emanate and flow forth and make fluent againe the blood as being stirred vp by the like spirit antipathetically acting and agitating from the blood of the murtherer For as I said before this spirit in his irascible property is as apt to hate as in his concupiscible to loue For this reason the Text teacheth vs that the blood of a slaine man is required not onely of the murthering man but of the beast if it be shed by it And againe the blood of any thing must not be eaten which were but superficiall if the spirit of life did not after the effusion of the blood rest in the blood as also the reason that the blood of such animalls as were slaine in hunting or hawking should be buryed in the earth would proue of little validity For this cause it is said in another place Sanguine insontium commaculata terra expiari non potest nisi per eius sanguinem qui alterius sanguinem fuderit The earth being commaculated with the blood of the innocent cannot be expiated but by blood of the other To conclude Why should it be said that the blood is the seat of the spirit of life if it did not participate with it after it is effused out of the wound congealed and as it were dead and rest in the centre of it yea this spirit doth entirely leaue and forsake the flesh of the dead being that his life as it is said is in the blood nor yet the very bones forasmuch as they participate of the nature of the most earthly part of the flesh Hence was it that when certaine theeues had cast the body of one whom they â—…ad murthered into the Tombe of Eliseus the murthered person did with the onely touch of the Prophets bones rise againe to life which could not haue been effected if as well his diuine as viuifying nature had not participated with his bones and vpon this it is sayd that after death Eliseus his body prophesied and that hee did wonders in his life and in death were his works maruellous To conclude the learned and wise Philosophers speaking Enigmatically of this spirit say that in the body there is a little bone called Luz which will remaine with man till the
a triple consideration this dull Sponge of M. Fosters is squeesed and how vnreasonable and vnprobable is his foresaid proposition I come therefore to the examination of the second question which ariseth from it Touching the second question which is Whether a Horse haue a Balsam sympathising with that of man Master Foster saith There is no such sympathy betweene Horse and Man Hee saith much but proued little or nothing As who should say M. Fosters wil is so and therefore stet pro ratione voluntas his wil must stand for a law He imitateth exactly in this his bragging M. Mersennus But I wil be so bold as to instruct him better in this matter and shew him that the bodily nature of the one doth easily sympathise and communicate with that of the other For the Flesh Fat and Bones of the one and the other are of blood in a naturall generality yea and in speciality of bloods though in number they vary For I beseech you doth not the selfesame Flesh Fat and Blood of the Beast nourish the like in man Is not the one transmuted into the other Nay doth not the Scripture speake this in a generall sense meaning all blood namely that the soule or life of the creature is in the blood and that the life of all flesh is in the blood and that for a diuine respect of that Spirit of life in the blood we are commanded not to eate of the blood of any creature And againe the blood of man in a reciprocall respect is to be demanded of the Beast that shed it All which being rightly considered who of wisedome can make any doubt and not absolutely conclude that the Beasts bodily nature doth sympathise and correspond with the parts of mans body I confesse that the Intellectuall nature of man maketh it to differ from that of a Horse for as much as he is said to be Animal rationale and the Beast Animal irrationale but these properties are onely seene in the specifying spirit and doe neither concerne or touch any action of life or vegetation or multiplication or healing I will therefore discourse in this manner God hath endued man with a double gift whereof the first is the spirit of life which he hath imparted not onely vnto him but also to all other creatures and againe he hath bestowed on him more then on any other liuing creature for he hath giuen him vnderstanding and yet the Giuer of this double gift is but onely one Spirit And thereupon Iob saith Spiritus Deifecit me inspiratio Omnipotentis viuificauit me The Spirit of God made me and the inspiration of the Euerlasting gaue me life Now as I haue said this very same benefit was giuen vnto all other creatures in all one property and office whereby it is said Deus viuificat omnia God viuifieth all things And Iudith Misit Spiritum creauit omnia He sendeth forth his Spirit and createth all things and the Prophet Isaias Deus dat flatum populo spiritum calcantibus terram God giueth breath vnto the people and spirit to euery creature that marcheth on the earth Wherby it is plaine that the same spirit of life is proportionably though diuersly in number measure and proportion powred out on euery specifick Animal and therefore there must be an admirable sympathy of nature betweene the parts of each Animal which are by vegetation and multiplication produced through the operation of the same spirit of life infused into the blood and so by the way of animation vnto the Fat Flesh and Bones And this is the reason and no other that like is conuerted into his like namely blood into blood flesh into blood and flesh and fat into his like and bones and marrow is made of both Is it not most palpable that any flesh or blood or fat of dead Beasts will be conuerted by mutation of concoction into the substance of man which it could neuer doe but that they egregiously doe sympathise in nature together and doe vnite the Balsamick nature or calidum innatum humidum radicale of the one with the other and transmute the substance of the one into that of the other which originally is the blood as well manifest as occult But touching the other extraordinary gift it is said by Iob in another place In homine est spiritus sed inspiratio Omnipotentis facit eum intelligere In man is the spirit of life but the breath of the Omnipotent maketh him to vnderstand Vnderstanding therefore is a gift a part which maketh man to differ from the Beast but not the spirit of life What then resteth more to be done Marry the Doctor must remember c. saith M. Foster And what must he remember For so strict an admonition of a wise man must import some thing of weight Hee must saith he remember his Horse-leechery And what Horse-leechery Namely that a Horse pricked with a nayle may likewise bee cured A wonderous piece of worke And was it for this mighty businesse that the same memoriall should be repeated in this his glorious Spongy piece of seruice to wipe that Assertion away Let vs therefore see the maine subiect of his commenforation which is this For saith the Doctor which I aduised him to remember if the nayle which pricked a Horse be put into the Oyntment-pot the Horse shal be cured I say There is no such sympathy betwixt Horse and Man Ha ha he Risum teneatis amici Because he saith so therefore it is so stat pro ratione voluntas Hee sayes it and though he proueth nothing yet hee must be beleeued But this mans Assertion shall be proued ridiculous as wel by a common and vulgar obseruation as the manifold practicall experience of the Nobleman or Earle which I mentioned in the 6. chapter of the 2. Member of this Treatise Touching the common vulgar obseruation we see that the flesh of all creatures as I said before be they Birds or foure-footed Beasts and therefore of a Horse is easily conuerted after it is digested in mans stomack into his blood flesh fat and bones which is an euident Argument that there is a manifest sympathy betweene a Horse his flesh and blood and that of a man yea and that there resideth in a Horse the like Balsamick nature or Radicall moysture which is in a man and that consequently the same Balsamick nature doth sympathise with the hypostaticall Balsam remaining in man The case is apparent for quod facit tale est magis tale and therefore if the blood or flesh of a Horse were not of such a nature as that of man it would neuer be conuerted and made one in vnion with the blood and flesh of man But that it is so euery Sot doth perceiue practically Whereby it is euident that the Balsamick nature of the one doth most exactly agree with the other or else they would neuer proue so homogeneall as to include one nature Againe if they
did not sympathise but Antipathise the nature of the one would abhorre the nature of the other which experience proueth false Againe that there is a Balsamick nature in a Horse sympathising with that in a man the effect proueth For the effect of a Balsamick nature is to agglutinate wounds and to incarnate and breed flesh and that by a secret vertue of vegetation But the flesh of a Horse doth render his Balsamick suck or iuyce vnto the liuer of a man where it so sympathiseth with the nature thereof that it condenseth it selfe by a homogeneall transmutation into blood and becommeth as fibrous and well compacted as the other humane blood and in conclusion is made all one with it and after that by apposition vnion and assimulation that I may vse Galen his owne words it becommeth mans flesh An infallible argument that the Balsamick nature of these two creatures do consent and sympathise for else they could not make one vnion Thus our sharp-witted Remembrancer may see that I doe not onely say after his fashion but also proue and demonstrate my case so palpably that euery simple person may feelingly perceiue it I come now to such priuate experiments as the Noble Earle aboue-mentioned hath made vpon Horses whereof some haue beene pricked and some wounded or hurt otherwise He was pleased to tell me of many of his Cures as well on his own Horses as on others which by the vertue of this Oyntment hee had performed Now would I faine know whether any person of worth or discretion would rather beleeue that which this Nobleman affirmeth and auowed vpon his owne knowledge and manifold experience or else the threed-bare assertion of M. Foster who would perswade the world and that by his meere asseueration onely without any other proofe or practice that Castles may be builded in the Ayre What shall wee say then shall we call a conuocation of these turbulent incredulous and all-iudging persons to haue it decided whether the Deuill did this Cure to gaine the Horses soule or no Alas their demure worships wil after the due pleading and scanning of the cause finde that his blacke Lordship would not bestow the paines for a soule which is so fading transitory and not immortall as is that of a man after which he so eagerly thirsteth and gapeth But if they reply that he doth it to delude the credulous Mediciner and by that couert meanes to gaine his soule I answer that Frustrà fit per plurâ—… quod fieri potest per pauciora The Mediciner cured many reasonable persons before and would not that suffice the Deuils turne to gaine him but hee must assist him also in curing vnreasonable creatures to make the Obligation for the Practitioners soule the surer I would perchance giue more credit to these bold and high thundering Iudges or condemners and vilifiers of Iehouah's power by attributing that vnto the Deuill which appertaineth vnto him if one man had many soules to lose but who is so foolish to cast the Dice twice for that he hath surely wonne at once By this therefore each wise and iudicious Reader may plainely discerne that M. Fosters Sponge is herein also squeesed for as much as it is most certaine that the naturall Balsam of one Animal doth sympathise with his like in the other by reason that they haue both but one and the same acting vertue and one generall Balsamick spirit in nature and condition which is common vnto euery specifick CHAP. II. Wherein is proued contrary vnto the Sponge-carriers Tenent that mans Bones proceed originally from Blood The naked Assertion of D. Fludds text The Blood is mingled with the Mummy or Flesh the Fat or the Vsnaea or Mosse of the Bones which Blood was the beginning and food of them all M. Fosters Collection These ingredients haue their beginning and aliment from the Blood The act of his mundifying Sponge Secondly I deny that Mans Bones haue their beginning and aliment from Blood For Physicians and Philosophers sâ—…y that they haue their beginning from the grosser seminaryparts and their aliment from Blood or Marrow or both Here the Sponge is squeesed I wonder that my Confuter like the Comediant parasiâ—… sometimes denieth and againe with the same breath affirmeth For first hee denieth that Bones haue their aliment from Blood and then he concludes that they haue Well wee will passe this staggering error and come to the point Mans Bones saith he haue their beginning of the grosser seminary parts ergo not of Blood The consequence is erroneous For if he will â—…ucly looke into the nature of the Sperme he shall finde it to bee nothing else originally but the purest part of Blood strained from a double kinde of vessell whereof the purer or internall part issueth from the arteriall vessell the grosser and externall from the venall vessell What needs M. Foster to looke on Bauhines Notes or Galens Opinions and those of many other differing from them and so make Ipse dixit his whole strength when his eyes will teach him if he euer knew Anatomy as perchance his Father did that the fountaine of sperme is the Blood of two natures namely Arteriall and venall for the preparing seminary vessels that alter it purifie it haue their issues and heads out of the great artery and vena Caua Which being so I would faine know of M. Foster whether hee thinketh that the spearme doth not proceed from the Blood as original thereof for as much as the vessels from which it floweth be full of nothing else but Blood I care not for ipse dixit when in euery mans ocular experience it appeareth the contrary For some men will haue the substance of the seed to come from the braine and other some from the subtile parts of the whole body and some will haue it spring from the purest part of the foure humours which is all one to say that it proceedeth from the Blood which is composed of the foure humors though the element of ayre hath the dominion But most sure it is that the Blood is his fountaine and appeareth by ocular demonstration Which being so I pray you good M. Foster what error is it in me to say that Blood is the beginner of Bones when your selfe doth confesse that their immediate being is of sperme whose immediate existence is of Blood Againe we are taught that the â—…eat of life is in the Blood if therefore sperme doth bring forth life it receiueth that gift of life from the Blood To conclude it is euident by this that the viuifying Spirit of the Lord which is the animater of the foure Windes from whence the Prophet Ezechiel called it to animate the slaine moueth and operateth radically in the spirituall Blood and that the sperme is animated and moued by this spirituall Blood which is the spermes internum which Philosophers call semen in whose Centre the viuifying Spirit of the Lord acteth and then this Spirit in the seed framed Skin Flesh