piercing the very clouds are interposed But I will bring a more familiar example of the graine of Corne which being considered in himselfe without his mother earth seemeth no way to act for his vitall spirit doth lurke in the centre and not operate to the circumserence eyther by way of vegetation or multiplication The fountaine from whence the vegetable soule comes by multiplication is the sunne of heauen which worketh life in all vegetable things by the vertue of the foresaid Catholike spirit of life which did put his Tabernacle in the Sunne giuing a naturall increase of life and vegetation to euery thing For though this spirit in it selfe be Catholike yet as it entreth into any specificall creature it conuerteth his property vnto the viuification mulâ—…plication and generation of that very species yea euen vnto mankinde Whereupon Aristotle saith that Sol homo generant hominem the Sunne and a man doe engender a man As for example it hath multiplied by the successiue influence of this piercing spirit in a graine of Wheat being resuscitated as S. Paul saith after death and putrefaction in his proper earth from one to twenty and afterwards moueth vpwards in his ayery vehicle with his strawie stalk towards the fountaine of his being and draweth by a sympatheticall or magnetike vertue his like from aboue by the medium of the Carholike ayre But it is obserued by husbandmen that the better the ground is in temperature wherein the graine is sowed and the neerer vnto the nature of the graine the better doth the graine prosper and multiply in vertue Now the fountaine of the graines life namely the Catholike spirit of vegetation doth chiefely reside in the Sunne of the great world compared vnto the heart in man or the little world which is vitâ—… principium the beginning of life the graine is fitly compared vnto the little blood which is gathered from the bloody tree of life mouing in the veynes and arteries as in the strawy stalke or huske the stalk growing still with the other graines on it is referre vnto the whole masse of blood in the veynes which doth remaine in manifest act The amputed grâ—…ine to the amputed blood for which although they both doe remaine without any manifest act or life yet neuerthelesse they haue the spirit of life and multiplication in them centrally contracted and therefore it remaineth in them onely in potentia agendi able to act but as yet acting nothing except it bee euocated and put in action by his like acting and viuifying nature or rather by the same continued spirit emanating vnto the graine from the Sun or vnto the amputated blood from the spirâ—…t in the wounded body The in ward inuisible spirit of the blood in which the Spirit of lise doth moâ—…e to the oyntment from the wounded is compared vnto the Etheriall or heauenly Spirit in which the incorruptible spirits influence doth moue from the Sunne downe vnto the graine by the common medium or vehicle of them both in which the Etheriall Sprit moueth also from the Sunne downeward vnto it's like or rather it selfe in the graine being now buried in the earth or from the fountaine of life vnto the dead graine or blood in the oyntment the which medium is the common Element of Ayre The oyntment is the good ground in which the bloudy graine doth dye and rise again which I will now speake of The fourth to be considered is the ointment and his nature Who but a meare Ideot can deny that like doth desire his like or that one Nature being stronger doth cherish foster and releiue an other that is weaker and the weaker reioyceth in the aide and comfort it bringeth The ancient Physitians and Philosophers haue obserued that lungs nourish lungs and braines nourish braines that are weake the spleene helps to fortifie the spleene for weak gutts wee make Glysters of boyled gutts the stomacke of a cocke helpeth digestion the very spittle voided by the Phtisic all lungs are said to cure thâ—… lungs wormes mortified and dryed to pouder destroy wormes The stone of the Kidney or blather rightly prepared cureth the stone In conclusion it is certaine that simile agit naturali inclinatione in suum simile like worketh in his like Natura enim laetatur suâ naturâ natura naturâ gaudet Nature reioyceth in his nature Nature is glad at the presence of his nature Now if wee looke into the composition of this medicince we shall find that it is of a wonderfull consonance with the blood of man for â—…s before I haue signified vnto you That the blood is the seat of the spirit of life and that the life of the flesh is in the blood and also that the spirit of life is immediately as well in the fat as in the blood and therefore these two are forbidden to be eaten but are to be reserued a part for a sacrifice due vnto God and being that the life of the bones is in the blood and flesh and therefore doe communicate with the spirit of life and consequently haue in them a balsamick marrow which is full of spirits and affecteth wholesomely the other parts Therefore without doubt there is the selfe-same relation of vnison betwixt this ointment with the blood in it and the wounded mans nature as is between the string of one lute that is proportioned vnto the other in the same tone And for this cause will be apt to euibrate quauer forth one mutuall consent of simpatheticall harmony if that the spirits of both by the vertuall contact of one anothers nature be made by conueying the indiuiduall spirit of the one into the body of the other that the liuely balsamick vertue of the one may comfort and stir vp the dull and deadly languishment of the other no otherwise then the actiuity of one lute string struck doth stirre vp the other to moue which was before still and without life or as wee see the graine of corne being put into the earth which hath beene well manuâ—…ed with the dung of horses that haue fed on the same graine is quickly animated by the Sun beames and made to moue and ascend towards the fountaine of his acting Spirit For euery spirit doth by a naturall instinct or inclination tend vpwards vnto his natiue Country To conclude I must now come to the reaping vp of this mysticall operation of curing Master Foster saith it cannot be accomplished by any vertuall contact being it is out of the limited spheare of actiuity Doth hee or his sharpest witted Masters know the certaine limits of actiuity in euery thing that hee concludeth thus boldly Foelix qui potuit rerum talium cognoscere causas But I am sure I can discerne no such felicity in his reuelations or prescriptions of limits vnto naturall agents much lesse vnto that spirit which acteth and operateth all in all and ouer all Qui quicquid vult facit tà m in virtutibus Coeli quà m in habitatoribus terrae which effecteth what
Spirit of God by whom wee liue moue and exist All this Mercurius Tresmegistus that diuine Philosopher seemeth to confirme in these words Anima hominis in hunc vehitur modum mens in anima anima in spiritu spiritus in corpore Spiritus per venas arteriasque sanguinemque diffusus animal vndique ciet Mans soule is carried in this manner the mentall beame is carried in the soule the soule in the spirit or ayre the spirit in the body The Spirit being dispersed through the veynes and arteryes doth stirre vp and moue the liuing creature in euery part These things being thus euidently proued out of holy writ we will now proceed vnto a greater mystery concerning the double propertie of this Spirit of life in both worlds that thereby we may demonstratiuely come by little and little vnto the very point or perfect resolution of the question in hand That eternall Lord God who is all one and the same Spirit because of an indiuisible Essence is he that viuifieth the Creature and againe taketh away the life of it at his pleasure as hath been prooued already for that he operateth all in all according to the Apostles words and meruaile not though I say hee worketh contrary effects although he be but one indiuisible Essence for these are the words of Salomon Spiritus Disciplinae sanctus est vnicus seu simplex multiplex c. The Spirit of Wisdome is one and simple and yet manifold simple in himselfe but manifold in operation And doth not Dauid acknowledge so much when he saith Deo emittente spiritum suum recreantur Creaturae abscondente faciem suam conturbantur recipiente Spiritum eorum exspiâ—…ant c God sending forth his Spirit recreateth the Creatures but at the hiding of his face they are troubled and when he receiueth or taketh vnto him their spirit they dye c. Touching the first member of this axiom of Dauid he proueth it else-where thus Vita aaesâ—… beneuolentiâ Iehoâ—… Life proceedeth from the benignity of Iehoua Vitae restaurator est Iehoua Iehoua is the Giuer of life Vitae meae Fontes omnes à Deo all the Fountaines of my Life are from God Vitae prolongatio est Benignitasâ—… Iehouae the prolongation of of Life is the Benignitie of Iehoua Whereupon it is euident that the Spirit of God is the immediate Creatour Actor Preseruer and Multiplier of Life As for the second Member thus much Deus malos relinquit abscondit faciem sâ—…am ab iâ—…ys vt obveniant â—…s mala multa angustiae God leaueth the wicked and hideth his face from the impious that euill and necessity may encomber them Sic increpare solet mortales in lectulo thus doth hee chide and punish mortalls in their beds as Iob hath it Thus did hee send his plagues vpon the Egyptians Thus made hee Ieroboams hand to wither Thus did he strike with leprosie Miriam Arons Sister Thus did hee afflict with the Hemorrhoides the Ashdedomans Thus laid he the plague on Ezekias namely by hiding or with-holding his Spirit And againe by emitting his beames of life he recouered him And therefore saith Dauid Vitae hominis spatium est miserum absque benignitate Iehouae The space of a mans life is miserable without the benigne Presence of God For hee that is sicke seemeth to be still dying Now to the last clause of the aforesaid text of Dauid God said when hee perceiued the wickednesse of men Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine in aeternum quia caro est eruntque dies illius centum viginti annorum My Spirit shall not remaine perpetually in man because he is flesh and his dayes shall bee an hundred yeeres and twenty And Iob saith as before Hominem const ituit Deus super terram apponens ad â—…m animam suam si spiritum seu flatum eius ad se reciperet vel traheret deficeret exspiraret omnis Caro simul homo in cinereâ—… reuertetur God made man vpon earth giuing vnto him his soule or life if hee should receiue or draw to himselfe his spirit or breath of life all flesh would faile and dye and man also together with them would returne vnto ashes And againe Spiritus Dei fecit me inspiratio omnipotentis â—…ficauit me The Spirit of God made me and the breath of the omnipotent did viuifie mee For this reason therefore the aforesaid action of Dauid shall be the maine foundation on which I will rely as well in my proofe as also to shew the various properties of this diuine and incorruptible essence in the spirit of both the worlds and I will prooue vnto you euidently that as this spirit worketh in the greater world so also in euery respect it bringeth foorth the like effects in the lesser Wee finde that it is but one spirit in the great world though in a contrary propertie that animateth foueefoldly the foure winds which are sent from the foure corners of the earth to blow and thus I proue it Deus edit glaciem flatu suo flante Deo concrescit gelu seu glacies coarctatur superficies aquarum God by his breath procureth Ice when hee bloweth from the North hee maketh the Ice to congeale and grow together and doth contract or straighten the superficies of the waters into Ice And the Kingly Prophet more pertinently Deo imittente sermonem suum in terram quà m celerimè excurrit verbum qui niues dispergit sicut lanam pruinam quasi cineres deâ—…cit gelu suum tanquam frusta coram frigore eius quis consist at Emittit verbum suum liquefacit ista simul ac 〈◊〉 ventum suum effluuntaquâ—… God sending forth his Word vpon earth it runneth swiftly which spreadeth the snow as wooll vpon the earth and the froâ—…t like ashes and casteth downe the Ice as gobbets who is able to resist his cold hee sendeth forth his Word and melâ—…eth these congealed bodies againe so soone as hee bloweth foorth his Wind the congealed waters moue and flow againe Here it is euident that the diuine Spirit is the essentiall actor in this Northern blast which is an enemy to the act of life For as God did emit and send forth the beames of his light from the infinit fountaine of his being to chase away cold by dilatation of spirits and to breede a hot humidity in the spirit of the world thereby to inact it with life and motion and to make those spirits fluent and actiue which before were congealed with the power of his contracting property that is opposite vnto the other so againe by the priuatiue Agent or his Boreall attribute and property which is cold hee contracts dilated spirits and maketh them of moueable fixe of light transparent dark and opack of liuely spirits substances without life of liquid and fluid vnmoueable and congealed and in conclusion motus is so turned into quies motion I say into rest actus
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
latter day and cause him to rise againe but wee must vnderstand this after their owne sence and not vulgarly Let this I beseech you be remembred that the touch of Eliseus his bones caused the dead to rise from death to life In the third place I come to the manner of conueying of the blood from the wound vnto the oyntment The blood is taken from the liuing fountaine of blood in the wounded eyther as it is smeared on the weapon that did the deed or as it is fastened on some sticke Iron or other thing and so conueyed vnto the oyntment at any reasonable distance Now a reason is to be shewed how it is possible that there can be any certaine relation betweene the wound and the oyntment For as Mr. Foster saith there may be Castles hills walls and grosse ayre betweene the oyntment and the wounded which may hinder the cure First wee must remember that wee haue expressed in our precedent discourse the excellency of the animating spirit in whom is all the vertue and each property of the foure winds and being it is the spirit of spirits Et spiritus spirat vbi vult What I pray you can hinder his act or operation And with what distance can his actiuity be limited being that it is the spirit of the winds and the soule of the lightnings and the essence of the Sunne and starres of heauen which by his animation doe cast their beames periferically vnto euery angle of the Horison or Hemispheare Can this spirir because contained in mans blood not penatrate many hundred miles by emanation out of his bloody vehicle as it doth out of his cloudy Tabernacle in the forme or rather vehicle oflightning or out from his Phoebean Palace in golden beames whereupon it is said In lumine numen in numine lumen In light is diuinity and in diuinity is light so saith the Psalmist Amictus lumine quasi vestimento Hee is clothed with light as with a garment I tell you this is all one spirit which is in man and that which operateth in the wings and therefore it was said Come O spirit from the foure winds This spirit cannot be diuided into parts It filleth as Salomon saith the whole earth and hath his seate in heauen and therefore resideth in mans body and spirit as is said Esdras speaking of this spirit saith as before The spirit of God Omnipotent hath made all things and searcheth out all things in the bowells or secret places of the earth Whereby it appeareth that this very spirit by which man breathed cannot be limited in his penetrating and extensiue dimension nor yet hindred in his passage by any intermediate obstacle To conclude that man that beleeueth and relyeth on this spirit may effect what he desireth For euen by the true knowledge and vse of it the Prophets and Apostles did wonders as well in curing as effecting matters of greater admiration This spirit therefore which is called intellectuall as hee maketh to vnderstand Inspiratio omnipotentis saith Iob facit intelligere Vitall in respect of his viuification Spiritus Dei fortis fecit me saith he spiraculum omnipotentis viuificauit me And naturall in respect of vegetation and multiplication visitatio tua saith hee else where conseruauit spiritum meum doth act and shine forth by secret beames v to that obiect of the dead blood which is carryed from it vnto the oyntment in which amputated blood lurketh a portion of spirit resting without action Now the nature of the one is reioyced in the nature of the other forasmuch as both doe sympathise together being that they are all of one consonance or degree or vnison in vitall loue as for example I take two Lutes or Vialls or any other such like instruments I set one of them at one end of the table set the other at the other end I put a small straw vpon one of the strings of the one Lute which importeth A-la-mi-re or De-la-sol-re and then striâ—… the Gam-vt of the other Lute and the straw will not once stirre because theydoe not sympathise in one sound and proportion of wauing ayre therefore haue they not a relation one vnto another so also if the blood be carryed vnto an oyntment heterogeneall in nature vnto the party wounded it will doe nothing in this cure but if you put a straw on the Gam-vt or A-re of the one and strike the other on Gam-vt or Are being vnisons you shall perceiue the straw presently to leap of the other string by reason of the ouer great vibration or louing actiuity and like formall proportion which he sympatheticall harmony betwixt each strings causeth to other in the aire yea this effect wil happen though there be put boords or other such like obstacles as may hinder the direct line of the vibration in the aire or medium betwixt the two Lutes In which experiment you may note that the string strucke is aptly compared vnto the blood of the wounded being stil animated in his body who doth by a secret emanation or emission and that by a naturall inclination and sympathy cause in the selfe-same tone a secret communication between the still and occult spirit in the congealed blood which is in the oyntment which I compare to the string which the straw hath on it so that the string though it be of it selfe still yet at the acting of that other chord which is really moued with the actuall spirit of the chord strucken by meere concent stirreth vp the still chord to act also and by action to send backe againe a salutiferous harmony vnto the acting spirit which is as neere vnto his owne still or potentiall nature as the tone of one Lute acting or strucke vnto that of the other not strucke For as both are but one spirit though they seeme to differ in distance as doe the chord of both Lutes so likewise are those two tones but one tone though they seeme to differ and therefore make but one vnisone But because the one spirit cannot essentially be separated from the other no more then can diuinity effentially be diuided into parts as also the one tone cannot be essentially distinguished from the other therefore it doth liuely extend it selfe à termino à quo ad terminum ad quem from the wound vnto the oyntment as being all one spirit continuated euen as wee see one thred extended from one end of a Chamber vnto the other Now being this spirit requireth a spirituall vehicle like it selfe it is carried quasi super alas venti as it were vpon the wings of the wind in the hidden spirit of the blood which seemeth as a vehicle no otherwise then the essentiall spirit of the wind is carryed by the ayre and obserueth no limited distance neyther is hindred by mountaines woods or walls to worke his effect as wee see the Northwind doth produce in Lumbardy frost Ice snow c. Although the high Alpin mountaines
Bones Nerues and giueth them Life Action and Motion all which the patient â—…ob expresseth thus Thou hast powred mee out like Milke that is in the forme of sperme thou hast coagulated mee like Cheese thou hast endued me with Skin and Flesh thou hast compacted mee together with Bones and Sinnews thou hast giuen mee life by thy mercy and by thy visitation thou hast preserued my spirit but all this thou hast hidden in thy minde but I know all this to bee from thee Whereupon it is euident that God operateth all beginning radically in the blood and for this reason the Apostle saith rightly In him we liue we moue and haue our being I conclude therefore that here againe is all the Sponges validity so squeesed out as hereafter I hope it shall not be able to digest any great matter nor yet to bite any longer vpon the Marble Rocke of Truth CHAP. III. In the which it is proued contrary vnto our Spongy Authors opinion that spirits doe reside in the separated Blood Doctor Fludds naked Text. In the Blood is the spirit of life and with the bright soule doth abide and operateth after an hidden manner Master Fosters Collection In the Blood reside the vitall spirits in the vitall spirits the soule in an hidden manner The act of his mundifying Sponge Thirdly I deny that any spirits reside in separated Blood and Casman is so confident in this that in parts separated from the body remaine no spirits and saith that the very Deuill cannot beget or conserue any in them The Sponge squeesed Here you see that this fresh-water Souldier hath nothing to maintaine his Tenent but Ipse dixit If that faile farewell all further expectation But I will proue that this his and his Masters assertion is erroneous by three manner of wayes namely first by Philosophicall reason for being that euery amputated creature euen from the liuely stocke of his growth is filled with a Balsamick Salt of the nature of the Tree or Plant from which it sprung by which it doth exist such as indeed it is it is not possible but that it should haue of the spirit of his wonted life in it although it doth not act but rest in its Center Next by Holy Scriptures for as is proued abundantly before the blood spilled and flesh killed is full of liuely spirits though they remaine potentially in them or else why should the Israelites be commanded not to eate the fat and blood For it is said because the blood is the seate of the soule or spirit of life For if that spirit of life were fled from it what sinne had it beene to haue eaten it But the text saith for it is the seate of life and therefore it is commanded that they should powre it out on the Earth Againe let Parson Foster answer this The incorruptible pirit of the Lord is in all things Ergò in the effused blood flesh fat and bones separated from the whole And lastly by common experience for we finde that fat and blood and mummy haue singular properties of healing which they could not haue if all the spirits which they did receiue from the liuing body were exhaled but it is the office onely of the incorruptible Spirit and Word to heale and therefore being these ingredients haue an healing property they must needs in this their existence participate or communicate with this good Spirit whose nature is to expell and take away all corruption and sicknesse and other vnnaturall impediments Verbum tuum saith Salomon curat omnia thy Word cureth all for in it onely is life Ergò the viuifying spirit Moreouer I know and with mine eyes haue seene abundance of spirits which by the aâ—… of the least fire haue beene excited out of the essence of corrupted blood and fat in so much that with the naturall heate of the hand they in forme of little Atomes haue beene obserued to dance and caper in the ayre which is an euident token that there is the spirit of life lurking in the dead blood though it appeares but potentially in the essence of the dead thing in respect of vs. Againe if this were not is it possible that dead blood flesh and fat could nourish the liuing being that like is nourished by his like which could not be if in the blood flesh and fat there did not lurke naturall and viuifying spirits to maintaine their like in the liuing creature and therefore will one kinde of flesh nourish both a Man a Beast a Fish and a Fowle because all those naturall spirits are of one kinde and condition Is it not I pray you apparent to the vulgar that flesh and fat hung vp in the Sunne will bee quickly conuerted into liue Wormes or Magats Which were impossible except the spirit of life did lurke in the flesh and fat after the creature was dead yea I haue seene a whole dead Crow which I hung vp in the Sunne for a certaine purpose to be wholly sauing bones conuerted into verminous animals An euident argument of the viuifying spirits presence in the dead flesh blood and fat Yea verily I haue obserued that the Balsam of Wheate so aboundeth in it that if it bee put into Raine-water in a short space it produceth long Wormes of a white colour The same effect produceth flesh after putrifaction It is most certaine therefore that the spirit oflife is in the dead flesh and fat yea and in the graine which though it operateth not except it be stirred vp by the viuifying spirits acting property working in such an organicall body as is the Sunne the fire the liuing creature and such like yet is it most certaine that it is in the amputed blood fat flesh and bones c. You may discerne by this gentle Reader how Casman and his compleat disciple Foster haue erred But wee must excuse them modestly seeing that Humanum est errare Why I pray you should I esteeme these men more Catholick in knowledge then Bernard But Bernardus non videt omnta And yet blinde Bayard is subiect to iudge and censure any thing though vnto himselfe vnknowne Wherefore let Master Foster put vp his authority in his Pouch for I esteeme it not hauing naturall reason the testimony of Holy Writ and lastly vulgar experience or ocular demonstration to proue the contrary And whereas his Master Casman teacheth him that the very Deuill cannot beget or conserue any spirit in them I wonder how the Deuill then can worke this Weapon-Salue Cure being that the Oyntment hath no spirits of it selfe nor yet the Deuill can beget or conserue any in the ingredients thereof And if he saith that the Deuill is of great experience and doth this with other herbs or simples I would haue him to tell me why should herbs or other simples being also after they are gathered but dâ—…ad as it were and without spirits by Master Fosters owne rule serue as meanes vnto the Deuill for the working
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
according vnto the viuacity of the acting Spirit which is in it and yet neuerthelesse wee see that if the blast of any strong wind doth encounter the emitted spirit of the Creature it dilateth it mightily from his centre or plant and maketh a wonderfull large spheare of actiuity and that greater or leâ—…er according vnto the power of the wind The case is apparant and found most true by such as trauaile by sea neare Spaine For when the wind is Easterly they can discerne the Aire thirty Leagues off the shore to bee filled with the sweet odour of Rosemary which groweth abundantly in those parts of Spaine And euen in the very like manner about Guiana and Virginea at the same or greater distance the odoriferous scent of the Sassaphras with other fweet woods is scented by the nauigatours vpon those shores and that somtimes before they can discerne any land What shall wee then say of the same spirit which a cteth in the little world or man when his insensible breath or emanation tendeth affectionally towards the homogeniall place of his owne nature I meane vnto the ointment inwhich the selfe same indiuisible nature either in the blood adhering to the weapon or hauing penetrated in the weapon without any signe of external blood is bathed Shall wee not beleeue that by his emanation it can carry along with it in the Ayre the occult spirit of the vegetating nature of the wounded person included secretly in a volatile salt to act in the oyntment vnto the reuiuifying of the sopified spirit in the oyntment No mary saith Master Foster For the Sassaphras woods odoriferous spirit and that of the Rosemaries are knowne by sense and so cannot the breath of such an emanating spirit with his volatile vehicle of vegetation be perceiued An excellent Argument in an externall and sensible Philosopher who with Saint Thomas will beleeue nothing but what he toucheth smelleth or tasteth But intellectuall men may easily gather that there is nothing that is externall and visible but was first internall and inuisible Neither can it be conuertibly said that what was internall was externall For there are an infinity of inuisible and internal actions performed by God in the closet of Nature which falleth not into the spheare or capacity of the sensuall or naturall man but are onely by faith to bee beleeued And for this reason the Apostle saith Through Faith wee vnderstand that the world was ordained by the Word of God so that the things that wee see are not made of things which did appeare By which it is euidently proued that all things were first inuisible before they were by sense to bee discerned And consequently it is the property of an externall and carnall man to beleeue nothing but what hee perceiueth by sense and to say that if any thing appeare to sense which was not knowne before it is diabolicall and not of God when the aforesaid text doth attribute all reducing of inuisible actions to the visible sense by the Word not of the Deuill but of God All Philosophers therefore haue accorded that it is one spirit of life which onely operateth in mans body But this spirit according vnto his diuersity of distinct offices indueth a diuers appellatioâ—… and therefore it is tearmed by them in one respect Rationall in an other Concupiscible and in a third Irascible By the first it is apt to be illuminated to vnderstand things that are aboue it beneath it and in it and with it selfe For by this his propertie or faculty it knoweth God aboue it selfe the Angels which are ranked with it selfe and whatsoeuer is comprehended in the whole circle of the heauens beneath it selfe such is his spirituall act of centrall emanation by reason of that powerfull vertue allotted her by God By the second and the third it is inclined either to desire and affect a thing or to eschew and flye from it that is either to loue or hate c And by this propertie of hers she doth exercise herselfe about the Sympathy or Antipathy of those things which are either proper or dissonant vnto her specifick nature And therefore in this her office she worketh mightily in and about the effects of this Weapon-Salue being that from these two later operations in her proceedeth euery affection For as of Concupiscibility proceedeth all ioy and hope because Natura laetatur in sua naturâ c and therefore by the vnion of the liuely emanation the dead or congealed spirit in the Salue is quickned and viuified So contrariwise the liuing soule or naturall Spirit in which the supernaturall Spirit doth act is of it's owne nature obnoxious vnto a kind of spirituall dolor and feare by reason of the Weapon that vsed violence vnto it the which passions belong to and are affected by the Irascible spirit for asmuch as it either greiueth or is made dolorous already at the violence offered or seareth to bee greiued or made dolorous by it These foure affections of the spirit of man are the beginners and as it were the common subiect of all vertuous and vicious actions which befall vnto man Now to expresse the large extension of that centrall spirit which doth radically operate in the vitall spirit the wisest Philosophers affirme that it seeth it selfe in it selfe to the end that it may rightly vnderstand it selfe in it selfe And when it will know God it eleuateth it selfe aboue it selfe by it's mentallbeame it penetrats all things it beholdeth all things as well present as absent it is when it pleaseth beyond the seas and searcheth out things that are hidden yea and in one moment it directeth and sendeth forth his beames vnto the farthest limits of the whole world and searcheth out the secrets of it it descendeth downe vnto the deepe and mounteth vp againe from thence vnto heauen and cleaueth fast to Christ and is made all one with Christ. And must the infinite vertue of this all penetrating spirit according vnto Master Fosters tenent bee limited by any imaginary spheare of actiuity assigned by the vaine Philosophy of the Ethnicks which as the Apostle saith is framed out after the tradition of man and the world and not by God Doth he not warne vs to beware that wee be not deceiued by such philosophicall doctrine which doth disagree from the rules of Christ in whom is the plenitude of the Godhood bodily And must we now to obey Master Fosters phantasticall Idaea breake the Lawes of the Apostle to be deluded by his false Philosophy But to returne vnto our purpose All this which is aboue mentioned being well considered namely the Catholike Nature of the Spirit which breathed life into the creatures tâ—…e indiuisibility and indiuiduality of the giuer and the gift which is giuen nam Essentia diuina est indiuidua The diuine Essence is in diuisible and vndiuided and therefore the diuine Spirit imparted vnto the creature is continuated and vndiuided from him that giueth it his infinity of extension for asmuch as
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
God from the earth nor the sudden reuiuing of the dead blood in the murthered at the presence of the murtherer which could not happen without this Viuifying Spirit did participate with and lurke in the blood though without action till by the murthering spirit it was excited vnto action c. But I will bring you to an ocular experience It is most certaine vnto such who haue applyed themselues vnto the art of distilling that mans Blood and Bones doe containe an admirable deale of volatile Salt in which there is so excellent a Balsamick diâ—…position that it doth by reason of the propinquity of nature suddenly appease dolours of the Gout and intolerable Aches cureth Wounds healeth such as are affected with the Mother and Falling-sicknesse and in fine experience hath made manifest that the Volatile Salt and Oyle of the Blood is an excellent Cordiall Againe that the Oyle of Mans Fat is a great appeaser of the Gout and other Dolours and a healer of Wounds and a present dryer vp of all manner of Excoriations often experience hath taught as well my Masters as my selfe Doe we not see that the dropping of a Candle will in one night heale vp an Excoriation And euery Ostler will certifie you that a Horses heele being wounded or cut with a stone or shoo with the anointing of a Candles end that Hogs-grease Deeres-suet are esteemed good and necessary ingredients for a healing Salue there is not a Chirurgion but will confesse And whence doth this sanatiue property in them proceed what from the benigne act of God or from the Deuill If from it is from that curing and viuifying Spirit which first made those Members and gaue them that vertue or it could haue no healing property Spiritu ab ore Dei saith Dauid omnis procedit virtus From the Spirit of the mouth of God proceedeth all vertue Ergò from that Spirit had the Fat Flesh Blood and Bones that vertue of healing or not at all and by the presence they hold still that vertue of it euen after their separation or amputation from the liuing body that it receiued from it whilest they were Members in the liuing Body onely this is the difference that when they were in the liuing Body their vertue was actuall but being separated it is onely potentiall and will not be reduced vnto act vnlesse it be incited by the 〈◊〉 viuifying and actuating Spirit euen as we see that Grease or Tallow is fixed with the cold and will not flow but with the act of naturall heate or fire it will forthwith melt and flow What of all this may our Sponge-bearing Author say Must therefore the Spirit of life be in this for without it there can bee no sympathising betwixt this and the Hypostaticall Balsam residing in the liuing Man I must haue this Inquisitor know that as it was but one Spirit that was called by the Prophet from the foure Windes to breathe life vnto the slaine so there is but one Spirit that giueth vertue as well to the liuing Blood Flesh Fat and Bones as to the other that seeme to vs to be without life or in puissance to act It is but one Spirit but in diuers properties that congealeth and as it were killeth the Spirit of the moueable Element of Ayre and fixeth it by his Northerne blast into Snow Frost Ice and Haile and againe reuiuifieth it by a Southerne blast Neither will it serue our Opposites turne to exclude this Spirit from the Fat Blood Flesh and Mosse of Bones that are in the Oyntment for the Wise man saith That the incorruptible Spirit is in all things Ergò in this Oyntment We haue therefore the Balsamick Salt in all of these ingrediences and in that Salt lurketh the actiue Vertue which being stirred by his fountaine of action flowing and acting à termino à quo doth reagere or act againe à termino ad quem that is from the end to the beginning This is the reason that this Oyntment cureth not onely by a Reall but also Virtuall Contact namely by reason of that vertue which it holdeth from his first Creator As who should say that an herb or roote should lose all their sanatiue vertue because they are gathered from the plant namely a Graine of Wheate or an Apple gathered from the Straw or Tree should haue no Balsamick nourishment in it because they are now past growing and yet the contrary is manifested in that they haue still in them their vegetating and multiplying Spirit For being put into the Earth the very Atom of life lurking in them doth manifest it selfe and maketh them grow againe and multiply in their kinde Neither are the flesh of Beasts destitute of their nourishing property though they seeme dead and are seuered from the liuing Creature For the Scripture saith Anima carnis est in sanguine The life of the flesh is in the blood which if it were not so it would not nourish or bee conuerted into mans bodily substance namely Blood Flesh Fat and Bones as also if the viuifying Spirit did not lurke in the flesh of the dead Carkas it were impossible that it should be conuerted into wormes by the exposition of it vnto the beames of the Sunne as shall be told hereafter Lastly I could shew this deepe Philosopher that this viuifying Spirit in the volatile Salt is abundantly inbred I could shew him ocularly how it sucketh downe the forme of life from the Sunne insomuch that of a cleare aëriall volatile Salt as white as Snow or chrystalling vnctuous fluent liquor it wil in few houres become as red as a Ruby by exposing it to the Sunne-beames Such is the sympathy betwixt it and the forme of the Sunne and in the selfesame kinde is their reciprocall appetite as is betweene the Patient and the Agent or the Female and the Male. I could shew him also in a short space the admirable power this vegetable Spirit hath to cause vegetation in all things And I haue proued it to be a soueraigne Balsam to cure wounds and to take away aches and therefore it sympathiseth with the Hypostaticall Balsam of man For else it would not be conuerted into the same Image namely into Blood and Flesh and Fat and Bones and much more therefore the very Blood Flesh Fat and Bones of the selfesame species being that simile magis nutritur à suo simili like is nourished more by his like Doe we not see mans blood yea the blood of euery creature to consist of such a volatile Salt If it were nothing but the vrine which is the whayie excrement of the blood it would witnesse so much being that it is passing full of salt Armoniak or volatile Animal Salt and by reason of the Balsamick nature thereof mans vrine is so proper to mundifie and cure a slight greene wound as also the Yellow-Iaunders is cured at such a distance from the patient as is already declared You see therefore with what ease and that by
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