abroad whereof they have better at home and the unsatiable Desire of Mankind makes them search for what is never to be found But where Nature gives a Satisfactory Mind she gives a Happy Life and what can we imagin the Joys of Heaven but a stint to our wandring Desires therefore those that are most fixt are nearer Heaven and he is the Wisest that is nearest to Unity and those that are most united are likest to a God But where Discord happens Hell is resemb'ed and harsh haughty and not insulting Natures are composed like Devils and Caesar shewed himself a Fool in nothing but in quitting his Guard and not hearkning to his Wife which was to shew his Courage and to let the World see he durst go unarmed singly alone as it were and his freedom from the chains of fond Affection thus quitting Prudence and Love he dyed too violent a Death And Seianus quitting the Affection towards his Wife and placing it upon Julian raised such a Jealousie in Tyberius as it cost him his Life otherwise he might have ruled the Empire and so the most part of the World Thus Anthony's leaving his Wife for the love of Cleopatra lost him the third part of the World Neither are the Counsels of a Wife alwaies to be despised if all were honest nor to be lockt from the private Affairs of her Husband Portia was able to keep a Secret and was of Brutus her Husbands Confedenacy though not Actually yet Concealing And if Caesar had condescended to his Wives Perswasion he had not gone to the Senate that day and who knows but the next might have discovered the Conspiracy and numberless of the like Examples might be given Besides it is to be observed where the Husband and Wife disagree their Family is in disorder their Estates go to decay Jealousies arise which cause Discords from whence proceeds a discontented and unhappy Life And where the Husband and Wife are united in Minds as well as in Body all prospers and most commonly Ease and Plenty crown that Family Industry is their Recreation Peace is their Joy Love is their Happiness for a kind Husband makes an obedient Wife dutifull Children faithfull Servants for a Wise Man rules his Family with gentle kind and seasonable Perswasions with honest and sincere Actions with gratefull and just Rewards and Kindness and Constant Natures work hard and obeisant Natures to be more pliant and facile for Kindness melts hardest Hearts and makes them flexible to form them as they please where Cruelty or Severity hardens them so much as they will rather break than bend And if the Rational part of the World would but consider what Felicity there is in peacefull Prosperity they would never wander so much out of the way Of Men and Women SOme say a Man is a Nobler Creature than a Woman because our Saviour took upon him the Body of Man and another that Man was made first But these two Reasons are weak for the Holy Spirit took upon him the shape of a Dove which Creature is of less esteem than Mankind and for the Preheminency in Creation the Devil was made before Man Nature in the Composure of Men and Women IT is not so great a Fault in Nature for a Woman to be Masculine as for a Man to be Effeminat for it is a Defect in Nature to decline as to see Men like Women but to see a Masculine Woman is but onely as if Nature had mistook and had placed a Mans Spirit in a Womans Body but Nature hath both her Mistakes and Weaknesses but when she works perfectly she gives Man a gentle and sweet Disposition a generous Mind a valiant Heart a wife Head a voluble Tongue a healthfull Body and strong and active Limbs To Woman she gives a chast Mind a sober Disposition a silent Tongue a fair and modest Face a neat Shape and a gracefull Motion The Nature of Man MAN is more apt to take Dislikes at all things than to delight in any thing but Nature hath given us no Pleasure but what ends in Pain for the end of Pleasure is Grief for Cruel Nature curbs us in with Fear and yet spurs us on with Desires for she hath made Mans mind to hunt more after Varieties by Desire than she hath made Varieties to satisfie the Desires Of Painting THere be some that condemn the Art of Painting in Women others that defend it for say they as Nature hath made one World so Art another and that Art is become the Mistris of Nature neither is it against Nature to help the Defects Besides those that find out new Arts are esteemed so that they become as Petty Gods whether they become Advantageous to Man or no as the Memory of those that found out the Art of Gunpowder Guns Swords and all Engins of War for Mischief and shall they be more praised and commended than those that find out Arts and Adornments as Painting Curling and other Dressings for the one destroyes Mankind this increaseth it the one brings Love the other begets Hate But some will say those Arts defend their Lives but where they once use them to defend their Lives they use them ten times to destroy Life and though it is no Fault in the Inventer but in the User no more is Painting when it is used for a good intent as to keep or increase lawfull Affection But say they it is a dissembling to make that appear otherwise than it is ' Tisanswer'd No more than to keep warm in Winter for Cold is Natural so is the sense of it in Winter but Clothes to keep it out are Artificial and the true use of the Art of Painting is to keep warm a Lawfull Affection Besides If we must use no more than what Nature hath given us we must go naked and those that have a bald Head must not wear a Peruick or Cap to cover it and those that are born with one Leg shorter than the other must not wear a high Shoe to make them even nor indeed wear any Shoes at all especially with Heels because they make them seem higher but go with the Feet bare and those that are Crooked must wear no Bombast and many such Examples may be brought But say some it is a Bawd to entice in begetting evil Desires It is answered No more a Bawd than Nature is in making a handsome Creature but if they must do nothing for fear of Enticing then Mankind must neither cut their Hair nor pare their Nails nor shave their Beards nor wash their selves which would be very slovenly for fear they should appear so handsome as they may perswade and entice the Lookers on to evil Desires which if so let them be like Swine and wallow in Mire but it is to be feared that the Mire will be too hard for the evil Desires so as there may be more brought in defence of Painting than can be said against it Wherefore say they it is lawfull both in Maids and
Wives the one to get a good Husband the other to keep her Husband from coveting his Neighbours Wife for it is an Honour for Maids to get good Husbands because it is a kind of Reproach to live unmarried for Marriage is Honourable and gives a Respect to Women unless they be incloystered which all Constitutions will not agree withall and an honest Wifes care is to please her Husband if she can when she hath him for Marriage is the end of an honest Mind to all but Widows for they when they marry again do as it were Cuckold their dead Husband and their living Besides if they have Children they make a Distraction and Division in their Families and most commonly to the ruine of the first Husbands Estate having so great a share and so much power according to our Laws And though they should not marther themselves as the Custome hath been in other Countryes but contrary rather to preserve their Health and to dry their Eyes after a while of those Obsequies of Tears which are Sacrifices to the Dead yet to live a retired Life to shew their unalterable Affections for though it be fit for a Widow to put off her violent Passion of Sorrow as well as she can yet there is no Humour becomes that Condition better than Sadness for Sadness which is a moderate Grief looks full of Fortitude and is Humble Modest Gracefull and so far from dis composing any part as it gives a setled and majestical Face So Painting is most disallowable in Widows for they should take the example of Judith where it is said when she went to Holofernes she anointed her self as she did usually in her Husband Manassas time which it seems she used not after he was dead before this time for as they have none to Displease so ought they not to Allure But some will say that their Poverty is such as they know not how to live and they may be presented to such a Fortune as may make them live happy and free from the Misery that Poverty compels them to It is answered that Nature is satisfied with a little if their Ambition be not great but if not they must make use of the old Proverb which is that Necessity hath no Law in case they present not their Necessity to be greater than it is But to return to Beauty it is pleasing either Natural or Artificial and both to be admired for if Art be Commendable why not in the Face as well as in the Feet in dancing Measures or as in the Hand upon Musick Instruments or in the Voyce or in the Art of Oratory and Poetry which will sooner increase Desires yet this is allowed of in all places and times not onely in Temporal Society but in Spiritual Unions where David the Beloved of God was a great Master in the Knowledge and Practice of them And if these Arts be Commendable and are Graces to all parts of the Body shall it be condemned onely for Colour in the Face And as Beauty is the Adornment of Nature so is Art the Adornment of Beauty and this saith the Defendant against the Plaintiff But all Opinions have or most of them Sides and Factions but my Opinion is so far with the Defendant as I believe all Adotnments of Beauty are lawfull for Women if the Intention be good Yet I am utterly against the Art of Painting out of three respects The first is Dangerous for most Paintings are mixed with Mercury wherein is much Quicksilver which is of so subtil a malignant nature as it will fall from the Head to the Lungs and cause Consumptions and is the Cause of swelling about the Neck and Throat The next is that it is so far from Adorning as it Dis-figures for it will rot the Teeth dim the Eyes and take away both the Life and Youth of a Face which is the grea'est Beauty Thirdly and lastly the Sluttishness of it and especially in the Preparatives as Masks of Sear-Clothes which are not onely horrid to look upon in that they seem as Dead Bodies embowelled or embalmed but the Stink is Offensive Then the Pomatum and Pultis which are very uneasy to lye in wet and greasy and very unsavoury for all the while they have it on it presents to their Nose a Chandlers Shop or a greasy Dripping-pan so as all the time they fry as it were in Grease neither will their Perfumes mend it and their Oils And though I cannot say they live in Purgatory because they shun all hot places for they cannot have the comfortable heat of the Fire and shun the Natural heat of the Sun as they must live alwaies as if they were at the North Pole for fear the Heat should melt away their Oil and Oily Drops can be no grace to their Face Dry Painting shrivels up the Skin so as it imprints Age in their Face in filling it full of Wrinkles wherefore Paintings are both Dangerous Ill-favoured and Sluttish besides the troublesome pains But for other Adornments in Women they are to be commended as Curling Powdring Powncing Cloathing and all the Varieties of Accoutrement in that they have none of the said former Qualities but give a gracefull advantage to the Person Besides Dressing is the Poetry of Women in shewing the Fancyes and is the cause of imploying the greater part of a Commonwealth for in four parts three of them are in the Arts of Adornments for it is not onely Tailers Imbroyderers Perfumers Milleners Feather-makers Jewellers Mercers Silkmen Semsters Shoemakers Tiremen and many many more but every one of these Trades have many Trades belong to them as for example How many Trades belong from the Silk-worm to the Ladies Gown and from the Golden Mine to the Lace that is laid upon it and so in order to all other things which is the cause of keeping a Commonwealth in Union in busying and imploying their Minds which keeps them from Factious Thoughts and Designs Besides it distributes and spreads the Maintenance of the Kingdome for without particular Commerce and Trasick a Commonwealth cannot stand and subsist for though many a Commonwealth may subsist without the help of their Neighbours yet it cannot live without their own Imployment and Dividement among themselves for as some share in Lands so others in Offices and the rest in Trades wherein all trasick from the one to the other so that every Man lives by his Neighbour and not altogether upon himself Of Paleness and Blushing WHen a sudden Paleness seizeth the Face it shews a Guiltiness or some great Fear but a Blush will come into the Face many times when there is no occasion to raise it for it oftner proceeds from the Constitution of the Body than from a Guiltiness of the Mind for when the Blood is thin and the Spirits are hot they are apt to run up to the Face without the Minds consent or knowledge but when Blushing is raised by the Mind it is commonly from a Noble Suspicion that is
the thinnest Air be so hard and so solidly froze as water which is of a grosser Body Man and Beast would be smothered for want of Breath as Fishes are in great Frosts yet many Creatures of the Earth are frozen to death not only by having their Limbs Conjealed Benummed and Dead destroying the Natural Motions therin for surely the thinnest Air being congealed they can get none to serve for Breath that is there is none fit to move the Lungs for though some Creatures Lungs require grosser Air than others and some a finer yet Man and Beast I observe require a middle temper or mixture for too thin Air is as unusefull as too grosse so for the Temper too hot is as hurtfull as too cold the one scalds or burns the Lungs the Brain and the rest of the inward parts or sets the Spirits on fire the other benumbs and stupifies them at least obstructs them but when the Air is putrified and corrupted it mingles with the thinner Parts as the Humours the Blood and the like causing corrupted Diseases and putrifyed Limbs but as I said the Spring Vapour which is the rising Vapour is like the Beesting Milk so the Vapour in Autumn which is the falling Vapour is like Cheese that is ill prest or too moist kept which corrupts and breeds Maggots so Vapour being not well clarified or concocted by the Sun becomes Malignant Of several sorts of Vapour THere are many sorts of Vapours according to the several tempets of those parts of the Earth they are drawn from but when they are drawn to such a height they all mix yet seldom so but that some sort may predominate whether salt Vapour sharp Oil bitumenous waterish or grosse and Earthy as dull and heavy or more light and Aery Thus the Sun as I say draws and mixes boils and clarifies Vapours but if there be more than his Heat can overcome they corrupt and fall back and that which is thinnest and purest it turns into serene Air the Crude and Flatuous part it turns into Wind the Watery part into Rain the Bitumenous part into Thunder the Oily part into Lightning or Meteors the Scum into Clouds which servs as wicks of Candles to take Light the corrupted part insensibly falls back to the Earth again But when the Malignity of the Earth and the corruption of the Air and the distempered Humours of Bodies join together it causeth great and horrible Plagues making a general Malignity and untill this Malignity hath spent its strength with struggling and striving with the strength of Life it never ceaseth and at the last it grows fainter and fainter untill it hath no Power The several Degrees or several sorts of Vapour AS there is a natural Heat and a natural Moisture proper and inherent in every animal Body so there is a natural Vapour that is produced therefrom as a right and natural begotten Child Or like Chymistrie where Fire extracts from grosser Bodies several degrees of Matter as Smoak Oil Essence Water Salt and Incipid Dreggs so the Natural Heat on Food received extracts Vapour Fat Blood Spirits Sweat Humours and Excrements Now if the Heat be of an equal temper and the Limbeck which is the Stomach free from Defects the Digestion is good which makes the Extraction pure and effectual now the thinnest but strongest Extractions are the Animal or Vital Spirits the next thinnest and most powerfull is the Vapour which Vapour is that which reposeth the Senses and feedeth the Brain nourishing Imagination Conception and Understanding and the like and is the Creator of Fancy and Phantasms the Grosser part of Vapour is a Smoak that continually issueth out through the Pores and the like open passages which Smoak is a superfluity that serves for no use but may do Mischief if it be stopt choaking and smothering Life or at least causeth such Distempers as may disorder the whole Body but the Animal spirit indeed is a Vapour which proceeds from the Radical Heat and Moisture of the Body wherin if the Heat be too violent or the Moisture too gross Quenches or Burns them up and the Reposing Vapour proceeds from the Natural digesting Heat and Moisture that is in the Body and the Superfluous Vapour or Smoak proceeds from the actual Heat or Moisture put into the Body by violent Motions or hot Weather or hot Meats or moist Meats or much Meat or Drink When these Vapours join to the Natural Vapours of Repose they cause as it were dead sleeps as we see by those that have out Eat or Drank their Natural Temper for though much eating will many times hinder Sleep by reason it makes the Vapour so gross that it cannot easily flow yet much Drinking never fails for a drunken man will be so strongly asleep that he cannot be awaked but indeed the Senses will be drunk as well as the Brain which causeth them to be as if they were asleep but are not only their Strength is for a time taken away as being Slack'd or rather as it were drown'd but when strong sleep is produced by overmuch eating it is rather an Epilepsie than a natural Sleep the Brain being as it were almost sinothered with the thick and full Smoak and the Senses choaked or strangled therewith and so will the Senses be in these Distempers untill they are dispersed or rarified either by Time Motion or natural Heat but Temperance causeth sweet natural and healthfull Sleeps being a Vapour that ariseth from a good Digestion caused by a Natural Heat and Moisture for when the Stomach is too empty it hinders Sleep as much as when it is too full Of Thunder AS Winds make the Cloudes in the Air and the Waves of the Sea to War and make a Noise by the beating thereon so it makes Thunder for Thunder is nothing in my apprehension but Winds beating upon Christling Drops which is Water congealed in the middle Region for Cold knits the Porous Body into a more Solid and Winds that are made by Rarification give it Motion which motion makes it powerfull and when this Wind is got above the lower Region and flies about it it drives those Christling Drops against one another and makes such a Noise as the Roaring of the Sea only it is a harder Noise if we observe which is because the Water is Christling in the middle Region and not in the Sea and if we observe the harder the Thunder-Claps are the less it rains and the more it rains the lesser are the Claps and according as the heat of the Sun melts and dissolves the Christling Bodies more or less it rains Of the Motions of the Planets THE Spherical Planets are the Wheels to draw up Vapours from the Earth and the Sun as a thirsty Throat is refreshed thereby Besides every particular Planet feeds upon each other though not Corporally as many other Creatures do but draw and suck as from each others Breast Of Thunder some little difference to the former THE reason why it'doth not
Night piece for it wants the Sun of Rhetorick to make it a Glorious Day The Worlds Olio LIB III. PART III. Much Praise makes a Physician think himself Learned IT is a strange thing to see into what great Errours Men will run as suppose a Person shall find out or have it by Receipt a rare Medicine as to cure one Disease which is curable and for the Fame of this one Medicine shall have a whole Country flock to him for Medicines for their several Diseases and shall not be perswaded from it and at last perswade him as Self-love is easily perswaded to practice that he hath no skill in and so kill more by his Ignorance than his Medicine can qure by its Virtue Of Physicians IT is almost impossible for all Physicians to know all Diseases and their Remedies as they prosess to do by their general Practices for we find to learn a mean Art it is the study and service of seven Years and certainly it is much more difficulty to know Diseases which are like Faces not any one alike Besides Diseases lye so hid in the Body of an Animal as they are never perfectly known but guess'd at and to know the Cure of a Disease is as hard as to know the Disease and indeed we can never know a perfect Cure unless we could know the undoubted Cause But Physicians should watch as Philosophers the Stars with Observations and in time they may guess so well as seldom to fail of a Remedy Wherfore it were good that every particular Physician should be bound by a Law to study onely a single Disease and the Cure thereof and not to confound their Brains with tearms and names of Diseases and to kill the Patient by being ignorant of the Cause But let every Disease go to a proper Physician for though there be a multitude of Diseases yet there are more Physicians but such is the sad Condition that they rather adventure to Chance or Luck than Skill for Diseases are like several Countenances in Faces though there be one and the same kinds of Faces as Man-kind Horse-kind and Cow-kind yet every Horse-face is not alike nor every Mans Face is not alike so Diseases as Pox-kind and Plague-kind and Feaver-kind yet all Feavers are not alike nor Plagues nor Pox for they are different in degrees wherefore one and the same Medicine will not cure one kind of Disease but the Medicine must differ as the Disease for as the Countenance of the Disease changeth so must the Medicine But it is harder to take the degrees of Diseases than to draw a Picture to the Life for it is hard to know in what Degree a Disease is in But the Second Part of my Philosophical Fancies will treat more at large of Diseases and their Cures The Motion of the Blood THE most Renowned and most Learned Physician Doctor Harvey hath found out the Circulation of the Blood by his industrious study so methinks it should be very beneficial towards the health of Man to find out the Motion of the Blood as it runs whether it hath one intermixing Motion as it runs or whether the Blood doth not do as the Water seems to do which going in a swift source where the following Drops are as great Strangers to the leading Drops as the situation of either Pole for though the hinder Drops press forwards and drive on the former like Crouds of People one shuffling another yet they do not seem to intermix or incorporate but rather seem to break and divide into parts for if they should intermix and incorporate one drop into another their intermixing Motion would hinder their running Motion so much as it would be scarce perceivable how it went forward and if the Blood do not intermix then some Veins may have foul and corrupted Blood and some very pure Blood which we many times see which makes me think it doth not intermix if so we may take out our good Blood and leave our bad behind us not knowing where the Corrupted Blood lyeth and this Corrupted Blood may infect the Vital Parts as it runs along This makes some that when they let Blood in Feavers they are never the better because that Vein was not open where it lay so that Physicians had better strike two or three Veins and venture the loss of Good Blood than miss the Bad for it may corrupt all the rest though not by intermixing yet by corrupting the Liver as it floweth Of letting Blood THere are more Diseases come in having too much Blood than too little for when the Veins are too full the Blood hath no liberty to run out and for want of Motion corrupts which Corruption bursts out into Small-Pox Fistaloes Kings Evils and many such like Diseases But if the Humour thrusts not Outwards it corrupts the Inward Parts as the Liver the Lungs or else breeds Imposthumes and many such Diseases But if there be much Blood and thin then by the agitation it grows hot or else by the many Spirits in much Blood it begets too much Motion Motion Heat and Heat and Motion fires the Blood and inflames the Spirits which causeth Feavers of all sorts Frenzies and Consumptions for there may be as well too much Motion in the Body as too little But when the Parts of the Body are congeal'd or tyed up with Cold then the Blood cannot run nor the Spirits work but Motion ceaseth and the ceasing of Natural Motion is Death Or if the Blood run too fast about and the Spirits work too hard by reason of too much Heat they wast out themselves by reason of too much Labour and so are worn out like the Wheels of a Clock for the Clock ceaseth to go when the Wheels are broken Of Diet. THere is nothing preserves Health more and lengthens Life than due and just proportion of Diet according to the strength of the Stomack for one should eat so that the Body should feed upon the Meat and not the Meat to feed upon the Body as it doth with those that eat more than they can digest for the Superfluity makes Slough and Slime in the Body which Slime drowns the Spirits slackens the Nerves corrupts the Blood and weakens the Body besides it bringeth many Diseases Neither should one eat so little as to let the Body feed upon it self for much Fasting dryes the Blood heats the Body and fires the Spirits which Fire once getting into the Arteries is seldome or never cured being a Hective Feaver But it is as hard to know a just proportion to the strength of the Stomack as to keep it when they know it This Knowledge comes by observing the Stomack for at some times the Stomack requires more than at other times although the Appetite may be less when the Stomack is empty or it is requirable to give it more for some have such weak Appetites as they sterve their Bodies because they would not displease their Tast or else eat such things as
settlement to study Divinity is rather to study Controversy than salvation to study Philosophy is to seek that they cannot find to study History is to study Lys more than Lives where a Gentleman should study Truth follow Truth and practice Justice a little Rhetorick doth well to cloath his mind in soft numbers trim it with handsome phrases and a Gentleman should converse with Poetry for Poetry sweetens the nature not softens it to make it facil but civilizes it making it courteous affable and conversable inspiring the mind with high and noble thoughts which is the way to be inshrined in honourable Fame Like an Urn that keeps the ashes of the body from being scattered and lost so Fame keeps good deeds in the Urn of the memory Bred with the Muses THose that are bred up with the Muses are most commonly of sweet dispositions Civil and Courteous in their behaviour Pleasant and Witty in their discourse Noble and Heroick in their actions Free and Generous in their distributions Grateful for obligations Compassionate to the miserable and Charitable to the distressed But those that are born Poets are ingenuous by nature and prone to invention quick in apprehension various in imagination or conception their thoughts work generously and entertain their time constantly and are the best Companions to life where Fancy presents several Scenes and Wit speaks the Prologues True Poets and natural Philosophers are rather born such than learn'd to be such for it is a natural Ingenuity that creates fine fancies and produceth rational opinions Of Poetry AS for Poetry although it sits not in the first form in Wisdoms School nor the second yet it sits on the third for on the first form sits Honesty that is to be honest for honesties sake not out of by ends either for profit credit or other respects that it brings but out of Justice The next is Rule or Moderation which is to rule our actions and moderate our appetites for men may mean well yet out of indiscretion may run themselves into many errors not only in offending themselves but in offending their neighbours which may cause repentance and he is the wisest man that hath least to repent by moderating the appetite for whosoever goeth beyond the rule of Reason causeth a pain instead of a pleasure a loathing or hate instead of a release or desire for there is an old saying and a true Too much of a good thing is stark naught In the next place comes in Poetry wherein is included Musick and Rhetorick which is Number and Measure Judgement and Fancy Imitation and Invention It is the finest work that Nature hath made for it animates the Spirits to Devotion it fires the Spirits to Action it begcts Love it abates Hate it tempers Anger it asswageth Grief it easeth Pain increaseth Joy allays Fear and sweetens the whole life of Man by playing so well upon the Brain as it strikes the strings of the Heart with Delight which makes the Heart to dance and keeps the Mind in tune whereby the Thoughts move equally in a round Circle where Love sits in the midst as Mistris and judges For if Wisdom is the way to Happiness and Happiness lives in Delight and Delight in the Spirits then Poetry is a part of Wisdom since it is a Commander of that part and Essence of Man The Pastime of Wit WIT chears the Heart refresheth the Spirits delights the Mind entertains the Thoughts sweetens Melancholy dresses Joy mourns with Sorrow pleaseth Lovers excuseth Falshoods mends Faults begs Pardon Wit is a fine Companion either in private Closets full Courts or in long Travels Wit is neither troublesome nor chargeable Wit hath no bottome but is like a perpetual Spring Wit is the Sun of the Brain The dis-esteem Youth hath of Age. YOuth despiseth Age and thinks that because they are not full of Vanity they have not so much Knowledge Where Age pityeth Youth remembring their present Knowledge was got at the charge of their youthfull follyes But Youth believing nothing but what their present Humour leads them unto and their undigested Brain presents unto them saith than an Old Brain is rotten not comparing Nestor's Brain which was old in Years but sound in Judgement and Jeroboam's Juncto which was young in Years and weak in Counsel But one Nestor's Brain is able to turn all young Brains and make them so disty that they shall not know what to do For from young Counsel proceeds vain Designs fruitless Travels hard Adventures and successless Ends but from the Counsel of the Aged Danger is walled out and Peace is kept within and when they must War they take not Fortune but Prudence to be their Guide And the Errours that Youth commits Age is fain to rectifie though sometimes they are past remedy So that Youth is a kind of Monster in State-affairs which hath neither Head nor Tail for they begin without Probabilities and end in Ruins when Age begins wisely and ends successfully Wherefore it is better to take Aged Men ballanced with Wisdom than Young Men with Empty Heads or else a Head filled with rash Folly or light Vanities The Virtues of Age. AGE is carefull watchfull circumspect solid and grave slow but sure knows Business Time and Men Constant secret prudent and temperate Their Affections are placed upon Worth and Merit and love where they should so that Age is wise for it makes Consideration to open the Gate and Reason to lead the way I speak not here of Old Men for those can onely be called old where Time hath made a defect in their Memory and Understanding so that some may never come to be old although they live long for Age hath more power over the Body than the Mind But as a Woman is at the height and ripeness of her Beauty at the years of 20. so a Man is at the height and ripeness of Understanding about the years of 50. For by that time he may arrive by experience to the knowledge of attaining to be a Wise man The Defects of Age. AGE is covetous and griping superstitious and fearfull mistrustfull and jealous testy and froward dull and heavy lazy and slothfull forgetfull and tedious in their discourse neither have they great affection to any thing or for any thing A Young Man not a Wise Man IT is as impossible for a Young Man to be a Wise Man as for them that cannot read their A B C to read any Book or to speak before they have learnd or to go before they have strength For how can a Man be Wise without Knowledge which Knowledge is got by Experience and Experience is the Child of Time For though there may be many that live long and know little yet there are none that have lived but a little while that can know much which is Youth For Youth may know much for Youth but not enough for Knowledge consisteth in the weight and measure of things so that a Young Man may have a little
by reason of hot Vapours from the Liver there ariseth such a dust of vain Phantasms as puts out the Eyes of Truth land when the Brain is slabby and wet by reason of cold Vapours which are sent out of the ill-disgesting Stomach there is such a Bogg of Ignorance that the Thoughts sink therein and can hardly get out and many times are lost in those Quagmires but when there is fair Weather of Health there is Pleasure and Delight Allegory 19. THE first best Poetical Brain was as a Flint and Fancy the Sparks that are struck by the Iron Senses and all Modern Poets the Tinder that take fire from thence Fancies are tost in the Brain as a Ball against a Wall where every Bound begets an Eccho so from one Fancy arise more Phrase is the Painting Number the Materials and Fancy the Ground whereon the Poetical aery Castles are built There is no such sweet and pleasing Compagnion as Fancy in a Poetical head The Brains of men are like Colleges and the Thoughts are the Students that dwell therein thus many heads may make up an University The Picture of Wit Allegory 20. WIT is like a Pencill that draws several Figures which are the Fancies and the Brain is the Hand to guide that Pencill where all hands draw not one and the same Figure but according to the skill of the hand so all Fancies do not run one way but according to the temper of the Brain some run into Invention as Artificers some into Verse as Poets so that all Wit is Fancy yet so much is the Poets Wit above the Artificers that his fancie cannot be put into Artificial Figures but is as the Spirit the other as the Body Allegory 21. WIT is like a Lilly the one is as pleasant to the Ear as the other is to the Eye it comes to fading naturally and if it be not timely gathered it soon withers and dies 22. PRudence is like an Oke it is long a growing and it is old before it dies 23. ON the Tower of Ambition hangs a Diall of Industry where the Sun of good Fortune shews the time of Friendship on the Figure of Profession 24. MElancholy is the North-Pole Envy the South Choler is the Torrid Zone and Ambition is the Zodiack Joy is the Ecliptick Line where the Sun of Mirth runs Justice is the Equinoctial Prudence and Temperance are the Artick and Antartick Circles Patience and Fortitude are the Tropicks 25. TEars peirce through the Heart of Grief and vents it out through the Eyes of Sorrow 26. SOme Eies allure Hearts as Falckoners do Hawkes 27. Thoughts are like Pancakes and the Brain is the Pan wherein they are tossed and turned by the several Objects as several Hands 28. A Pain in the Teeth is like a Gout in the Toe 29. THE Stomack is the Still the Heart is the Furnace where the Fire lyes The Heart is a Limbeck wherein all Passions are distilled and the Fume thereof ascends to the Head and issues out either through the Eyes or Mouth from the Eyes run the water of tears from the Mouth the spirits of words The Life and Death of Wit Allegory 30. FAncy in Verse or Prose is like a Child in the Womb which onely lives whilst it is in motion but when once the innate motion ceases it is dead So Fancy when once it is conceived and quickned in the Brain if it be not brought forth and put into Writing it dyes and if those Writings be once lost they cannot be writ again no more than a Child can go into the Womb and be as it was Allegory 31. WIT is the Essence of the Mind or Soul 32. THE Ingredients of the Mind are Knowledge Understanding Imagination Conception Opinion Will Memory and Remembrance these Compounds make up a Rational Soul as several Ingredients make Mithridate 33. DIscord is like playing at Tennis and the Tongue is the Racket to strike the Ball of Wit and the Brains are the Gamesters and if the Gamesters be not equally skilfull or at least very near they cannot play for one cannot play a Game alone there must be two that must be match'd together Of Imitation and Singularity Allegory 34. IMitations are like a flight of Wild Geese which go each one after another when Singularity is like a Phaenix having no Companion or Competitor which make it the more admir'd And though a good Imitation is good and those are to be commended that copy well an excellent Original yet it expresseth want of Invention that they cannot draw without a Pattern and it expresseth Weakness when we cannot go without the help of another 35. EVery superfluous Cup and every superfluous Bit is digging a Grave to bury Life in 36. WAnton Eyes are like Apes that skip on every Face and oftentimes put the Countenance out of order whereon they light 37. EVery little Fly and every little Peble and every little Flower is a Tutor in Natures School to instruct the Understanding The four Elements are the four great Volumes wherein lye Natures Works 38. THE Mind is like a God that governs all the Imaginations like Nature that created all the Brain as the onely Matter on which all Figurative Thoughts are printed and formed Or the Mind is like an Infinite Nature having no Dimension nor Extension and the Thoughts are like Infinite Creatures therein 39. THE Mind travels through Speculations and Contemplations on Probability with Reason 40. TEars are the Children of Grief which melting dye as soon as they are born But the Womb wherein they lye is alwaies swelled which is the Eye 41. THoughts are like several Winds that blow from every corner of the Head and the four Partitions of the Skull are East West North and South From the North blows thoughts of Melancholy which bring cold and chilling Fears which freez the Blood as it were making it thick and congeal the Spirits which otherwise would slow with Agitation From the South part blows suffocating Thoughts which cause foggy Vapours to arise which darken the Mind with Discontent from the height of Mirth and gather into Clouds of Discontent which fall down into Showers of Tears From the West bloweth malignant Thoughts which corrupt the clearer Minds and inflames the Aery Spirit causing plagues of Jealousie or a Famine of Despair or Wars of Fury and Madness From the East refreshing Thoughts arise which make the Mind serene and when the Mind is hot with Ambition caused by the Sun of Hope then these pleasant Gales of Thoughts fan it with Poetical puffs and allay it with the sweet Dew of Fancy causing flow'ry Sonnets to sprout out on the white Ground of fine Paper Womens Faces are Masks of Modesty to cover the Dishonesty of their Hearts Falshoods are like Caps which cover the Head of Knowledge from the Sun of Truth Or like Vaults or Woods that make Ecchoes where Words spread far and sound double and treble Or like Squares of Glass which make of one a
thousand A Wicked Mans Heart is like a Snake of Wier put up round in a Box that when it is opened by base or cruel Actions it flyes in the Face of those that stand by it Of the Thoughts Allegory 42. THE Thoughts of Men are like the Pulses of Men the well-temper'd Pulse beats even strong and slow but a hot Constitution beats even strong and quick a feaverish Pulse beats double and quick but in a high Feaver the Pulse beats treble and sometimes seems to stand still and in a cold Constitution the Pulse beats slow and dull so the Thoughts of those that have slow strong and even Thoughts are Wise and Judicious those that are even strong and quick are Witty and Ingenious those that are double and quick have ready Wits but no Judgements those that have treble Thoughts and sometimes seem to stand still are Mad but have strong Fancies and those that are slow and dull have neither Wit nor Judgement There is no way to clear Thoughts but by Words Of Melancholy Allegory 43. MElancholy persons are never in the Mean but alwaies in Extremes as to be sometimes in an humour of extreme Laughter other times possest with high Fears passionate Weeping violent Anger or Rage and so with stupid Dulness and know not why and yet Rational Persons and therefore it is not alwaies Outward Objects but Inward Dispositions as the working of the Spirits or the motion of the Body for Melancholly Persons have thick gross heavy Humours when the Humour is rarified it moves Laughter when heated Anger when moved with desperate Fear the Smoke which is the breathing of it distils into Tears when setled and cold Stupid so this one Humour brings several Passions 44. WOrds of Commendations mixt with the Flowers of Rhetorick make a sweet Posie of Joy when they are bound up with the Beams of Pleasant Eyes But words of Reproach bound up with the Wrinkles of Frowns make a Rod to whip an Offender 45. THey that take Self-Love for their Guide ride in the Waies of Partiality on the Horse of Flattery to the Judge of Falshood and they that take Reason for their Guide ride in the Way of Probability on a Horse of Prudence towards the End of Truth 46. SPight creeps like a Snake out of the Bank of base Thoughts to sting the name of good Fame 47. THE Animal Figure of Mankind I will similize to an Island the Blood as the Sea that runs about the Mouth as the Haven which receive the Ships of Provision which are Meat Drinke or Mrechandice of Luxurious and Superfluous Meats and Drinks which cause many times the ruin of the Island like as a Rebellious Pride so the Humours of the Body swelling with malignity ruinate the Body by a sudden Usurpation as dead Palsies Apoplexies or the like but the exterior Senses are the Forts and the vital parts are like the Magazine which as long as they are secured and that there are Provisions they are safe but if once they are taken the Island is utterly lost and ruinated besides the Island is in great danger to be over-flowed for the Blood which is as the Sea being alwaies in perpetual motion running about Ebbing and Flowing through the narrow Veins and large Arteries if by chance it break through the Arteries or over-flow the small Veins it drowns the Island wherefore Chyrurgions which are like Drayners should cut Sluces to let it out 48. A Married life is an Olio Podrido of several Troubles and Vexations mixt together and say the chief Meat should be Turtle Doves though they are most commonly Scolding Daws yet Jealousie is the Sauce and Broth thereto Sickness and pain in Breeding and Bearing of Children are the Limmons and Oranges that are mixed therin On this Dish a Married life feeds which produceth no good Nourishment but breeds raw indigested cholerick and melancholy Humours but a single Solitariness is a Dish which is made with Ingredients of Peace Happiness Pleasure and Delight This Dish produceth good Nourishment and the Life oft-times invites the Muses to feed thereon 49. LIfe is like the Shell of a Nut and Reputation like the Kernell therein which if the Teeth of Time crack gently the Kernell comes out whole but if it crack it too rustly or hard it breaks the Shell and bruises the Kernel or champs it all in pieces 50. FRiendship is like to two Convex Glasses where the Species come forth and meet each other 51. THE Mind is like Nature and the several Thoughts are the several Creatures it doth create Forgetfulness is the Death and Remembrance the Life 52. JUstice should be a mans Governour Prudence his Counsellor Temperance his Friend Fortitude his Champion Hope his Food Charity his House Faith his Porter to keep out all Falshood and to let in none but Truth Wit his Companion Love his Bedfellow Patience his Mistris or HandMaid Reason his Secretary and Judgement his Steward 53. PRudence through the ground of Misery cuts a River of Patience where the Mind Swims in Boats of Tranquillity along the Streams of Life untill it come to the Shore of Death where all Streams meet 54. A Child's Brain is like ground uncultivated and Time the Husbandman with the several Senses which are as Plows throwing up the Furrows of Conception and soweth Seeds of Thoughts from whence sprout up several Opinions and Fancies 55. OR a Child's Brain is like an Island uninhabited and the Blood in the Veins is the Sea that doth surround it but Time the great Navigator plants it with Strength which causeth the Spirits as Merchants to traffique thereto by which it becomes populated with Thoughts and builds Towers of Imaginations the Magistrates which are Opinions dwell therin but the Castles of Fancie are for the Muses who attend the Queen of Wit but all Brains are not fertile alike but are like Islands that are neer the Poles which are inhabited with nothing but Wild Beasts as Ruff and Rude Bears others though they be neerer the Sun yet are Incipid and Barren being full of Heaths bearing nothing but Mossy Ignorance or else Moorish being full of Boggs of Sloth where Lives are swallowed up sinking insensibly and some other Brains have rich Soils but want the manuring of Education whereby the Thoughts which are the people grow lazy and live brutishly but those Brains that have rich Soils moderatly peopled well manured having not more peopled Thoughts than work for their Industry or so few as not to manage or imploy every part therein these Brains are fortified with Understanding Governed by Judgment Civilized by Reason Manured by Experience whereby they reape the plenty of Wisdome and live in peacefull Tranquillity and being inriched with Invention grow pleasant with Recreations making Gardens of Pleasure wherein grow Flowers of Delight and planting Orchards of various Objects which the several Senses bring in these grow tall Trees of Contemplations whereon the Birds of Poetry sit and sing and peck at the Fruit
would yield no Nourishment for there is a great difference between the Appetite and the Stomack Others their Appetites are so sharp and their Stomacks so weak as it digests not the third part of what it receives But he that loves Pleasure more than Health and Life let him follow Epicures and they that think the Severity of the Body is the way to Eternal Life let them turn Anchorets but they that think they may use all things that are lawfull without 2 prejudice to the Soul and would have Health and Life to use them long let them follow Observation and Moderation The Reason why one and the same Quantity of Physick shall purge some to Death and others it shall never move or at least not to that degree THE Reason is That one and the same Quality and Quantity of Purging Medicines works so different in several Bodies and at several Times in one and the same Body is caused by the Validity and Solidity of the Humour for the Bodies of Animals are like to several Grounds some Dusty and Dry some Stony and Hard some Tuff and Clammy as Clay some Muddy and Dirty others Washy and Wet which causeth Husbandmen to yoke more Oxen or Harness more Horses to adde Strength not onely when their Draughts are heavily laden but when the Waies are ill and uneasy to travel in for in some Waies ten Horses will not draw so easy as one in other Waies or in Winter as in Summer but are forced to whip and lash to tug and pull so are Bodies where Physick like Horses or Oxen doth pull and gripe the Guts to draw out clammy Flegm where in Light and Sanguine Bodies the Physick runs fast and the Humours follow easily or in Melancholy and Dry Waies where the Humour is so hard as the Physick rather beats upon it than penetrates or divides it and at last becomes Lame and Weak as Horses which are foundred but Cholerick Bodies are like Sandy Waies where the Humours like Dust fly about But there must be several sorts of Physick given to several Constitutions as Husbandmen sow several sorts of Grain as some Humours must be digged up with Penetrating Medicines other Humours plowed up with Fomenting Medicines some Humours harrowed with Extenuating Medicines others raked as with Drawing and Attractive Medicines some must be watered with Solable and Sucking Medicines others must be manured and nourished with fine Light-Meats and Gelly Broths others must be comforted with the hot Sun of Cordials Thus if Bodies be not husbanded according to the Nature Constitution of the Soyl they will never have a sufficient Stock of Health to pay Life their Land lord his Rent and Death will seize upon their Lease as forfeited to him before the Rent-day Of Purging Drugs ALL Purging Drugs have more of the penetrating or subdividing Quality than attractive or drawing for it is not the gathering together the Humours that casts forth or purgeth forth but the cutting or dividing them which loosens them and dissolves and the Cause of Fluxes in Bodies is that Nature hath bred a Drug in the Body which is a penetrating and subdividing Humour Of Opium Opium works upon the Spirits as Drugs do upon the Liver in the Body it is good in Feavers for in all Feavers the Spirits are like Wanton Bodies which run and play so much untill they have put themselves into a Fiery Heat But dull Opium corrects them like a grave Tutor wherefore Opium should be good for Mad-men moderately taken Of Animal Spirits THE Animal Spirits are the Radical Vapour in the Body produced from the Natural Heat and Radical Moysture but Obstruction which comes by Superfluity stops the Natural Heat hindring the Extenuating Faculty and Corruption which is caused by Superfluous Moysture and Unnatural Heat damps the Natural and drowns the Radical Moysture by which the Animal Spirits become weak This is the reason that those Diseases that come by Obstruction or Corrupted Humours make the Body faint and lazy and the Mind dull and melancholy Of Heat and Cold. HEat and Cold produce many times one and the same Effect for as Cold draws all Spirits inward so Heat thrusts all Spirits outwards for Cold is like a Hook to pull Heat inward and Heat like a Spear or a Staff to thrust outward As for example From Wine is distilled Aqua vitae or the like which are Spirits by the means of Fire and Wine in a Barrel if it be much frozen will cause all the Spirits in the Barrel to gather together in the midst and no Spirits are left in that which is frozen as likewise in extreme Fear all Spirits will be drawn to the Heart as the Center insomuch as all the rest of the Members will have none left to support them as they become useless and in great Heats the Spirits go to the Outward Parts and leave the Inward Parts so voyd as they become saint and exhausted for want of their help The Difference of Heat and Cold in the Spring and Autumn THE Face of the Earth is like the Hearth of a Chimney and the Sun as the Fire that lyeth thereon that is the reason that the Spring is not so warm as the Autumn or the Autumn so cold as the Spring because the Sun is not so hot in the Winter to heat the Earth as in the Summer for as the Hearth of a Chimney will require some time to be heated after the Fire is laid thereon so it will retain a Heat sometimes after the Fire is taken therefrom Likewise this is the reason that it is coldest just before the break of Day because at that time the Sun hath been longest absent for there is some Heat in the Night though but weak not but that the Night may be hot when the Day hath been cold but then that Heat proceeds rather from the Bowels of the Earth than the Beams of the Sun for though the Sun may have a Constant Heat yet his Beams have not as we may observe some Summer Daies are much colder than others for some Daies may be hotter when the Sun is Oblick than when it is Perpendicular over our Heads by reason that cold and moyst Vapours may arise from the Earth and as it were quench the Violent Heat in the Beams of the Sun and Wind may cool the Heat also or Clouds may obstruct the Heat as a Skreen set before the Fire yet neither Wind nor Vapour nor Clouds can alter the Heat inherent in the Sun c. Diseases curable and uncurable THere are some sorts of Dropsies that are caused by Obstruction and some sorts of Consumptions caused by Evil Digestion and so Diseases of all sorts that are curable but if any Vital Part be perished it is not Physick nor good Diet nor change of Air nor any Evacuation or Restoratives that can make that part whole again that is perished no not Nature it self for when her Work is finished she cannot mend it for if she makes
falls having a sufficient Vent like Showers of Rain where some run through the Pipes of the Nostrils othersome through the Gutter of the Throat and some fall streight down on the Stomack as the Earth for as it is the Nature of Vapour to spread and to ascend as being Light and Thin so it is the Nature of Water to descend or to run streight forth by reason it is more Solid and Weightier likewise Likewise Coughs are Followers and Attendants of Rheums which by tickling those Parts where it falls or trickles along causeth a straining and so a coughing though many times Wind produceth the same Effect by a tickling touch Also Sneezing is an Attendant to Rheum and Wind and causing a tickling on the Brain or in the Nose for indeed Sneezing is nothing but a Cough through the Nose as through the Throat Likewise Tooth-aches are caused by Rheums for the Rheum falling thereon rots the Bones or makes Holes therein like as Water continually dropping on a hard Stone works a Passage thorow Also Soar Throats are caused by Rheums but that is when the Rheum is sharp or salt Then Winter is subject to cause Apoplexies Lethargies numb Palsies and Gangrenes that are caused by the stoppage of the Pores which as I said are not only drawn closer by Cold which makes the Skin thicker and harder but by the gross and thin Air which is contracted into a more Solid Body by Cold. Thus the breathing Passages of the Body being stopp'd there flyes up so much grosser Vapours to the Head as choaks the Brain and smothers the Vital Spirits there and the Body having less Vent in Winter than in Summer grows so full of Humours as obstructs the Nerves and Muscles with cold clammy or hard baked Flegm as they cannot stir with a sensible Motion for in the Nerves and Muscles doth the Sense of Touching live and where they cease from moving those Parts are dead and numm'd Gangrenes are produc'd by the benumming of the Spirits as when the Spirits are congeal'd to Ice which causeth in very cold Countryes as Russia or the like to have their Noses and Fingers fall off from their Faces and Hands Likewise if the Spirits are quenched out with too much Moysture or their Motions hindered by some Obstruction or as it were corrupted by some Blow Bruise or Wound those Parts for want of Lifes Motion gangrene and so rot off Likewise Fistaloes are subject to this Season because this Season being subject to breed Rheums of all Sorts and Natures according as the Humours are in the Body so it breeds that sharp Rheum which makes Fistaloes for that Humour is as sharp as Vitriol or Aqua fortis and it doth in the Body as Vitriol and Aqua fortis doth on Metal running about and eating holes quite thorow Also this Season is subject to hard white Swellings bred by cold clammy or tough Humours The Stone and the Gout reign in every Season but not in every Age for though Children have the Stone many times yet seldome or never the Got But the Gout although it s not the Stone in the Toe yet it is an Humour which is of the Nature of Lime which is somewhat of a Brimstony Hard Dry Bitumenous Humour Of Cold and Hot Diseases A Cold Disease is apter for Cure than a Hot for Cold Diseases are like Raw Flesh that the Frost hath gotten hold of and makes it unlike it self by reason of the Ice hardning of it but Warmness dissolves it and then it comes to it self again but by Excessive Heat it is as if one should boyl or rost a piece of Flesh for when a piece of Flesh is boyled rosted baked or the like one shall never make it as it was which is to be raw again Of Apoplexies and the like AN Apoplexy is a dead Palsie in the Brain and a Lethargy a numb Palsie in the Brain And the reason many times why dead and numb Palsies when it takes them on one Side ruin the Legs or Arms and yet live is because it hath not touched the Vital Parts which is caused by some Obstruction in the Veins or some of the Nerves which either is by gross and thick Blood or hard and crusted Flegm or cold and clammy Flegm But if it be in the Head which we call Apoplexies it is either caused by a Cold Humour in the Brain which doth as it were congeal and freez up the Spirits or by a Malignant Vapour proceeding from the Stomack or Bowels which Vapour choaks or smothers up the Spirits And indeed the greatest Enemy to the Brain is the Vapour that proceeds from the Ill-affected Bowels or Stomack for Vapour being Smoke ascends upward to the Head which is the Chimney of the Body where the Smoke vents out for the Bowels may be compared to the Hearth the Stomack to the Pot or Furnace the Meat to the Fuel the Heart to the Fire or Flame which is fed by the Liver or Oily Substance the Lungs the Bollows to keep it alive the Head as I said the Chimney to gather up the Smoke the Nose Mouth and Ears the Tunnels from whence it issues out for if the Nose and Mouth be stopped the Fire of Life goeth out and not having Reviving Air it is choked with its own Smoke for though the Pores of the Body do evaporate some of the Smoke yet that is onely the thin and subtiller Part but if the Pores of the Body be stopped by a Cold the Body shall grow Feaverish with it so that many times it sets the House on Fire and when the Head is Idle and Frantick it is because the Head which is the Chimney-top is set on Fire by the Feaver but the Vapour that ascends to the Head is either a great Friend or Enemy to the Wit for a Gross Vapour chokes the Wit a Thin Sharp Vapour quickens it a Cold Vapour congeals it a Hot Vapour inflames it and several sorts of Vapour make variety of Wit and the several Figures and Works and Forms that that Vapour which is a Smoke raiseth up cause several Imaginations and Fancies by giveng several Motions to the Brain Of a Feaver A Feaver is like a Stack of Hay that is laid up half wet and half dry This Moysture and Drought being met together strive for Preheminency the Drought would drink up the Moysture and the Moysture would dissolve the Drought and if their Strength be equal and the Strife be without intermission the Stack is set on Fire caused by an equal swift continuated Motion which consumes all if it be not quenched out by a fresh Recruit of Moysture for Drought takes the part of Fire being the Child of Heat which Heat is the Child of Fire and so is the Grandmother of Drought Thus a Feaver is caused by the Humours of the Body which being not well tempered sets the Barn which is the Body on Fire by the Corruption therein for Heat and Moysture are the Parents to
whisperings or private Conference that her Actions might have sufficient Witnesse and her Discourses a generall Audience Item That none shall marry against their own liking or free choice lest they make their Marriage an excuse for Adultery Item It shall be allowed for Maids to entertain all Honorable as Matrimonial Suters untill such time as she hath made choice of one of them to settle her Affections upon for it is good reason one should take time and observe Humors before they bind themselves in Wedlock Bonds for when once bound nothing but Death can part them but when they are once married their Ears to be sealed from all Loves pleadings protestings Vows making high praises and Complementall phrases Item That none shall keep a Mistris above halfe a year but change lest she grow more imporious than a Wife made of a Widow Item All Lovers shall be licensed to bragg or speak well of themselves to their Mistris when they have done no meritorious Actions to speak for them Item All those that have Beauty enough to make a Lover if they have not wit to keep a Lover shall be accounted no better than a senseless Statue Item It shall not be as it is in these Daies accounted a prise or purchase amongst Ladies to get either by their Wit or Beauty admiring Servants especially if they be of amorous natures for then Nature drives them to her Beauty or Wit more than her Wit or Beauty draws them to it Item All those that are proud without a cause it shall be a sufficient cause to be scorned Item Eloquence shall not be imployed nor pleaded in Amorous Discourses nor to make Falshood to appear like Truth but to dress and adorn Vertue that she may be accepted and entertained by those that will refuse and shun her acquaintance if she be clad in plain Garments Item There shall none condemn another Language nor account another to be better if it be Significant Copious and Eloquent such as the English Tongue is Item All passionate Speeches or Speeches to move passion shall be expressed in Number Item That all Natural Poets shall be honored with Title esteemed with Respect or enriched for the Civilizing of a Nation more than Contracts Laws or Punishments by Soft Numbers and pleasing Phansics and also guard a Kingdom more than Walls or Bulworks by creating Heroick Spirits with Illustrious Praises inflaming the Mind with Noble Ambition Noble Souls and Strong Bodies THough Noble Souls and great Wits dwell not constantly nor are allwaies created in Strong Bodies yet if Nature did choose her Materials match her Works and order her Creatures rightly and Sympathetically Strong Bodies should have noble Souls large Capacities and great Wits for Weak Bodies many times are a defect in Nature as much as shallow Wits or irrational Souls But surely if the chief and first Nature would work methodically and not seem as if she wrought at randome and to produce by Chance as she doth if Education and Custome which is a second Nature had not such a prevalent power to disturb and obstruct her and though Education and Custome may and doth somtimes rectify some Defects and help Life yet it doth more often puzzle Life and incumber Natures Works putting Nature out of the right ways with False Principles Foolish Customes and ill Education this is the reason natural Wits are many times lost not having time or leasure to exercise them or use them as I may say or for want of variety of Subjects or Objects to better them or dull'd by tedious and unprofitable Studies or quenched out by base Servitude or Subjection Also clear Understandings are darkened sound and strong Judgments weakened and false Judgments given and vain Conceptions and erroneous Opinions Maintaind or Believed for want of the True and the Right Waies Likewise the streught of the Body oftimes is weakened and effeminated by Luxurie Curiosity and Idleness which causeth Noble Souls Large Capacities Clear Understandings Fine Fancies and Quick Wits to dwell many times nay most commonly in weak Bodies for the better sort have most commonly more Plenty than Health the one devouring the other when the Meaner sort have meager Souls and barren Brains Rude Dispositions and Rough Natures have strong Limbs strengthned by Exercise and maintained by Labour healthfull bodies kept in repair by Temperance caused by scarcity and Poverty contented minds bred by Low Fortunes and Humble Desires when Wealth and Dignity create Vain Glory and Pride yet many times small Fortunes and great Wits agree best together but Noble Minds and Great Estates do the most good But in this Age although it be the Iron Age yet those men that have Effeminate Bodies as tender Youth loose Limbs smooth Skins fair Complexions fantastical Garbs affected Phrases strained Complements factious Natures detracting Tongues mischievous Actions and the like are admired and commended more or thought wiser than those that have Cenerous Souls Heroick Spirits Ingenuous Wits prudent Fore-cast Experienced Years Manly Forms Gracefull Garbes Edifying Discourses Temperate Lives Sober Actions Noble Natures and Honest Hearts but in former years it was otherwaies for Heroick Spirits in Masculine Forms had double praise as is expressed in the Grecian and Trojan Warrs and Princes were bred to labour as much as Pesants for though their Labour might be different the one being Servile the other Free yet the Burthen and pains-taking might be Equal though they carried not Pedlars Packs nor Porters Burthens yet they carried thick and heavy Arms and if they handled not the Sithe Pitch-Fork and Flail yet they handled the Sword the Spear the Dart the Bow the Sling and the like and if they knew not how to Mow to Reap and to Thrash yet they knew how to Assault to Defend and to Fight and though they digged not the Gold out of the Mines yet they digged Fortisications out of the Earth and if they set not Flowers on Banks or sowed Seeds in Furrows or ingrafted Slips or planted Trees to grow yet they set Armies in battail Array and sowed Lives in Adventures ingrafted Honor to the Stock of their Predeceslors and planted Fame to grow high in after Ages and though they drive not the Asses yet they mannage the Horses and if they want the Art to Yoak Oxen they want not the wisdome to Yoak the Vulgar with strickt Laws and if they will not drive a Flock of Sheep to the Fold they can lead a Number of Men to the Warrs and if they cannot build a House yet they can storm a City Thus galiant labours may strengthen the Bodies of Honorable Breed and Noble Minds freely and industriously without a Bondage or Slavery nay they may Row in Gallies yet not be subject to the Whip or Chains But as Masculine Bodies and Heroick Souls had a double esteem so Effeminate Bodies and timorous Spirits or rather Natures had a double despising as witness Paris of Troy but most Nations in those Ages spent their time in usefull Arts not