Operation altogether contrary to the former and of but little Use and Virtue except in some particular Medicines But when any such Drinks are weak and the sweet Quality has but a small share or government in them they aâ—…ter they have attained to the highest Degree and Ripeness for drinking which they do in a shorter time than those Liquors wherein the sweet Quality is strong very frequently fall into a Flatness which is called dead Beer whereas where this great sweet Quality is prevalent the original Salts are in proportion and consequently the principle of Heat and Fire is powerful which appears as soon as the Bodies of such Fruits are opened or put into Motion by the Art of Fermentation But to confine my self as nigh as may be to the two main Things I mean Sugar and Brandies intended by this Letter give me leave to tell you Sir all sorts of Sugar are so highly graduated both by Nature and Art that the same is become the greatest Preserver and the best Cordial in the World there being nothing found that will so long preserve Crude or raw Fruits Herbs Liquors and many other things as Sugar more especially the first and second sort Sal Nitre or common Salt coming short thereof so that it seems to have obtained the Ascendenâ—… over all other things in the Vegetable Kingdom And as to its Sweetness or Operations in many sorts of Foods it is endued with many charming Properties whereby it mollifies and as it were unites all the unequal Motions and predominate Powers of the other three-domineering Qualities I mean the Asâ—…ringent or Saltish Bitter and Sour and melts them down unto a degree of Equality so that by the help hereof many Crude raw Fruits and others otherwise in a manner useless become beneficial of which there are made many brave wholsom exhileratings Foods and Liquors too tho' by the by I am to observe that such Foods wherein Sugar is mixed or compounded ought not to be frequently eaten more especially not by Children or young People since it never fails to operate and act like it self I mean to heat and warm the Blood generating many powerful brisk Sprits that for the most part prove of no small prejudice to them whereas on the contrary to most that are of advanced years the proper Mixture of Sugar in some part of their Food especially spoon Meat mightily inspires them with a chearing warming Quality giving as it were a youthful Life and Vigour to aged drooping Natures and heavy dull Spirits and are to be preferred before all spirituous Cordials and strong Drinks whatever which most aged People affect and which seldom fails to pinch and heat the Ureters to obstruct the Passages as also the free Circulation of the Blood by drying up and consuming the thin moist Vapours and dewy Qualities which old Age generally wants in a great proportion the Preservation and Support of which depends most upon spoon Meats which sweetned as already â—…entioned 〈◊〉 more suitable and homogeneal than any of those Liquors taken for that purpose And as Sugar used in Meats and Preserves is thus so very excellent the Spirits or Brandies made thereof are no 〈◊〉 so and must have the first place allowed it of all others in a manner upon all accounts tho' I must say all Brandies are useful and have as it were a kind of Operation which is an hot fiery warming restoring reviving and penetrating the whole Body with its powerful and rapid Motion which is the innate and unnatural Disposition thereof These Liquors being as it were spiritual Powers by Art divested from their natural Cloathing or crude phlegmy Bodies and therefore at the very first intermission of them into the Body penetrate to the very Center of all the Principles and Powers of Nature and joining and incorporating with the original Fire and natural Spirits makes the Person the same moment he drinks to feel a brisk lively Fire to kindle which upon some occasions proves of great Benefit as in fainting Fits Swoundding over Dulness of the natural Spirits also after hard Labour and so forth and here give me leave to note that those Brandies that are thin and less Cordial such as are distill'd from thin small Wines and old clean Cyder are more penetrating and digesting as proceeding from a meaner thinner and weaker Original and therefore their Operations are good and may be taken on Foulness and Surfeits to as good purpose as that made of Sugar but the Sugar or Treacle Brandy is more Substantial fuller and more Cordial and therefore the drinking thereof does not so soon wound and decay the Drinkers of it nor cause them to dwindle into Consumptions as the drinking of French Brandy does and this has been observed ever since both sorts have been become a common Drink for Enterment especially in the Sugar Islands and other Parts of the West Indies That when any one took to the drinking of French Brandy his Friends and Acquaintance condemned him to a short Life of Course whereas if any took to the drinking of that made of the Spirit of Molosses or Juices of Sugar-Cane they would cry he would hold out For tho' the common drinking of one or the other be a sin against God yet 't is certain the sipping of that made of Sugar does not so soon wound and destroy the radical Moisture and Digestion of the Stomach as the other does which comes from France whose thin hungry Leanness is manifested by putting a raw Piece of Flesh into it and another the like Piece into Sugar-Brandy where you will find the former as it were eaten to pieces and destroyed much sooner than that in the latter than which nothing can better set out the Eagerness Thinness and Acidity thereof For by how much the more eager thin and hungry any Liquor is the less Cordal Sweetness its Body possessed with the more it seeks after Matter breathing as it were violently with open Mouth to devour all Substances that come within its Circle or Province And further to illustrate this with an Example if you put Eggs or any other the like thing into Ale Beer Cyder Wine or Vinegar you will find that put into Ale to have the first place of keeping that of the Beer if mild next and so on so that that which is sharpest you see devours or eats up the thing first whereas the mildest fullest and most Corpial Body or that wherein the four Qualities are most equal will preserve the thing so put into it longest because all its parts are more equal But Sugar Treacle or Molosses are not useful only in the forementioned ways but also upon many other Accounts too long to be inserted And I hope Sir you are satisfyed by this time of their Natures Distinctions and different Operations and the preferrence due to Sugar both to Foods Drinks and otherwise whereunto Molosses cannot pretend to arrive For having passed thro' the several Fluxes and Operations of the Refiners and
their Post and Defend the Microcosmical City from her Enemies For the use and office of the Palate is to distinguish whether our Meats and Drinks be equal or unequal that is whether the Bitter the Sweet the Saltish Astringent or Sour and which of these have the Governing or Predominancy in the said Foods and Drinks For these four Qualities are the very Centre and original foundation of all the wonderful and amazing Varieties not only of Tastes but of the Complexion of every individual thing or Creature both in the Animal Vegitable and Mineral Worlds or Kingdoms and according to the degrees of their Government such a Form Shape and Signature Qualification and Nature they are of either good or bad vertuous or vicious from which foundation and ruling power each Creature obtains the name either of good or evil Therefore no Man can pretend to know or understand the general nor particular Nature Effects and Operation of any thing or Creature if he be Blind and Dumb as to the Signature and distinguishing these four Grand Qualities or Mighty Powers that are as it were the very Centre and Composition of all things for if the Musician do not understand the wonderful Power and Energy of the Seven Notes which are the Basis and Central powers of Equality and Concord nor the Mathematician the true uses of the Nine Figures the first can make no Harmony nor the last cannot penetrate into the Secrets of that wonderful and demonstrative Science by which so many Wonders and Useful Trades Callings and Employments have been Midwifed into the World to the great benefit of Mankind For he that does not understand the Proportion nor the Qualities and Parts things are made and compounded of cannot have any true or certain knowledge neither of himself nor of any other thing but do speak and judge by chance and not from any intelligable or Central Knowledge or Understanding The five outward Senses are the Materials Man is Compounded of as to the Elements of the Body and which are the true House and Corporality of the five inward Mental Senses or Spiritual Powers the outward being as so many Kings and Princes who have under their Command many Officers and Centinels that have several Posts by whose Vigilancy and Diligence all the common Roads and Passages might be kept safe and free from Tumults and Disorders for the outward Senses are the Carriers or Presenters of all Objects and things to the sleeping Magick Powers of the Mind or inward Senses and therefore it is of great and infinite moment for every one to regulate and keep the five outward Senses in due order viz That they be not defiled nor adulterated by Intemperance Uncleanness and Disorders neither in Meats Drinks Employments nor Communications And therefore this great and Noble Sense the Taste or distinguisher of all Qualities Forms and Complexions is wonderfully and aptly placed in the Mouth or grand Gate or inlet that leads into the very Center of the Microcosmical City which Gate or Passage is double Guarded as is mentioned before that it may be able to bolt or shut out whatsoever shall be offered that is not profitable nor good either for the Support or Substance of the Body or Mind But if this Sense of Tasting be sâ—…llyed and most are rendred incapable of distinguishing Vertue from Vice or natural Preparations from Hetrogenials to judge better of the Nature and true Operations of Foods and Drinks than Blind Men can of Colours or Deaf Men of Musick for having lost the true use of this Noble Faculty and Precious Jewel a Man is left destitute of all conduct and there remains but one thing by which he is rendred in any degree able to resist the great Enemies of Nature Gluttony Uncleanness and Disorder viz the will and desires can by its innate Power command the Gates the Teeth and Lips to be shut and barred up to defend and keep out all Invading and Incroaching Powers that continually attempts to storm the Health and Preservation of Man Therefore it is a Vertue of great Value to command the Mouth to be shut and to deny himself the Tasting of improper Meats and Drinks and to keep the Mouth shut against the beloved Apple for by Eating Mankind is preserved both in the Harmony of his Body and Mind and by Eating he is likewise sunk into the deepest Misery and Depravity as Witness our first Parents Eating is a great Misery which few or none understand if they did there would be more Care and Caution in it then there is It was not without great Reason and inspired Thought that the Learned Moses tells us that our first Parents Fell and Degeneration came on them by eating of the Forbidden Fruit what that was we will not undertake to decide however it is not to be doubted but that it did arise and proceed from the evil Powers and divided Forms that is from the disunion of the Principles and Qualities of their own Composition for whosoever doth Eat and Drink without the Eye of Wisdom and distinguishing of God and of Nature in themselves must of necessity Eat the Forbidden Fruit for in whomsoever the Powers of the violent wrathful Spirits are stirred up and awakened the Mouth of the same black Principle is opened and with its highest diligence desires and seeks out a suitable Food this was the dark or gloomy Door that all the great â—…wils and Cruelties came in at for when the Central Blood-Hounds have gotten the Scent and tasted Blood and Wounds then all the noble Faculties the Senses especially that of the Taste becomes depraved and the Will and Desires arises and are continually Generated from the dark Magia then there is no distinction between Cleanness and Uncleanness Violence and Vertue that Form that is awakened in the sullen Magia forms the Thoughts Desires and Wills which Rules and Commands over all the Inferior Officers and Powers and Nature bows before this violent fierce and fiery Spirit as Iacob did before Esau. Now Meats and Drinks are of the same Lump and in them are contained the compleat Nature and true Property of Man be they of what kind soever every sort and particular hath its own Complexion and its whole Business and Inclination is to advance that Property which is strongest in it and doth use all Industry to subject all Forms and Powers to its Government be it either Good or Evil Violence or Patience Anger or Love for so soon as Mankind loses his Way and distinguishing Faculties then immediately a crowd of Usurpers throng in upon him in a hostile way and call for their Similes or Assistance for every sort of Food and Drink when it comes into the Stomach is presently turned to Blood Spirits Dispositions and Inclinations and if the Forms be divided and Disunion begotten then Wrath Fierceness and Violence obtains the Government and then all Meats and Drinks are changed and Converted into their own Nature and Property whether they be clean or
unclean for every specifick Body or Thing is endued with its own Magnet and its Innate Power doth draw forth such Matter Juice or Nourishment that is proper to sustain and support its own Body and at the same time the other Forms and Qualities lie as it were hid sleeping in the Magia as for Example In one Field or Pasture there are several sorts of Animals viz. Cows Sheep Horses and Swine and they all Eat one sort of Herbage or Grass which do Nourish and Sustain them notwithstanding they are of several Species or Kinds as is mentioned before the Swine Transmutes the Juices of the Grass into its own Nature viz. into gross unclean Flesh and a foul stinking Excrement very burthensome and a meer loathing to Nature the Horse to a lively strong brisk Nourishment the Dung or Excrement not at all offensive the Cow from the same Food doth Extract good clean Nutriment and a considerable quantity of Milk whose pleasant Colours do declare its Excellency and the Flesh is much finer and cleaner also the Dung is of a good Smell and some do esteem it a good Perfume thâ—… like is to be understood in all Husbandry each Grain of Seed doâ—… by a secret Power and Sympathetical Inclination attract a suitâ—…ble Matter out of the Earth to support and nourish its own Body so Curious so Mysterious so Wonderful and so Amazinâ—… are the Works of the Great Creator and Eternal Preserver of 〈◊〉 his Off-spring The very same is to be understood of the Operations in thâ—… Human Nature for since Man hath immersed his Will and Dâ—…sires into the blackest and deepest degrees of Bestiality and Depravation and Lives in and under the Lyonish Bearish and Doâ—… gish Spirits and died with the deepest Colour of Violence anâ—… Fierceness then these Rapacious Beasts and all those evil Properties and Qualities have obtained the Ascendant and Rule 〈◊〉 the Will and Desires so by the Power and Operation of theâ—… ruling Qualities a suitable Nourishment is Extracted from 〈◊〉 Meats and Drinks be they of what Nature soever clean or unclean the Commanding and Transmuting Powers standing 〈◊〉 the wrath and fierceness of the divided Forms and disunity 〈◊〉 the Natural Powers which do presently awaken and stir up a moâ—… violent Spirit in the Eaters and Communicaters of such thing for so soon as Mankind Tasted Blood together with the Flesh presently awakened and rouzed up all the dark morose uncleâ—… Spirits and dark Properties of the sullen Magia and Incorpoâ—… ted with and strengthened their Similies which did quick prepare him to do the like by his own kind viz. To Kill 〈◊〉 Slaughter and to have no more Mercy nor Compassion than had of the Beasts being both done from the same Principle Violence Eating and Tasting has a wonderful Power and Energie it bâ—…ing the very Substance of a Man's Life this Sense being an â—…ticing Faculty and when it is depraved and the Will kindlâ—… in Violence and Debauchery then it destroys many thousands poor Ignorant Mortals and sends them into the next Woâ—… therefore Temperance and Simplicity in Meats and Drinks 〈◊〉 to keep this noble Sense simple and entire is highly commenâ—…ble and as it were the Fountain of all Wisdom Many more Excellencies and Vertues the Holy Creator 〈◊〉 endued this great and noble Sense the Tasting with and 〈◊〉 cularly that of Pleasure and Delight which seems to surpass all others what Pastime Pleasure and Delight is there in the World that can be compared to a sharp entire well prepared Appetite doth it not at once compleatly Indulge and Gratify the whole For though this Sense doth not represent the curious Forms and Figures Odoriferous Smells or Scents Melodious Sounds and Harmonies yet it doth entirely afford the highest degrees of Pleasure though it must be confess'd it is short yet livelier than the other as to the Tasting part but at the same time with the help and assistance of the under-graduated Officers viz. the Teeth Liquor and Menstruum it conveys all the Substance into the Stomach the common Magazine or Store-house of Man and then its Subservient Vessels or Officers separates those Meats and Drinks and conveys or carries the finer part thereof to every Part or Member of the whole which doth refresh and strengthen every particular so that there is a melodious Agreement and lovely Consort between that great variety of all the Forms Qualities and Senses at once which does exceed all other Pleasures or Delights in the little World For what Person is there in the World that hath a well-prepared Appetite and sharp Stomach that will not leave or separate himself from all other Pleasures be they of what nature soever for a good Meals Meat and Drink when exceeding Thirst and Drought invades him Here the Senses of Life are concerned and the Support of all the parts of Nature are touched at once and there all the Parts and Members together with the Power of the Senses that do inspire and reinforce the Will and Desires insomuch that they become so very Strong and Potent that they command the Hands and Feet and all the other Parts to provide Materials for the maintaining the great Pleasure of the Palate and to furnish the Stomach or Magazine with such Matter or Food that they may sustain the whole and therefore in cases of necessity some of the Antients have counted it Lawful to Steal or Plunder for so much Food and Drink as will sustain and preserve Life So that there is a greater necessity to support and maintain the Pleasure of the Pallate than any other belonging to the Body There are three things that are for the Support of Mankind and that he cannot Live without viz. Food Houses and Cloths Now Food hath the first place Houses the second and Cloths the third And as this great and noble Sense doth afford unto Mankind the most ample and compleatest Pleasure of all others and is of the most necessity so on the other side if it be over indulged and cloyed so that it becomes depraved by an intemperate unclean Life then most or all the forementioned Delights and Pleasures are abated for the more excellent any thing is in its own Nature the greater are the Evils whenabased Therefore the Foolish and such as give themselves to Intemperance Gluttony and Drunkenness finding the natural and excelling Pleasures of this Sense they have in most Ages used all endeavours with great Labour Care and Hazard both to the Body and Mind with a thousand Inventions and unnatural or disagreeing Compositions Childishly imagining thereby to gratify the more and continue the long Pleasure and Delight of this Sense but being ignorant and mistaken in the Operations of Nature which are all Simple and Innocent most of them have Experienced the quite contrary Effects and instead of true Pleasure and Delight they have dulled cloyed or blunted the Edge of their Appetites and Palates by their often addresses they make to it Eating too much
but the consideration thereof wiâ—… afford you some Benefit LETTER IV. Of the Sense of Seeing SIR BY the Receipt of yours I find you have a great desire to have my Iudgement of that most Stupendious and Wonderful Sense of Seeing in Answer whereunto I shall according to my Talent endeavour to Explicate the Variousness Virtues and Powers of that most amazing and admirable Faculty NOW as that wonderful Eye of Heaven the Sun is the very Centre of Light of all the numberless numbers of Creatures being the Foundation and Well being of them all who by its illuminating Beams Communicates Life and Light to all the Host of Heaven and Earth without which all would be a dark Chaos of Misery and Confusion Words are too short to set forth the Uses and Excellencies of this Sun of God in which the Preserving and Divine Power is understood and manifested And as this high illuminating Spirit and Power is the Eye which doth enlighten and preserve every Member and Part of the Great World being its Soul or Centre The like is to be understood of the Sense of Seeing in us for as the Sun is the Eye of the Macrocosm so is the Sense of Seeing the Light of the Microcosm which doth enlighten every Member and Part thereof for Man is a compleat Image of God and his Handmaid Nature and doth contain the true Nature and Properties of the whole and therefore is called a Little World or an Extract from the Great and as this high and mighty Power the Sun doth enlighten direct and conduct all and by whose Power and illuminating Beams all this wonderful variety of Beings and Creatures are understood and distinguished And as the World would be a miserable Chaos if the glorious Eye of Heaven were withdrawn but one moment even so it would be with Man for this Sense of Seeing is both in the Great and the Little World the true Guide of all Action and Motion and in this Sense or Light is contained the Secret or Central Fire which by Motion and continual Circulation of contrary Qualities becomes manifest warming and preserving the whole being the Root and Original of Vegetation and the true Father of the Light for Fire and Light are inseparable they dwell eternally together for this cause where the Light is weak or but little there the Fire is as impotent as is most manifest in all the Northern parts of the World most part of the Year being terrible-Cold Frosty Weather the Elements being Congealed for want of Heat The contrary is to be understood in the Southern parts of the World where there is Light Heat is always at hand and in what thing soever the Central Fires are potent there the Light is also strong powerful and lasting there being always a proportionable Nature between the Light Fire or Central Heat of each thing both in Animals Vegetables and Minerals for this cause Children and all Young People have a clearer and more penetrating Sense of Seeing than those of Age because their Light burns clearer and all their Humours are clean vigorous and free from dull cloudy Vapours the Elements of Water and Fire being thin and more pure do rarify each other by which the Oil of Life or Salnitral Vertues are clean and free from gross obstructing Matter from whence the Fire hath its bright clear shining Quality so that in Youth all the Operations of the Elements are more brisk lively and powerful than in Age as appears not only in the Sight but in all the Actions of Life For as the Natural and Central Fires decay the Light equally grows weak some sooner some later according to the degrees of the Decay or Weakness sometimes this decrease of natural Heat is Universal and when this happens the whole Body doth quickly dwindle and fall into Death but very often this Decay of the Natural Heat happens in the Intelligible part the Head by some accident of Obstruction the Vessels or Optick Nerves becoming stiff or as it were glewy the Porous Parts or Vessels being narrowed or small which does prevent the free Ingress Egress and Regress of the fine thin rarified Spirits that are generated thro' the whole Body which every moment doth ascend by certain Circular Motions into the Head or most Intelligible Part which if at any time the whole Road or common Passage of those fine thin rarified Spirits be stopt or obstructed the Person so Afflicted immediately falls and nothing but Death follows and that in a moments time this being the Original occasion of sudden Death so that many Sound Healthy Persons by such like Obstructions fall into Death who otherwise might have Lived many Years as being free from Diseases For this cause Temperance and Cleanness both in Quality and Quantity of Meats and Drinks are as it were the Spring-head of Health and the Generater of fine clean nutriment good Blood pure Spirits noble Dispositions and Inclinations whatever Cormorants and unclean Belly-gods may Dream to the contrary Nature and God's Law is always true and cannot lie Every thing under the Government of the glorious Eye of Heaven doth arise proceed and follow its first Matter and carries in its Bosom or Centre a Key that can readily join and unlock all the secret Doors of Nature's Cabinet and finding out and incorporating with its Simile encreasing and strengthening the same which is the highest Joy and Solace of all Corporal and Incorporal Beings For this cause as any Persons Meat Drink Employment and Communications are either from the dark cloudy Root clean or unclean so the Humours Blood Dispositions Inclinations Words and Works all proceed and go on in a streight Line or Method therefore to be either too much in the Sun or Shade begets Complexions for Meats and Drinks are the Centre and Substance of our Lives and in them are contained the true Nature and Property of all Qualities Principles and Dispositions enduing the Eater with their Qualifications If this were not true Man could not Subsist or have his Life continued whatever the unthinking do or may imagine to the contrary every thing knows its own Voice and Cries after its own Dam or Mother and the Senses are the Officers Carriers or Conveyers of all things to the Central parts and Understanding so that all the hidden Powers and Qualities are awakened each Quality having its peculiar Appetite do direct and draw unto its self both Corporally and Spiritually not intermeddling with the Business of its Neighbour So this wonderful penetrating Sense is the only Guide of the Body and capable Power to present unto the Understanding and Judgement the Forms and Signatures of all things in the Animal Vegitable and Mineral Worlds by which an enlightened Philosophical Mind can in some degree by the Form and Signature understand the Complexion of each and consequently their Uses It is this Sense that doth likewise present unto the Intellectual part of Man all delightful and pleasant Prospects serene Airs and agreeable clean
this great Sense of Life viz. the Feeling is universal and no part of the Body can subsist without it not so much as one moment and therefore when this Sense is Disordered or any Obstruction or Distemper invades it the whole becomes heavy dull and melancholy and Death quickly ensues so on the other side when it is in order the Motions and Circulations of the Body and Members are free from Obstructions then it is the true Pleasure of Life and all the other Senses are Subservient to this and rejoice in its Prosperity as being their Prince and King the Industry of all the others is to support and maintain this For if this Sense of Feeling sink none of the others are or can be well by the Innate Power of this Mankind and all Creatures viz. Animals distinguish between Joy and Sorrow Grief and Pain Sickness and Health Temperance and Gluttony also Hunger and Fullness Heat and Cold Weight or Lightness Hardness and Softness Fineness and Courseness Smoothness and Roughness Thickness and Thinness in a word in this Sense is apprehended and comprehended all Pleasures Touches and Embraces and as it were the very Centre of all natural Enjoyments both of the Body and Mind and therefore the great various and wonderful Powers of the whole Bows before it and with all endeavours each in its respective place to serve it with the highest diligence for the Life and Centre both of Joy Sorrow Pain and Pleasure is in this universal Sense Therefore all Powers yield their Obedience to it for this cause whensoever this Sense is Encountred or Invaded by any universal Disorder Intemperance or Uncleanness the Life of that part that suffers the Disorder immediately Perishes This the Learned call the Dead Palsy and several other Names they give this Disease which of all others is one of the most Dolorous and Melancholy which do attack and invade many Persons through disorderly Living and Intemperance Drinking and Eating both in Quantity and Quality such things that are too gross hard spirituous and of a strong fulsom Composition and Preparation from whence Juices of a proportionable Nature are Extracted which do infallibly generate thick gross Blood and impure Spirits which do as it were narrow stop and swell the Highways and natural Roads viz. The Porous Passages of the Body and the Nerves do by these thick Juices become stiff and Glewy so that the Blood and Spirits being touched with these Diseases and Infirmities cannot have their free Ingress Egress Regress and Circulation but are waylaied and stopt according to the degrees of these Obstructions the Diseases and the Distempers are more or less Now all Fumes and Vapours that many thousands of People especially Women are subject to as the Gout and all Obstructions Falling Sickness and several other cruel Maladies they are procured and likewise transferred from one Age to another for want of Wisdom Temperance and Cleanness in the Methods of Life for every Person does desire and incline to such and such Meats and Drinks Exercises and Communications according to the ruling Qualities and predominant Humours and their Equality and Inequality and the Nourishment Humours Blood Spirits and Dispositions are in proportion whence the Seed is Generated as being the Essence of all the natural Properties and Powers for this cause most or all the variety of new and old Diseases are transferred conveyed and intailed on their Posterity c. Therefore there is hardly found any Medicine capable to Câ—… them being so deeply rooted in the very Centre of Nature Now as these Diseases have encreased since Trade hath advanced so likewise have improper Compositions and Hetrogenial Preparations gotten great footing in the World bâ—… which every Age doth produce a new Off-spring of Diseases 〈◊〉 known or hardly heard of before as in this Nation since Stroâ—… Beer Ale and Wine became common Drinks and our comâ—… Foods compounded and mixed with Spices Sugar Spanish Fâ—… and several other Ingredients we say since this there aâ—… great number of cruel Distempers started up in Man's Body 〈◊〉 were not heard of before for every sort of Meat and Drâ—… hath the Key in its self to seek embrace and feel out its own likeness and hath an Innate Power in its Bosom or Centre to generate an Off-spring of its own Nature in proportion to the Nourishment such a thing affords as the Gout Stone Rhumatism Rickets and many Leprous or Scabby Diseases which within 70 80 100 or 200 years have been Midwifed into our Nation Now it is to be observed that all the other four Senses when they have gratified themselves and taken Pleasure even to the highest degree of Luxury Do slip their Necks out of the Collar as the Proverb has it leaving all their evil Works and Deeds of Darkness to this poor and most deplorable Sense of Feeling who is bound under the Iron Gates of various severe and intollerable Diseases all their malignant Influences the Taste Smell Hearing and Seeing shut their Gates and take their Rest but the Feeling is rarely ever quiet or easy Sleep and Rest gives them Resurrection and a new Life but the Feeling remains uneasy every Member and Joint akes and the whole Body is Indisposed Sleep being nothing else but a Transitory Death or an Occultation to a Renovation and therefore no Man nor other Creature can Subsist and Live except they Die near or altogether a third part of the time that is alotted them So that our Lives are a constant or continual Dying this being Matter of Fact why should Mankind be so fearful and timerous of Death seeing he that Lives 100 years is Dead more than 30 of it which time is an unaccountable to him as those that are really in Eternity where there is neither Time nor Place Near and Far off being altogether the same and no Man would be more concerned to Die than he is to Sleep if he had not broken the Law of his Maker by invading and bringing Desolation on all the Host of Heaven and Earth which is the Secret and Original of Mankinds Fear and the true cause of his Uneasiness and Perplexity for in this World there is no Creature that Lives without a continual Dying or becoming as it were Invisible Do not all the Herbs Fruits Seeds and Grains and whatever else appears in Bodies Shapes and Forms They we say do daily Die that they may be capable to reinvest themselves in new vigorous Bodies and do not all the Beasts of the Field every moment as it were enter into Death that they may be able to maintain a short Momentary Life though the Beasts do not enter so deeply into Death as Man Their Sleep being but a kind of waking in comparison of Mans for what Creature in the World is so drowsy and heavy as Man Nor is there any thing that sleeps so sound and deep or do require so much as he except some few that are called by the name of Sleepers whose Nature Original
of Unity whereby the Virgin Birth is obtained Let this serve to whet your Appetite after the improvement of Wisdom and Knowledge and remain a Memorial of the unfeigned friendship of Your Humble Servant T. T. LETTER XIX Of Flesh-BROTHS SIR I Have received yours wherein you desire my judgment of Flesh-Broths or Pottages their Nature Operation and Nourishment and likewise Pottages and Gruels made of Vegetables as Fruits and Herbs without Flesh and which of the two doth afford the best finest cleanest and healthiest Aliment to the Body and Mind This Question we have answered in several of our Writings nevertheless shall endeavour to gratifie your curious Philosophical Mind and longing desire after Wisdom And first shall give you an account of Pottages made with Flesh and of the Fat Gravy and Blood of Animals THe flesh of all Animals and Beasts is gross succulent and full freighted with many impurities and uncleannesses as we have demonstrated in our Book Entituled The Way to Health c. And to say nothing of the Bestial and revengeful passion of their Mind which after Deaths painful stroke centers in the Blood and Spirits and those violent incroaching Spirits do never fail to incorporate with their Similies in the Eaters it being the natural Law of God and the way of Nature which no Art can prevent For as Man is the compleat Image and Likeness of all things Creatures and Powers on the other side all Created Powers are an Epitome and likeness of Man so that in one Degree or another Man answâ—…s to all things and all things to him and as all Meats and Drinks are made and compounded both of Body and Spirits even as Man so from our Foods our Bodies and Spirits are continued made and sustained all according to the goodness badness cleanness or uncleanness of our Meats and Drinks for from the body of the said Foods Mans Body always is Created and made and from the Spirits Mans Spirits are from time to time generated and supported and so Nature still goes on for from the Spirits are made and do proceed Inclinations Dispositions Words and Works and they better or worse clean or unclean according as the Meats and Drinks and their respective Natures and Originals are Qualities always maintain and generate their like for the Children cannot but partake and be endued with the Principles Forms and Dispositions of the Father that begot them and from whence they proceeded and though they may alter as to the degrees some stronger some weaker yet are they the compleat Image of the Father which is the eternal and unalterable Law of our great Creator So that there is nothing more clear and manifest than that all Meats and Drinks are endued with an influential Vertue and Power to generate strengthen and maintain their own form and quality having in their own Bosom a Key to open all the secret Doors and Cabinets of Nature and there to incorporate joyn and reinforce all such forms principles and powers as are most agreeable to themselves So that it is the highest degree of Blindness Ignorance and Depravation for Man to imagine and think that there is little or no difference in the Nature and Operation of Meats and Drinks and that one thing is as good as another which deplorable and miserable Estate and Condition of Mankind is much to be lamented and highly pityed for so long as this Blindness and deepest Stupidity overwhelms People there can be no inclination to true Vertue Innocency and Regeneration viz. to be made better for all things both in Body and Spirit are better or worse vitious or vertuous according to the materials of which they are made and compounded To this all Men agree that a clean thing cannot be generated or proceed from an unclean nor a strong thing from a weak This is generally understood by every Man in his own Science Art Trade and Employment and in particular this is wonderfully demonstrative in Husbandry Painting and Manuring the Earth Yet this great and valuable Truth is not understood nor at all regarden in the Cultivation and Manuring their own Earth viz. their Bodies Souls and Spirits What a strange and unheard of Paradox is it that he who preâ—…nds to have Skill and Judgment and to manage and govern the World and all things therein should be so ignorant and know so little of himself or of the powers and principles of his own Composition Will not the Husbandman tell you that such and such Land or Earth will bring forth and bear such and such Grains Seeds Herbs Trees and Fruits better than others And will not the Lime-makers and such as are Skill'd in Mortar and Building tell you that strong Lime cannot be made of Chalk and that a strong thing cannot proceed and be made of a weak one but strong binding Lime must have a strong firm Original that is hard strong Stones wherein the Sal Nitral qualities of Saturn and Mars or the original Forms are powerful And will not the Husbandman tell you that if you will have your Cattel or Horses endued with the greatest strength and agility then you must give them the finest and cleanest Foods and such as by the Sun and Elements are purged from their gross flatulent juices for in such Foods the Spirits are clean free prompt and ready not being overwhelmed and drowned in gross matter and of all such Corn hath the first place And will not Drivers and Keepers of Horses tell you that dry clean Foods will enable them to go through more Labour without damage and hurt than Grass And do not Butchers and Tallow-Chandlers agree that Cattel fed with Corn and Hay their Flesh will take Salt better and keep longer and the Candles made of such Fat will not only burn best but also endure longer and are harder and more firm The like is to be understood in all other things every particular Species carries along even through all things its original Seeds both of vertue and vice strength and weakness always enduing their Children or Off-spring with their own original qualifications so constant so true are the ways and methods of Gods Law in Nature and who dares deny these Grand Truths Now my Friend if you understand and distinguish what here we have hinted at then you will easily make a judgment between Flesh-Pottages and those made of Herbs Fruits and Grains However for your satisfaction I shall give you a more particular account of them Flesh-Broths or Pottages are various better or worse according to the sorts they are made of and the season of the Year and the Food the Creature is fed with which our Writings give a particular account of as touching that Therefore I shall not enlarge The Fat Blood Gravy or Juices of all Beasts are exceedingly crude full of gross matter and dull heavy purblind Spirits with contaminated dolorous Species and when it comes into Boyling Water the Water immediately penetrates the whole substance and naturally draws forth
and imbibes all the flatulent gross juices and bloody matter and as it were incorporates it into its self so that it becomes one Body and the less water such flesh is Boiled in the more impure gross and fulsom the Pottage is the more water the better it is both for the Flesh and Pottage too Now this cleansing liquid Element doth by an innate disposition purge cleanse and draw forth as is said before all the frothy slimy evil juices of the flesh and leaves it more clean and the Broth is thereby endued with all the malignant qualitys and the more such Pottages are Boiled the worse and more stagnated gross and heavy they become for Fat 's cannot be altered changed or purged from their original impurities as Vegetables can The Oily Sal Nitral qualitys are so knit together that there is no art can alter or change their forms or purge them from their grossness Besides Fat 's or Oils will not admit of Boiling for the longer they are Boiled the stronger grosser and heavier they become as the Tallow-Chandlers and Melters of Fat observe and therefore they Boil it as little as possible but run it off as it melts and rises in the Copper and that which rises up first is the cleanest and finest and the Candles made thereof are better and Sold for more than the other that comes up last and for this cause they Boil as little as they can only as much as will dissolve the matter for if they should not try and separate the watry crude grosser parts the Candles would not burn clear and the Light would not only be dim but they would run and sputter And if you would be farther satisfied what vertues and vices Flesh-Pottages do contain then look into the bottom of Tallow-Chandlers Melting Coppers and take notice of the black contaminated sulphurous substance called Greaves which many buy to give their Dogs with the very same all your Fat 's and Flesh you eat is as plentifully furnished as the Tallow and some of it much more for Candles for the most part are made of the cleanest of the Fat viz. that which is called Suet great quantitys thereof being eaten in Pudding Now there are several parts of the Creature where the flesh is much more unclean and foul than Tallow or Suet as the Neck Sticking-piece and the Head that contains great quantities of black Blood and glandulous Matter which many People make Pottages of such Broth doth never fail of conveying all those stinking bloody voracious unclean qualifications to the Eaters which generates Nourishment of a heavy slow dull melancholly nature and operation the Spirits proceeding therefrom are impure glimmering morose and churlish the Complexion and all the Inclinations and Dispositions are followed and endued with a proportionable Nature Also all Pottages made of Flesh are the very Channel Sink and Common-shoar that dreans and draws forth or attracts all the unclean dregs or bloody stinking matter which the flesh is endued with or subjected to For this cause all Flesh-Pottages do prove unhealthy to all People but more especially to the Sick and therefore the Eastern Physicians forbid the Diseased all Flesh-Broths or Pottages and eating of Flesh. And it is not to be doubted but in all places where most of Peoples Food is Flesh that the Diseases for the most part take their birth from their gross unclean juices so that there can be no greater evil than to eat those fulsom dregs and lumpish Pottages which cannot but by simile increase and encourage the Disease by augmenting the offending matter and all this is done for want of understanding and distinguishing the Principles Fountain-spirits cleanness and uncleanness of things and their respective Operations both in the Macrocosm and Microcosm and the concatenation of things how every thing works and joins forces with its likeness which is the highest joy and satisfaction of all Beings Nor can any Man make an happy choise of things till he can distinguish betwixt the intrinsick and extrinsick vertues and vices of our selves and all other things and no sooner is the Divine Eye opened but immediately Man sees that Meats and Drinks are the very substance of our Bodies Souls and Spirits and that all the Dispositions spring from thence Now on the other side there are a great number of clean Pottages made of Grains Seeds Fruits and Herbs which are all noble and fragrant viz. Water-gruel Rice Conju Wheat Chocolate and various sorts of Candles made of Wine Ale Beer Cyder Oatmeal and Sugar likewise divers Spoon-meats made of Milk and Water and such as these may have Butter mixed with them viz. Gruels and Paps which is many degrees finer than the Fat of flesh not only as it is the noblest Fruit the Creature affords to Mankind without any manifest pain violence or oppression to them but it is also far cleaner than other Fat and will endure and keep longer and will likewise bear more Boiling than other Fat 's that is such as we Eat and make Candles of The Sal Nitral Vertues or oily Body in Vegetables is not only more clean sweet and fragrant but much easier separated in the Stomach and doth administer both dry and moist Nutriment in a clean and easie Method begetting their Similies and doth with the highest diligence withstand all the encroaching Powers or Humors for such as is the Food such is the Body Soul and Spirits Cleanness and Equality begets Children like themselves And the more simple and equal your Meats and Drinks are the more equal are your Humors also the calmer and purer is your Blood which is the Source whence the Spirits are Generated and from the Spirits as we said before arises Dispositions Imaginations Inclinations Words and Works both equal or unequal according to the foundation or first matter This being granted what great care ought Mankind to have in all the methods of Life for Meats and Drinks being the radix of all Nourishment both dry and moist are by the curious Art and Chymistry of Nature higher graduated from whence all the nobler faculties take their Birth wherefore we urge the grand necessity of Prudence in the choice of our Foods because hence are the Generation of all Essences Forms Dispositions and Temperaments and thence the Seed in Man doth arise proceed and take its Birth and Generation And this Seed contains the true Nature and Properties of the whole and so becomes a compleat Image and Epitome of all Forms and Powers and as the Qualitys Forms and Powers are in the Father either equal or unequal so they are in the Seed and as they are in the Seed so they are in the Son For this cause Unclean and Bestial Bloody Gored Foods and such as are procured by violence do contaminate and sully the very Original of Man so that the unclean violent evil Essences are conveyed from Generation to Generation and therefore it is no wonder Mankind grows worse and more violent and unclean in
long as Ignorance Blindness Selfâ—…ood Pride Vain-glory Covetousness Envy Fierceness Violence Tradition and Customs govern Mankind Nothing better can be expected Sir This being what offers from Your ready Friend to command T. T. LETTER XXI Of CORPULENCY SIR I Have yours of September the 20th 1696 and take notice that you are troubled with and subject to Corpulency or Fatness and other Concomitant Diseases and that you would have a proper Medicine to give you some Relief and Ease You likewise say you have had the Advice of the most Learned in your parts and that all Prescriptions and Medicines have proved ineffectual and that your Disease encreaseth upon you I have no inclination to be dabbling with youâ—… Purse but shall give you a plain wholsom method of Life in Meats Drinks and Exercises which if you observe will with the Blessing of God make your Life tolerable if not wholly Cure you NO Fatness can be Cured except such Persons do withdraw the Fuel and forbear such things both in Meats Drinks and Exercises that maintain and support it being a Disease that seldom goes alone but is attended with a black train of other evils their natural heat is seldom potent enough to support and digest their Foods besides the Liquor or Menstruum of the Stomach is rarely free from Crudities so that great part of their Foods and Drinks are turned into gross impure Juices which for want of warm brisk and lively Spirits and thin Blood great store of Flegmy Fat is generated in all the Members and likewise in the Vessels and Passages so that the whole Body becomes glewy and as it were stagnated which prevents the thin Juices and Humors from their free passage and circulation for all the inwardmost or central parts of Mans Body are like Spunges or fine Strainers by which the fine Humors or Spirituous Vertues of our Food and Drink pass and repass which is called a free circulation of all the Juices that serve for Nourishment for there are no large Pipes or Currents for conveyance of Nutriment as some do imagine but all the parts are like Glass that lets in the Light by reason of its transparency The like is to be understood of the passing repassing and circulation of the Nutrimental Humors Juices Blood and Spirits through the whole Body the Bladder being as it were the Sink or Bag to receive all the thin Juices or Urine which a natural motion and secret attraction Drains viz. the Superfluous or Excrementitious moisture from all parts of the Body and notwithstanding the great quantities that fall into this Bag or Sink there is no Pipe Vessel or any thing like it that conveys or carries this Liquor or Urine but all is done in a Mystical or Wonderful Method viz. by the attractive Power of that part as being its Disposition and Office to draw the thin moisture from all parts of the Body and the Bladder being Spungious the Urine penetrates through all parts of it as by way of Pores much like Sweat that is occasioned by Labour and many other ways which by motion and agitation of the Natural heat do easily penetrate through all the parts and such as Sweat much do make so much the less Urine provided the Liquors taken into the Body be in proportion The like is to be understood of most of the conveyance of all Humors and Juices from one Member or part of the Body to another so that whensoever any Member or other part becomes as it were fixed and the porousness of any of them be stopt that the fine thin Juices Blood and Spirits cannot penetrate or freely repass then presently is felt a pain or some disorder and if the Obstruction be much then that Member or part swells and is full of pain or the Distemper called the Dead Palsie falls on that part or Member but more often this sort of Obstruction proves the Gout for the Airy Windy quality in the Body which does continually penetrate and with a quick and powerful circulation run through the whole as being the central Life of the Blood which if wounded penn'd up or its circular swift motion any way hindred or obstructed then great pain or swelling attends that Member The Obstructions of this thin light airy Spirit or Quality in the Body is the Original of a great number of cruel Diseases And it is farther to be understood that all salt strong hard gross Foods that generate thick or tough Juices thick Blood and impure Spirits do mightily stop the glassy transparent or porous Vessels which do not only occasion gross Flatulent Humors and Crude Juices to lodge in several remote Members and parts but penns up and stops the circulation of this Airy quality from whence springs the Gout and all other evil windy and gross Distempers which rarely any Medicine Cures Likewise it is to be noted that the Diseases arising from those evil Obstructions are various and of as different Kinds and Natures as Complexions and Constitutions are in one it gives the Gout in another the Stone and Gravel in another a gross Flegmatick Humor and Fatness all according to the Original Humors in each Man Also these Obstructions do in many People occasion Fumes and Vapours to fly into the Head and to perplex other parts of the Body likewise some others there be that from the ill Habits of their Constitutions even from their Birth as it were Born with Obstructed Natures which they derive from their Parents ill Habits Obstructed Natures and Ill Livings for no Man of Understanding doubts but that the Seed is a compleat Image of and doth contain the true Nature and Properties of Man so the Seed becomes better or worse all according to the good or ill Habits Temperance or Intemperance Order or Disorder of the Parents so that Wisdom Understanding Temperance and Order are not only the Spring-head of Blessings to Mankind but likewise to all their Children and Posterity which is of great moment and ought to be considered by all People that pretend to fear God and keep his Laws Now the Original of those hard tough Humors and mortiferous Diseases take their Birth from the Disorders Intemperanâ—…es Gross Heavy Unclean Foods and Strong Drinks for such as the Spirits and Juices of each thing are such Humors such Blood such Spirits such Flesh such Dispositions such Inclinations such Words and Works they Generate and Maintain together with the Airs they live in and Employments and Exercises they follow Therefore such as have a mind and would be Healthy Cured or lessen the Distempers that have already invaded them must observe an orderly regular Diet and the nature of the Food they eat whether gross clean or unclean simple innocent and the like as to their Employments and Airs or else none can obtain their lost Health or make their Lives in any degree easie for every thing tends to its Original and never sails to exert its own power on all occasions and considerations with that
which hath the nearest affinity to it Now if the truth of what we have said be considered understood and distiâ—…guished then such a one will know that Temperance Order and Cleanness are the Spring-head of all Virtues and as it were under God the Original not only of Health but of every good Work and Action so great so powerful and so wonderful are the Laws of God and the innocent Methods of Nature they Crown their Observers with the Blessings of Time and Eternity I do not doubt but when you have well considered of what I have already said as to your Distemper and what I shall say but that you will incline to observe the Methods I shall propose for the Cure of your ill Habit of Body and the Diseases attending you Now the Meats and Foods that are most suitable for the preventing your Fatness and other Evils are all such as are clean in their own Nature having no manifest quality too highly exalted for every sort of Food that is unequal doth increase your Maladie and leave a Wound behind it You may eat and probably with some success too Bread Butter Cheese Herbs Roots Fruits Gruels Chocolate Paps Milk-pottage and various sorts of other clean innocent Foods but it will be better for you not to spread your Table too large but confine your self to a less compass viz. to Bread Butter and Cheese Water-Gruel and Flour-Pap only with Salt and no Butter in it and let this be your Method viz. in the morning a Pint of thin Water-Gruel with a small piece of good well Baked Bread a little toasted bite your Bread and sup your Gruell the like when you eat Pap always drinking a quarter of a Pint of Water after it presently and forget not before or after you eat your Gruel to take a walk of a Mile or two in the most clean airy place you can or by running Rivers side for all Airs are much â—…ner by running Waters than else where for by the curious moist thin Spirituous Vapours that such Rivers do send or breathe forth incorporating or mixing with the common Air it both becomes rarifyed and thereby is made more transparent thin and Spirituous so that it easily penetrates into the very center of all parts of the Body opening all the passages and moving Obstructions causing the Circulations of all the Humors Blood and Spirits to pass more freely if this were not so People that walk by such Rivers sides and others that work on it would not have such pressing sharp Appetites even far greater than those that are exercised on the higher Grounds but if any Man Swim or go into such Rivers to wash themselves or do any other thing of that nature it will sharpen and increase the Appetite to a higher degree Now this comes to pass by the fineness of such Airs and the thin Spirituous Virtues that penetrate to the Body on all sides whichare sucked in by the Pores giving a certain recruit to all the natural Spirits in the Body It is likewise to be noted that such as travel or work in Windy Rainy Weather do thereby obtain a shâ—…rper and a stronger Appetite than by the like Exercises in dry Seasons and such a one will not so often want supplys of Drink because such seasons and places do afford them a much finer moisture and more agreeable to Nature You may take your walk before or after you have eaten your Gruel and Bread then Fast till Dinner about one or two of the Clock eat a small Sallad raw made of Parsley Spinage Sorrell and a few Onions with them and eat them with a little Salt and Vinegar no Oil but with Bread and Butter or Cheese and sometimes only with Bread drink with them fresh small Ale or good Water the last being Superior to the first then fast till Supper and about Seven of the Clock eat a Pint of Water-Gruell or Pap with a little piece of Bread toasted and once or twice a week take a walk of 5 6 7 8 or 10 Miles or more as you shall find your self able and as you grow stronger increase your walks to 20 30 or 40 Miles And you must always go till you be weary but not till you be Faint for Nature will not encrease her strength if you do not in a moderate degree exert her Faculties and put her to a little Hardship for it is an undeniable rule and it always holds true that Nature endeavours to strengthen and arm herself against all Affronts and invading Powers for this cause the more you Labour the more you may and the easier it becomes to you which most attribute to Custom which is true in a Sense but give me leave to tell you so soon as you put your self to any unusual Exercise or Labour Nature useth all her endeavours and powers not only to withstand such Labours but to overcome them that she may be a Conqueror with ease and therefore if any particular Member be more used in this Trade or other Employment whether it be a Leg or an Arm that Member or part in a little time grows more potent and strong than the other and for this cause after Tradesmen have done their common days Work most of them can walk and exercise themselves in many other things with delight and not feel half the dulness and weariness as they did at their Customary Employments or Labours which had worn out or dull'd the natural Spirits that supported those parts most employed and did undergo the greatest part of the labour of that Employment or Trade But all this while other Members and parts of the Body that were not so intent or employed in the said Labour remained as it were fresh lively and full of Spirits so that when such a one comes to another sort of Exercise or Labour wherein those Members or parts were not so much concerned as is said before then they do readily lend their Aid and Assistance by which a Man does exercise himself in another Employment for some time with ease and delight notwithstanding he was weary at his usual Trade or Employment The principal cause and reason of this is every part of the Body hath its particular Offices and the natural Spirits that support and supply it with strength and vigour which lyes as it were still and doth not exert its strength nor powers till that part or Member comes to be employed This being the original Cause that a Man after he is weary and dull at the long continuance of Labour in one thing and the whole Body seems to be tired yet at another Employ or Work he shall be as was said before fresh and lively which is by the supplies of the lively Spirits that centered in such Parts and Members whose supporting Strength and Powers were not called forth in the foregoing Labour For this Cause and Reason variety of Exercises and Employments are best and least burthensome to Nature being much easier performed and with more
pleasure If this were not little weak Children could never go through a days Play with such might and vigor as they do for they are not conducted by Reason nor Interest for the obtaining a days Wages or greater Gain but follow Nature and so soon as they are dull and weary at one Sport or Pastime they presently fall to another never reasoning the Cause or studying the Point but go out of one thing into another so that when night comes they have tired all their Members and Parts of their Bodies and have left no Spirit uncalled It is therefore a grand Mistake in all Parents and Tutors of Children being a wrong Notion viz. To let their Children Play to refresh and make themselves more agil and lively whereas the very contrary is to be understood for nothing does so much unfit dull and becloud their brisk lively sporting Spirits as such various Sports which unfits and renders them uncapable for all sorts of Learning Whereas they ought to be Methodiz'd by their Tutors and Parents that is to be appointed several sorts of Learning for the day not exceeding one hour at a time for one sort of Art and though the same sort might come in the afternoon as in the morning yet they should spend but one hour at a time by which they might learn six several sorts of Arts and Sciences in one day viz. Language Writing Singing or other sorts of Muâ—…ick some useful parts of the Mathematicks and Gardening â—…itting or Sowing the meaner Arts to spend the less time in by which the whole day would be nothing but a Play or Diyersion Of all Exercises Walking or Going is one of the most strong and healthy for as we have demonstrated most Employments Trades or Arts when a Man hath Laboured all day at any of them yet he leaves some Member or Part of the Body as it were unwearied so that a Man may as it were with some kind of Delight and Pleasure exercise himself in another but Going or Walking hard does at once tire and weary all the Parts of the Body and though some are more weary and tired than others because more exercised or more weak yet all will be wearied or tired after hard Walking So that if a Man after such Going doth exercise or labour at any other thing he will presently find himself disabled and no Member or Part can supply him with fresh and lively Spirits which doth shew and clearly manifest that Walking or Going is one of the best and most natural as well as equal Exercises and for that very reason it begets the best Stomach and Appetite and is the principal Employment for Health and the encrease of good Blood strong clean Spirits and vigorous Nerves and particularly for all fat gross phlegâ—…tick People and such as are apt to be so And the more such use Going the more they may and the greater the Journeys are the better provided they come to it by degrees there being no Trade or Employment so beneficial natural and healthful though all Exercises are beneficial and good for most or all People And if going on foot were esteem'd genteel and customary many would receive great Advantages thereby and notwithstanding it is so natural so healthy and gives the Practisers thereof such strength and pleasure of Appetite nevertheless few there are that chuse it for their own sakes or the Benefits it endues the Practisers withal Riding is a good Exercise and of much motion and passing through various Airs begets good Appetites and is healthful but not to be compared with Going on foot as not being so natural nor employing the Members and Parts of the Body so equally and genteel so that Riding cannot encrease and beget such Strength nor so many powerful Spirits Indeed it is an Employment or Exercise of great motion but very unlike Nature being the motion of the Horse and not of the Man which is altogether contrary to the natural habits and motion of Going and all other Motions that Men are subject to or ever practise and as this Riding Jolting Turbulent Horse-motion is altogether contrary to any Motion or Gesture that belongs to Men or that they are subject to so it cannot be made easy but by custom and such as do not accustom them selves to Riding when Young can hardly ever make it easy in Age the greatest Use of it is that it is expeditious and genteel and Going on foot seems Poor Beggarly and Despicable even as almost all the usefullest and most innocent things in the World are a Horse is a high lofty proud Creature and may in some measure influence his Rider with such Dispositions but Going on foot is innocent simple natural and contemplative free from care having but one to take care for the fewer we have in Family the less is our Trouble Your Friend T. T. LETTER XXII Of FEVERS SIR BY yours I am inform'd of your present ill state of Health and that you are very subject to a Fever or much Indisposed by Heat which attacks you on every side and upon every small Disorder of Meats Drinks and Exercises and that you desire my Iudgment of the Original of those hot Humors and by what Method to prevent them which I shall readily do the Gifts and Talents God hath bestowed on me are all at the Service of true Seekers of Wisdom that being the end for which they were given FEvers are as various in their degrees as they are in their Natures all according to the Meats Drinks Employments Venus and Airs together with the Intemperance of the Stock or Parents this last is the most dangerous and deepest rooted of all others and hardest to be Eradicated for every Fruit is better or worse according to the temperance equality or inequality of the original Forms of that Thing or Creature both in the Animal Vegitable and Mineral Worlds or Kingdoms for the Fruit of each thing is the compleat Son or Image of all the Principles Qualities and Powers of the Father that Generated or Begot it so that all the Intemperances or unequal Methods of Life be it Meats Drinks or any other thing do centre in the Seed which contains all the Species and Essences of the Disorders both of Body and Mind and do rarely fail to engraft and entail those incroaching Properties and unequal Powers Many of these Diseases thus procured lie hid during the time of Youth or so long as Nature is vigorous and strong but so soon as Age comes or any other concurring Accident or Intemperance they start up and appear in their own Forms for which there is hardly any Medicine found that can make them tolerable Is not this most clear and manifest in all the Beaâ—…ts and Vegetables of the Earth and are not all the Young ones or Off-spring of this wonderful and amazing variety of Beings better or worse sound or unsound healthy or unhealthy strong or weak according to the temperaments and goodness of the Seed and the
equality or inequality of the Earth or Ground it is Sowed in and the Cultivation of the Husband-man whether managed with Prudence or the contrary And as it is with the Beasts and Vegetables even so it goes and the very same is to be understood in the Humane Ground a strong thing cannot arise and proceed from a weak one nor an equal from an unequal or a healthy from a sickly every Seed Fruit or Son carries in its central Bosome all the Qualifications Degrees and Temperaments of the original Stock or Father this being the very Ground and principal Cause why so many cruel Diseases that attend Mankind cannot be Cured neither by Medicines nor wholsome temperate Methods of Life Now if this Ground or true Foundation of Wisdom and Philosophy were well understood the Physician would be capable of giving good Advice and Precedents of Life and likewise others would be careful cautious and temperate both in the quality and quantity of their Meats and Drinks being sensible that from the Body and Spirits of each of them our Bodies and Spirits are continually Made Created and Generated and according to the degrees of Equality and Inequality Temperance or Intemperance such is the Humors such is the Blood such are the Spirits such Imaginations Dispositions Words and Works every thing according to its original Constitution and whatsoever Form hath obtained the Dominion in the central Fire always is generating and creating its own Species or Son who does in all particulars contain all the Properties Principles and Powers of the Father as is hinted before so that the Essences of each thing we Eat and Drink in order to support and continue our Bodies and Spirits do never depart but advance and confederate with their Similies and Likenesses and according to their goodness grossness cleanness and uncleanness such a Man is created generated or made This being the eternal and unalterable Law of the Great Father of all Powers and Creator of all Beings which no Man can withstand or obliterate therefore Equality Cleanness Order and Temperance are as it were the Originals of a Sound Healthy Body Harmonious Mind and a Pious Sober Clean temperate Off-spring For all things in the Good and Evil observe their Original Law every thing in its own way according to its Dignification in Evil or Good Equality or Inequality such a Child Son or Fruit it Brings or Widwifes into the World for this Cause Cleanness Temperance and Order have been so highly celebrated and commended by all the Seeing and Distinguishing Men both of former and latter Ages so that it is plain and manifest that most of those cruel and incurable Diseases that now reign in the Microcosmical World have been conveyed and entailed by their Progenitors or Parents and if Mankind should now take up and live on simple innocent Meats and harmless Drinks and free himself from Violence Uncleanness and Opression it would be two or three Ages before Man would be Healthy and Sound either in their Bodies or Minds so deeply are they wounded Which miserable and melancholy State or Error can never be mended neither in the Stock Branch Fruit nor Son till it be seen and known to be so and that the Eye of Wisdom be opened in Man's Mind by which he sees understands and distinguishes between the Intrinsick and Extrinsick Virtues Vices Cleanness and Uncleanness of their Food and Drink and all other things they join or communicate with Now as Fevers are more tolerable or violent according to the Form or Power that Operates Agitates or Invades the natural or central Fires for Fire is the root of motion and the true Strength and Pleasure of Life when it burns gently and calmly but when it is agitated or too violently awakened or stirred up then presently as with a rapid and turbulent motion it seizes the radical moisture and sweet Oil which is the true Life and Original being of the Fire but Burning too violently it consumes this Oily Body and violently attracts the thin Spirituous Airy Qualities or Powers unto it self for all heat or fire of what kind soever naturally and with great Ardency attracts or draws unto it self the Air it being its Life for without it it can neither burn nor subsist The Air thus drawn doth always carry in its Bosom the watry Spirit or Element which gives unto the Fire its bright clear shining Lustre but the Central Fires being thus agitated or awakened do in a moment destroy and consume both the radical Oily Body and also the Airy and Watry Spirits and Natural Powers which do presently as it were stagnate and prevent all the circular Motions and in a great measure stop the Vessels and Parts both Internally and Externally so that the Blood becomes thick gross hot and frothy and the Pores of the outward Members and Parts becomes hot narrow or stopt which doth prevent the Penetration Ingress Egress and Regress of the fine thin Spirituous Vapours of the Air from without So that if the fiery Spirit be violently awakened it breaks and destroys all the Circulations and Correspondence of the whole Body all the inward faculties being in an Agony or a tumultuous State and Operation and thereby the Life is sunk or destroyed as it were in a moment if some powerful Food or Medicine does not timely prevent by opening the doors and porous passages and to advance the Circulation of the Blood Spirits and all the Airy Motions and Faculties for should the healthiest and strongest Person 's External Pores be stopt but one Quarter of an Hour such a one would be seized with a Fever immediately For the fine thin Spirituous Vapours of the Air that do penetrate the Body on all sides and by the attractive qualities are sucked or drawn in by way of Pores which do refresh uphold increase and support all the natural Motions and Circulations of the Blood and Spirits and their fine thin Spirituous powers of the Air do never fail to carry and convey the transparent thin moist Vapours or Spirits of the Element of Water for as the Fire cannot burn nor subsist without the Airy Spirit so neither ean the Air continue its brisk lively motion without the support of the Fire which incorporates its self and dwells in the moist Vapour or Spirituous quality of the Water which Watry Spirit gives Life both to the Air and the bright shining light of the Fire one cannot subsist without the other For this cause if any Person is employed abroad in moist wet Weather and in or about Waters or Rivers sides such People have for the most part stronger and sharper Appetites than in dryer Seasons and Places for the Air being in moist Seasons provided there be not too much wet Weather filled or impregnated with the fine moist Spirits of the Water which doth give such a powerful life to the Air that both becomes rarified by which it more powerfully penetrates the whole Body through all parts and Members to the very
Center which by a Sympathetical Agreement reinforces all the material Motions causing a powerful and lively Circulation both of the Blood Spirits and all the Aliments from whence doth arise and proceed a lively brisk Motion Strength Agility and strong sharp Appetite for the more free and open the Trade and Commerce is between the outward and inward Elements or between the Microcosm and Macrocosm the better is the state and condition of Health both of the Body and Mind For this cause the oftner and more any Person doth expose his Body to the open Air and Elements the stronger the Appetite and Digestive Faculties of the Stomach are and such Persons are more strong and lively likewise they are more hardy and more free from Colds and Obstructions which are nothing else but a Condensation or a stoppage of the porous Passages from whence cruel Colds and a thousand Diseases proceed therefore it is not good to Cloath the Body too Warm but of the two Cold is to be preferred to heat provided it be not too much and that it be born with pleasure or without pain For the inward Virtues of the Elements of Air and Water are curious living Powers which do sustain and preserve all the wonderful Beings in this great World but in what Creature or Thing soever these living Powers and the thin penetrating moist Spirits and Vapours become stagnated or thickened then that Creature or Thing becomes dull heavy and full of Indispositions and Crudities Now when in any Creature the fore-mentioned central Fires Burn too violently attracting and drawing all the moist Spirituous Vapours both of the Air and Water consuming and destroying as is before mentioned then immediately the Pores are in a manner stopt and the Forms and Properties do press and as it were rub against each other by which the Fire Burns more intense and fierce like two sticks rubbed hard against each other the Internal central heat is thereby stirred up and awakened and so fiercely kindled that this Fire which lay hid and captivated in the very Center doth by this agitation and fierce motion burn up and destroy the whole Body in a moments time the Fire being the Original of Motion and the true pleasure of all the other Elements when it burns easie or gentle but when it loses its power in any Creature or Thing all becomes cold dull heavy congealed and as it were frozen in that Creature or Thing in which the Fire is impotent and that thing stands near the House of Death and the Melancholly Regions And though this Noble Element the Fire be as it were the Life and Original of all lively Motion and the Well-being of every Creature and when it incorporates or equally mixes with the other Elements burning gently notwithstanding its Excellency wonderful and various uses yet most of the Distempers of the publick State and also the Diseases incident to Mankind are as it were Originally occasioned by this Element and also most of the Outrages that are committed in the great World from Man to Man and likewise the greater part of the Diseases that so terribly torment and afflict Mankind which if Man observe with a clear Eye and Understanding he will then see and find that this great Evil hath fallen upon him for his great and deep Degeneration and Separation from the Unity of Gods Holy Powers and his not knowing and distinguishing the Powers and Principles of God in himself Now Man having lost his way and being sunk into Darkness and Ignorance he takes hold and uses the gross fiery sulphurous and Brimstone Spirit which Governs in Man as he stands in Self-fulness and separated from the Divine Fountain of Benignity or Holy Union not being mixed incorporated or allayed with the sweet Water of Eternal Life in Jesus Christ. This Spirit or Fire before mentioned as it stands divided from the Union is a high lofty exalted Power the Original of all Pride and a domineering Spirit and in what Creature soever it obtains the Government that Creature becomes proud and of an insulting Nature Now the chief and principal cause or reason is that this proud fiery domineering and as it were consuming Spirit of Fire hath obtained and gotten such an Ascendant in the Hearts and very Souls of Mankind and also that the exalted and predominating power in most Diseases is this fiery brimstone or sulphurous quality of Fire Now as any Form or Property obtains the chief Government in the Heart immediately this very quality doth Sign or Stamp its Character and as it were lay its Commands on the imaginative Power and so Signs the Inclinations Dispositions Words and Works from the Government of this lofty fiery Power and Spirit from whence proceeds all Vain-Glory Pride high and lofty Imaginatioâ—… Inclinations and Desires after base slavish violent oppressive Employments as also ardent and longing Desires after unclean gross Foods and high lofty strong Drinks for every Mouth will be fed with agreeable Food the Attraction Desires and Inclinations do always arise and proceed from the ruling Quality and Man being divided from the Union of God and his own Composition into Disunion the fiery envious spiteful Powers exalting themselves cause a direful Appetite in Man And from these very Qualities the violent oppressive Trade of Killing one another and Eating the flesh of the Undergraduates or Beasts having taken their Original Birth for every Spirit Principle and Power doth desire and is supported and maintained by its Similie so that it is most clear nothing being more manifest than from those high exalted fiery Spirits and Powers in Man have sprung such violent and direful Appetites and strong Inclinations after the Blood of their own Kind and to eat the Flesh and Blood of the Beasts likewise to drink hot fiery exalted Liquors so that there is a Concatenation between the Imaginations Inclinations Natural Spirits Dispositions Words and Works Communications Employments and the Diseases Man is most subject unto Now as all the fore-mentioned qualifications do arise and proceed from a fiery ground which do with great power and strong vigour attract proportionable Foods and Drinks therefore most of our Diseases cannot but be Signed with the Character of Fire for every Principle Form or Quality whensoever it hath gotten or attained the Ascendant in any Man it goes on in a streight regular constant Method to do its own Work viz. to nourish support and encrease its own Spirit and Power whether it be in the Good or in the Evil. Hence it is no wonder that Mankind is so frequently seized wounded and destroyed by so many sorts of fiery Diseases viz. Fevers when any thinking Person considers what Powers Principles and Qualities rule and govern in his Heart and Soul there being a Sympathetical Agreement and Inclination between the governing qualities in Mens Minds and their Meats and Drinks and likewise their Diseases all follow one another in a direct Method or Line Now the power and influence Meats and Drinks
any perswade a Turk to become a Christian after 20 years of Age Or on the other side a Christian to be a Turk and so of all others by which this great Truth doth appear over all that Customs Examples and Living Precedents have far greater power and influence over Mankind than the Constellation any Person is Born under Besides the wonderful and amazing Varieties both of the Animal Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms are such that the Births of all Created Beings are in one degree or other manifestly unlike many Men have been curious in this matter but no Man could ever find two things in all Circumstances alike or of one dimention or complexion And the original cause of this Wonder is hid from the Eyes and Understanding of the greatest number of Men the blindness ignorance and wickedness of Mankind is so great that the Sons of Wisdom are forbid discovering of this secret Wisdom for the Unlearned would not only trample Pearls under foot but also make an ill use of them no Man doubts but according to the old Maxim of Wisemen and Naturalists that Man in Soul Body and Spirit is a compleat Epitome or Image of the Great Immense Creator and Father of all Beings and therefore in him is contained the true nature and property of all material Things or Elements and he may be fitly and properly likened or compared with the Earth in which are the Seminary Seeds and powers of all Herbs Grains Fruits and Trees of which there is amazing variety even beyond Humane number only this difference is to be understood the Sal Nitral forms and four grand qualities stand in their several respective degrees in some things one form and quality is strong another weak which doth occasion the great difference of Earths which by the understanding Husbandman and his Cultivation can be made capable to bring forth all kinds of Herbage Corn Seeds Fruits and Trees by his encreasing and decreasing of qualitys which by his Dressing Dunging and Manuring he changeth the complexion of the Ground by his apt mixtures making weak qualities strong and strong properties weaker Now can any understanding Man imagine but that there will be the like great difference in the Humane Nature for Mens Employments together with their Communications are able to vary their Complexions abating and lessening their sanguine tractable Tempers and advancing their fierce invading Tempers which before their conversing with things of the like nature could hardly be seen or known so that there is nothing more true than that every particular Trade Employment or Practice doth incircle all such that enter into such Business having a Key that opens all the secret Doors and Gates and the Complexion or Nature of that thing is never satisfied till it hath found out its Similie which in a little time and practice doth strengthen and advance by which weak Dispositions and fainty Inclinations become strong and powerful and on the other side strong Inclinations and Dispositions are mightily weakned and grow languid and drooping as if they had a Consumption Now if every Man and Woman did not contain the true nature and property of the whole then this could not be done for every particular thing must have a Friend or a Confederate in the Humane Nature or else it could have no power to encrease decrease strengthen or weaken Forms Principles and Qualitys and mould them into their Natures by impressing their Dispositions and Inclinations in a great degree alter and chang them Now if this be true of Exercises and Employments which are but External and managed with the motion of the Members of the Body then what power and influence must Meats and Drinks have on the Soul Spirit and Body which are as it were the Original or Seminary Seeds and Substance of the Humane Nature whose Operations are all Internal from which are generated Blood Spirits Inclinations Words and Works either clean or unclean better or worse all according to the nature of the Foods If Mankind and those skill'd in the Astrological Science did understand and had Wisdom to distinguish these things they would be far more afraid of the malignant influences of the Stars and Constellations that rule in that part of the Globe called the Earth that is evil Education unclean Meats Drinks Exercises Trades Employments Communication Tradition wicked Customs and Examples than from the Male Configuration of the Heavenly Bodies not but Men do by their Uncleanness and Sinful Methods most powerfully attract and draw the venemous Nature and Dispositions out of all the Stars Elements and all Undergraduated things for as is mentioned before Man is like all things and all things like him and so he is rendred capable to influence all things and all things have power to influence him either for better or worse So wonderful hath our Blessed Creator made all Creatures and Beings enduing them with an influential Power and Energie and more particularly the Humane Nature for it is not to be doubted but that Mankind is endued with an innate Power and thereby is not only rendred as capable to move and influence the Starry Coelestial and all the powers of the Elements as they are to move and influence him to that or the other thing whether it be Virtue or the contrary for the Princes Governors Magistrates of all kinds together with the Priests Prophets and Advocates are the great Stars Planets and Constellations that Govern and under whose influence all Men and other Creatures and Things are subjected to in this Sublunary World there being nothing more true and manifest that they are the Lordâ—… of every Mans Ascendant for by the power and vertue of their Commands Laws Customs and Traditions they make all bow before them let them be of what Constitution Nature or under what Constellation soever all Configurations both good or ill must yield Obedience to their Methods as we have before shewed by the Memorials Laws Customs Traditions and Religions of all Nations for this cause that which is esteemed true Virtue and Religion in one Country is Evil or Vice in another Now can any Person that wears Eyes in his Head be so ignorant as to think or believe that the powers and influences of the Coelestial Bodies are the prime Cause and Promoters of those vast Variety and Difference there is in the Religions and Manners of Mankind no no the true Original of all this amazing variety of Sentiments and Methods are the Orâ—…cles Prophets and Gods each Country doth Observe Adore and Worship be they either good or evil all both the Wise and the Simple fall Victims to their power Would not Swearing as is mentioned before and all other evil Words be they of what nature soever be as unknown and altogether as hard and impossible as for Children to learn Hebrew Greek or any other Language they never heard any speak no the Coelestial Stars and great illuminated Bodies whose Orbs or Circles they move by our demonstrative Guesser The
times and tho' they are the swiftest of any others in Motion yet none of them can hold out so long for most certain it is that the swifter and quicker the motion of any Creature is the sooner the same is tired and wants rest Wherefore it 's a weak Imagination in any to suppose that several of our Birds that are not seen in the Winter fly into Foreign Countries beyond the Seas of which Sea-faring Men and Travellers know nothing at all not but that there are various sorts of Fowls and Birds seen 500 or it may be 1000 Leagues off at Sea but then they are such whose Constitutions are more or as much Watry as Earthy and Airy and that cannot only rest on the Water but also get great part of their Food from that Element being much of the Nature of our Ducks Swans and the like so that upon the whole 't is no ways probable that our Summer Birds do remove themselves into Transmarine Countries to Winter nor to make their Exits in but rather according to their Airy Original Die in places more agreeable to their Natures as I before noted so that the wonderful and most amazing Wisdom of the Great and ever Blessed Creator appears in through and over all his Works in that every particular specifick Body and sensible Creature is made compleat and wants nothing that can render it more Happy provided it keep within the bounds of its own Circle and Law and no additions then can contribute to its farther Blessing and tho' the degrees are wonderful and various as to Virtue and the contrary and that each from their own Qualifications have obtained their Names which originally distinguished their Natures according to the Meliority of them or otherwise yet the meanest and lowest degrees of Created Beings even the Reptiles of the Earth are altogether as compleat and happy in themselves as those that are in Nature and Composition many degrees higher Graduated so that the meanest have no Inclination to change Conditions with the highest nor the highest with the lowest every individual Species being content to dwell with in its own bounds wherein its Happiness consists and upon this ground there is no sensible Creature in the World that is miserable but only such as have broken the Bounds and natural Limits of their and others that are forc'd to break it so that upon the whole Man must be the only miserable Creature under Heaven both in respect to the Depravation of his own Nature and his having by Fraud and Cunning spread his Malignity and evil Influences thro' and over all the Under-graduates of Animals forcing many of them to act and yield Obedience to his violent Hands contrary to the Law wherein God had Circumscribed and their own natural Instinct Sir If I have made any undue Excursions in this my endeavouring to answer your desire I hope you will excuse me and attribute it to the barrenness of the Subject and not to any other design in me than to serve you as becomes SIR Your Friend and Servant T. T. LETTER XXXVII Of FERMENTATION SIR T IS much more out of Complaisance to your Desires than any real Opinion I have of my own Ability I shall attempt to answer the Abstruce Questions you were pleased to propose unto me in your Letter of the 26th of September concerning the wonderful Power of Fermentation together with the Reasons why the Fat Flesh and Blood of Animals cannot be fermented nor separated as all Vegetations can be nor one Quality Changed nor Transmuted into another AND first I am to observe to you that the Animal Ferment of the Stomach is not only higher Graduated as appears by its Virtue in Turning or Transmuting the Insensible into Sensible Creatures but by not dividing or separating the Original Forms and Qualities from their natural Operations or Phlegmy gross Bodies as common Fermentation does or according to that way and manner as Artists Ferment the Juices of Herbs Fruits and Grains whereby the gross Body is destroyed or sunk into 〈◊〉 stinking Liquor that invests the Original fiery Principles of their natural or gentle Methods but only by a fiery turbulent rendring thunder-like Motion and before which all those unbounded Powers and Principles were still and quiet being incircled in the Embraces of the sweet Quality and phlegmy Body as tho' no such fierce invading Fires or Principles had been there Now this comes to pass because Fermentation opposes all the regular Motions of Nature and the Eternal Law of the Creator as being a Death and total Destruction to Multiplication and Progression and not unlike unto the Deaths of Animals which cannot be effected without terrible fierce Agonies and indeed the dividing the Spirit from the Body without such a fierce turbulent and irresistible Motion is not to be done as is clearly evinced in all sweet Liquors or Juice whatever who when their sleeping silent Powers or original Properties are disturbed as they are in a full or strong Ferment all the Art in the World cannot incircle or tame them But the Fermentation of Food in our Stomachs as well as of all Beasts is performed after another manner imperceptible to the Creature wherein all is quiet and silent provided the Meats and Drinks be of a suitable Quality and not too great in Quantity And these sweeter Juices or Spirits that Nature draws or extracts for her Support are not divested of or separated from their natural Cloathing or Bodies neither are the sweet Qualities of such Foods Transmuted into fiery Spirits or first Principles for in such Cases the Body and Life could not be supported and continued but instead thereof the Nutriment is divided and distils its Virtues into Body and Spirits that is into Blood from whence are made and generated Flesh Bones Fat Spirits Inclinations Dispositions Words and all Actions of Life and for this reason the more equal our Meats and Drinks are the better is the Nutriment and consequently all the Off-springs proceeding from thence hence it is that the frequent Eating and Drinking unequal Foods never fail to beget and lay open the fierce Gates and invading Powers of Inequality called Sickness and particularly the Drinking of strong Spirits or Brandy does always prove baneful except in a Medicinal way because the original Principles are divested of their Body and Transmuted into a fiery Circle out of which there is no deliverance or progression so that you see the Stomach or Chymical Furnace does that in a silent Method which the outward Fermentation performs in a tumultuous Manner for in the first Elaboratory Natures Fires are so mild and friendly thâ—…t they do not disinherit the original Principles and Forms of their native Right or Propriety nor divide them into self-ful Desire or Transmute their beloved Spouse I mean the sweet and most aimable Quality into original Fires as the other does no no the original fierce Principles of all Food put into the Stomach do still notwithstanding the digesting melting