Paraphrase on the Apostle Peter's Vision Arise Peter kill and eat p. 273. The true Rise and Ground of Nobility as to Birth and Blood p. 284 c Who are truly Noble and Honourable p. 288. Why Flesh and Blood is so much desired p. 291 c. A short Comment on Gen. 4. concerning Cain and Abel p. 301 c. The cause of Wars p. 311. Of Abraham's eating flesh with the Angels p. 315. Concerning the Resurrection p. 328. The grand Objection answered viz. If all People should live on Herbs c. what should we do with the Beasts They would over-run us c. p. 331. Chap. XV. The Voice of the Dumb or the Complaints of the Creatures expostulating with Man touching the cruel Usages they suffer from him very naturally expressed in a pleasant and useful Allegory p. 367. Chap. XVI A Treatise of most sorts of English Herbs either Physical or fit for common use shewing 1st the apt times to gather them Astrologically when the Planet that governs them is strong and well aspected the same being here calculated for Nineteen Years 2dly How to preserve and keep them without losing their Virtues And 3dly The best way of using them in Posset-Drinks Decoctions and Cordials so as not to destroy the pure spirituous parts of them p. 382 c. The Ignorance Blindness and Deceitfulness of the Doctors made manifest p. 396. A Copy of a learned Doctors confused Latin Bill to an Apothecary and some Observations thereon p. 404. The most natural and proper way of making of Cordials with any kind of Herbs Seeds Flowers Spices and Drugs either simple or compound p. 411. The proper and natural way of making Physical Decoctions Posset-Drinks c. with Herbs Seeds and Drugs p. 414. How Men came first to know the Virtues of several Herbs p. 417. Who were the great Masters of Physick which our modern Doctors make the foundation of their skill and the Reasons why their Rules ought not to be ours p. 421. Chap. XVII Of Bugs and from what Matter and Aliment they do proceed and how to prevent their Generation Of the excellency of clean sweet Beds and perniciousness of old stinking Feather-beds Also several Receipts how to kill Bugs and Fleas p. 434. Chap. XVIII A short Discourse of the Pain in the Teeth shewing from what cause it does chiefly proceed and how to prevent it p. 447. Chap. XIX Of Marriage and the Inconveniences of unequal Matches p. 452. Chap. XX. How to cure Wounds Cuts Pricks of Thorns and other Accidents without Salves Oyntments or Plaisters Also if any part of the Body or Flesh be poysoned it is a certain Remedy p. 474. Chap. XXI Of Harmony and the Power thereof the several sorts of Musical Instruments and under what Planet and Sign each of them is p. 479. A Dialogue between an East-Indian-Brackmanny or Heathen Philosopher and a French Gentleman concerning the present Affiairs in Europe p. 1. THE INTRODUCTION To the Whole TREATISE CHAPTER I. A Description of the four Grand Qualities whence the four Complexions proceed How every Man may know his own Complexion KNOW THY SELF was one of the first Precepts which the Ancients dictated to the Students of Wisdom nor is there a greater Happiness attainable upon Earth than to have in a Sound Body a Sound Mind To direct my Fellow-Mortals towards this great Point of Felicity is the Scope and Intendment of our Pains in this Book The Foundation-Principle of Wisdom being to understand Nature which is the Art of God and thereby our own Frame Powers Faculties and Constitution so as to imbrace what is good wholsom and agreeable and to eschew all that is evil and harmful and the End and Consummation thereof is to know the Supream Being Author of created Nature and to love obey and enjoy him for ever In Order hereunto Temperance and Sobriety are sublime Gifts and to be regarded with the highest esteem not only for the delight and pleasure they afford the Body and Mind but as they fortifie those that observe them against many Vices and Temptations as well as preserve them from a thousand racking Pains and torturing Diseases and so furnish them with the best Treasures of this World viz. Health not only of the Body but also of the Mind for 't is that Health that sweetens all God's Blessings and is the prime good of this Life What advantage or pleasure is there in the highest prepared Food or choice compounded Dishes of the rarest Dainties in the richest or most Cordial Drinks the gayest Apparel or the most flattering Addresses of Honour to a Person rackt with the Stone or tortur'd with an Iliaca passio or half-drown'd with an overflowing Dropsie or burning within like Mount AEtna with the raging violence of a Fever What are Riches and Fame to a Body full of Pain Or who would accept of a Crown upon condition that his Head should thenceforth perpetually Ake Now if the Body be distemper'd thro' disorder and superfluity the Mind and all the Senses are presently afflicted if the Harmony of the one be interrupted or destroyed the other cannot continue For the Spirit is the original whence the Body proceded and is the Life of every visible Substance and as the Properties or Qualities are in their degrees in the Spirit either strong or weak so also they are in the Elements of the Body That quality that doth predominate in the Spirit at the Incarnation and Birth that very same property doth carry the upper Dominion in the Body which is manifested by the Inclination Shape and Form Behaviour Words and Works and this is call'd a Man's COMPLEXION of which there are commonly reckon'd four kinds viz. the Cholerick the Phlegmatick the Sanguine and the Melancholy and since the true understanding of each of these does mainly conduce to a mans knowing and right regulating of himself we shall therefore treat of them severally But in the first place we will lay down a short Description of the four grand Qualities viz. the Bitter Sweet Sour Astringent or Saltish from whence the four Complexions proceed Of the Bitter Quality 1. Those that are dignified with this Quality are for the most part of strong Bodies thick well set of middle Stature of hard fierce Countenances Visage rather round than Oval big Bones Hair curling of quick piercing Eyes bold Behaviours ready of Speech and Apprehension of strong powerful Spirits able to go thro' much Labour and Action if Intemperance do not impede which many of this sort of People are subject to quickly moved to Passion but their Fires burn too fierce to hold long of strong natural Heats great Appetites therefore they are apt to be Gluttons the Diseases they are most subject to are Acute Fevers Gout Pox both small and great Food good for this sort of People are all sorts of Gruels Herbs Fruit small Drinks and all Food made of Milk and every other sort that is Simple and Natural and the contrary they are to
avoid on peril of their Healths 2. It is to be noted when the Sweet Quality is strong and incorporateth with the Bitter and hath an equal share in the government of the Life then the fierceness of this Quality is allayed by the friendly Influences of the Sweet so that such Persons are of more human meek Dispositions and Inclinations tho' they have Fire enough and sometimes too much because such are apt to be troubled for their Passions more than the former and are generally of better evener Tempers and at times apt to be perswaded against their own Reason and Understanding more temperate Livers of excellent Apprehensions both in the doing and learning of any thing of healthy strong Constitutions as free from Diseases as any sort of People but they cannot endure Intemperances so well as the former also all sorts of strong Drinks compounded sugared spiced hot Food are injurious unto them But on the contrary all sorts of Food of a middle or mild Nature are very agreeable to them and make healthy strong brisk and airy fit both for the action of the Body and Mind This sort of People are of the Cholerick and Sanguin Complexion which is a commendable Temperature 3. But when it shall fall out that the Sour Quality is joyned in government with the Bitter and the Sweet Quality weak or underneath then such People are of harsh four envious Tempers being inclined to all kinds of rude robustick Exercises unmerciful to Men and Beasts of cruel fierce Inclinations being of quick Apprehensions but in general they are ill-governed People caring for nothing so much as Drinking Gluttony and vain Company very passionate in their love and hate great part of the rude Multitude are made up with this sort of People the Diseases they are subject to are Fevers Gout stoppage of the Breast Stone Convulsions Dropsies and the like according to what sort of Intemperances they give themselves unto being great lovers of their Bellies it being their chief Study and Philosophy how they may have wherewith to gratifie their Paunches often cutting off their Lives by heady Disorders and Superfluities this sort of People are of the Cholerick Phlegmatick Complexion But if they shall incline to fear the Lord and understand the principles of their own Nature being guided by the divine Voice of Wisdom which continually cries out against and condemns all the fore-mentioned Inordinances this divine Wisdom is sufficient to abate all kinds of Intemperances 4. But if the Astringent or Saltish Quality be joyned in the government of the Life with the Bitter and the Sweet impotent then all is poisoned such People being for the most part of hot-headed harsh cruel violent envious Dispositions their Looks are fierce angry and poisonous they often hurt and wound the Healths of such who are under their dominion by their Looks Wishes and Words great Swearers Liars Back-biters Deflowrers of Women Gluttons and Drunkards being often cut off by violent Deaths and by the sentence of the Judge if they do not adhere to the counsel of the love of God which being obeyed will regulate all the fore-mentioned Intemperances 5. All Beasts and Cattle as Horses Cows and the like if they shall be dignified with the Bitter Quality are strong well-set big boned hardy of great Spirits and fierce quick of motion but not very handsom fit for labour But if Cows happen to have this Quality predominant then they are dogged and mischievous not very free of Milk neither will they give much Milk But when this Quality doth predominate in any Herb or Vegetation then the Body is rather short than tall strong and full of knots and brushy the Leaves harsh cut or dented of an unpleasant Taste but hot and of a warming Quality good Herbs in Physical operations if the Physician hath skill to correct the Poysons of Mars and Saturn they being great openers and movers of Obstructions For the chief motion of Nature doth arise and proceed from the bitter Quality and if it be not too violent in a thing then it is the pleasure of every Life for when this Quality doth move with a gentle motion it shakes and makes the whole Body to tremble whence proceeds Laughter and all Mirth It is a most pleasant quality when the sweet quality doth incorporate it self with it and hath an equal share in the government of the Life But on the contrary when it doth predominate in any Creature it is a fierce furious raging Quality as is mentioned before viz. a proud lofty Spirit and Power endeavouring to bring all in subjection unto its self Of the Sweet Quality 1. In what Person soever this Quality doth predominate it indues them with a meek friendly Life and Disposition of a handsom tall slender Body of a smooth soft Skin the Complexion White and Red the Body not very strong Hair soft and fine of kind courteous Words and Behaviour their Fire burns but gently their Spirits will not endure much labour care nor trouble all kinds of Intemperances are apt to inflame them The Diseases they are subject to are Acute Fevers Quinsies fumes and vapours flying into the Head on every occasion of trouble or little Intemperance also several Distempers are caused through superfluity of Blood which is apt to abound in this sort of People also Boyls Scabby Pocky and Leperous Diseases which do proceed from the inflammation of the Sweet Quality This sort of People ought to observe the Rules of Temperance and Order in Meats Drinks Cares and Exercises their Food ought to be neither hot nor cold but of a middle Nature so also their Drink ought to be such as will suit the temperature of this sort of People which I shall say some-what of in the Description of the Sanguine Complection pag. 26 27 c. 2. But when the Bitter Quality is in equal strength then it doth as is mentioned before abate somewhat of the friendly Dispositions and Inclinations of this quality and such People are of stronger and harder Natures and of sharper Understandings 3. When this Sweet Quality doth predominate in any Beast then they are of a gentle mild Dispositition of a friendly Temper of a handsom well shap'd Body not very strong But when it doth predominate in any Herb or Tree then the Body or Stalk is tall slender smooth and handsom of white yellow ruddy Colours of a fragrant smell and full of Virtue such Herbs and Fruit may be eaten without further preparation and also they may be used Physically without any correction if gathered under their proper Constellations and ordered according to our directions in the Chapter of the preserving of Herbs Of the Sour Quality 1. Those that have this Quality predominant in them are of middle Stature rather short then tall large Visages fleshy and corpulent slow in motion of dull heavy Spirits not apt to learn great drinkers subject to gross phlegmatick Humors and dropsical Diseases not very strong nor healthy their Fire and
of them are much addicted to Superfluity and Inordinate living by reason of the strength of Nature and their strong Heats which do in many of them increase the desire to eat and drink beyond the power of the digestive faculty of the Stomach For in most People in whom the Fire doth predominate their attractive faculty and desire of eating and drinking is so very strong that it prolongs the pleasure of eating and drinking many degrees beyond the Necessity of the Stomach which does not only cause an heavy drowsy Indisposition to follow but sows Seed for many Diseases Therefore as this sort of People are generally the greatest Eaters by Inclination so ought they as much as in them lies restrain the Extravagancies of their Appetite and eat but sparingly especially of rich hot compounded spicy Food and strong Drinks as Wine Brandy Tobacco c. For they are all Enemies to this Complexion and very dangerous too if Temperance be wanting for every sort of Food hath its operation in the Body and on the Spirits by way of Simile Therefore all such Meats and Drinks in this sort of People if not sparingly taken do too powerfully awaken the Central Heat which ought not to be felt but when it is stirred up does sometimes cause either a Suffocation or Evaporation of the vital Spirits which will make all the external parts of the Body to burn like Fire whilst the Center becomes as it were chill and cold For when the pure Spirits are wounded by any violence done to them the Radical moisture consumed the Oyl of Life set on Fire which are Moderators and Qualifiers of the harsh Fires and Poysons in the Body what can be expected but Destruction For when the pure Spirits of Oyl are any way wounded by Intemperance then presently are awakened the fierce dark Fires in the Body the original of every Life which ought not to have been stirred for this Fire is of a churlish angry consuming Nature whence those terrible Fevers do proceed This Heat when it is kindled which is never done but when some great violence is offered to the pure Spirit and Oyl then the natural Life doth presently burn and is in danger to be destroyed for the heat of this Original Fire is like the heat of Charcoal whose pleasant Water and Moderator is destroyed in the making of it whence that pleasant gleam of Light and refreshing Quality in the Wood doth proceed so that in the Charcoal there does only remain the dark fierce Sulphurous Fire which does when burning send forth pernicious stupifying Fumes and Vapours of an ill scent burdensom to Nature for these Scents or Vapours do powerfully penetrate the Body by way of Simile and search out their likeness and incorporate therewith whence disorders arise especially in People of weak Nature and that have but few Spirits Even so it is in the Body if the pure Spirits and Radical Moisture be through superfluity or any other way disorder'd or weaken'd then presently the dark original Fire is kindled and manifesteth it self in its own form and burns fierce like Charcoal and then the Body falls into Distemperatures Not but this dark fierce Fire that doth so violently burn and discompose the Body and Mind did possess the body before for indeed it is the center of every Life but so long as the pure Spirits and Balsamick Body were strong and the Qualities of Nature had their operation in equality this fierce sulphurous fire lay hid or was captivated in the sweet Embraces of the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits and restrained by their virtue and power even as the pure Oyl and Balsamick Body in Wood doth moderate and qualifie the sulphurous Charcoal-heat so long as the Wood remains intire and no violence done to the sweet Oyl which is the true Life of the Wood but so soon as this sweet Oyl is wounded and becomes suffocated as is done in making of Charcoal then the fieree poysonous dark Fire of Saturn and Mars is awakened being of a furious devilish Nature and Operation The same is to be understood in every Vegetable Mineral and Animal be it what it will If the pure Radical Spirits and Oyl of Life be any ways hurt then the dark Wrath of Nature appears and if it be in the Human Nature then the Body falls into terrible distempers and cannot any way be recovered but by a powerful Medicine able to incorporate it self with the fading Oyl and pure Spirits and so reinforcing them with these foreign Auxiliaries enables them to withstand and qualifie the fierce poysonous operation of the awakened dark Fire and compel it to retreat to it s designed central obscurity This Cholerick Complexion ought in a most special manner to observe the Rules of Equality and Temperance for the Original Fire which we have been speaking of is very strong in them and most apt on any disorders to be kindled whence do proceed so many Violences done by this sort of People Also they generally love Arms and the Field and a little exercise and custom will make fighting and killing of Men as familiar to them as the killing of Sheep or Oxen is to Butchers Therefore they ought to be sober and accustom themselves to a mean in all things as Meats Drinks Exercises and especially in Communication or in their outward Converse in the World All sorts of Food and Drinks that are rather inclined to Coolness than Heat are most profitable to People of this Complexion and as in quality so also ought they to be careful that they do not exceed in quantity which they are apt to do more than any other Complexion as aforesaid Certainly Man being an Image of God and Nature in him containing the true nature of all things which the Ancients significantly called a Microcosm or little World 't is no absurdity to affirm that he hath power to change and alter his natural Complexion if he once come to know the Principles of himself and can but distinguish the Principles of his own Nature then may he preserve the pure essential Spirit from suffering violence and he can also by the same Eye of understanding preserve the essential Vertues of all other things according to that measure of Knowledge he hath of himself Likewise People that are dignified with this Cholerick Complexion are subject to acute Fevers their central Heat being great whence do proceed a powerful Life and abundance of Spirits For in all Creatures that have their central Heat strong the Balsamick Body and Radical Moisture is also powerful therefore such People can indure Labour beyond others The same is to be understood in Vegetables and other things according to their Natures where-ever the central Heat is powerful there also the Radical Moisture and sweet Oyl is strongest wherein the natural Life doth burn and shine An example we have in Wine and in all sweet Fruits especially in Sugar in which things the sweet Balsamick Body and pure Spirits are potent lively and
contrary many of the Sober and Temperate men have lived to great Ages and yet very free from Distempers with mean and spare Food whence does proceed a cool airy Pleasantness the sweet Influences of all the Elements freely courting the Body which renders the Spirits many in Quantity and fine in Quality and thence arises lightsomness to the Body and vigour to the Mind The truth of this men may experience if they will but give themselves the leisure to reflect and consider whether or no they do not before Meals ordinarily find themselves pleasant and lightsom in Body and Spirits but after they have indulged their Appetites with an overplenteous feeding the one is heavy and the other dull whereas had they but eaten temperately of simple Food it would not only have continued their strength but also refreshed their Spirits for the pure Spirit is the true Life Pleasure Delight and Beauty of every Creature according to the Nature of each and causeth the sweet Oyl to burn friendly and shine with a comfortable Ray if it be not wounded by disorders This Spirit being so Volatile and surpassing pure that it will not endure the least Violence for when any Injury is offered to it it either becomes evaporated or suffocated and then presently the Vigour and Beauty of that thing faileth be it either Animal or Vegetable Therefore those that do regard the Health of the Body and Mind ought to preserve the Spirit free and potent which must be done by Sobriety Gentleness and Temperance in Meats Drinks and Exercises The Prophet Daniel and his Companions were sensible of this when they were courted and also threatned with the displeasure of the King and his Servants if they would not eat of the various sorts of Flesh and Fish that came from the King's Table but Daniel intreated leave to continue that clean simple Food they had accustomed themselves unto viz. Herbs Grains and Fruits and pure Water for Drink Should not we in this Age be ready to count a man a Fool and out of his Senses that should refuse Royal Delicates from the King's Table and chuse to live upon such mean course Fare But Daniel did with a Divine Eye see into the Radix of all such things and understood their sympathetical Operations and therefore chose the most simple harmless Commons for by compounding many rich things together especially such as contain the Animal and Bestial Nature all such things lose their Simplicity and the true Life and pure Spirits of each become adulterated and changed and being destitute of its proper Virtues becomes of another operation which hath an evil Influence on our Bodies and Spirits whence proceed those frequent Infirmities in most that live in the height of Dainties the same being neither well-pleasing to God nor Nature But on the contrary was not the sober clean and abstemious Livers of the Rechabites well-pleasing to the Lord And did not the Prophet Ieremiah call them up into the House of the Lord as a Reproach to the Children of Israel for that they had faithfully kept the Commandments of their Father and observed the Rule of Moderation and contented themselves with pure Water for drink and with mean and simple Food and therefore he promises them That the Sons Jonadab should never want a man to stand before the Lord 'T is most certain the Lord hath been and is near all those that live in Temperance and Simplicity Therefore the Apostle saith Let your Moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand The Prophet Iohn contented himself with Locusts and wild Honey of whom our Saviour Christ saith That there was not a greater Prophet born of a Woman Also Iames the Brother of our Lord was eminent for his Abstinence as Eusebius reports insomuch that he eat no Flesh drank no Wine nor strong Drink and wore no Woollen Garment but Linnen which is of a cleaner Radix than the other for Woollens do retain the Bestial Nature as you may more manifestly perceive by the smell if you burn them no washing or other cleansings will purge them from that fulsom Quality which they send forth when burnt Now this stinking Nature so long as it continued entire was hidden or captived but the fire opens the gross body and manifests the Root for this cause the Prophets and holy men have so often said That the Saints and People of the Lord should be cloathed in white Linnen and the Priests of the Lord were to ware a Linnen Ephod for all Vegetives are indued with a simple innocent Nature and Operation and therefore they have been compared to the divine Nature because they bear some affinity unto it Those that would have their Spirits pure and potent must use clean Food which will extenuate the gross superfluous humours by which the Body becomes easily penetrable and he that doth not preserve his body clean the pure Spirit becomes as it were suffocated whence proceeds an heavy Dullness that is not only burdensom but hinders all Meditations and makes the Soul uncapable of every good Work but Abstinence and Temperance do dignifie a man and render him fit for the Exercise of Virtue and Piety and is the Root of strength and fortitude As the Mother of Sampson was commanded by the Angel of the Lord To abstain from Wine and strong Drink during the time of her being with Child so was Sampson her Son whom the Lord endued with wonderful strength but when he gave himself up to Wine and strong Drink and other Intemperances he lost all Power and Virtue and became weak both in Body and Mind and a prey to his Enemies And is it not so in our days Of most of the Miseries and Troubles man ensuares himself is not Superfluity a main cause Where-ever we see Vice there is also Intemperance and where we see Temperance and Abstinency we may justly expect other Virtues because no superfluous matter is bred that may dull or indispose the Fancy the Soul being watchful in Words and Works and also keeping the Body under which by the Power and Virtue of Temperance is subjected to the Influences of the Light and Love of God Temperance Cleanliness and Abstinence have greater power over the Soul and Body than most in our days imagine Did not our fore-Fathers live to wonderful Ages in perfect Health their Food in those days being chiefly Herbs Fruits and Grains and pure Wattr their Drink They did not make their Stomachs the Barial-places of dead Bodies but their Meat and Drink was innocent and simple by which they were able to check and regulate the extravagant motions of the Mind and insurrections of the Flesh Hence some of the Antients have delivered it as a Maxim That none could understand God and his Works and enjoy perfect Health and long Life but those that abstain from Flesh Wine and Vices bounding their Desires according to the Ends and Necessities of Nature For where Uncleanness and Intemperance reigns the Soul is subjected
if a man does leave them at the first Nature seems to want them the like effect is produced by other unnatural Customs as in taking Tobacco it being a strong Martial and Saturnine Herb of a loathsom poysonous Nature and Operation whose predominant Quality is of a contrary Nature to the Stomach and natural Heat therefore the first taking of it in Pipes is both difficult and troublesom to Nature and there is no Preparations known that will make this Herb friendly or familiar to Nature but only the continual Custom of taking it which does awaken and strengthen its own Quality in the Stomach which in the beginning was weak but by custom is become strong so great is the power of every thing in increasing its likeness and it becomes as though it were natural and there is as much difficulty to leave the use of such things if not more as there was at first to make them familiar the like is true in Brandy c. for the more unnatural and greater the extream is the more troublesom it is to leave it As for those who are used to eat hot Food and are not satisfied to eat cold a little custom will bring them to a liking of it for man being a compleat Image of the whole Nature of this World and being endued with the true nature of all Elemental things therefore Custom will make every thing whether good or evil familiar to his Nature As for my own part I have not been troubled with windy Diseases since I left eating of hot Food which formerly I was afflicted with likewise the same Quantity of any sort of Food eaten Cold when a man is a little used to it will be much easier and pleasanter to the Stomach than Hot for this swells the Body sends Fumes into the head and causeth a heavy indisposedness through the whole Body but there is such a sottishness and ignorance possesses most People that they will not go out of their old Path following their false Prophets Custom and Tradition esteeming themselves to be sufficient Judges in these things Now these windy Diseases and fiery thin salt Humours that are occasioned by the afore mentioned Intemperances are very rarely or seldom ever cured for what Medicines have power to cure when the same Superfluities are continued which were the Original of the Diseases Pray where is the Medicine that will cure the French Disease if the Person infected goes on in his old way of Wantonness The very same is to be understood in all other Distempers therefore Temperance and Sobriety are Vertues that are absolutely necessary not only to help and cure Diseases when they have invaded the Body but also to prevent the Generation of them for most Distempers with a little help of Physick might be mitigated if a sober temperate Life were observed so that by degrees little or no inconveniency would be felt but what hopes are there so long as People prefer Supersluity and the pleasure of the Taste beyond Health eating and drinking of various sorts of rich Food and cordial Drinks to the full satisfaction of their Appetites which break the bounds of Temperance the Stomach not being able to make a perfect Concoctiion so that every such Meal sows the seeds of some gross Matter and evil Juice which by degrees stops the Passages obstructs the Veins corrupts the Blood and from thence flows various indispositions according to the nature of each mans Constitution and the degree of matter There are but few that think that those Oppressions and Diseases proceed from a disordered Life and a too great Quantity of Nourishment but most will be apt to believe themselves alledging That they got Cold by leaving off a Coat or by Accidental Sweating or some other act of carelesness Which must be a mistake for such things have little or no power to hurt the Health if there be not matter before-hand for you may be sure if leaving off a Coat do occasion a Cold or any kind of stoppage there was some part obstructed before and the radical Spirits of that part were weakened by some disorder or else outward Colds would not have had any power to seize that part of the Body You may also observe that if any Member or part of the Body be weakened by any accident that part will first complain when either Cold seizes it or when there is any change of Weather from whence you may conclude that the Root of all or most Diseases is first some inward Contraction of matter caused by Superfluity or other Disorder which have weakened the pure essential Spirits and the Balsamick Oyl and Virtues in that part become as it were sower or sharp wich infects the Blood and then presently ariseth a loathing and the Palate cannot distinguish the pure Relish nor taste the goodness of any Food the Attractive Quality and also the Natural Heat of the Stomach lose their strength and power then also the Reâ—â—ntive and Digestive Faculties do cease from their natural Operations for when there does happen any Violence to the pure Volatile Spirit and Balsamick Body then presently the action of the Stomach ceases and there begins a loathing and the original Poysons and central Heats are awakened which set the whole Body into a flame which poysonous Fire lay as it were hid so long as the pure Spirit and Balsamick Body were strong and this continual fiery or brimstony Spirit was only a cause of motion giving strength and vigour to the Oyl of Life which Oyl does mix and incorporate with this sulpherous fierce Fire and makes it more gentle and friendly for this Oyl is generated from this sulpherous poysonous Spirit and is as it were its Sun and shines back thereinto and does cause it to burn more gently but if this pure Spirit and Oyl be by any kind of Intemperance wounded or suffocated by overcharging Nature then the Original Poysons and sulpherous Fires do manifest themselves in their own Forms which were captivated and moderated so long as the pure Spirits and essential Oyl were strong for this essential Oyl is the true Life of Nature and the Moderator of the original Fire even as it is in the Fire of Wood so long as the Wood remains intire and no Violence done to the pure Spirits and essential Oyl this Fire gives a most pleasant and friendly refreshing heat and light it sends forth a bright shine and wholsom smell very ageeable to the Pure Spirits of those that are near it but you will find the contrary if you offer any violence to the Pure Spirits and essential Oyl whence the bright shine and friendly nature of Wood Fire does proceed as is done in making of Wood Fire into Charcoal for these pure Spirits and sweet Water or Oyl are suffocated in all Charcoal For this cause the Fire of Chorcoal is not only stronger than the Fire of Wood but it sends forth Sulpherous Fumes which will stupifie and suffocate the pure Spirits and dull
and Communication for they saw the inconveniences and dangers that all such things brought on man but in this Dark Gluttonous and Drunken Age there is no regard had to such things every man does imagin himself to have greater Understanding than the Ancients and Prophets so that there is little or no distinction made accounting all things as it were of a like nature and operation whence doth proceed innumerable Disorders and Diseases for the total Preservation of mans Health both of Body and Mind does consist in the Quantity and Qality of Meats Drinks Exercises Communications Customs and the good or ill Properties of Food all things have a secret Power in themselves to alter and change Nature either for better or worse or to Vertue or Vice according to the Natures and Degrees either of Evil or Good in each thing Of the Flesh of Fowls There are various sorts of Fowls most of which men eat some Wild others Tame of the two the Wild are the wholsomest for Food their Nature is more airy and cleaner and of a dryer substance affording a better and firmer Nourishment better Blood and purer Spirits than the Tame the cause of this is the Cleanness of their Food great Motion and their continual being in the open pure Air next in Goodness to these are those Fowls that have free Egress and Regress and are chiefly fed with Corn such do also afford a good clean Nourishment But all such Fowls that are kept up and fatted and crambed in Coops being hindred both from Action and Motion their Flesh is of a grosser substance than the former not so wholsom hard of Concoction of a stronger Taste and Smell generates a thick gross Nourishment as indeed all other Creatures that are fed or made fat after that manner are much the Unwholsomer not being so Healthy if frequently eaten as those Creatures that are at their own Liberty for Motion and Action are absolutely necessary for to preserve Nature from Diseases and other evils not only in Men but also in all other things for it Purges and cleanses the Body from all such superfluous matter which is contracted by Meats and Drinks and other Accidents that happen to most Creatures it causeth the Blood to have its free Circulation and generates pure brisk lively Spirits as daily Experience doth teach Therefore all such unnatural ways and inventions of fatting any Creature after such a manner ought not to be if People have regard to their Health For all sorts of Flesh is in its own nature not only more Unclean but it is of a grosser substance affording more matter for the generation of Diseases than either Herbs Fruits or Grains neither is there any Art found whereby to exhale or destroy the gross Phlegmatick part of Flesh as there is in Fruits and Grains Therefore Flesh will sooner fall into Putrifaction than other things whose Humidity is exhaled by the vertue and power of the Sun and Elements It being a general mistake for to imagine that those Fowls and other Creatures that are hastily fatted by being penned up close and having superfluity of Food should have the best and most Nourishment Indeed they are fuller of gross Juices and Matter but good Nonrishment and pure Spirits and Blood do not proceed from the gross Phlegmatick body in any Creature but from the lively spirituous Parts and the more gross and phlegmy any Body is the fewer and duller are the Spirits of that thing if this were not so then Horses fed with Grass would be stronger and livelier than those that are fed with Hay and Corn. Are not all Creatures when their Bodies are fraighted with much matter disabled thereby to go through with their Labour or Exercise their Spirits quickly evaporated or spent and soon out of Breath faint and weak Which comes to pass through the super-abounding phlegmy matter which suffocates the Spirits and stops the Passages weakening the natural Heat and Action of the Stomach Therefore both Men and all other Creatures that do feed on Food that is of a dry Nature and Substance the gross Phlegm being destroyed as in Corn Hay Fruits and many other things and are inclined rather to Leanness than fulness are not only stronger and abler to endure Labour but they have far greater and more Lively Spirits are of quicker Apprehensions and fitter for Exercises both of the Body and Mind which does also further appear in all such Flesh that is so fatted it is not so sweet nor will it so readily take Salt nor keep so long without falling into Putrifaction Likewise the fat of all such flesh when salted will in a little time waste and consume the phlegmy gross part which is so strong that the pure essential spirituous parts thereof are destroyed whereas the very same Creatures being fed with Corn or dry Food having their Egress and Regress in the open Air being killed in their season and Salted will continue much longer than the former being much wholsomer and more pleasant breeding good Nâ—urishment better Blood and Spirits CHAP. IV. The Proper and most Natural way of Boyling Roasting Frying Baking c. of Flesh and other Food THE proper and natural way to Boyl Flesh and other Food that the Spirits and Life of it may be preserved is fiirst To put your Flesh into a Pot or Vessel that is large and can hold good store of Water For this Element of Water being of it self sweet and pleasant does cleanse and sweeten all things especially Flesh which is full of gross matter but you are to note that your Flesh is not to be put into your Pot or Vessel unless it first Boyl for if it lie in the Water and receives Heat but Gradually it dulls and makes flat the spirituous part thereof Likewise when your Flesh is put into your Vessel let your fire be increased that it may not lie long in the Water before it boyl and as soon as it boyls you are to uncover your Vessel and to keep it boyling quick without intermission till it is ready for eating The Pot or Vessel is not to be Covered any time of the boyling for thereby the sweet and refreshing Influences of the Air are hindered that they cannot have their free Egress and Regress which does as it were suffocate and destroy the pure and Volatile Spirits in the food for the Air is the Life and preserver of the Spirit and the Spirit is also the Life and preserver of the Balsamick Body in every thing and in what thing soever the Spirits suffer violence the sweet Body and Oyl turneth Sower as is most manifest in all fermented Liquors if such Liquors be exposed to the open Air the Spirits will evaporate and then the sweet Body turneth Sower and becomes of a heavy dull Nature and Operation but in the preparation of all gross phlegmy Bodies the free Influences of the Air keep the Spirit Living till such Bodies are digested and the Spirits set at Liberty then if
the gross Body or phlegmy Matter in Food is in part digested then presently the spirituous parts appear externally which did not only lie hid but also the Body of the Phlegm before the preparation did keep the Spirits from Evaporation which all Corporeal Bodies do for the Body is the House of the Spirits Therefore great Care ought to be taken in all preparation of Food both for Man and Beast and this is to be understood that the pure Spirituous Parts and Balsamick Body cannot be preserved in the preparation of any Food neither for Man or Beast except that most friendly Element the Air hath its free Influences because it is the Life and gives the Power and Vertue to the Spirit Also this is to be minded that when your gross Body in the Food is by your preparation digested whether it be by the heat of the Sun or by the common Fire then ought you to proceed no further nor continue your Preparation no longer for when the pure Spirituous Part becomes Volatile the same Air which did keep and preserve the Spirit from Suffocation in the Preparation will now cause it to evaporate which every Country Husbandman knows in the making and preparing of his Hay which neither the House-wife does understand nor consider in her Preparations of her Food nor the Physitians in the Preparations of their Physick these things are of greater Consequence as to Health than most do imagine I do not desire any to give Credit to me but I would have them so Noble as to Try whether it be so or not Health being the best Treasure in this World and all those that want it do esteem and desire it more than any other thing tho' few do take Right Measures when they enjoy it to continue it Thus much for the Right and most Natural Way of preparing Food by Boyling and whosoever shall observe the afore mentioned Rules and Observations shall find great Benefit and Pleasure The very same Rules ought to be observed in the Preparation of All Pottages green Herbs and Pulses except dry-Pulses which will admit of a slower and more gentle Fire than the Green Of Roasting of Flesh. The Roasting of flesh is a good commendable way of Preparation and is rather sweeter than Boyling it affords a good dry firm Nourishment but it is some-what harder of Concoction but very sweet and pleasant by reason that the friendly influences of the Air hath its Free Egress and regress not being any ways inclosed so that the pure spirituous parts are kept living which do render it brisk and lively There are two things to be observed in the flesh you Roast 1st That you have your flesh if Beef as soon as it is throughly cold and then to give it some Salt and to keep it in a cool place a day or two for if you salt it much the Salt being of a fiery hot nature when the flesh comes to the fire it does as it were scorch or burn it destroys the Spirits and sweet Oyl insomuch that it becomes in its nature and operation hot and unpleasant causing great thirst in the Eater In Roasting it is also to be considered that you have a good clear strong and equal fire and that your flesh be placed at a convenient distance not too near because it will burn or scorch and so harden the out-side that the Heat shall not be able to penetrate into the middle thereof so that the out-side will be too much and the in side too little neither is your flesh to be too far off for then it flattens the Spirits such flesh loseth its pure sweetness with its colour and fragrant smell being dull on the Pallate and heavy on the Stomach in comparison of that which is placed at a convenient distance having a continued brisk fire The next thing that you ought to observe is That it be neither over nor under done but of the two it is better that it be under-done the point of time when the Preparation is at the hight is difficult and it can be no other way known but by its colour smell and taste which by a little Custom every House-Wife may understand for that Pallate that is used to eat and drink things well and properly prepared can presently distinguish the contrary and so on the other side those that do accustom themselves to either Foods of Drinks ill prepared cannot distinguish the good from the evil or the right from the wrong The same is in the sense of smelling as all such that do use to kill Beasts and to be much in Slaughter-Houses amongst the dead Carkasses the terrible Fumes and stupified Stinks are hardly smelled or perceived by them the same is to be understood of Tallow-Chandlers and other stinking Trades for every particular thing has power to strengthen and awaken its simile therefore there are but few that have their perfect Taste or Smell only those that do accustom themselves to the eating and drinking such things as are well prepared their Pallates are made the more perfect thereby But of all the ways of Preparing Flesh boyling is the easiest if the Rules be followed set down in the fore-going Paragraph Of the Baking of Flesh This Preparation is neither so wholsom nor healthful as either Boyling or Roasting for these following Reasons First Most sorts of Food that are baked are deprived both of the Element of Water and also of the Air which are not only the Purgers and Cleansers of all Food but the support and life of the Spirit 2dly The Air in Ovens becomes sulpherous and deadly by reason of the stopping of it that the reviving and refreshing Influences of this Element has not its free egress and regress so that the pure spirituous parts become as it were suffocated Nor can such flesh be supplied with convenient quantities of Water which in all preparations of flesh is a great cleanser and upholder of the Spirits so that it boyls in its own gross Humidity which all flesh does plentifully afford Also the heat of Ovens is fiercer and more sulpherous than the heat of other Fires where the Air has its Influences the Air also being confined is of a deadly poysonous nature and operation it also destroys the natural Colour Therefore flesh baked does no ways look like that which is boyl'd or roasted besides it is of a strong fulsom Taste in comparison of the former and a less quantity will cloy and fill the Stomach more especially if such flesh shall be eaten hot which renders it much more wholsom than cold for those sulpherous Fumes and Vapours that do proceed from baked Food are much more hurtful to the Health than that which is either boyl'd or roasted for there are but few Vessels in which Food is boyled that are or can be kept so close as Ovens This way of Preparation is chiefly followed in Summer especially in August September and October the Air in this season being sulpherous and fainty and the
Weather hot the making of fire in their houses is troublesom therefore baking saves them the labour Now at these seasons of the year flesh is unwholesom and very apt to burden Nature and to bring Diseases as I have discoursed in another place the frequent use of baked flesh in this season with other evil circumstances which do then concur does beget divers Obstructions and generates an unfirm Nourishment because most sorts of flesh at this time are more subject to Putrifaction than any other whence so many Fevers Fluxes Gripings of the Bowels and other Diseases do very frequently reign for Flesh in its best Condition is full of gross Juices and matter for Putrifaction by reason of the great store of Phlegm and Humidity therefore it ought to be helpt as much as can be in the Preparation which never can be well done except there be plenty of the Element of Water and the free egress and regress of the Air for those Elements have a living Power in them by which they do qualifie and mix with it purging and cleanfing that raw phlegmy Juice or matter which all Flesh does afford Also where these two Elements have their free operation in the preparation of all sorts of Food they preserve not only the pure Spirits but also the sweet Balsamick Body from being suffocated or destroyed maintaining the natural Colour with the Smell and Taste which makes all such Food lively and brisk easie of Concoction generating a far better Nourishment than any kind of baked Meat Of Stewing of Flesh. This kind of Preparation of Flesh is much of the same nature with the former for it has neither benefit of the Air nor a convenient quantity of Water in this and all other Preparations of Food where these two Elements are hindered from having their free influences and operation as is mentioned before neither Fesh nor any other Food can be well prepared for the radical and pure Spirits where these two Elements are pen'd up from having their influences cannot subsist neither will the fire burn but presently the pure Spirits and Oyl in the Wood or other things becomes suffocated for the Water and Air are the true Life and Power of every Being whence it comes to pass in all Preparations both of Food and Physick where these two Elements have not their free influences and operations the pure Spirits become suffocated and the sweet Oyl is turned sower and becomes of a stinking Quality which is the cause all sorts of Food so prepared become strong in scent and also in Taste and it loseth its natural Colour if as I have said the pure Spirits and Balsamick Body be hurt then there follows presently an alteration and the original Quality of the dark Brimstone Spirit of Saturn and Mars gets the dominion which was as it were hid before but so soon as the true Life is wounded this Crude Fire becomes many degrees stronger than before as is seen in Charcoal and in many other things for these pure Spirits and Oily Body whence the true Light hath its bright shining Quality are the Qualifiers or Moderators of this dark fierce fire as I have elsewhere largely discoursed of touching the Nature of Brandy of this all House-Wives ought to take notice for if the pure Spirits and sweet Body be not preserved in the Preparations of Food such Food is rather a Death to the Body and also to the Spirits than Life The greatest Wisdom in all Preparations is to preserve the pure Spirits and sweet Body from being either suffocated or evaporated and yet at the same time to digest and open the Body for the Crude matter in all Food must be digested or else the pure Spirits cannot be set at Liberty or freed from the phlegmy matter which pure Spirits and sweet Body does tincture the Food as we see when any Food is properly prepared which comes to pass through the Preparation it digests the gross Crude parts and then presently the true Spirits appear in their friendly forms which before the Preparation were captivated or hid by the gross Phlegmy Body the same is done in Malt but in a higher degree Most certain it is that the pure Spirits and Balsamick Body cannot be supported and continued without the help of the Air and Water therefore it is a gross Mistake and Error amongst most House-Wives to think that by Covering the Vessels wherein Food is prepared to preserve the Spirituous parts thereby imagining that if such Vessels be open that the Spirits will evaporate which never happens till the gross Body in the Food be digested and the Food be sufficiently Prepared which does as is said before set the Spirituous parts at Liberty that they become Volatile and then if the Preparation be continued they will evaporate but not before for in the Preparation the Elements of Air and Water having their free Influences keep the Spirits and Oily Body living and if these two Elements be Prevented then the fiery sulpherous Fumes become so Raging that they seek out their Center and incorporate themseves with the gross humid part of the Food so that they greedily devour and suffocate the pure Life and sweet Oyl the very same is to be understood in all Physical Preparations The Observation and true Knowledg of these things are very material as to the preserving of Health but first they must be understood in a mans self for before a man can essentially know any thing the Cognoscible and the knowledg thereof must be manifested in himself or else it is impossible for any one to know any thing Truly Whatsoever may be known or understood of God and Nature is essentially in man or else he could not be called the Image of his Creator Therefore every one ought to turn the Eye of their Understanding inward and diligently search themselves which Study is Preferrable to all other things Of Fryed Flesh. The Frying of Flesh and other Food in Pans is a Preparation much in use in England but not so good or wholsom as either Boyling Roasting or Broyling The goodness of all Food does arise and proceed from the Essential Spirits and Balsamick Body which is the true Life and Vertue of every thing and if these essential Vertues do not suffer violence in the Preparation then such Food will have a most pleasant Smell a brisk lively Taste very delightful to the Palate also it retaineth its natural Colour according to that colour that was predominant in the Radix of that thing be it either White Green or whatsoever else which can no way be maintained in the Food but by the benefit and help of the Water and the pure influences of the Air Where the operation and influences of these two Elements are hindered the pure Spirits do suffer Violence which alters and changes both the colour smell and taste then it has a strong and odious scent and its taste is also more unpleasing than the former and the Stomach does not so eagerly
be very profitable First After full Meals and excessive Draughts see that they fast longer than their usual time is this gives great advantage to the natural Heat by which the digestive Faculty of the Stomach does by its secret attractive Power draw unto it self all superfluity and evil Juices that have been bred through Intemperance digesting and throwing off all such matter which might otherwise occasion Diseases for the action and natural heat of the Stomach is never idle but has always its continual motion and secret attraction and Hunger is so powerful that it will draw the very Flesh off the Bones Therefore fasting after immoderate eating and drinking is a sure Remedy to prevent Diseases and Surfeits drinking good store of Water-Gruel made thin and boyl'd quick the following day without any Ingredients in it will cleanse the Stomach and help to carry off the gross matter and evil Juices which do proceed from Repletion If these Rules were observed by those that abound in Meats and Drinks there would not be so many afflicted with the Gout in the Joynts and Pains in the Limbs Swelling and Breaking-out with so many Mangy and Leprous Diseases which are chiefly occasioned through Intemperance and want of Exercises Likewise all Rich compounded Foods which are often of disagreeing Natures do not only destroy the Health but do dull the edge of the Appetite taking away the true Taste and Pleasure which good Stomachs and sharp Appetites enjoy It may be truly said That the Intemperate Person is deprived of all true and natural Pleasure for those that are continually accustomed to rich Compounded Foods and strong Cordial Drinks as Wine c. by the frequent use of them they become rather burdensom than pleasant the same is to be understood of those that live an idle soft Life their whole body is as it were indisposed their Members and Limbs often ake for want of Exercise because they are weak also their Passages are fur'd and stopped so that the Blood becomes thick and gross and the natural Spirits impure such People are on every occasion apt to sweat being also subject to internal Heats which do much disorder the whole Body but the ordinary sort of People who are constrained to live on mean simple Food and small Drink and to labour hard do imagine that the greatest happiness in this World is to live an idle Life and to have their Tables daily furnished with variety of rich Food and strong Drinks few of them considering that the true pleasure of eating and drinking is in having a perfect Appetite and that without Labour no man can be brisk and lively either in Body or Spirit which Superfluity of rich Food strong Drink and Idleness doth destroy because most of such things are unequal in their parts and so beget Inequality also they are endued with too great Vertue whence doth proceed too much Nourishment which is the Foundation of most Diseases for this cause mean and simple Meats and Drinks are not only most greateful to Nature but do best support the Body in perfect Health and Strength far beyond all the richest compounded Flesh Fish and strong Drinks though all such things are and may be very useful now and then being moderately used for â—he necessity of Nature as the Scripture saith all Gods Creatures are good being received with Thanks-giving Most Meats and Drinks in their own Nature are simple and innocent it is generally Compositions that make Meats and Drinks not only too Rich but also Improper CHAP. VI. Of Waters Ale Beer and Tobacco to which is added the consideration of Cloathing Houses and Beds and what great Benefits arise from Moderation and Temperance in those things THE Element of Water is not inferior to any other of the Elements neither is Nature wanting to work wonderfully thereby there is so great a Necessity of Water that without it no Animal can live nor any Herb or Plant bring forth for in it is the Seminary Vertue of all things especially of Animals whose Seed is manifestly Watrish The Seeds also of all Herbs and Plants although they are Earthy must notwithstanding be rooted in moisture before they can be fruitful The great and illuminated Prophet Moses tells us that before the Creation when the Earth was without Form the Spirit of the Lord moved on the Face of the Waters and in another place that the Plants did not grow because God had not caused it to Rain upon the Earth Nay so great is the Efficacy of this cleansing Element that the spiritual Regeneration cannot be performed without it as our Saviour Christ himself testified to Nicomedus and very great have the Vertues of it been in Religious Worship in former Ages among the Prophets and Wise Men in Expiations and Purifications Innumerable are the Benefits and so various the Uses thereof both in the Generation Nourishment and Increase of things that some of the Wise Men have concluded that Water was the beginning of all things and first of all Elements and the most Potent because it hath the mastery over all the rest for it swalloweth up the Earth extinguishes Flames ascends on high and by a most wonderful divine Hand and the stretching forth of the Clouds challengeth the Heavens for its Throne whence falling down in gentle Showers and refreshing Dews as from Natures choicest Limbeck impregnated with Coelestial Vertues it becomes the cause of all things that grow in the Earth Nor is there scarce any part of Nature more full of Wonders than these liquid Regions Iosephus tells us of a River near Sina which runneth with a full Channel all theS abbath-Day and then on a sudden it ceaseth as if the Spring were stopped and all the six days you may pass over it dry-shod but again on the seventh-day no Man knowing the reason of it the Waters return in abundance as before wherefore the Inhabitants therabouts call it the Sabbath-days River The Gospel testifies of a Sheep-Pool into which whosoever stepped first after the Waters were troubled by the Angel was made whole of whatsoever Disease he had Many secret and admirable Vertues the Creator hath endued this Element with as in all Ages hath been manifested for it being pure and clear in its own Nature it is the only and alone thing by which all external things are purified purged and cleansed But if it be adulterated or incorporated with any other Liquor or Juice then it becomes less pure and will not so well perform its Office yet it may make them better and more useful Though it be a vulgar Proverb As weak as Water Yet I must tell you Water is more strong and sublime than most imagine for it contains a most ravishing and excellent Spirituous Balsamick Vertue whence proceeds that pure sweet refreshing Quality whereby it hath Power by its innate Vertue to digest and purifie all sorts of Food Also in all Preparations it is so Innocent and Friendly that it dissipates the gross phlegmy Bodies
the digestive Faculty of the Stomach dulls the edg and sharpness of the Appetite causes Sweating and a general weariness in the whole Body and disables it to perform all its Labours and Exercises The cause of so great Inconveniencies proceeds from warm Clothes c. which hinder the most friendly Element of the Air from penetrating the body whereby the Spirits become weak and fainty For as nothing hurts the Body more than hot sulpherous Airs so there can be nothing that does more cheer and refresh the Spirits than cold pleasant Airs which is known by every mans Experience 3dly Warm and close Houses c. are attended with these evil Effects the Air which is the Life of the Spirit is hindred from having its free egress and regress by the close drawing of the Window-Shutters Hangings and Curtains which suffocates the pure volatile spirit of the Air benums and stupifies the Senses and causes an Indisposition from external heat to possess the whole Body besides it is pernicious to the vital Spirits dulls the Appetite weakens the Stomach and depraves the senses of Tasting and the digestive Faculty 4thly Soft and Warm Beds with Curtains drawn before the Windows and about the Beds produce these following bad Consequences both to the body and mind the Air being as it were pen'd up becomes hot and sulpherous because the pure thin vapours and spirits thereof are suffocated and so consequently must needs be very injurous to them that lie thus in their Beds Moreover the Air cannot penetrate the Body and so being destitute of Motion the Stomach and natural Heat is deprived of its free operation and this is the Reason that Suppers are not so well digested but oftimes become Noxious causing an unnatural kind of Sleep creating an Aptitude in the external parts to glow with a burning and unnatural kind of Heat this ill custom is too frequently used by those who are sick but especially those that lie in Child-bed to whom often the consequence is more dangerous The Chambers of most sick People are kept so very close that it will disorder a Healthy Person to continue there three or four hours and if so what detriment then do you think must of necessity attend the sick by reason of such hot sulpherous Airs And indeed considering how low and weak their Spirits are nothing can be more hurtful to them than this is under these Circumstances For these pure thin vapours and spirits being destroyed by those sulpherous ones the poysonous and deadly Vapours are stirred up which have a powerful influence upon the Body by way of simile and wound the pure Spirits in the Body causing an unnatural Heat in all the external parts with a fainty kind of weakness This becomes as offensive as the Heat and Air which proceeds from Charcoal and is of the same nature and operation for in the making of Charcoal the pure Spirits in the Wood which is its true Life or that sweet Water or Oyl whence the Light hath its bright shining Quality is suffocated and in a manner destroyed for the Spirits are the Life of the Oyl and the Oyl is the house and pleasant habitation of the Spirits and in all Preparations where the one is destroyed the other dieth as in this of making of Wood into Charcoal where both the pleasant Qualities are destroyed the free Influences of the Air being hindered the Spirits and Oyl which are of a friendly nature and operation become thereby suffocated The fire that Wood sends forth has a bright shining Light its heat is friendly and refreshing but Charcoal tho it has the same Foundation and is Wood in the original yet these two friendly Qualities being destroyed and suffocated in the making thereof it comes to be of another nature and operation as if it had not been Wood. For these Reasons Charcoal will not flame nor give a bright light but its flames are of a sulpherous Colour for having lost its Moderator or friendly Life the original Poysons take place and its Fire becomes much stronger than that of Wood and the heat and fumes thereof burdensom to the pure Spirits of those that are near such Fires the dark wrathful Vapours do awaken their simile in the Body If this were rightly understood by a delicate sort of People in the World I am perswaded they would not fear every small blast of wind neither would they deprive themselves of the most pleasant and benign Influences of the Air which keeps the essential Spirits living in every Creature and is indeed the excellent support of the whole nature of all Beings giving to them Life and Vigour And therefore you dainty Dames that are so nice that you will not endure this pleasant Element to blow upon you unless it be in a hot and sulpherous day in which it has not half that power and vertue that it has in cooler Weather you I say who are so Curious do but consider a little seriously what is said and your own experience may convince you that there is nothing better than pure and clear Airs to cheer and comfort Nature and to make the Spirits brisk and lively Are there any more healthy than those whose Imployments and Exercises are in the open Air Are there any who can endure Labour with less Prejudice Are there any who are generally more Robust Any that have better and sharper Appetites than they Likewise those that use the Country-Air much enjoy in a great measure the abovementioned advantages It will be very convenient then to use a Medium in reference to Clothes Houses and Beds and of the two Coolness is much safer from ones Birth to the Grave than Heat both inwardly and outwardly Pleasant and gentle Airs shut the Pores that the Radical Moisture and Spirits cannot evaporate they strengthen Nature give an edg to the Appetite the thinner and meaner a man's Clothes are the stronger and brisker he is and his natural Heat and digestive faculty is also the stronger besides thin Clothing except in cold Weather makes People fitter for Labour and less burdensome preserves the natural Heat and keeps it more Central Therefore it is that all Creatures that are born and bred in cold Climates are stronger and better able to endure Hardship and toilsom Labour than those that live in hot Climates and are greater Eaters and Drinkers of Strong Food and Drinks for this cause most People in cold Countries are inclined to the Intemperances of Gluttony and Drunkenness more than in hot so great is the power and operation of open cold Air it does wonderfully strengthen Nature and nothing can be a greater injury to Health than for People to accustom themselves to Tenderness the more they do wear the more they may so that at last they may have need to carry their Beds on their backs for by degrees it weakens the Body and causes so great a tenderness that they find it very troublesom to have the fresh cool Air to blow upon
them the effects are not better which rich compounded Meats and Drinks produce in those that are accustomed to them they weaken the Stomach and by their heat contract the Vessels of the Stomach insomuch that with a kind of nauseating they both eat and drink or rather they know not well what to eat or drink This is further manifest in those that use to drink Brandy and other Spirits for they do so consume the natural heat that after eating they feel their Food lie heavy in their Stomachs and sometimes are apt to cast the Food up again thus it is in all sorts of Intemperances and by the continuance or abandoning of the use of such unwholsome Liquors you may change and alter Nature as you please either for the better or worse But if you will be so habituated and wedded to your unhealthful Customs that you value not whether Nature be weak and impotent tender and unhealthy then you may mix your Food with all the Varieties that the East and West-Indies produce you may make your Drink as strong and Cordial as you list you make all your Preparations Ala-mode de France you may Boyl and Roast all your Food to pieces till there can be no more Nourishment then you may wrap your selves up in Furs and wear a brace of Night-Caps and bury your selves every night over Head and Ears in a Down-Bed barricado'd with a double Range of Curtains keep your House close and be sure that you skreen your selves up by a lusty Cole Fire and fortifie your Windows with those Shutters that you may see no light nor feel any Air and when it is nine or ten a Clock in the Morning look that you have a good rousing Fire in your Chambers and Breakfast ready and two or three hours after let a plentiful Dinner of varieties be made ready with strong and enflaming Liquors This is the Trade that many Thousands of this Nation use as if they studied to bring Diseases upon themselves and to dig their Graves with their own Teeth for in the midst of all their Affluences wherein they esteem themselves happy they are yet most miserable But on the contrary they who would have and preserve their Strength and a firm Health both of Body and Mind which of all Terrestrial Pleasures is the greatest will observe these Rules First Let your Meats and Drinks be simple not compounded of Variety and of things disagreeing in their Natures do not exceed the bounds of that necessary Nourishment which Nature requires lest the Natural Heat of the Stomach be thereby destroyed be sure that Nature be master not the Food use moderate Exercise and Labour for nothing does more strengthen the Body and make the Spirits more brisk and lively than pains taking As to wearing of Clothes use such as are neither too Warm nor too Thin of the two the latter is the best for it both hardens and strengthens Nature and has many other good effects before mentioned It is also convenient that the Head and Breast be kept cool for that strengthens the Stomach and all the Vessels thereof it helps Concoction and does greatly prevent the generation of Phlegms and other Crudities which are apt to obstruct the Passages from whence proceed Coughs Wheesings Shortness of Breath and other Distempers which Diseases do commonly invade those who accustom themselves to Delicacy and Niceness So on the contrary they who often go into the clear and ferene Air whose Imployments or Diversions are for the most part in the Fields have not only sharper Appetites but also are not so subject to the Distempers and Infirmities of the Breast as the former are tho' their Clothes are but poor mean often wet and their breasts bare yet it is undeniable but that they are more healthy than the other notwithstanding the Intemperances they are guilty of in Meats Drinks and Exercises for their business chiefly consisting of Exercise and lying much in motion and having the free Influences of the Air a little Intemperance does not much hurt their Spirits But such Disorders are not so easily thrown off by such as are accustomed to fine Food and rich Cordial Drinks and their Spirits and heats are not to be compared to the other and yet tho' their Clothing be thin their Houses and Beds cold their Coverings light tho' they had not quilted Caps for their Heads nor Curtains for their Windows and Beds nor it may be scarce any other Windows or Shutters than the Trees that grow before their Houses insomuch that the Fires Beds and Houses of such would kill a great many tender Gentlemen and Citizens yet we see they are far more healthy and strong and nothing so liable to Diseases as those others which are so nice and curious of themselves And tho' their Food be course and simple yet it does support Nature more than all the Superfluities of the other for this course manner of living does propagate Health and strengthens Nature because all such things are equal in their parts therefore I would advise all Citizens whose Affairs are most within their Houses to use themselves to wear thin Clothes and to keep small Fires and to let their Houses be as open as may be to the Air for where this Element has not its free Influences the Air in such places is thick the pure Spirits and thin Vapours thereof become as it were dull and suffocated that it cannot penetrate the Body by the way of the Pores whereas the Radical Spirits are in a manner supported refreshed and kept alive by a continual sucking in or penetration of that Element and if there were a total intermission but for a small time the Spirits could not subsist but Death must needs follow so where the same is in part obstructed the Spirits by reason of hot sulpherous Airs grow fainty and do in a manner die away and nothing will recover them but open clear Airs For the Support Life Strength and Vigour of the Body is the Spirit and the support and life of the Spirit is the Air therefore both Body and Spirits in Man and all other Creatures are not only supported in Health and Strength by gross corporeal Meats and Drinks but also by a pure thin spiritual substantial Life which the Elements of the Body and Spirits in man do continually suck in like Spunges from all the four Elements especially from the Air which if it be too close pen'd up and has not its free Influence it becomes sulphurous and awakens the dark poysonous fire in the body which is the original of every Life and this it does by simile as I have already at large explained Such is the pleasant and friendly Nature of the Air that it does 〈◊〉 a sympathetical operation give life and vigour to the Radical Moisture and Natural Heat for this Element hurts nothing but preserves all except those delicate tender Creatures who by a too great Indulgence of their unreasonable Appetites and foolish compliance with
Oates which opens unstops and cleanses the Passages from all kind of Obstructions This is further confirmed if we look into the Country where the Peasant that has no better than course Bread and other hard and mean fare is healthier stronger and more agile and sprightful than the City-Cormorant whose bruitish Appetite cannot be satisfied with any other thing than the costliest and richest Varieties that Nature can afford These latter sort of People accustoming themselves to the highest and finest Preparations of Food and Cordial Drinks are certainly the most unhealthful Men in the World because this sort of Food being in its own nature too Spirituous does prey upon the natural Heat causing either a suffocation or evaporation of the Spirits and contracting the Vessels of the Stomach whereby the whole body seems to languish Every sort of Food has its various operations upon the body and spirit of a Man and that by way of simile Therefore all Meats and Drinks ought to be equally compounded of a body and spirit as most things are in themselves before the Artist makes the separation the Food as the Man should be compounded both of body and spirit And to conclude I know of no separation that should be made of the one from the other but what is done inwardly by the act of the Stomach and natural Heat Of Pease and Beans Beans and Pease are Mars's Grains being drier and courser than the former Pease of the two are the finest and easiest of Concoction they are both of a Windy Quality yet being eaten when they are dryed are not only wholsomer than the Green but also afford a better and finer Nourishment not so apt to generate Crudities in the Body when they are boyled in plenty of Water the Winter-season is the most proper time for eating of them for then the natural Heat being more central the Stomach is much the stronger they are a good Food for young healthy People But Green-Pease and Beans are indued with a gross Phlegmatick Nature and being frequently eaten generate many gross raw Humours in the Body but in the declining part of the year when the Sun and Elements have consumed and dryed away the gross humid parts they thereby become firmer and wholsomer Food and will continue good and sound for several years but if they be cut down before the Sun has acted its part in extracting the gross Juices they will presently corrupt Therefore the frequent eating of such green Pease is of evil Consequence and detrimental to the Health they afford not only unfirm Nourishment but also cause Obstructions Fevers and Pains in the Bowels with Fluxes and a great many other Maladies That this kind of Nourishment is not good will further appear by giving you an Example from Cattle which when they are fed with green Food as Grass or the like their flesh and fat is soft greasy and full of phlegmy gross Matter neither will it take Salt nor keep half the time as that which is fed with Hay Corn and the like nay they are fainter and weaker and more apt to tire in their Labour and to take Surfeits than those that feed with Hay c. I do not say but green Pease may be eaten now and then for they are in their Nature opening and slippery which is caused by the great Quantity of Phlegmy Matter that is in them Yet these Rules should be observed in the dressing of them boyl them in good store of River-Water let your Fire be quick and your Pot open all the time of their boyling and they are to be put in when the Water begins to seeth and not before By this way of Preparation they are made wholsomer than otherwise they would be There is a sort of Bean called by the French English Bean but we commonly call them Kidney or French Beans they run upon sticks like Hops these are mostly eaten when Green they are of an opening and cleansing Nature purge by Urine and help Concoction the usual way of dressing them is to boyl them in the Shells and to eat them together They far exceed and are much better than other Pulses that are eaten green being in their nature and operation more mild and gentle Of Herbs Raw and Boyled The best raw Sallets are made of Spinage Parsley Sorrel Sage Pepper-grass with a small quantity of the Tops of Penny-Royal and Mint for all these have a chearing and warming Quality but Lettice and Onions should be sparingly put in because they are endowed with a gross thick Juice and are of a poysonous Nature sending Fumes into the Head whence proceeds a dull kind of Drowsiness and propensity to sleep which is offensive to the Eyes and Brain There are other Herbs made use of in Raw Sallets but the fore-mentioned are the best and most material Ingredients The proper season for eating them is from the beginning of February to the middle of Iune the earlier in the Spring so much the better and the more frequently they are eaten at this season so much the wholsomer for they are opening and cleansing powerfully the Blood is purified the natural Heat is tempered and encreased the Spirits are made brisk and lively the Appetite is quickned and Concoction facilitated Raw Herbs are a sublime kind of Food and are to be preferred before that which is boyled for the pure Volatile Spirit in the Herbs whence the Animals fragrancy proceeds cannot endure the violence of the fire but in boyling a great part of it is evaporated for this cause boyled Herbs lie heavier and colder in the Stomach than Raw which is scarcely credited by any for they that love boyled Herbs do generally eat much Flesh with them and so cannot discern the operation they have The strength and comforting Quality of every thing consists principally in the spirituous parts which are lost in the boyling and so they become just of another Nature that lively Tincture and spirituous part which it had whilst raw can never be retriv'd by all the Ingredients Nature or Ar 〈…〉 can afford Do not all Creatures eat their Herbs raw and are they not sustained by them to admiration They are powerful Preservers of Life and Health far beyond all the contriv'd Preparations of other Food In most Countries of this World the Inhabitants thereof do eat England excepted their Herbs Raw both in hot and cold Climates This kind of Food is preferrable to the great Quantities of Flesh Butter Cheese c. which are too often eaten among us these latter not only affording too great store of Nourishment but being naturally hot they over-heat the Blood and are heavy to be digested by reason of the oyly fat matter all such things do plentifully contain they dull the Appetite and obstruct and as it were fur the Passages Besides the Vertues we have ascribed to Raw Herbs God Almighty has created them for the use of Man and they were the first Food which was allotted him after the Fall where he
Flesh sparingly as most Nations do England excepted In France Spain and Portugal and other Countries a pound of Flesh with Herbs and Roots will make a Dinner for four or five People But an English man will eat at one Meal a Pound or two of fat Flesh and scarcely a bit of Bread with it there are but too many in this Nation that follow this dangerous and noxious custom Turnips being a very good and wholsom Root I recommend them to every Bodies use especially to those that eat Flesh plentifully I confess when they are eaten by themselves they afford but weak Nourishment and are a Phlegmatick kind of Food you must have a care what Ground you sow them in for all sorts of Ground will not bear good Turnips Doctors say that they are a Physical Root and an Antidote and Remedy against Consumptions and several other Diseases but I know no such Vertue in them yet they are good for weak Stomachs being easie of Concoction for always weak heats should have a proportionate quantity of Food And I cannot think as some imagin that they are so proper for languishing Diseases because they are of a watry cold Nature in themselves and do breed but unfirm Nourishment besides they seldom come to Maturity until the declining part of the Year viz. September and October c. at which time the central heat of the Earth being weak all its Productions are also weak and endowed with gross phlegmy and cold Juices for the Sun being in its Declension brings all things under the like Circumstance Therefore all things viz. Herbs and Roots which are brought forth in this Season are of a sainty and weak Nature neither are they so good for Food or Physick besides Roots are not so good in cold Countries as Fruits and Herbs are being generally more cold and earthy because they want the friendly Influences of the Sun and Air Therefore Roots have not that pleasant fragrant Smell and Taste which Herbs Fruits c. have But Turnips Potatoes c. that grow almost in the top and surface of the Earth are better than other Roots and more familiar to our Natures than such as grow deeper in the Ground because they participate more of the Influences both of the Air and Sun than the other when they are boyled in good Water and eaten with Butter Salt and Bread they are good food both for the Sick and the Healthy The Carrot is a Root next in Goodness and Vertue to this the best sort of them are those which are of the deepest Red Colour when they are eat in their proper season they are a pleasant wholsom Root which is from the Month of July to the Month of December or thereabout after that time they are not so wholsom especially those that are taken out of the Ground and kept all the Winter and Spring This Root being eaten presently after it is pulled up out of the Ground and when it is well ordered is not much inferiour to Turnips they being of an opening and cleansing Nature easie of Concoction and may with safety be eaten plentifully either without or with Flesh. The Colour of Carrots do declare that there is an excellent Vertue in them Next to this is a Parsnip which is a good hearty Root yet not so good a Friend to Nature as the other two for they are harder of Concoction and being eaten are much apter to create Obstructions in the Stomach and breed a grosser kind of Nourisâ—ment and consequently a thicker and grosser Blood It is not good to keep this Root above a day or two before 't is used for then they 'll prove dull upon the Pallat strong in their taste and smell heavy and hard of Digestion and this proceeds from the evaporation of the spirituous parts as well before as in their preparation for the Spirit is the Life of the oily body and the oily body is the House of the Spirit and the one cannot subsist without the other the eating of them immediately after they are plucked up out of the Ground must then be the fittest time That the Fruits Herbs and Grains which our own Climate produceth are more Natural and Proper to maintain Strength and preserve Health than those that come from other Countries especially from hot Every Country and Climate does by God's Divine Appointment and good Providence bring forth such Herbs Fruits and Grains as are proper and most agreeable to the Constitutions of the People born in that place both for Food and Physick as the Lord in the beginning did tell Adam That every green Herb and Seed should be for Food Do we not see that those that are born and bred in Spain or Italy and they that dwell in Turkey do differ much from us both in their Complexions Manners and also in their Customs every Country differing from another in their distinct Inclinations and Fashions according to the Nature of that place and the Elevation of the Pole they are under And as each Country has distinct Languages which cannot be understood by People born in other Climates so have they likewise different Constitutions Inclinations and Complexions their Herbs Fruits and Grains differing in their Quality and Operation These great differences both of Languages and of all other things that is between each Country is not caused by the Sea which divides each Country from another but from the differences of places for every Hundred Miles through the whole Universe the People differ and their Speech so that if a man Travel five Hundred Miles he shall not be capable to understand one Word of an Hundred Do we not see this in our own Country where those that live in the North cannot understand those of the West which is caused from the differing Elevations of the Pole and Influences of the Sun with concurring Constellations which also causes all other things to differ both in their Nature and Operations for this Reason one place is more famous than another in respect of divers things and if our own Country doth vary and differ so much in the compass of three or four hundred Miles what do those remote parts that are distant from us many thousand Miles as the East and West-Indies The People of those places in all particulars do much differ from us in their Complexions Constitutions Religions Inclinations Governments Shapes and Languages their Animals such as their Beasts Birds Fishes c. are all of them of a different Nature Shape and Form from ours so also are their Herbs Fruits and Grains both those that are proper for Food and also for Physick Do not the Northern cold Climates give all the beasts of the Field hardy Constitutions and Natures and warm Cloathing From whence come your brave thick Furs Do not the Creatures in cold Countries produce them And do not the Sheep in cold Climates afford abundance of strong Wool Whereas the Sheep in hot Countries produce but a little Wool and that which is very
in Men to awaken and attract their good or evil Nature as well as there is in the Coelestials to alter or change Mens Bodies and Minds This many of the Philosophical Ancients have consented to and most Astrologers are of the same Opinion The Calculators of Nativities find by their daily Experience that Vitiousness and Intemperance in the Natives Life not only cause a very malignant Configuration of the Coelestial Bodies to take place and have its Effects but also he that lives Intemperately is always in danger and subject to the male Aspects of the Superiors Whereas on the contrary it is most true that a Wise Man that is temperate just and circumspect may rule his own Stars But when Persons give themselves to Inordinate Living near or about such times as the Heavens threaten them with evil Aspects Transits or Directions then such disastrous Influences powerfully take place For this very reason Men are often insnared and drawn away to many Inconveniences before they are sensible of it for the wrathful unclean Nature having been by degrees awakened and strengthened by its simile either in Meats Drinks Imployments or Communications for every Property must have such Food as hath affinity therewith or else it cannot increase nor be brought into Manifestation but without it it languishes and becomes impotent in its Operation the Person so offending is thereby subjected to all the malignant Configurations of the Coelestial and Terrestrial Bodies Yet if such an one shall turn to the Lord by Prayer and abstain from the Evil Courses of this Life he presently destroys and weakens that threatning Malignity and this sober and temperate Life will by simpathy strengthen the Spirit of Wisdom and Undestanding If this were well understood there would be more Care and Diligence used both in particular and general as to outward and inward Cleanness than there is For in great Cities and Towns especially there are many Superfluities and Uncleannesses committed against God and Nature and therefore such places above others do suffer many Inconveniences The unclean Vapours and evil Spirits that do arise from Blood and other Excrements do not only awaken the Wrath in the Elements and Stars and draw down their evil Influences but incorporate with the common Air and defile it which being so corrupted nothing is more Injurious and Pernicious to the health of the Body and also to the Mind for outward Uncleannesses do naturally and powerfully attract the evil Power both Externally and Internally because all such pernicious Scents and Smells do arise and proceed from the poysonous Root and so bear a near affinity to the evil Angels and Spirits and do naturally attract them So when the Elements are disturbed by malignant Configurations and Aspects as in great Tempests of Thunder and Lightning and the like the evil Spirits and Angels are very busie and appear almost externally for by those malignant Configurations the Wrath in the outward Nature is violently excited and the same being predominant in the evil Angels they at such times become more apt and powerful to do mischief External Uncleanness does not only pollute the Body and Senses but also the Soul and Spirits for which cause some of the wise Ancients would not wear any Woolen Garments because they are made of the Excrements of Beasts And indeed all Hair and Wool does contain a gross fulsom impure Nature but it lies so hidden that it cannot be perceived unless it be set on Fire and then it manifests it self by its filthy offensive scent For the same Reason some of the Philosophers lived retired nay many of the Holy Men and Prophets of Old as the Scriptures testifie when the Spirit of the Lord was in a more than ordinary degree upon them and pleased to give them Visions and make known his Will unto them did with-draw themselves from Towns and Cities and from the Multitudes of People into the open clear Air in Fields Woods Mountains or by the most pleasant Rivers and Fountain of Water And our blessed Saviour Christ himself did often practise such Retreats when he made his earnest Supplication and Prayers to the Father Few do understand or imagin the manifold Benefits unfrequented places and clean pure Airs afford both to Body and Mind the Senses and Intellectuals of well disposed Men being free from those Uncleannesses Cities and Towns are subject to both External and Internal for in those loansom places the common Air is pure thin and clear free from those fulsom Vapours Scents and gross Smells which Cities are subject to and free from those varieties of Cursing Swearing and Multitudes of vain and impious Discourses which all places are liable unto where Rabbles reside and which wonderfully awakens the Internal Wrath and gives many Advantages to the evil Angels and Spirits to work their vile Purposes But on the contrary in open serene Airs as in Fields Mountains and by River-sides and Woods there is no such Tumults no stabbing of Heaven with dreadful Oathes horrid Curses and frightful Execrations no banishing of Temperance with drunken Healths and roaring Huzza's no fulsom fumes of Tobacco nor viler Steams of detestable Brothel-houses to infect the chaste Air no Plays or vain Games no Mistressing nor Revelling to spend precious time no clattering of Coaches Drums Fools Fidlers c. that make such a continual Din that a Man can hardly call his Ears his own But on the contrary all is sedate and serene still as the voice of good Spirits and quiet as the Birth of Flowers no noise to be heard but the ravishing Harmony of the Wood-Musitians and the innocent Lowings of Cows and Neighings of Horses and Bleating of the pretty Lambs or the like natural Tones wherein there is nothing of disturbance or danger because nothing of Evil but every thing praising the Creator according to the Capacity and Nature of each Here it was in these and the like places that the good Angels of the Lord appeared unto the Sons of Wisdom and taught them the true Knowledge of God and the Nature of things and shewed them what should come to pass in future times And whoever will obtain the true apprehension of God of Nature and of himself must be separated and chuse sometimes to sequester himself from the Tumults Confusions and Distractions of the publick World and Crowds of the chaffering and busling Rabble Besides all this Cities for the Reasons aforesaid are more liable to contagious Diseases And because the Nature of Infection and how it is spread and how to be avoided is very little or scarce at all understood we shall in the next place address our selves to discourse thereof CHAP. X. Of Infection or catching Diseases and how they are transferred from one to another and that all Diseases are Catching THE learned Moses whom the Lord inspired with divine and humane Wisdom commanded that none should sit on the Saddles lie on the Bed nor wear the Cloathes of the distempered which if any did they should
add Water to it and keep it in motion and so by the help of the Water the motion and the Air the Spirituous parts are kept living which indeed is the best way of melting of Butter Nevertheless even this is grosser on the Stomach and oyls furs and obstructs the Passages more than Butter eaten on Bread which is the best and most natural way of using it The truth hereof is further manifested by this take Butter Flour and Water and make it into Paste as they do for Pies and then bake it and let any of those which love such things best be confined to live on it for two or three Weeks and confine another to Bread and Butter and see which will be tired first 't is certain he that eats the baked Bread and Butter shall presently loath it but he that lives on the common Bread and Butter may continue to live thereon and be well sustained without being weary of it for many Years and yet all is but Bread and Butter only the preparation makes the difference For you may observe that all kinds of Food made of fine Flour and Butter and baked is of a close heavy substance hard of Digestion that fouls and makes the Blood thick and gross and being first invented for Wantonness and State are continued to gratifie the same Properties and therefore ought to be banished Of the Quantity of Childrens Food There are but few Mothers or Nurses but do err in Quantity as much and more often than in the Quality of the Victuals which they take themselves or give their Children Now over-charging of Nature is more dangerous than Food that is of a contrary Quality or made so by improper Mixtures and Preparation tho both are very bad 'T is hardly to be imagined how little in Quantity and mean in Quality will gratifie and maintain Children in perfect Health and Liveliness and therefore we should consider how difficult a point it is even for People of mature Age to be Temperate in eating and drinking more especially when Meats and Drinks are made by Spices Sugars foreign Fruits and other mixtures enticing to the Pallate the pleasure of which you must note does always continue many degrees beyond the necessity of the Stomach which is one of the chief causes of Gluttony Now if it be so hard and difficult a thing for Men and Women to be Temperate and abstain from Excess who have Experienced the Dangers Indispositions Relapses and the like evil Consequences thereof how then can we expect that Children should understand when they have enough that is sufficient to sustain Nature and no more 'T is certain all healthy Children will eat and drink to the end of the pleasure of their Pallates and till their Stomachs loath it more especially where such Food or Drinks are made enticing as of late Years most are And therefore it may be truly said that all or most Children are as it were taught and trained up to Gluttony from their Infancy which has many evil Consequences 1st The over-charging Children with Meats and Drinks does suffocate their pure volatile Spirits which in them are very tender 2dly It stupifies all the Senses causing dull heavy Indispositions to attend the whole Body awakening the central Fire which spreads it self and causeth an unkindly heat through all the external parts and in some weakly Constitutions brings an inward Fever that consumes the very Flesh off the Bones 3dly It furs and stops the Passages breeds thick gross Blood and evil Juices which fall down upon the Joynts and makes them feeble and dilating the Vessels of the Stomach do so impair the natural heat and digestive faculty that most of that excessive Food is turned into phlegmatick gross watry or windy Humours which ascend into the Head and causeth it to grow great and as it were swell being heavy and sottish which Distemper is usually called The Rickets which generally proceeds from Intemperance and the indiscreet managment of Mothers and Nurses for Superfluity does not only contract malignant Diseases but makes all sorts of Children as well the strong and healthy as such as are weak so uneasie that thereby they are apt on all occasions to fret and cry it likewise makes them nasty and of an unpleasant dull sottish Humour requiring double the Tendence which otherwise they would need And when by over-gorging they have made them thus froward then to quiet them they presently clap more Victuals or Drink into their Mouths and thus force them even against their Desires as well as beyond the Necessities of Nature more than their Stomach can bear which continues and encreases their Disorders nay they feed them till they sputter out of their Mouths and also cast it up which latter many silly Women count a good sign of Health whereas in truth this Puking as they call it is a sure token indeed that such Children have strong Stomachs but withal that their Stomachs are overcharged and disordered with too much Food for no healthy Stomach either Young or Old will cast its Food up when in Health if such Foods be eaten moderately and be not too much in quantity or of a contrary quality Also sometimes when the Stomach is too moist and full of watry Humours such Children and others ought to fast a while and then eat some drying Food But on the contrary those Children that have weak Heats and Stomachs tho' over charged will seldom cast it up again but if they do it makes them very sick and disordered All which Evils are not by any means to be prevented but by Sobriety and good Order for all Mothers ought to give Children Meats and Drinks according to Reason and not according to the Childrens desire much less ought they to force them when their Stomachs loath it which wounds Nature in the very bud destroying the airy lively Spirits which Children as all other young Creatures are most endued withal Observe likewise not to give your Children Food too often that is not before the former is digested which many Women do and so destroy the poor Childrens Health and lay Foundations for Diseases Add to these Mischiefs of Intemperance in Children that it dulls the Wit clouds the Fancy and darkens the Apprehension and so renders them more uncapable of all kind of Learning For Temperance and Cleanness do not only make the Body sound healthy light and pleasant but strengthens the Intellect makes the Spirits brisk and lively helps the Memory and gives a penetrating understanding and fits one for all Imployments both of the Body and Mind and lays a hopeful Foundation for Health Strength and long life To conclude Cleanness and good Tendence in Children is very profitable and their Beds ought to be clean sweet hard and in airy Rooms for their Spirits are so tender that any gross thick Air suffocates them And as their Coverings ought not to be too thick or heavy so also should their Day-Garments be moderate easie and cool nor
Blood so let forth was to be buried in the ground or burned and so the bestial Spirits prevented from Evaporations or incorporating themselves with the Air and consequently from entring into and infecting the humane Nature with their wrathful Effluviums and dreadful Species that the Blood of all Creatures are full of when killed in their health and perfect strength The greatest Excellency and common Virtue of men's eating much Flesh and Fish is that it makes them surly robustick sordid and of cruel inhumane Dispositions and Inclinations it being the most proper for Soldiers Hunters Moss-Troopers and all such as would have the bestial savage Nature strengthened and encreased and have a mind to be Lions and Devils not only to their own kind but all other Creatures and so long as People give their Wills up unto the fierce proud wrathful poysonous Nature we may not expect any other Trade to be driven amongst us whence we sind that the meek friendly Principle is trodden under foot Compassion has little or no place in Man farther than it is a Custom and he seems wholly given up to Rapine Oppression and Wickedness Whereas on the contrary Herbs Fruits Grains and many other the like innocent sorts of Food are more pleasant to the Eye of a better Scent and Smell afford a more grateful Taste to the Palate Nourishment finer and of better Substance to the Stomach they are of an easier Concoction breed better Blood are much more readily procured the Creation groans not or sighs there 's no Pain Violence or Cruelty committed in the Use of them they generate purer Spirits and make the Body lightsome and pleasant free the Mind from Dulness Care and Heaviness quicken all the Senses make a good Understanding preserve Innocency increase Compassion Love Humility and Charity give the Spirit of distinction between Good and Evil Clean and Unclean and help us with many opportunities for the study of all true Wisdom both of God Nature and our selves In a word the Virtues both Divine and Natural that follow Abstinence and Cleanness are not to be numbred many of them I know by experience through the mercy and good favour of the Lord It makes a man hate all rude vain talkative Company and the many Inconveniences that attend such a course of Life it also makes the observers thereof capable at all Seasons to speak the Words of Wisdom either divine or humane being but like large Glass-Windows to an House it lets in the pleasant light Air by giving opportunities to all the noble Faculties of man's Soul to exercise their Functions it tunes the Properties of Nature whence proceeds most excellent Harmony and whoever shall try it shall certainly find much more satisfaction and advantages than is here related or indeed than can be expressed in Words 15. It is farther to be noted that all kind of Inventions and Arts that encourage Violence and Oppression have proceeded from the fierce harsh wrath of God and the uneven properties of Saturn and Mars as Gun-powder Guns Drums and all Warlike Instruments of Musick There is nothing that does more manifest this than Gun-powder where the pure spirituous Parts and balsamick Vertues in all the Ingredients are suffocated and destroyed so that it becomes a meer composition of Wrath and Fierceness for every Property of Nature becomes fierce and terrible or strong fulsome and poysonous if the virtue and light thereofbe destroyed or separated from it for every particular Creature or Substance both Vegetable Mineral and Animal does consist of Fire and Light Love and Anger Ioy and Sorrow Good and Evil These are the Radixes of each Subject throughout all the three Kingdoms of Nature and if in any thing you violate the lovely light part then the angry Properties appear in their own Forms an Instance whereof we have before mentioned in Charcoal which is one Ingredient towards Gun-powder and all the rest are alike being of a terrible rending tearing devilish fierce nature and in it is a true Figure of the Wrath of God in the outward nature So likewise the sound of Drums and all Weapons of War and Violence proceed from the same Root of Wrath and accordingly the use of all such things do much encourage and strengthen the wrathful Properties in Mankind who if they had not or did not suffer their Wills and Desires to enter into the Wrath and fierce Properties of Nature in themselves and were not acted and influenced by it there would never have been any of those Hellish Inventions as Swords Guns Powder Drums Bows Arrows and other murthering Engines nor any thoughts of Killing Oppressing and Destroying those of their own Kind nor any other Creatures but Man should have kept that Dominion over the Creatures wherewith the Creator invested him in the beginning and no Creature should have had power to have influenced him or imposed their Properties upon him Hence then touching all Fighting Oppressing and Killing let it be little or much and the pretence what it will we affirm from a true light and ground That the same do arise and proceed from the fierce wrath of God and from that devilish hellish nature in Man which is as contrary to the friendly Love and Light of God in Jesus Christ as the Night is to the Day for if in man or any other Creature the evil Property do predominate and is most manifest there the good Qualities and friendly Light is overcome and so on the contrary For every Property and Principle does manifest and bring forth its own fruit as our Saviour Christ says Every Tree is known by its Fruits a good Tree cannot bring forth evil Fruit nor an evil Tree good Fruit. According to what Property does rule in the Heart of any Man such are his Thoughts Words and Actions where the divine Principle of God's eternal Love and Light doth predominate such Persons bring forth those good and precious Fruits of Love Mercy Compassion courteous Speeches Works of Charity and doing unto all men as they would be done unto but those in whom the hellish Principle bears sway their Fruits are worse than Briars and Thorns such as Back-biting Hatred Oppression Killing not only inferiour Creatures but even those of their own Kind and working all sorts of Impiety with greediness Therefore 't is of unspeakable moment to be able to distinguish in our selves the Two Principles and their respective Fruits and to be careful to deny and root out the Evil and cherish and follow the Counsel of the holy Light which if obeyed is sufficient to destroy all the mischievous Works of Self-hood and the Devil for as the more men habituate themselves to Cruelty Oppression Unmercifulness Killing and the like the stronger the hellish Principle of Wrath does grow and the worse and more cruel they become So in the practice of Vertue every Property and Principle grows strong by Use and Exercise and he that enters into the narrow Path of Regeneration and Self-denial ought always
proceed from two Causes The first is from certain filthy phlegmy Matter which the Stomach and Vessels do continually breathe and send forth which does Lodge or Center in the Mouth especially between the Teeth and on the Gums and some People having fouler Stomachs than others such do breathe forth very sower stinking phlegmy Matter which does not only increase the Pain but causes the Teeth to become loose and rotten And for want of continual cleansing and washing those Breathings and this phlegmy Matter turns to Putrefaction which does eat away the Gums as tho Worms had eaten them And this defect is generally attributed to the Disease called the Scurvey but it is a mistake the Cause is chiefly as is mentioned before from the Stomach or for want of Cleansings 2. This Distemper of the Teeth and Gums does also proceed from the various sorts of Meats and Drinks and more especially from the continual eating of Flesh Fish and fat sweet things compounded of various Ingredients of disagreeing Natures which do not only obstruct the Stomach but fur and foul the Mouth part thereof remaining upon the Gums and between the Teeth For all such things do quickly turn to Putrefaction which does by degrees corrupt both the Teeth and Gums Besides our Beds take up near half the time of our Lives which time the Body is not only without motion but the Bed and Coverings do keep it much hotter than the Day-garments especially of those that draw the Curtains of their Windows and Beds so close that the pure Spirits and thin refreshing Vapours of the Air are hindred of having their free egress and regress which does dull and flatten the Action of the Stomach Therefore the Night does foul the Mouth more than the Day furring it with a gross slimy Matter especially those that have foul Stomachs and are in years for whatsoever are the disorders of the Body the Mouth does always partake of them which ought to be cleansed every Morning 3. It is to be noted That most people do also attribute the Diseases of the Teeth to Colds Rhumes and other outward Accidents It is true outward Accidents will further this Disease but then there must be Matter before-hand otherwise outward Colds can have no power to cause this Pain The same is to be understood in all Stoppages of the Breast and other Obstructions as Coughs and the like For if any part be obstructed or there be Matter for Distemper then on every small occasion of outward Colds or the like Accidents Nature complains If your Teeth and Gums be sound and free from this Matter take what Colds you will and your Teeth will never complain as dayly experience doth shew For all outward Colds and other Accidents of the like nature have no power to seize any part of the Body except first there be some inward Defect or Infirmity Suppose the Teeth be defective then the Disease falls on that part or if it be the Head Eyes Breast Back or any other part or Member of the Body that is obstructed the evil is felt in that part Therefore if the Mouth be kept clean by continual Washings it will prevent all Matter of Putrefaction and then Colds and the like Accidents will have no power to seize this Part or cause this terrible Pain Even so it is in all other Parts of the Body 4. There are many various things of divers Natures prescribed by Physicians and others as Washes c. to preserve the Teeth and Gums but most of them if not all to little or no purpose as dayly Experience teaches For all high sharp Salts and things of a sour or keen Nature do rather cause the Teeth to perish than the contrary as do all hot Spirits be they what they will Many have destroyed their Teeth by the frequent use of such things and it hath hardly ever been known that any such things have ever cured or prevented the aking Pains of the Teeth but water only Many examples I could mention to demonstrate this but too tedious for this place 5. The best most sure and never-failing way to prevent the Diseases and Pains in the Teeth and Gums is every Morning to wash your Mouth with at least ten or twelve Mouthfuls of pure Water cold from the Spring or River gently rubbing your Mouth with your Finger or a Cloth and so again after Dinner or Supper swallowing down a Mouthful of Water after each Washing There being no sort of Liquor in the World so pure and clean as Water and nothing doth cleanse and free the Teeth and Gums from that foul Matter which does proceed from the Breathings and Purgings of the Stomach and from the various sorts of Food so well as Water The use of other Washes is to little or no purpose but whosoever do constantly wash their Mouths with Water as is before mentioned shall find an essential Remedy All hard Rubbing and Picking of the Teeth ought by any means to be avoided for that is injurious to them And whensoever you find your Mouth foul or subject to be slimy as sometimes it will more than at others according to the good or evil state of the Stomach though it be not after eating at all such times you ought to wash your Mouth This Rule all Mothers and Nurses ought to observe washing the Mouths of their Children two or three times a day and also to cause their Children to swallow down a little Water which will be very refreshing to their Stomachs For Milk does naturally foul and fur the Mouth and Teeth and if they be not kept clean by continual washing it causes the Breeding of Childrens Teeth to be more painful to them 6. To keep your Teeth white one of the best things is a piece of a China Dish or a piece of a fine Dutch Earthen Dish made into fine Powder and the Teeth rubbed with it 7. Few there be that understand or consider the excellent Vertues of Water it being an Element of a mild and cleansing Nature and Operation friendly unto all things and of univesal Use But because it is so common and so easily procured I am afraid that many People will be like Naaman the Syrian when the Prophet Elisha advised him to wash seven times in the River of Jordan to cure his Leprosie it being the Ignorance and Folly of most People to admire those things they do not know and on the other side to despise and trample underfoot those Things and Mysteries they do know which the Learned in all Ages have taken notice of For should some People know what Apothecaries and others give them they would despise the Physick and have but little respect for their Doctor All Housewives do know that no sort of Liquor be it what it will will cleanse and sweeten their Vessels but only Water all other Liquors leaving only a sower stinking Quality behind them which will quickly cause Putrefaction But Water in its own nature is clean and pure not
natural heat burns but dully 2. But if the Sweet Quality be joyned with this and hath an equal share of government then such People are of pleasant merry tempers apt to laugh of easy Faith and a small occasion will move them out of one thing into another not fixed nor of any depth search or understanding apt to speak much but not wise being like Children laugh and cry all in a breath very good to carry Tales and Stories from one to another 3. But if the Bitter Quality doth predominate equally with this and the Sweet weak or underneath then such People are bestial hard-hearted cruel inhuman Swearers Lyars and the like fit for all robustick dirty killing Imployments but they are of stronger Constitutions than the former and healthier and also of better and quicker Apprehensions but of very ill Tempers 4. But if the saltish or astringent quality doth predominate and have an equal share in government and the Sweet Quality weak then this sort of People are not so corpulent nor fleshy but taller and more slender of Stature of sour Countenances and Dispositions cunning in Words and Deeds apt to Dissemble and Lye they are also apt to bear Malice having two Faces the Diseases they are subject to are the Stone Wind-Colick Consumptions and many windy Diseases and Infirmities if Temperance be wanting many of this sort of People are also great drinkers 5. When this Sour Quality doth predominate in any Beast then such are of a dull heavy Disposition and Spirit apt to have great bellies and slow in motion If in Horses they are neither handsom nor free dull Eyes and great Heads If in Cows their Milk is not so good as others being thin If in Herbs or Fruit then their taste is some-what unpleasant harsh and sour and their Colour is of a dark Green Of the Astringent or Saltish Quality 1. When this Quality doth predominate in any Person they are of a tall Stature and for the most part slender but of a swarthy pale or muddy Complexion rather Lean than Fat generally of hardy strong Constitutions and also of good Apprehensions when this sort of People do apply themselves to the learning of any Art they attain to an excellent Understanding therein being fixed in those things they resolve on 2. But if the Bitter Quality doth equally govern in the Body and Senses and the Sweet Quality weak then such People are very sordid Lyars Swearers Gluttons Drunkards inclined to all kind of robustick Plays and Games as Ringing Bull-baitings Bear-baitings to follow Drums and Fencers and the like evil Communications having strong Bodies and fierce savage bestial Spirits and abusers of Women 3. But if the Sweet Quality doth interpose and the Bitter and Astringent weak then such Persons are more moderate in Words and Works ingenious apt to learn of good Understandings and of handsom healthy Bodies 4. But if the Sour be joyned in government with the Astringent then such People are more gross and Phlegmatick and not so quick of Apprehension slow of Motion and of sordid Dispositions 5. Also it is to be noted when this Astringent quality doth predominate in any Beast then they are large big boned strong and heady but not free of motion but cunning and sullen When in Herbs and Fruit they are tall but not handsom their taste is harsh hard and unpleasing they are good against the Diseases of the Phlegmatick and Sanguin Complexions if the Saturnine Venoms thereof be corrected This is a short Description of the four grand Qualities and their natural Operations But this I would have every one consider and be sensible that their Influences are not compelling on Men as they are on Beasts except Men live as Beasts viz. in the power and operation of the bestial Nature as many Thousands do and far worse whence proceed those violent and cruel disorders in the World But those who do turn the Eye of their Mind inward and search and find themselves and come to distinguish the secret workings of God and Nature and hearken unto the Voice of the Divine Principle which is the holy Oracle that will teach every one in all particulars what is right in the sight of the Lord and the contrary the fear of the Lord and the true knowledg of God in a mans self and thereby furnish every one with virtue strength and power to resist every evil Influence though it proceed from the most harsh and worst of Complexions it will also teach him to tune and bring all the four Qualities into an equal accord even as a skilful Musicianer composeth a harmonious consort in the variety of parts or as he by skill tunes his Instrument for the most skilful Musicianer in the World can make no harmony if his Instrument be not in tune all the various Notes and Tones of an Instrument most incorporate in each other or else no Harmony can be made even so it is with the Qualities in a Man it is as possible for him that hath learned himself to tune himself and compose all the properties of Nature and to play on them as a Musicianer doth on his Instrument so great is the power of Man if he cast his Will and Desire into the divine Principle and Love of God which is able to tincture and change the worst Complexion and convert it into its own Nature therefore let no man dare to say and complain that the Lord hath dealt hardly by him that he hath made him of the harsh wild Nature And though it be true that many men as their Natural Qualities are sordid and wild yet nevertheless they have the true Tincture that can transmute and change all sorts of Metals into the finest Gold even that very Word of the Lord that made and formed all things which doth enlighten every man that cometh into the World and blessed are all those that are obedient and follow its Counsel of what Complexion soever they are the Blessing of the Lord is with them Thus having treated of the four grand Qualilies I shall now proceed to discover the four Complexions which proceed there from and to what Virtues Vices and Diseases each of them are most subject Of the Cholerick Complexion The Cholerick Complexion answereth to Fire and that sort of People which are dignified with it are of a strong Body and lively active Spirit quick both in doing and apprehending of any thing free in Speech and of all other action apt to Wrath and Passion quickly affronted but because the Fire in them burns fierce their Passions are quickly over not subject to retain Anger nor premeditate Revenge they are of a hardy strong Nature generally of good Apprehensions and Witty but more or less so according to the strength or weakness of the predominant Constellation at their Birth If People of this Complexion do observe the rules of Temperance and keep themselves within the bounds of Sobriety then they are some of the Healthiest of men But many
October yet they may eat it more freely and with less danger from December to the end of May because in that time Cattel are generally fed with dry Food which generates a firm Flesh and Fat freer from slimy matter Besides the season being then cold the natural heat is strong and more central so that all Cattle do make a more perfect digestion and their Stomachs are able to throw off all superfluous matter which renders their Flesh far wholsomer than at any other time of the Year Then also all Peoples Heats and Stomachs are more powerful than in Summer which does in some degree cut off even in the Bud all superfluous matter For Drinks let the Person that is Phlegmatick use such as are of a warming nature good sound well-brewed Beer is better than Ale except the Ale be thin clear and free from that Yeasty quality that most Ale in Cities especially in London is subject unto Wine allay'd with Water and sometimes a glass of Wine alone will do no hurt also moderate Exercises and especially Field-Labours near Fountains and Rivers are profitable but over-long-lying a Bed is Injurious to this sort of People as also soft Beds do weaken and make their Natures more tender hard Beds as Quilts and the like are very useful for all Peoples Health if they could be perswaded to it but especially to the Phlegmatick Complexion nor should they as is too commonly used prevent the free Influences of the Air by Window shutters and Curtains to their Beds for the fresh clear Air is wonderful friendly and healthy to Persons of this Constitution Of the Sanguine Complexion Those that have the happiness to be of the Sanguine Complexion are generally of affable sweet Temper moderately quick in the doing and apprehending of any thing of good understandings but some-what inferior to the Cholerick apt to take Affronts at small matters for they being of good even Humours themselves expect the same treatment from others hating all sordid Actions and Oppressions either of Man or Beast it being contrary to their Natures to deny the serving of their Neighbours tho' it be against their own Interest they are quickly moved to Compassion and many who are strongly dignified with this Sanguine disposition are of such yielding tempers and so great haters of Controversie that they chuse rather to lose their Right than contend being great lovers of Unity and Friendship and very rarely the first breakers thereof they love to retaliate Kindnesses and hate any should think they are of a churlish nature But for the most part this Complexion is mixed either with the Cholerick Phlegmatick or Melancholick whereby much of the goodness and virtue is abated and so on the contrary when this Sanguine Complexion is mixed with any of the other it doth much abate the evil harsh Inclinations thereof People of this Complexion have antipathy to all things that tend to inequality or discord the very thoughts of trouble will make some of them sick they are so tender and delicate and for the same reason much Business is troublesom to them and they quickly grow weary of it being naturally of a cheerful disposition Blood is apt to abound in them and a little Intemperance either in Meats Drinks or Labour will disorder them therefore they ought above all People to observe and keep themselves within the bounds of Sobriety because their Natures cannot bear overcharging so well as other Complexions They are to forbear all sorts of Meats and Drinks in which is advanc'd too highly any quality either in Virtue or Vice for all Extreams endanger their Health and do not only over-heat their Blood but generate too great a quantity of nourishment The frequent drinking of Wine or other strong drinks as Brandy Spirits and stale strong Beer and the common eating of Food compounded with store of Spice and Sugars and all fat Flesh and the like these People ought to refrain or use very sparingly for the Elements either of their Bodies or Minds will not admit of Inequality Meats and Drinks that are good not only to preserve Health but also to maintain Strength are all things in which there is no manifest Quality that doth too violently predominate for all such things being frequently eaten or drank do beget their own Complexion that is do awaken their Simile and cause an unequal Operation in both Body and Spirits which is the undoubted Root of most Diseases This ought to be considered by all sorts of Complexions and if care were taken in this particular it would cut off many Distempers for Health is only maintained and continued by those things that are Equal in their parts because every particular thing has a secret Power when either eaten or drunk to incorporate its self with its Likeness in the Body and to awaken and strengthen it whence doth arise both Harmony and Discord according to the Equality or Inequality of the Meats and Drinks received This our daily Experience doth testifie and no Wise Man can deny for all Meats or Drinks in which any particular Quality is too highly advanced whether it be in Virtue or Vice if frequently taken prove prejudicial to the Health most People being in this particular mistaken thinking That if it doth exceed in Virtue so much the better but that Opinion arises from want of understanding the Elements and Principles of their own Nature for as to be too much in the Sun or too much in the Shade doth beget Complexions so most Diseases are generated by the common eating and drinking those things that do contain too much Virtue causing not only a surplusage of Nourishment but setting Nature into an unequal Operation which People of all Complexions ought as much as in them lies to prevent but more especially the Sanguine Food good for this sort of People are all things of a simple Nature wherein Bread hath the first place Milk and various Dishes made thereof sundry sorts of Herbs in their seasons being well and naturally prepared also Gruels and Pottage made of Oatmeal being made thin and quick boyled are of an excellent Nature cleansing and opening the Passages they beget Appetite and help Concoction For Oatmeal is to be accounted the best of all Flour by reason of its preparation the body of the Grain being open'd and the inward Spirit as it were set at Liberty and made more Volatile as is done also in Malt but more artificially for the body of the Barley is opened to an higher degree and therefore will give forth its spirit or Balsamick Body when committed to Water sooner than Oatmeal which is done but by halfs in comparison of the other There are likewise various sorts of Flesh and Fish that are of clean Nature easy of Concoction if well ordered and free from Surfeits and other Uncleannesses which most Beasts are subject to but few there be that consider it which are proper enough for Sanguine People to eat moderately of provided the same be well prepared
For of all sorts of Food People ought to have the greatest care of FLESH not only in the well ordering it before it be killed but also in seasoning of it with Salt and in the preparing or dressing Flesh being more unclean in its own Nature than either Herbs Fruits or Grains which I suppose most People will confess and that they are far more agreeable and friendly to Nature and not so dangerous to Health nay give me leave to add that they are also more pleasant for its chiefly the continual custom of eating Flesh and the conceit of the great Nourishment it contains beyond other things that makes men so much desire it which Opinion is false most sorts of Flesh indeed are endued with much matter but great part thereof is of a gross Phlegmy nature which quickly will cause the whole to fall into Putrifaction if the strong sharp fierce power of the Salt be wanting And when it is salted the matter for Putrifaction is so great that the Salt cannot continue it long sweet but so soon as the pure Radical Spirits in the Flesh through time are either evaporated or suffocated then the Salt hath no longer power to preserve it from Corruption A man may as well say that green Corn or Grass breeds better nourishment in Cattle than either Hay or dry Corn for indeed it generateth and fills the body fuller of gross Phlegmatick matter and makes such Cattle heavy and dull and great Bellies apt to faintyness and Diseases but Hay and dry Corn generate a firmer Flesh and more brisker spirits makes them drink well appear with moderate Bellies but clean strong Limbs able to endure hard Labour without prejudice to their Health The very same is to be understood of Flesh if compar'd with Fruits Herbs and Grains and Food made of them which do as far transcend Flesh in virtue and good sound clean Nourishment and to preserve Health and Strength as Hay and dry Corn do exceed either green Corn or Grass in the preservation of Strength and Health in working Cattle All sorts of Food either for Man or Beast from which the Sun and Elements have exhaled or dryed away the gross phlegmatick Body are not only cleanner but fuller of Spirit and Life not subject to Corruptions but breed a firmer Nourishment as all Husband-men and Shep-herds will tell you Therefore Bread Butter Cheese and all sorts of Food made of Flour and dried Fruits are strong healthy Diet. Of the Melancholy Complexion People of this Complexion that have their Significator in their Radix weak are slow and of dull heavy Dispositions subject to be surprized with fear and suspicions apt to be froward full of mental Reserves seldom forgetting Injuries hollow hearted giving fair Words when their Thoughts are quite contrary addicted to Witchcraft or fore-speaking of things which sometimes do take place when they have low poor Spirits to deal with whose predominant Quality in Nature is weaker and under the Dominion of their Spirits otherwise not For the awaken'd Evil and dark Wrath in this sort of People viz. their vehement wishes or evilwords do carry the power of that Principle whence they were conceived and enter the same Principle in those to whom they are directed And if those wrathful Spirits be not either through the strength of the predominant Quality in the Complexion or through the power and virtue of the Holy Spirit and Faith in God withstood and overcome which often is done then these Evil Rapes viz. such Wishes and Words will take place whether it be in Man or Beast for this evil revengeful dark Spirit not being so withstood enters into the dark Centre and Poysons in the Body and by simile incorporates there-with awakening and strengthening them and then the Body and all the Senses fall into Distress and most terrible Diseases according to what Poysons and Salts were kindled This is called Witchcraft and indeed is one sort of it there is another which is not fit for this place and this sort of People are called Unlucky-Tongued But on the contrary if those People of the Melancholy Complexion be well dignified in their Radixes then the fore-mentioned evil significations are abated nevertheless they are ponderous and slow in learning and conceiving of any thing but when once obtain'd they make it their own and improve it they are capable of great Learning but they must have Time for this cause all You ths born under such Constellations are very dull in the beginning of their Studies but if continued under good Masters will in time exceed either Mercurial or Venerial Boys for they have greater and stronger Spirits both to retain whatever they learn and to endure more Pains and Labour to obtain any Science besides they are not so apt to run out of one thing into another being more fixt in the Root of their Natures They are generally slow of Speech and Action naturally pensive and covetous by reason that the Sanguine Nature which proceeds from Venus Sol and Mercury is in this Complexion as it were hid or lockt up under the harsh Forms of Saturn and Mars under whom such as are born are apt to be Hard-hearted full of Revenge Covetous c. not but that they are endued with the Sanguine Nature as well as those born under Venus Mercury or the Sun but the same is Captivated as aforesaid under the harsh Forms which is the chief cause People do so much differ in their Tempers But if you can unlock this Saturnine Cabinet and set the Spirit at Liberty as the Maulster does in his Saturnine Grain viz. Barley enfranchizing the pure Balsamick Spirits that sweeten the whole Body you will find it debonair and jovial and of a very agreeable Conversation The Truth is Strong Beer Ale Wine or any spirituous Drinks freely taken will melt down this sullen Saturnine Gravity into Mirth and Gaity for we daily see how free and merry such People will be if at any time they have tipled a little extraordinarily during the time of the Operation of their Liquor For strong Drinks make all sorts of People more free and to forget sorrow because they open the gross Body and cause the Spirits to have their free Operation the said Drinks being Spirituous incorporate with its simile viz. with the spirit and makes it for the present more powerful but when the Operation of such spirituous Liquors are over then both the Saturnine and other People return to their Natural Dispositions but with fewer Spirits which causeth a dull heaviness to attend most after such Drinkings because the Internal heat and spirits are too violently awakened and stirred up which caused them to evaporate and thence proceed Indispositions and Disorder Great Drinkings are injurious to the Health of most that use that Trade only this Saturnine People may sometimes drink a Cherping Glass or two without any danger to their Health especially when they come to forty years of Age for before all sorts of strong
virtue thereof becomes of an equal friendly Temperament both in Body and Mind notwithstanding his Complexion may incline him to the contrary it being the sweet pleasant Life in all Creatures And the pure Balsamick Virtue and healing Quality in all Vegetables and Minerals hath its Birth and Original from this good Principle nor can there be any central Rest or true Satisfaction in man if this Principle of divine Light be not in some degree predominant for by its pleasant and sweet Influences all the fiery dark fierce Inclinations which often do arise from the Complexion are qualified made more Friendly and Sanguine if its counsel be regarded All true Religion doing as one would be done unto Offices of Love and Acts of self-denyal all Friendly and Courteous Deportment and whatsoever hath the Name and Nature of Virtue do universally spring up from this holy Principle of divine Love All men seek it because no man can have satisfaction without it some in a right Way others in a wrong and whosoever have wasted or suffocated the sweet Influences of this pure Spirit and Love of God become thereby a Charcoal Spirit whose sweet Water is destroyed viz. Twice dead and pluckt up as it were by the Roots as the Apostle phraseth it they growing of a fierce terrible fiery Nature seared up in the harsh dark original as Lot's Wife was because she looked back viz. into the Original and salt Spirit the Pillar of Salt signifying the great strength and power of God's Wrath which was then kindled by reason of Transgression The very same is to be understood of all Beasts of the Field and other things not so indeed as it is in man but according to the Nature of each For those Creatures that did in the Creation arise from and were chiefly compounded of the fierce harsh forms of Nature whose predominant Quality stands in the Saturnine and Martial Fire have but small portions of the Virtue and Light of this World for the pleasant Virtue and friendly Qualities which the Principle of this visible World gives unto all her Children do all proceed from the Internal Spiritual World and this outward Principle is an Image and Likeness of the Internal the Invisible Spirit and Powers are the Root of the Visible and whatsoever is manifested in this World in Figures Shapes and Forms the very same hath the Internal Spiritual Principle in Power and Virtue And according to the degrees of the Spirit and what property of Nature was predominant in the Radix of each Creature such a Shape Form Inclination Complexion and Disposition the Creature is endued with be it either Animal or Vegetable for the Body was formed by the virtue and power of the Spirit and there is both the nearest Affinity and Resemblance between them as is manifest by all Creatures in whom the dark Wrath of Saturn and Mars was predominant in their Radixes they are not only of an unclean fierce terrible Spirit but their Figures and Shapes are unpleasant and fierce as Lyons Tygars Wolves Swine and many others both in the Elements of Earth Air and Water that are unclean Devourers and Creatures of prey killing and feeding upon their fellow Creatures and as such Creatures are unclean in their Radixes whence their Inclinations and Desires to unclean Food do proceed as bearing the nearest Affinity with their Natures so their Figures Shapes and Forms with their suitable Inclinatious do clearly manifest what matter they proceeded from in their Creation This Root the great and illuminated Prophet Moses understood by a divine manifestation whence his Law proceeded wherein he prohibits his People the Iews from eating of unclean Food both Flesh and Fish with many other Circumstances tending to Cleanness for that great Prophet saw by a divine and natural understanding into the Essences and Original Qualities of every Creature and that each thing hath a secret Power to incorporate with its Likeness and to make that Quality strong which in the Radix was weak and lay as it were hid And on the contrary to hide and make that property weak which in the Radix was strong so great is the power of Nature and this is not only done in the Evil but also in the Good Therefore all men have power more or less to alter and change their Inclinations and Complexions either for the better or the worse as they give their Wills up to practise either Good or Evil. But if People abandon themselves to their natural Inclinations and live under the power and dominion of their Complexions and by degrees give way to Intemperance and Evil Communications such do oftentimes become of far worse Inclinations and Dispositions than their Complexions naturally tended unto And on the contrary some there are who by the power of their Wills rigorously pursuing the Paths of Vertue and Understanding become more Friendly and of better Tempers than their Complexions promise For the natural Inclinations and Influences of the Stars have not power to captivate the Soul in Evils if the Will gives it self up to be guided by the Holy Spirit of Iesus Christ which will lead a man into all Vertue and all Truth CHAP. II. Of the Excellency of Temperance the Knowledg of a Mans self and the mighty Benefits of Abstinence and Sobriety TEmperance is a divine Gift and whosoever obtaineth the perfect Government and Knowledg of himself is endued with the springhead of all Virtues The fear of the Lord being the first step to all true Wisdom both Spiritual and Natural The Root of all Knowledg that man is capable of is in himself Therefore if any will understand any thing truly he must first turn the Eye of his Mind inward not outward as the custom of most is for Man is an Image and Likeness of all things both Spiritual and Natural in him is contained the true Nature of all things and he that doth know and understand himself and the Principles and Operations of his own Nature both in Body and Mind and what Properties in the seven-fold Nature of this World are predominant in him and to what his Inclinations are most naturally propensive both as to Virtue and Vice he may thereby not only shun many Inconveniencies but also so much as he knows of himself he also knows of his Creator and of all other things And so on the contrary he that doth not know and distinguish the Principles of God and Nature in himself does neither see nor know any other thing as he ought Therefore all such who are ignorant of themselves are subject to be changed and altered out of one Opinion into another always leaning hard on the Shoulders of Custom supporting their Ignorance with the truth of Tradition having one of their Eyes if not both amongst the Multitude But all true sight in divine and natural things does arise and proceed from the unalterable divine Principle or Gift of God for the natural man as he is wholly blind as to things divine so
neither does he see even into Natural things any otherwise than a Beast beholding the outward Substance but knowing nothing of the inward Power of the Spirit or if such do understand any thing further or more than Beasts it is either by Chance or Custom But when the Eye of a man's understanding is opened in the true Spirit he then seeth into his own Essence and Properties and by the same sight has a prospect into the Nature of all other things more especially if he be one that is born with a Nature adapted for the comprehension of such things For this reason it is said The spiritual man discerneth all things even the deep things of God but nothing hurts and hinders man more from obtaining the true Knowledg of God and Nature in himself than his looking abroad out of himself imagining that Wisdom and Understanding is to be found and learned in and from some other thing neither do many consider that worthy saying of the Apostle avouching That whatsoever may be known of God is manifest in man not without Man but within himself Man is that City the Wise man speaks of In whose Gates Wisdom cryes but if man will be gazing abroad and not regard the inward Voice in the Heart as most do not then he can never come to any true Judgment either in things Divine or Natural because the Foundation of all Wisdom and Right-knowledg is within a mans self Let us appeal to common Reason How is it possible if a man do not observe the particular principles and Operations of his own Nature that he should observe and understand those of other things whose Motions and various Operations he is more remote from and doth not feel Therefore if a man would know how to rule govern and preserve any Creature or thing this Wisdom and Knowledg must be first Essential in himself and to understand in particular what things are Extream in him and the contrary which will much help in the way of Temperance and Moderation with a due consideration had to the nature of the Food the Age Air Imployments c. And also the Quantities of all those things ought to be regarded and not to heap together too much this being a sure Rule of Health if a man finds himself as lightsom and brisk after Meats and Drinks or rather more than he was before For the intention of Food is to Refresh Nature and not to dull oppress and incommode her as most in this particular do especially those whose natural Heats are great and Appetites strong But full Meals and too frequent use of rich Food and strong Drinks do breed too much Nourishment which is the Original of many Diseases it furs and stops the Passages generates too much Blood and thick dull Spirits which makes the Body heavy and lumpish and by awakening the central Heat causes the external parts of the Body to glow with an unnatural Flame which obstructs the powers so that the pure thin sweet Vapours of the Air which are the Refreshing Zephiri of Nature cannot penetrate them as they are wont to do when the Elements of the Body are free from disorder for then they suck them in like Spunges which renders the Body full of Spirits brisk vigorous and sprightly as Virgins at a Wedding or Boys at a Festival But this pleasant Condition is never felt when the Body is over-fraight with Nourishment and like a Lamp ready to be extinguisht by superfluity of Oyl therefore solemn Feasts and set times for Meals and eating and drinking whether they have Appetites or no and other Circumstances that attend them are Friends to Gluttony but mortal Enemies both to Temperance and Health when People deluge down various sorts of rich Food and Cordial Drinks in a formal Method sitting perhaps two Hours inticing one another to Gormandize and Guzle not only beyond Necessity but even above the Power of Nature And yet not content after they have already exceeded all bounds of Temperance with strong Foods then with Wine various sorts of Fruits Tarts Sweet-meats and a thousand Kickshaws enricht with the East and West-Indies Ingredients of themselves more than sufficient for a sober and temperate Meal in the mean time few do consider the Injuries hereby done both to Body and Mind for this variety hath power to prolong the pleasure of the wanton Pallate beyond the need of Nature or ability of the Digestive faculty For every particular thing opening by Simile its like property in the Stomach it comes to pass when a Person has eaten to the full and to the satisfaction of the Pallate of one thing nevertheless when another of a contrary nature and taste comes the Appetite is awakened and he can with pleasure fall too again and so of several Varieties the Invention whereof at one Meal was meerly to gratifie Luxury by prolonging the pleasure of the Pallate which could not be done with simple Meats and Drinks Not but that a man may eat several sorts of Food and Drinks at one Meal without injury to Health but then they must be Homogenial that is agreeable to each other and also he that so eateth must as the Wise man adviseth Put a Knife to his Throat which very few in this Age do observe But of this we shall speak more hereafter As Abstinence and Sobriety does always fortifie the Observers thereof against many Evils so they make the Body pleasant healthful and fit to discharge all its Functions and prepare the mind to be the Temple of the Lord as St. Paul calls it Those that take Meats and Drinks only for the necessity of Nature and observe that the Food be not stronger than she but on the contrary she stronger than it such have for the most part great Spirits and but little Flesh whereas Gluttons have much Flesh and little Spirits Have not all the holy Prophets and renowned Law-givers from the beginning been Persons of a wonderous Sobriety and Temperance as Moses and Elias who fasted forty days and yet the Face of Moses shined and he could guide his Body as if it had been a Spirit And several other indeed all holy men endued with divine understandings have been remarkable for their Temperance For the Spirits of men are not Earthly things to receive their Nourishment through the Organs by the concoction of Meats and Drinks only but derive their purer Aliment like Spunges through the whole Body from the clear thin Vapours of the Air which do powerfully penetrate the Body on all sides but are hindred through superfluity of Meats and Drinks and so the Spirits in the Body for want of being found with these refreshing Gales become thick and as it were suffocated For this cause most that abandon themselves up to Gluttony and Epicurism seldom attain to Old Age or if by means of an extraordinary tough Constitution they do rub out 't is with Tortures and Misery their Bodies being as full of Diseases as an Hospital But on the
with the Body that it cannot discern things Coelestial but Sobriety and Purity of body and mind renders it the Temple of God wherein his blessed Spirit delights to dwell and communicate its Gifts and Graces Most men will in words confess that there is no blessing this World affords comparable to Health yet rarely do any of them value it as they ought to do till they feel the want of it To him that hath obtained this goodly Gift the meanest Food even Bread and Water is most pleasant and all sorts of Labour and Exercise delightful but the contrary makes all things nauseous and distasteful What are full-spread Tables Riches and Honours to him that is tormented with Distempers In such a condition men do desire nothing so much as Health but no sooner is that obtained but their thoughts are changed forgetting those solemn Promises and Resolutions they made to God and their own Souls going on in the old road of Gluttony taking little or no care to continue that which they so much desired when they were deprived of it Happy it were if men did but use the tenth part of that Care and Diligence to preserve their minds and bodies in Health as they do to procure Money and Riches which many never obtain and those that do it serves them chiefly to procure those Dainties and Superfluities which do generate Diseases and is the cause of committing many other Evils there being but few men that do know how to use Riches as they ought For there are not many of our wealthy Dons that ever consider that as little and mean Food and Drink will suffice and maintain a Lord in perfect Health as the poorest Peasant and render him more capable to enjoy the benefit of the Mind and pleasures of the Body far beyond all Dainties and Superfluities But alas the momentary Pleasures of the Throat Custom Vanity c. do insnare and intice most People to exceed the Bounds of Necessity or Convenience and many fail through a false Opinion or Mis-understanding of Nature childishly imagining that the richer the Food is and the more they can cram into their Bellies the more they shall be sterngthened thereby but experience shews to the contrary for are not such People as accustom themselves to the richest compounded Foods and most cordial Drinks generally the most Infirm and Diseased For all such things contain great store of Virtue and ought to be eaten between whiles according to Reason and Experience for when the Mouth of the Stomach is open the pleasant relish of such dainty Food does so intice and encrease the desire of eating and drinking beyond what is needful that a man may eat too much and yet give off with some little Appetite of which we may be sensible by that general dulness and Indisposition which we find in our selves for two or three Hours afterwards People are much mistaken in thinking That so long as the Appetite desires and the pleasure of eating continues strong they may eat on without damage to their Health But the truth is this is one of the chief Reasons why men are Gluttons and there is but little difficulty in Temperance save only in this particular it being somewhat hard for an healthy good stomach'd man to give off eating in the midst of the Pleasure he receives by it especially when Meats by Art are made on purpose not only to prolong the Pallate but also to delight it But to him that uses himself to simple Meats and Drinks the snare of provoking the Pallate beyond the necessity of Nature is removed for such cannot intice Nature out of her way nor awaken any other Properties or Appetites in the Stomach but its own Likeness whereas varieties of Food do stir up as many various Qualities in the Stomach so that there is still a fresh desire to each thing till Nature is over-cloy'd And therefore Varieties are always dangerous if great Care and Temperance be not observed But he that limits his Desire by Wisdom and has the understanding both of the Quality and Quantity may eat of sundry sorts of Food at one time but the ignorant and unwise very rarely do it without prejudice to their Health As the pleasure of Temperance and the many benefits that follow Sobriety cannot be imagined by those that live Riotous Lives so neither can the sweet influence thereof especially the first be enjoyed without some Trouble to Old Adam There must be Self-Denial in the case and a man must live in this World as if he were Alone for there is but little Company in the ways of Sobriety When a man comes once to espouse them in earnest presently most of his Friends and Acquaintance will suspect and condemn him as a Conceited Whimsical Capricious Fellow or a kind of Mad-man because he will not run with them to the same Excess and Riot For the Flesh and Spirit of this World have no Affinity with Sobriety and Temporance proceeding from Fountains whose Waters are of quite contrary Nature to others the one being clear and pure which purgeth and cleanseth preserving both the Body and Spirit in perfect Health the other being defiled with many Superfluities destroys the Health of both Therefore he that would enjoy the true Pleasures and flourish in the Virtues that attend Sobriety ought to be as strong as Sampson was in his innocent Life that he may be able to cut off all superfluity in the Bud For it is not that which goeth into a man as our Saviour Christ saith but that which proceeds out of him For all kinds of Intemperance are first conceived in the Heart and if such Imaginations are not cut off or overcome by Wisdom and Temperance then they grow strong and become as it were essential and when the Spirit and Understanding of a man is captivated then a man becomes a Tyrant to himself and a perfect Slave to Gluttony being defiled by every thing Meats Drinks Words and Works as the Wise man saith Even the plowing of the Land is Evil to the Wicked for all Uncleanness and Defilements that happen either to the Body or Soul do arise and proceed from Within And if such lewd Desires Opinions and Customs were cut off in the bud then neither Body nor Soul would be hurt by supurfluity of Meats Drinks or any other thing for every man that commits any Intemperance be it what it will acts it first Within and makes it substantial in the Spirit and then it becomes Corporeal for the Body is forced to obey the dictates of the Spirit whether good or evil for this cause Christ saith That nothing that went into a man defiled him for he pointed and had an Eye to the Root whence all Evils and Intemperances arise His Words are Spiritual and not otherwise to be understood for he makes no exception but saith NOTHING that goeth into a man defileth him Which words should they be taken in a Carnal ense then our dayly Experience shews the
contrary for many thousands are destroyed both by Quantity and Quality of Meats and Drinks but they are first defiled in the Root of their Spirits But on the contrary no Meats or Drinks have power to hurt or defile that man whose Heart and Desires are governed and moderated by Wisdom and therefore saith the Apostle From whence proceed Wars and Fightings all Lusts false Imaginations and Intemperances Do they not all proceed from within For if a man be ignorant of the true Nature of things his Understanding and Soul darkened then he is subject to be defiled by every thing for if the Nature of things be not discerned nor distinguished by the Spirit such are always liable to be defiled by every sort of Food or Drink either in Quantity or Quality For where Ignorance governs the extravagant Desires are not bounded For first Every man is defiled by his desires and imaginations as our Saviour Christ saith in another case He that looketh on a Woman and lusteth is defiled thereby the very same is to be understood of all other Uncleannesses both of Body and Mind only the Evils and Defilements are greater when a man proceeds to put in practice those things which he first conceived within by Imaginations for no outward Uncleanness could ever hurt any man if the inside were kept clean If Understanding and the pure Spirit govern within then all unclean Desires and Imaginations are as it were cut off in the bud and not suffered to proceed to a substance and then a man is not desiled either by that which goes out nor by any sorts of Meats Drinks or other things that gointo the Body And so on the contrary when the evil corrupt Nature is awakened and has gotten the inward Government then all the Desires and Imaginations are formed and do proceed from the evil Principle which first defiles the Soul and then afterwards the Body This is the very Root and Foundation of all Uncleanness Superfluity and Intemperance for every property in Nature must be supported and fed on its own Food Hence all sorts of Animals whose predominant Quality and Ascendent chiefly proceeds from the wrathful and unclean Nature do desire a proportionable Food viz. raw flesh and Sordities But on the contrary those Animals whose Dignifications and chief Quality stands in and proceeds from the clean Nature such Creatures also do desire clean Food The same is to be understood in the humane Nature according to the Principle or Property that is awakened and most predominant so is the man either clean or unclean good or evil from thence are all his Desires and Imaginations framed Thus we see that Cleanness and Sobriety in Meats Drinks Exercises c. have a greater Virtue and Excellency in them than People think for their power proceeds from an inward Principle and they endow their Observers with the Riches both of Time and Eternity for Temperance makes all her Lovers truly sensible of God's blessings How sweet is every mean thing to the sober mind And how ready are such men to give the Lord Thanks and humble Acknowledgments for his Mercies They see feel and taste the most pleasant operation of the divine Hand in all things their Bodies are delighted with the meanest of Food their Minds satisfied their Beds easie and their sleep sound they are not subject to indispositions nor molested with Fevers their Heads are not dulled with Fumes nor their Stomachs oppressed with fainting Fits or windy griping Humours they rise as fresh as the Morning Sun and are fit for all Exercises both of the Body and Mind their Radical Moisture flows freely throw every part like a pleasant gale of Wind which moderates the central Fires that they burn not too violently But this excellent state it not obtainable without Self-denial and suffering now and then a little gentle Hunger which cleanseth the Stomach and Passages from all superfluous Matter frees the Spirits from all Imperfections prevents all Obstructions and preserves Health far better than any Physical Evacuations It hath a certain Occult Quality for the digestive Faculty and natural Heat is never idle therefore when the Stomach is not filled with superfluity of Food and often eating it draws away all the superfluous matter that furs and stops the Passages and which were apt to cause shortness of Breath send troublesom Fumes and Vapours to the Crown hinder the free Circulation of the Blood and make the spirits impure These Evils and many others Temperance and moderate Fastings do prevent the Stomach naturally drawing this phlegmy Substance out of all the Vessels and Passages when Meats and Drinks come not too quick and casts the lighter part thereof upwards and the more gross heavier parts downwarns into the Bowels for this reason when a man does fast a little longer than ordinary he will feel a kind of a gnawing or disorder in his Stomach for a little time and then it will cease and after some space do so again the occasion of which is this the natural Heat does very powerfully draw matter unto it self for Sustenance but finding no proper Nourishment makes a separation of the gross phlegmy substance that lodges in the Vessels of the Stomach and casts it forth both upwards and downwards and having done this craves afresh for more work and more proper matter of Aliment Nor should a little Trouble thwarting our Humours debaucht with ill Customs and Wantonness or some small Inconveniencies divert us from getting our selves possest of this Jewel Temperance the true Philosophers-Stone which turns all into the Golden Elixir of Health Content and Serenity since we see none of the little perishing Goods of this World are to be obtained without trouble and difficulty do not Youths serve seven years enduring hard Labour and many other Inconveniencies for a Trade whereby to get an outward Livelihood Do not Men Travel by Sea and Land through a thousand Miseries even to the hazarding of their Lives and Liberties for Meat Drink and a little Rayment And those few that do obtain their desired ends if Temperanee be wanting the enjoyment of them proves not only burdensom but so full of Snares that they had better been without them for Plenty has destroyed more than Necessity some say than the Sword the one having wherewithal to gratifie his superfluous desires and so destroy himself which the other has not What a deal of pains and charge are People at to please their Liquorish Pallates The Indies must be sent to for Rarities and the utmost parts of the Earth for Dainties such abundance such variety provided as if all the Beasts and Fowls in Noah's Ark with an addition of all the Fishes in the Waters and Vegetables of Earth were scarce enough to furnish one Luxurious Board And then what Curiosity in Sawces What fantastick Humors for Dressing The more extravagant and unnatural the more genteel and acceptable forsooth Whereas those things that are necessary to support and preserve the Body in perfect
Health are easily procurable of small Charge soon made ready and with very little Trouble they are in most places ready and familiar to be obtained with ease and pleasure without violating Justice or hazarding either your Conscience or your Liberty Furthermore Temperance is a strong Bullwark against that pernicious Enemy of Mankind viz. Despair or suspicion of the divine Hand of Providence against the Frowns and Causalties of this World What cares that man if he have not Money to buy Wine who by use finds Water no less pleasant and more wholsom Why should one bemoan not having half a score Dishes when one will serve him not only as well but better Sobriety makes a man Superior to those vain fearful repining Imaginations whereunto most or indeed all superfluous intemperate People are subject and when Poverty comes upon them they are doubly miserable because they had inur'd themselves to Unnecessaries before the absence of which more torments them than any real Wants that they lie under But he that gives the government of himself to Wisdom and has the true knowledg of Gods Love and the eternal Principle of Light in himself and admits it to have its Operation in the Soul and Body and who sees with an inward Eye the great Virtue and Fortitude there is in every simple Grain Fruit and Herb and who hath also bounded his desires to the necessities of Nature there is no such great reason that such a man should trouble his head with care and suspicion and tire his Body with over-labouring for Fruits Herbs Milk Bread and Water are easily procured And what sober man in the World is reduced to that extremity as to want such things except in universal Calamities Every man ought to understand that heavyness oppression of Nature and dulness proceed from the abundance of thick putrid Humours which stop up the Passages and cloy the Joynts filling them with gross moisture so that the course of the Spirits is hindered and they as it were suffocated which causes various Distempers in the Body that men would give all the World if they had it to be cured of but no Physick can help them unless the excellent Lady Sobriety be their Doctress for it must be a clean simple well-ordered Diet only that can fine the Blood by degrees out of which pure Spirits are generated in the goodnss of which all Health and the whole prosperity of the Body and Mind doth consist whereas surplusage of Nourishment destroys the Spirits and damnifies all the Senses as that of Seeing is hurt by gross Humours that obstruct the Optick Nerves And therefore those that are subject to weak Eyes ought to abstain from all such things as replenish the Head with Fumes such are all sorts of fat Meat Butter and the like taken in too great a quantity as also strong thick Drinks especially such wherein Wormwood or any strong bitter Herbs are infused for all such things are very hurtful to the Eyes as experience shews Likewise such superfluous matter offends the organs of Hearing and marrs the sense of Tasting by breeding Cholerick salt Humors so that those who accustom themselves to Excess generally have their Palates debaucht and cannot give a true judgment of the state of things Now the sorts of Food and Drinks that breed the best Blood and finest Spirits are Herbs Fruits and various kinds of Grains also Bread and sundry sorts of excellent Food made by different preparations of Milk and all dry Food out of which the Sun hath exhaled the gross Humidity by which all sorts of Pulses and Grains become of a firmer substance so likewise Oyl is an excellent thing in Nature more sublime and pure than Butter And if you do eat fat flesh let it be sparingly and not without good store of Bread and Herbs There are two things in the practise of Temperance chiefly to be regarded viz. QUANTITY and QUALITY the later ought to be considered by every one that is desirous to preserve Nature but Eror in the former does generally the most mischief For if Meats and Drinks be of a raw gross Nature and not so well prepared as they ought to be yet if a man eat and drink but sparingly with a perfect Appetite the Stomach Nature's Laboratory will make better Nourishment thereof than it can of the best Food when too great Quantities are cram'd into the Belly for the natural Heat of the Stomach is of a wonderful Nature when free from these burdensom gross Humours it can as it were digest and kill the poysonous Juices of unclean Food and by an innate power cast off the malignancy thereof if the Quantity be not too great In this case Abstinence hath been found by experience to cure most Diseases that have proceeded from Superfluity if not gon too far Therefore Quantity is more dangerous to destroy Health than Quality tho' they are both very bad and often meet together and then Health is destroyed with a winged speed which is the chief cause that there are so few either Men Women or Children in perfect Health Where can you find a Man or Woman among such as are Intemperate who have attained to the Age of forty Years that are in perfect Health The best of them being afflicted with windy and scorbutick Diseases which are bred by eating too much in quantity and of an evil unclean quality These windy Diseases are also much increased by the continual eating of their Food too hot that is before the sulpherous moist Vapours which are of a fierce and sharp Nature are evaporated for this sulpherous Heat which goes away in the moist steem or vapours does contain the Spirits of the Fire as also two Qualities viz. A windy moist dulling Nature and a fierce sharp fiery one the first of these is the cause of most windy Diseases and the second does generate in the Blood a hot sharp Humour which causeth an itching and breaking out in the flesh with spots of various colours as also a weariness and indisposedness through the whole Body this likewise is the grand cause of many Leprous and Mangy Diseases especially when the Food is gross and not well prepared and too much in Quantity which Maladies do often happen altogether All Food that is prepared by fire should not be eaten till those thick sulpherous and moist steems be evaporated herein many are mistaken and even Nature it self is little understood for the generality of People account hot Food best and most profitable for Health and the good Dame will be angry if her Servants delay to eat their Food whilst Hot. But the continual eating of Hot Food from the Womb has depraved their Stomachs and natural Heat so that if they eat their Food cold it will not give them satisfaction although hot Food is contrary to the pure simple Nature and the health of the Body nevertheless the continual use of such things have awakened their Similes in the Stomach and that requires their continuation and
all the Senses and send dark Fumes into the Head the truth of this all People are sensible of and it is for no other Reason but because the pure Spirits and sweet Water or Oyl in the Wood is totally suffocated in making it into Charcoal and then the Original Poysons and fierce Fire is no longer moderated but does burn and manifest it self in its own Nature and Form this makes the difference between the Fire of Wood and Charcoal the one being pleasant and wholsom the other the contrary and yet they have but one Foundation the very same is to be understood in the Humane Nature and in all other Creatures and in every thing according to its Nature For this cause when a man has through any kind of Intemperance or Superfluity over-charged Nature by which the pure essential Spirits are either evaporated or suffocated and the Oyl whence the natural Life hath its true being becomes as it were sower'd and made keen and sharp then immediately follow Fevers for all Fevers do proceed from the awakened Poysons which is the Original of every Life which should not be stirred or awakened For this cause most People when sick are afflicted either with Internal or External Fevers some greater others less according to the Age or Strength of each mans Nature and when men dye in the strength of their Lives and especially such as have strong Fires what terrible Fevers will such have which burn and consume Nature in a moments time But those that dye or are sick in Age and are of weaker Heats their Fevers are more gentle if People understood this they would not be so guilty of Intemperance and so over-charge Nature for the meek friendly Life will not indure any Violence or Inequality without prejudice to the Health for as soon as the pure Spirits are wounded or evaporated Nature falls into an unequal motion and then the wrathful fierce Fires are stirred up and then Nature is in danger Take what Creature or thing you will if you wound the pure Spirits the Balsamick Body presently turns sower for one cannot subsist without the other and when this is done then in a moments time the poysonous fierce Fire does of its own accord manifest it self which it could not do so long as the pure Spirits and Balsamick Body were strong and did predominate which does moderate and cause this Fire to burn more gentle For this cause all wise and seeing men have advised to Temperance and have commended all simple and mean Food and Drinks especially those things in which the Qualities of Nature stand nearest Equality for all such Food and Drinks do distribute and administer due and moist Nourishment to both Body and Spirits in an Harmonial way which is very agreeable to Nature for all things desire Concord and Unity it being the highest degree that Nature can attain to also all sorts of Food and Drinks that do chiefly consist of Equality do powerfully beget and maintain its Likeness in the Body and also in the Mind And so on the contrary high rich Foods which consist of many Ingredients and of disagreeing Natures and Drinks in which the Fire burns too fierce do often prove dangerous to Health because such things are unequal in themselves and except they be taken very sparingly they awaken their Likenesses in the Body causing Nature to be unequal in her Operations Therefore after eating and drinking such things there follows Indispositions the Veins glowing with Heat Fumes and Vapours flying up into the Head with a dull Heaviness which is caused by the Inequality of the Food and the greatness of the Qantity which do for a time until the natural Heat hath overcome the Food and made seperation suffocate the pure Spirits and the Oyl of Life by its gross Juices and affording too much Nourishment and if such Food and Drinks be continued there are but few Constitutions that can withstand the Inconveniencies that attend such a Life but Abstinency and a sober Diet with Exercise are the only means to abate all superfluous matter and indeed it hinders the Generation of all offensive Humours ABSTINENCY is the only Physitian that a man can make use of for it secretly does digest all kind of Obstructions and that with great ease and pleasure to the Patient far beyond the common and gross Drugs which Physitians administer Also ABSTINENCY is the most skilful Cook giving a most pleasant taste to every mean thing by which a simple Person becomes skilful for he can distinguish the Taste and the inward Sweetness of each thing and he is thereby stirred up with an inward inclination to praise and admire God in the use of all his Blessings ABSTINENCY does weaken and abate the Fury of the most Cholerick complexioned People that they become more Sanguine it openeth the Gate of Humility and is a Friend to Charity it encourageth Hope and is the only Enemy of that base and cruel Spirit Suspicion the universal Fomentor of mankind ABSTINENCY is a sure Counsellor and a Conductor of all the observers thereof in the way of Truth encreasing Faith and causeth them to eye and follow the divine Hand of Providence giving Peace and Tranquility to the Mind and Health to the Body many are the Vertues and Benefits thereof it also gives the advantage of Time and Opportunity and is the fore-runner of Wisdom it openeth the hidden and secret Doors of Nature in a mans self and renders him capable of all Discipline and is the only Enemy to all Evil and a Friend to all Vertue The Wise and Prudent in all Ages have accounted her their chief Friend and Guide by her Vertues they have overcome the inward Enemies of their Members ABSTINENCY also preventeth the Generation of all superfluous matter whence Diseases in the Body do proceed she abateth the desires because a small matter will suffice a regular Appetite resisting Pride and careth not for Estimation she conquereth all her Enemies and maketh no noise she beats â—o Drums nor dischargeth no Guns she punisheth â—ot the Body with Labour nor burdeneth the Mind with Care she wearieth not the Life by Sea nor by Land to obtain that which will not stand her in stead she will not admit of any Controversies nor Law-suits she will not contend for much because a little supplies her Wants she standeth still and is silent and yet obtaineth all things CHAP. III. A Discourse of the several sorts of Flesh commonly Eaten THough I have before shewn the inconveniencies of the feeding upon Flesh so commonly and in such excess as is now-a-days practised and rather recommended the Lovers of Wisdom and Health to the more innocent use of Grains Fruits and Herbs yet since there is no stemming the Tide of Popular Opinion and Custom and People will still gorge themselves with the Flesh of their Fellow-Animals I have thought fit here to give a particular account of each sort of Flesh that at least you may chuse that which is
the pure Spirits and Radical Moisture be by any disorders hurt or wounded whether it be before they are killed or after the Salt cannot incorporate therewith as aforesaid nor purge out and destroy the humid gross parts in the Flesh whence all Putrifaction arises whereas when the strong powerful and sweet Spirits in Salt which are the inward Life thereof do joyn with and embrace the essential spirituous parts it does tye or hold the corruptive parts of the Flesh captive that they cannot proceed to Putrifaction and for a season it will remain as a fixed Body till by length of time those pure Essential spirituous parts both in the Flesh and Salt become either suffocated or evaporated through the great store of gross humidity which Flesh does contain tending always to Putrifaction and when any Flesh does begin to putrify or stink a second salting nor any other Art cannot recover it to its first state of Sweetness but if the second Salting be whilst the Putrifaction is but yet in the Bud and not too far gone then such Flesh may continue a little longer In a word If this sort of Flesh be free from the afore-mentioned Disorders and their natural Uncleannesses being seasonably seasoned with Salt not keept too long and well prepared by the House-wife and moderately eaten it is as sound and healthy Food for strong and working People as any Flesh whatsoever none excepted Of Sheep their Complexions and Nature and of their Flesh. Sheep are Creatures of great use and benefit to the Sons of men their Nature and Complexion is Sanguine Phlegmatick with a little mixture of Melancholy but the Sanguine Nature does predominate over all the other Qualities They are dignified with a meek humble Nature mild and friendly and wherein all the Properties and Elements do seem to stand in equal accord whence doth proceed those harmless innocent Inclinations hardly any Creature in the World to be compared to them they have as it were a glance of the divine Light shining in them for if Equality and Concord had not abounded in them our Saviour Iesus Christ would not so often have compared good and holy men unto them but it was no doubt to shew their Meekness Innocence and desires of doing good For this Creature is not only to be esteemed for their Natural Vertues but also for the manifold Benefits which they afford unto mankind both living and dead The Flesh of Sheep viz. Mutton is of a clean simple Nature of easier Concoction than the Flesh of Oxen it generates a good clean nourishment their Fat is the whitest of all Flesh which proceeds from the equal temperament of their Body and Spirits and the predominancy of the sweet Quality and because the Spirits are pure and undefiled For the white clear bright Gleam in every Creature be they what they will does arise and proceed from the divine Principle which made all things and is the essential Vertue and Power that does sustain and radically dwell in every Creature and all things in this World in each according to its Nature and also according to what degree it is in each Creature they become of a more friendly gentle Nature or the contrary For in what Creature soever this Vertue or Gleam of Light is predominant that Creature is of a most sweet Composition or Nature be it either Animal Vegetable or Mineral for of the pure white Colour in all things the Root is the divine Principle its Radix is clean Therefore in former Ages when any would declare their Innocency they cloathed themselve in white Garments because it proceeded from the innocency in Nature Also the Saints and Prophets in several places of the Scriptures by way of Simile compare Whiteness with the divine Power and Virtue being that the Saints and Angels are said to be cloathed in White which was not spoken without a divine understanding of the Nature of things which I shall forbear to speak further of in this place though to the intelligent Reader it would be no unuseful Digression But to return to the present subject The Flesh of Sheep is made better or worse according to the Accidents that do attend them no Flesh to be preferred before this if they are free from Surfeits and Diseases which this Creature is much subject to by reason of their tender Nature for all Creatures in whom the four Humours and Elements of their Bodies and Spirits stand nearest Equality are soonest wounded if any Violence be offered For this Creature cannot endure any violent motion without manifest prejudice and little over-driving will put them into such Heats as they cannot recover under a considerable time and at last they will break out with a Mainge or Scab if they are folded a little too close it will fret and corrupt their Blood give them the Scab and hinder them from growing over-wet Weather will corrupt them and cause them to Rot in moist low Grounds and in the best and highest Pasturage hinder them from proving so well as they would otherwise the very driving of Sheep and Lambs from the Market to the Slaughter-Houses especially in London where they are much hurried by their unmerciful drivers and other Accidents that they meet with in the Streets will give them the Mainge or the Scab were they to be turn'd back to their Pastures Therefore there is required the greatest understanding and care to preserve this Creature sound and free from these Disorders and Accidents which nothing can do but a tender gentle usage and government which suits their Tempers and hath unity with their Natures Their Flesh is far better and more healthy in the Winter season than in the Summer especially when the Summer proves Wet for as nothing more destroys and corrupts their Flesh more than wet Weather so in great Heats their tender Spirits on every Accident are apt to be Evaporated also they are apt to sweat much whence proceeds a fainty Indisposition especially when the Sun and Year declines the Grass being then more gross and full of Phlegmatick Juices therefore the Flesh of Sheep and Lambs ought to be sparingly eaten all the Summer especially the latter part thereof for this and indeed most other sorts of Flesh is best in the Winter and Spring viz. from December to Iune or thereabouts for cold Weather causeth the natural Heat to be much stronger and also more Central sharpens the Appetites of both Men and Beasts causeth a good Digestion because then Nature is able to make a perfect separation of the Food whence is generated good Blood and pure Spirits which renders the Flesh hard and firm besides the Food of most sorts of Cattel is then dry viz. Hay which does always breed a better and firmer nourishment than Grass or any green Food If Sheep be killed with any of the before-mentioned Inconveniences upon them then their flesh thereby loseth its pure sweetness and good Relish becomes of a gross dull heavy Nature and Operation generates abundance
of unfirm Nourishment and bad Blood for it too hastily slips out of the Stomach into the Bowels and has many evil Consequences causing Gripings and grievous Pains in the Bowels Few do imagin the Mischiefs that do arise from the frequent eating of bad Flesh. The Marks to know whether Flesh be good after its killed are first That the Flesh look with a brisk white colour and the lean of it with a lively bright Red not with a fading fainty whiteness nor with a dull dusky red for these last colours shew that the Creature was hurt and the Spirits wounded before it was killed or the flesh kept too long after 't was killed Another Mark to know whether the Mutton be perfectly good in every degree is when it s prepared either boyled or roasted viz. if when prepared it doth retain its perfect brisk lively colour both White and Red being plump or swelled and of a pure sweet delightful Taste as also by its sending forth a fragrant and inviting scent or smell which of all Flesh good Mutton yields the best These are essential Rules to know the goodness or badness of Flesh if the House-wife do perform her part in observing such Order as is both natural and proper to be used in the preparation of Flesh which I have sufficiently declared from the Root in another place Mutton is also made better or worse by the goodness or badness of the Ground it feeds on the best and sweetest is that of the smaller Sheep that are fed on high Hills and Pastures where the Grass is sweeter and freer from gross Juices than lower grounds and as Sheep delight most in dry places as best suiting to their Natures so they are there forced to labour viz. to continue feeding longer which motion does free the Body and pure Spirits from that gross matter which such as feed in low Pastures where Grass is more plentiful are subject to and also they are the longer before they be fat For these and the like Reasons those small Sheep if free from other disorders which they are not so subject to as great fat Sheep are do always eat much sweeter and pleasanter than great Mutton bred on low rich Grounds And therefore there is no reason why Citizens and the rich People should so much desire large great Mutton but only for Pride and State counting it a kind of Dishonour to have small Meat seen at their Table though the same is not only sweeter to the Pallate but more wholsom as being easier digested and generating better Blood and is far more healthy to all sorts of People especially for Children and People that live soft lives which for the most part eat the fattest and largest Mutton and other rich Food and cordial Drinks and for that very cause are more unhealthy than the meaner sort of People Of LAMB The Flesh of Lamb is much of the same Nature with Mutton being an Excellent Food generating a wholsom clean Nourishment as being easie of Concoction friendly to all Constitutions and Ages and much better than Veal if they be not killed too young 1st Because they are clean in their own Natures 2dly They have the advantage of sucking and running with their Dams not being altogether fed with Milk but also on Grass and Hay according to the season of the year which Calves for the most part are hindred from which renders their Flesh the more unwholsom There is no flesh either more healthy or grateful than Lamb if free from Surfeits and other disorders but their natures and spirits are so tender that they cannot endure driving or the like therefore Lambs that come from remote parts to great Cities are most of them in one degree or other surfeited or if they come thither free yet such is their bad usage between the Market and the Butchers Shop that 't is enough to spoil them and make their Flesh unwholsom Also when this sort of flesh is eaten the weather is for the most part Hot which does quickly wound their tender Spirits and cause a general faintness which renders their flesh soft and greasie generating a very unfirm Nourishment and filling the whole Body full of Venomous Juices that give a further occasion for Fluxes and Fevers to reign in August September and October in which time Lamb is much eaten But if these Creatures are killed off the Common without being prejudiced by driving or otherwise hurried it is not only the sweetest but may be eaten with as little danger as any Therefore there ought to be care and understanding used in managing them for if the Spirit in any thing be wounded or suffocated the Body presently becomes heavy dull flat and like a lump of Earth having neither its true natural sweetness smell nor taste but is dull on the Pallate heavy on the Stomach affording no proper Nourishment neither to the Body nor Spirits its venoms do by simile beget and awaken their Likenesses from whence proceeds Inequality and Discord which is the Root of most Diseases and even Death it self for every sort of Meat and Drink be it clean or unclean does by a natural and simpathetical operation incorporate its self with its likeness in the Body and powerfully strengthen it whence arise both concord and discord sickness and health as we see in Wine in which the Spirit is predominant does not the drinking of it presently awaken our Spirits and make them predominate over all other Qualities and changes the Inclinations Dispositions and Intentions during the time of its operation but afterwards it leaves a man with sowrer Spirits than it found him both because the Spirits of the Wine are not only evaporated but have caused the natural Spirits to evaporate also by its simpathetical awakening of them and as it were calling of them out of their several Centers the very same is to be understood in all sorts of Food of whatsoever Nature or Quality it is All which is worthy the consideration of all Understanding People Of the Flesh of Calves or Veal The Flesh of Veal is of a clean Nature easie of Concoction affording good Nourishment fit both for healthy and sick People if such may be allowed to eat flesh which to me seems somewhat improper especially when in their time of Health they made flesh their chief Food it being probable that the original of the Disease was occasioned by the eating of much flesh which is one reason why so many People in England when sick their Stomachs loath Flesh more than any other food for that food which a man does eat most of when in health that very same when sick he will loath especially when he feeds most on Flesh. But if this sort of flesh be eaten too young as too many do at twelve or eighteen days old then it is not so wholsom for it being of a soft slimy and phlegmatick Nature it generates an unfirm Nourishment and it quickly slips out of the Stomach into the Bowels and too
often violently loosens the Belly and causeth Griping Pains especially in fat and phlegmatick People and likewise in young Children That Veal is best that is five or six Weeks old and which sucks its own Dam and does run with her two or three days in a Week for no flesh is so good and free from gross phlegmatick matter as those Creatures that have the benefit of Motion in the open Air Indeed such will not fat so soon as others that are kept up close yet the one is much firmer and harder than the other and affords a firmer and harder nourishment for that which is pen'd up and kept from the benefit of Motion and Air great part of the food turns into a kind of phlegmy substance especially in Calves whose Food is all of a moist Nature What is the reason that most Veal is so unfirm and like a Jelly and dissolves and melts away like Grease It is because this is a tender Creature and will not admit of driving their Spirits being so weak and Flesh so soft by reason as is above-said of their moist food that they quickly tire and their Flesh will alter from a white to a red colour which all Veal naturally inclines to tho' Milk is a cleanly and wholsom Food nevertheless all Creatures that live wholly on it without the mixture of other things of a firmer substance as the flower of Corn or the like their flesh and spirits are but weak especially when such Creatures shall be hindered from motion then their flesh becomes of a gross soft and phlegmatick nature and operation and the frequent eating of such flesh proves too often of a bad consequence especially to all cold phleg matick gross People who have weaker heats but to others who have strong and hot Constitutions this sort of flesh if not eaten to excess agrees well with them and is wholsom Indeed every one ought to know their own Constitutions by which they shall be able to distinguish between those things that are proper for them and their contraries and he that is ignorant of this is always subject to err and to lay heavier burdens on Nature than she can bear whence does proceed so many Diseases and Disorders which afflicts some almost all their days Of the Flesh of Swine and their Nature and Complexion Swine are under the dominion of Saturn and Mars and are of Complexion Melancholy and Cholerick their predominant Quality stands in the fierce savage and unclean Nature as their shapes forms crys and inclinations do abundantly manifest by reason of which they would be frightful to behold if they were not made familiar to us The Ancient Wise Men accounted them Unclean Creatures of Prey destructive to the Creation neither profitable living nor dead and did also esteem their Flesh to be of a gross fulsom and unclean Nature subject to Putrifaction their Fat is of a soft greasie nature The Uncleanness of this Creature does further appear if you burn their Fat it does send forth a gross fulsome smell also its flame is not clear and bright as the flame of other Flesh but of a dimmish Brimstone colour which does arise from the dark Poysons in nature as is further manifest in Charcoal and also in Brandy and other distilled Liquours when the sweet Oyl or Balsamick Body with the pure subtle Spirits are by any violence suffocated and destroyed then the dark original Forms of Nature appear such things being burned the flame is not bright and clear but of a duskish dim and Brimstone colour as I have particularly shewn in another place where I treat of the nature of Brandy But in England the Flesh of Swine is of great use but not wholsom to be eaten fresh especially in August September or October nor indeed in any hot Season this Flesh where it is frequently eaten does generate a gross Nourishment but the way that English People use for ordering it makes it much better than otherwise it would be That Bacon and Pork which is fed with Corn and Acorns and have their liberty to run is much sweeter and wholsomer easier of digestion and breeds better Blood than that which is shut up in the Hog-sties such Bacon for want of Motion becomes of a more gross phlegmatick Nature insomuch that the House-wife is put to all her shifts to make it take Salt for where in any thing the Phlegm does predominate the pure Spirits are weak and as it were fainty and dull and when this doth happen in flesh as often it does such flesh will not take Salt but by halves where the Spirit is weak the Salt cannot penetrate nor incorporate for Salt cannot make the dead body living but such Bacon as is fed with Corn and not over-fat especially if they have egress and regress such will take Salt greedily because it is lively brisk and full of spirits which are a pleasant habitation for the spirit of the Salt to incorporate its self This sort is to be preferred before all others Also all Swine ought to be killed in cold weather and after it is well salted it ought to be rusted a convenient time with the smoke of Wood-fire or Straw which will make it look of a brisk lively Red Colour which does much correct that gross Quality that is contained in their flesh And altho' Swine naturally are the uncleannest of all Creatures that are so much eaten nevertheless if they be fed with Corn and are singed and killed in the pro perest Season then well Salted and rusted a considerable time they are made thereby a firmer and wholsomer food than several other sorts of clean flesh that is killed in hot seasons and eaten fresh and many People in Summer time had better eat Bacon that is killed in Winter and well ordered than to eat fresh Meat especially those that live in Cities by reason most Cattel receive prejudice by long driving and other accidents But small Bacon or Pork killed in Summer or in a hot season is of ill consequence as to Health for then the fat is so gross and full of phlegmy matter that it will not take salt as it ought besides it obstructs Nature and causeth Fluxes and an internal Fever Those that do accustom themselves to the frequent eating of Bacon it does generate a gross strong Nourishment and dull and heavy Spirits therefore such People are not so brisk and airy but duller of Apprehension than others that eat more airy and thinner food for every sort of Food does by a simpathetical Operation strengthen and awaken its Likeness Therefore it was that the most illuminated Prophet Moses did prohibit the Children of Israel from eating this sort of flesh because the humane Nature should not be made more Bestial Man being the Image and Likeness of all things a little World out of the great in all particulars which was in all Ages the chief reason why the Wise Men and Prophets made distinctions and separations in Meats Drinks Exercises
desire it Likewise its true Colour is lost or in some degree destroyed as is most manifest by all Fry'd Flesh it does send forth a strong fulsom smell in comparison of either Boyled or Roasted its Taste is stronger and its natural Colour is chang'd by reason the pure Spirits and sweet Body are as it were suffocated by that fiery harsh heat the Pan does contain this Heat is more poysonous than the common heat of fire which is caused by the Metal whether it be Brass or Iron for the Fire does not only awaken the poysonous Nature that such Metal does contain but the present Quality or oily Body in the Fire whence it hath its bright shining friendly Quality is suffocated therefore all such Heat that proceeds from Pans is of a harsh fierce nature and operation The truth of this is further manifested by those that shall be Burned or scalded by such Pans which is more poysonous and the Flesh is harder to be Cured than what is burned by common Fire and often proves more dangerous the very same matter does cause any kind of Food to have such a strong smell for in all Preparations that cause the smell to become strong it is a sure sign that some Violence is done to the pure Spirits and Balsamick Body which doth awaken the Center of the dark wrathful Nature The very same is to be understood in all other things and that is the reason why Fryed Baked and Stewed Food does send forth a stronger and fulsomer scent than other Preparations and all such Food will sooner cloy and dull both Pallate and Stomach except in some few whose Natures and Stomachs have a Simile with such Food It is also to be noted that the Fat which is used in Frying that lies or runs between the thing Fryed and the Pan is by this sulpherous Heat and the want of the free Influences of Air and the benefit of a convenient quantity of Water turn'd into a stinking Oyl which does neither retain its Colour Smell nor Taste but is of a contrary Nature to what it was when it was put into the Pan. For these Reasons all Fryed Food is of a stronger fulsomer Nature than either Boyled Roasted or Broyled Meat harder of Concoction and does cloy the Stomach Therefore all House-Wives and others that do prepare Food if they regard the Health of the Body and true pleasure of the Pallate ought to understand the possibility of Nature in all Preparations that they may digest the raw gross Body of Food without offering any violence to the pure Spirits and balsamick Body and then all such Food would be of a most pleasant Smell Colour and Taste for if the pure Spirits be kept free and not suffocated in the Preparation such Food becomes friendly to Nature affording good firm and wholsom Nourishment easie of Concoction the frequent eating of such Food makes a man Airy full of lively Spirits and of a good Complexion So on the contrary if they be suffocated then presently the sweet Oyl is turned sower or into a stinking Quality then such Food so Prepared will have as is mentioned before a strong Smell and Taste not retaining its natural Colour for in all sorts of Food in which the Spirituous Parts and Balsamick Body is strong their Smell Colour and Taste is Pleasant and Friendly Also it is to be noted that most Preparations of Food the quicker they are performed provided there be no violence done to the Spirit the better and more friendly such Food will prove for slow and intermitting Fires in either Boyling or other Preparations do flatten and dull the Spirituous Parts Therefore no Baker can preserve the pure white Colour in his fine small Bread if he be not quick about it for if any Preparation be continued too long the volatile Spirits become in a degree suffocated then Venus Sol and Iupiter grow weak and according to the length of time and degrees of heat so the natural Colours do alter and change for the Colours of all sorts of Food when Prepared do arise by degrees one after another gradually and when the gross Body is digested then the inward virtue which lay hid and captivated in the Body of Phlegm appears in its own friendly Form with a most lively and pleasant Colour Smell and Taste this is the point of Time all Preparers of Food ought to understand for if their Preparation be continued any longer the operation of Nature goes backward towards the center of the Original Fire then Saturn and Mars and their properties are presently awakened which do cause the Colour Smell and Taste of such Food to change The first degree the Colour alters to is a dusky Yellow and if the Preparation be continued by degrees it turns blackish till at last it will become Black or deep Red or of a mixed streaked Colour all according to the Property which does predominate in the Original or dark Fire also all such Food is of a gross and fulsom Smell and Taste unpleasant both to the Pallate and Stomach Preparing of Food is a greater Art and Mystery than many House-wives and others do think and if it be well and properly performed it adds much to the preservation of the Health both of Body and Mind for every thing has Power to awaken its Simile in the Body Therefore every one ought to use that care and understanding in the Preparations of all sorts of Food that the meek and most friendly Life be preserved from suffering violence Of Broyled Flesh. Broyled Flesh was much used in former Ages but now it is little in Fashion in comparison of the aforementioned Preparations Flesh dressed this way is much sweeter and fuller of Life and Spirit than Baked or Fry'd by reason it does not boyl in its own fat as the other two do also it is quickly Prepared and the gross Humidity in the flesh does freely purge and run into the Fire it has likewise the free Egress and Regress of the Air the Fire being full of lively brisk Spirits which in Ovens and Frying-Pans are destroyed by which means the heat becomes more gross and sulpherous like the heat of Charcoal which does suffocate the pure Spirits and then the Fat becomes of a heavy gross and Oily Quality with a strong Taste and Smell which gross matter in Boyled Flesh is destroyed therefore it does not only eat sweeter but breeds better Nourishment if the Fire be clear and done as it ought the Fire of Wood does prepare all sorts of Food sweeter and better than Cole and renders it much wholsomer for in all Preparations in which the Food does boyl in its own Fat or in Fat put to it if it hath not plenty of Water and the free influences of the Air the gross Humidity in the Fat does suffocate the pure Spirits and then the sweet Body which all Fat does afford great store of becomes gross and fulsom in Smell Taste and Operation which will quickly cloy the
Stomach and generates burdensom Humours in the Body because the pure Vertue and Friendly Quality in Food so Prepared is in part destroyed if this was understood People would not be in love with such Preparations for through frequent Use and continual Custom of eating Food badly prepared the Pallate is adulterated and altho such be strong and fulsom which always comes'to pass when the pure Spirits are wounded in the Preparation nevertheless the Pallate is not capable to distinguish Tastes for the senses are easily made friendly by use and custom to the greatest part of things Do not all stinking Trades which at first are unpleasant to the sense of Smeling become after a little use and custom easie to be endured and such cannot well distinguish the Air of Tallow-Chandlers and Butchers Shops from sweet pleasant Airs If this were not so it would be impossible for Nature to endure those Adulterations and unnatural Preparations of Food Therefore we see what a wonderful Power there is in every thing to awaken and strengthen its Likeness in the human Nature for this very cause the most illuminated Prophet Moses commanded the People of Israel that they should not only abstain from eating Unclean Creatures but that they should also separate themselves from every unclean thing for he was sensible that Man was capable to be wrought on by all things because he has a Simile with all There is more in this than many imagin which every one ought to consider not only in Preparations of Food but in all other things CHAP. V. The Seasons of the Year in which all sorts of Flesh are most unclean and aptest to contract and breed Diseases and also the danger of eating much green Food And the Reasons why so many are sick and die more at one time than another THE Seasons of the Year which are most dangerous to contract Diseases in are from the middle of Iune to the last of October For 1st This season is hot which openeth the Pores causeth Sweating and as it were a continual Evaporation of the Spirits which causeth a kind of fainty Indisposition to possess the whole Body for all heat which exceeds the Medium whether it proceeds from Seasons Meats Drinks or Exercises doth gradually waste and consume the Spirits and natural Heat and dulls the edge of the Attractive Digestive and Retentive Faculties of the Stomach therefore in all hot Countries and Seasons mens Appetites are not so vigorous and quick as in cold Countries For this reason all Superfluity and Intemperance are far more dangerous and men are apter to contract Distempers in the one than in the other as experience manifests we see that the Natives in all hot Climates are more temperate in Meats Drinks and Exercises than they are in cold which is one main cause why English People and others that travel into the East and West-Indies are so unhealthy and so many have died Experience hath taught them that the grand cause has been Intemperance not only continuing the same Disorders there which they had been addicted to in their own Country but rather increasing them saying The hotter the Weather the stronger and hotter the Drink ought to be this Custom hath been practised by some idle sottish People that understood Nature no more than Swine Whereas if such who travel did take right measures in Meats Drinks and Exercises they would be as healthy as in their own Countries 2dly In this Season People make use of variety of green Food as Beans Pease Cabages Colly-flowers Artichoaks c. All which things do contain great store of Phlegmy matter especially in cold Countries where the Sun which is the central Life of all things has not that Power to prepare such food as in hot Also the Bodies of most People being accustom'd all the remaining part of the year to strong hot Food and Drinks and then on a sudden without gradual Progression beginning such a kind of Diet as does beget Crudities and Obstructions is very prejudicial to them for Experience does shew that all such things are full of Phlegm and have but few Spirits and they very impure comparatively to what they were in the Spring Therefore they ought to be eaten moderately or else all such things do swell the Body and fill it with gross Phlegmatick Humours whence doth arise those heavy dull Indispositions which do generally attend People in this Season 3dly It is likewise to be observed that a great part of that green Food before-mentioned does often lie a considerable time before they are eaten viz. two or three days or more after such things are cut or gathered especially in great Cities and Towns some of them lie heating together a day or two before they are spent as Beans and Pease c. by which means they lose their pure brisk lively Taste and Smell their natural Colour is changed into a dull Green mixed with a dusky Black they are dull on the Pallate lie heavy on the Stomach nothing so quick of Concoction as those that are boyled Fresh these things presently lose their fresh lively Spirits and Tinctures whence doth proceed the pleasant Taste with the most fragrant Smell and natural Colour if your Pallate be not too much adulterated it will easily distinguish the one from the other 4thly At this time of the year the Air which is the Life of the Spirit in all Cities and great Towns is thick and sulpherous full of gross Humidity which has its source from many Uncleannesses such places do plentifully afford more especially in this season which is inamicable to the pure Spirits of all such Food for all green Food is naturally subject to Putrifaction by reason of their Phlegmatick Body this makes them more unhealthful and dangerous than otherwise they would be if fresh and lively These Summer Fruits when they have been gathered long and exposed to the corrupt Air of the Cities and Towns the pure spirituous Vertues and digestive Faculty is in a manner destroyed these Fruits viz. Gooseberries Currains Plums Cherries Pears Apples c. are endued with a very tender Spirit and Life and being full of Phlegm and gross matter they quickly corrupt and turn to Putrifaction which all the eaters thereof ought to consider Likewise it may be noted that many of these Fruits are eaten on a full Stomach both at Meals and immediately after which must needs be very pernicious to Health because they obstruct the Stomach and Passages generating many crude Windy Humours whereby they suffocate the pure Spirits and turn the sweet Oyl of Life sower whence doth proceed griping Pains in the Bowels Fluxes Fevers besides Pains in the Ioynts causing Trembling Distempers like Agues according to the Constitution of each Man and the matter which is awakened in the Root But on the contrary if such Fruits are ripe and fresh gathered and eaten in order when the Stomach is clean and free from being cloyed with other Food then they are very Profitable being
most of them of an opening and cleansinn Nature for they gently cleanse and purge the Passages and Bowels But all these Summer Fruits are best and safest Prepared being mixt with things of a drying and warming Quality or rather made into Drinks and when such Juices have passed through Fermentation the Phlegmy Body is digested and the spirituous Parts set at Liberty which do tincture the gross Body so that the Spirit and true Life is made thereby Predominant over the body of Phlegm such Drinks being drunk moderately prove very friendly to Nature especially to such as are Aged People which do most need spirituous Drinks Green Food is not capable either in Man or Beasts to generate so good Nourishment nor so firm as dry neither are the Spirits so brisk and lively the gross Juices of such Food do as it were suffocate the pure Spirits and turn the Balsamick Body sower as it farther appears by all sorts of Animals that live on green Food in this season are they not apt to faint and to be subject to many Diseases their Flesh and Fat being soft and greasy but those that live on dry Food their Bodies are freer from gross Phlegmatick matter their Fat and Flesh is of a firmer substance and their Spirits stronger and livelier and more capable they are to endure Labour without Prejudice to their Health it is also manifested by all Grains Seeds and other Fruits that are cut or gathered before the Sun and Elements have dryed away or exhaled the gross Phlegmy moisture all such things will presently Putrifie and Stink being loaded with so great store of Humidity but if they be gathered the Sun and Elements having dryed away the Humid Parts then all such things will keep sound and good for several Years for this cause all sorts of Food in which Phlegm does abound are very dangerous in this season if Temperance be wanting as our daily experience teaches 5thly In this Season the Sun also declines in strength and vigour which being the central Power and Life of all things they likewise do proportionably decline as appears in Herbage as for Example If you cut Grass in September which is then the Food of most sorts of Cattel the Hay made thereof is of a weak fading Nature and Vertue in comparison of that Hay which was made in Iune or Iuly which is of a lively brik strong substance and vertue for the Earth which is the Mother of all things in this Season is weak and impotent because she hath already put forth her strength and manifested her lively Vertues in the first spring or rising of the Sun for the Winter is the Rest and Sabbath of the Earth in which time she recovers strength-and vertue because she does then as it were cease from all her Labours and the Vegetative Quality stands as it were still and the more Frost and Snow and the drier the Winter is the more strength and vigour the Earth obtains such dry Weather cloaseth up the Pores by which the strength and vertue is prevented from having any Evacuations which is manifested by the goodness and great Increase of all Herbs Fruits and Grains being all filled with a Powerful Lively brisk Spirit and Vertue therefore in the first spring and rising of the Sun every thing rejoyceth and becomes very fragrant by vertue of the sweet Influences of this Coelestial Body and the Power of the Earth so that at this time all things seem to strive with a most lively motion to manifest their most inward Vertues this is the time for People to eat Herbs both Boyl'd and Raw Sallets and Pottages made thereof such Food at the Rising of the Sun are endued with a brisk lively Vertue and Strength and of an opening and cleansing Nature Purging the Blood and are good against all kind of Obstructions Also all sorts of Diseases are by vertue of Sobriety and Temperance and the use of good Medicines then easier cured than at any other of the Year it is also the Briskest and Healthiest Season and the same Intemperances and Disorders which may be the occasion of generating Diseases in the latter part of the Summer in this time will hardly be felt for now all things rejoyce and seem to concur for the Preservation of Nature 6thly In this Season viz. from the middle of Iune to the last of September most sorts of Cattel breed many Diseases First from the continual Heat and gross humid Air which in this season is more sulpherous the Pleasant Influences and Spirits of the Air are dull and thick which causes a dull and fainty Indisposition to possess the Bodies and Spirits of all Creatures Men themselves can witness the Truth of this Moreover all Creatures are more subject to sweat by which the Spirits do evaporate likewise the Food of most Creatures is Grass which is of a gross Phlegmatick Nature and generates not only an unfirm Nourishment but also fills the Body full of evil Juices the Fat and Flesh being of a soft greasy Nature having but few Spirits and those that are very impure the Blood of most Cattel being thick and gross which is the cause their Flesh will not take Salt as at other seasons also about this time most sorts of Cattel especially those that come from remote parts of great Cities are more or less Heated and Surfeited by Driving and other Accidents they being not formerly used to Driving the Weather being Hot and Fainty the Air thick and humid and they being loaded with much gross Flesh and Fat all these things concurring makes their Flesh unwholsom and subject to Corruption especially Sheep and Lambs whose Spirits and Lives are so tender that they cannot endure any kind of violent motion without manifest danger to their Health It is very rare that any Mutton or Lamb is good in this Season they not being free from the aforesaid Accidents you may easily distinguish by the Taste Smell and Colour of that which is killed off the Common without driving and other Accidents and that which is killed in London with driving the Bodies of all Creatures being in this season full of Phlegmy matter that every little Accident will wound the Spirit then presently the Body suffers many Inconveniencies and if such Cattel be kill'd before they have time to recover such Injuries their flesh is of a dull heavy Phlegmatick Nature the Spirits are few and those that are are impure for these reasons it will not take salt nor eat sweet as others will which are free from such Inconveniencies for salt has no Power to Preserve such Flesh from Putrifaction because as is mentioned before the Spirits are impure for those gross Bodies are Preserved by the Vertue and Power of the Spirit and in such flesh where the spirits are few and impure and the Flesh gross and full of Phlegmy matter the salt cannot incorporate therefore in this season use what Art you can in salting your Flesh it will not eat so sweet nor keep
so long without corrupting as at other times of the Year but on the contrary in other seasons and when the Flesh is free from the afore-mentioned Inconveniences their Blood being thin and well tempered with brisk and lively Spirits such Flesh being salted as soon as it is cold the Salt will greedily Penetrate it and incorporate it self with the well-tempered Blood and pure Supirits so that it does hold the corrupt Phlegmy part of the Flesh captive that the humidity thereof cannot turn to Putrifaction untill those brisk lively Spirits both in Flesh and Salt be through length of time wasted or suffocated which comes to pass in six eight or twelve Months more or less according to the goodness of it and well ordering and other Accidents and then it will fall into corruption and there is no recovery for it but if the Salt had cleansed and purged the Flesh from its gross humid parts as some say it does then such Flesh would have kept a longer time as all other gross Bodies will when the Sun and Elements have dryed away and exhaled the Phlegmy gross parts and left remaining the more firm and Spirituous which will continue sound and good many Years as many sorts of Corn Fruits and Hay which are altogether as subject to Corruption as Flesh when green and full of Phlegmy Juices but their Putrifaction is not so loathsom nor so offensive to Nature neither will such things generate such pernicious Vermin as Flesh will the matter in Flesh being grosser It was not without great Reason Wisdom that the Ancients commanded that Flesh should be eaten sparingly that there should be a particular care not only taken about the good state of the Bodies of such Cattel but also in the killing and preparing of it the dressing and preparing of all other sorts of Food being left to every ones discretion But the learned Prophet Moses was sensible that the common and frequent eating of Flesh was very dangerous as to the health of the Body and also of the Mind if care and understanding be not used in the Preparation thereof therefore he gave Laws and particular Directions for the ordering and preparing of Flesh but no mention made of other Food therefore Flesh in its best state and otherwise well ordered if much eaten is apt to load the Body with gross Humours and evil Juices but much more in the fore-mentioned seasons 7thly In this season all men do find themselves more subject to Indispositions the Spirits dull and heavy apt to faintness and sooner wearied with Labour than at any other time the Appetite not so quick and lively therefore all sorts of People ought to have double the care as to their Health at this time both in Meats Drinks and Labours also in Quality and Quantity for Intemperances are not so dangerous in the Winter or Spring Nature being then strong and able to bear with less Prejudice This is the time of the Year in which also most sorts of Cattel are subject to Sickness as Sheep to the Rot and other Cattel to Murrains And do not almost the double Number of People sicken and die in this season And is not the flesh of all sorts of Fowls in hot weather lean and poor altho they have more plenty of Food than in Winter But it lies not in the Quantity of Food but in the season of the Year and the Weather for all Heat when it does exceed the Medium evaporates and spends the Spirits and then Nature does presently Languish and the sweet Oyl in the Body turns as it were sower so that there is a general weakness and fainty Indisposition in all Creatures and their Flesh is rendered thereby the more unwholsom and apt to breed Diseases in the Eaters thereof If Sobriety and Temperance were observed and other Circumstances belonging to Health a little Physick would serve But in this Age men may speak and write of Temperance until they are weary for there is not one of an hundred that is willing to observe and conform to its safe and healthful Rules though it cannot be denied but that It is one of the Principal things which puts a delectable sweetness on all our other Enjoyments But few in Health consider these things most being rather of an approving and admiring than a Practising Temper especially of those things they are not in Possession of many men also slight and have no esteem for those things they do or may enjoy letting go the substance and eagerly Pursuing after shadows But seeing that in this Intemperate Age most Persons do live irregular Lives few or none being willing to observe the Rules of Health in their Meats Drinks and Exercises therefore it is convenient for the continuation of Health to take Proper Purgative Medicines both at Spring and Fall tho they are not sensible of any manifest Indisposition by which means they may easily prevent the generation of matter for when Sickness and Distempers have invaded the Body then it will be a difficult point to get such Medicines as are suitable to the Disease and can by their Vertue cure them when the Spirits are wounded and the Distempers and Obstructions in the Body have gotten great power over Nature in such cases the best Medicines do often fail most Diseases being generated gradually as the Intemperances are committed for Nature ever hides the Evil Matter whence Distempers do Proceed as long as she is able but when once the Diseases do manifest themselves with any kind of Violence then there is danger at hand most People being mistaken in Nature for they generally attribute the cause of their Diseases to the least Intemperance or taking Cold or the like never considering how many Disorders and Intemperances they have formerly committed every Act of Intemperance does in some degree obstruct Nature and by degrees sows the seeds of future Diseases not but that outward Colds and the like do hurt Nature and oft-times awaken the matter which lies in the inward Parts and bring it to manifestation but on the contrary when the in-side is clean and free from Obstructions and other Evils the body doth then very rarely receive any injury by such outward Accidents for Nature still endeavours to overcome and withstand the evil matter in the Body and makes several Essays to throw such Disorders off but if Irregularities in Meats Drinks and Labours be continued the Evil at last grows so great that then Nature must bow and Distempers take place This is always to be noted that if any Member or Part of the Body be weakened either by inward Obstructions or outward Accidents as Falls Bruises broken Bones c. and the Person be guilty of any Intemperance or disorderly Living the weak or hurted part first feels it according to the old Proverb The Weakest goes to the Wall It will be convenient if any upon particular occasions be excessive in Meats and Drinks to observe the following Rules which they 'l find to
of Vermin and Insects which is caused through the Contraction of gross thick fulsom Matter for want of Motion all which running Waters are not subject to But although Water be Natures common drink for Man as well as Beasts yet since now a-days Men generally betake themselves to other Liquors we shall briefly treat of them likewise Of Ale and its Nature and Operation as also of Beer Ale hath the first place of all Drinks made with Malt and is of greatest Antiquity That Ale is best that is made after this manner 1st That the Liquor or Water that you put to your Malt be made boiling-hot but not boyl and then put it into your Mash-Tub or Vessel and let it stand a little while before you put your Malt to it which will somewhat moderate the fierce heat of the Water thereby rendring it more capable to receive the Vertues and sweet Quality of the Malt which violent hot Water will not do so well for it doth not only hurt the pure Spirituous Parts of the Malt but will six or harden the Malt so that the Sweetness and good Vertues will not so easily give it self forth into the Water also if you put the Malt into the Water very hot then it will Tinge or cause the Wort to become of a red Martial Colour but on the contrary the cooler the Water is when you put in the Malt the Paler or more Venerial will the Colour of your Wort be which is the best Colour of the two for all Ale that does look Clear and White is to be preferred before that which hath a high Martial Red Colour And in some parts of England there is such Ale made which is much liked but this commendable White Colour depends also upon the well making of the Malt viz. in the Fewel and degrees of the Fire they dry or fix it with for if the Heat be too strong or fierce or if the egress or regress of the Air be hindred or any other Accident happen of the like nature then such Malt will make Ale and Beer to look of a Reddish Martial Colour which is not to be commended though some ignorantly cry it up For the predominant Quality in all sorts of Corn stands in the White and all the pure Water and sweet Body of it proceeds from the predominant Quality of Venus therefore the more gentle mild and natural the Preparation is from the beginning to the end the more wholsom and Balsamick will the Ale be If the Malt be dryed with too hot or fierce a Fire whence the Colour happens to the Ale it shews Violence done to the essential Spirits which also happens in Brewing when the Malt is put to the Water too hot or by overmuch boyling of the Wort which is not commendable in Ale for good Ale may be made with little or no boyling and indeed there is not much reason for the much boyling of any sort of Drink made of Malt except you design to keep it a great while For the boyling of Ale doth cause a too great Evaporation of the Volatile Spirit and Balsamick Vertues which will not endure the harsh Fire for this cause strong Wort will wast and evaporate as much in quantity in one Hour as Small shall in three and more Besides boyling these Liquors destroys their mild gentle cleansing Qualities and fixes them making them hotter and fiercer in Operation for the more you evaporate or destroy the sweet Body of any thing the stronger and fiercer the Original Qualities become and appear more external but so long as the pure Volatile Spirit and sweet Balsamick Body predominates the strong fiery Original Spirit of Saturn and Mars lies as it were hid and seeing all the friendly and wholsom Vertues of Ale reside in the sweet Body you ought not to destroy That by over-much boyling Nay I will add that the best and most wholsom Ale may be made and not boyled at all as some in this Nation do which does but wast it in Quantity and make it worse in Quality so that it becomes hotter in Operation and a friend to the generation of the Stone Every one knows or may know by experience that Beer heats the Body more than Ale the reason is the Balsamick Vertues in Beer are in part destroyed by boyling so that it becomes more like a Spirit and therefore it will keep longer and because of its lasting most People imagin it the best which is a great mistake for they might as well say that the best Sack drawn off by Distillation into a Spirit is better to drink than the Sack was whereas I think the contrary is known to every body of common sense The nearer you bring any thing to its Original by destroying the balsamick Vertues and middle Qualities or vegetative Vertue the longer that thing will keep sound this is manifest in all Spirits drawn from any Wines or other balsamick Liquors for this reason Beer that is boyled most will longest keep from turning sour or flat but still this is no Argument that it is therefore the best and wholsomest for the predominant Quality in all strong Beer especially if it be kept to be â—tale is of a fierce harsh Martial and Saturnine Heat of a hard greedy Nature which infects the blood with fretting eating Humours very prejudicial to Health also it generates the Stone not so much from the Hops which many accuse as the chief cause but for that the pure sweet body is in so great a measure destroyed in the boyling it to such an height that it might keep not but that the Hops do help to heat the body and cause the Stone and other Diseases but not purely and meerly as they are Hops but this comes to pass from the Preparation For Hops in their own Nature have no such operation to cause the Stone but altogether the contrary for Hops are of an opening cleansing Nature and they powerfully purge by Urine and make excellent Medicines against the Stone Dropsical Diseases but all their natural medicinal Vertues are destroyed in their being boyled in the Beer and then there remains in them chiefly the Martial harsh fiery Property which helps to preserve the Beer from growing flat or eager but it augments its heat and makes it of a harsher operation And as the boyling of Ale destroys the sweet cleansing purging Quality and causes it to evaporate just so it does by Hops and so much the more because in them the volatile Spirit stands as it were external for the Sun and Elements have exhaled the gross Phlegmy substance and thereby sets the spirituous at liberty only being close stuffed into bags preserves them from evaporating whilst there they continue but as soon as they come into the fierce boyling Liquor or Wort these essential Vertues and good Qualities are destroyed and flee away but still there remains the original strong bitter Quality which cannot be destroyed by boyling except they be annhilated for it is
or awakened above and beyond its proper degree if any quantity be drunk during the time of its operation but afterwards it leaves Nature with fewer Spirits than it found in her for all Meats and Drinks and whatsoever else goes into the Body that is unequal in its parts does too violently awaken or kindle the Central Heats and raise them from their several Centers and brings Nature into an unequal Operation consumes the Radical Moisture and as it were burns up the sweet Oyl and evaporates the pure Spirits for this cause after the operation of such unequal things most People are possest with an heavy Dulness and Indisposition Fumes and Vapours besieging the Crown the Senses stupified or disorder'd the Stomach and Appetite furr'd and dull'd By which effects all Men may be sensible that Nature does perfectly hate all Extreams and Inequality But on the contrary if Meats or Drinks be of a simple or middle Nature and there be in them no manifest Quality predominant then they gently insinuate their Vertues into all parts of the Body administring both dry and moist Nourishment and with silence and concord support the Body in Health The Vertue of Tobacco taken in Pipes is extracted from the Smoke thereof now Smoke is unusual to Nature and a fulsom Steem or Vapour full of dark Sulpherous Saturnal Excrements which the Fire and Light casts forth as an abomination being void of all real Vertue it contains a gross Humidity and a fierce keen Quality very pernicious to the pure Spirits For Smoke proceeds from the poysonous Juices and Liquor which the Fire and Air separates and casts forth it being a thing that all People endeavour to avoid and how inimical it is to Nature is further manifested by that black sutty Substance which it leaves behind it and by its destroying Vegetation for it contains two poysonous Qualities a strong Bitter one from Mars and a fulsom Astringent one from Saturn its black Colour shews that its predominant Quality is from the venomous Center of Saturn and hence when Tobacco is burned it sends forth a strong fulsom scent or smell offensive to most that are not used to it nay do not the very Breaths of those that take Tobacco perfectly stink And does not the smoking of it so defile the common Air that a Man may know where one hath been that takes Tobacco they leave such a fetid Vapour behind them Do not all or most of our English Herbs when burned send forth a far better Scent or Fume than Tobacco does And I am sure many of them would not only be less offensive but produce better effects as to the Cure of Diseases When any Herb Wood or other thing is set on fire you may presently perceive by the scent what Quality was therein predominant for the Fire powerfully awakens all the hidden Qualities which could not be perceived whilst the thing remained intire If the chief quality of the Herb or thing burnt stand in the friendly Nature then it sends forth and is manifested by two Qualities viz. a most pleasant sweet Smell or Vapour chearing and delightful to the Senses and also it sends forth a burthensom Fume or Vapour which incorporates it self with the Air and flies away in a Smoke or Steem which is from the poysonous Root the Original of every Life But on the contrary if you burn any Herb or other thing the predominant Quality whereof stands in the Martial or Saturnine Poysons then all such things send forth also two Qualities viz. a very unpleasant Scent or Fume offensive and burthensom to Nature dulling the pure Spirits and as it were suffocating the pleasant thin Vapours of the Air and also it sends forth a gross humid poysonous matter that incorporates it self with the thickest part of the Air and evaporates in a Saturnine Smoke for if there lie hid any Verrue or Vice in any thing Fire will unlock all the Gates and discover it and if there be any Aromatick or Balsamick Vertue in the Herbs of Vegetables so burnt it will appear by sending forth odoriferous and pleasant Smells As on the contrary ill Smells are an evident Testimony of Saturnine and Martial Poysons being predominant which is the very Nature of Tobacco and therefore not to be so wantonly used as commonly it is Lastly I would not have People imagin that there is the more Vertue in Tobacco because the Fumes and Smoke of it will open the Body and loosen the Belly for it is the nature of all Smoke to open being of a fierce keen penetrating quality that arises from the Original Poysons in Nature whence it has also a sharp fierce humid quality that is exceeding offensive to the Eyes like the Fumes that Onions send forth when cut And we must likewise note that when Tobacco was first brought into England it was ten-fold more offensive to the Takers thereof than it is now because their Fore-Fathers were not acquainted with the use of it so that they could not entail any desire of it on their Posterity For the Children that are begot by Persons that have accustomed themselves to the common use of these unnatural things contract a kind of unsensible Affinity with such things as proceeding from the like matter and Essences so that thereby there are Foundations laid for Inclinations towards the use of them The same is to be understood in other things as those whose Parents live much on Flesh or Fish do lay such Foundations for an Inclination thereunto in the very Radix of their Children that it would prove a very difficult thing for them to refrain there-from So that every succeeding Age doth more easily and familiarly and with the less difficulty receive these evil Customs and Habits till in time they become almost Natural and thence humane Nature in general becomes weaker and decayed and Diseases come into the World with Children as part of their Essence and Scurveys and other Diseases grow almost Universal and all this for want of Temperance and Discretion in their Progenitors A sad Inheritance to leave our Off-spring when we bequeath them our Follies and intail upon them Miseries that are but the just Punishments and natural Consequences of them Of Clothing Bedding c. As Moderation and a frugal Restraint free from Superfluity or Delicacy in Clothes Bedding c. does much conduce to the Health of the Body as well as of the Mind which is observed but by a few so all over-warm Cloathing soft Feather-Beds and close Houses render Nature so nicely tender that upon every small Accident the Body is subject to various Injuries First such usage makes all the external parts so obnoxious that every little Cold penetrates and seizes the Body which being by these means obstructed there follows Coughs Wheesings Shortness of Breath and innumerable other Inconveniencies 2dly It opens the Pores by which there is an evaporation of the heat and spirits causing a hot faintness to attend the whole Body it hurts also
ill Customs willingly deprive themselves of its singular benefits therefore those that regard their Healths ought not to make strong Bulwarks and Fences from the free visits of so good a friend but rather court its Familiarity by motion in the open Fields airy Houses c. I know it is a Custom in many places of the Country to plant Trees before their Houses but I am of opinion that they are not convenient nor profitable in respect of Health for it hinders the fresh breezing Gales of Wind to enter into and sweeten their Houses also Trees Woody places and Vallies do by simile attract the Clouds and moist Vapours which are injurious to some Constitutions of men It is likewise convenient that all sorts of People do not accustom themselves to sit by Fires especially those made of Cole or any other of the like Nature because they do as it were by a natural simile dry up a Radical Moisture exhale and suffocate the Spirits and with too great violence open the Pores of the whole Body and as it were chill the whole-Body making it thereby incapable to endure the Air without trouble and danger of taking cold it also dulls the edge of the Appetite and sends dark thick Fumes into the Head weakens the Eyes and causes a general indisposition through the whole body Besides that heat and warmth which is procured by Fires heavy Clothes c. is very troublesom in comparison of that pleasant natural Heat that is awakened by Motion and Action in airy and open places and there is as much difference both in the Appetite and the whole state of the Body and Spirits between the one and the other as there is between Light and Darkness the one being lightsom airy pleasant strong and lively with a sharp and perfect Appetite the other being unpleasant cold on one side and hot on the other dull and heavy of little Appetite and that not good and so the body being feeble and tender the man knows not what to eat nor what to drink nor what to wear he finds every Room too cold for him he is indisposed therefore he must have this and the other dainty Bit and this and the other Cordial Drink but all to little purpose so long as they drive their old Trade of Superfluities in the above mentioned things A Cup of cold Water or small Drink and a piece of brown Bread to a well-prepared Stomach is above all Dainties Therefore it is a very uncomfortable thing for a man to be ignorant of himself for such never use things that are friendly to Nature and the good Health both of Body and Mind but on the contrary are diligent to procure such things as are inimical and hurtful to it Wisdom which is certainly great Riches teaches a man to put an high Estimation upon mean and simple Things and to use them all with a thankful Heart to the Glory of God Of particular Trades and particularly of Seamen The last Consideration of the great Benefit of the open Air leads us to observe what Callings and Imployments may be esteemed the most wholsom or best accommodated for the preservation of Health touching which we are in the first place to note that all sorts of Trades that work in Wood as Carpenters Ioyners and other Trades of the like Nature are all of them wholsom Imployments as well because their Labour consists of sundry motions of the Body as for that the various sorts of Woods they work in send forth most pleasant and fragrant Smells which must needs be very refreshing to Nature and if those men were Temperate and Careful of themselves not to lift pieces of Timber beyond their strength c. they might enjoy their Health and Strength even to a good old Age. Also those Trades and Imployments that belong to the Water such as Sea-men and Barge-men Skullers c. are healthful Imployments for the pleasant and wholsom Vapours which the Water always sends forth being mixed with the friendly and gentle Breezes of the sweet Air does powerfully penetrate all the parts of the Body and cleanses all the passages of the Breast makes the Lungs sound sharpens the Stomach giving it a good Appetite and an easie Concoction it makes men lively and hardy and the Bones and Nerves strong for they being still in the fresh Air it is no wonder that they find such good Effects of it I know no Imployment men could spend their time about with more Vigour Health and Pleasure than This if the Rules of Sobriety were strictly observed But they are a fort of People whom no bounds of Sobriety can limit such as use no Medium or Equality in their Meats Drinks and Exercises for the greater part they are excessive drinkers of strong Drinks such as Brandy and other adulterated Spirits which not only weaken the Natural Heat but awaken the Original Fires and fierce Poysons in Nature which does cause fiery Passions and Head-strong Humors in the Mind and indeed they living on salt Flesh and Fish can hardly be free from doing Violence to Nature because the Spirituous Parts and Balsamick Body is almost destroyed in that kind of Food and the Quality which is predominant is of a hot sharp and fierce Nature and this Nourishment being commonly taken does heat and dry up the Radical Moisture and cools the refreshing Vapours which proceed from the Elements of Air and Water from whence also proceeds unnatural Droughts and the Generation of the Disease called the Scurvy and innumerable other Distempers But these friendly Elements the Water and the Air give them often great Relief for otherwise they could not as they do eat and drink to such an Excess Many men of this imploy ruin their Health by indulging too much their Appetites for they eating and drinking beyond measure and without exception when they come into hot Climates viz. the East and West-Indies where the Beams of the Sun are so powerful that their Pores are opened and they sweat continually and their pure Spirits and Radical Moisture so much exhaled and evaporated that they presently feel an inward Weakness and a Decay in the Natural Heat and in the Stomach accompanied with cloudy Fumes in the Head causing an Indisposition and Weariness through the whole Body and rendring Nature incapable to bear such a burthen of Intemperances as they lay upon her without manifest Prejudice Their eating I say of salt Flesh and Fish and their drinking of hot and inflaming Liquors and observing of no fit Season nor due proportion of time for taking of Rest which in hot Countries should be from twelve of the Clock to three in the Afternoon These and other Extravagances bring upon them Fluxes griping Pains of the Bowels and Acute Fevers their drinking of that Liquor called Punch is also very Inimical to Health For the Lime-Iuice which is one of the Ingredients they commonly use in it is in its Nature fierce sharp and Astringent apt to create griping Pains
in the Belly These and many other Diseases are the direful Effects of their Intemperance in eating drinking c. But still 't is certain none would be more Healthy than Sea-faring men if they keep within the bounds of Moderation and would be but content with the more simple and mean sorts of Food and Drink as Bread Cheese Butter Gruels various Grains and Fruits which are both mild and friendly and would with little use and custom sufficiently supply Nature with a Nourishment both dry and moist and that much better than the various sorts of Food which is generally allotted for Sea-men salt Flesh and Fish may do well between whiles if it be sparingly and seldom eaten but I would advise such People not to eat too freely of the various Fruits such Countries afford and to eat sparingly also of Flesh Fish c. For all sudden Alterations and Extreams prove very noxious and dangerous to Nature especially to such who have in their long Voyages accustomed themselves to the forementioned things CHAP. VII Of Wheat and other Grains Beans Pease Herbs Colworts and Colly-Flowers and that the Fruits Herbs and Grains of our own Country are better and more agreeable to our Bodies than any brought from abroad To which is added some Remarks on Fish OF all sorts of Bread that made of Wheat is the finest and best some Astrologers think that this sort of Grain is under the Dominion of the Planets Iupiter and Venus As there are several kinds of Wheat the best is that which is hard thick and heavy clear smooth and of the colour of Gold and which grows in fat and Limy Ground and afterwards has heat in the Mow three or four Months by which that raw kind of Quality that is in all Grains may be fully digested the like usuage in Hay c. will not be inconvenient This Grain is not only the strongest but of all sorts of Bread the Qualities and Properties of its Nature stand in the best Equality only the sweet and Balsamick Quality does a little predominate which gives it that pleasant Relish and kindly Operation far beyond all other sorts of Bread there is scarcely to be found any Grain Herb or Fruit in the whole Creation so highly graduated in Nature as Wheat or where the Forms and Qualities of Nature stand in more exact and perfect Equality therefore it does justly challenge the first place and preheminence of all sorts of Bread or Food it is the Foundation of all good Nourishment called by the wise Man The Staff of Life and our Saviour Christ compares the Heavenly and Spiritual Food of the Soul to Bread which does not a little Illustrate the excellency thereof Wheat ought not to be ground at Mill above a day or two before it be made into Bread for when the Body is broken the pure Volatile Spirituous Parts and oily Balsamick Body will more or less evaporate according to the time it has lain ground unless the Flour be packed up hard and close in Casks as Sea-men and Merchants do when they carry it to Sea by which means the Spirituous and Oily Quality will be some-what longer preserved but still when it comes to be used they 'l find it to be much drier and the Bread made of that Flour is not to be compared in goodness to that made of Wheat newly ground it is neither so sweet nor so moist as the other This Grain is so sound and firm in its Nature that if it be not ground it will endure to be kept for several Years but if once broken the Volatile Spirit which is the preserver of all things will evaporate and then the sweet friendly oily Quality is quickly destroyed and it loses its natural Smell Colour and Taste and generates Worms but when the other lively and pleasant Qualities are preserved no Vermin will breed in it I confess it is very hard to hit the proper Season of Reaping this and other Grains the Medium between the time of standing too long and cutting too soon is to be regarded but of these Evils or Extremities the lesser which is the later is to be chosen for if it be cut down three or four days before it comes to its full Ripeness it will gain what was wanting by lying in the Sheaf and heating in the Mow by which means you shall not only preserve it in its natural Colour but it will also be heavier and fuller yielding more and better Flour If you let it stand too long until it be over-ripe then it will scarce recover its self for when this or any other Grain comes to its full strength and ripeness and it be not then cut down the pure Volatile Spirit and oily Body begins to evaporate as the gross phlegmy matter in any Body is exhaled and digested by the Influences of the Sun so also the Spirituous Parts and Oily Body will be exhaled and evaporated by vertue of the same Influences after the drying up of the former gross matter by which the Balsamick Body is as it were captivated for the Sun works first in the phlegmy and gross Body which when it is exhaled the pure Essential Spirits and Balsamick Vertues being set at liberty the Sun also will immediately work on them too and dry them up to that degree as 't will be beyond the Power and Efficacy both of Nature and Art to retrive an example we have often of this in Hay c. Your Wheat by too long standing grows as I have already said not only lighter and loses its natural Colour and will not afford so good nor so much Bread but it also is harder of Concoction and creates Obstructions in the Stomach the wise Man says there is a proper Season for all things under the Sun which without doubt is to be principally regarded in Reaping and Gathering of the Fruits of the Earth If you set any value on Health and have a mind to preserve Nature you must not separate the Finest from the Coursest Flour because that which is Fine is naturally of an obstructive and stopping Quality But on the contrary the other which is Course is of a Cleansing and Opening Nature therefore that Bread is best which is made of both together for in the inward Bran and Skin of the Wheat is contained an oily Quality which is of a sweet friendly Nature by reason whereof the Bread which is made of fine and course together will not only be sweeter and keep longer Moist but is also more wholsom easier of Concoction and does gently loosen the Belly and if plentifully eaten it will cleanse and free the Passages from gross phlegmy Matter it will strengthen also more than the other Bread made of the finest Flour it will be harder and appear staler at three days old than the other will be at six or seven It must be confessed that the Nutrimentive Quality is continued in the fine Flour yet in the branny part is contained the opening and
fine and many of their Creatures have hardly any Wool or Hair on them The wonderful and wise Creator hath endued every Country and Climate with such a permanent Nature even in the beginning as brings forth Herbs Fruits and Grains which are proper and most agreeable to the Natures and Constitutions of the People born in that place And as the cold Countries produce abundance of Cloth and Furs so on the contrary hot Climates afford Silks and find Calicoes and the like which are not proper nor useful for us neither are ours for them How contrary to Reason and Nature it is for men in cold Countries to cloath themselves with Silk and fine Calico And so on the contrary for those in hot Countries to cloath themselves with our strong thick Woolen Cloth and Furs But mens Health is not so much endangered by outward Garments as by too great an Indulgence of Nature in the use of Meats and Drinks the one being External and the other Internal It is known by Experience that the mixing of the East and West-Indian and Spanish Fruits with our Food and Drinks have encreased Diseases and made the People more sickly than in former Ages with many new Distempers which had not any existence among us for most or all those things that are brought from those Countries are not proper for Food and are also endued with contrary Natures to the Fruits and Grains our own Country produceth as all sorts of Spices Nutmegs Cloves Mace Cinnamon Pepper and Ginger they are all extream hot and dry and are not proper to be used but in a Physical way and indeed we do not need them in that way neither for we have Herbs and Roots that grow in our own Climate more proper for that use though the Physicians have been as willing to deceive the People as the Merchants by telling them the many excellent Vertues contained in them Yet it cannot be denied but that those Spices are Excellent in their Nature and Operation though not proper for our Constitutions nor to be mixed among our Food and Drinks for that Food in which such things are mixed does by degrees destroy the Natural Heat of the Stomach drying up the Radical Moisture and those cool Vapours which would otherwise refresh the whole Body keeping of it pleasant making the Spirits brisk and full of Life this pleasant Quality is destroyed by Eating and Drinking such things in which Spices Sugars and Spanish Fruits are mixed it makes the Blood also of a hot sharp keen quality and causes thick hot Fumes to ascend into the Head making the Head Hands and Feet and all the external parts to glow with an unnatural Heat it deadens and dulls the Action of the Stomach and takes away the sharpness of the Appetite this may be known to every one if they would observe the operation of such things for they are unequal in their parts the heat bearing a predominacy in them they do by Similes cause all sorts of Foods and Drinks with which the are mixed to become like themselves viz. Unequal if great care be not taken And the worst of all is after our Stomachs are accustomed to such things we cannot be well satisfied without them for they are in some degree like Wine whereof if a man drink frequently he cannot without a great deal of Trouble and some Hazard as to his Health refrain from it the like is true in drinking of Brandy and taking of Tobacco which Customs are far more dangerous than the former For every sort of Food and Drink in which Nature is in its Properties Unequal does powerfully stir up and beget its likeness in the Stomach causeth Nature to be unequal in her Operations for no sorts of Meats or Drinks do more destroy the Health and Welfare of Nature than those that contain too much Nourishment and whose predominant quality is too hot which generally is the effects of all such Foods and Drinks in which the above-mentioned Ingredients are mixed When I consider the strange and unnatural mixture and the variety of Meats and Drinks that are too commonly used I cannot admire the Unhealthiness of our Age And certainly if this Nation do continue and encrease their eating and drinking the improper Fruits Spices Wines and other things that are the Products and Growths of other Countries as has been done for these forty or fifty years last past we shall be corrupted in our Radixes as too many are already all those things being now commonly used which have greatly encouraged other Nations to make such quantities of them as that they are become so Cheap that it is scarcely worth the Merchants while to bring them over for where there was one pound of Sugar spent forty or fity years ago now there is a Thousand and where there was then one quart of Wine drunk there is now Ten Thousand The use of Tobacco and Brandy a hundred years since was hardly known nay the use of our Ale and Beer has hardly been above two hundred years which now we account most Natural there is somewhat may be said against Beer but because it is made of our own Grain I shall not say any thing here of its Nature or Operation having treated of it in another place Great hath been the Increase of those Foreign Ingredients of late years insomuch that they are esteemed good to be mixed among common Food and Drinks as also to be taken Physically for you may hear many say that Tobacco is good to prevent Fumes and Vapours from flying into the Head and so make it their constant practice to take it Now if this had any such operation as they say the constant use of it would destroy its Vertues the same may be alledged of Brandy Wine Spices c. It is to be noted and pitied that Aged People do not only eat and drink such things as are hurtful but they mix Spices Sugars and Fruits among all their Childrens Food and between whiles give them Wine and strong Drink which must be very Injurious to their Health for all Children are tender both as to their Spirits and Bodies and because they are growing their Nature requires great store of moisture which can be no otherways maintained but by a simple and mean Food and Drink If you mix their Food with Sugars Wine Spices and Spanish Fruits they will certainly over-heat the Body stop the Pores dry up the Radical Moisture hinder the pure moist Vapours of the Air that they cannot penetrate the Body These destroy the Stomach blunt the edg of the Appetite contracting the Vessels of their Stomachs making them lean or Consumptive and in others breed abundance of gross Phlegmatick Humors all according to the Nature of each Child's Constitution It causeth likewise all their external parts to burn and glow with unnatural Heat generating many Windy and Watery Diseases and Evil Juices in their Joynts All these Maladies are much augmented by other indulgent ways Women use towards
their Children as keeping them over-warm especially at night and feeding of them too often and too plentifully insomuch that their Stomachs are always fouled and furred with gross and Phlegmy Matter their Food being too much in Quantity and too rich in Quality which makes the Children uneasie apt to cry and froward and puts their Nurses to abundance of trouble which would be in a great measure prevented if Temperance was observed and Women would be content to give their Children that kind of Food that were proper for their Ages and Constitutions and which does grow under and by the Vertue of our own Constellations for every Country or Climate does furnish the Natives thereof with all things both for Food and Physick proper to preserve Nature having more agreement and unity with our Constitutions Is there any sort of thing brought from the West or East-Indies from Spain or any other Country that is to be compared to our Bread Cheese or Butter Have we not a great multitude of excellent Herbs and Roots which make good wholsom Food And have we not also excellent Water which is not only the best of Drinks it self but by the help of our own Grains and Fruits makes various sorts of Drinks as strong as Wine And do we not make excellent Drink of Apples more proper for our Bodies and more suitable to our Nature than any of the Spanish Wines What is it that English People want either for the Belly or the Back if Wantonness or superfluity was set aside Are not all the sorts of Food that are of our own Growth more suitable and friendly to our Natures than those that come from other Countries Are not those that live in the most remote parts of England and far from Cities and Sea-Ports where Mony is scarce and such things dear that the common People cannot buy them most healthful and freest from Diseases But now those Out-landish Ingredients begin to be so much admired that the good Dame viz. the Farmers Wife will sell her Eggs Butter Cheese and Wheat to buy Sugar Spice and Tobacco which stand them in no stead only to increase Intemperance and Distempers The very Plough-men and Shepherds defile their most pleasant Air with the fulsom Fumes of Tobacco Likewise the common use of these things have made way for various Trades and Employments so that a great part of the People are imployed to bring them over and to distribute them here so that there is small hopes of leaving off these Superfluities they are become as it were Essential to the Nature of the Users but the chief Happiness of English People is that their own Country does abound with all things that are needful for the support and preservation of Nature and that every one is left to his free choice Therefore a Wise Man may in the midst of those various Superfluities live soberly and temperately to his own comfort and the praise of his Creator 2. It is to be observed that most of the Fruits and Spices that come from those hot Countries are not only disagreeable to our Natures but even the Natives of those places do very moderately and sparingly use them esteeming them not fit to mix with their common Food the same is likewise true of their Moderation in the use of Wines for they do not drink it as we do in that abundance but sparingly and mixed with Water besides the frequent use of the fore-mentioned Ingredients do make English men too Effeminate and do in no wise agree with their Constitutions for cold Countries do make hardy strong and Martial People as also Food of that Nature does by its simile maintain and preserve the Health of the Body and Mind far beyond what is brought from those hot Climates But if the Natives of those Countries should eat and drink those Spices and Wines in that Quantity as we do it would as it were destroy the very Radix of Health which is one main cause why our English are so unhealthy when they travel and live in such hot Countries for they continuing the same Intemperances which they accustom'd themselves unto in their own Countries which those places will not admit of their Bodies and Natures do much alter and change when they alter the Climate and not only our Bodies but also our Dispositions and Inclinations are thereby much changed Therefore all People ought strictly to observe such degrees of Temperance in such places as are most suitable and profitable to preserve Health for not only all sorts of their Fruits and Food but their Drinks also do much differ from ours the predominant Quality whereof standing chiefly in the Nature of Sol and Venus and if such Fruits and Wines be not taken sparingly they will quickly awaken their Centers and Natures in the Body and cause the pure subtle Spirits to evaporate as most do find after drinking plentifully of Wine or strong Drink and eating Food in which those Rich Fruits are compounded how indisposed will Nature be how heavy and dull the senses and as it were stupified And this is caused not only by overcharging of Nature with the Quantity but with the Quality also of the Food which doth so violently open the Solar and Venerial Properties of the Body by a sympathetical operation and does evaporate the pure Spirits and consumes the sweet Oyl whence the pleasant Life burns after such Intemperance in eating and drinking you find great alterations in the state of your Body Some think That the stronger the Liquor and the Richer their Food is the more Vertue and Strength is in it but the contrary is too apparent for nothing is more hurtful to Nature than that which contains much Nourishment for this cause many People are out of order their natural strength decaying by degrees and occasioning many Diseases to reign which had no being in former Ages when the use of such things were not known In remote parts where such Fruits and Wines cannot be procured they are happily freed from many grievous Distempers with which we are afflicted But all that I can say will not convince such as are Wise in their own Conceits nor prevent them from boyling two Quarts of Ale to one with good store of Oatmealand Spice and then sweetning it well with Sugar give two or three Quarts a day hot to Child-bed-Women Of Fish Fish generally are cold and moist of them some are easie others hard of Digestion The frequent and plentiful eating of this begets Phlegm and a kind of cold moist matter in the Body likewise we are to account some of them unclean and unwholsom others clean and wholsom the first sort are such that are bred in muddy stinking Waters as Ponds c. where the Water has no motion or in Rivers which receive the Excrements of Cities or Towns such Fish produce bad Nourishment corrupt the Blood and cause Obstructions Scabs Leprous Diseases c. If People were sensible of the hurt they do they would no more
boyled 4. Bread and Butter Bread and Cheese 5. Milk and ripe Fruits as Milk and Apples c. 6. Butter and several kinds of Pulses boyled 7. Bread with all sorts of Flesh fit to be eaten 8. Herbs and Flesh. 9. Roots and Flesh. 10. Bread and Eggs but Butter is but an improper Ingredient with Eggs. 11. Bread and Fish 12. Oyl and Fish for Butter is not so good Also Fish is wholsomer boyled in Water than prepared any other way I could nominate many more Mixtures but these are the most natural and agreeable to each other and most of them have mutual and friendly Aspects from their Radixes so that what variation these Ingredients do make 't is for the better they advancing each others Vertues If People could be perswaded to be moderate in Quantity and prefer such simple Viands and proper Mixtures in their food and drink and observe to prepare their Meat according to the Rules before specified most of those cruel Diseases now reigning and raging would be prevented There is abundance more in the observation of these things than the generality of People understand or imagin All that I desire of the Reader is that he would be so friendly to himself to make Tryal for no man can be truly sensible of the Evil of any thing except he separate himself from his Errors and tries the contrary Butchers Tallow-Chandlors Poulterers and many other offensive Trades perceive not those filthy Stinks and Fumes which Slaughter-houses Melting-houses c. send forth except they separate themselves for a while into a more pure and cleaner Air and then they become capable of distinguishing one from the other For the like Reason those that have accustomed themselves to unnatural and improper mixtures of Food or bad Preparations their Pallates and Stomachs are become One with such things and they can as little distinguish the pure natural Taste and Scents of Food from the contrary as the Trades-men afore-said can the noisom fumes of their own Shops and Work-houses There are many Thousands of brave finical Dames in this Nation that are so curious in their Houses and in whitening their Linnen that they themselves can hardly tell what will please them and yet after all they lie on Beds that do really stink worse than Common Houses of Office tho being used to them they do not smell it neither can they so great is the power of the Evil Nature and Custom And in these stinking Dunghills these delicate Madams spend two Thirds of their time and surely then 't is no marvel if they are afflicted with so many Diseases and Weaknesses for if they did commit no other Disorders or Intemperances this alone were sufficient to destroy their Health as I have at large demonstrated in my Discourse of the Generation of that pernicious Vermin called Buggs CHAP. IX The Reasons in Nature why Cities and great Towns are subject to the Pestilence and other Diseases more than Country-Villages The Excellency of Solitude and Advantages of a retir'd Country-Life THe Reasons are 1. That the Air which is the Essential Life of all material Beings is defiled by the Congregating of such Troops of People together whose very Breath is enough to make the Air thick hot and sulpherous 2. The Closeness of the Streets and Houses whereby the pleasant Influences and Salutiferous Breezes of Wind are obstructed which does condense the Air and render it thick and humid 3. The abundance of Smoke that the multitude of Chimnies send forth which is of a keen sharp sulpherous Quality that incorporating it self with the Air encreases its dullness and fills it more full of gross Humidity whence proceeds Stoppages and many Obstructions and Diseases of the Breast and the Blood becomes tainted with a sharp salt Humour that causes the Scurvey and a wearisom Indisposition throughout the whole Body 4. The great Number of Houses of Easement that breath and send forth their putrid Smells and Scents into the Air together with the various Uncleannesses that otherwise proceed from both Healthy and Diseased People together with the Washings and Cleansings of Houses and the fulsom Liquors Flesh and Fish have been boyled in mixed with other loathsom and filthy Excrements all which are continually exposed in the open Air and do wonderfully defile it not forgetting the Smoke Dust and Ashes of Sea-Coal where the same is used which is of a pernicious Nature 5. The vast Number of various sorts of Beasts and other Creatures that are by Droves daily slaughtered and no care taken but their Blood is exposed to the open Air and runs through the Kennels as if it were clean Water and no more notice taken of it whereas the same does not only send forth deadly Smells and pernicious Vapours but fills the Air with Revengeful Spirits which are inhal'd into the Bodies of Men and there stir up Smilies Add to this the great Numbers of stinking Trades which are in such places as Tallow-Chandlers Tanners Dressers of Leather Soap-Boylers c. All these gross Scents Fumes and evil Vapours that Cities are subject to especially great Cities and populous such as Lodon Paris c. their Nature being Saturnine and Martial proceeding from the gross fierce wrathful matter as deriv'd from things wherein the pure Spirituous parts and Balsamick Vertues are destroyed and totally suffocated so that there does remain nothing but the gross phlegmatick Body and poysonous Spirits whose Fumes incorporate themselves with their Similies in the Air and all the Elements and Stars where by a secret and sympathetical power they awaken by degrees the wrathful and poysonous Properties for every particular Quality in Nature has a Key in its self to open the Gates of its own Principle whence proceed Pestilential Airs according to the degree of the awakened Poysons and Wrath there being a certain sympathy between the Terrestrial Bodies and the Coelestial for all things both in Heaven and in Earth have but one only ground and flow from the two grand Principles viz. Good and Evil. For this cause when the original Poysons in Nature and wrathful Spirits are by the occasions before mentioned or any others stirred up that they overcome the pure Vertues they powerfully penetrate all Elements and Bodies and wheresoever they find matter capable or disposed to receive them incorporate themselves and with highest diligence endeavour to destroy the good Vertues and thence arise evil Airs and various Diseases which suddenly seize the Bodies of Men. And this Nature doth not only in the Evil but also in the Good but not in a sensible way but in a Natural by Likenesses where things agree in Number Weight and Measure there they powerfully incorporate and rejoyce and cast out their Contraries A pregnant Example of this we have in Sounds if two Instruments of one sort be turned to an equal pitch strike one of the Strings and the same String on the other Instrument will shake or tremble this I have done my self and also seen it
be pronounced Unclean and must pass through Purification Now if there were no possibility of Catching the Disease and Uncleanness that the Sick was infected with wherefore should this great Philosopher and Illuminate of his Age who saw with divine Eyes into the Secrets of Nature command his People to observe so many Circumstances which were not only difficult but chargable to them Certainly if it had not been some real benefit to them it would have been the greatest Folly to command them so punctually and punish them for not observing and obeying those Rules But far be it from us whatever the foolish World may dream to harbour such thoughts of the Law of God and his holy Prophet That Law had its Foundation from the Center of Nature and to demonstrate the same we must treat of the Punishment of Uncleanness and on the other side of the Excellency of Cleanness and Purity the handling of which will give satisfaction touching the things proposed to be discussed in this Chapter 1. All created things in the Animal Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms do proceed from One only ground and though the multitude and variety of them be beyond any human Number or Comprehension yet each and every one of them doth in one degree or other contain the true Nature and Property of the whole but more especially the humane Nature for every Property has a Central Being in Man both the Good and the Evil. But the Properties and Qualities are not in each Man alike but varied in some one quality of Nature is strong in others another whence proceeds the difference of Mens Inclinations Dispositions Love and Hate and that Property which is strongest in the Radix oversways and governs the whole Life Yet even that which is weakest in the human Nature is capable by the accession and assistance of its Similies to be made and grow very strong and on the contrary strong Inclinations and Properties are made weak all acoording to Time Place Imployments and Communications or a Mans joyning himself with this or the other thing For this cause the Philosophical Ancients made distinction of things some being Clean others Unclean betwixt which they commanded a separation should be made but few in this blind Age do understand or regard the same though there be scarce any sort of Learning more necessary For those secret conveyances of Vertue and Vice Cleanness or Uncleanness or the transferring of Distempers from one to another is done after an hidden imperceptible manner by way of Spirits Glances and Rays The natural Spirits in Men being so subtle and penetrating as they powerfully search into all things so that a Man cannot touch any thing though it be ever so Impassible or hard as Iron Stone or the like but these nimble Scouts do not only penetrate it but are more or less retained thereon if this were not so the Dog would not find the Stone his Master throws among many others nor follow him unseen by his Foot-steps nor could the deep-mouth'd Hounds trace the light-heel'd Hare in all her doubles and windings and tho' she run so swift as if she scarce toucht the surface of the Grass yet she leaves real Effluviums and Impressions enough to betray her to those persuing Enemies Nothing can hold or withstand the Spirits they are so thin quick and piercing no Iron Stone or Wood can resist them but they penetrate and search the depth of all things and also will incorporate with those hard Substances and if so how much must they be imbib'd by Beds where People lie warm and sweat and where the Air cannot come with its refreshing Influences to cleanse and purifie those grosser Excrements the Vehicles or Lodgings of malignant Spirits that are continually breath'd forth by all Infirm Persons which are so much the more retain'd therein because all Feathers are of an hot sulpherous unclean Nature and therefore more disposed to entertain and wellcome such unclean fulsom Vapours which are presently awakned when others come to lie in such Beds and readily enter and penetrate all parts of their Bodies even to the very Center and especially if it happen as often it does that such Persons succeed to lie in such Beds as have but weak Heats and few Spirits and under the Dominion of theirs who lodg'd there before then those pernicious Vapours and Spirits more violently seize them and incorporate with their Similes and quickly awaken the sleeping Poysons and infect the whole Mass of Blood and thence flow Diseases the most dangerous of all others because they weaken and cramp Nature by degrees stealing on gently and mildly destroying the Health before People are sensible for when once any begin to feel them then commonly they are grown incurable neither do the Physitians know what to administer because they do not know whence such Distempers proceeded But on the contrary those People that have strong Spirits and natural Heats and who have Dominion over the Spirits of such diseased Persons as they shall lie with or after or whose predominant Qualities in their Radix are of a contrary Naure are nothing so subject to catch or receive Injuries this way because they resist and repel such ill Vapours and Spirits that they cannot enter or wound them For as Diseases are received by Simile and being weak under the dominion of the distempered Persons so on the other side may those ill Rays be withstood by Antipathy so as they cannot enter the Center of Life by which means the Radical Moisture and Balsamick Vertues are preserved Hence many do commit great Uncleannesses and lie in all manner of Beds and with People that are infected with loathsom Diseases and yet are not sensibly toucht but as we use to say The Pitcher never goes so oft to the Well but it comes home crackt at last So even these VIGOROUS Constitutions must expect by degrees to be debiliated and at last become liable to the like Impressions as well as others I am not ignorant that many People will be very incredulous in these matters 't is true they believe that the Plague Small-Pox the Itch and other Mangy and Leprous Distempers are catching because the Effects immediately follow and they see them externally in the Flesh therefore most Persons do both fear and shun communicating and lying with such but as to all inward Diseases of various Kinds and Natures few or none either fear or regard them not imagining that there is any danger of Contracting those Distempers by conversing or lying with or after those that are so internally diseased But I must be free to tell them that all inward Diseases as Consumptions Ptysicks c. are of a far more dangerous consequence as to Health than Itchy or Leprous Distempers the one being outward the other inward the one hid and hard to be discovered till it is too late but the other manifest and more easily cured And Nature has the same power to receive inward Distempers as outward but whereas
the latter are in the external parts of the Body as the Flesh or at deepest in the Blood as all Itchy and Leprous Distempers are such as catch them have them in the same parts But on the contrary when the Diseases are inward and hid in the Body it frequently happens that such as are infected therewith find not the ill effects in the very same parts but elsewhere yet arising from the same cause Nor do Diseases thus transferred use to make People sick in the beginning but steal on by degrees so that there are very rarely any Remedies applyed till it be too late And as strong Constitutions many times keep off the Assaults of contagious Diseases so neither are all weak-spirited People liable to receive Injuries and Diseases this way for there are many who have naturally weak impotent Spirits and consequently feeble Bodies who yet are as free from catching Diseases as any others because they are clean and sound so that the Rays and pernicious Vapours and bad Airs have no power to seize on them wanting a Friend or Confederate Traytor within to let them in nor can they incorporate themselves by reason of the antipathy of Nature For as every thing or Spirit is received by its Simile so on the contrary it is withstood and resisted by its opposite for this cause one is in danger of receiving Injuries this way and another not and contagious Airs are not fatal to all but in the greatest Sicknesses or Epidemical Pestilences many all the while continue sound and well and these as well weakly People as those that are strong and healthy nay many weakly People continue sound whilst those that are much more strong and healthy are seized and die For the Air being unclean and corrupted by the humid poysonous Vapours and Species penetrates all parts of the Body and where-ever it finds matter of its own kind or capable to receive its Influences then it powerfully stirs and awakens the inward or central Poysons of Nature which before lay hid or captivated in the Embraces of the sweet Oyl and thence presently follow violent burning Fevers which in few days cut off the thred of Life For every Life in its Root stands in the highest Persons so that there is matter in every man if it be kindled able to destroy the Life in a moment And therefore we often see by experience a man sound and well one day and the next near the Grave or the whole Mass of Blood corrupted as in the Small-Pox or the like For when the inward central Poysons are awakned they are so strong that they can and do often convert the whole Body and Flux of Humors into their own Property viz. into a Poysonous and Leprous Matter 'T is vulgarly believed that Distempers do oft-times seize the Body thro' Fear which is true in a Sense but first it is to be noted That the Spirit was wounded by some Gleam or Ray and the poysons awakned before-hand for all fear and dread doth arise from the Spirits which are often wounded before a man can be sensible hence arises that which we call a Pannick Fear that is a Dread Consternation or Astonishment which we can give no Reason for also the Spirits are often hurt by a Voice or hearing a Word spoken from the Mouth of another The very Air conveys the Speeches of diseased People more especially if there be fit and prepared matter for Diseases for then 't is done in a moments time insensibly for as soon as those dreadful Vapours incorporate with and awaken the Poysons in the Body presently the Phantasie and imaginative Faculty of Nature is filled with fear and dread more or less according to the degrees of those Poysons and strength or weakness of the Natural Spirits and Radical Moisture It is further to be considered that sometimes the state of the Body is such and the Spirit so weak that every small Intemperance Uncleanness ill Air c. will easily seize the Spirits and wound the Health the true Causes of which are known but to few as when Coelestial and Terrestrial Influences do concur then every little Accident indangers Nature For there are many secret Reasons why Diseases are more apt to seize the Body and Spirits at one time than at another and on the contrary a man may commit extream Outrages and Intemperance at some times of his Life and yet continue his Health tho' every Intemperance sows some Seeds of Diseases if Abstinence and Cleanness duly observed afterwards do not root them out for these if followed will cleanse and purifie Nature and digest all such Superfluities as disorders have contracted For these Reasons a man ought never to be over-confident or think himself secure from Sickness which often surprizes us when least we expect it which happens for want of the presence of and being governed by the good Genius for though Distempers for the most part proceed from irregular Lives and other Accidents of the like Nature yet it must be acknowledged that many cruel Diseases are occasioned by Rays Gleams Surprizes Fears Ioy Sorrow c. which seize the pure Spirits and cause a suffocation of them so that in a Moments time the Radical Moisture and Balsamick Vertues turn eager a loathing and weariness ensues and Nature having lost her way the Stomach grows sick and indisposed and its Action ceaseth because the same chiefly depends on the strength and goodness of the Volatile Spirits and Radical Moisture then also the Pallat forfeits its property of distinguishing whence most sick People complain they cannot taste the natural Sweetness of Meats and Drinks If this were not so People would not be able to live ten twenty or thirty days in Fevers and other Sicknesses with such small quantities of Sustenance But what they take in such Sicknesses affords but little Nourishment and that which it does is very impure for Nature is then in strife and contends with her Enemy using her utmost effects to vanquish him At this time a skillful Physitian is very useful and of as great an advantage to Nature as Auxiliary Recruits coming in to the Relief of an Army engaged in a doubtful Battle It is most manifest that what Food is agreeable to one is not to another and so of all other things and therefore 't is sottish Ignorance to argue that because one man does not receive harm by lying in or with such a Bed or Person therefore another shall not For this is no Rule as we have sufficiently demonstrated and shewed the Reasons thereof Nor must you forget that all soft warm Feather-Beds do not only help to transfer Diseases from one to another but also they are Unwholsom and Unhealthy in themselves as is before-mentioned And indeed next to Temperance in Food nothing is more Healthy than sweet hard Beds and to lie single or not more than Two at most in a Bed especially young People for lying alone cools the Body and keeps it in an equal
Temperature and procures quieter Rest and makes People more lively and brisk preventing many Diseases and burthensom Inconveniencies But here I must be silent lest the Ladies be offended However if good Council may procure my Pardon I doubt not but to recover their good Opinion as soon as they shall have read over the following Chapter CHAP. XI Of WOMEN their Natures Complexions and Intemperatures as also of their Children Together with an account of the Generation of all Windy Diseases THe Nature and Complexion of Women doth differ and vary even as Mens some being more Sanguin others more Cholerick c. But generally they are more Sanguin than Men of weaker Heats and fewer Spirits therefore cannot endure any Inequality or Intemperances without great danger to their Health whether it be in Meats Drinks Exercises or Passions of the Mind Their predominant Quality doth stand in and proceed from the Element of Water therefore are of a finer softer yielding Temper than Men and their Love doth exceed that of the other Sex and indeed all kind of Passions do both sooner and deeper wound their Spirits Therefore all sudden surprizes of Love or Hate Ioy or Sorrow are apter to destroy the Health of Women and suffocate their Spirits stopping the Circulation of the Blood and causing the Body to swell and then abundance of Wind is generated which stops all the Passages so that People in this condition can hardly breathe Now the Original of all such Diseases which are called Vapours or Wind come thro' the weakness of the natural Heat and because the Spirits of most Women are so Volatile that every sudden Accident or Inequality doth either evaporate or suffocate them during which time the whole Operation and Circulation both of the Blood and Spirits is hindered and so the Life seems to be in danger which causeth a Commotion of the inward parts as if they did arise out of their natural places which is nothing else but certain Stoppages and Swellings of the Vessels that the Breath or Air cannot pass and then the Body is in a kind of Agony and trembles during the Fit which is never long for if it were the Life could not continue But thro' this agonous condition and strugling strife of the Properties of Nature the Element of Fire is awakned which is of a quick powerful active Quality and doth penetrate all parts of the Body and breaks open all the Passages which sets Nature into a great Heat throughout all the Body like a Fever and then this taciturn Contraction and suffocation of the Spirits does begin to cease but great dry Ardors do remain a considerable time after and by their violence do awaken the Element of Water which causes a breathing Sweat to succeed that is very beneficial to Nature and gives ease and so the worst seems to be over for the present Now all those Diseases that cause Nature to shake and tremble as Agues Vapours and the like are caused thro' the suffocation of the Spirits which does first awaken the Original Quality viz. the astringent taciturn twitching Property that does forcibly draw and contract all the inward parts and particularly the Vessels of the Stomach and in a moment stops all the Passages which Nature cannot endure and live and therefore uses her utmost efforts to get rid of those Chains by which contention the bitter Quality is awakned for that Quality above all others cannot brook Confinement but breaks open all the barricado'd Passages with its fiery and rapid Motion and awakens the hot Property which presently sets Nature into such a Flame as should it continue would soon consume her but these Heats do so violently hunger after and draw the Airy Quality as its true Life that it rouzes the Watry Element and thereby quenches that Combustion whereby Nature receives Relief and Refreshment But the Original Cause of all at the first is the wounding the Volatile Spirit which in Women is quickly done but Men are very rarely troubled with this Distemper of Vapours and the like because their Nature stands in and proceeds from the Root of the Fire and the Properties of Saturn and Mars are more predominant in them and therefore their natural or central Heats are greater and stronger than Womens and consequently are of better Judgments and Abilities both for the doing and the governing of all things For Man was made first and hath in himself the strong might and tincture of the Fire which is furious and forth driving very desirous to manifest it self But the Tincture of the Female is from the Water viz. from Venus Therefore the Males of all sorts of Creatures are far hotter and of stronger and greater Spirits and more desirous of Copulation or more unchast than the Females not subject to those Uncleannesses but fit for Generation at all Times and Seasons which Women are not And hence it is and always was accounted a greater Sin and Shame for a Woman to be unchaste than for a Man though it is not excusable in either And for the same Reason Women were never allowed those Priviledges of Polygamy as Men among the Ancients For the unchastity of Women destroys the Generation of Mankind in the Root and brings Confusion and Desolation to Families so that Wantonness in Women is a Sin against God and against Nature For the Creator in the beginning hath implanted Modesty and given the Bridg of Chastity unto Women and indeed unto the Females of all Creatures by enduing them with a cold meek Temper derived from the Element of Water which doth allay and cool them and therefore they are naturally more moderate and not so hot and desirous of Copulation as Men and when once they have Conceived are satisfied till such time as they have brought forth setting aside the Consequences proceeding from a debauched Imagination or the wanton Provocations that happen between Men and Women which force and strain Nature but as for pure natural Inclinations they cease and are as free from them as Sheep or the Females of any other Creatures These are the wonderful Works of the great Creator for if it were not so all Generation would be destroyed and corrupted even in the very Root as sometimes it comes to pass among Lascivious and Petulent Men and Women through various sorts of Uncleannesses which are against God's Law and the Right of Nature Do not all the Beasts of the Field observe their Times and Seasons And after Conception do they not strictly withstand their Males and not suffer them to touch them till after they have brought forth and also brought up their young Ones and made them capable to shift for themselves All which time they remain without Inclination because the end of Nature is answered and this is according to the first Law of God which all Creatures have kept especially the Females unviolated EXCEPT WOMEN But though I said that Womans natural Inclinations to the Sports of Venus do cease after Conception yet it
weak that they are not able to make a perfect Concoction or Separation for such Food is apt to fur the Passages and breed abundance of evil Juices which fills the whole with gross Phlegmatick Humours that makes it dull heavy and indisposed 5. Women ought not to drink Wine or strong Drink which are bad for Men but an hundred fold worse for Women especially Brandy and all distilled Liquors and Spirits for all such Drinks do not only destroy the natural Heat causing the Stomach to become cold and attended with a sick qualmishness but also send Fumes into the Head weaken the whole Body and giveoccasion for the Generation of Windy Diseases and Vapours and indeed all strong Drinks if not very sparingly taken destroy the Health of the Female Sex being contrary to their Tempers for their Heats being weak in comparison of Mens and their Spirits few therefore every inequality is harmful to them and their Children Besides they are subject to various Diseases which cannot happen to Men and of all these strong Liquor is an especial promoter and therefore the Philosophical Ancients alotted only Water for Womens drink And if our Women were but sensible of the ill Consequences of their frequent Sipping of strong Drinks they would be as far from doing it as those in other Countries there being hardly any Women in the known World that are such great Drinkers and lovers of strong Liquors as the English neither are any so turbulent fiery and Masculine Spirited as accordingly they are troubled with various Diseases to which the Women in other Countries are strangers Furthermore strong Drinks if not sparingly taken heat the Blood causing sharp salt Humours to possess it which also makes their Milk hot and windy very prejudicial to Children for whatever Inconveniences the Mother suffers the Child partakes thereof both in the time of Pregnancy or breeding and whilst it sucks Therefore Moderation and Temperance both in quantity and quality is highly necessary for them because the whole preservation of mankind does in an especial manner depend on their prudent living 6. If Women have regard to their own Health and the Preservation of their Children they ought not to eat any Food hotter than their Blood but after their Food is prepared let it stand open that the fiery sulpherous Vapours may freely pass and fly away for those Steems are very prejudicial to all Peoples Heath but more especially to the Females And this ought to be observed in Flesh above all other Food and also in Puddings and the like things that are of a gross strong Quality and so have the greater power to retain those fiery Steams which are of an hot griping windy Nature and causing a Mank or Scurvy in the Blood and makes the Milk windy and sharp which violently gripes the poor young tender Babe that sucks it 'T is true Use not only Familiarizes the most unnatural things but renders them as it were Natural and in some respects almost Necessary witness Tobacco-smoaking to such as are besotted to it so that often times the leaving off those ill Habits do prove very hard and difficult nay sometimes the abrupt leaving them is as dangerous as the Evils that flow from the constant use of them so easily is Nature depraved and turn'd out of her simple way Thus such as have long used themselves to hot Foods if at any time they miss them and are forc'd to make shift with cold then their Stomach seems empty and unsatisfied only because 't is depraved and for want of a little Custom of eating cold Hence many believe that there is good Nourishment and Vertue in hot Food viz. better than in the same Food cold or as warm as the Blood nay many are so fond of this fiery sulpherous Steam or pernicious Vapour that the good Dame will be angry with her Maid if by any neglect she let this precious Steam fly away calling all the Family to come quickly lest the Meat be cold and as she calls it gâ—â—d for nothing Whereas in truth it will be then much the more wholsom for those pernicious sulpherous Fumes ought to be separated from the Meat before it be received into the Body And a little use of eating cold Food would remove all such ill Habits and make cold Meats and Drinks more friendly and satisfactory to Nature and help to prevent the Generation of all windy Diseases Furthermore as cold Food does sharpen the Appetite so neither will the same quantity thereof swell the Body or indispose Nature so much as the like quantity of hot Victuals will and the Body will feel it self more airy and lightsomer 'T is true hot Food will heat the Body especially all the external parts but then it is an unnatural heat which is more burthensom than pleasant for the fiery sulpherous Steems that remain in Food after 't is prepared are of the very same Nature and Operation as the heat of Charcoal and so Experience will teach you that 't is very unwholsom to hold ones Head over the Steems that proceed either from boyld or baked Foods or over Furnaces or Pots or which proceed from Ovens for they take away the Complexion and make People look Pale and Weakly now if their Operations externally have such a visible ill effect how much more Prejudicial will they be when internally received and with the Food swallowed into the Body Possibly in some strong Constitutions those Inconveniences may not be felt till Age comes on but few then are free from them tho insensibly from what causes they proceed Also it is to be noted that this fiery heat Food does retain after 't is prepared is contrary unto the natural Heat both of the Food and the Stomach too and will no longer remain than whilst 't is forced by the constant heat of the Fire and then of its own accord will separate and fly away as soon as 't is removed from the Fire in an humid Vapour which Fumes if they be stopt by covering such Foods so that they cannot separate and fly away then they will re-enter and â—â—use the Meat to eat strong and fulsom In a word 't is nothing but Custom that makes hot Foods easie and agreeable but all the Custom in the World can never make them so natural and friendly as Cold after a little use 7. They ought to accustom themselves to moderate Exercises in open Airs which is profitable for all People but especially for those of the fair Sex for it hardens and strengthens Nature begets a good Appetite prevents Obstructions breeds good Blood and pure Spirits which renders the whole Body lightsom and pleasant nothing next Temperance in Meats and Drinks being more profitable than moderate Motion and Airy Houses and Rooms and not to pen up themselves as many do in close hot Rooms with great Fires which prevents the most pleasant and friendly Element the Air that it cannot have its free Influencies and so what Air does remain in
such places like standing Water in a Pond in the heat of Summer corrupts and becomes thick and humid which dulls the edg of the Appetite weakens the natural Heat and the Functions of the Stomach besides much sitting by Fires and in hot Rooms draws forth and destroys the pure thin moist Vapours and Volatile Spirits opens the Pores and makes all the Body tender so that such People do not only become uneasie and indisposed but subject to the Inconveniencies of catching Colds if they do but step into the open Air. Likewise moderate Cloathing is very commendable as to Health for much or thick Cloaths are apt to heat and tire Nature and either hinder Exercises or make them burthensom put the external parts into an unpleasant Heat and hinder the cool refreshing Vapours from penetrating into and relieving the Body Therefore those that use themselves to a mean in Cloathing have better Appetites and longer Breath'd stronger and not so apt to recieve Injuries by every small accident as those that inure themselves to very warm Cloathes hot Houses an idle soft Life and the like Effeminacies 8. Women ought not to lie too long in Bed as most of them that are of any Quality or Ability do their Beds being for the most part of Feathers which are soft hot and sulpherous with Curtains drawn close before the Windows and about the Bed whereby the imprisoned Air hindred from its free Circulation stagnates or corrupts and this too is very Prejudicial to their young Children whose Heats are weak and Spirits tender often causing Fevers and Convulsions especially when other Intemperances concur Besides this soaking so long in your Bed weakens all the Members especially the Back which is a principal part and the Body being kept hot and lying long without Motion hinders the Actions of the Stomach impairing so much its due Heat that Nature wants Fire for Kitchinwork I mean is not able to make a profitable concoction or separation of the Food so that great part of it turns to gross phlegmatick Juices for which very cause many Women are stupid weak feeble and presently tired and out of Breath if they do but use any kind of Exercises and hereby their Travel in Child-bearing is ten-fold more burthensom than otherwise it would be witness many ordinary Country People who have nothing the trouble at such times as our fine lazy sluggabed-Dames Besides as I have already observed elsewhere Feather-Beds are ponderous close Substances in their own Nature unclean and lying several Years in Corners or the closest parts of Rooms seldom exposed to the open Air they contract abundance of gross humidity and the various diseased People which lie and sometimes dye on them leave behind contagious Effluviums and venomous Particles lurking perhaps for an Age and not drawn forth till a Person happens to lie on them whose Similes awaken them For Beds are continued from Generation to Generation and not throughly cleansed once in twenty or thirty Years and so become very prejudicial to all sorts of People but especially to Women who spend two thirds of their time in them and also to their Children whose Natures are weak and tender and consequently apt to receive every evil Scent and Vapour which such Beds do plentifully send forth which in many Constitutions by way of the Fores penetrate all parts and wound the Spirits and by degrees weaken and destroy the Health If Women were sensible of the Mischiefs attending their indulging themselves thus in their stinking Nests every day almost till Noon they would surely be ashamed of and detest their own Sloth and Folly therein 9. Women in time of their Month or Lying-in are for the most part through hard Travail and many natural Weaknesses and other Diseases brought very low and their Spirits weak and but few Now in this low condition their Nurses do as it were force such great quantities of sweet strong Suppings on them even against Nature or more than Nature can bear for the Nurse and Mistress do both foolishly imagin that there is no other way for Nature to be restored but by great quantities of strong virtuous Food never remembring the Rule That Nature ought always to be stronger than the Food and not the Food stronger than Nature Also they make them drink and eat such Foods as hot as possible they can crying Mistress if you do not eat it whilst 't is hot 't will be worth nothing When in truth she gives it her so hot that 't is worse than nothing Also many of them will boyl Ale or Beer with Oat-meal and Spice till it becomes thick and then add store of Sugar which ought not to be because no fermented Liquor will endure a second preparation without a total destruction to the pure Spirits and balsamick Vertues as I have demonstrated at large in another place Therefore the Oat-meal and Water ought to be boyled first and briskly not too long and then add a like quantity of Beer Ale or Wine as you please and set it on the Fire and let it be made boyling-hot but not boyl and then take it off the Fire and scum the gross phlegmy part off which swims on the top and let it stand till it be about as warm as your Blood and then you may drink it with safety but always remember that the quantity be not too great nor the quality too strong for Nature your best time to put in your Spice is with your Ale Beer or Wine but let it be bruised and make but a little at a time so that you may have it fresh and fresh for heating such Foods and most others a second or third time does destroy the brisk lively spirituous parts and renders them dull heavy hard of Concoction and not so pleasant to the Pallat. 10. Most Women that have where-withal do inrich their Food and Drinks with so many forreign Ingredients as do not only make them too rich and consequently generate too much Nourishment but also intice the Pallat to receive more than is needful whereby the natural Heat and Stomach is over-charged and the Vessels stretcht beyond their proper and natural Proportions so the Body swells and becomes uneasie and Wind in abundance generated Nor do such after eating and drinking find themselves Refreshed which is the Intention of Food but on the contrary are more disordered through fullness than they were before with hunger Therefore it concerns all especially such as have but weak Spirits and Heats not to exceed either in quantity or quality but administer proportionable Food that the natural Heat and Stomach be not put to any difficulty to digest and concoct it so the pure Spirits shall thereby be preserved free from Oppressions For all Health and Joy consist in the goodness of the natural Spirits it being a grand Mistake in most who think to recover lost strength by over-rich Food strong Cordial Drinks and great quantities for they but add a second charge and inconveniency to
Nature for the Spirits that were weak before by these Intemperances are made weaker Likewise all Women in this time of their Lying-in should be advised not to drink too freely of any sorts of Liquor especially such as are apt to breed much Milk for fear of sore Breasts and Fevers let them beware of strong Drinks because they heat the Blood and Body beyond Mediocrity evaporate the Volatile Spirits and awaken the Central Fires which ought not by any means to be stirred up 11. Cleanness in Women is a most sublime Vertue and to be had in the highest Esteem and Veneration because of the manifold benefits which do thence proceed it preserves mankind in the very Root which the great Prophet Moses well understood whence arose his Laws of Cleanness and Separation Many of the Ancients did not count it lawful to know a Woman after known Conception 1st Because then the End of Nature is answered and also God's Law 2dly Because then the Inclinations to Copulation in all Females ceaseth except in some depraved Natures and through wanton sinful Provocations as is before mentioned Now this being none of the least Intemperances and Uncleannesses ought to be considered by all People the rather for that it strikes at the Root and corrupts mankind in the very Radix But on the contrary there is nothing more preserves the Fruit sound and healthful than Cleanness and Separation Also if Men did separate themselves from Women all those proper times and seasons which Nature forbids them and did sometimes lie alone and keep themselves Chaste it would render them more healthy strong and full of lively Spirits and more Masculine it being an Effeminating thing for Men and Women to lie always together making no distinction of Uncleannesses or of Sickness there being scarce any particular Intemperance or Uncleanness that destroys more Men Women and Children than this besides it enfeebles the Courage and makes Men low Spirited and also lessens their Affections except in some few dulling Natures in a word it debilitates all the parts and brings an infinit number of Diseases How many thousands of poor Children are yearly destroyed by the Effects of the before-mentioned Intemperances some by Leprous Scabby Diseases Boils and running Sores and the Disease vulgarly called The KING 's Evil but to speak Truth it is the Mother and Father's Evil others with weak Ioynts and Ricketty Distempers and many other Calamities as Consumptions Stoppages Convulsions and windy Diseases But here I am apprehensive that I shall offend the Women by telling them the truth and which any of them might know to be truth if they would but look into themselves and examine things It being a gross Error for any to imagin that Man in the beginning was made as to his outward Man more corrupt or subject to Distempers than the Beasts of the Field all sorts of which are now an hundred-fold more Healthy than Mankind yet both they and Man as to the Elements of the Body are compounded of one and the same matter And as the Creator has endued Man with Wisdom Reason and Understanding above and beyond all other Creatures visible so on the other side there is not a Creature under Heaven of a sounder and more healthy Constitution than Man in his Original nay 't is certain Man is naturally the most compleat for the holy Angels have always appeared in Humane shapes Likewise Man according to his bigness is not only strong but of a great Spirit full of Vigour and the soundness of his Primitive Constitution appears by his long Life in the first Ages Therefore it is not through the Imbecillity of his natural Frame and Composition as some would have it that he is afflicted with such a number of Diseases from and by means of his Intemperance and Uncleannesses in which two Evils Men do surpass all other Creatures and consequently are more diseased than any of them But had Man lived in obedience to the divine and natural Law of God he would as much have surpassed the Beasts in Health as now they do him and Children would be as sound and free from Diseases as the young Ones of other Creatures are had not their Parents corrupted themselves by their Intemperances in their Radix and trained their Children up in the like Inconveniences and this is the true cause of Mans Imbecillities whereby he is become inferiour unto the very Beasts as to Health Not that he was made so in his Creation for we do read that the Ancients were sickly and subject to this and the other Disease nor of the immature Death or Sicknesses either of their Women or especially of their Children whence we may conclude that they were sound and not liable to so many burthensom Diseases as we and our Children are subject to and this we may be the rather confirmed in because the Scriptures do testifie That the days of Mankind were shortned because of their Intemperances as Gen. 6. The Violences and Intemperances of Man had corrupted the whole Earth and all things therein which was the grand cause of infinite Distempers and the shortning of Life an example of this we have in many of the Beasts who are exposed to the unmercifulness of Men and more especially in Horses who in their Radixes are one of the most healthy sorts of Creatures of strong hardy hot Constitutions and Natures nevertheless through the hard usage and strain their cruel Drivers force them unto they become the most diseased of all others Moreover these inhumane Outrages Uncleannesses and Intemperances do awaken Gods Wrath in the Constellations and outward Elements and powerfully as by Simile draw down malignant Influences whence proceed particular and universal Calamities Whereas if mankind did live in the observation of Gods Law in Nature and contented himself with what was needful and suitable to his Nature the same would not only lay a sure Foundation for Health both of Body and Mind but Magnetically attract the benevolent Influxes of the Coelestial Bodies and make even this lower Life a kind of Paradise both for Innocency and pure unsullied Pleasures 12. All Women and Nurses ought to be careful that they do not swathe or bind their young Infants too hard which many are guilty of for the delicate tender Nerves and small Bones of Children cannot endure such usage without great Inconveniency by awakning the internal heat which spreads through all the Body and makes the external parts glow with an unnatural heat which makes the Child fret and cry and that spends its strength and puts its whole Body into disorder And after they have thus pinion'd up the poor Infant and wrapt it in so many Coverings they then cover it up again in a Cradle or Bed but the best of the two is a Cradle where for the most part they are kept over-hot and the pleasant Air prevented of having its free Influences upon them whereby their pure Spirits are suffocated and rendred impure the Circulation
should they be forced to Sleep as the Custom of some is but to go to sleep as Nature inclines them Also they must not sit or lie too long without Motion for 't is that gives Spirit and Life to all young Creatures It is to be noted also that Womens Distempers as to Windiness and many other Weaknesses are much encreased by their straight Garments and Lacings which do press and wound the strength of that part it being one main Reason of their shortness of Breath contracting the Passages and Vessels of the Stomach which causeth also Sickness with pricking pains in the sides and often sends Fumes into the Head nothing being more Injurious to them than those Bodice and Stays which are as stiff and hard as Boards which makes the Stomach Waste and Back so feeble that many when they leave them off they feel themselves so weak that they are forced to continue them neither can they hardly turn themselves in their Beds but seem as if they were unjoynted which causeth many other Inconveniences as growing deformed and makes Labour and Exercises burthensom If these Rules be followed and observed by any they will find great benefit thereby and be eas'd of much Trouble and prevent a great Number of Diseases and lay Foundations for an healthy sound Generation CHAP. XII The Cause of SURFEITS and how to prevent them and keep the Body in Health As also of large Drinking after Meals and of eating of Suppers WHen any one finds himself much wearied or very hot through some violent action or fainty through Labour or long fasting or any other Accidents of the like Nature which may have wasted the Radical Moisture and spent the pure Spirits whereby the whole Body becomes heavy dull and indisposed Then to recover Nature and the Spirits and yet at the same time prevent the Diseases called Surfeits these following Rules are absolutely necessary for every one to observe 1. Before eating or drinking you ought to rest by sitting still and silent or taking a small nap of sleep or if conveniency will permit go to Bed and keep your self warm for an hour or two or three according to the greatness of the occasion which will recover the Spirits and strengthen the natural Heat and sharpen the Appetite refreshing the whole Body and chearing all the Senses so that you shall not only eat and drink with tenfold more pleasure and delight but with much more safety as to Health For no Meats or Drinks though of the highest Preparation have such Power to recover and restore the Spirits and make the sweet Oyl in the Body burn clear as Rest hath for which cause a man can fast longer from Food and with less prejudice to his Health than from Rest or Sleep Nevertheless in some of these times of Weariness there is necessity of present eating or drinking but then it ought to be done sparingly and such Food as is easie of Digestion as thin brisk Gruels Pottages and the like and that in a small Quantity for when the Spirits are spent by any of the forementioned Accidents the natural Heat of the Stomach is so weakned that it cannot bear any great Quantity of Meats or Drinks nor such Foods as are too strong in Quality without manifest danger to the Health All Inequality in this state is very perilous for when the Radical Moisture is wasted the natural Spirits are dull and impure which cannot be restored but only by Rest for the quickness and sharpness of the Stomach and digestive Faculty does chiefly consist in the Goodness and Quantity of the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits And for this cause those that are tired with Labour a less Quantity of strong Drink or Food will overcome them Also those that are endued with strong Spirits and whose Radical Moistures are pure and free from Obstructions have good and sharp Appetites and can eat and drink greater Quantities without prejudice to their Health but on the contrary such as have but weak Heats and few Spirits have but little Stomachs and faint desires to eat their Stomachs being full before their Bellies and the same is to be understood when the Spirits and Natural Heat are impared and made impotent by Accidents Therefore Rest after any kind of Weariness be it what it will is a most safe means to preserve Health and prevent the generation of Diseases 2. It is to be noted that Surfeits and Obstructions are not as many suppose contracted at the first or second Inconveniency except the Accident or Disorder be very great but by degrees every Excess sows some seeds for Diseases which would be prevented if care were taken and Nature not overcharged especially at the forementioned times viz. when the Spirits are weakned or spent for then the sweet Oyl and Radical Moisture immediately turns sourish and then follows an unnatural Heat and Disorder through the whole Body with a dizziness in the Head for the Volatile Spirit is the true Life and Being of every thing Many lively Instances might be given to demonstrate this as we see in all the Vegetations of the Earth if the spirituous parts be any way destroyed or suffocated that Herb Seed or Grain decays and becomes of no use or vertue which is likewise manifest in all Spirituous Liquors as Beer Ale Syder Wine c. if by long keeping or other accidents the spirituous parts be wasted or evaporated immediately the sweet Quality as it were dieth and then the bitter sour astringent Properties predominate and appear in their own Forms which whilst the spirituous and sweet Qualities were strong and not violated did lie hid being therein incorporated So that were it possible for Man by any Art to retain the Volatile Spirit in any Liquors or other things then such things would continue firm and good in all their parts forever The same is to be conceived in the Humane Nature and therefore all People ought to consider the danger the Spirit is in on all Disorders and Superfluities for presently the Appetite is dulled and the Pallate cannot taste or distinguish the pure Relish of any sort of Food For where the Spirits are weak all the Properties of Nature become unequal in their operation and rise up with a kind of violence or hunger after the sweet Oyl with eagerness to devour it which is the true Life Pleasure and Moderator of all the other Properties and Qualities and therefore when once the same is wounded the whole System of Nature is disordered and all her Oeconomy disturbed And this is really the very Root of all Distemperatures both of the Body and Mind which if every one did understand and take care that Nature were not overcharged might easily be prevented But though Nature doth frequently complain sigh groan and languish under many such Inconveniences and burdens yet few there be that ever think or consider the cause from whence such Indispositions proceed but for the most part through Ignorance take wrong measures for if
any find themselves weak fainty weary and the like they presently think to supply this defect of Nature by giving her good store of rich Food and Cordial Drinks which for the most part do but add a second burthen to her and proves of a more hazardous consequence to the Health than the first Disorder since these Indispositions generally come not for want of Nourishment but rather the contrary and for want of due Rest after too violent Actions or over-long continuance at them and for lack of giving Nature proportionable Meats and Drinks whereby the Spirits and Radical Moisture are wasted as aforesaid tho' it must be confessed That Health and Strength cannot be maintained but by a constant supply of Meats and Drinks yet the main thing is in the due and proper Timing thereof Therefore weak-natur'd People at all times and others whenever by Labour Travel or Fasting they are brought into a weak and fainty state should then be more than ordinarily careful that their Meats and Drinks be not too strong nor too much in quantity nor of a contrary quality but proportionable to the present strength of their Natural Heat 3. Great drinking of Wine and strong Drinks after full Meals of Flesh and Fish most of them being of disagreeing Natures one to the other do often wound the health and that constitution is rarely known that they do not prove of evil and dangerous consequence unto which many of the richest sort of People in this Nation might know by woful experience especially in London who do yearly spend many hundreds I think I may say thousands of Pounds on their ungodly Paunches Many of whom may save themselves that charge and trouble they are usually at in learning of Monsieur Nimble heels the Dancing-Master how to go upright for their Bellies are swelled up to their Chins which forces them to behold the Skie but not for Contemplation-sake you may be sure but out of pure necessity and without any more Impressions of Reverence towards the Almighty All-wise Creator than their Fellow Bruits for their Brains are sunk into their Bellies Injection and Ejection is the business of their Life and all their precious hours are spent between the Platter and the Glass and the Close-stool and Piss-pot Are not these fine Fellows to call themselves Christians and Right Worshipfuls The natural Heat being overcharg'd by too great a Quantity of rich Food that contains overmuch Nourishment stops the Passages arrests the Spirits and makes the Stomach violently attract unto it self from all parts of the Body the pleasant moist Vapours to help and assist her to overcome and digest that load of Victuals which they have ingorged that often puts Nature very hard to it in her internal Laboratory causing a kind of suffocation of the pure Spirits drying and consuming the Radical Moisture and thin refreshing Vapours Therefore after such Epicurean Meals there is always an Indisposition through the whole Body with dulling Fumes in the Head and drouziness that generally continues four five or six hours more or less according to the strength of each mans Constitution and the quantity of Food During which time the Passages of the Spirits are obstructed the Pores stopt so that the thin pleasant Vapours of the Air from without cannot penetrate and thence the Blood is heated and its Circulation hindred and all this by gross phlegmatick Juices arising from Superfluities which impede the Passages and free Course of Nature But after some hours when Nature hath strugled with these Besiegers and flung off their Chains and overcome her Enemy and forced her way and made a separation then the Road of the Spirits is again laid open and the Pores are unlockt to let in the refreshing Breezes and the Man grows brisk and lively and fit for business And so indeed he might have been all this while if to pamper a liquorish Pallate and gratifie an extravagant Humour and Custom he had not wilfully Ingurgitated so much Food as thus oppressed Nature for the present and tho' he think now all 's over and is ready the very next day to attack her again with a like Debauch yet he shall shortly find the Dregs remain there is a Morbifick matter left and continually encreased which at length being ripened into Act by some proper Aspect of the Heavens or similary Accident on Earth breaks forth into a most grievous Surfeit or violent Fever and the Man is all on sire and sighs and languishes and dies And who shall pity him since if he would in time have hearkened to the Voice of Reason or Experience either of them would have told him That the sole Intention of Nature in eating and drinking is purely to support and refresh her and not burden her and therefore he ought to have chosen simple Food and the quantity not too great for the natural Heat and then he should have found after such eating and drinking a certain pleasant and refreshing and chearing Joy spread through the whole Body from the Center to the Circumference being more brisk lively active and useful than before But still many there are that be not content to Overcram Nature with too great a quantity of Food but they will needs drown her too with a deluge of Drink pouring in such vast Quantities of Wine and strong Liquors into their foolish Hogsheads as if they designed to make their Souls immediately swim out of their Bodies This second Charge especially when it comes immediately upon or soon after the first wounds Dame Nature to the very Heart and sets her on fire consuming the sweet Oyl and Radical Moisture by whole-sale suffocates the purer Spirits and puts the Blood their limpid and natural Habitation all into a combustion and the first and greatest Sufferer in this Hurliburly is the pure Volatile Spirit Balsamick Body and pure Oyl which is of a friendly Nature so meek and gentle that it cannot without manifest danger to the Health endure any such harsh Fires or churlish Motions And whenever Violence is offered to this benign quality Nature falls into a languishing which makes the Functions of the Stomach to cease and the Salt's spirit looseth its savour if the Disorder happen near the Center of Life But if only the pure Spirits and sweet Oyl of any Member be hurt then it often falls out that the Evil and Defect remains only in that Member and the Stomach and Center continue well and in such cases the Life is seldom in danger But many Physitians mistaken in Nature do conclude That the cause of such Defects proceed from some ill-habit or vitiated Tone of the Stomach and more Central parts and therefore they will give strong Potions of harsh Medicines both Purging and Vomiting which for the most part hurt Nature weaken the Center help to weaken and destroy the Balsamick Vertues and the Limb or Member afflicted grows worse for when in any Member the wrathful Saturnal and Mercurial Poysons and sulpherous Heats of Mars
are stirred up and awakened they will in a little time envenom the whole and make it burn like fire with Pains whence Swellings and Putrifactions proceed Did People rightly understand this they would be afraid to commit such Excess loading Nature beyond what she can bear by adding Intemperance to Intemperance as first to over-gorge themselves with too much as well as too rich Food and then to drink such great quantities of Strong Drink after it these two Superfluities Nature cannot bear at one time without great Injury to Health And therefore since some Men are such Swine as to delight to overcharge Nature with too much Drink their safest way is to drink when their Stomachs are rather empty than full for hard drinking doth not very often surfeit when the Stomach is free from Fulness except men drink to a very excessive pitch and of various sorts of Drink or such as is bad in its kind especially when men are at mature Age or rather old than young for indeed all strong Drinks are absolutely against the Health of Young People by reason their Blood is more hot which being encreased sets Nature on Fire and precipitates them into Fury Lust and Madness But it may be observed that more People do surfeit themselves and destroy their Health by Gluttony and Superfluous Eating than by Overdrinking though perhaps the Sin of Drunkenness makes more noise in the World for Gluttony is hid in the Bud and little or no notice taken of it but is indeed committed by all sorts of People both Male and Female Young and Old but more especially Young People and Children And the Reasons hereof are because Food is of a heavy gross Nature and hard of Concoction and requires time for Digestion so that Nature cannot so easily rid her self of it but Drink doth pass through several Digestions and Fermentations by which the spirituous parts are already become volatile that the Stomach and Natural Heat have no such difficulty to separate it for that is done almost as soon as it comes into the Stomach the spirituous parts incorporating themselves with their similies viz. with the natural Heat as every man is sensible of presently after the drinking of strong Drinks which set the whole Body into an heat if such quantity be drunk as causeth an evaporation of the natural Spirits and the phlegmatick part thereof falleth down into the Ureters so that tho' it must be confessed That superfluity in drinking is very injurious to Nature yet being of a thin spirituous quality it finds many quick ways of evacuation and transpirations therefore not so dangerous as overmuch eating but both are bad against Health and great sins against God and Nature Besides those that are inclin'd to Drink are manifest to all men and so their Irregularities often restrain'd through shame and respect to their Credit whereas the other gormandize publickly and without the least Reflection so general and customary is that Vice become 4. The Eating of Suppers is profitable but to few except Young People whose Imployments are hard and in the Fields or open Air or such as do not make Dinners and whose Food and Drinks are mean for such People may eat Suppers without prejudice as also such as accustom themselves to eat in the morning and fast till night also they that be of House-Imployments But for all sorts of People that live sedentary Lives and are of easie Imployments more especially those that are of mature Age as Gentlemen and Citizens c. who use themselves to lie long in Bed in the Morning and to great Dinners and rich Cordial Drinks whose Tables are so adorned and set forth not only with such great store of rich Food but also with other Circumstances of great Charge so that a sober man would not imagin that so great Cost Pains and time should be spent thereon except such Dinners would continue and sustain Nature several years but alas the same is all swallowed and devoured in one hour and all the pleasure of it gone and for real use an honest piece of Bread and Cheese should do a man three times more good than all this variety of Dainties whose best service is to make work for the Doctors and Apothecaries and they to provide Imployment for the Sextons or if they escape the Wooden Tenement and Flannel all they have to shew in Memory of these chargeable Treats is an empty Purse a disordered Mind a loathsomely sullied Soul and an indisposed distempered Body as full of Diseases as an Hospital To this sort of People it is most injurious to make Suppers neither indeed are they good for any who live easie and eat Dinners because the space between Dinner and Supper is not sufficient to make a perfect Concoction especially with those that eat much Flesh and Fish or Food that is fat for after such Food men ought to fast at the least eight or ten hours because the oily substance furs the Passages and dulls the natural Heat and Action of the Stomach and consequently requires a longer time for Concoction than Herbs Seeds Fruits or Grains Besides Flesh is of a grosser substance and more phlegmatick therefore apt to generate Obstructions thicker Blood and more impure Spirits and therefore those that feed thereon ought to fast a considerable time after it by which means the natural Heat of the Stomach may the better digest the superfluous gross matter before fresh Food be taken into the Stomach again Therefore the best times for eating are about eight or nine in the Morning and five in the Afternoon for nothing gives greater advantages to the Stomach to cleanse it self from all gross superfluous matter than time and forbearance of eating or drinking for a fit space which makes the edg of the Appetite sharp and Pallate the perfect Moreover Suppers except to young People and such as have prepar'd their Stomachs by large Fastings Labours fill the Body full of Wind and cause it to glow with an unnatural heat and unsound sleep And yet some there are who through a disorderly Life their Natures being depraved are so troubled with windy Diseases that they are forced to eat Suppers to prevent the burdensom pains of the Wind and yet all will not do But the most considerable thing why Suppers prove burdensom unhealthy to Nature is because in the Night the Body is without Motion and seems to cease from Action and the Rooms are made close and the whole Body kept much hotter than in the day all which doth prevent the pure thin vapours of the Air from penetrating the Body but in the day the body being kept cooler than in the night it is fuller of motion causing a more perfect Concoction Therefore the most natural and approved way to Health is to make but two Meals in 24 hours one as I said in the Morning the other about 4 or 5 in the Afternoon And it is to be observed that the strongest Food and greatest quantity
ought to be eaten in the Morning and the smaller quantity and such as is easiest of Concoction in the Afternoon viz. Milk-Pottage Milk and Flour Milk as it comes from the Cow after 't is cold eaten with Bread Water-Gruels c. Now the Reason of this is because in the Morning the Spirits thro' Rest are restored fresh and brisk and the Sun is not come to the Meridian but by that time it arrives there the Food is pretty well digested for you must note that when the Sun comes to the Meridian it doth more or less exhale or cause some Evaporations of the natural Spirits especially in hot Seasons and therefore Nature is then more indisposed dull and heavy than at other times Also the fore-part of the day hath spent the Spirits by Labour Exercise c. For this cause most People do find themselves dull and heavy after Dinner There is nothing that does more help Concoction than the cool refreshing Influences of the Air for it strengthens the natural Heat and makes it more central for which cause People in cold Weather have greater and stronger Appetites and more Spirits than in hot and therefore are able to endure more Action so likewise such as are bred in cold Countries are harder stronger and for the most part longer liv'd than those that inhabit in over-hot Regions for Heat dries up the thin spirituous Vapours and Radical Moisture in the Body and causes the internal Heat and Moisture which should serve for the help of Concoction to spread it self into all the external parts of the Body for all outward Heat does by simile draw forth the internal heat and causes the pure Spirits to evaporate For this very Reason mens desires are much after Drink in hot Seasons and on the contrary for Food in cold thus likewise the heat of Beds where most People wrap themselves up very warm takes away the Appetite for let a man go to Bed some-what hungry yet after he has slept his Stomach shall seem dull and his desire of eating gone till his motion for a while in the Air does recal it and the same quantity of Food eaten for a Supper which proves burdensom to him that goes to Bed shall be most pleasant and lightsom to one that sits up all night so great is the power of Air and Motion Therefore all hot soft Feather Beds with thick Coverings which most People use themselves to with Curtains drawn c. so that their Chambers are in the next degree to Bagneo's or Hot-Houses are very inconvenient for they weaken the Back and Joynts destroy the Appetite and render the whole Body so delicate and tender that every little Inconveniency is felt and such People can scarce endure the fresh Air to blow upon them without some prejudice to their Health which doth increase stoppages and all Windy Diseases but on the contrary open fresh Airs Rooms that have large Windows and fair Prospects and the Bed open hard and clean so that the refreshing Influences of the Air may pass freely will strengthen the whole Body beget and increase Appetite and make the spirits powerful whereby Nature does avoid many Inconveniences and Diseases CHAP. XIII Of Windy Diseases the Reason thereof in Nature and why English People especially Women are so much troubled therewith Also an Account of the Inconveniency of eating and drinking between Meals THE Generation of Windy Diseases in the Body arise from many Causes but chiefly from Three viz. 1. From eating and drinking of too great quantities of various sorts of gross fat Food and strong Drinks of disagreeing Natures which stretch the Vessels of the Stomach beyond what is natural and generate evil Juices of a sower keen quality and sharp griping Nature for it is not purely Wind or an airy quality that doth so gripe and pain the Body and send up such Fumes and Vapours into the Head for if it were so Nature would find some way to discharge it which perhaps might make a noise but not be so painful But this windy substance is mixed with a sharp sower thin poysonous matter that runs out of one place into another and causeth griping pains and all this chiefly proceeds from Repletion and too much Nourishment and uncocted matter For when Meats and Drinks are taken that are either ill prepared or too much in quantity or of a contrary quality to the Constitution then the natural Heat of the Stomach and digestive Faculty cannot concoct such Foods nor make any perfect separation nor cast out those evil Juices and Venoms which all sorts of such Food doth contain but especially Flesh and fat strong Meats which are apt to lodge in Vessels and cause Pains and Swellings for what part or Member soever of the Body is by any Accident made weak these evil Humours will flow unto and seize that part in an especial manner thus If the Brain be weak it causeth a violent Head-Ach to continue for several days together with a dizziness but if the more central parts as the Breast and Passages be impotent then you shall find all the Faculties of the Stomach debilitated and its rententive Property so impaired that it cannot retain the Food whence proceeds loathings and vomitings but on the contrary if the Centre be well fortified with a powerful natural Heat then the Stomach easily flings them off and they disperse themselves into the Members and more external parts which causeth swellings and grievous pains in the Hips Legs and Arms or where-else it happens often shifting from one part to another which some call the Windy Gout a Disease tho' very painful yet not so dangerous as when it lies and centers it self near the Heart and vital Parts for when they lodge about the Stomach such People are not well either full or fasting for after eating this Humour doth so sower the Food that it makes the Stomach sick and subject to sower belchings and the whole body to swell and sickish Qualms to arise And this enticeth many to take a dram of Brandy or other strong spirituous Drink to help Concoction which seems to give some ease for the present but in a little time the same Inconveniency will return and then again away they run to their Doctor Brandy-Bottle and thus come to accustom themselves to such strong fiery Liquors whereby they yet more and more weaken the Stomach and cause the before-mentioned Windy Diseases to encrease so that in a little time they shall not be able to eat any Food without a Dram after it nay it will come to that at last that they will not be able to digest their Food either with it or without it the Liquor will make such a Prey of Nature causing the Head never to be free from dulling Fumes and Vapours Now these Diseases are very rarely cured by any of the Medicines that are appropriated to them because most People do more or less continue the same Disorders which were the first cause thereof For no
Medicines have such Power either to prevent or remedy these Disorders in the Body as Temperance Cleanness and good Order for they have an inward Power and certain Efficacy for that purpose and if Temperance be continued it will augment the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits and by degrees strengthens the natural Heat of the Stomach which only hath the Power to draw all such windy gross sharp matter from all parts of the body and so cast it out if thro' length of time it be not become too central for the natural Heat hath a magnetick Vertue that forcibly attracts all such matter as burdens Natures even from the most inward Cavities and furthest Ciroumference unto it self and there digests and throws it off both upwards downwards if a proper degree of Temperance be observed both in quantity quality fresh supplies of Food Drink come not too often For so powerful is this attractive Faculty of the Stomach that it will draw the very Flesh off the Bones as is most manifest both by men beasts if the Stomach be not supplied with convenient quantities of Meats and Drinks for this Heat which serves for concoction separation is never idle but always continues its motion action so long as the Spirits are lively that there doth remain any Oyl in the Lamp For this cause moderate Fasting hath been commended by all wise men a clean well prepared Diet hath great Power not only to prevent Diseases both of the Body Mind but also to root them out especially when the cause of such Diseases as generally it happens have arisen from over-charging of Nature with too great quantities of Flesh Fish the more because People make no distinction between Clean Unclean nor of the Seasons of the Year of the Surfeits or Diseases the Cattle are subject unto whose Flesh they eat nor regard the improper Mixtures of such Food c. 2. The second cause of Windy Diseases I assign to be the frequent eating and drinking of Hot Foods I do not mean such as are hot in their own nature operation but such as having been prepared by Fire are eaten before those fiery sulpherous Steems are evaporated for they are of a very pernicions venomous quality and altogether of a contrary Nature to the genuine Heat of Nature particularly of the Stomach also for this fiery heat will no longer incorporate it self with such Foods Broths c. than it is forced by the constant heat of the fire for as soon as they are taken from thence this sulpherous Steem or humid Vapour will hastily separate of its own accord which does manifest that this Heat is an Alien that Nature casts it out as an Enemy for indeed it contains three venomous qualities that are absolutely pernicious to Health viz. 1st The first is an harsh Fire of a Saturnine Martial Nature of a keen sharp fretting operation which dulls the pure Spirits infects the Blood with a Maingy itching Humour 2dly It contains a gross deadly poysonous Water or humid quality that does incorporate it self with the grossest parts of the Air fly away in a steem or vapour if Food be eaten before those fiery evil vapours be separated evaporated it swells the body hurts the natural Heat of the Stomach insensibly but certainly generates both Windy Watery Diseases filling the inward Vessels of the Body with evil venomous Juices sending Fumes into the Head disordering the whole body this more especially in Women Children who as we have shewed you before are by Nature much more liable to Windy Diseases than men 3dly If this furious Steem be by any Vessel that covers the Meat after 't is taken out of the Pot or off from the Spit so that it cannot fly away but is stopt turned back or confined to stay with such Food after 't is prepared then will it re enter into it and make it flat and heavy alter the Taste of it so that it will be strong gross on the Pallat heavy on the Stomach It is also to be noted that the common eating of Hot Foods does possess the Blood with a salt sharp fretting Humour like a Mainge if Children were not accustomed to such things from their Mothers Breast it would more sensibly break out upon them in that kind For this very Reason in Dogs and many other Creatures if such hot Broths or Food be given them it will cause the Mainge in their Blood the very same it occcasions in the human Nature but not externally so manifest because rendered more familiar by use 3. The Third Cause not only of Windy Diseases but of many others is Peoples eating and drinking too often Nothing more burdens Nature or generates more crude sharp Humors for when fresh Food is thrust into the Stomach before the former is digested it mixeth with the half-concocted Food which does surprize Nature and disturb her Work and fouls the Stomach causeth sower Belchings makes the Vessels to swell and in some Constitutions is attended with griping Pains and Indispositions through the whole Body c. for the natural heat is so oppressed with these continual supplies of Food before it calls or is ready for them that it cannot make any perfect Separation which is a main cause of Windy Diseases filling the Vessels with unconcocted Juices which powerfully obstruct the due Functions of Nature and hinders the Circulation of the Blood and Spirits which is the reason that when such People do travel or labour and oft-times only upon the Change of Weather they are indisposed and presently tired and out of Breath and troubled with an inward heat and drought continually calling for Supplies of Drink which does but promote Disorder and swell the Body and make the Exercise more burthensom For indeed drinking between Meals is very injurious to all sorts of People except to those that labour hard and sweat much for such may drink but very moderately or else they may quickly out-do Nature but for others that live easie Lives and do not sweat to be sipping or rather pouring down strong Drink and Wine between Meals does prove of very evil Consequence for it destroys the edge of the Appetite and makes the Stomach disordered always seeming as if it wanted something and in some Constitutions an hot heavy dulness for all strong Drinks received in a greater quantity than the Stomach can conveniently master leave a sowr heavy stinking Matter behind them in the Body which furrs the Passages with a slimy Substance and which causeth loss of Appetite shortness of Breath Rheums with sharp tickling Matter that first ascends into the Head and offends it and then falls back again into the Breast and upon the Lungs whence Coughs and Consumptions proceed Also in some People it begets a kind of unnatural hunger or craving in the Stomach or a sharp gnawing Pain which causeth many to eat
but they are never the better satisfied nor eased but rather increase the Pain thereby I am confident abundance of People can witness this to be true from their own Experience and yet will not consider or regard the true Reason or Causes of it For it is a gross Mistake when any shall feel their Stomachs gnaw or gripe in this manner to run presently to the Cupbord and think thereby to cure that defect which for the most part does but increase it and no longer gives ease than the Food or Drink is in the Mouth for this evil habit of the Stomach does not proceed from want of Food or Nourishment but through sharp crude superfluous Matter which dulls and disables the Natural Heat that it cannot perform its due Office of Digestion for where Food is thus too frequently cramm'd in the digestive Faculty has not power to make separation which does as it were suffocate the pure Spirits and then presently the sweet Oyl or Juices of such Food turns either of a keen sowr or bitter Quality according to the disorder or nature of each man's Stomach and Constitution which depraved Juices disperse themselves into several parts of the Body enfeebling the Joynts and Members wounding the Spirits and making room for outward Colds and the like Accidents to take place for Colds do rarely seize any part of the Body provided the Accident be not too extream except first there be some inward defect or weakness as may appear by those that are troubled with stoppages of the Breast whom every petty Accident nay even the alteration of the Air shall sensibly afflict But as Nature abhors all Extreams so on the other side over-long Fasting does help to generate windy Diseases especially in infirm People whose natural Heats are weak and Spirits few for they will soon grow fainty and Fumes and Vapors will be apt to fly up into their Heads and when they come to eat a small matter makes them sick for too long fasting does spend and evaporate the Spirits and waste the Radical Moisture and hurt the digestive Faculty so that after eating and drinking the Senses seem to be stupified and the whole Body sleepy and indisposed and besides after such long Fasting People are apt to strain Nature by taking more Meat and Drink than she can bear Therefore a Mean is safest in all things for if any refrain from Food too long the Action of the Stomach is so vigorous and its attractive Faculty so powerful that it preys on the natural Spirits and radical Moisture so that you shall then find a very imperfect Appetite whence comes that common Saying I have out-fasted my self or My Stomach is gone For the strength and perfection of the Palate and Stomach consists in the strength and vigor of the Spirits and radical Moisture therefore both superfluous eating and drinking and also immoderate fasting do generate Diseases and cause Indispositions both in the Body and Mind Therefore it is not so commendable nor so healthy to make but one Meal in twenty four hours as to make two moderate Meals in that space for otherwise there is apt to be too great an Emptiness and too eager an Hunger which makes People give themselves such a freedom of eating as thereby the Vessels aâ—e stretched by the great quantities of Food which makes such have great Bellies and prove fat and gross But though they will eat but once a day yet many of them that are able to come by it do give themselves the liberty of drinking lusty Evening-draughts which do so stupifie the Senses and heat the Blood and furr the Passages so that it is no wonder that they are not prepared for a Breakfast In a word there is nothing so safe nothing so pleafant as Temperance and to observe proper times and feasons for eating and drinking and keeping within the bounds of what is necessary both in quantity and quality And this we must aver That as the world goes few there are that hurt their Health with Fasting in comparison of those Multitudes that destroy themselves by Superfluities nor is it so dangerous a consequence if any competent care be taken It is also to be observed That all kinds of Food ill prepared is hurtful and apt to forward those Windy Distempers for any Food that is too much or too little drest or under or over-prepared is prejudicial to the Health but over-prepared is the more hurtful of the two unless where it is very much too little done for over-preparation be it of what you will does in a great measure destroy the brisk lively Spirits which renders such Food of a heavy dull gross Nature and Operation so that it cannot administer such proper Nourishment nor can the natural heat of the Stomach draw such pure Spirits from it as otherwise it would yield for it cannot give what it has not 'T is therefore a great Error as to Health to overprepare Food as the custom of some is viz. to boil Flesh so long till 't is ready to fall to pieces which many do because the Broth should draw forth all the strength and vertue also they boil it in but small quantity of Water with the Pot or Vessel covered by which means the Broth loseth its proper and natural Complexion and becomes of a dull reddish Colour mixt with black which is very pernicious both to those that are in health and such as are already sickly but especially for weak consumptive people whom Physicians generally order to eat of such Pottages for their natural Heats being weak and Spirits low these unnatural Preparations gross Foods do further the growth of their Distempers for all such Pottages have lost their pure spirituous parts and volatile vertues in the preparation and are loathsom to Nature especially to weak people because by the small quantity of Water long boiling and the grosness of such Flesh the lively Vertues and Tiuctures are destroyed and therefore such Goods lose their natural Colour and fragrant Sent and become strong and fulsome for no preparation ought to be continued any longer than the crude body be opened and the gross matter digested for if it be continued longer then the pure spirituous parts will evaporate The Intention of kinds of Preparation is to digest the phlegmatick gross Parts that thereby the spiritual Vertues may he set at liberty but then if the Preparation be continued your Fire will serve you as the Celestial Fire viz. the Sun and Elements do the Husband-man when he makes his Hay or the Malster his Malt for first the Sun exhales the gross Body and phlegmatick Parts of the Grass or Herbs and sets the Spirit at liberty which perfumes the whole Field with most delectable Odors but if this Hay be continued too long in the Sun and open Air its spirituous Quality will also be exhaled and then it will become like Salt that hath lost its savour good for little but the Dunghil The very same is to be
And if we may descend to grosser Pleasures have not the meanest of Men as great content and satisfaction with his poor Russet-Coated Wife as the greatest Prince with his Gayest Bride Whence the Poets always feign LOVE the noblest of the Passions to be bred amongst the Villagers and a Companion of Rusticks and Shepherdesses Nay to go higher has not the great All Wise Creator given the most friendly Element the Air in Gavil-kind to all the Sons of Men every one enjoying an equal Portion And are not the greatest of Men subject to all the Injuries of the Elements and Necessities and Accidents of Natural Life viz. Heat Cold Hunger Thirst Diseases and even Death it self as much and as frequently and as certainly as the Poor And yet still men are so foolish and so vain as to vaunt of their Great Birth and their Noble Blood Can any thing be mote extravagantly ridiculous True it is all that are Governors Magistrates and Officers of the People ought to be honoured and respected in their Places according to their respective Dignities and so much the more if they govern according to the Law of God and Nature doing every man Justice and Right and being a Terror unto evil doers and a Praise unto them that do well But this real Honour contracted on Political Considerations of Office and Vertue is nothing to that Fantastick Glory derived meerly from Ancestors and the brave Feats done by our Great-Grandsires Grand-Fathers so much boasted of by those who please themselves in being Great rather by their Mother's Labours than their own 14. It is to be noted that most sorts of Flesh and Fish as to their operations on the Body and Senses are not so innocent brisk aery and lively as Herbs Seeds Grains Fruits and various sorts of excellent Food made of them though many of our English Belly-Gods suppose Flesh to be most mighty in its operation but they are grosly mistaken and no wonder since their Brains Wits and Understandings are through Intemperance Superfluity and Gluttony sunk into their Bellies for Flesh is of a gross substance dull and heavy in its operation fills the Body with abundance of slimy corrupt Juices bad Blood and in many Constitutions too great a quantity and causeth the Animal Spirits to be very impure whence arise Boils Scabs King's-Evils Leprosies and sometimes clotted Blood like pieces of Flesh which lie in some of the Vessels of the Stomach till being gathered into hard Lumps they sorely oppress Nature and cause Distempers which are the Death of Multitudes Flesh and Blood is too near of kin to the Animal Life in Man to be a proper Food for him 't is like the Marrying of Brothers and Sisters Therefore the Ancients were curious in forbidding especially the eating of the Flesh of any of those Beasts that would naturally eat the Flesh of their Fellow-Creatures and we need go no farther than every Man's experience to know that all such Flesh and also Fish have a rank strong fulsome Taste and affords a like Nourishment Nor has Flesh and Blood grown into great reputation from the excellency of its Taste or Nourishment but chiefly as we have elsewhere observed from the near affinity it has with the awaken'd Wrath and bestial Nature which in most men predominates Hence when once Men have tasted Flesh with the Blood the Bestial Qualities are presently irritated and so pleased that nothing else will afford them such satisfaction because of its great affinity with the Bestial and Animal Life the hunger grows so strong in many that they will eat Flesh or Fish that stinks and is half putrified if they cannot have other rather than feed upon Bread Butter Cheese or the like which is an bundred-fold beyond it both as to Taste Nourishment and Vertue The same is to be understood of all sorts of unclean Birds and Beastss of Prey As for example If a Dog chance to suck the Blood and eat the raw Flesh of any Creature it does so violently open the gate of the fierce Quality that the Hunger grows so great that he becomes ten-fold more eager revenous and fierce than before This every one almost doth know and if they consider it well shall find the very same Effects in Bodies humane as each man may feel in himself if he be a diligent observer of his own Nature If this had not been so Moses and many wise men in most Ages had never made such strict Laws against eating of Flesh without distinction and that such Flesh as was allowed to be eaten should be throughly cleansed from the Blood c. Which rendered such Flesh far wholsomer and to afford a better nourishment but not so much as our way of Killing and Dressing which in truth in most Creatures as Cows Oxen c. is next door to strangling whereby the natural Spirits are suffocated and causes the Blood and fierce wrathful Spirits to centre and lodge themselves in all parts of the Body and hinders them that they pass not so freely away where the wound is made This the Apostles understood very well We have no other Commandment to lay on you but that you abstain from Blood Fornications things offered to Idols and things strangled there being more Evil in all sorts of Flesh and Fish that is so killed than most do imagine for when there is no Wound made the animal bestial wrathful fierce original poysonous Spirits become suffocated and Death's stroke brings the whole Nature into such amazing frightful Agonies as few Men or Killers of Beasts are sensible of or endued with so much humanity to consider for if they did suffer Compassion to arise in them their leud Trade of killing would not be so easie to them I say the central Poysons being awakened by the stroke of Death and finding no Passage they seize the pure Spirits whose Habitation is the Blood and then presently the sweet Oyl or Balsamick Property turns sower strong and fulsome as is manifest every where both in Animals and Vegetables whensoever the pure spirituous parts are by any improper preparation or other Accidents wounded suffocated or evaporated then in a moment's time the sweet balsamick Property is depraved and turns eager and unwholesome Hence it is that the Flesh of those Creatures that are strangled does neither look so well nor eat so sweet nor is so healthy as other Flesh for when any Creature perceives its Life in danger there is such a strugling and horror within as none can imagine but such only as have been near dead by the like means it being the very same in a Beast as in Men. This being better understood by the Ancients than now-a-days it was therefore amongst them not lawful to kill any Creature that was to be eaten without making a Wound by which means the Blood did pass freely away and with it the fierce and wrathful Spirits and Poysons and so the Flesh was purged and freed from many sorts of Uncleanness and even this
the heavy fierce Fires of Saturn and Mars do carry the upper dominion in them But if the Gravity of Iupiter and Sweetness of Venus do interpose then all is made delightfully pleasant But as it is impossible for any Man to make good Harmony that has never learned Musick nor knows how to tune his Instrument because one String will be several Notes too high and others as many too flat or low from which can proceed no Melody but a rumbling jarring Noise of Discords So impossible it is that any Man should attain to the holy Harmony of God in the Kingdom of his Love and Light or to live in the power of Unity except he be born again and hath learned himself for the true knowledge of God in a Man's self is absolutely necessary for if a Man do not understand the Treasures and holy Virtues the Vices and Evils he always carries about him in his own Vessel how is he like to distinguish the Natures Properties and Operations of those things which he shall daily meet withal within him 20. This degeneration of the humane Nature is apparent from the Words of our Saviour Christ who saw into the very Roots of their Hearts and Spirits and yet made no scruple to call them Foxes Sons of Belial c. For such inwardly they were as appear'd by their Works But it had not been so from the beginning for if it had Man would not have been cloathed with such a compleat Angelical form and shape as he is for when the Creator moved himself by the production of all things each was cloathed with an external Body suitable to its Spirit and according to the degrees and nature of each Spirit such form it attained for each spiritual Substance had power to attract out of all things such corporeal Matter for a Covering or Body as had a Simile with its own Nature as appears most manifestly by the Shapes Forms Inclinations and Dispositions of each Creature And as the internal Property and Disposition of each Creature did vary so their outward Form and Shape did vary Thus where the fierce Wrath did predominate there sprung up wild Beasts and Birds of Prey but where the Qualities of Nature were more equally mixed there were formed more benign and friendly Creatures as Beasts and Birds humane tame and tractable called by the wise Men clean Beasts and Birds and where the Spirit was more noble and great so the Body and Form was accordingly And as Man was in the Spirit and primitive Properties and Qualities greater and more noble than any other of the Creatures visible so the Lord gave him a proportionable Body above all the rest of the lower Creation for we never read that any of the Holy Angels of the Lord appeared in any other than Humane Form But when God has at any time permitted evil Angels to assume Shapes and Forms they have always been hideous monstrous and frightful as Dragons Lions Cats Swine and the like which may demonstrate what Principle and Kingdom they belong unto and which would have been Man's Condition had he not fallen into the humane Nature which has not only been the chief Means to preserve Man's Angelical Form but to raise him to a Supernatural Dignity by the Lord Christ's assuming an humane Body and making all them Sons and Coheirs that believe in him and are incorporated with him For though Man through Sin and Transgression hath lost his Heavenly Angelical Understanding and Wisdom which yet shall be again restored to all those that obey the Counsel of the holy Seed and divine Light yet he did not bereave himself of his first Shape or Angelical Form because he fell into the Humane Nature where every Body has the Seed in it self to produce its like Species in all respects But as for the Spirits or Souls of most Men they have through the desire of Vanity Oppression Violence Killing both Men and Beasts wanton Superfluity Pride Vain-glory c. precipitated themselves into the divided Forms and harsh fierce Wrath of God and into Bestiality and the savage Nature so that they have lost the humane Property are grown hard-hearted cruel and sordid having no Compassion Fellow-feeling or Mercy and all that do live and die in this savage brutish state shall in the Resurrection when every Soul shall be re-invested with a new Body attract such Matter out of all things as their Spirits are capable of and have a Simile with and so appear in Forms hideous frightful and loathsome as their Natures require for such Seed as Men do sow such a Body may be expected for so the illuminate Apostle speaks of the Resurrection God giveth to every Seed it s own Body and therefore if Men sow hellish Seeds in their Lives no wonder if they be cloathed with suitable shapes in the next World But on the contrary those that in their earthly Pilgrimage have retained Humanity and introduced their Wills and Desires into the divine Principle of eternal Light and Love and been guided by the counsel thereof shall in that day arise in a more perfect beautiful and glorious humane Shape and Form of whom Christ Jesus was the first for after his Resurrection he appeared in the same Shape Form and Body as he had before his Death 21. Consider how unpleasing it would be to most People to behold the dead Carkasses of Beasts cut into pieces and mangled and all over bloody And how nauseous and frightful a thing it would be to think of putting those begored Gobbits into our Mouths and feeding our selves thereon did not continual Use and Custom make it familiar And how difficult a Task would it be for many People who do for the most part live under the power and operation of the tender compassionate Principle of God's Love to kill the Beasts for their own Food until a little Action of that kind and custom hardens them therein How quickly also will the dead Carkasses putrefie and stink defiling the Elements both Earth and Air How offensive are the Places where Flesh is killed and sold How rude cruel fierce and violent are most of those who are employed therein In a word there is nothing that is pleasant or friendly in the whole business nor any one Circumstance that is grateful to the innocent Principle in Man nay the Taste of most sorts of Flesh is strong fulsome and smells of the original Cruelty to all those that have for any time separated themselves from the eating thereof or having communication with it And indeed none are or can be sensible how it is nor be competent Judges of what is said here but only such as have made Trial. Is there any comparison to be made between an Herb-Market and a Flesh-Market In one there is a thousand pieces of the dead Carkasses of various Creatures lie stinking the Chanels running with Blood and all the Places full of Excrements Ordure Garbage Grease and Filthiness sending forth dismal poysonous Scents enough
Temples in which they say They will worship God but in truth they make the Seats of War Dissention and Controversie but instead thereof Men's Bodies would become living Temples in which his holy Spirit would have the dominion then the dolorous frightful Noise of Guns Drums Swords and the Tumults of Armed Men would not be heard in the Streets no Plotting and Contriving the destruction of each other would be neither would the Prince need to fear his own Warders nor no wounding one another by Back-biting and slanderous Speeches neither would the superiour World and Element be filled with the mournful Tones and doleful Cries of the inferiour Inhabitants nor with the wrathful fierce Species of Man-slaughter which doth render every Man unsafe even from the Prince to the Peasant neither would there be any vain Plays Games nor wanton superfluous Treats to waste precious Time and destroy God's good Creatures then Man would not say what should be done and do it not then the inward savage violent Beasts of Prey would be rooted out of Man's heart and the violent wrathful Spirit must lose its dominion and lay down its wrathful Arms and Weapons of War and become subject to the divine Principle of God's eternal Love neither would Men then count themselves at home in this World but Strangers and Guests that must wander hence then also all outward fighting and slaying one the other for Money and Honour would have no being for having overcome the inward Enemies of their Members they would rest secure there being no Peace so excellent and commendable as that which is made by good living neither in the sight of God nor Man viz. by the Sword of God's Spirit not by the high lofty domineering envious Spirit who by force doth endeavour to subject all unto it self such a Peace cannot long continue unviolated because it proceeds from the poysonous serpentine Root and it hath its motion and operation where the Forms of Nature are divided and at Enmity with each other also here each Property doth with highest diligence endeavour to get the dominion which sometimes one doth and then by and by another so that there is a continual strife and enmity for Superiority or Government which is the foundation of all Controversies Violence Oppression Fighting and Killing and why Men forget God and despise the Dictates of the innocent Principle of his Love which continued Violences and Oppressions do more and more kindle and keep the fierce Wrath in motion and by a sympathetical inclination draw on Man many sore Evils for every Principle or Quality becomes either strong and powerful or weak and impotent according as Man shall joyn himself or live in the power and operation of whether it be in the evil or good therefore it hath always come to pass that those that have given themselves up and immersed their Wills and Desires into the Principle of Wrath have become strong and powerful therein committing Intemperances and outraging God's Law with greediness but on the contrary those that have separated themselves from Violence Intemperance and Uncleanness and followed the Counsel of the Voice of Wisdom they have become strong and powerful in the same Principle whence hath flowed all kinds of Virtue What could hurt Man either externally or internally or destroy his Peace and Well-being if he lived in Innocency The Creator hath not made any visible Prince greater or ordained any to reign over him but only the friendly Light and Love which he hath dispossessed himself of by stepping out of the Law of God in Nature and so hath lost his dominion both external and internal and thereby hath subjected himself under the dominion of the poysonous fierce Wrath where Enmity Strife and Violence take their Birth But this is the happiness still of Mankind that the God of eternal Peace hath in his Mercy given a portion of his friendly Light and Love to every one to profit withal and also Man's Will is free if he do not suffer it to be depraved and captivated under the dominion of the evil Nature for this cause the Scripture of Truth saith That the Lord hath set Life and Death before Man that is in Man as also the Right-hand Way and the Left and bid him chuse The Right-hand-Way is the Principle of his eternal Love and Light in Jesus Christ and the Left is his fierce Wrath and he that chuseth the good part doth not only become a Friend of God's and himself but also to the whole Creation and becomes incorporated into that unspotted Body and holy Fountain of Innocency into which state all the inferiour Creatures as well as Man do travel with pain and groan to be delivered as the worthy Apostle Paul saith The whole Creation groans to be delivered into that glorious liberty of the Sons of God this is the Land that flows with Milk and Honey Here is Peace and Plenty of all things for Unity and Innocency makes the Kingdoms of this World Emblems of Paradise For Temperance Cleanness and Separation from Violence freeth the Body from great Labours and Travels and the Mind from carking Cares Suspicions and Perturbations attracting the benevolent Influences of the Celestials and all the Host of Heaven and Earth blesseth him that lives in Innocency because he oppresseth nor hurteth nothing It is Violence Oppression and Superfluity which have broke the Unity between God and Man and also between all other Creatures and rendered Man the most unhappy of all others his wrathful Mouth is so wide and his Paunch so large that the Spoil and Destruction of all the numerous Inhabitants of the Elements will not content him he contends with all things and therefore all contend with him no place is free from his poisonous Rays and unreconciled Controversies therefore all curse him and he doth the same by them Every Creature feareth Man because he hurts and destroys their Peace and in so doing he doth the same by himself for the Groaning of those Creatures that suffer Pain and Oppression will overtake him that doth it but on the contrary those that have separated themselves from Violence Oppression and Superfluity all things that are necessary for them and for the support of Life are near at hand and may be easily procured without hazarding the Health either of the Body or Mind and without Oppression to any of God's Creatures as the great number of fragrant Herbs Seeds Grains and Fruits which are endued with brave innocent Properties and many excellent Virtues beyond Expression which being well prepared and moderately eaten do not only maintain Health and Strength but they do beget their own Species and innocent Properties both in the Body and Mind as I have before demonstrated And whosoever shall make trial and initiate now this innocent way of Living shall not only make Peace with the whole Creation but shall overcome his inward Lusts and violent Passions which are Man's deadly Enemies and then he may rest secure under his own
behind them a disorder'd Body and a perplexed Soul the Memory of which calls for Repentance and do ingender in the Mind Sottishness and insolency and a Forgetfulness of all Good making the Body an House of Sorrow and the Soul a Den of Thieves Intemperance never goes alone having many other Evils and perverse Companions attending her but at her first appearance doth court her Lovers with a curious painted smiling Countenance which doth allure and draw after her a great Train of young Gallants by her counterfeit Beauties but we through the good Favour of the Lord know her Snares and that she is that Woman the wise Man saith Sits in the Corners of the Streets of Man's City alluring and inviting the foolish Ones by her fading Delights and Pleasures therefore we warn our Citizens to beware of her Charms But Vertue who is our Captain though at first she do appear to us with a dismay'd Face and in modest plain Garments and neither decked with feigned Speeches nor with fading Beauties but with other most sublime and durable Riches as Temperance Cleanness Separation Self-denial which is a little austere and burthensome at first to old Adam and to those that have spent most of their days in the Intemperances and Oppressions of Egypt nevertheless a little Use Custom and Self-denial makes them most friendly both to the Body and Mind for she freeth them both from Ignorance vain Opinions Self-conceitedness and all other Snares and Troubles and crowns the Soul with eternal Felicity If our Children are gluttonous idle or disobedient to Parents our Law and Custom constrains them to make retaliation by Servitude in our publick Houses and Places provided for that purpose We do not enslave our Bodies by Labours nor put our more noble Parts on the Rack by carking Cares to maintain our Wives and Children because we observe order and count that unlawful that is not needful a little serves and supports the necessity of Nature where Superfluity is laid aside The more Children we have the richer we do esteem our selves we do not pray and wish that we may have no more Children and at the same time continue the Means neither do we hinder Conception for fear of Disgrace Trouble or that we shall have more Children than we can maintain all those things we esteem to be Sins against God and his Law in Nature We are contented and highly gratified with the most pleasant Fruits of the Gardens and desire as much as we can to imitate our first state of Innocency counting every green Herb and Seed our principal Food having a Simile with the friendly Principle in Man We fear all Inclinations after Flesh and Blood they smell of the Original Sin and of the awakened fierce Wrath of God which renders man fitter to live in a Flesh-Market and Butcher's Shambles than in a Garden there being no more affinity between Slaughter-houses Shambles Butchers-Shops and Sheep than there is between a pleasant Garden and the Fruits that grow therein and Dogs Lions Bears and the like wild Beasts of Prey We do not complain and say If we should not eat Flesh and Blood we should die as some will meaning the death of the Body this none need to fear but the main thing lies occult they are not willing to kill and destroy the Government of the violent wrathful Spirit and ravenous Nature which most Men love to practise all such things that support and keep that Spirit in motion which would quickly be weakned if Man did not supply it with its proper Food and Aliment If Violence nor Oppression did not come into the noble Tents of Men then Man would be like a pleasant Field in May where there grow various sorts of fragrant Herbs Fruits Grains and Seeds of different Forms Shapes Colours Beauties Odours and Natures but they have but one Mother whence they have and receieve Virtue Life and Power standing all in quietness and silence suffering all sorts of Winds to blow on them they complain not neither do they grutch or envy each other because they are not all alike or that one is more beautiful and fairer than another no they all thrust forth their Virtues in quietness to God's Praise and Glory even so it would be with Man if he did fear the Lord as he ought and lay aside Violence and live in Innocency then the Tempter would lose his labour 2. If any amongst us be idle gluttonous or commit any evil and will not amend his Life and become sober at the first second or third Reproof then they are committed to Houses and Places appointed for several sorts of Work and there they are put to such Labour Arts or Trades as they shall be capable of being well furnished with Meat Drink Cloathing sweet wholesome Chambers and Beds there to continue until they have made retaliation their greatest Punishment is they are confined to work double the time that is allotted for others viz. twelve hours in a day for we do not oppress our selves nor Servants with labour it being not lawful among us to work above six hours in a day which doth bountifully support us with plenty of all things where Superfluity is not there needs not much labour neither to Man nor Beast the remaining time is set apart for Prayer Meditations and Contemplations of the divine and natural Mysteries of God as Arts and Sciences and all lawful innocent Recreation We do account none capable to know the hidden Mysteries of God and the Creation but those that become even as Nature her self viz. true simple constant patient and pious no ways hurtful to any thing viz. a regenerated Man none else are fit for the search and speculation of divine Mysteries but those that are thus qualified when by an innocent pious Life we have made God our Friend then the Heavens the Earth Elements and all the Terrene and Celestial Influences are constrained to come to our help We draw Peace Love and Vertue out of all things for every Likeness doth forcibly draw proper Aliment out of all things for the increase and support of its own Body both in good and evil and for this same purpose we do often meet together for our outward occasions do not hinder us where we do speak and discourse freely like so many Children keeping nothing back or hidden whether it be good or evil but manifesting the inward secrets of our Hearts and the Mystical Operations of the various Properties of our own Nature and of the Force Power Vertue and Vice of each Quality and of their rising and continual contest amongst themselves for Mastery and also the manner and way the divine Principle of God in us doth open the seven Seals and call the Soul back out of Egypt viz. out of Discord and Inequality into Concord and Harmony We do not admit of any Discourse that is not filled with Vertue and Experience either of divine or natural Wisdom by which the low mean Capacities are rais'd by
amongst us if any of us by the enticement of our liquorish Palates or other Accidents commit any Intemperance in Meats Drinks or otherwise we in all Particulars make it publick at our Meetings and such do of their own free choice appoint unto themselves a certain time of Abstinence and Separation according to the nature of the Offence viz. Days Weeks Months or Years whereby our Bodies are cleansed and purged from superfluous Matters which are the Seeds of Diseases by which we are preserved in health and our Souls are freed from the Chains of that Offence and our Minds and Spirits strengthened by the Spirits of our Friends Penance and Separation keep the Evil fresh in our Minds with a continual Spur to call on the Lord for Mercy This many of the Prophets and holy Men practised We do account it unlawful to innoble the Carcases of slaughtered Beasts by intombing them in our Bodies The Flesh of Beasts is too near a-kin unto us therefore the humane Nature ought not to join or incorporate it self with the Bestiality The Wood-Musicians do freely communicate with us because we do not hurt them All things are friendly unto us because we are like unto them also the holy Scriptures do testifie the Truth of this viz. The Lord hath made his Angels ministring Spirits to minister to them that fear him and live in his Love Abstinence Cleanness and Separation do fortifie us and support our Spirits which do by a secret and natural Attraction even as the Loadstone doth Iron attract the Celestial Powers by which the good Angels become prompt and do readily serve us and communicate to every one according to his Merits and Capacity But on the contrary those that have introduced their Wills and Desires into the central Wrath and live under the divided Forms and evil Properties do thereby subject themselves not only to all the inferiour bestial Properties but are always liable to be tempted and give great Advantages to the evil Genius and to the malignant Configurations of the Celestials which forcibly attract unto them the evil Angels which draw many into great Errors as Gluttony Drunkenness Adulteries Theft and Murders as also unto all vain Sports and violent Exercises as Bear-baitings Bull-baitings Fencing Fighting with Dogs and Cats Swearing Lying and Fighting with one another as also Playing at Cards Dice Nine pins and many other evil robust Egyptian Sports which are the Inventions of the evil Genius and Angels and do all proceed from the fierce Wrath of God in Nature It is farther to be noted that all those that are Spectators and love to see those violent Exercises and vain Pleasures and take delight to be in the presence of them are all led and governed by the same evil Genius and with their Wills do confent to those Villanies O ye Multitude stand still and consider what fire it is that is kindled in you and what Fewel it is that doth keep it burning and from what Centre it takes its Birth and then you will find it to be the hellish Fire which proceeds from God's fierce Wrath which can no ways be quenched but by your ceasing from Evil and standing still and the Lord will by his Power part the Red Sea and conduct you safe through his Wrath and drown the Man of Sin but preserve his Camp by his holy Angel 3. But in our Country we have none of the aforementioned Sports nor Egyptian Pastimes We do not use Cruelty or do Violence neither to Man nor Beast for fear we should become worse than Savages as the People of Egypt and those of the Land of Nod are for no Man can do Violence and not awaken the Wrath and violent Spirit for all Inclinations to Violence do proceed from the same Spirit and all that take delight and pleasure therein are precipitated into it and then this hellish Quality gets dominion and crucifies the Son of God viz. the friendly Principle of Light and Love afresh as the Scripture saith For these Reasons our Philosophers will not admit any Violence to be done either to Man or Beast because all Oppressions and Violences whether they be little or great have but one Root or Fountain the same is to be understood of Vertue and as Use and Custom do encrease Vertue and make it impregnable so doth the practice of Evil make the fierce Wrath strong and powerful Therefore we have no Bear-baitings to gather the rude violent Multitude together and to torment the Creatures of God who bear his Image either in his Love or Anger neither have we Bull-baitings to make and force one Beast contrary to their Inclinations cruelly to tear another to pieces whilst a company of People look on that in their nature are tenfold worse than Beasts neither have we any Cock-fightings nor no Festival Days that serve chiefly to call the violent Rabble together nor no Whitson-Ale or Morris-dancing all our Dancing and Fencing-Masters since we came out of Egypt have given off their Trade and applied themselves to the Study of Wisdom and many of them are become excellent Proficients therein All our Ale-houses and Taverns are put to honest uses viz. to entertain Strangers and the Instruments of Musick which were used in them during Pharaoh's Reign we have caused to be burned as a Sacrifice or Retaliation because the Egyptians had profaned the Lord in the use of them We have no fatted Swine fatted Oxen or Punchanelloes amongst us neither have we any of Pharaoh's lean Kine We wear no Swords by our Sides but all our Weapons of War are inward and we never use them for any other Occasion but to defend our Souls from Viciousness We join not Harmony Swearing and vain Discourses together as the Egyptian Masters of Musick do Our Men do not rob Women of their principal Ornament neither living nor dead nor adorn their Heads with theirs which shews in those that do a base depraved effeminate Nature Most of this sort of People belong to Pharaoh's Troops that are or may expect to be swallowed up in the Sea of Wrath. Our Women do not gather themselves into Companies in the Streets and there spend Time in evil Communication neither do they stand idling at their Doors in painted counterfeit Dresses to allure the wanton Eyes of the Passers by We have no Play-houses neither dare we use Consorts of Musick in any such places We do not suffer our Children to go to any of the publick Shews and Games of Sodom for fear they should look back and so become Monuments of God's Wrath as Lot's Wife was We do not allow or suffer our young Men to run nor ride for Wagers neither do we suffer our Women to use robust Employments for fear they should become rude and immodest as the Egyptian Women are for the whole preservation of Mankind doth chiefly depend on their well Conduct and Temperance We turn our Backs on all idle Discourses which serve only to invite Men to Folly and spend precious
time Our Friends Abstinence Temperance and Cleanness do continually shew us the vanity of such things and spur us on and hasten us towards the Land of Peace We do not look back for fear we should awaken the Centre the original Poisons and then our sweet Water would be in danger of being dried up as it came to pass in Lucifer and his Legions there being but nine Figures or degrees of Wisdom attainable by mortal Men the tenth Number viz. o is the highest and those that have gradually passed through the Nines must stand still in silence and leave off all numbering and suffer God's Holy Spirit to work the Will and the Deed in him as he pleaseth We have no Butchers Fowlers nor any that belong to the Trade of Killing Violence or Oppression amongst us most of them revolted and join'd themselves to Pharaoh before they came out of Egypt and were destroyed with his Troops in the Sea of Blood or Wrath and those of them that passed through the Red Sea were cut off in the Wilderness for finding their Trade very bad and low and the nearer they came to the Land of Peace the worse it grew so they began to tumult and complain and murmur against the Lord that he dealt so hardly with them Which awaken'd the Centre of Wrath and destroyed them so that none of this sort of People enter'd the holy Land that flows with Milk and Honey and not with the Blood of the humane nor bestial Nature Neither have we any Billings-gates all that sort of People are our Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water And but very few Inns of Court-Gentlemen or Templers all of them that escaped the Egyptian Plagues were destroyed with Corah Dathan and Abiram in the wild Nature of this World or Wilderness Neither have we many Churches and yet have a great number of Temples in which we worship the Lord but there be no Bells in them that are compounded of imperfect Metals therefore we have no need of those robustick Musicians viz. Ringers to call the People to worship such Musick is too Saturnine and Martial for us No every one of us hath his own Bell and none can ring or make Musick of it but himself which being skilfully handled makes a more sweet soft and pleasing Harmony than the Egyptian Bells who are loud harsh and penetrating and all the Ringers are rude cruel and inhumane Our young People do not learn to ring any Bells but their own which when well learned calls them to the Worship of God in the proper Times and Seasons even as the good Spirit of God shall teach them as the Scripture saith The holy Men of God taught and spoke as the Holy Spirit moved in them We do not admit any to be Magistrates or Governours over us but only those that by Industry Prayer and Meditation have attained to a more excellent Understanding of God Nature and Themselves than their Neighbours which doth render them fit to govern We account none capable to govern others that have not first learned in all particulars to govern themselves It is contrary to our Philosophy to mix or compound our Food with things of disagreeing natures We use no double Preparations the more simple our Food is the more agreeable it is to our Nature and best sustains our Healths It is not a Custom for our Women to give or suffer their Children to drink any kind of Beer or Syder whilst their Food is chiefly Milk there being nothing more contrary to Milk than such sharp Liquors Milk being of a sweet gentle mild friendly Nature and Operation having no manifest Quality that doth too violently predominate there being a certain Harmony between the Properties of Nature in Milk and therefore it hath always been found by Experience to be the best Food for Children and all young People administring proper Nourishment in Equality to all Parts But on the contrary all sorts of Beer Syder and other fermented Drinks are of a sowr keen or sharp Quality and for this cause being mixed with Milk it turns or separates the wheyish part from the thick the same is to be understood if Children or others drink after eating of Milk if they do not forbear a convenient time till the Stomach hath made separation and alter'd the Property of it Besides the constant drinking of such Liquors do sowre the Stomach and generate a keen or sharp Quality which is apt to turn the Milk into an hard tough substance and thereby puts Nature to great difficulty to concoct or make Separation Doth not our daily Experience shew us that all Curd of Milk is hard of Concoction and burthensome to the Stomach For this Cause many having used themselves to drink plentifully of strong Drinks and to the eating of compounded Food which have so sowr'd the Stomach and alter'd it from its simplicity that the eating of this friendly harmless Food becomes offensive to them and disagreeing especially to some particular People whose Stomachs are as it were naturally inclined to generate a sowre Matter For this cause if any shall drink immediately after eating of Milk it will cause them to puke up the thin wheyish parts whilst the hard substance remains in the Stomach which doth foul and hinder Concoction For these Reasons it is much better for all Children and young People whose Food is chiefly Milk to drink Water it being the most like Milk of any Drink of a mild gentle friendly Nature and Operation which is farther manifested by its being mixed with Milk they mix or incorporate themselves as one entire Body making no variation or separation as other Liquors will and therefore it hath been found by Experience in all Ages to be the best and most natural Drink for all People but more especially for Women and Children who are endued with tender Spirits and gentle Heats and if their Meats and Drinks have not a near Affinity both in quality and quantity to their Natures it will quickly put them out of Tune and cause them to fall into Diseases and then Nature will become unequal in her Operations Every like doth with highest diligence endeavour to beget its Simile both in the Body and Mind Water being in its own nature so clean simple and innocent that it doth not only wash and cleanse the Mouth throughly and all the Vessels of the Stomach from such gross thick Matter that doth stick and furr them but it doth distil its moist Nourishment into all parts of the Body without making any noise or causing an unequal Motion cooling and refreshing Nature strengthens Concoction thins the Blood causing it to circulate freely makes the natural parts brisk and lively For this cause those Women and Children that do constantly drink Water are not subject to so many Diseases as others whose practice is to drink strong Liquors We have but one sort of Bread which is neither coarse nor fine We never change the Fashions of our Garments nor deck them
he knows that Hay so dried and made would starve his Cattel and that that proves the best Hay which is made when the Sun shines clear and in a fresh gale of Wind For'tis the pure thin Spirituous Vapours of the Air that penetrate all Bodies and keep the Spirits of each thing living in all Preparations A Man would think it almost impossible for those that make it their whole business to prepare Medicines to be so sottishly Ignorant of the Nature of things and the Knowledg of themselves What a clutter do they keep with their vast Volumes of Pharmacy and musty old Rules And yet when all is done one may modestly avow that an ordinary Husband-man has abundantly more understanding in the proper and natural way of preparing the Food for his Cattel than these Worshipful Rabbies have either in the Preparations of their own or Patients Food or Physick and the Common People seeing what these Men of reputed Learning do follow them like Apes never questioning whether it be good or bad so verifying the Proverb where The Blind leads the Blind c. Tell me I pray what Virtue or true Life hath Carduus Wormwood Centaury Winter-Cherries and many other sorts of Physical Herbs when dried in the Saturnine Shades and then exposed to the dull thick Airs of Shops Cellars Garrets and Herb-womens Stalls and other close sulpherous Places more fit for the Generation of Vermin and Insects than any thing else 'T is confessed a Man may use some of the before-mentioned Martial Herbs as coursly as he will nevertheless they will retain the strong fulsom bitter Taste and Qualities of Mars and Saturn because it is the Original and very Center of their Life and therefore cannot be destroyed except such Herbs be annihilated but the pure Essential Virtues and Balsamick Body are wholly destroyed Therefore Medicines made of any Herbs prepared as most Physitians and Apothecaries do are loathsome to Nature and the Stomach and they have no power to assist Nature or cure those Diseases which the wise Anclents have appropriated them unto Now if Physicians and Apothecaries do not understand these things that are so plain and evident to every Shepherd and Husband-man they may well be suspected in their Compositions for if the first Preparation be wrong and the true and living Virtues destroyed let the wisest of them all use what Art they will they can never obtain the lost Virtue nor make a good Medicine thereof indeed such Herbs and Things may serve their turn to make up their confused Compositions which do consist of as many Ingredients as there are Weeks in the Year most of which are of as disagreeing Natures as Light to Darkness or Summer to Winter for this cause most of their Medicines prove ineffectual for the Physical Virtues of most of the Simples are destroyed for want of Care and Understanding either whilst they remain intire or else by such an undue Composition where things of quite different Natures confound each other For if two things of contrary Natures he added together they make a degree of Variation and produce a Juice or Virtue of a third Nature but then if you add a third Ingredient whose predominant Quality is contrary both to the first and second then such a Composition or Medicine does make three degrees of variation and produceth a Juice or Vertue of a contrary Nature and Operation to both the first and second Ingredients which I have particularly demonstrated from the Arts of Dying and Painting in the Chapter Of mixtures of Food so that when ten or twenty several things are added together they make such a Confusion and as it were strife in Nature that such Physick or Food has not the true Nature nor Operation of any one of them and being unnatural the Stomach and whole Nature of Man doth loath them for in such Mixtures things not Homogenial or agreeable to each other being jumbled together there thence ariseth an inward and secret strife for Mastery and so that Quality becomes strong which before their incorporating was weak and so contra making that Property appear which lay hid and hides that which before was most manifest so great is the power of the Sympathy and Antipathy of things For this Cause the Ancients did forbid those Varieties of Mixtures both in Food and Physick for they saw from an inward eye of understanding the great danger of compounded Dishes or Medicines and that the common use of them did generate compounded Diseases which no Medicine hath Power or any Physician Skill to Cure Therefore the generality of Men in former Ages and also those in this who live on simple Meats and Drinks and observe the Rules of Sobriety are free from those torturing Diseases that the Superfluous and Intemperate are subject unto such as use due Labour and Exercises and live on Bread Butter and ordinary Cheese Milk-Pottage Gruels and the like and drink small Beer and observe the Rules of Chastity and lie on hard Beds few of this sort of People are troubled with the Gout Dropsy Stone Palsy Consumption windy Diseases or the like nothing being a greater Evil to Nature than those improper and unnatural Mixtures both of Food and Physick the first being the very Radix of Diseases and the second does increase and prolong them Physicians may pretend and boast as much as they will of the Excellency of their Dispensatory-Ware 't is certain that such Diseases as are generated by degrees by the frequent use and eating of compounded Foods which generally consist of disagreeing Ingredients as aforesaid and made meerly to prolong the pleasure of the Throat are not to be routed by all their Regiments of Compounded Recompounded Decompounded and Surrecompounded Medicines as daily Experience shews Therefore let no Man have Faith or repose Confidence in such adulterated confused Nauseities but fear the Lord and learn to know the Power of Temperance before it be too late for when once Diseases have invaded the Body and wasted the Spirits then 't is a difficult matter to root out such Disorders either by Temperance or Medicine but still the first has the greater Power to give Relief there being far greater Danger in rich compounded Foods and Cordial Drinks and compounded Potions of Physick than most imagine or can be sensible of except they separate and enter into Self-denial and observe both Quality and Quantity of Meats and Drinks and then their Eyes will be opened and see the Errors of those things which formerly they practiced It is not for nothing that Mankind is so miserably afflicted with such a number of Torturing Diseases nor is it through any Natural Defect as some vainly suppose for Mankind in his Radix is the most compleat soundest and healthiest of all Creatures endued with the greatest and strongest natural Spirits and had he not depraved himself by Disorders and Superfluities would have exceeded all other Animals as to health Do we ever read of any of the Prophets or
Patriarchs in the first Ages of the World that they were Sick No there is not a word of their Sickness but that they lived to great Ages in perfect Health for ought we find and soundness of Mind and Body There was then no need of Universities where Men must spend ten or twenty Years meerly to read Receits over and to learn to write a Bill of Confusion to the Apothecaries or to put their own Eyes out that so they might see with other Mens nor to learn Canting words to deceive the Ignorant Their whole drift and design from the beginning to the end being to get Money to live in Wantonness Gluttony and Superfluity There was no occasion amongst the Ancients for this sort of People for every one was his own Physician for so long as Men studied the Knowledg of God and Nature in themselves there was no place for this External Babylonical Building or for the authorizing of Ignorant Pedantry for the sole Curing or rather Killing of their Neighbours Can any understand or read another Man's Book that cannot read one word in his own A Man's self is a Book in which is comprehended all kind of Learning both Humane and Divine the Radix of all Arts and Sciences For in this Little World Man was communicated unto the Wise Ancients the Virtues of all Herbs Seeds Granes Animals and Minerals for the Ancient Physicians had not Libraries of many Thousand Books nor did they spend their time in reading other Men's Works nor satisfied themselves with Traditions but were contented with one Book viz. The Knowledg of God and Nature in themselves and this Book they read with their own Eyes and not with the Counterfeit Spectacles of Aristotle or Galen If Men would but stand still from Self-hood then would they see the Salvation of the Lord. The Old Physicians and Naturalists when they were not well or any of their Neighbours were distemper'd did not content themselves with musty uncertain Receipts for they knew that the same Herb which has proved beneficial to the Cure of one mans Diseases might not do any good but rather harm to another even though their Diseases seemed to proceed from a like Cause And does not our daily Experience manifest the truth of this Therefore they in all difficult points applyed themselves to the Divine Oracle and Holy Light in themselves which did teach them some Herb Seed Grain or the like and also the manner how to use it which did perform wonderful Cures because there was an inward Virtue and the power of the Spirit went with them they did not keep any certain Method with all Patients alike as our Quacks do now-a-days for the same Herb or other thing that cured a Consumption in one they did not administer to another in the like Disease except they were pointed unto it by their Good Genius Herein consists the right Cure both of the Soul and Body when man does apply himself to the right Object with Faith in the Lord then will the Lord teach him in all particulars for the Spirit of the Divine Power can make every little and small thing work wonderful Effects 'T is true the Ancients did set down in writing many of those Herbs and other things which their Genius did teach them for the Cure of various Diseases but they did as little think that after-generations would make a great Trade of getting Money by their Receipts as the Prophets and holy illuminated men of God did That the men of the world would do the like by their Writings and yet alas what an Huckstering there is kept now-a-days with them both The worthy Sayings and Writings of the Ancients cannot be understood or applyed but only by the same Spirit that gave them forth either in things Divine or Natural But these things are not considered either by those that are called Divines and Physicians or by the People But so soon as any one finds himself disordered by Sickness they presently run to the Doctor and the Doctor to his Books and out of some one of them Scrawls a Receipt and if that won't do the poor Creature may die for him for neither the one nor the other so much as think to enquire of the true Physician viz. the never-failing Oracle in themselves which if hearkened unto in Humility would teach them what to do in all particulars as it did the Ancients for those Herbs and great Cures wrought by them were not set down and recorded that after Generations should imitate them like Apes without the true understanding of the Spirit but that men might see the wonderful Power and Efficacy of the Spirit of the Lord when men do apply themselves unto its Government If men would but stand still and not so eagerly pursue Tradition and the Inventions of men and Self-hood then the good Genius would be ready and prompt to shew and instruct them in any things belonging to their Preservation for in the way of God and Nature every little thing is made strong and powerful but when men have not the knowledge of God and Nature in themselves then all goes astray and the true Efficacy or Virtue is not known nor have the Applications of the best things any good effect By what hath been said appears the Reason why those Physical Herbs and Seeds which the Ancients have appropriated for the cure of such and such diseases do not cure those distempers nor have any such Effects for if every Herb could accomplish such Cures as are recorded thereby to have been done certainly there would none be sick but All would be made whole but Experience shews the contrary Nay are there not many living Testimonies at this day who waiting in Humility at the Internal Altar have been directed such an Herb or other thing and the manner of using it which being followed the Cure has been effected in a wonderful manner And yet the very same Persons at other times in the like Distresses and Disorders have not minded their good Genius but looked abroad amongst the Swine for Cure where there is neither Life Knowledge Power nor Virtue but only an Ignorant busie Imitating Ape cloathed with a Velvet Coat and as their Course hath been the success proved answerable he has perhaps purged their Purses to a Vacuum stuffed their Bodies with Slops filled their Chambers with Gally-Pots and Glasses weakened Nature and strengthened the Disease so that it carries away Life Captive at the Wheels of its Triumphant Chariot and all that Mr. Dunce-Doctor has to say for himself is That he proceeded secundum Artem and destroyed you after the exactest method in the World All Practice of Physick that is from Receipts and Tradition is uncertain and abominable to Nature more especially where there is a multitude of Ingredients mixed together for the most part of various Natures and contrary Qualities as though they would force Nature into obedience by the several sorts of Engines and Enemies of divers kinds which they
bring against her Whereas in truth when there are twenty thirty forty fifty sixty or an hundred several things compounded together and of as many distinct Natures no man on Earth can know the Genuine operation of such a Medicine Does not Experience shew that in Food if you compound ten or twenty sorts of things the best and strongest Stomach will loath such Food after one Meal or two Who is there let his Constitution be what it will that would be satisfied if he were confined to live on your richest sort of Cake-Bread that has ten or twelve Ingredients in it Are not the pure natural Operations of each thing destroyed and adulterated where various things are thus mixed together of different Natures And does not the Pallate and Stomach grow weary and sick if confiâ—â—â— to such Foods The very same is to be understood in Physical Preparations there being not much difference between the Apothecaries and our more curious Cooks Compositions both being alike preposterous and inimical to Nature To demonstrate this I shall here insert a learned Doctor 's Prescription A Gentlewoman had a Son whom being not well she supposed was in a Consumption she applies her self to a Famous Doctor for Learning and Skill who informs her her Son was in a wasting condition and you must needs believe it for he saw it in the Boy 's Piss Then she desired him to give her Directions how she might prevent that Consuming Distemper Mr. Doctor having once more peep'd in the Urinal thrice shook his Noddle and twice stroked the place where he should have had a Beard perceiving the Angels to appear was presently enlightned by the False Prophet Tradition to give the Gentlewoman this following Bill to the Apothecary which does consist of no less than three and thirty Ingredients But by that time the Apothecary had mustered up his several Slops and compleated the Composition of Omniumgatherum the Small-Pox began to appear and put a period to Goodman Doctor 's future proceedings who else to prevent the Boy 's Consumption would have loaded his Guts with Materials enough to half set up an Apothecary The Receipt R. Ol Amygd dulc rec Syr. Capiat Veneris anaÊ’iss Sacchar Cant. Ê’iss mis. exactissim Capiat cochleare unum ter quaterve in die superbibendo â„¥ iv 〈◊〉 pozem sequent calid Re. Decoct pector depurat lb jss Tinct Crocj Syr. capil Veneris ana â„¥ iss mis. fiat Apozema R. Cons. Ros. rub antiq per setacerum traject â„¥ ii Pulv. HalyÊ’iss Laud. liquid Ê’i Syr. Balsamic q. s. m. f. Electurium de N. m. singulis noctibus quo Capiat Quantitatem In English Take Oyl of sweet Almonds new drawn Syrup of Maiden-hair of each one Ounce and half White-Sugarcandy-powder one Dram and half mix them and take one spoonful three or four times a day drinking after each Dose a quarter of a pint of the following Apozem warm Take of the Pectoral Decoction depurated a pint and half Tincture of Saffron and Syrup of Maidenhair of each one Ounce and half mix them for an Apozem Take Conserve of Old-Red-Roses pulped two Ounces Pulvis Haily a Dram and half liquid Laudanum one Dram Syrup of Balsom a sufficient quantity to make it into an Electuary To be taken the quantity of a Nutmeg every Night at bed-time This is the Bill whose Ingredients if you trace them to their Originals are thirty three and their various Natures as many disagreeing one with the other and consequently make a Medicine of a loathing Quality and far sicker in Nature than the distempered Patient The very same is to be understood of most or all the things they administer under the Name of Cordials to sick languishing and dying people as being Mixtures of cool'd stilled Waters of several sorts with certain Syrups Epidemick-Waters and other like Slops which are all great Nauseates to Nature even in the healthiest state and if so what a miserable Condition then must the Sick be in The truth is men in the time of health strength and vigour do make the best of Cordials too common to them viz. Wine which many drink to the destruction of their Health and then when they are sick they must have a change tho' it be for the worse and so they take up with these loathsome Compositions of the Apothecaries which are so sar from being really Cordial that they are oppressive to Nature 'T is a thing of evil consequence to be ignorant of the most excellent and sublime Virtues of the Herbs which our own Countrey does produce both for all Physical Uses and also for Food there being no way so safe for Nature as to apply and use simple Herbs in the Cure of Diseases for as simple Food is always the most harmless as administring a proper and equal Nourishment to the Body and Spirits the very same is to be understood in all Physical Operations for the Nature of each thing is adulterated and its physical virtue destroyed by the contrary Qualities of other intermixt Ingredients It is further to be noted that most sorts of Herbs when cut in their proper Seasons and under good Influences and afterwards dryed according to the Rules before-mentioned are far better than when green for the makng of Posset-drinks and Decoctions and also for Cordials by infusion for the Sun and Elements do exhale and destroy the gross earthy phlegmy substance and preserve the pure spirituous parts and Balsamick Virtues and sets the Spirit free that it becomes volatile which pure Virtues in all or most green Herbs are captivated by the earthy Body of Phlegm Therefore when dry Herbs which are properly preserved are committed to any proper Liquor as Hot-Water Beer Ale Cyder Wine Spirit of Wine c. any of those Liquors will greedily receive the good Virtues and Spirituous parts better than they can from Herbs that are green And when Herbs have lain together five or six Months they are fitter for such uses than when first gathered and being so preserved as before is directed will keep good for several years This preparation of the Sun and Elements is much to be esteemed and no preparation performed by common Fire is to be compared therewith for by this Chymical Art of Nature the more sublime Virtues and vegitative Qualities are preserved and the gross earthy Substance destroyed but in all our Chymical Preparations and Separations there is a contrary Operation for when the Chymist takes Herbs and commits them to his Fire he cannot preserve neither the pure Volatile Spirit nor Balsamick Body or Vegitative Virtue but only the fierce fiery harsh astringent bitter Spirits which properties are the original of every Life and cannot be destroyed in any preparation though never so unnatural except the things could be annihilated for this Cause all such Sulpherous fiery Liquors will not work and ferment as all other sorts of Liquors will even Water it self when any Balsamick Body is joyned with it as Sugar or the like but those other
Chymical Liquors are at the end of Nature and therefore they will not admit of another Motion Hence it follows that all sorts of Spirits as of Scurvey-Grass of Salt and many others of like Nature that are prepared by Fire whereby the Radical Moisture or sweet Balsamick Quality the Volatile Spirit and Vegitative Vertue or middle Quality are alâ— destroyed have no such physical Virtues 〈◊〉 their Authors appropriate unto them And we do affirm that such as have the Disease called the Scurvey in their Blood shall be as soon and as well cured by taking every morning so many Drops of strong Spirit of Wine as they shall by taking this sort of Spirit of Scurvey-Grass and so of the Spirit of Salt and others For the harsh sulpherous Fires in Stills where the friendly Element of Air is hindred from having its Influence does totally destroy the pure Virtues and opening cleansing Qualities and there does run off only a fierce keen harsh fiery astringent bitter furious Spirit which is very pernicious to Nature and to all the friendly Virtues in the Body nor was it ever known that any such Spirits have given help or cured any of those Diseases which the Lying Authors do so much boast of You may try whether this be true if you take any opening cleansing or purging Herbs Seeds or the like and put them into any kind of Liquor viz. Water Beer Ale Wine or Brandy the last of which those great Physicians and Masters of Art do use to draw their Spirits of Scurvey-grass in when you have put your Ingredients into your Liquor let them lie in it two or three days more or less as you please then put the Herbs and Seeds with the Liquor into your Still or Limbeck and draw it off and you shall only have an harsh strong fiery tart Spirit void of all the Purging Opening and Cleansing Qualities such Herbs or Seeds were naturally endued withal The very same or other as great Evils are in many other of the Physicians and Apothecaries Preparations which ought to be considered and their blind Traditionary senseless Ways and Methods to be abandoned as destructive to the Health and Well-being of Nature It is further to be noted that none ought to apply themselves to the â—â—actice of Physick but such only as the Lord hath in their Radixes endued with proper Gifts and natural Parts for 't is not sufficient for them to read other mens Works and vapour with their Receipts like the proud Iack-daw in the Fable with the fine Feathers stolen from other Birds but they ought to know the true Principles Nature and Operation of every Herb Plant Animal or Mineral that they make use of and for what it is good and the contrary in themselves and also what Simples are proper to be Compounded and what not For he that has no true Knowledge in himself of the Nature of things but follows Tradition blind-fold and trusts to other peoples Say-so's must needs make strange work and instead of Curing often-times Kill and when he does Cure 't is by meer chance Whereas Physicians ought not to administer any Medicine without true Knowledge both of his Patients Disease and what he gives to remove it all things especially where mens Lives are concerned ought to be done with sight and judgment and not without Faith and Prayer to God the Creator of all things who is the inward Virtue Power and Life of every thing For Faith and Prayer do Wonders opening the inward Virtue and Centre of every mean and simple Medicine or thing even Clay and Spittle with it shall cure the Blind this all Physicians ought to be inwardly sensible of and not put so much trust in their Authors for many of them have been very vain and extravagant in their Writings telling us that such and such Herbs and other things were indued with such wonderful Virtues and would cure such Diseases when in truth there were no such things and also invented many improper Compositions even any thing they fancied and most of their Sayings are meer Stories and as contrary to Truth as Light to Darkness Now on such a tottering Foundation what Structure of safety can be expected to be built Our Modern Physicians are much like our Lawyers if a man is like to lose part of his Estate and will vindicate his Cause by Law 't is twenty to one but he spends the other partto secure that and after abundance of charge and trouble loseth the whole Just so if a man through Disorder and Intemperance hath in part destroyed his Health he may be sure to destroy the other part also if he keep close and follow the Physicians Prescriptions and take good store of their adulterated Medicines We must also note that every Patient ought to turn the Eyes of his Mind inward and wait at the Altar of the Lord for an answer and not to do or take any Medicines without some Assurance or Faith in the Lord of his Blessing nor ought any to think himself too mean or simple because he is unlearned for do but read the Scriptures and you may be satisfied that the Lord in all Ages has plentifully given his Gifts and Graces both Divine and Natural to the Simple and Unlearned And as to the Learning of this World did not our Lord Christ himself give his Father the Author of all Beings thanks That he had hid the Mysteries of Salvation both of Soul and Body from the Wise and Letter-learned of this World and revealed them unto Babes poor mean and unlearned People Peter the Fisher-man Paul the Tent-maker c. For indeed the Rich and Learned have shut and double-bar'd the Windows of their Souls against the simple Light of Truth they have cloathed themselves with Vanity and Self-hood being contented with Tradition and a Worldly puffing-up Knowledge which serves them to swagger with but not to do any good with either to themselves or others so that there is no room for the operation of the friendly Love and Light of God they are so full of swelling proud Spirits and noise and boasting Hence it comes to pass that these Admirers of Tradition and Pocket-Learning and the ways of the Multitude are always apt to despise the Simplicity of the Divine Power and Voice of Wisdom not only in themselves but all others and therefore the Lord chuseth to unfold his holy and natural Mysteries unto the Poor and Needy and such who are not wise in their own Eyes and whose Eye-lids are not lifted up For nothing obstructs the Work of the Lord and the Revelations of his Holy Spirit in men more than Inward-Riches Self-conceitedness and the Babylonical-Learning of the Schools of this World which like a too Luxuriant and not well Cultivated Soil produce such abundance of Rank-weeds as overtop and choak the good Seed that it cannot attain to any maturity in the Government of a mans Life the same is to be understood of all outward Fulness and Intemperances
Therefore let none think themselves unworthy because they have not the Learning of Babel or because they are simple for such as are unlearned and empty if they come to the Lord in Humility and Faith he will abundantly teach them and plentifully fill them with all good things The most natural and proper way of making of Cordials with any kind of Herbs Seeds Flowers Spices and Drugs either simple or compound Take any sort of Herbs Seeds Flowers Spices or Drugs either simple or compound but the first is to be preferred before the latter the Drugs and Seeds are to be bruised or cut what Quantity you think convenient infuse them in Ale Beer Cyder Wine or Spirit of Wine but remember that they do not continue above one hour in your Liquor but if the Quantity of Seeds Herbs Drugs or Flowers be great and but little Liquor then half an hour will be a sufficient time for you to continue your Infusion the same is to be understood if your Herbs or ingredients be of a strong bitter Quality as Wormwood Featherfew Tansie and the like your Vessel ought to be close stopt all the time of your Infusion then strain out your Liquor putting it into Bottles and when 't is setled sweeten it to what degree you think fit with Refined-Sugar which is to be preferred before any kind of Syrups for they are broken flat Bodies like any sort of Food that is prepared twice and therefore when mixed with any kind of Liquor or Drink they give it a sickish fainty Taste being dull heavy and unpleasing to the Stomach Which of you that prefer the use of Syrups so much if you were to have your Drink sweetned when you are in health would chuse Syrups to do it with I believe scarce one man of an hundred but rather White-Sugar with which when you have sweetened your Infusion or Liquor prepared as aforesaid you have a Cordial far more friendly to Nature and more impregnated with the real and natural Virtues of the Herbs Seeds Drugs c. which you have made choice of to use than any that is or can be drawn by Distillation for the Reasons beforementioned But if you let your Ingredients lie soaking two three four five Days or a Week more or less as is usual for most people to do then the pure Volatile balsamick Virtues and Tinctures will become either suffocated or evaporated for all sorts of Menstrums or Liquors do first extract or receive the pure subtle spirituous Qualities especially of all such Herbs Seeds Grains or Flowers as have already passed through any kind of Digestion or Fermentation as all dry Herbs have that are prepared according to our Rules and also all green Herbs that are Spicy and Aromatick do the same therefore if continued too long in such Liquors the pure Virtues and sweet spirituous parts become suffocated by degrees and then presently appears the strong gross bitter sower and astringent Qualities which poysonous Properties do prey upon and devour the sweet Body and pure Spirits for which cause all such Infusions or Cordials have a strong fulsome smell and taste and equally unpleasant to the Nose the Pallate and the Stomach Many Examples I could instance to demonstrate this but I shall only name one which is very plain familiar and material viz. in Brewing Alc and Beer First you make your Liquor boiling hot then put the Mault to it and stir it letting it stand together one hour or thereabouts and then you let that Liquor run off and so have a brave friendly Sweet Wort. But should you have done as most Physicians Apothecaries and others do viz. have let your Mault and Liquor stood infusing five or six Hours a Day a Week or the like I appeal to your selves if your Wort would not have turned sower sharp keen and of no use or virtue except for Stilling whereby 't is evident that all Infusions that are continued beyond their proper time do lose all their good Virtues more especially if they be such things as have already passed through any kind of Fermentation or Digestion the gross Bodies of all such things being in a Degree opened whereby the Balsamick Virtues become as it were volatile which before lay hid or captivated in the Body of Phlegm as is most manifest in all Grass or Herbage Take an handful of Grass and smell to it does it not send forth a gross fulsome earthy smell and scent but if you expose the same Grass two or three Days to the Sun and open Air which will exhale and destroy the fulsome phlegmy parts and more earthy substance opening the Body and then the Spirituous parts become so volatile that it will perfume the whole Field And if this Preparation be not discontinued the same Sun and Elements will exhale and destroy the good Virtues also and for this cause I told you that dryed Herbs Seeds and Grains are to be preferred before Green except some Spicy Herbs whose pure Virtues stand a degree more external than others and such are best to be used Green But others when infused green impart their gross phlegmy Substance to the Liquor Dryed Herbs Seeds Grains and the like when committed to any proper Liquor do more freely give forth their good Virtues than the Green for the Spirituous Qualities and sweet Body is more ready to infuse it self than other the astringent bitter or sower Qualities but they follow close at the heels of the good Virtues and if the Infusion or Preparation be not rightly timed then these fierce original strong Qualities will suffocate the Supple spirits and in a moment the sweet Body turns sower eager and astringent and the use of all such things proves very destructive to the Health of the Body and are very unpleasant to the Pallate and Stofor as there is a most pleasant sweet friendly Power and Virtue in all Herbs Seeds and Grains so on the contrary there is a strong gross poysonous fulsom Quality there being nothing so good but it hath an evil in it nor any thing so evil but there is an essential good in it therefore there is required Wisdom and Understanding in all Preparations whether for Food or Physick The Proper Natural way of making Physical Decoctions Posset-Drink c. with Herbs and Seeds so as they may not lose their Virtues The most essential way to make Decoctions of either Herbs or Seeds is after this manner First Take what Quantity of good River-water you shall think fit making it boyling hot or you may boyl it a little but the former is best viz. to make it as hot as good House-wives and Brewers make their Liquor into which they put their Mault for the much boyling of Water does not only evaporate the spirituous Qualities thereof but it fixeth it so that it hath not that power to draw or extract the Virtue and good Properties of such Ingredients as shall be added for which cause few Brewers will suffer their Liquor to boyl or
their Mault to be put in too hot when your Water is thus hot then take it off the Fire and put what Herbs Seeds or other Ingredients you please and let them lie in it about an hour and then strain your Liquor from the Herbs c. and let it stand until it be throughly cold then add to it either Ale Beer White or Rhenish-wine or any other Wine you shall think most convenient for your particular use so as to make it either strong or weak as you please and then sweeten it with good Sugar but if you would sweeten it with Spanish Fruits then you are to add the Fruit bruised at the same time as you put the Herbs into the Liquor and let them infuse together and it will do very well and when it is strained and cold add your Wine as aforesaid and put it into Bottles for your use and it will keep 2 3 4 5 6 7 or 8 weeks or more as you make it in strength and drink very pleasant and delightful being endued with all the good Virtues of the Ingredients Physical Decoctions made after this manner will be as welcome to the Pallates and Stomachs of the Sick as good Wine Beer or Ale for there will be no sick fainty gross strong taste nor smell in them as there always is in those made after the common way for all sorts of Beer Ale and Wines have already passed through Fermentation and Digestions which have opened the gross Body of Phlegm whereby the spirituous parts are set at liberty or become Volatile and External so that such Liquors or fermented Drinks will not admit of any other or further Preparation especially by Fire for so soon as they approach it the said Volatile Spirits become either evaporated or suffocated and then presently the sweet Balsamick Body dieth and turneth of an evil sower heavy taste and smell and of a dead heavy Nature and Operation having in it neither true Virtue nor Power therefore the Learned have no reason to oppose me in this Particular for let us both appeal to Experience Take you the best Beer Ale or Wine and warm or boyl it and let it stand till 't is cold and then tell me what 't is good for Verily for as much as Salt is when it hath lost its Savour Nay will not the very standing of such fermental Liquors open to the Air cause the spirituous parts to evaporate and the sweet Body to die and become sower and eager It is therefore no Paradox but a Natural Truth that the boyling of Herbs Seeds c. in Beer Ale or Wine does totally destroy both their Natural and Physical Vertues and such Decoctions are a meer loathing to Nature a Death instead of Life In making of Posset-drink you are to observe when your Milk boyls to turn it with Ale Beer or Wine then strain it and set it again upon the Fire and make it boyling hot but let it not boyl then take it off and add what Herbs Seeds or Flowers you please but if Seeds they must be bruised and let them infuse half a quarter of an hour or thereabouts and then strain it and your Posset-drink will taste and smell and retain the pure essential Virtues and lively Tinctures which the Herbs Seeds or other Ingredients were endued with and be an hundred times more pleasant to the Pallate and agreeable to the Stomach and also much more beneficial against the Disease such Ingredients are appropriated unto than those commonly made wherein the Ingredients are boyled Try and then judge It is to be noted That all sorts of Cordials that are compounded with various sorts of Distilled-waters and Syrups or with Strong-Water as that they call Epidemick-water are an abomination to Nature even in perfect Health when the Pallate and Stomach are strong sharp and powerful and what are they then to weak sick People and Languishing Natures For first the Natural Physical Vertues are destroyed by ill management and unnatural Preparation of each Ingredient before they are mixt And secondly the jumbling together such various things most of which are of contrary and disagreeing Natures is sufficient to destroy the good Virtues of the best of things and therefore 't is certain such Medicines and Cordials have not power to help or cure the least of Distempers not but many thousands after taking great quantities of their Slops may recover and then many people slander the Doctor with a Cure and ascribe to his Medicines mighty Virtues whereof indeed neither the one nor the other was ever guilty They have just cause rather to acknowledge the divine hand of God and his Hand-maid Nature and thereunto attribute the Recovery of their Health and not to those sick fainty Medicaments which generally do abundance more hurt than good Likewise their Epidemick-water is in its own Nature of a fierce hot Quality and Operation and tho it be made of the best of Wine viz. Sack yet the Limbeck does totally destroy its pure volatile spirits and balsamick virtues and also the Opening Cleansing Quality of all the Herbs or Drugs that are distilled with such Liquors or Wine so that there does remain or run off only a strong sulpherous brandish Spirit that has no other Operation than Common-Brandy or Spirit of Wine 'T is true they do allay this hot fiery Nature and Quality by adding to it Sugar or the like which renders it more tolerable to the Pallate and Stomach but the Operation is the very same as Brandy sweetned or any other Spirits If a strong healthy person should be confined to the Cordials Iulips daubing Electuaries and great number of sick Potions boyled Drinks and variety of sweet Slops and nothing more hurts and obstructs the Stomach than sweet things to the close Rooms lusty Fires drawn Curtains and other torturing Circumstances wherewith Doctors and Nurses torment those whose Nature is already wounded and languishing it would no doubt in a very short time destroy the Health of the strongest of men Therefore I would have every Intelligible Person consider the same and the Reasons of things and not be led away by Ignorant Sots who are meer Pretenders and not Physicians for Physicians ought 1st to be born with a Natural Genius and suitable Gifts rendring them capable of understanding natural things 2ly They ought to apply themselves to the Knowledge of God Nature and Themselves 3ly They ought to apply themselves to the Oracle of God in themselves to be taught by the Voice of Wisdom which crys in the Gates of every mans City For he that has not Eyes of his own and Understanding of his own tho he be the greatest of Scholars in outward Learning can never distinguish between Good and Evil but is always uncertain and all his Administrations as vain and presumptuous as a blind mans Judgment is of Colours 4ly They ought to have the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom always before their Eyes and not make Money and
and Minerals The Salnitral and Seminary Virtues of the Earth varying also in the predominant Qualities from ours there being a concurrence in all Countries and Climates between the Influences and Operations of the heavenly Bodies and the earthy whence it comes to pass that the people of the South are black and the Northern white their Countrey generates Gold and ours Lead Tin and Iron the East-Indies yielding precious Stones which is a Degree higher than Gold and the West-Indies Silver which proceeds from the powerful Influences of the Sun and Venus but especially of the Sun its warming Beams continuing there all the year without much variation and therefore their Nights and Days are more equal than in the North where the cold harsh Properties of Saturn and Mars do bear sway Therefore the Herbs Drugs and Fruits that are brought forth in those remoter Regions are not Homogenial to our Bodies as Experience might teach us by the great numbers of new Diseases that have of late been cantracted by the superfluous Mixtures of the East and West-Indian Ingredients with our common Food as Spices Fruits Sugars as also Tobacco c. which have strangely wasted the Healths of many For the All-wise Creator of all Beings has endued both the Heavenly and Earthly bodies with an inward Virtue Power and Nature in every Climate and Country so as all places do plentifully bring forth all manner of Herbs Fruits Seeds Drugs and Grains suitable and proper for the Sustenance of both Men and Beasts of that place and also for Medicine there being a Sympathetical agreement in the Radixes between the Animals of each Country and the Vegetations thereof both being brought forth under the same Influence Do not our own Herbs Fruits and Grains growing in our own Country maintain the numerous Troops of brave Animals amongst us viz. Cows Sheep Horses and many others in plentiful healthy state without the help of Foreign Vegetatives And are there not a great number of Medicinables likewise of our own growth proper for the cure of those Diseases that are generated in our Elevation and had it not been the great happiness of England if men had known no more of Outlandish-wines Spices Sugars c. either for Food or Physick than our Beasts do which would have rendred us more healthy and sounder both in Body and mind For in the Beginning the Divine Word of the Lord that as the Scriptures testifie made all things moved it self in all Places and Climates and formed framed and figured all Bodies according to the Degrees of the Innate instant Qualities of each Place and as the property of the Seven-fold Nature and Constellation did there predominate and as the Salnitral Properties and Spirits were internally strong or weak good or evil such was the Nature Inclinations Forms and Shapes of the Creatures in each Climate for every Creature was clothed with a Body according to the Nature and Degrees of the Spirit which is the Life of all things having an innate Power to attract proper matter for a Body of a proportionable Nature And as the Internal Powers and Qualities are infinitely various so are the External forms every thing both in the Animal Mineral and Vegetative Kingdoms varying in Shape Virtue and Vice And where the Property of the Wrath did predominate in the Salnitral Quality in any Country there did arise and were made fierce wrathful wild Beasts of Prey as Bears Lyons Tygers c. On the contrary where the sweet Water and friendly Nature had Dominion there were generated Tame Mild Creatures as Sheep Cows c. the same is to be understood in the Vegetative and Mineral Kingdoms and the outward Body or Signature does in all particulars manifest and shew the inward Nature of each thing to the enlightned understanding and sagacious Naturalist whom God and Nature have made capable of such sublime Learning It is very Improbable if I had said Impossible I had not much over-shot the Truth that one Herb should have specifick virtue and power to cure so many various Diseases and Defects of Nature as the Ancients do appropriate except such an Herb Fruit Seed or the like be endued with and have the Universal Tinctures compleat which hath never been known nor is it possible that any gross Herb should have that Divine Efficacy to cure so many Different Distempers and in various Complexions except there be a Living Faith in the Patients and also in the Physician which then can make Water Wine and Clay and Spittle an Eye-Salve and as Christ saith remove Mountains as also witness the Woman that had the Bloody Issue she believed in her heart That if she could but touch the Hem of Christ's Garment she should be whole which enabled her to press through the Throng and Multitude to touch his Garment where 't is to be noted that this Woman did first press in her self by Faith through the Wrath of God and Multitude of Evil Properties and Inclinations into the Divine Power and Virtue of the Son of God which by a sympathetical Attraction and Divine Power awakened the Balsamick Virtue and friendly Nature first in her self and afterwards in our Lord for then he enquired Who had touched him At which his Disciples marvelled because of the Multitude that pressed him but Christ was sensible of the Inward Kindlings and of the secret Attractions and Influences the Wowan's Faith had in a powerful Degree awakened and as it were drawn forth and united or joyned it self with the friendly Divine Principle of the Light and Love of God in Iesus Christ which healing Virtues her earnest Faith did draw forth and so miraculously her Cure was immediately effected for Christ saith Thy FAITH hath made thee whole The truth is there is but One Way for the right Cure of all Diseases both Corporeal and Incorporeal whether they proceed from the Body or the Mind which is by the Virtue and Power of the Good Quality and friendly Nature which the Creator hath endued every Herb and other thing with for as the Sickness of the Soul or Mind is nothing else but the Deprivation of the Divine Vision viz. man's being departed from the Government and Council of the good Light and Love of God which cannot be remedied nor the Soul restored unto its first state of Health Strength and Unity with God but only by Faith and elevating the Soul to the Divine Principles which will reinforce all the good Powers and Virtues of God's Love and not only render a man sound and healthy but the same Grace-being obeyed will maintain the Soul and Spirit in serenity so the very same is to be understood of all kind of Sicknesses of the Body and Elements of the Outward Nature Diseases being nothing else but an unequal Motion or Contrarieties of the Properties and Qualities of Nature which comes to pass through various Intemperances and concurring Influences of the Elements and Coelestial Bodies which wound the pure Volatile Spirit and then presently
and he healed me So Gen. 20. 17. Abraham prayed unto the Lord and be healed Abimelech and his Wife Also Moses cryed unto the Lord that he would heal Miriam of her Leprosie and the Lord commanded That she should be shut out of the Camp seven days and then she was received in again whole Num. 12. 13. And Deut. 32. 39. God speaks thus See now I even I am he and there is no God with me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hands And Matt. 10. 18. Christ gives his Servants power to heal the sick cleanse the Lepers and raise the dead In a word Multitudes of Examples we have in the Scriptures of Truth that all the Prophets and Holy men of God who were guided and directed by his Spirit of Wisdom in all their Troubles whether they were Diseases of the Body or the Mind always made their Application unto the Lord and he healed them and taught them what means to use that always proved effectual though seeming never so mean and simple Therefore let every one address to this Grand Physician whose Arm is not shortened nor his Mercy and Goodness diminished But if Men will give themselves up to the Spirit of Error Ignorance and Blindness and live in all Intemperance Gluttony and Superfluity which brings on them a multitude of Diseases and then enquire and run after the False Prophets and Necromancers whose Practice is meerly for Money Honour Pride and Estimation studying how to deceive the people by canting Words Plush Coats guilded Coaches great Houses c. which do amuse the Rabble and make them have great Thoughts of them though most that have tryed their Medicines might know that they are worse than the Diseases they are prescribed against I say If you follow these Courses 't is no wonder if your Lives become burthensome unto you and complicated Diseases torment you and an untimely Death cut you off For you may take a Cart Load of gross unseparated Herbs and Juices as our Physicians use with a Tun of their sick Decoctions and a whole Apothecaries Shop of their Confused Compositions and be further off from a Cure than at first Therefore the safest Course I can direct my fellow-Mortals is To fear the Lord live sober and temperate both in the Quantity and Quality of Meats Drinks and Imployments And if Diseases do at any time invade the Body by any Accidents or through the Male-Configurations of the Constellations or the like then humbly to apply themselves by Prayer to the Lord and to the Oracle of God in a man's self and then as the Mother of our Lord said unto the Servants that waited at the Marriage where he wrought his first Miracle Whatever he bids you do that do ye that is whatsoever the Divine Light or Holy Spirit of the Lord directs you to or bids you do that be you sure in all particulars to observe For the Reason Wit Skill and all Knowledge of the outward man ought to be as Waiters Tenders or Servitors to execute and obey the Commands of the Spirit of the Lord. Men ought to stand still from reasoning and Imaginations and wait at the Altar of the Lord and hear what he will teach which Directions man ought to follow and to act as this blessed Light and friendly Principle of God does excite him for in its power and virtue consists the right Cure of Body and Soul and in it is safe to move and abide Amen CHAP. XVII Of BUGS and from what Matter and Aliment they do proceed and how to prevent their Generations Of the Excellency of clean sweet Beds and perniciousness of old stinking Feather-Beds Also several Receipts how to kill Bugs and Fleas CLeanness in Houses especially in Beds is a great preserver of Health Now Beds for the most part stand in Corners of Chambers and being ponderous close Substances the refreshing Influences of the Air have no power to penetrate or destroy the gross Humidity that all such places contract where the Air hath not its free egress and regress In these shady dull places Beds are continued for many years and hardly see the Sun or Elements Besides Beds suck in and receive all sorts of pernicious Excrements that are breathed forth by the sweating of various sorts of people which have Leprous and Languishing Diseases which lie and die on them The Beds I say receive all these several Vapours and Spirits and the same Beds are often continued for several Generations without changing the Feathers until the Ticks be rotten Besides we have many Feathers that are imported from several Countries which are the Drivings of old Beds the uncleanness whereof is not considered As to the Nature of Feathers they are of a strong hot sulsome Quality for Fowls of all Creatures are for the most part the hottest and their Feathers contain the same Nature Therefore the constant lying on soft Feather-Beds does not only over-heat the Back and Reins weakening the Joynts and Nerves but they have power also not only to receive but retain all evil Vapours and Excrements that proceed from and are breathed forth by various Diseased people Hence it comes to pass that sundry Distempers are transferred from one to another by lying upon or in such Beds which Distempers do secretly steal on a man by degrees so that he cannot imagine whence the Disorder proceeds or what the cause thereof should be But I would not have the Reader mistake me all people are not subject to get Diseases this way There are some whose Constitutions are strong and their Natural Heat and Spirits are vigorous and lively by the Power and Virtue whereof they withstand and repel all such evil Vapours and Scents as do proceed from such Beds when a man is hot and sweats in them that they have no power to seize the Spirit But on the contrary when such people shall lie on such Beds whose Natural Heat is weak their Spirits few and whose central heat is not able to withstand or repel those Vapours and Scents which such Beds send forth when a man is hot in them this last sort of people are subject to receive Injuries and contract Diseases for those evil Vapours do powerfully penetrate the whole Body and if they are not withstood by the central heat and power of the Spirits then these evil Vapours do seise the Spirits and incorporate themselves with their likenesses for every particular thing does sensibly and powerfully seek out its likeness and wheresoever it finds its simile it hath power to incorporate and become essential These are the chief Reasons why one man gets Diseases by lying with Diseased Persons and in unclean Beds and others not It is a general custom when men go abroad or travel to desire clean Sheets imagining them to be a sufficient bulwark to defend them from the pernicious Fumes and Vapours of old stale Beds but it is too short For it
but the Inventions of proud Man are generally obscure scarce intricate and difficult That which I advise is only this As soon as you have cut or prickt your self or perceive any of the before-mentioned Accidents to trouble you and that your Flesh is envenomed suck it with your Mouth and spurt out what you draw from it and continue so to suck ever now and then the more constantly you do it the sooner the Cure will be effected But if the Hurt be great or dangerous then for the more speedy and certain Cure you ought to put Milk or Milk and Sugar in your Mouth and so suck the part afflicted and then spurt it out and repeat it several times and then let it rest a while and afterwards do the same again and if your Wound be great or the Flesh raw or some Flesh cut off then when you have done sucking of it one time in the interim till you come to suck it again lay a Poultice of Bread and Milk on the place and next time you have suckt it lay fresh on again This is a certain Cure if you continue it and it will perform the work in a shorter time than any Plaisters Oyntments or any such things But sometimes the Venoms of such Sores are so great that it will require a proportionate time and in such cases it will be requisite to suck it the oftner and you need not despair of healing it to admiration The same is to be understood of Wens and Moles For the Attractive Faculty of the Mouth and Stomach is so strong that it does by a secret power and virtue draw away the inward poyson that is kindled or awakened by such Accidents and prevents the Flux of Humors for when any part of the Body is hurt or wounded the Violence does certainly stir up or awaken the Mercurial Poysons of that part which do not only cause the Flesh to burn and heat but those Original Poysons do so violently attract matter unto themselves that the Wound or Hurt will quickly swell or putrifie for the Attractive Faculty of Nature stands in and hath its power from the Poysons of Saturn and Mercury Now these Venomous Spirits that are so violently awakened by the Wound the constant sucking with the Mouth does in a secret and most hidden but real and certain way draw forth from the part afflicted which does not only cool it but hinders and totally prevents the flowing of the Humors from the adjoyning part also dislodges the poysonous matter from that very part so that by this way of Sucking the Member or part where the Wound happens is rather made less than bigger for that which causeth any Wound to swell and putrifie is a certain Spirituous Poyson which this attractive Faculty of the Mouth does draw forth and spits it away so that then the Flesh will not heat swell nor putrifie For the same Reasons Dogs and some other Creatures do certainly cure any Wound they receive or other Accident of like Nature by their continual Licking of their Hurts for when those hot Venoms are removed Nature needs no other Remedy but can help her self by her innate power Therefore in managing of the Cure of all Hurts or Wounds the Artist's chief work should be to allay or draw forth those original Poysonous hot Sulpherous Spirits that are so violent in their Operation that they cause that part to burn swell and rage with great extremity of Pain For when in any part of the Body the pure essential Spirits and Balsamick Virtues are wounded or hurt by any kind of Violence presently the Original or fierce Brimstony Spirits are awakened and then they appear in their own Form which so long as the pure Spirits and Balsamick Oyl remained entire were hid or rather moderated and burned gently and friendly and gave life and motion to Nature but as soon as the pure Oyl and Spirits are wounded the aforesaid latent fierce Spirits break forth and shew themselves and become of a furious Nature and Operation The very same is to be understood in the Vegetable Kingdom if you destroy the pure Spirits and sweet Oyl or Balsamick Virtues in any thing then the original Forms of Saturn and Mars appear as is manifest in Charcoal and Brandy For all things both Vegetables Animals and Minerals have but one only ground and foundation and he that understands one by the same Spirit may see into the Grounds and Reasons of them all Nay the chief Cause and Foundation of all Diseases and Distempers in the Body is from the same Ground for when by Accidents or Intemperance the pure Natural Spirits and sweet Oyl in the Body suffers Violence be it in what part of the Body it will then presently the Poysons in that part are stirred up and then there is pain felt there and thence follow those terrible Feavers and Diseases that destroy Life in a moment The Mouth and Attractive Faculty of the Stomach does not only draw forth of the Wound Bruise or Sore green or old the poysonful Spirits which cause Pain and Swelling but by a secret Balsamick Virtue heal such Hurts But where the Hurt is full of Matter and subject to putrifie then it will be convenient to put the Juice of Limes Lemmons or some such keen sharp Juice into your Mouth and so suck your Wound and spurt it out and then take more into your Mouth several times for several days together and not be weary in a day as some are for Nature cannot destroy those kindled Poysons in an instant but it will certainly do it in a shorter time than either Salves Plaisters or Oyntments viz. in two three or four Days most ordinary Hurts will be cured if you apply your Mouth to the sucking of it often both in the Night and the Day And therefore I commend this way of Cure especially to the Country-people who often fall into such ill Accidents as Cuts Pricks Thorns Splinters Bruises and the like which often cost them dear viz. the loss of an Hand or a Leg Nay many times in small Hurts in the Flesh having no Understanding to help themselves but relying upon other Unskilful People many have not only lost their Limbs but their Lives But such as shall use the Means before-mentioned shall by God's Blessing prevent all such Dangers If the Wound or Hurt happen in a place where you cannot come at it with your own Mouth you may get some Body else to do it Also it is convenient that all Wounds Prieks or Cuts when first made should be made to bleed as much as may be without prejudice to the Body for in the Blood the fiery wrathful poysonous Spirits pass away and then the Cure is effected much the soonner But such as do not bleed nor can be made bleed are more dangerous and not soon or easily healed Besides it is to be understood when the Wound bleeds freely there is not any suffocation of the pure Volatile Spirits or at least
temperately which formerly they have spent in superfluity and of late have altogether declined but with Colour of using moderately many are ensnared and by degrees led again into Captivity It being for Example more difficult to drink Wine with a just Moderation than to drink no Wine at all And 't is the part of a wise Man if he sees an hundred things lawful to deny himself of ninety of them being certain of this that every inferior thing a Man toucheth or communicateth with has a special Power and natural Inclination to beget its own property and by degrees enslave the more noble Properties in Man Therefore 't is safer to deny ones self many of those things that are lawful and mean as well as those things that are not because Men has Power either by Sense or Understanding to hinder the Influences and Spiritual Impressions of Nature if he shall joyn himself to any thing whether it be Meats Drinks Imployments or Communications there being no Caviates that can prevent those Inconveniences but only Scruple and Self-denial which has been and alone is the first step and also the last to all Virtue and Wisdom He that can regulate himself and his Imaginations Words Communications Meats Drinks and Imployments may preserve his Spirit pure and potent and make his Soul thereby an unpolluted Temple of God which is the Supream Musick attainable where all the various Forms do incorporate and imbrace each other in an holy Consort of Love and where there is no despising envying or persecuting of one another because they are of different Forms Shapes Figures Complexions Inclinations or Understandings of which Vocal and Instrumental Harmony is a true Similitude Therefore it is much to be pitied that those that are Players on Instruments and skilled in Musick be not more Temperate Sober Grave and Wise for the wicked Wantonness and vain Lives of some of them have brought a Scandal on Musick and most People being ignorant of the Nature and Eccellency of Harmony have charged Musick as tho that had been the chief Cause of those Evils some of them have committed against God Themselves and the Law of Nature But this is a grand Mistake for the Original Cause of all Evil and Sin proceeds from a Man 's own Lusts and Passions and not from any outward thing 'T is true Man hath the two Seeds and Tinctures in himself and as he shall give his Will up unto either Evil or Good so he has power to attract unto himself either Virtue or Vice out of all things and also to use them either to the Praise of his Creator or profit of himself or the contrary as the Apostle saith Unto the Pure all things are Pure but to the perverse the contrary for the Lord appears to every Man either in his Love or Anger according to what Principle he hath suffered his Will to enter into as the Scripture saith That the Lord is an angry jealous God and a consuming Fire And yet again it saith That he is a merciful gracious God full of Love and Pity and will shew Mercy unto the third and fourth Generation of those that fear his Name and live in Unity Therefore Musick is not at all to be contemned or slighted for the badness of some that pretend to its outward Practice for they still are Strangers to its inward Power and Efficacy For Concord and Harmony are the best Accomplishments and sublimest Gifts that can be attained in this World the pleasures of Time and Eternity enduing both Soul and Body with perpetual Health it being that happy state which Man and all other Creatures do travel with great Desires and Groanings to be delivered unto even that holy Unity whence all proceeded But Unity Concord and Intellectual Harmony have hardly any thing in the hearts of Men for if they had then there would be Peace and Love not only amongst Men but to the whole Creation for that Paradisical State in this World which many have hoped to see and do expect shall come viz. that all Mankind shall live in perfect Love Concord and Harmony can never be expected to come to pass except Men do take other Measures than hitherto they have done For before any can attain to such a blessed harmonious Condition he must first live in the Observation of God's Law in the outward Nature for the greater cannot be understood if the lesser be not put into practice Man cannot by his Prayers move the Lord in his holy Fountain of Love except he lives in the Power and Operation of the same Fountain nor can attract the sweet Influences of the Elements and Coelestial Bodies any other way but by living and observing the simple innocent Law of Nature For this cause those that live under the Dominion of the Spirit of Discord Pride Envy and Contention their Devotions cannot move the Lord in this principle of his Love and Mercy but on the contrary moves him in the stern Wrath and therefore is said to be an Abomination unto him For this Reason there ought to be more care in every one to know what Spirit reigns in the hidden Ground of the heart than about outward Forms Every one that feareth God and worketh Righteousness saith the Apostle is accepted of the Lord who makes no difference of Forms for every Form is either Good or Evil as the People are either Virtuous or the contrary Therefore it is highly necessary for every one to study the knowledg of himself that he may understand the differences of Spirits and from what Fountain or Property every Thought Word and Work does proceed and to recommend and promote such Self-study and Heart-knowledg is the scope of this whole Treatise which being once attained unto a Man may be able to correct himself and Tune his own Instrument whence will proceed Concord Love and Harmony without which there is no Satisfaction either in this World or that which is to come For to fear God and keep his Commandments is the true Musick which all Mankind ought to be skill'd in and practise This is both the Glory and the Happiness the Ioy and Solace of created Beeings the celebrated Musick of the Spheres the Eocho of Heaven the Business of Seraphims and the Imployment of Eternity Amon. FINIS A DIALOGUE Between an East-Indian Brackmanny OR Heathen-PHILOSOPHER AND A French-Gentleman Concerning the Present Affairs in EUROPE LONDON Printed for D. Newman and R. Baldwin at the King 's Arms in the Poultrey and near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane 1691. A Dialogue between an East-Indian Brackmanny or Heathen Philosopher and a French Gentleman c. Heathen SIR I will not be so inquisitive as to ask what Accident or Occasion brought you into these Oriental Regions Be it either Curiosity or Business a natural desire of improving your Understanding or intension of Commerce I speak you heartily welcome and shall to my power be ready to serve you esteeming it both my Duty and my Happiness to
And the reason is because they forsake Nature and let loose their Desires which having once cast off the Bridle of Moderation run on without stop or bounds French-man But I perceive you are for Liberty of Conscience and that every one may follow his own Opinion and Phantasie and of so we should have a mad World such a License is destructive to Government and the very Nurse of Rebellion Heathen I do not well understand what you mean by Opinion and Phantasie People will think as they list do you what you can But this I know that he that fears God and hurts not his Neighbour oppresseth not the Creation and obeys the Civil Laws of that Country he lives in and freely pays all Duties and Tributes to the Prince that protect him is a good and faithful Subject to God and his King Nor have we any temptation to Rebellion for to us all Governments are alike as long as they protect us from Violence I have read something of your Europian Affairs and if I mistake not in France Spain c. where the Laws are to force People to be all of a mind there have been abundance more Rebellions Insurrections Plots and Conspiracies against the Government than in Countries where Liberty of Conscience is publickly allowed whence I rather infer that not the indulging but restraining Liberty of Conscience is the grand Cause of those Disorders amongst you 'T is certain every man ought to have Liberty in Well-doing and to be punished only for the contrary And we Bannians scarce know any thing that is a greater Evil than for men to contend hate envy oppress fight and destroy one another because they are not in all particulars like themselves For men naturally are as various in their Intellects as in their Shapes Forms and Complexions for the Shape and Form of every Body is according to the Nature Equality or Inequality of the Spirit The Lord hath made all things to differ there is not any two things in the four Worlds alike in all particulars therefore whosoever is offended with another because he is not persuaded or does not understand just as he does is in truth offended with his Maker who is the Author of that Variety If two things were exactly in all respects alike they must become the fame the nearest similitude of things is made by casting them in a Mould and yet even then they differ French-man You say right and therefore to make all mens Understandings of a size our Churchmen prepare Moulds for them viz. Creeds Liturgies Systems of Divinity and the like wherein they cast and fashion all mens Understandings so that none but must own these though he do not understand a word of them nor must dispute them though his Heart and his Brain tell him they are false and impious Heathen This is much such an Uniformity as I have heard in some of your Books was practised by the Tyrant Procrustes who dwelling near a common Road seized all Travellers and carried them to his Bed which was framed exactly for his own Stature and if their Bodies were longer chopt off their Feet or Heads to make them fit and if too short strained their Bones and Sinews out with Engines to a due proportion Was not this Gentleman a great lover of Decency Order and Uniformity If there were not Variety there would be no Motion for it is the various working Power and as it were Strife between the Properties that causeth all Vegetation and Manifestation if there were but one thing there would be nothing or a standing still which the Iews great Prophet seems mystically to shew when he saith God made all things out of Nothing For there was no Manifestation or Appearances before God moved himself on the Face of the Waters which moving seems to signifie the Strife of the various Forms Qualities and Properties of the hidden Nature without which nothing could be generated But here I must be silent for we are counted Heathens already and I do not know what worse Censures may pass upon us if we too far explain those Notions which though founded in Nature are yet so disagreeable to the Conceits and Practice of the Multitude But this we are sure of that men ought not to hate or suppress any thing but Evil for Man's most deadly Enemies are within himself whence one of the wisest of the Iews Kings affirmed That he that overcame his own Lusts and Passions was a greater Conquerour than he that subdued a City French-man For my own part I shall for the future be more careful how I credit Reports we in our Country are told by our Learned that you are meer Heathens Infidels Idolaters and Worshippers of the Sun Moon and all the Host of Heaven Heathen I nothing wonder that you Europeans should be mistaken about us who live so remote since you seem so little to understand the Opinions of each other amongst your selves every one misrepresenting the Sentements and Doctrines of all that differ from him 'T is true we do highly esteem and admire all the Heavenly Host and those Refulgent Quires of the Coelestials especially that glorious Eye of the World the Sun as being the Handy-works and Wonderful Powers of the incomprehensible Creator and think it part of our Duty to express our Gratitude and Veneration to the one onely Fountain whence all those amazing wonders proceed for he that contemns the Streams cannot truly honour the Fountain Do not your own Prophets teach you to Honour Rulers and Governours because they derive their Government from God And if you do not only worship and bow the Knee one to another who are at best but brittle animated Dirt but also reverence the work of your own Hands as a Man cloathed in goodly Raiment and the like how much more ought we to have in high Veneration those wonderful Fountains of Light Heat Motion and Vitality which are the manifested Powers of God and his upper Vice-gerents and Lieutenants over the Lower world Did not you tell me but now that you esteemed your Hugonots worthy of Death or Persecution because they would not pay Esteem and Adoration to a few painted Cloats the Pictures of their fellow Creatures which you call Saints not knowing whether they be truly so or not and yet will you condemn our Brachmans for directing their Esteem to these glorious Master-pieces of the Creation If you count such lifeless pitiful things as Wood and Stone or things painted and fashioned by Man fit to be Representations of your Gods and means whereby to enliven your Phantasies and Minds to an higher degree of Devotion which was the sole intent of the first Inventors of those things what regard then ought we not to have of those living Powers of God the Coelestial Bodies by whose sweet and friendly Influences all created Beeings are preserved and nourished What is more exciting to a well disposed Mind than to behold that glorious Body the Sun with the innumerable Train
of Stars and the various Species in the four Worlds or what doth more ravishingly declare the Greatness Goodness and eternal Wisdom of the immense Creator This is a Book we study in which the grand Charter of Nature and the Holy Mysteries of God are recorded and we think we do not err in preferring it before the endless and contentious thwarting Volumes of the Talkative Philosophers and Wrangling Schoolmen French-man I have been told and you seem to own it That you will not Kill any of the inferior Creatures nor eat their Flesh but I pray hath not Man power to do as he pleaseth with those Creatures and were not they made for that very purpose Heathen God hath made all Creatures inferior to Man who hath freedom to use and do unto them all as he pleaseth having free will to chuse either Good or Evil but he that follows the better and leaveth the worse chuseth the better part and is made God's Friend and in Amity with all the Creation for man is a likeness of all things and contains their true Natures and Properties and therefore whatever he giveth himself unto the same becomes strong in him be it Virtue or Vice For which cause our well-advised Fathers commanded us our Wives and Children to abstain from all kinds of Violence and Oppression especially to those of our own Species that thereby our Souls might be preserved from being precipitated into wrath and so retain Humanity and the more noble Faculties of our Souls unspotted as well as our Bodies rendred wholsome clean and fit to be Temples for the Divine Spirit esteeming Abstinence Cleanness and Separation to be the true paths that lead to all external and eternal bliss it being in our opinion an unfit and altogether unworthy thing that the great noble and immortal Soul of man should so much degenerate from its high and illustrious Birth as to joyn or suffer it self to be incorporated with the low and savage Nature of Beasts Nor do we think it lawful for us to heat our Veins and distemper our blood with Wine since Water more kindly quencheth our Thirst the innocent and fragrant Herbs and Fruits of our Gardens afford us ample satisfaction and we should be ashamed to make our Bodies the Graves of the Inferiour Creatures And tho our Princes are sometimes harsh and severe to us yet we pacifie them with meek submissive and humble Behaviour And since as little as possibly we can we hurt not any thing therefore nothing hurts us but we live in perfect Unity and Amity with all the numberless Inhabitants of the four Worlds doing by them as we would be done unto whereby we dis-arm their Rage and their Fury finds no place against us French-man But pray tell me how long you have led this kind of Life and whether your Sons and Daughters do follow your Religion and Example for amongst the Europeans nothing is more common than for Youth to degenerate and wander after the Multitude and abandon their Fathers Rules especially if they should be but half so singular as you are Heathen As for the Antiquity of our Course of Life I think for the greater part I may date it from the World 's Original Your own Doctors teach that Adam the first Man was placed in a Garden and that the green Herb. and Tree bearing Fruit was to be to him for Meat and do generally agree that afterwards at least during the Old World viz. to the time of the Flood which was in the Year of the World 1656. eating of Flesh was not allowed or practised and though afterwards it was practised yet 't is probable it did not obtain with all But there is reason to believe that still the better and more reserved sort did abstain For about the Year of the World 3300. near the time that your holy Records mention Ierusalem to be besieged by Nebuchadnezzar we find the famous Philosopher Pythagoras flourishing who expresly taught his Followers which by reason of his Parts and Virtues were not a few not to eat any Flesh but content themselves altogether with Vegetables and this great Man travelling for the acquest and diffusion of Knowledge into divers parts left not our India unvisited and there planted this wholsome Doctrine which ever since hath not wanted Observers derived down by a continual Succession to our Times 'T is true our Ancestors have obliged us to some things which may seem frivolous and vain as not to kill any kind of Vermin which are very offensive to the Life of Man But indeed these Prohibitions well regarded shew their more deep Wisdom and Fore-sight for they did consider that their Philosophy would not only be embraced by Wise Men but also by a great number of Fools as the most part of all Men are in one thing or other and if they should have permitted them to have killed any kind of Creatures the Foolish would have concluded they might by the same Rule as well kill others and so by degrees come to kill men as most other Nations do Besides not only our cleanly regular temperate Lives free us from many of those Vermin wherewith others are troubled but we take it for a Rule that such as would live an abstemious separated Life from Evil and Violence must refrain from some things that are lawful as well as from those that are unlawful as one of your Prophets says excellently All things are lawful but not expedient Touching our Sons and Daughters they all constantly follow our Foot-steps and it hath very rarely been known that any of them have forsaken the Percepts of their Fathers being descended from a Root of Temperance and Equality they are naturally Sober and Temperate for they use not Tippling-Houses nor spend their Patrimony in drinking Wine Gaming Debauchery and Gluttony so that the more Children we have the Richer we esteem our selves they proving no more chargeable to us than Lambs do to Sheep They all marry Wives of our own Tribe and Religion and there is no Dispute about either Portion or Joynture Their greatest Pleasure and chief Recreation is to contemplate the Heavens and their glorious Furniture the Sun Moon and Stars in their Various Motions and Configurations as also the pleasant Gardens Groves and Fountains and to free the Inhabitants thereof from the Tyranny and Bondage of men as much as in them lies And so through the whole course of our Lives abstaining from all that tendeth to Evil and promoting what we can the good of the whole Creation we endeavour to imitate the adorable Maker and Conserver of the Universe whose Off-spring we are and in whom we live and move and have our Beeing French-man You have not only gratified my Curiosity but in several things informed my Understanding And I heartily wish that your Virtue and Morality were crowned with true Christianity and our Christianity embellish'd with the real practice of your Virtue Temperance and Moderation And so bid you Farewell To shew that the recommending Abstinence from Flesh is no new Upstart Conceit I shall here add those notable Verses of the ingenious Poet Ovid written above 1600 Years ago in his Metamorphosis as I find them translated by Sandys where he brings in the famous Philosopher Pythagoras from whom the Indian Bannians derive their Doctrine thus discoursing FOrbear your selves O Mortals to Pollute With wicked Food Corn is the generous Fruit. Apples oppress their Boughs plump Grapes the Vine Thousand sweet Herbs and savoury Roots combine With beauteous Flowers of most fragrant scent Your nice and liquorish Pallates to content The prodigal Earth abounds with gentle Food Affording Conquest without Death or Blood But Beasts with Flesh their ravenous Hunger cloy And yet not all Horses in Pastures joy So Flocks and Herds But those whom Nature hath Endu'd with Cruelty and savage Wrath Wolves Bears Armenian Tygers Lyons in Hot Blood delight How horrible a Sin That Intrails bleeding Intrails should Entomb That greedy Flesh with Flesh should fat become Whilst by the Livers Death the Living Lives Of all which Earth our bounteous Mother gives Can nothing please except thy Teeth in Blood And Wounds and Stygian Fury be imbrew'd Nought satiate the wild variety Of thy rude Paunch unless another dye That good Old Age that Innocent Estate Which we the Golden call was fortunate In Herbs and Fruits her Lips with Blood undy'd Then Fowls through th' Air their Wings in safety ply'd The Hare then fearless wandred o're the Plain Nor Fish by their Credulity were slain Nor taught was Man that fawning Treachery All liv'd secure till he that did Envy What Daemon e're it was those harmless Cates And cramb'd his Guts with Flesh set ope the Gates To cruel Crimes But first these slaughtering harms A fire of Zeal at Holy Altars warms Enjoyning Sacrifices with the Blood Of Savage Beasts which made our Lives their Food Thus the Wild Boar for rooting up the Corn And leaving painful Plough-mens hopes forlorn Was thought to merit Death Vine-brouzing Goats Do next to angry Bacchus yield their Throats What harm have poor Sheep done whose Udders swell And yield of Nectar a perpetual Well Supplying Man with their soft Wooll and are Alive than Dead more profitable far Or what the Ox a Creature without Guile Inur'd to Patience and continual Toil He most ungrateful is deserving ill The gift of Corn that can Unyoke then Kill The Husband-man that Neck with Ax to wound Is too severe that plow'd his stubborn Ground So oft till'd so many Crops brought in Yet not content therewith ascribes the Sin To guiltless Gods as if the Powers on high In Death of labouring Innocence could joy Whence springs so dire an Appetite in Man To interdicted Food O Mortals can Or dare you feed on Flesh Henceforth forbear I you intreat and to my words give ear When Limbs of slaughtered Beasts become your Meat Then think and know that you your Servants Eat FINIS Numb 11. 4 18 22.