But when the Poor Neighbours whom Christ came to save as well as the others knock at the Door you either pretend you have nothing for them or else assign them the worst and coursest Fare a sorry pittance of Bull-Beef or a little Parboil'd Meat out of which you have extracted all the Nutritive Virtue to inrich your Plum Pottage even such as the Proud Wives and Miniking Daughters would scarce offer to their Negro Nos'd Dogs that are their Table and Lap Companions tho' one of the most Ravenous and Uncleanest Creatures in Nature And indeed since Man's Degeneration he delights much in the Converse and Company of the worst and vilest of Animals especially of such as are capable of being made by his wicked Industry his Butchers to hunt tear worry and torment the other Creatures of greater Value and Innocency which is accasioned by Simile because himself is departed from Innocence into Wrath and Fierceness For the same Reason the Rich and Proud cannot endure the Cries or Conversation of the Poor and Humble and therefore rarely Visit or willingly admit them into their Presence and when they crave an Alms will presently like Churlish Nabals reproach them as Idle Persons that spend their Money and time in Ale-Houses or drinking of Brandy when in truth this Reproof is not so much for Admonishment as to excuse your felves from giving them Relief and so at once saveboth your Monâ—y and your Credit as the Proverb hath it tho' at the same time you your selves set them the worst Examples by wallowing in all kind of Excess Intemperance and waste of the good Creatures of God And what is all this but vile Hypocrisy If idle expence of time and unnecessary Tippling be so great a Crime as renders men unworthy of common Mercies why do you practice it If you Indulge your selves therein why do you upbraid these poor Creatures that have far greater Temptations thereunto It may reasonably be supposed That scarce less than an Hundred Thousand Pounds has excused the City of London and Suburhs in unjustifiable Expences and Superfluity this very Christmas and if so what vast Sums may have been consumed in the Nation How common is it at such times especially for a Man to be almost jostled down or otherwise abused by Drunken Men and Boys and to have his Ears bor'd and the Air infected and the Streets polluted with Vollies of horrid Oaths Curses Execrations and Blasphemies O foolish People Bethink your selves turn from these and the like Ungodly Vanities and Abominations and observe this time and all other the short Moments of your fleeting Lives to the Ends for which the one was Instituted and the other lent you consider how uneasie and dreadfully prejudicial these courses will prove both to Soul and Body at the last Audit how incapable they render you of Answering the great Ends for which you were Created and sent into the World Let every one remember that he is but a Steward here and if God has given him a Benjamin's Portion more than is needful for himself and Family as many thousands have then it is his Duty to Improve the same by shewing Mercy â—o all and to distribute to the Needy the Fatherless and the Widow in special manner for with such Sacrifices is our heavenly Father well pleased nothing being capable of rendring us so like our Maker as mercifulness and Deeds of Charity for he makes his Sun to shine on the Just and Unjust and the fructifying Dews of his upper Chambers to fall with equality and affords his great and noble Elements viz the Earth the Water and the Air with all their numberless productions to all Creatures without respect of Persons or Things Therefore we are not to think our selves excused from doing good and relieving necessitous Persons though pehhaps they have not improved their Time and Talents to the best advantage but rather from thence reflect what vain and unprofitable Servants we have been our selves and how unworthy of any of those Mercies we enjoy And the better to accomplish and render us capable of discharging these necessary Duties let all that would be good Christians in earnest betake themselves to the good and wholsome Rules of Sobriâ—ty Temperance Cleanness and Order in Meats and Drinks which will not only make them more able to contribute to the necessities of their Poor Neighbours but preserve their Bodies and Spirits sound vigorous healthful and prompt to all good actions a sober or irregular Diet having far greater power not only on the corporeal parts but also on the Mind it self to improve or weaken it than most in our days imagine Did not our Fore-fathers live to wonderful Ages in perfect Health whilst their Foods were simple and innocent consisting chiefly if not wholly as before the Flood of Herbs Fruits and Grains with pure Water for Drink which of aâ—l other is most natural those Holy Patriarchs did not live by Slaughter and Violence nor make their Stomachs the Burial Places of dead Bodies nor did they ransack the furthest corners of the Earth for Dainties Their Provision was Innocent and simple cheap and ready at hand whereby they became able as fire is quencht by withdrawing of Fuel 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 Maxime That none could understand God and his wonderful Works or enjoy Health and long Life but those that abstain from Flesh Wine and Vices bounding their desires according to the Ends and Necessities of Nature not for insatiate Appetite or vain Customs for were Uncleanness and Intemperance reigns the Soul is so subjected to a gross unweildy and polluted Body that it cannot discern things Coelestial but Sobriety and Purity renders it the Temple of God wherein his blessed Spirit delights to dwell and communicate his Gifts and Graces so that where we see Temperance and Abstinence we may justly expect a Concatenation of all other Virtues because there no Superfluous matter is bred that may clog the Organs of the Body or render them indisposed for the Operations of the Soul nor can the manifold Benefits and Advantages thereby acrewing be conceived or understood by any but those only that have abandon'd Riot and Superfluity for nothing but Personal Practise and Perseverance therein can make a Man a competent Judge in this matter which I seriously recommended to all that would enjoy Health of Body or Mind For the Power of Temperance and Sobriety proceeds from an inward Principle and they endow their Observers with the Riches both of Time and Eternity making us truly sensible of God's Blessings The full Stomach loaths Ho Figuratively put for the choicest and most delicate Foods but to the hungry every bitter thing is sweet saith the wise King How pleasant how relishing how refreshing is every Man's dish of Food to the sober Mind and well prepared Stomach And how ready are such Men to give the
Miscellania OR A Collection OF Necessary Useful and Profitable TRACTS ON Variety of Subjects Which for their Excellency and Benefit of Mankind are Compiled in one Volume By THOMAS TRYON Physiologus London Printed and Sold by T. Sowle in White-Hart-Court in Grace-Church-street 1696. THE CONTENTS THe true and Natural Methods how to Cure all sorts of Cuts Bruises Pricks of Thorns Weapons or any kind of Wounds also Old Vlcers and to prevent Gangreens and other Evils whatsoever p. 3. How to Cure Pricks in any Member of the Body p. 4. To Cure Old Vlcers 5. To Cure Gauls or the skin being rubbed off by any accident 5. 61. An Excellent Poultis to Cure sore Breasts 6. A rare Poultis to â—llay all Swellings or Contusions in any part of the Body 6. Another Excellent Poulâ—is to dissolve ripen and Cure any Rising Swelling or Boyls in the Flesh 7. The best Spirit of Scurvy-grass is made thus 8. How you may make this plain Spirit of Scurvy-grass into a Purging Spirit 8. An Excellent Drink against the Stone Gravel and other Obstructions 9. How to Purgo by Herbs and Foods 10. Another Way to Purgâ— by Foods and Drinks 11. An Excellent Poultis against the Headach pain in the side also a rare Remedy against the Disease called St. Anthony's Fire 11. An Excellent remedy against any Wound Stab Prick or Cut with a Sword or other Weapon 12. Pythagoras's method and advice to his Disciples 13. An Excellent remedy against all Old 〈…〉 and Sores Occasion'd by the Disease called thâ— Kings Evil p. 14 An Vniversal Fâ—mentation for all Tumors Bruises ' Hard-Swelled Members or parts of the Body 15 A famous Poultis against Sprains 16 A good method to Cure Sprains if you can't have the forementioned Poultis viz. 16 An excellent Wash against all Old Aches and Sciatica's in any part or member of the Body 17. An excellent Method to Cure the Sores occasion'd by the Kings Evil 17. A rare Poultis against all Inflamations Rhumes and other Sores in the Eyes 18. A rare Poultis against the Headach 19. An excellent Poultis against all sorts of Sprains 20. A brave Noble Poultis against all hot Tumors Bruises or Swellings or the like 20. A method how any Person may sâ—â—ply the place of Hopâ— with Wormwood to all extents and purposes and please the pallats of the Drinkers for Wormwood is an excellent Herb and of far greater Strength Power and Vertue than Hops provided it be gathered in its prâ—â—er season and dried in the Sun and bagg'd up 〈◊〉 Hops are so keep them for use according to the Directions in our Way to Health Long Life and Happiness viz. 21. Of Brandy Rum and Rack from Page 1. to the 12. What Powers Meats and Drinks have in the Body from p. 12. to 20. What Inconveniences and Evils the Drinking Brandy and other Spirits bring upon Women and their Children from p. 20. to 28. Of Eating of Flesh and its Operation on the Body and Senses from p. 29. to 53. Of Herbs Fruits and Grains and their inward Operation on the Body and Mind from p. 53. to 60. Of Cleanness in Houses and Beds and the great Evils of stale Feather-Beds from p. 60. to 66. How Buggs breed from 60. to 70. Other Inconveniences arising from the same Cause to p. 73 How to prevent the Generation of Vermin and preserve Health from p. 73. to 79. How the preservation of Mens Health resides in the Wisdom and Temperance of Women from p. 79. to 87. Of the pain in the Teeth also from what cause and how to prevent it from p. 87. to 97. Observations on the great Frost 1683. from p. 97. to 111. Some Considerations on the keeping Christmas with remarks on the many Irregularities committed therein from p. 111. to p. 137. Good News for the Poor and better for the Rich wherein is shown how 20 or 15000. l. might be Weekly raised for support of the Poor and no Body the worse from p. 137. to p. 151. A true and Natural Method of preparing Gruels and Paps made of Flower and Pease wherein is shown the great advantage and benefit the Poor may receive thereby from p. 151. to 156. A Proposal to Sr. T. Lane Lord-Mayor and the Court of Alderman and other Citizens of London for the Erection of 20 free Schools for poor Children from p. 156. to 164. An excellent way to make Water-gruel or any other Pottages from 164. to the End THE PREFACE OBserving the tedious methods of some unskilful Chyrurgeons together with their improper Compositions and unatural Applycations which do not only Ruin and Undo many poor necessitous People but to the losing of their Limbs and sometimes their Lives too therefore I think it no worthless Service to recommend unto the World especially to the Poor the use of the following Remedies which are not only cheap and easily Come-at-able but certain in their Operation far beyond any things hitherto known or published These are noble Poultices and all the Ingredients do cast a friendly aspect to each other being of a cleansing mild Balsamick Nature and Operation and therefore they do by their active penetrating Power strengthen and raise up the dismayed Oyl or wounded Spirits by meliorating and asswaging the irritated or awakened fierce poysonous Humors by which this doth as far exceed the common and usual methods and practices of Chyrurgeons and other Practitioners as that Light doth Darkness But here I shall meet with a swingeing Objection viz. Why do you leave out of your Poultices the great Ingredient viz. The fulsom Grease of Swine and other Fat 's Which all skilled in the Art of Curing have for the most part advised and for 〈◊〉 other reason as I know then that their Poultices should not offend the patient by sticking to the Sore or wounded part for their long lying on the grieved parâ— if there were not some Fat 's or Oyles the Poultices would occasion them to become hard and stiff and so stick to the Sore which we prevent by our often repetition for the Spitituous Vertues and Qualities of Fat 's are so hid and lookt up in the oyly Body that Nature cannot separate noâ— draw forth their fine sweet Spirituous Vertues to that degree as she can from Vegetations as all men skilled in Nature and Chymistry do know they being of a heavy dull flat Nature and Operation very offensive to the tender Spirits and Blood by which they imâ—ede and hinder the Cure therefore those Poultices wherein Fat 's are mixed the fine Spirits and Vertues thereof do not so easily nor powerfully penetrate the Wound as rich Vegetations whose Spirit and lively Vertues are as it were on the Wing and therefore Poultices aptly compounded thereof their Vertues do in a moments time penetrate to the Center and incorporate with their similes by which they strengthen and raise up the wounded Spirits and at the same time do qualify the fierce raging Poysons more especially if our method be
three Ounces of double refined Sugar as much white Bread as will make it into a Poultis then make it boiling hot stirring it all the time then it is done Spread this thick on a Linnen Cloath apply it to your Eye every Hour fresh and you will have your desire but this course and repeated application must be continued for 1 2 3 4 5 or 6. Days as you see occasion Observe that you never apply your Poultis hotter then your Blood nor bind the Grieved part hard both are great Evils but more especially the last A rare Poultis against the Head-Ach Take one Quart of Rain or River Water one Ounce of white Sugar as much Mault Flower new Ground as will make it thick enough add to it half a Pint of good Ale making it boyling hot and stirring it all the timâ— then it is done Spread this on a Linnen Cloath pretty thick apply it as warm as Milk from the Cow every Hour or every two Hours continue the application one two or three Days more or less as occasion An Excellent Poultis against all Sorts of Sprains Take two Quarts of Rain or River Water make it boiling hot or boil up put to it as much good Green Sage as the Water will cover then make it just boil take it off the Fire and let it stand one quarter of an Hour Strain the Water off then add to this Sage Liquor as much Bread as will make it thick put to this three Ounces of double refined Sugar and a quarter of a Pint of Red Wine and five Spoonfuls of Spirit of Wine Sugar or Mault stir them well together and make them boiling hot stirring it all the time then it is done Spread this likewise on a Linnen Cloath and apply it warm as your Blood every Hour or two for one Day or two resting all the time A brave Noble Poultis against all hot Tumors Bruises or Swellings or the like Take two or three Quarts of Rain or River Water as much Spinnage as the Water will cover But first let the Water be boiling hot then make it boil take it off the Fire and let it stand one quarter of an Hour the Vessel uncovered Strain it off add to it as much House-hold Bread as will make it thick with two Ounces of course Sugar make it boiling hot then it is done Spread this on a Linnen Cloath apply it every two Hours as warm as your Blood for two three four or five Days and you will find good Effects thereof always observe and be careful that you do not bind the Grieved part too hard but very Gently there being nothing worse then hard binding it often occasions great Evils even to Mortification Wormwood Smokt in Pipes being well dryed in the Sun and Bagg'd in Paper close is far better and more a vailâ—ble for the help and Cure of all or most of the Diseases Tobacco is taken in Pipes for A method how any Person may supply the place of Hops with Wormwood to all intents and purposes and please the pallats of the Drinkers for Wormwood is an Excellent Herb and of far greater Strength Power and Vertue then Hops provided it be gathered in it's proper Season and dried in the Sun and bagg'd up as Hops are so keep them for use according to the Directions in our way to Health long Life and Hppiness viz. Take what quantity you think fit of dryed Wormwood as you have occasion to keep your Drink a longer or a shorter time and put it into your hot Water in your Mash-Tub or Vessel and then presently put your Mault in and stir it together as is usual and when it has stood the common time draw it off then you must take the Wormwood out and add some fresh to your Liquor that you put up the second time and do the like when you put up your third Liquor if you mash more than twice by this Method or way you will only extract the thin fine saline Vertues of the Herb and leave the Gross Churlish bitter behind and Drink thus made doth not only Drink pleasant and keep well but iâ— far more wholsome and healthy than the best Hopped Drink and if your Wormwood is well preserved it will keep three four or five Years good and the second and third Year it is better than the first The very same Method is to be observed in useing all other Herbs But if the forementioned way should make the Grains so bitter that Cattel will not eat them Then observe the following Method viz. Make of fine thin Canvas Baggs both for your strong Beer Ale and small Beer and put such a quantity of your Wormwood as you think fit into them and when your several sorts of Drink is Working in the Tun then hang these Baggs in your Working Drink for three Hours and then take them out this being an approved way which do impregnate or imbibe the fine airy Spirituous Vertues of the Wormwood into the Drink The natural and common vertues of this Drink is it warms and strengthens the Stomack fines the Blood purgeth by Urine Generates like pure Spirits and Drink thus made if not too strong nor too great a quantity Drank then it will prove a Friend both to the Eyes Head as well as to the Stomach Healths Grand Preservative OR THE Womens best Doctor CHAP. I. Of the Nature and Operation of Bandy Rumm and Rack which of late years are become as common Drinks amongst many as Beer and Ale not only in England but also in all the West-Indies where the English inhabit and of the evil consequences that do attend the Drinkers thereof BRandy Rumm Rack and other distilled Spirits are all very pernicious and hurtful to the Health of the Body if not sparingly taken on extraordinary occasions in a Physical way for the Intention of all such Chymical Preparations when first Invented was for Mediâ—inal uses and not be used as Common Drink as of late years indiscreetly they are to the Destruction of many thousands the frequent use of them contracting such grievous and stubborn Diseases as for the most part are incurable 1. All such Spirits as are drawn by common Distillation though those cruel Sulphurous Fires where the Air hath not its free egress and regress atheir Volatile Spirit and Balsamick Body is as it were totally destroy'd As for Example take the best Sack which is the Richest and most Cordial of all Wines and hath the greatest Body put it into a Limbeck or any other Furnace of the like nature and draw it off and you shall have nothing but a strong harsh fiery Spirit or Brandy The same you shall have if you distill Sugar only it yields a stronger Spirit for the more Balsamick the Body of any thing is the stronger and fiercer is its Spirit when that Balsamick Body and the pure Volatile Spirits are destroyed or separated from it Now here you will see that the Volatile Spirit and sweet Cordial Qualities or
Body both in the Sack and also in the Sugar are destroved and there doth remain as is said before only a fierce harsh Brimstony Spirit void of all the wholsome Qualities Sack and Sugar did contain for the Volatile Spirit or Tincture is the Essential Life of every thing and its the maintainer of its Colour Smell and Taste Now these pure Spirits will not endure any violent Heat or harsh Fire but through the fiery heat and want of the free Egress and Regre is of the Air they presently become Suffocated and then the sweet Balsamick Body is turned sour for this sweet Balsamick Body is the pleasant Hab tation of the Volatile Spirit and this pure Spirit is the true Life of that Balsamick Body they are inseparable Companions the one cannot subsist without the other destroy either and both die Therefore all such Spirits so drawn do lose their Balsamick Body with all their Cordial Virtues and Tinctures put what Herbs or Liquors you will into such Furnaces they are presently Plundered of their natural Colour and run off white whereby it appears that this common way of Distillation destroys the pure Natural Virtues and Tincture for from the Tincture proceeds all the Variety of Colours both in Vegetables Minerals and Animals so that such Spirits do only contain a harsh fierce fiery Nature and for that Reason if they be frequently Drunk do Prey upon the Natural Heat and by degrees weaken it destroying the very Life of Nature by way of Simile for every Like works upon its likeness whence it comes to pass that in those who addict themselves to the drinking of these high Fiery or Brimstony Spirit their Natural Heat grows cold and feeble and their Appâ—tites are weakened they destoying the Power of the Digestive Faculty of the Stomach so that many such People after Eating are forced to Drink a Dram to help Concoction all other Drinks proving too cold for them which constrains them to continue Seoping of such Liquor a sad Remedy when we go about to help a mischief by encreasing the application of the same ill means which first occacsioned it for these wrathful Spirit have awakened the Central Heat which is the Root of Nature that ought not to have been awakened or kindled for if the Central Heat be stirred up by any unnatural Meats or Drinks or other violence done to Nature then presently follows the Consumption of the Radical Moisture and the pure Spirits and lively Tinctures become Suffocated wherein consists the Essential Life of Nature And as in the before-mentioned Example the pure Spirit and Balsamick Body in Sack will not endure these cruel harsh Sulphurous Fires where the Air hath not its sree Influence but presently becomes suffocated or destroy'd the most pleasant sweetness thereof turned into a Stink so neither will the Radical Spirits and pure Oyl in the Body endure those Sulphurous Flames and fierce Spirits without sustaining the like prejudice for that pure Vertue or Essential Principle which the Lord in the Creation endued every thing with which is the true Life thereof will not endure any violent Motion or harsh Fire to touch them especially if the circulation of the Air be wanting as it is in all such Distillations for these Spirits are are so pure and subtle that when any Injury is offered to them they either evaporate or become suffocated for this Essential Powder or pure Life is the Moderator or Friendly Quality in all Minerals Vegetables and Animals which doth mix and qualifie the harsh Fiery dark Principal and does allay and moderate the cruel harsh Nature of the dark Fire as does plainly appear in all the fore-mentioned Liquors and also in Charcoal for before the Sack or any Balsamick Liquor was put in the Still and drawn off those very same fiery harsh Sulphurous Spirits were essentially in the Wine or whatever else it be for it is the Root of Nature and the Original to every Life but being mixed or incorporated with the Balsamick Body and pure Spirit the fiery fierce Sulphurous Spirit is thereby swallowed up and as it were hid and moderated for in what thing soever the pure Balsamick Body is predominant there this dark furious Spirit is hid or captivated an Example whereof we have in Sugar where when the sweet Balsamick Body is potent there also this fiery Sulphurus Spirit is strong but not manifest but as soon as this Essential Spirit and Balsamick Body are separated or destroyed this dark fiery Brimstony Spirit appears in its own form and becomes like a mad furious Devil in Nature its cloathing being the dark Fire for this Spirit hath lost its Sweet Water or Friendly Life in its Separation which before did qualifie its harsh fierce Fire it also loseth its pure Colour or bright native Shine because the Essential Oyl is consumed in that Separation so that there doth remain no true Life nor Light in it but being set on Fire its Flame is of a dim Brimstony colour which demonstrates that the dark wrathful Properties of Saturn and Mars and their fierce Fires are predominate in all such Liquors or Spirits This is further manifest in Charcoal as war hinted before which is made of Wood but in the making thereof the pure Oyl or sweet Water which is the Essential Life of the Wood is suffocated or destroyed for from that Friendly quality the Wood had its bright Shine or Flamo which is of a benevolent refreshing Operation Now this pure Oyl or Balsamick Body the Essential Life and Moderator of all harsh fiery dark Fumes or Qualities in the Wood being suffocated or totally destroyed in the making it whereby the Original dark Sulphurous Fire becomes strong and raging giving greater and stronger Heat than the Fire of Wood but its Flame is not bright clear and refreshing as that of Wood but it is of dim Brimstony colour sending forth strong fulsome Fumes and Vaâ—ours very offensive to the pure Spirits and Health of those that are near it for having lost its pure Spirits and Oyl of Life in its making into Charcoal there does only remain in it the fierce dark Original Fire an untamable devouring Spirit in Nature for every Quality in Nature hath power only to kindle and awaken its likeness therefore all such things as have lost their pure Spirits and Balsamick Body in the Separation or Preparation must needs endanger the Health because they do awaken by Simile their own or like Poysonous Properties in the Body and if it were not so a little Poyson taken into the Body would not destroy the Life but Poyâ—ons taken in do by Simile joyn or incorporate themselves with the Internal Poyson or Destructive Principle in the Body which before laid hid or as a Man may say was modeâ—â—â—ted or captivated by the sweet Body and pure Spirits even as the fiery Spirits of Brandy are in Sack or Sugar but so soon as the outward Poyson that is taken in Incorporates it self with the inward
Poyson in the Body it does so powerfully strengthen and awaken it that in a moment it over comes the pure Oyl of Life and the pure Spirits become suffocated and then the Natural Life is at an end for every Property in Nature both in the evil and also in the good does with highest diligence seck out its likeness and wheresoever it findeth its Simile there it joyns forces and mightily stirreth up its own Quality which when it happens in the Evil Nature as it does in Brandy Rumm Rack and other Distilled Liquors then it endangers the Health and Wellfare of the Body Nor is it otherwise in all sorts of Food and other Drinks if the pure Vertue thereof be separated or any way destroyed for then forth with the darâ— Brimstony Spirit is set at lâ—berty which before the Separation the Balsamick Body and pure Spirits did qualifie and hold Captive that it could not manifest its self in its own Nature but being separated from the good Properties and Friendly Principle this dark fiery sulphurous Spirit becomes of a furious Nature and Operation endeavouring to bring all in Subjection to it self therefore such Liquors or Spirits frequently taken burn up the Radical Moisture and Natural Heat and are grreedy devourers of the sweet Oyl in the Body whence proceeds General Obstructions Crude Windy Humours Consumptions unnatural Heats and Flushings loss of Appetite Reachings to Vomit and many other Disorders and if those of the Female Sex take to drink such Spirits as of late years they do too frequently the Evils are doubled unto them 2. In all the before-mentioned Spirits that have passed through those cruel harsh Fires where the Air hath not its free Egress and Regress the pure Spirit and sweet Body is totally destroyed which is the Root of Motion and Fermentation therefore such Spirits will not Work or Ferment as all other Drinks and Liquors will even water it self but you may put what quantity of Sugar you will to Brandy Ramm or any other Distilled Spirits they will continue a strong Fire void of Moâ—ion or Fermentation this doth further declare that all the good Principles and Vertues are destroyed by the Preparation and that there remains only a strong fixed Fire which has its Uses in Physick as is mentioned before but not otherwise 3. Such Spirits being frequently drunk do generate various Diseases according to each Mans Nature and Constitution and the Climate whether hot or cold for they do powerfully Prey upon the Natural Heat consuming the sweet Oyl and pure Spirits for the Balsamick Body and pure Spirits of all such Liquors being destroyed in the Preparation they become an Extream which Nature in her simplicity hates and for this Cause such Liquors cannot Administer any Proper or Agreeable Nourishment to the Body or to the pure Spirits it cannot give what it hath not it hath only Power to awaken the Central Heat or Fire which ought not to have been kindled and this it doth by a Sympathetical Operation for all Meats and Drinks have power in the Body to awaken and strengthen their likeness for this reason all Wise Men Skilled in the Mysteries of Nature have commended simple Meats and Drinks because most such things are as it were equal in their Parts having no manifest Quality that does predominate violently over the other but yet contains a sufficient Noarishment for the Body and also for the Spirit for Meats and Drinks ought to be equal in their parts the Spirit ought not to be separated from the Body nor the Body from the Spirit but both ought to be Administred together for the Body without the Spirit is of a gross heavy dull or dead Nature and the Spirit without the Body is too violent and fiery but the Health of Mans Body and Mind doth chiefly consist in the equality of both do not all Meats and Drinks wherein any Quality or Property of Nature is â—xtream whether it be in Vertue or Harmfulness if not sparingly taken certainly discompose the Harmony both of the Body and Mind For every Quality begets its likeness and so on the contrary Concord and Harmony are tain'd by their likenesses if there be not a Sympathetical agreement between the Stomach and the Meats and Drinks both in Quality and Quantity the Unity and Concord of the Properties of Nature are immediately broken whence proceeds various Diseases according to the degrees of the Disorder This every one ought to understand or else they may unadvisedly lay heavier Burdens than Nature can bear for most Diseases are generated through surplusage of Nourishment For unto weak Heats there ought to be Administred a proportionable Food but stronger Heats will admit of stronger Foods and greater quantity which all Persons might know if they would but observe the Operation of their own Natures for no Health nor Harmony can be continued where the parts do disagree aniong themselves What Harmony can the most skilful Master of Musick make if the strings of his Instruments be some too sharp and others too flat even so it is in the Elements of the Body and also in the Mind 4. For Man is the most Beautiful and Perfectest of all God's Creation and â—is Image called by the Antients the lesser World for in him is contained the true Nature and Properties of all Elements Numbers Weights and Measures therefore Man is both capable of and and â—lable to receive all all Impressions and to be influenced by all things he communicates with or joyns himself unto as all sorts of Meats Drinks Imployments Communications and whatever else he suffers his Will or Desires to enter into the same things have power respectively to awaken their Similes therefore all extreams are perilous to the Health If Men and women were but sensible of the danger and terrible Diseases that are contracted by the frequent eating and drinking of those things that are unequal in themselves as Brandy Rumm and other Spirituous Drinks and high prepared Foods they would not so eagerly desire them Do not all or most that do accustome themselves to such things quickly spoil their their Healths Nature is Simple and Innocent and the Simplicity thereof cannot be continued but by Sobriety and Temperance in Meats and Drinks that are simple and harmless which will not only gratifie Nature but contribute both due and moist Nourishment for beyond all lushious fat compounded Dishes of the Richest Food and Spirituous Drinks as it appears by many hundreds of poor People who are constrained by pure necessity not by Wisdom to live for the most part on simple Food and mean Drinks their Labour hard Cloathing thin open Air cold Houses small Fires hard Beds standing on Earthen Floors by all which means they are not only preserv'd in better Health but also enabled to endure Labour with more ease and pleasure than the Intemperately Supet flâ—ous can lie a Bed or sit by the Fire O then how excellent are the ways of Temperance and Sobriety They free the
them burn too fierce which sets Nature into a Rage awakening the Central Spirits till all parts of the Body burn like Fire till the Oyl be consumed and Nature begins to languish becoming dull heavy and stupid The very same Operation have all Food in the Body and on the Spirits and Senses but more slowly and hidden for great meals of Food makes dull when first eaten for all the time Nature is a digesting and making separation which is four five or six hours a doing and then Nature begins to be brisk and lightsome for what the Stomach and Natural Heat do perform as to Fermentation and Separation with the Food is done to Natures Hand by Art in all sorts of strong Drinks therefore all such fermented strong Drinks have a present Operation but let Drink be ever so strong if it have not passed through Fermentation and Separation it will lie heavy on the Stomach and send dark and dulling fumes into the Head if a quantity be drunk Therefore great Meals of strong rich Food do endanger the Health more than proportionable drinking of strong Drinks especially in hot Countries and in Summer time in colder Climates That Dispositions and Inclinations are chang'd and alter'd by Food may further appear in all or most unclean Creatures are they not made much fiercer if raw flesh and blood be given them their wrathful unclean Nature being thereby enraged and made stronger And is not the very flesh of those Creatures Men feed on altered either for the better or worse according to the nature of their Food what a vast difference shall there be as to the goodness or badness wholesomness or unwholesomeness of the Milk of the very same Cow when she feeds upon fresh delicate Grass Herbs and Flowers and when she is kept on course Brewers Grains or the like The Elements of Man's Body and natural Spirits are compounded of the same matter as other Creatures are and in respects subject to the same or like alterations only the Holy Light and Grace of God which enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World if obeyed is sufficient to subdue most natural Inclinations and to keep them within the bounds of Temperance indeed this Gift is the only power by which a Man may overcome the Evil and deny himself 2. Flesh is not so clean a Food as Herbs Seeds and Fruits for all forts of Animals are subject to various Passions but on the contrary all or most Vegetables have a more simple and innocent Original therefore their Operation on the Body and Senses is as simple having no power to awaken any property in the Body but what is like themselves Furthermore we see that no Creatures that are clean will eat Flesh except they be taught it and brought to it by degrees on the other side all such Animals as naturally will eat Flesh are by all means counted unclean as Dogs Cats Bears Wolves Foxes and many others both in the Sea and Land and most Men will avoid the eating of such Creatures as being unclean in the Root of their Natures Therefore they desire such Food as hath affinity with them for every Creature rejoyceth in its likeness The Prophet Moses well understood this when he commanded that unclean Creatures and Blood should not be eaten because the Blood as is mentioned before doth not only contain the Spirits but the very Humour Dispositions and Inclinations of the Creature therefore it was to be killed and dressed after such a manner by which the Blood and superfluous matter was extinguished and if Flesh should now be prepared after their way we should not account it to have half the Vertue as it hath in our way of preparation Indeed the way of killing and preparing of Flesh and Fish that the Law-giver prescribed to his People was to cleanse the Flesh from all Blood in which stand the Spirits and all the Dispositions and Inclinations of the Creature lie hid By this means the Uniting of the Bestial Nature with the Human was in a great measure prevented and for no other reason all unclean Beasts Fowls and Fishes were so severely forbidden All Created things have but one only Ground and Original Every particular Creature contains the true Nature and Properties of the whole only the qualities are in several degrees one having one quality strong and another the Center For in every Creature one of the forms or properties do carry the upward Dominion and other qualities lye as it were hid but some times do manifest themselves but that property which is weakest may be awakened and made strong by its Simile as often comes to pass From this very ground proceeds all Sympathy and Antipathy Concord and Discord in this World For all those whose predominate qualities stand nearest and have affinity to each other such are friendly one to another but those whose predominate Properties have Antipathy each to other such slight one another and if the Grace and Holy Light of God do not restrain them they are very apt to speak Evil and Backbite one another The same is to be understood in the Divine Principle of God's Love those that through the Blessing and Favour of the Lord have obtained the Holy Gifts of the Spirit be it more or less all such People have affinity and bear good will each to other except the false Prophet's Opinion get in amongst them which is a Ravening Wolf Every thing rejoyceth in its likeness and the contrary in its death therefore it is highly convenient for every man to consider the Variety and the Possibility of its own Nature and that in himself is contained the true Nature of every thing in the visible and invisible World and that he bears a Simile with all things and is both capable and liable to be drawn either to Vice or Vertue by every thing he joyns himself to whether Meats Drinks Communications or whatever else a Man suffers his Will or Desires to run out after or enter into the same thing hath power to awaken its likeness and for this cause all the Wise Men and Prophets have advised to Cleanness and Sobriety and to the reading of Good Mens Books which do stir up the good Faculties in the Soul for all Books do bear the Image and Spirits of him that wrote them and so by Simile do awaken the like Spirit and Desire and so on the contrary if young or old give themselves to the reading of Plays or Books of Romances they will powerfully awaken by Simile the vain wanton Nature which before lay as it were hid Therefore it was said in the Revelations Come out from amongst them and be ye separated lest you partake of their Evils 3. The Reason why most People love and so much desire Flesh more than either Herbs Fruits or Grains is not because it doth afford either better Nourishment or is pleasanter to the Pallate or Stomach but it chiefly is because Man is departed in his Mind and desires from the
observe the necessary Rules of Temperance how careful then ought Mothers and Nurses to be in ordering their Children A great part of the Children that die especially in Towns and Cities is occasioned either by the Intemperance of their Mothers during the time they go with Child or afterwards by their unnatural and badly prepared Food and suffering them to eat to excess also by their keeping of them too warm and too close from the Air and lapping of them up in several Double Clothes and Swathes so tight that a Man may write on them and then puting them into warm Beds and covering them up close If a strong Man was so bound up he could not endure it without great injury unto his Health Besides the Window-Curtains are drawn and also the Curtains about the Bed by which means the Air becomes so hot and sulphurous that it causes great Disorders to attend both the Mothers and the Children This ill Kind of Management does also cause such a Tenderness both in the Mother and the Child that on every small occasion they are liable and apt to get Colds and divers other Distempers Also Women have the entire Management of all things that concern our Healths during the whole time of our Lives they prepare and dress our Food and order all things in our Houses both for Bed and Board There is not one Man of a hundred that understands or takes any notice whether his Food be well prepared or not and if his Bed stinks he is used to it and so counts it all well Mens Time and Study is chiefly taken up about getting a Livelihood and providing things necessary for themselves and Families so that there is not one among a thousand that understands any thing what belongs to the Preservation of his Health Whatever the Women do and say touching the Preparation of Food and other ordering of Families for Health most Men believe not making the least scruple or question of the truth thereof And well they may For the chiefest Doctors of our Times do bow before them and are altogether as subject to the Rules and Directions of Women as other Men. Where are your Doctors that teach Men Sobriety in their Lives or the proper and natural way of preparing Meats fit for the Stomach Which of them adviseth against the evil Custom of keeping their Chambers so over hot when People are sick and in the time of Womens lying in Child-bed Why do they not advise them not to have their Curtains so close drawn both before their Windows anâ— Beds insomuch that they are often times in a manner suffocated for want of the fresh Air For I affirm That all sorts of People that do keep their Beds let the occasion be what it will have ten-fold more need of the refreshing Influences of the Air than others that are up For the Bed being much hotter than a Man's Garments are when he is up the thin refreshing moist Vapâ—urs that do penetrate the whole Body more powerfully when a Man is up are thereby hindered This is one chief Reason why a Man cannot digest a Supper so well in Bed as if he sits up All Men know that the Bed destroys Appâ—tice If a Man go to Bed aâ— Eight a Clock and lies till Eight in the Morning he shall not be hungry but it he goes to Bed at the same time and rises at Four in the Morning though he sâ—s still without Action yet by Eight he shall have a good Stomach to eat and drink so great is the power of the Air For when a Man is up his Body is cool and the pure Spirâ—s and thin moist Vapours of the Air have power to penetrate the Body which Element the Body sucks in like a Spunge thorow the Pores and this doe not only cool and refresh â—he Spirits and the whole Body but also powerfully strengthens the Action of the Stomach But I pity the young Children most who are so tender and of so delicate a Nature both in their Body and Spirits that every Disorder does wound them to the very Heart Nothing is more grateful and refreshing to them than the pleasant Air It comforts their Spirits and cauâ—eth a free Circulation of the Blood and Radical Moisture begets Appetite and makes them grow in Strength But on the contrary hot sulphurous Airs with great Fires and warm Clothing do not only hinder the Circulation of the Blood but suffocate the Spirits and destroy the Appetite causing an unnatural Heat to possess the whole Body whence does proceed various Disorders and Diseases making them to cry and be very froward Also close Bindings and over-warm Clothings and thick hot Airs do oft in weak-spirited Children cause Convulsions Vapours and Fumes to fly into the Head sometimes occasioning Vomitting which People call Windy Diseases Again the Food of most Children of late years is so enriched with West and East-India Ingredients that is with Sugar and Spices that thereby their Food becomes so hot in Operation that it does not only breed too much Nourishment which generates Obstructions and Stoppages but it heats the Body drying up and consuming the Radical Moisture and infecting the Blood with a sharp fretting Humour which in some Complexions and Constitutions causeth languishing Diseases contracting the Breast and Vessels of the Stomach and hindering the Passages of the Spirits so that the Joynts and Nerves become weak and feeble In others with the help of bad Diet and other Uncleanliness does cause Botches Boils and various sorts of Leprous Diseases Also many that have wherewithal will frequently give their Children Sack strong Drinks and fat Meats as long as they will eat which is abominable and absolutely contrary to the Nature of Children There are a hundred other Disorders and Intemperances that many Mothers and ignorant Nurses affect their Children with which I have no room in this place to discourse of Therefore I commend unto the Women Milk that is raw only made so hot as the Mothers or Nurses Milk is when the Child socks it and sometimes Milk and Flower boyled together giving it the Châ—ld about tâ—e warmness of Breast-milk and indeed neither Children nor others others ought to eat any Food hotter Also no Children ought to drink any kind of strong Drink I could commend Water as the most wholesom but it being contrary to our Custom ordinary Beer may do well or rather small Ale If Women did understand but the hundredth part of the Evils and Diseases those indulging and intemperate Ways do bring both to themselves and Children they would quickly be of my mind which I never expect They are too wise CHAP. III. A short Discourse of thâ— Pain in the TEETH Shewing from what Cause it does chiefly proceed and also how to prâ—vâ—nt it THE terrible Pains and Diseases of the Teeth do chiefly 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
observed and do effect the Cure not only in shorter time but much safer and with greater ease to the Patient For by this Philosophical Operation of repeating it so often it doth mightily advance and forward the Cure And Note that every fresh Application of this Homogenial-Poultice to the grieved part do add new and fresh Supplies of Vertue for in all Operations of this Nature the fine healing Spirituous Qualities thereof do first impart and give themselves forth which by a secret simpathetical Power do penetrate the whole and incorporate with their similes administring their sweet Vertues which gives a new Life to thâ— wounded Spirits and dismayed Oyles and do at the same time withstand and allay the fierce raging awakned or irritated poysonous Humours it being the way of Nature for all homogenial Bodies that have passed through any Preparation Digestion or Fermentation when aptly applied or joyned to any Proper Subject or thing For the fine cleansing healing Qualities and good Vertues do give themselves forth and joyn or incorporate with their Similes even as the fine sweet Spirituous Qualities of 〈◊〉 do imbibe or give themselves forth and incorporate with the hot Water inâ— our Mash-Tub in the method of Brewing therefore every Applycation does add new supplies of Vertue and strength to the wounded Spirits and draws forth and consumes the gross humidity and exalts the Essential Life of that part and are as refreshing to the wounded Spirits as the pleasant influences and salutiferous Breezes of Wind in a hot season For Note that the Spirits and fine Qualities of each thing are light volatile ready quick and powerful in Operation that in a moments time they penetrate even to the Center for every particular Quality in Nature has a Key in it self to open the Gate of its own Principle what Man in the World would believe the attractive inclination which the Load-stone has upon Iron if it did not appear to his sight the very same simpathetical Power have all other things though in some it is more occult And for this cause one Body works upon another by a certain natural attraction and simpathetical Inclination Thus the wise and wonderful Creator has endued every thing with an attractive and influential Vertue it is not therefore the gross Body of your Poultice that will do your Business that is full of corrupt and poysonous Humours which are awakened by the long Continuation thereof for these Reasons the long lying of Poultices and Plalsters on Wounds and Sores have no better Effects then the long Continuation or standing of the Liquor on the Mault in your Mash-Tub which if it continue more then two three or four Hours it will spoil and corrupt the whole for First as I said before the fine sweet Volatile Spirituous Vertues imbibes or incorporates themselves with the hot Liquor and then if there be not a separation made in two three or four Hours by drawing it off but the applycation continued then there will soon awaken another Quality of a gross harsh sour â—een Nature which with a rapid motion tinges or transmutes all the fine sweet healing Vertues into their own Qualities which all Brewers and good House-Wifes are sensible of the like is to be understood in the applycations of Poultices and Plaisters do not their long lying of them on the wounded or sore part cause them to smell four and stink when they have been continued on for twelve or twenty four Hours which do not only indanger the part and prolongs the Cure but it puts the patient to great Pain and Torment and often the Limb is cut off and sometimes the Life too which by this forementioned method might have been prevented for if Physitions and Chyrurgeons do not understand Nature then there can be no certainty in their Operations or Cures Also Note that during the time your Poutices Plaisters Ointments or Salves are making on the Fire that you keep them stirring by which you keep the fine Spirits and Qualities Living for by this stirring the friendly Powers and thin Spirits of the Air do penitrate the whole Mass or Body which incorporate and assist the Spirits and good Vertues and keep them from being Stagnated and Suffocated the Air being the Life of all things and where its Friendly influences and circulations are prevented the Life and Spirits becomes heavy dull and gross for these Reasons all Spoon-Meats made thin are sweeter and of a more quick penetrating Operation and Digection then those made thick therefore despise not our method nor our plain home bread Poultices I could produce many living Testimonies of its Success but it is needless since every Man's Experience that tries it will soon confirm the Truth of what is here delivered nor I am not much Solicitous whether I am credited or not it is the consideration of the publick good it may do to many poor People pomps me to publish it whether you will follow the forementioned Rules or not I have done my Duty in offering it and therefore am satisfied True and Natural Methods how to Cure all sorts of Cuts Bruises Pricks of Thornes Weapon's or any kind of Wounds Also Old Vlcers and to prevent Gangreans and other Evils whatsoever viz. To Cure Cutts TAke Spirit of Wine one Pint put in three Ounces of double refined Suger shake it together With this wash your Wound or Cut very well then take some of the same Spirit and mix so much Sugar as will make it as thick as a Salve clap this into the Wound then bind it up for Ten or Twelve hours after this open it wash it again with your Sugared Spirits very well then sow it up with a small Needle and Silk then temper a little Water Bread and Sugar together and lay a little on a Linnen Cloth and bind it on Repeat this every five Hours always washing the outside of your Wound with your forementioned Spirits This will Effect the Cure in a few Days provided the Humours be not too Venemous and the Parties keep themselves Temperate How to Cure Pricks in any Member of the Body Take one Pint of double Spirit of Wine three Ounces of double refined Sugar one Ounce of Camphir mix them well-together and if your Prick or Wound be deep then take ths Spirit and with a good Serringefrce it into the Wound then Temper some of this Camfired Spirit with Sugar as thick as a Salve clap this on the mouth of the Wound then bind it up with a Cloath that the Air may not penetrate the Wound repeat this every seven Hours for five or seven times every time Cleansing the Wound with your Serringe then â—ew it up laying the forementioned Poultis to it repeat it as you did the former and wash it every time you lay your Poultis on with said Spirits This doth likewise Cure with great ease and safety To Cure Old Vlcers Take one Pint of the best double Spirits of Wine half an Ounce of Aloes beaten three Ounces of
in abundance Therefore the Wise Antients did account it a Crime for Women to drink strong Drink or Wine tho' their Countries did afford Wine in abundance and good reason they had for the whole preservation of Mankind resides chiefly in the Temperance and Government of the Women if they are Intemperate the Radix of Men is corrupted are we not like to have very Fine Hopeful Healthy Children when the Mother by excessive Pampering her unweildy Carcass has contracted more Diseases than an Hospital Or when they are put out to some Drunken Nurse that instead of affording them wholsome Natural Milk Suckles them up with the unconcocted Dregs of that Brandy with which she daily overcharges her filthy Stomach The Nature of Women will not bear Excess in Meats and Drinks as Mens will without manifest danger to their Healths and also to the Health of their Children most Windy Diseases both in Women and Children being caused by their Intemperance both in quantity and quality They overcharging their Nature with Food containing too much Nourishment and Drinks that are too strong This is chiefly observable amongst Wanton Citizens and the Richer sort of People who pay dearly for the Lickerishness of their Palats by the Diseases that thence arise they being much more Distempered than the Ordinary pains-taking People I confess their are hardly any Women in the World so Intemperate and such great Lovers of there Bellies as the English nor is there any Nation more subject to Variety of Diseases and therefore they are afflicted with divers Distempers which Women in other Countries know nothing of And as our Children are generally weak Peuling Rickety and Sickly so the occasion thereof is too evident since they are almost made Gluttons from the very Cradle their Mothers gorging and feeding them till they loath their Victuals and often cast it up again and when they have been Cramming all day the good Woman entertains her Gossips with Stories what a little Stomach her Child has and that she can get it to eat nothing and She wonders how it lives and indeed so she may but for a quite contrary reason for this oppressing Nature with Excess in Youth is not only the cause of the Death of many but in others it sows such Seeds and lays foundations for Distempers that they can scarce out-grow them also many Women out of the like foolish fondness give their Children strong Drink which is very destructive to their Health Nor is it become unfrequent for Women not only to drink Brandy but also to smoak Tobacco which two things have a great affinity Tobacco being an Herb of Mars and its Poysonous fulsome attractive Nature from Saturn the common use of it in Pipes is very injurious to all sorts of People but more especially to the Female bex except it be taken very sparingly in a Physical way for some watery and windy Diseases but the usual taking of it destroys the Physical Vertues and Operation thereof only the daily Smoaking it may be profitable to Gluttons and those that Eat and Drink to Superfluity of Rich Food and strong Drink and live idle lives for such want Evacuations but Exercise and Temperance were much better for their Health Tobacco and Brandy are certainly utter Enemies to Women and also to their Children for their Spirits and Balsamick Body whence their true Life shines is more volatile and tender than Mens and their Natural Heat is not so strong for this cause Women cannot bear or endure any extreams either in Meats Drinks or Exercises without manifest danger to their Healths they being generally more sanguine than Men and their Central Heat weaker therefare all kind of inequality makes deeper Impression on them and they are sooner moved to all kinds of Passions for Women in their Radix are compounded more of the sweet Friendly Sanguine Nature their Dignificaâ—ion being chiefly from the Element of Water but the Root of Mens Nature is from the strong might of the Fire And for the same cause Women are more Chaste than Men and of colder Natures tho' many Men do believe the contrary but they are greatly mistaken in this particular having no true understanding of Nature they have judged thus hardly of Women because many of them are so easily drawn into inconveniencies by the pretended Friendship of Men but I do affirm that their being so easily overcome is not from their unchaste desires but chiefly from their Friendly Courteous Efleminate Natures being of a yielding Temper which is essentially in the Root of their Lives and when a Man has once awakened in them the Love-string which is quickly done he may command them as he pleases now finding them comply they imagine that of them which they find in themselves Not but that some Women are as unchaste as Men but then such through the Power of their depraved Free-Wills and Wanton Imaginations have forced Nature out of her simple Innocent ways compelling her often to do that which she perfectly loaths The wise Antients understanding this Nature and Constitution of Women and considering that the whole welfare and health of Mankind depended chiefly on their Temperance and Discreet Conduct did therefore direct them to an higher degree of Temperance and thought it requisite and so absolutely necessary that both the drink alotted for Women in most Countries was and is to this day pure Water and their Food as Innocent and Natural they eat Flesh sparingly living much on raw and boiled Herbs Fruits and Greens which is a most sublime Diet. And by this means their Women and Children are not afflicted with such a number of cruel Diseases There is no Country in the World where their Children and young People are so generally subject to the Small Pox Kings-Evil Joynt-Aches and many Leperous and languishing Diseases how many of them yearly die with Convulsions and Windy Distempers which generally they receive from their Mothers How many Miseries and aking Hearts do Women endure with their sickly Children And what Women are free from Vapors and Windy Diseases Fainting Fits weak Joynts and Backs their Blood corrupted breaking out in small spots in the Flesh of several colours their Stomach cold and their Natural heat not able to digest their Food without a Dram c For all which Evils there is no Remedy so long as our Women do continue the frequent Eating of fat gross Flesh without Herbs and other sweet high prepared Food and drinking strong Liquors as Brandy c. and taking Tobacco for these things do continually heat the whole Body thereby awakening the Central heat which is very injurious to Women for it presently sends Fumes and Vapours into the Head and the fierce Fires with venemous Particles do penetrate the whole Body drying up and consuming the pleasant moist cool airy Vapours suffocating the pure Spirits which otherwise would replenish the whole Body and sharpen the Appetite it also dulls the Senses and possesses the Blood with a sharp fretting humour and hinders
its free Circulation causing the pure natural Spirits whose habitation is in the Blood to become impure whence arises a general indisposition over the whole Body Therefore all that love their own Health or the good of their Children ought to refrain such hurtful Food and learn to know that Brandy Tobacco and all such things are to be taken sparingly and no otherwise than as People take Physick CAAP. II. Of Flesh and its Operation in the Body and also on the Senses That the continual eating thereof without the due distinction of proper Times and Seasons does darken the Spirits and distempers Nature Likewise of the Exellency of Herbs Fruits and their inward Operation on the Body and Mind THE eating of Flesh was not allowed or practised in the first and purer Ages when Men gave themselves to the Study of Wisdom viz. To the Knowledge of themselves and were partakers of God's Secrets in Divine and Humane things and enjoy'd Health and long Life drawn out to the Age of many hundred years For thus the Holy Scripiure tells us Gen. 1. The Lord said Behold I have given to you every Herb bearing Seed which is upon the Face of all the Earth and every Tree in which it the Fruit of a Tree yielding Seed to you it shall be for Meat And in another place it is said Flesh with the Blood thereof you shall not eat It is not said That the Lord made all Creatures for Man to eat as I have heard many affirm but he made them for his own Glory and Eternal Honour and for the manifestation of his Wonders and that Men should have Dominion over all Creatures and Created things which Man hath lost by suffering his desires and imaginations to enter into the Bestial Nature which does by degrees captivate the Noble parts in Men. But the Wise Ancients for divers Ages of the World did know but little of the variety of Flesh and strong Drinks or of compounded Dishes of twenty sorts of things most of them of disagreeing Natures No their Food was simple and natural easie to be procured without oppression to themselves or to any of God's Creatures as Herbs Fruits and Grains and pure Water for drink which things are endued with a most simple Nature and Operation which neither dulleth the Head by Fumes nor stupifies the Senses by Surplusage of Nourishment but being well prepared and eaten moderately do nourish by way of Simile its like qualities in the Body being of lighter digestion and of a more Airy Operation than Flesh being also void of all Inclinations Senses or Passions of Love or Hate whose Original is more clean and nearer the Unity in Nature therefore the Philosophical Antients in former Ages incouraged the eating of Herbs Fruits and Grains but on the contrary made Laws against the common eating of Flesh without distinction The Great and most Illuminated Prophet Moses did not admit the Children of Israel to eat any Flesh during their forty years March through the Wilderness 'T is true when the People did Murmur the Lord being provoked gave them Flesh in his Wrath and afterwards when they were admitted to eat Flesh it was with such distinctions and with so many circumstances as could not be performed but by abundance of labour and trouble and other inconveniencies by which Laws and Observations many of God's Creatures became of little or no use in the Creation as Swine and the like if indeed they had only been made for Men to eat But the Lord never commanded his People in any Age to abstain from any thing but it was always for their preservation for Abstinence Cleanness and Sobriety in Meats Drinks Exercises and Communications do work wonderful Effects and have a Sympathetical Operation both in the Body and Senses rendering the Observers thereof Healthful with brisk powerful Spirits watchful prndent of good forecast able to give Council and for matters of Learning they do easily grow to an Excellency in the knowledge of themselves and in all other things whereunto they do apply themselves And as for Prayers Meditations and Contemplations they do perform them with great Facility Pleasure and Spiritual delight being always fresh in their Minds and free from Diseases in their Bodies By this way of Sobriety Cleanness and Temeperance many of the Antients became admirable both in Divine and Humane Wisdom 't is well known how Scrupulously the Pythagoreans one of the most Learned and Mysterious of all the Sects of Gentile Philosophers abstained from Flesh. The Divine Writer and great Prophet Moses testifies that God made Man in his own Image and that he should have Dominion over all things or Creatures not that he should eat all things or hurt himself by devouring them nor suffer his desires to enter into them nor theirs into him for Man is a Prince in this World and in him is contained the true Nature of all the inferior Creatures for it it were not so he could not be their Prince nor be sustained by them And tho' Man was made greater than other Creature that is visible and to be Lord over all yet nevertheless he having a Simile with the Nature of all things is thereby rendered capable to be wrought on by every inferior thing he shall suffer his desires to enter into and by degrees he is liable to become captivated unto that thing be it either good or or evil for every like as I told you before works on and awakens its likeness This was the reason why Moses commanded that unclean Beasts should not be eaten that the Humane Nature might not mix or incorporate in it self the Beastial qualities for every indvidual Man has essentially in him the true Natures and Essences of all the Beasts of the Field and Fishes of the Sea as also of all Herbs and Fruits Stones and Minerals and whasoever else can be thought of for it this were not so then Man would not be subject to be wrought on by all neitheir would the various sorts of food agree with him or nourish him The wise Antients understanding this and that every thing had power to attract unto it self such matter out of all things as is capable to nourish its own Body therefore in those days the eating of Flesh was not in such Reputation as of late years it hath been especially as it is in England who do make it their chief Food all Vegetables and Fruits being in themselves of a clean simple Nature and Operation which being well prepared and temperately eaten have only power to waken their Similies in the Body and Senses as foresaid But on the contrary all Beasts especially unclean Beasts are enduâ—d with all kind of Beastial Passions as Anger Revenge Covetousness Love and Hate which Dispositions and Passions of the Flesh but especially the Blood doth retain after such Animals are killed and for that reason it was that the Blood of all sorts of Beasts was so strictly forbidden for the essential Spirits dwell in the Blood
and in the Blood and Spirits lie hid all the Dispositions and Inclinations the Creature was endued withal and therefore all sorts of Flesh that were permitted to be eaten were to be well purged from the Blood And also this same Blood was either to be consumed by Fire or an hole made in the Earth and the Blood cast into it and covered that the wrathful Spirits and Vapours thereof might not defile the Air which is continually breathed into our Bodies for when any Creature is killed the great pain and agony they endure does so powerfully awaken the Center of the wrathful Fire and also the internal Poysons which are the Root of every Life that the said fierce Poysonous Spirits seize the Blood on their right Fountain of Preservation so that the Blood does not only contain all the Natural Dispositions Passions and Inclinations but also the awakened Poysons and irritated Spirits which were violently stirred up by Death's stroke For when the Natural Life is in danger the continuation of which is so sweet unto all Creatures and they do so unwillingly part with it especially when the Creature is in perfect health and strength what a strange fear and dread must needs attend the Creature in this condition And how strongly and violently are all the Centers and Powers of Nature stirred up And then are awakened the revengful Spirits which do contain the Blood for that is their Habitation which in this Agonous condition does often spread it self through the whole Body and makes the Flesh look red but this is generally drawn back again by the drawing away of the Blood where the wound is made Now if this Blood be exposed to the open Air these fiery dark wrathful Spirits do by degrees evaporate and incorporate themselves with the Air and so defiles it and renders it pernicious The very same is to be understood in all other Uncleannesses and these are the chief Reasons why the Prophet Moses commanded the Blood either to be burnt on the Altar or buried in the Earth tho' there doth remain somewhat more to be said why he commanded the Blood to be consumed on the Altar by Fire which I shall forbear and speak of it in its proper place for those fiery wrathful Spirits that do evaporate themselves into the Air being continually breathed into the Body by such People as do communicate near such places as Slaughter-Houses and the like and more especially those that are of killing Imployments those awakened wrathful Spirits do enter them and powerfully incorporate themselves with their Similies for this cause all Butchers and others that do use such Trades are more fierce and cruel sooner moved to Wrath than others killing is as easie and familar to them as Plowing the Land is to the Husbandman and in a word they are far more inclined to violence than Men of other Imployments are The same is to be understood in all other Trades and also in Communications as those that are brought up and have their Conversasions amongst Horses are not most of them Robustick Proud Bold and Surly like the Creatures they Communicate with the same is likewise to be understood in many other hard working rough Trades and Imployments are not most of them rash head-strong scarce endued with common Humanity There is nothing so good or so bad but Man is capable of being captivated to it from this ground it is that weak Inclinations that a Man in himself is hardly sensible of may either by Imployments or Communications be made strong which is one Reason why Mens Inclinations and their Love and Hate alters and changes according to time place business and communication as some Men have declared that they did not fear being overcome with Drink Women or the like Evils becaue at that time they found no Inclinations to such things nevertheless Time Opportunity Communications and other Circumstances concurring many of them have been overcome by those Vices they so little stood in fear of though also Astrologick Configurations and Influences have a share in altering and changing Mens Inclinations and more especially when other causes concur For this cause the most prudent in all Ages have advised all Men to avoid evil occasions and the Apostle Paul saith That Evil Communication corrupts good Manners the truth of which no Man will or can deny Now if Imployments Communications Labours Words and all kind of outward business have so great power of changing and altering Dispositions and Inclinations increasing them and the contrary how can we imagine but Meats and Drinks received into the Body will have the same or greater Power and Operation as those that feed much on unclean Elesh as on Swine and that have their Conversation amongst Animals are not many of them much like those Creatures of sottish dull heavy sordid Dispositions yet subtle and cunning in a Bestial way And on the contrary those that drink Wine and feed on the highest Food have not they Spirits accordingly Also those whose Conversation is amongst Men as Citizens and Merchants have they not higher and greater Spirits being more tractable and humane fair and ingenious in all their Dealings and Conversations For all things have sympatheticil Operation whether it be Imployments Meats Drinks or Communications every thing does secretly awaken its like property which do often captivate the Spirit of a Man before he is sensible of it being ignorant of the Nature and sympathetical Operation all things have with his own Nature 'T is true most Men believe that evil Company corrupts Manner and will acknowledge that some sorts of Imployments do by degrees dispose People to Inhumanity Violence and Cruelty but if you tell them there is the same possibility and greater in Meats to vary not only Mens Bodies but also their Inclinations and Minds they shall laugh at it as a ridiculous Dream though in Truth it is a most certain Truth and daily Experience if we would but â—ear her Voice bears Witness unto it Why did Moses prohibit his People the eating of Swines Flesh seeing Swine are not serviceable unto Mankind any other way but by being killed and eaten and besides a Swine is a Creature that being well ordered becomes as wholesome Nourishment as some other Animals that are counted clean though there is somewhat to be said against the grossness of that sort of Flesh but the chief thing the Spirit of God in that great Prophet regarded was no doubt the Spirit of that Creature whose original and predominant quality stands in the dark wrath of Nature which is manisested by their shapes criâ—s and tones which Spirit the humane Nature ought not to joyn it self unto lest it partakes of its Nature Every thing having power to joyn its self with its likeness and to strengthen its own property Doth not Wine and strong Drink precipitate Men into Fury and Madness by Simile That is the Spirits in Wine do incorporate themselves with the natural Spirits and violently awaken them making
Food that hath not plenty of Water and the free Influences of the Air in its Preparation does certainly lose its natural Colour with the pure Smell and Taste For if those three Qualities be not preserved in all Preparations of Food then the genuine Vertue and lively Tinctutes are in part lost The same is to be observed in all Physical Operations And if the above-mentioned Order be not observed then the Food is not so pleasant to the Palate nor so easie of Concoction it lies heavy in the Stomach dulling and stupifying the Senses it generates a gross Nourishment and bad Blood whence does proceed many Diseases Whereas if the above-mentioned Rules be observed and your Fire quick that your Food do not stand still or cease from boiling till it be sufficiently done the Effects are contrary It is also much better the Food should be a little under-prepared than too much For when the gross phlegmatick Body of any Food is by Preparation digested then presently the lively spirituous Quality is set at liberty whence does proceed a most pleasant Smell and Taste which pleasant Quality before the Preparation lay hid or captivated in the Body of Phlegm but so soon as this Phlegmatick Body is in part dâ—troyeâ— the Spirit becomes Volatile and then if the Preparation be continued those pure Spirits do either become suffocated or evaporate and then the sweet Balsamick Body turns as it were sowr For these Reasons all sorts of Food either over-prepared or twice prepared are of a strong fulsome taste and smell as all Meats heat again and also Pottages and all such things do obstruct Nature and generate many Diseases But if the forementioned Rules be observed the Food so prepared is not only more pleasant to the Palate but far lighter of Digestion and breeds better Blood For that Universal Distemper the Scurvy which reigns so much in England is chiefly caused by Food ill prepared and the eating of too much Flesh and Fat things especially in the improper Seasons of the Year viz. from Iuly to the last of November In this Season the Sun which is the true Life and Power of all things declines and all sorts of Herbage which is the Food of all Beasts that are generally eaten doth the same The Grass all this Season is fraught with a gross Phlegmatick Matter besides it is a fainty hot time the Air which is the Cherishing Life of all things is more gross and full of Humidity than all other times of the Year the Spirits of all sorts of Creatures are also weak and on any Accidents are quickly wounded or evaporated more especially those Beasts that come from remote Parts to great Cities Besides it is then the principal time of their Generating which renders them unclean Are not the People tenfold as sickly in this Season and double the number die than they do at other times Also you may observe That the Rots amongst Sheep and Murrains that attend other Beasts are all or most of them in this Season Therefore all sorts of People ought to be more careful of their Health both in Exercises Meats and Drink that they do not exceed either in quantity nor eat things that are improper in quality This is the time that all Shepherds and also those that are Drivers of Horses and indeed all that have the Government of Cattel ought to have and use double the Prudence in the Management of them than at other Seasons of the Year as I have more largely discoursed in a small Treatise of the â—â—â—servation of Sheep from the Rot and Horses from Surfeits There are three Marks by which every one may know whether the Flesh be good The first is by its pure White and brisk Red Colour when Raw. The second is by its continuing its firmness being plump or swelled when boiled having a brisk and lively Taste and that after eating it feels easie and pleasant in the Stomach The third is by its taking Salt well for if your Flesh be free from Heat and Surfeits and not over-fed which chargeâ— the body with gross Phlegm as also if it be not kept longer after it is killed as indeed it ought not than it be thought to be cold before it is salted all such Flesh will take Salt greedily and it will not only keep longer from Putrifaction but it will eat much sweeter and breed better Nourishment For if any sort of Cattel be over-fed surfeited or any other Inconveniency attends them and they be killed before they have recovered themselves of those Injuries or if it le in August September or October this Flesh will not take Salt so well as the former neither will the Saltpreserve it half so long from Corruption Also as it is before-mentioned if Flesh 〈◊〉 kept too long after it be killed such Flesh will not receive Salt into it as other will which is salted as soon as it is cold For by keeping it does certainly lose its pure Spirituous Quality so that the Body becomes heavy gross and dull Does not the Life and Spirits of most sorts of Food waste and evaporâ—te by keeping if there be not a proper way of Preservation used If Flesh by any Inconveniences have lost its pure lively Spirits and Vertue Salt then hath no power to preserve such Flesh from Putrifaction For Salt cannot preserve the Body from Corruption but by vertue of the pure subtil Spirits which are a pleasant Habitation for the Salt to incorporate it self with For Salt will not preserve Flesh from Putrifaction any longer than the Vertue and Power of the Spirit does continue as it does appear by all salted Flesh and Fish For through length of time the Spirits become either suffocated or evaporated and then it presently falls into Purtifaction And yet this same Flesh does still contine Salt for Salt does not destroy and pâ—â—ge the Flesh from its Corruption but incorporates it self with the Essential Spirits and those two do as it were tye or hold the corrupt part Captive till the Spirit and Life of the Flesh be spent or wasted and then the Flesh falls into Putrifaction which cannot be recovered either by salting or any other Art to its first state But if the Salt had purged or destroyed the Humidity and gross part then there would have been no Room nor Matter for Putrifaction and then it would have continued firm and found as many other things do which are freed from that gross humid Matter from which Putrifaction does proceed Therefore Flesh is naturally the most unclean of all Food is being of a gross Phlegmatick Nature and if Care be 〈◊〉 taken Order and Temperance observed in the Eater it generates abâ—ndance of crude and noxious Humours 2. 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 Excâ—ements 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 fulsom Quality For Fowls of all Creatures are for the most part the hottest and their Feathers contain the fame Nature Therefore the constant lying on soft Feather-beds does not only over-heat the Back and Reins weakning the Joints 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 Vertue 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 seize the Spirits and incorporate themselves with their Likenesses For every particular thing does sensibly and powerfully seek out its Likeness and wheresoever it find 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 is certain that most or all Beds do perfectly stink not only those in Inns and Houses of Entertainment but others Not but that every ones Bed does smell indifferent well to himself but when he lies in a strange Bed let a Man but put his Nose into the Bed when he is thoroughly hot and hardly any Common Vault is like it Now this sort of Uncleanness which does proceed from old Beds is not only the greatest but also the most injurious to the Health and Preservation of Mankind and the least Care is taken to prevent it Every one that can will have plentiful Changes both of Linneâ— and Woollen Garments for if they have not Experience does shaw that the Excrements and Breathings of the Body will generate Vermin Also do not most People take Care that their Furnitures are daily brâ—shed and rubbed and their very Floors washed as though they were to eat their Food on them But all this while they lie on Beds that have not been changed or hardly aired in several Years Let any indifferent Person judge which is most pleasuâ—able and healthful to have a clean Floor to tread on which câ—sts many hard days Labour to keep so and is dirtied in a Moments time or to have a clean sweet Bed to lie on There is no Comparison to be made the difference is so great the one being essential either to Health or Sickness the other an indifferent thing If there was but the tenth part of the Care taken to keep Beds clean and sweet as there is of Cloathing and Furniture then there would be no matter for the getting of Diseases nor for the Generation of Bugs I would have all Housewifes and others consider the Reasons of these things Are not Lice that troublesome Vermin bred from the breathings of the Body for want of often Change both of Linnen and Woolen and will not Fleas breed from the very Dust of Chambers where People lie Also any Woollen that hath been used about Beds although the cold Winter hath destroyed them yet if these Clothes lie in any close place where the Air hath not its free egress and regress these very Garments will generate Fleas the Summer following But if these Clothes had been used about Men and Women they would never have bred Fleas for there is no matter of Element in Wooll or Cloth for the Generation of such Creatures but Wooll Cloth Furs and Hair are chiefly the Element of Moths and sometimes of small Worms that is if such things are kept in places where the refreshing Influences of the Air have not their free egress For all such places do contract great store of Moisture which when hot Weather comes causeth Putrifaction whence all such Vermin do proceed But if those things be in daily use and exposed to the open Element they never breed any Vermin So that the Generation of those things are generally caused by Accidenâ—s not but that there is matter in the Radixes of such things for the Generation of such Vermin 3. From the pernicous Smells and putrified Vapours that do proceed from old Beds are generated the Vermin called Bugs of which neither the Ancients nor the Modern Writers of this Age have taken any Notice according to the Degrees of Uncleanness Nature of the Excrements and the Closeness of places where Beds stand for some Peoples Excrements are not so unclean as others Also in all close places especially in Cities and great Towns the Spirits and thin Vapours of the Air are suffocated which makes the same Air Sulphurous and Humid whence does proâ—â—ed Putrifaction Therefore it is not to be thought a general Rule That all old Beds should breed Bugs as some who are ignorant of the Operations of Nature will be apt to say If one Bed do breed them why not all No it is according to the Nature of the Uncleanness and other Accidents that do happen for where as is said before the thin pure Air with the refreshing Influences of the Sun and Elements have their free egress
or center in the Mouth especially bâ—tween the Teeth and on the Gums and some People having fouler Stomachs than others such do breathe forth very sowr stinky phlegmy Matter which does not only increase the Pain but causeth the Teeth to bâ—come loose and rotten And for what of continual cleansing and washing those breathings and this phlegmy Matter turns to Purifaction which does eat away the Gums as though Worms had eaten them And this Deâ—ect 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 and fat sweet things compounded of various things of disagreeing Natures which do not only obstruct the Stomach but fur and foâ—l the Mouth part thereof remaining upon the Gums and between the Teeth For all such things do quickly turn to Putrifaction 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 butt he Bed and Coverings do keep it much hotter than the Day-Garments especially of those that draw the Curtains of their Windows Beds so close that the pure Spirits and thin refreshing Vapours of the Air are hindered of having their free egress and regress which does dull flatten the action of the Stomach and this is the chief Cause why suppers lie hard in the Stomach and require more than double the time for perfect Concoction than the same Food does when a Man is up and in the open Air For this Element if it hath its free Influences is sucked in as by Spunges through all the Pores of the Body and does wonderfully refresh comfort open and cleanse all the parts having power to assist and help Concoction But hot dull thick Airs do destroy the Action of the Stomach and as it were suffocate the pure Spirits drying up and consuming the Radical Moisture Therefore the Night does foul the Mouth more than the Day furring it with a gross slimy Matter especially those that have foul Stomachs are in Years which ought to be well cleansed every morning 3. Whatsoever are the Disorders in the Body the Mouth doth always partake of them besides the Evils that the variety of Food and the improper mixtures of Flesh and Fish and many other things which do foul and hurt both the Teeth and Gums When any Person is disordered with inward Diseases does not the Mouth quickly complain of the Evils thereof This very few do consider in time 4. It is to be noted that most People do attribute the Diseases of the Teeth to Colds and Rheumes and other outward Accidents It is true outward Accidents will further thiâ—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 Maâ—ter take what Colds you will and your Teeth will never complain as daily Experience doth shew For all outward Colds and oâ—her Accidents of the like Nature have no power to seise any part of the Body except first there be some inward Defect or Iâ—fiâ—mity 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 which may cause Putrifaction and then Colds and the like Accidents will have no power to seise this Part or cause this terrible pain Even so it is in all other parts of the Bâ—dy If Temperance and Sobriety be observed in Meats Drinks and Exercises with other Circumstances belonging to Health then Stoppages Coughs Colds and other Obstructions would not be so frequent on every small occasion For Temperance has an inward Power and Operation and does as it were cut off Diseases in the very Bud preventing the Generation of Matter whence Distempers do proceed increasing the Radical Moisture and making the Spirits lively brisk and powerful able to withstand all outward Colds and other Casualties of the like Nature 5. There are many various things of divers Natures prescribed by Physicians and others as Washes to preserve the Teeth and Gums but most of them if not all to little or no purpose as daily Experience teaches For all high sharp Salts and things of a sowr 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 if it were convenient Physicians and other do daily prescribe such things for the Cure and Prevention of this Disease of the Teeth which most of them do know by Experience can do no good but rather the contrary But when People come to them they must give them something for their Money for Interest and Ignorance have more affinity with this sort of People than Virtue and the true Knowledge of the Nature of things Most certain it is that the Shepherd and Husbandman do know far better how to prepare their Meat for their Cattel and also how to preserve them from Disorders than many Physicians do their Food or Physick and a Man shall understand more by conversing with some of this sort of People than with the Learned For the Shepherd and Husbandman understand something of Nature but most of the Learned are departed from the simple ways of God in Nature putting out their own Eyes and then boasting what Wonders they can see with other Mens They have invented many words to hide the Truth for the Unearned that they may get the greater esteem This has chiefly been done to advance Pride and Interest so that the Divine Eye is departed from many of them who never make any Inspection into the true Nature of things being contented to take other Mens words let it be right or wrong as long as they have Authority and Law on their sides wherefore should they trouble their weak Heads 6. The best and most sure way to prevent the Diseases and Pains in the Teeth and Gums is every Morning to wash your Mouth with aâ— the least ten or twelve Mouthfuls of pure Water cold from the Spring or River and so again after Dinner
Lord thanks and humble acknowledgments for the least of his Mercies because they see feel and taste the most pleasant Operation of the Divine Hand in all things their Bodies are both sustained and delighted with the coursest Fare their Minds satisfied their Beds easie their Sleep sound they are not tortured with Gouts nor drowned with Dropsies nor burnt up with Feavers their Heads are not dulled with Fumes nor their Stomachs oppressed with fainting fits nor windy griping humours but they rise fresh as the Morning-Sun and chearful as the early Lark soaring aloft towards Heaven and on the Wings of Love and Gratitude chaunt forth Anthems of Praise to their adorable Creator For they are equally fit for Exercises either Corporeal or Spiritual their Fountain of Life Natures Balsamick Oyl the Radical Moisture flows freely thro' every part like a pleasant breeze of Wind that moderates the Central Fires that they burn not too violently For these reasons the Wise and Prudent in all Ages have zealously courted Temperance Abstinence and Cleanness as their best Guides and Companions they abate extravagant desires because a small matter will suffice a regular Appetite they resist Pride Covetousness and Vain-glory and are the only Friends or proper Nurses to Charity They punish not the Body with excessive Labour and at the same time ease the Mind of distracting Cares for what need they scrape contend or take thought for much when they know how little will fully and comfortably supply all their real wants To do good and Communicate of those Gifts which God has intrusted us with is one of the most fundamental Precepts in the Gospel since nothing renders us more like our Maker for he gives all things freely and receives nothing And likewise the same does naturally and by simpathy attract the sweet Influences of the Coelestial Bodies the Vertues all Elements with the well-wishes and hearty Prayers not only of the Poor and Needy but of all good Men which have a Secret yet powerful Influence on the Souls and Spirits of People so well disposed and to obtain Blessing on their Persons and Families 3. Therefore let all that would observe Solemn Times or Feasts observe them to the Lord viz. with serious pious Meditations Holy Conferences Humility Temperance and Alms-deeds and at such Seasons especially to avoid Gluttony Riot Drunkenness Excess Superfluity and Prophaneness and not to sacrifice so many thousands of innocent Creatures to their inordinate Lusts or ravenous Desires as now commonly they do which perhaps ought the rather to be regarded and avoided since God's Manifestation of his Holy Son of Light seems to have been in Love and Mercy to the whole World not only unto Man but likewise in some respects to the rest of the under-graduated Creatures for the Everlasting Gospel or Divine Power of God in his Son was and is to be Preached unto every Creature under Heaven as the Angel has it in the Revelations for this Act of Grace though some obtain greater Priviledges by it than others was Universal and though the Creatures were become subject unto Vanity by Man's Degeneration and Fall yet they shall again receive that State of Vnity and Pleasure which they should have enjoyed if Man had continued in his first Estate and therefore the Apostle aith The whole Creation groans to be delivered into the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God That is to be freed from those Oppressions Violences and Miseries they now suffer under Man's fierceness and Tyranny for so far as Man is truly Redeemed from the wrathful fierce Spirit so far he freeth all Creatures under his Government And therefore the Scripture saith The Righterous Man is merciful to his Beast And let us flatter our selves as we please these Extravagancies and Violences to innocent Creatures the spilling of their Blood and eating so continually of their Carcasses does both awaken and strengthen the Fountain of Wrath within us and will certainly in due time draw down a Retaliation of Vengeance This we see every day in part fulfilled for are not our Heliogaâ—alus's our mighty Devourers that continually gorge their Paunches with the Flesh of their fellow Animals severely punisht for their Gluttony and Cruelty by a multitude of torturing Diseases as Gouts Dropsies Consumptions c. And not only so but when the Evil grows generally predominant it is Chastized by some Epidemical Judgment or Pestilence I pretend not to Prophecy nor would amuse People with vain Threats but this I may modestly say That if we look back into History we shall rarely find but the Plague hath visited the City of London more or less in the Circle of every twenty years And if it hath now been free twenty two years we may perhaps assign the Nature Causs thereof to the great Fire which purged its stench and pollutions and that noble open way of Rebuilding whereby the whole City is become much more sweet and delightsome and the particular Houses more Airy and Pleasant rendring the whole much more wholsome to the Inhabitants this may defer but will not I fear be able altogether to prevent the returns of sweeping Sicknesses and if we regard the Course of Nature and especially the Sins and Provocations of People stirring up the Divine Wrath I am very apt to fear some such terrible Visitation within these two three or four years next at farthest but in this I am not positive for God draws his destroying Sword at his own appointed times however the Caution can do no hurt to admonish all Persons of each Sex Age and Condition to Repent and amend their Lives lest they be snatcht away suddenly and there be none to deliver Which that they may do and lay up Treasures in Heaven by being liberal to the Poor on Earth I do again with all earnestness exhort them to Sobriety Temperance and Works of Mercy And that this may be the more regularly performed I shall propose an easie Method which each Person may encrease or diminish as to the proportion of Alms set down according to their respective Circumstances provided they bestow freely as in the Presence of God what they can spare without any real Injury to their Family Since 't is a custom amongst most Men especially Traders in Cities and Towns at this time to cast up their Stocks to see how God has blessed them for the year past as to their Profits or Losses it would be highly convenient if for every Pound it shall upon the Ballance appear that they have gain'd to give at least Six Pence to the Poor or other good Uses as towards the Education of poor Children which is the Foundation of good Government and Order and as for Gentlemen and Persons of great Estates whose Revenues come in without Labour of their own to allow for every Hundred Pounds per Annum one Shilling in the Pound and Farmers or Renters of Land to give Three Pence for every Pound they have gained in the foregoing Year And other Men of