time Our Friends Abstinence Temperance and Cleanness do continually shew us the vanity of such things and spur us on and hasten us towards the Land of Peace We do not look back for fear we should awaken the Centre the original Poisons and then our sweet Water would be in danger of being dried up as it came to pass in Lucifer and his Legions there being but nine Figures or degrees of Wisdom attainable by mortal Men the tenth Number viz. o is the highest and those that have gradually passed through the Nines must stand still in silence and leave off all numbering and suffer God's Holy Spirit to work the Will and the Deed in him as he pleaseth We have no Butchers Fowlers nor any that belong to the Trade of Killing Violence or Oppression amongst us most of them revolted and join'd themselves to Pharaoh before they came out of Egypt and were destroyed with his Troops in the Sea of Blood or Wrath and those of them that passed through the Red Sea were cut off in the Wilderness for finding their Trade very bad and low and the nearer they came to the Land of Peace the worse it grew so they began to tumult and complain and murmur against the Lord that he dealt so hardly with them Which awaken'd the Centre of Wrath and destroyed them so that none of this sort of People enter'd the holy Land that flows with Milk and Honey and not with the Blood of the humane nor bestial Nature Neither have we any Billings-gates all that sort of People are our Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water And but very few Inns of Court-Gentlemen or Templers all of them that escaped the Egyptian Plagues were destroyed with Corah Dathan and Abiram in the wild Nature of this World or Wilderness Neither have we many Churches and yet have a great number of Temples in which we worship the Lord but there be no Bells in them that are compounded of imperfect Metals therefore we have no need of those robustick Musicians viz. Ringers to call the People to worship such Musick is too Saturnine and Martial for us No every one of us hath his own Bell and none can ring or make Musick of it but himself which being skilfully handled makes a more sweet soft and pleasing Harmony than the Egyptian Bells who are loud harsh and penetrating and all the Ringers are rude cruel and inhumane Our young People do not learn to ring any Bells but their own which when well learned calls them to the Worship of God in the proper Times and Seasons even as the good Spirit of God shall teach them as the Scripture saith The holy Men of God taught and spoke as the Holy Spirit moved in them We do not admit any to be Magistrates or Governours over us but only those that by Industry Prayer and Meditation have attained to a more excellent Understanding of God Nature and Themselves than their Neighbours which doth render them fit to govern We account none capable to govern others that have not first learned in all particulars to govern themselves It is contrary to our Philosophy to mix or compound our Food with things of disagreeing natures We use no double Preparations the more simple our Food is the more agreeable it is to our Nature and best sustains our Healths It is not a Custom for our Women to give or suffer their Children to drink any kind of Beer or Syder whilst their Food is chiefly Milk there being nothing more contrary to Milk than such sharp Liquors Milk being of a sweet gentle mild friendly Nature and Operation having no manifest Quality that doth too violently predominate there being a certain Harmony between the Properties of Nature in Milk and therefore it hath always been found by Experience to be the best Food for Children and all young People administring proper Nourishment in Equality to all Parts But on the contrary all sorts of Beer Syder and other fermented Drinks are of a sowr keen or sharp Quality and for this cause being mixed with Milk it turns or separates the wheyish part from the thick the same is to be understood if Children or others drink after eating of Milk if they do not forbear a convenient time till the Stomach hath made separation and alter'd the Property of it Besides the constant drinking of such Liquors do sowre the Stomach and generate a keen or sharp Quality which is apt to turn the Milk into an hard tough substance and thereby puts Nature to great difficulty to concoct or make Separation Doth not our daily Experience shew us that all Curd of Milk is hard of Concoction and burthensome to the Stomach For this Cause many having used themselves to drink plentifully of strong Drinks and to the eating of compounded Food which have so sowr'd the Stomach and alter'd it from its simplicity that the eating of this friendly harmless Food becomes offensive to them and disagreeing especially to some particular People whose Stomachs are as it were naturally inclined to generate a sowre Matter For this cause if any shall drink immediately after eating of Milk it will cause them to puke up the thin wheyish parts whilst the hard substance remains in the Stomach which doth foul and hinder Concoction For these Reasons it is much better for all Children and young People whose Food is chiefly Milk to drink Water it being the most like Milk of any Drink of a mild gentle friendly Nature and Operation which is farther manifested by its being mixed with Milk they mix or incorporate themselves as one entire Body making no variation or separation as other Liquors will and therefore it hath been found by Experience in all Ages to be the best and most natural Drink for all People but more especially for Women and Children who are endued with tender Spirits and gentle Heats and if their Meats and Drinks have not a near Affinity both in quality and quantity to their Natures it will quickly put them out of Tune and cause them to fall into Diseases and then Nature will become unequal in her Operations Every like doth with highest diligence endeavour to beget its Simile both in the Body and Mind Water being in its own nature so clean simple and innocent that it doth not only wash and cleanse the Mouth throughly and all the Vessels of the Stomach from such gross thick Matter that doth stick and furr them but it doth distil its moist Nourishment into all parts of the Body without making any noise or causing an unequal Motion cooling and refreshing Nature strengthens Concoction thins the Blood causing it to circulate freely makes the natural parts brisk and lively For this cause those Women and Children that do constantly drink Water are not subject to so many Diseases as others whose practice is to drink strong Liquors We have but one sort of Bread which is neither coarse nor fine We never change the Fashions of our Garments nor deck them
eat them than they would Frogs Snails yea Snakes for they all have one and the same Original and are generated from a like matter These Creatures or rather Vermin for so I may call them are produced from Putrifaction gross and unclean matter and would be abominable to Humane Nature if they were known to be such besides the Diseases they cause they also defile the Spirits by awakning their Similies they prove frequently to be of Ill Consequence both to the Body and Mind These Fish that have no Scales are unclean and the Nourishment they afford are of a moist and slimy Nature But on the contrary those that have both Scales and Fins are wholsomer and are of a dryer Substance and easier of Concoction those that are bred in clear gravelly running Waters and Rivers are sweet pleasant and wholsom if taken in their proper Seasons Both the Seller and Buyer of Fishes are guilty of great mistakes about them the Fisher-man does commonly let them dye of themselves or by throwing one upon another causes one rather to suffocate another this way does a great deal of harm to the Fish as well as to other Creatures viz. Cows Sheep c. But the better way is to give them a wound so soon as you take them out of their proper Element rather than to suffocate them for by this the pure Essential Spirits and Balsamick Body suffers Violence There is a custom among some to keep Fish alive until they have a mind to eat them this is chiefly practised among the Dutch Though it be a very good Custom yet a great many commit Errors in this particular for they are oft-times kept in a small quantity of thick standing Water until they languish and grow weak fainty and poor But if you have a mind to keep them let them be put where there is plenty of good Water Do not put any great quantity together neither keep them too long before you use them CHAP. VIII Of the Mischief of Variety of Meats and Drinks and the Inconveniences of Improper Mixtures and on the other side what Foods are fit to be Compounded THE mixture of several things of disagreeing Natures is common in this wanton Age to most sorts of People except such as are constrained through pure Necessity to live on simple Meats and Drinks but in this adding of divers sorts of Food together so as to render them Wholsom or not very Prejudicial to the Health there is required a greater Understanding than ordinary House-wives are endued with or indeed the best Cooks for their business is to gratifie the Extravagant Fancies and Liquorish Pallates of those they belong to rather than to study to prepare what is agreeable to Nature For when you mix two three or four things together if the predominant Quality in each be of contrary Natures then such Food will produce a disagreeing Nourishment in the Stomach whence must arise an inward Strife and Contention for mastery so that oft-times the pure Vertues and Spirits suffer violence and become suffocated This is manifest in all sorts of Herbs Woods Earths and Drugs which Dyers and Painters use two of which being mixt produce a third of a kind and nature contrary to both and if you add a third Ingredient of a Nature contrary to those two it will become a fourth Species The same thing happens in Eatables As you alter the Taste of any simple Food by adding one or more Ingredients So you vary its Nature so that it becomes not only of another Taste but a quite different Operation for this cause there ought to be great Caution and Discretion used in Mixing of Food or else you bring all into Confusion We ought to understand the Nature of each Ingredient and what Iuices and Nourishment two or more things conjoyned will produce for each particular makes some Variation either for the better or the worse for all Tasts in Food have the very same Original as Colours and Cooks ought to be as skilful as Painters in their Mixtures which if well observed most People would be free from desiring such Compounded Dishes most Men through ignorance of the Nature and Operation of things imagining that the more both mean and rich Ingredients are mixed together the greater and better the Nourishment The contrary whereof is true for such things do generally produce a Nourishment of a contrary Nature to most of the Ingredients as is evident in Painting for Example take Indigo Ultramarine or any Blew and mix it with White and it makes a Skie to what degree you please but then put a third viz. mix a Pink Colour and makes a Green which is a fourth Colour of a contrary Nature to both the first second and third also mix Verdigrease and Pink and it makes a Green take Lake and Ultramarine and it gives a deep Purple mix Lake and White together and you have a Pink Colour and if you would have the deepest Black take the whitest Ivory you can get and burn it and the Ashes will perform your desire so likewise Copporas Gauls and Logwood dye a Black though none of them are so Furthermore it is to be noted that there are but Seven perfect Colours in the World which have their Original from the seven Constellations viz. Black Red Yellow Blew Lake Green and White each of which does contain the true Nature of all the seven but that Quality that predominates denominates the Colour and all the other lie as it were hid or captivated but when another or contrary Colour is mixt or incorporated therewith then both those Colours lose their right in Nature and thro' an inward strife and contention there is a Third awakned which before the mixture lay hid and captivated and this third is of a contrary Nature to both the first and so you may by continual Additions of other Colours alter it into a fourth a fifth a sixth and so on for from an apt Commixture of these seven Colours an ingenious Artist in Painting can imitate and represent the Colours of all things in the whole Universe The like is to be understood of Tastes and the nature of Food mixing of two things of contrary Qualities produces a third Iuice different from each of them and if you add a third Ingredient that is in nature contrary to both the first it will awaken another Nature which lay hid or captivated and so there arises a fourth thing and this it performs by Simile making that propriety in Nature strong which was weak and causing that to become manifest that before did disappear As in the before mentioned Instance of mixing Blew and White that produces a Sky-colour which is one degree of Variation but then mix Pink-colour with these two and it makes a Green which is quite contrary to both the first and second Now before the Pink was so added this same Green was essentially in both the Colours but not manifest till the Pink captivated both the first and second
to intreat our Friends to eat or drink beyond what is needful We have not forgot the great Affliction and torturing Distempers we endured whilst we were in Captivity and under the Government of Pharaoh's Task-masters viz. under the unequal Oppressions of the awakened Wrath and divided Forms of Nature where each Property endeavours to get the Mastery and therefore we do continually shun and arm our selves with the Armour of our Lord Jesus Christ viz. by taking up the Cross and denying our selves those Egyptian Vanities and Superfluities which the common Enemy of Mankind doth seek with all cunning Inventions to enslave us again in worldly Lusts that he may separate us from our sovereign Good but the Word of Truth is engraven in our Hearts by whose Power and Virtue we withstood his Temptations and beware of his Snares in time and count it our chief Good that the Lord hath in his Eternal Mercy delivered us out of Captivity therefore it behoveth us to live soberly in this present World We desire always and in all states to submit our selves to the good Pleasure of the Lord for we do not know what is good no farther than we are guided by his Holy Spirit it belongeth to him to determine what is most expedient for us and his own Glory We all hold this Maxim That all that have throughly profited themselves in the School of Christ do daily beat down or keep under the Elemental Body by denying themselves the Worldly Vanities within We do not give Names to our Children nor imitate the Philosophical Ancients like Apes without understanding the true Nature or Genius of the Child as to call them at a venture by such Names as do express a Deity whereas this Nature and Genius of the Child is quite contrary This is not to imitate our first Parents Adam gave Names to every Creature and Thing according to their Natures that is expressing their Natures and Properties He did not give Names to wild savage Beasts that did signifie Cleanness or friendly tractable Dispositions and Natures nor call Sheep Lions nor Lions Sheep The Prophet Isaiah saith Woe unto those that call Evil Good and Good Evil being ignorant of the true Nature of things and divine Mysteries they make no distinctions between Good and Evil. Adam called his First-born Cain Why did not he call him Abel No that would be to call a Devil a Saint and a Saint a Devil Cain doth sound forth and signifie the strong Might and Power of the Wrath and divided Forms of Nature which had Dominion in him and Abel doth as we have told you before signifie the eternal Principle of God's Love viz. Cain imitates the fierce devouring Fire and Abel the Light thereof The very same is to be understood of Ishmael and Isaac and Esau and Iacob the elder doth truly signifie the consuming Fire and the younger the Light thereof the first is the Father and the second is the Son The Ancients did not therefore gather together all the good Names which do express the holy divine Power and eternal Grace and Love of God in his second Principle or eternal Light and call their Children by them at a venture no this would have been great Impiety Would not every sober Man count it sordid and vain to call an Angel a Devil and a Devil by the Name of an Angel as most of the Men of Egypt do at this day They name and call their Children by Names expressing the divine Virtue and Power when as most of them do live under the Government of the evil unclean Nature and the Spirit that doth predominate in them is fierce and wrathful so that they call Good Evil and Evil Good which is far off from imitating the holy Men of the first Ages This doth more clearly appear by Abram which doth signifie the original Wrath and wild Nature of this World Why did not his Parents call him Abraham Emanuel Grace Hope Charity Abel Iacob or Isaac No those Names were too sublime but Abram did truly sound forth and signifie his inward and outward Nature But in process of time when the Light of God's Grace and Eternal Mercy appeared to him and that he believed in God which was accounted to him for Righteousness then the Lord said unto him Thy Name shall no more be called Abram but Abraham which doth truly comprehend and signifie both the first and second Tabernacle The Lord did not destroy or annihilate the Wrath and wild Nature no that must not be if there were no Fire then there would'be no Light as our Saviour Christ saith in another Case He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it The Lord did reinforce Abraham's Soul and replenish it with his holy divine Principle of Love and Light and therefore his Name should no more be called Abram a Thorn or wild Thistle but Abraham the Father of the Faithful The same Order and changing of Names was continued till Christ was manifested in the humane Nature and afterward by all the divine Seers Did not Christ change St. Peter's Name because of his fixed Faith calling him Sephas which signifies a Stone or Rock And was not Saul called Paul after his Conversion The Ancients never changed Names but first their Natures were changed Christ called Herod a Fox which did truly signifie his inward Nature and what Spirit did govern in him The same is to be understood when the wise Ancients gave Names to their Children Places Cities and other things which Names did always truly signifie what Property or Quality did predominate in the Child or Thing so named This Knowledge is Angelical which Man hath lost by suffering his Desire and Will to enter into Vanity and as the Name of each Creature which Adam gave them doth express their Properties and Nature so the Name of each Angel doth express and signifie their Office The understanding each Name and what is signified thereby doth remain as a Mystery unto Mankind which is the original Language or the true Language of Nature the sound of each Word or Name doth declare what Property is predominant in it which original Language of Nature Birds and some other inferiour Creatures do retain to this time because they have not broken the Law of God in Nature but have lived in the Simplicity thereof and though they are not endued with that noble Faculty of Speech nevertheless they can by their general Tone and Cry as intelligibly communicate their Desires and various Passions as Love Hate Hunger Thirst and the like as Men can by their distinct Dialects viz. by altering and varying this one simple Tone or Cry as when they are hungry or want their Fellows or if one particular Bird doth know of some Food that his Fellows are ignorant of then he sends forth such a Tone or Sound as does as intelligibly acquaint all those of their own Kind as Men can by discoursing together for every Tone and Cry according to the various States Wants
Chymical Liquors are at the end of Nature and therefore they will not admit of another Motion Hence it follows that all sorts of Spirits as of Scurvey-Grass of Salt and many others of like Nature that are prepared by Fire whereby the Radical Moisture or sweet Balsamick Quality the Volatile Spirit and Vegitative Vertue or middle Quality are alâ— destroyed have no such physical Virtues 〈◊〉 their Authors appropriate unto them And we do affirm that such as have the Disease called the Scurvey in their Blood shall be as soon and as well cured by taking every morning so many Drops of strong Spirit of Wine as they shall by taking this sort of Spirit of Scurvey-Grass and so of the Spirit of Salt and others For the harsh sulpherous Fires in Stills where the friendly Element of Air is hindred from having its Influence does totally destroy the pure Virtues and opening cleansing Qualities and there does run off only a fierce keen harsh fiery astringent bitter furious Spirit which is very pernicious to Nature and to all the friendly Virtues in the Body nor was it ever known that any such Spirits have given help or cured any of those Diseases which the Lying Authors do so much boast of You may try whether this be true if you take any opening cleansing or purging Herbs Seeds or the like and put them into any kind of Liquor viz. Water Beer Ale Wine or Brandy the last of which those great Physicians and Masters of Art do use to draw their Spirits of Scurvey-grass in when you have put your Ingredients into your Liquor let them lie in it two or three days more or less as you please then put the Herbs and Seeds with the Liquor into your Still or Limbeck and draw it off and you shall only have an harsh strong fiery tart Spirit void of all the Purging Opening and Cleansing Qualities such Herbs or Seeds were naturally endued withal The very same or other as great Evils are in many other of the Physicians and Apothecaries Preparations which ought to be considered and their blind Traditionary senseless Ways and Methods to be abandoned as destructive to the Health and Well-being of Nature It is further to be noted that none ought to apply themselves to the â—â—actice of Physick but such only as the Lord hath in their Radixes endued with proper Gifts and natural Parts for 't is not sufficient for them to read other mens Works and vapour with their Receipts like the proud Iack-daw in the Fable with the fine Feathers stolen from other Birds but they ought to know the true Principles Nature and Operation of every Herb Plant Animal or Mineral that they make use of and for what it is good and the contrary in themselves and also what Simples are proper to be Compounded and what not For he that has no true Knowledge in himself of the Nature of things but follows Tradition blind-fold and trusts to other peoples Say-so's must needs make strange work and instead of Curing often-times Kill and when he does Cure 't is by meer chance Whereas Physicians ought not to administer any Medicine without true Knowledge both of his Patients Disease and what he gives to remove it all things especially where mens Lives are concerned ought to be done with sight and judgment and not without Faith and Prayer to God the Creator of all things who is the inward Virtue Power and Life of every thing For Faith and Prayer do Wonders opening the inward Virtue and Centre of every mean and simple Medicine or thing even Clay and Spittle with it shall cure the Blind this all Physicians ought to be inwardly sensible of and not put so much trust in their Authors for many of them have been very vain and extravagant in their Writings telling us that such and such Herbs and other things were indued with such wonderful Virtues and would cure such Diseases when in truth there were no such things and also invented many improper Compositions even any thing they fancied and most of their Sayings are meer Stories and as contrary to Truth as Light to Darkness Now on such a tottering Foundation what Structure of safety can be expected to be built Our Modern Physicians are much like our Lawyers if a man is like to lose part of his Estate and will vindicate his Cause by Law 't is twenty to one but he spends the other partto secure that and after abundance of charge and trouble loseth the whole Just so if a man through Disorder and Intemperance hath in part destroyed his Health he may be sure to destroy the other part also if he keep close and follow the Physicians Prescriptions and take good store of their adulterated Medicines We must also note that every Patient ought to turn the Eyes of his Mind inward and wait at the Altar of the Lord for an answer and not to do or take any Medicines without some Assurance or Faith in the Lord of his Blessing nor ought any to think himself too mean or simple because he is unlearned for do but read the Scriptures and you may be satisfied that the Lord in all Ages has plentifully given his Gifts and Graces both Divine and Natural to the Simple and Unlearned And as to the Learning of this World did not our Lord Christ himself give his Father the Author of all Beings thanks That he had hid the Mysteries of Salvation both of Soul and Body from the Wise and Letter-learned of this World and revealed them unto Babes poor mean and unlearned People Peter the Fisher-man Paul the Tent-maker c. For indeed the Rich and Learned have shut and double-bar'd the Windows of their Souls against the simple Light of Truth they have cloathed themselves with Vanity and Self-hood being contented with Tradition and a Worldly puffing-up Knowledge which serves them to swagger with but not to do any good with either to themselves or others so that there is no room for the operation of the friendly Love and Light of God they are so full of swelling proud Spirits and noise and boasting Hence it comes to pass that these Admirers of Tradition and Pocket-Learning and the ways of the Multitude are always apt to despise the Simplicity of the Divine Power and Voice of Wisdom not only in themselves but all others and therefore the Lord chuseth to unfold his holy and natural Mysteries unto the Poor and Needy and such who are not wise in their own Eyes and whose Eye-lids are not lifted up For nothing obstructs the Work of the Lord and the Revelations of his Holy Spirit in men more than Inward-Riches Self-conceitedness and the Babylonical-Learning of the Schools of this World which like a too Luxuriant and not well Cultivated Soil produce such abundance of Rank-weeds as overtop and choak the good Seed that it cannot attain to any maturity in the Government of a mans Life the same is to be understood of all outward Fulness and Intemperances
natural heat burns but dully 2. But if the Sweet Quality be joyned with this and hath an equal share of government then such People are of pleasant merry tempers apt to laugh of easy Faith and a small occasion will move them out of one thing into another not fixed nor of any depth search or understanding apt to speak much but not wise being like Children laugh and cry all in a breath very good to carry Tales and Stories from one to another 3. But if the Bitter Quality doth predominate equally with this and the Sweet weak or underneath then such People are bestial hard-hearted cruel inhuman Swearers Lyars and the like fit for all robustick dirty killing Imployments but they are of stronger Constitutions than the former and healthier and also of better and quicker Apprehensions but of very ill Tempers 4. But if the saltish or astringent quality doth predominate and have an equal share in government and the Sweet Quality weak then this sort of People are not so corpulent nor fleshy but taller and more slender of Stature of sour Countenances and Dispositions cunning in Words and Deeds apt to Dissemble and Lye they are also apt to bear Malice having two Faces the Diseases they are subject to are the Stone Wind-Colick Consumptions and many windy Diseases and Infirmities if Temperance be wanting many of this sort of People are also great drinkers 5. When this Sour Quality doth predominate in any Beast then such are of a dull heavy Disposition and Spirit apt to have great bellies and slow in motion If in Horses they are neither handsom nor free dull Eyes and great Heads If in Cows their Milk is not so good as others being thin If in Herbs or Fruit then their taste is some-what unpleasant harsh and sour and their Colour is of a dark Green Of the Astringent or Saltish Quality 1. When this Quality doth predominate in any Person they are of a tall Stature and for the most part slender but of a swarthy pale or muddy Complexion rather Lean than Fat generally of hardy strong Constitutions and also of good Apprehensions when this sort of People do apply themselves to the learning of any Art they attain to an excellent Understanding therein being fixed in those things they resolve on 2. But if the Bitter Quality doth equally govern in the Body and Senses and the Sweet Quality weak then such People are very sordid Lyars Swearers Gluttons Drunkards inclined to all kind of robustick Plays and Games as Ringing Bull-baitings Bear-baitings to follow Drums and Fencers and the like evil Communications having strong Bodies and fierce savage bestial Spirits and abusers of Women 3. But if the Sweet Quality doth interpose and the Bitter and Astringent weak then such Persons are more moderate in Words and Works ingenious apt to learn of good Understandings and of handsom healthy Bodies 4. But if the Sour be joyned in government with the Astringent then such People are more gross and Phlegmatick and not so quick of Apprehension slow of Motion and of sordid Dispositions 5. Also it is to be noted when this Astringent quality doth predominate in any Beast then they are large big boned strong and heady but not free of motion but cunning and sullen When in Herbs and Fruit they are tall but not handsom their taste is harsh hard and unpleasing they are good against the Diseases of the Phlegmatick and Sanguin Complexions if the Saturnine Venoms thereof be corrected This is a short Description of the four grand Qualities and their natural Operations But this I would have every one consider and be sensible that their Influences are not compelling on Men as they are on Beasts except Men live as Beasts viz. in the power and operation of the bestial Nature as many Thousands do and far worse whence proceed those violent and cruel disorders in the World But those who do turn the Eye of their Mind inward and search and find themselves and come to distinguish the secret workings of God and Nature and hearken unto the Voice of the Divine Principle which is the holy Oracle that will teach every one in all particulars what is right in the sight of the Lord and the contrary the fear of the Lord and the true knowledg of God in a mans self and thereby furnish every one with virtue strength and power to resist every evil Influence though it proceed from the most harsh and worst of Complexions it will also teach him to tune and bring all the four Qualities into an equal accord even as a skilful Musicianer composeth a harmonious consort in the variety of parts or as he by skill tunes his Instrument for the most skilful Musicianer in the World can make no harmony if his Instrument be not in tune all the various Notes and Tones of an Instrument most incorporate in each other or else no Harmony can be made even so it is with the Qualities in a Man it is as possible for him that hath learned himself to tune himself and compose all the properties of Nature and to play on them as a Musicianer doth on his Instrument so great is the power of Man if he cast his Will and Desire into the divine Principle and Love of God which is able to tincture and change the worst Complexion and convert it into its own Nature therefore let no man dare to say and complain that the Lord hath dealt hardly by him that he hath made him of the harsh wild Nature And though it be true that many men as their Natural Qualities are sordid and wild yet nevertheless they have the true Tincture that can transmute and change all sorts of Metals into the finest Gold even that very Word of the Lord that made and formed all things which doth enlighten every man that cometh into the World and blessed are all those that are obedient and follow its Counsel of what Complexion soever they are the Blessing of the Lord is with them Thus having treated of the four grand Qualilies I shall now proceed to discover the four Complexions which proceed there from and to what Virtues Vices and Diseases each of them are most subject Of the Cholerick Complexion The Cholerick Complexion answereth to Fire and that sort of People which are dignified with it are of a strong Body and lively active Spirit quick both in doing and apprehending of any thing free in Speech and of all other action apt to Wrath and Passion quickly affronted but because the Fire in them burns fierce their Passions are quickly over not subject to retain Anger nor premeditate Revenge they are of a hardy strong Nature generally of good Apprehensions and Witty but more or less so according to the strength or weakness of the predominant Constellation at their Birth If People of this Complexion do observe the rules of Temperance and keep themselves within the bounds of Sobriety then they are some of the Healthiest of men But many
of them are much addicted to Superfluity and Inordinate living by reason of the strength of Nature and their strong Heats which do in many of them increase the desire to eat and drink beyond the power of the digestive faculty of the Stomach For in most People in whom the Fire doth predominate their attractive faculty and desire of eating and drinking is so very strong that it prolongs the pleasure of eating and drinking many degrees beyond the Necessity of the Stomach which does not only cause an heavy drowsy Indisposition to follow but sows Seed for many Diseases Therefore as this sort of People are generally the greatest Eaters by Inclination so ought they as much as in them lies restrain the Extravagancies of their Appetite and eat but sparingly especially of rich hot compounded spicy Food and strong Drinks as Wine Brandy Tobacco c. For they are all Enemies to this Complexion and very dangerous too if Temperance be wanting for every sort of Food hath its operation in the Body and on the Spirits by way of Simile Therefore all such Meats and Drinks in this sort of People if not sparingly taken do too powerfully awaken the Central Heat which ought not to be felt but when it is stirred up does sometimes cause either a Suffocation or Evaporation of the vital Spirits which will make all the external parts of the Body to burn like Fire whilst the Center becomes as it were chill and cold For when the pure Spirits are wounded by any violence done to them the Radical moisture consumed the Oyl of Life set on Fire which are Moderators and Qualifiers of the harsh Fires and Poysons in the Body what can be expected but Destruction For when the pure Spirits of Oyl are any way wounded by Intemperance then presently are awakened the fierce dark Fires in the Body the original of every Life which ought not to have been stirred for this Fire is of a churlish angry consuming Nature whence those terrible Fevers do proceed This Heat when it is kindled which is never done but when some great violence is offered to the pure Spirit and Oyl then the natural Life doth presently burn and is in danger to be destroyed for the heat of this Original Fire is like the heat of Charcoal whose pleasant Water and Moderator is destroyed in the making of it whence that pleasant gleam of Light and refreshing Quality in the Wood doth proceed so that in the Charcoal there does only remain the dark fierce Sulphurous Fire which does when burning send forth pernicious stupifying Fumes and Vapours of an ill scent burdensom to Nature for these Scents or Vapours do powerfully penetrate the Body by way of Simile and search out their likeness and incorporate therewith whence disorders arise especially in People of weak Nature and that have but few Spirits Even so it is in the Body if the pure Spirits and Radical Moisture be through superfluity or any other way disorder'd or weaken'd then presently the dark original Fire is kindled and manifesteth it self in its own form and burns fierce like Charcoal and then the Body falls into Distemperatures Not but this dark fierce Fire that doth so violently burn and discompose the Body and Mind did possess the body before for indeed it is the center of every Life but so long as the pure Spirits and Balsamick Body were strong and the Qualities of Nature had their operation in equality this fierce sulphurous fire lay hid or was captivated in the sweet Embraces of the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits and restrained by their virtue and power even as the pure Oyl and Balsamick Body in Wood doth moderate and qualifie the sulphurous Charcoal-heat so long as the Wood remains intire and no violence done to the sweet Oyl which is the true Life of the Wood but so soon as this sweet Oyl is wounded and becomes suffocated as is done in making of Charcoal then the fieree poysonous dark Fire of Saturn and Mars is awakened being of a furious devilish Nature and Operation The same is to be understood in every Vegetable Mineral and Animal be it what it will If the pure Radical Spirits and Oyl of Life be any ways hurt then the dark Wrath of Nature appears and if it be in the Human Nature then the Body falls into terrible distempers and cannot any way be recovered but by a powerful Medicine able to incorporate it self with the fading Oyl and pure Spirits and so reinforcing them with these foreign Auxiliaries enables them to withstand and qualifie the fierce poysonous operation of the awakened dark Fire and compel it to retreat to it s designed central obscurity This Cholerick Complexion ought in a most special manner to observe the Rules of Equality and Temperance for the Original Fire which we have been speaking of is very strong in them and most apt on any disorders to be kindled whence do proceed so many Violences done by this sort of People Also they generally love Arms and the Field and a little exercise and custom will make fighting and killing of Men as familiar to them as the killing of Sheep or Oxen is to Butchers Therefore they ought to be sober and accustom themselves to a mean in all things as Meats Drinks Exercises and especially in Communication or in their outward Converse in the World All sorts of Food and Drinks that are rather inclined to Coolness than Heat are most profitable to People of this Complexion and as in quality so also ought they to be careful that they do not exceed in quantity which they are apt to do more than any other Complexion as aforesaid Certainly Man being an Image of God and Nature in him containing the true nature of all things which the Ancients significantly called a Microcosm or little World 't is no absurdity to affirm that he hath power to change and alter his natural Complexion if he once come to know the Principles of himself and can but distinguish the Principles of his own Nature then may he preserve the pure essential Spirit from suffering violence and he can also by the same Eye of understanding preserve the essential Vertues of all other things according to that measure of Knowledge he hath of himself Likewise People that are dignified with this Cholerick Complexion are subject to acute Fevers their central Heat being great whence do proceed a powerful Life and abundance of Spirits For in all Creatures that have their central Heat strong the Balsamick Body and Radical Moisture is also powerful therefore such People can indure Labour beyond others The same is to be understood in Vegetables and other things according to their Natures where-ever the central Heat is powerful there also the Radical Moisture and sweet Oyl is strongest wherein the natural Life doth burn and shine An example we have in Wine and in all sweet Fruits especially in Sugar in which things the sweet Balsamick Body and pure Spirits are potent lively and
neither does he see even into Natural things any otherwise than a Beast beholding the outward Substance but knowing nothing of the inward Power of the Spirit or if such do understand any thing further or more than Beasts it is either by Chance or Custom But when the Eye of a man's understanding is opened in the true Spirit he then seeth into his own Essence and Properties and by the same sight has a prospect into the Nature of all other things more especially if he be one that is born with a Nature adapted for the comprehension of such things For this reason it is said The spiritual man discerneth all things even the deep things of God but nothing hurts and hinders man more from obtaining the true Knowledg of God and Nature in himself than his looking abroad out of himself imagining that Wisdom and Understanding is to be found and learned in and from some other thing neither do many consider that worthy saying of the Apostle avouching That whatsoever may be known of God is manifest in man not without Man but within himself Man is that City the Wise man speaks of In whose Gates Wisdom cryes but if man will be gazing abroad and not regard the inward Voice in the Heart as most do not then he can never come to any true Judgment either in things Divine or Natural because the Foundation of all Wisdom and Right-knowledg is within a mans self Let us appeal to common Reason How is it possible if a man do not observe the particular principles and Operations of his own Nature that he should observe and understand those of other things whose Motions and various Operations he is more remote from and doth not feel Therefore if a man would know how to rule govern and preserve any Creature or thing this Wisdom and Knowledg must be first Essential in himself and to understand in particular what things are Extream in him and the contrary which will much help in the way of Temperance and Moderation with a due consideration had to the nature of the Food the Age Air Imployments c. And also the Quantities of all those things ought to be regarded and not to heap together too much this being a sure Rule of Health if a man finds himself as lightsom and brisk after Meats and Drinks or rather more than he was before For the intention of Food is to Refresh Nature and not to dull oppress and incommode her as most in this particular do especially those whose natural Heats are great and Appetites strong But full Meals and too frequent use of rich Food and strong Drinks do breed too much Nourishment which is the Original of many Diseases it furs and stops the Passages generates too much Blood and thick dull Spirits which makes the Body heavy and lumpish and by awakening the central Heat causes the external parts of the Body to glow with an unnatural Flame which obstructs the powers so that the pure thin sweet Vapours of the Air which are the Refreshing Zephiri of Nature cannot penetrate them as they are wont to do when the Elements of the Body are free from disorder for then they suck them in like Spunges which renders the Body full of Spirits brisk vigorous and sprightly as Virgins at a Wedding or Boys at a Festival But this pleasant Condition is never felt when the Body is over-fraight with Nourishment and like a Lamp ready to be extinguisht by superfluity of Oyl therefore solemn Feasts and set times for Meals and eating and drinking whether they have Appetites or no and other Circumstances that attend them are Friends to Gluttony but mortal Enemies both to Temperance and Health when People deluge down various sorts of rich Food and Cordial Drinks in a formal Method sitting perhaps two Hours inticing one another to Gormandize and Guzle not only beyond Necessity but even above the Power of Nature And yet not content after they have already exceeded all bounds of Temperance with strong Foods then with Wine various sorts of Fruits Tarts Sweet-meats and a thousand Kickshaws enricht with the East and West-Indies Ingredients of themselves more than sufficient for a sober and temperate Meal in the mean time few do consider the Injuries hereby done both to Body and Mind for this variety hath power to prolong the pleasure of the wanton Pallate beyond the need of Nature or ability of the Digestive faculty For every particular thing opening by Simile its like property in the Stomach it comes to pass when a Person has eaten to the full and to the satisfaction of the Pallate of one thing nevertheless when another of a contrary nature and taste comes the Appetite is awakened and he can with pleasure fall too again and so of several Varieties the Invention whereof at one Meal was meerly to gratifie Luxury by prolonging the pleasure of the Pallate which could not be done with simple Meats and Drinks Not but that a man may eat several sorts of Food and Drinks at one Meal without injury to Health but then they must be Homogenial that is agreeable to each other and also he that so eateth must as the Wise man adviseth Put a Knife to his Throat which very few in this Age do observe But of this we shall speak more hereafter As Abstinence and Sobriety does always fortifie the Observers thereof against many Evils so they make the Body pleasant healthful and fit to discharge all its Functions and prepare the mind to be the Temple of the Lord as St. Paul calls it Those that take Meats and Drinks only for the necessity of Nature and observe that the Food be not stronger than she but on the contrary she stronger than it such have for the most part great Spirits and but little Flesh whereas Gluttons have much Flesh and little Spirits Have not all the holy Prophets and renowned Law-givers from the beginning been Persons of a wonderous Sobriety and Temperance as Moses and Elias who fasted forty days and yet the Face of Moses shined and he could guide his Body as if it had been a Spirit And several other indeed all holy men endued with divine understandings have been remarkable for their Temperance For the Spirits of men are not Earthly things to receive their Nourishment through the Organs by the concoction of Meats and Drinks only but derive their purer Aliment like Spunges through the whole Body from the clear thin Vapours of the Air which do powerfully penetrate the Body on all sides but are hindred through superfluity of Meats and Drinks and so the Spirits in the Body for want of being found with these refreshing Gales become thick and as it were suffocated For this cause most that abandon themselves up to Gluttony and Epicurism seldom attain to Old Age or if by means of an extraordinary tough Constitution they do rub out 't is with Tortures and Misery their Bodies being as full of Diseases as an Hospital But on the
contrary many of the Sober and Temperate men have lived to great Ages and yet very free from Distempers with mean and spare Food whence does proceed a cool airy Pleasantness the sweet Influences of all the Elements freely courting the Body which renders the Spirits many in Quantity and fine in Quality and thence arises lightsomness to the Body and vigour to the Mind The truth of this men may experience if they will but give themselves the leisure to reflect and consider whether or no they do not before Meals ordinarily find themselves pleasant and lightsom in Body and Spirits but after they have indulged their Appetites with an overplenteous feeding the one is heavy and the other dull whereas had they but eaten temperately of simple Food it would not only have continued their strength but also refreshed their Spirits for the pure Spirit is the true Life Pleasure Delight and Beauty of every Creature according to the Nature of each and causeth the sweet Oyl to burn friendly and shine with a comfortable Ray if it be not wounded by disorders This Spirit being so Volatile and surpassing pure that it will not endure the least Violence for when any Injury is offered to it it either becomes evaporated or suffocated and then presently the Vigour and Beauty of that thing faileth be it either Animal or Vegetable Therefore those that do regard the Health of the Body and Mind ought to preserve the Spirit free and potent which must be done by Sobriety Gentleness and Temperance in Meats Drinks and Exercises The Prophet Daniel and his Companions were sensible of this when they were courted and also threatned with the displeasure of the King and his Servants if they would not eat of the various sorts of Flesh and Fish that came from the King's Table but Daniel intreated leave to continue that clean simple Food they had accustomed themselves unto viz. Herbs Grains and Fruits and pure Water for Drink Should not we in this Age be ready to count a man a Fool and out of his Senses that should refuse Royal Delicates from the King's Table and chuse to live upon such mean course Fare But Daniel did with a Divine Eye see into the Radix of all such things and understood their sympathetical Operations and therefore chose the most simple harmless Commons for by compounding many rich things together especially such as contain the Animal and Bestial Nature all such things lose their Simplicity and the true Life and pure Spirits of each become adulterated and changed and being destitute of its proper Virtues becomes of another operation which hath an evil Influence on our Bodies and Spirits whence proceed those frequent Infirmities in most that live in the height of Dainties the same being neither well-pleasing to God nor Nature But on the contrary was not the sober clean and abstemious Livers of the Rechabites well-pleasing to the Lord And did not the Prophet Ieremiah call them up into the House of the Lord as a Reproach to the Children of Israel for that they had faithfully kept the Commandments of their Father and observed the Rule of Moderation and contented themselves with pure Water for drink and with mean and simple Food and therefore he promises them That the Sons Jonadab should never want a man to stand before the Lord 'T is most certain the Lord hath been and is near all those that live in Temperance and Simplicity Therefore the Apostle saith Let your Moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand The Prophet Iohn contented himself with Locusts and wild Honey of whom our Saviour Christ saith That there was not a greater Prophet born of a Woman Also Iames the Brother of our Lord was eminent for his Abstinence as Eusebius reports insomuch that he eat no Flesh drank no Wine nor strong Drink and wore no Woollen Garment but Linnen which is of a cleaner Radix than the other for Woollens do retain the Bestial Nature as you may more manifestly perceive by the smell if you burn them no washing or other cleansings will purge them from that fulsom Quality which they send forth when burnt Now this stinking Nature so long as it continued entire was hidden or captived but the fire opens the gross body and manifests the Root for this cause the Prophets and holy men have so often said That the Saints and People of the Lord should be cloathed in white Linnen and the Priests of the Lord were to ware a Linnen Ephod for all Vegetives are indued with a simple innocent Nature and Operation and therefore they have been compared to the divine Nature because they bear some affinity unto it Those that would have their Spirits pure and potent must use clean Food which will extenuate the gross superfluous humours by which the Body becomes easily penetrable and he that doth not preserve his body clean the pure Spirit becomes as it were suffocated whence proceeds an heavy Dullness that is not only burdensom but hinders all Meditations and makes the Soul uncapable of every good Work but Abstinence and Temperance do dignifie a man and render him fit for the Exercise of Virtue and Piety and is the Root of strength and fortitude As the Mother of Sampson was commanded by the Angel of the Lord To abstain from Wine and strong Drink during the time of her being with Child so was Sampson her Son whom the Lord endued with wonderful strength but when he gave himself up to Wine and strong Drink and other Intemperances he lost all Power and Virtue and became weak both in Body and Mind and a prey to his Enemies And is it not so in our days Of most of the Miseries and Troubles man ensuares himself is not Superfluity a main cause Where-ever we see Vice there is also Intemperance and where we see Temperance and Abstinency we may justly expect other Virtues because no superfluous matter is bred that may dull or indispose the Fancy the Soul being watchful in Words and Works and also keeping the Body under which by the Power and Virtue of Temperance is subjected to the Influences of the Light and Love of God Temperance Cleanliness and Abstinence have greater power over the Soul and Body than most in our days imagine Did not our fore-Fathers live to wonderful Ages in perfect Health their Food in those days being chiefly Herbs Fruits and Grains and pure Wattr their Drink They did not make their Stomachs the Barial-places of dead Bodies but their Meat and Drink was innocent and simple by which they were able to check and regulate the extravagant motions of the Mind and insurrections of the Flesh Hence some of the Antients have delivered it as a Maxim That none could understand God and his Works and enjoy perfect Health and long Life but those that abstain from Flesh Wine and Vices bounding their Desires according to the Ends and Necessities of Nature For where Uncleanness and Intemperance reigns the Soul is subjected
with the Body that it cannot discern things Coelestial but Sobriety and Purity of body and mind renders it the Temple of God wherein his blessed Spirit delights to dwell and communicate its Gifts and Graces Most men will in words confess that there is no blessing this World affords comparable to Health yet rarely do any of them value it as they ought to do till they feel the want of it To him that hath obtained this goodly Gift the meanest Food even Bread and Water is most pleasant and all sorts of Labour and Exercise delightful but the contrary makes all things nauseous and distasteful What are full-spread Tables Riches and Honours to him that is tormented with Distempers In such a condition men do desire nothing so much as Health but no sooner is that obtained but their thoughts are changed forgetting those solemn Promises and Resolutions they made to God and their own Souls going on in the old road of Gluttony taking little or no care to continue that which they so much desired when they were deprived of it Happy it were if men did but use the tenth part of that Care and Diligence to preserve their minds and bodies in Health as they do to procure Money and Riches which many never obtain and those that do it serves them chiefly to procure those Dainties and Superfluities which do generate Diseases and is the cause of committing many other Evils there being but few men that do know how to use Riches as they ought For there are not many of our wealthy Dons that ever consider that as little and mean Food and Drink will suffice and maintain a Lord in perfect Health as the poorest Peasant and render him more capable to enjoy the benefit of the Mind and pleasures of the Body far beyond all Dainties and Superfluities But alas the momentary Pleasures of the Throat Custom Vanity c. do insnare and intice most People to exceed the Bounds of Necessity or Convenience and many fail through a false Opinion or Mis-understanding of Nature childishly imagining that the richer the Food is and the more they can cram into their Bellies the more they shall be sterngthened thereby but experience shews to the contrary for are not such People as accustom themselves to the richest compounded Foods and most cordial Drinks generally the most Infirm and Diseased For all such things contain great store of Virtue and ought to be eaten between whiles according to Reason and Experience for when the Mouth of the Stomach is open the pleasant relish of such dainty Food does so intice and encrease the desire of eating and drinking beyond what is needful that a man may eat too much and yet give off with some little Appetite of which we may be sensible by that general dulness and Indisposition which we find in our selves for two or three Hours afterwards People are much mistaken in thinking That so long as the Appetite desires and the pleasure of eating continues strong they may eat on without damage to their Health But the truth is this is one of the chief Reasons why men are Gluttons and there is but little difficulty in Temperance save only in this particular it being somewhat hard for an healthy good stomach'd man to give off eating in the midst of the Pleasure he receives by it especially when Meats by Art are made on purpose not only to prolong the Pallate but also to delight it But to him that uses himself to simple Meats and Drinks the snare of provoking the Pallate beyond the necessity of Nature is removed for such cannot intice Nature out of her way nor awaken any other Properties or Appetites in the Stomach but its own Likeness whereas varieties of Food do stir up as many various Qualities in the Stomach so that there is still a fresh desire to each thing till Nature is over-cloy'd And therefore Varieties are always dangerous if great Care and Temperance be not observed But he that limits his Desire by Wisdom and has the understanding both of the Quality and Quantity may eat of sundry sorts of Food at one time but the ignorant and unwise very rarely do it without prejudice to their Health As the pleasure of Temperance and the many benefits that follow Sobriety cannot be imagined by those that live Riotous Lives so neither can the sweet influence thereof especially the first be enjoyed without some Trouble to Old Adam There must be Self-Denial in the case and a man must live in this World as if he were Alone for there is but little Company in the ways of Sobriety When a man comes once to espouse them in earnest presently most of his Friends and Acquaintance will suspect and condemn him as a Conceited Whimsical Capricious Fellow or a kind of Mad-man because he will not run with them to the same Excess and Riot For the Flesh and Spirit of this World have no Affinity with Sobriety and Temporance proceeding from Fountains whose Waters are of quite contrary Nature to others the one being clear and pure which purgeth and cleanseth preserving both the Body and Spirit in perfect Health the other being defiled with many Superfluities destroys the Health of both Therefore he that would enjoy the true Pleasures and flourish in the Virtues that attend Sobriety ought to be as strong as Sampson was in his innocent Life that he may be able to cut off all superfluity in the Bud For it is not that which goeth into a man as our Saviour Christ saith but that which proceeds out of him For all kinds of Intemperance are first conceived in the Heart and if such Imaginations are not cut off or overcome by Wisdom and Temperance then they grow strong and become as it were essential and when the Spirit and Understanding of a man is captivated then a man becomes a Tyrant to himself and a perfect Slave to Gluttony being defiled by every thing Meats Drinks Words and Works as the Wise man saith Even the plowing of the Land is Evil to the Wicked for all Uncleanness and Defilements that happen either to the Body or Soul do arise and proceed from Within And if such lewd Desires Opinions and Customs were cut off in the bud then neither Body nor Soul would be hurt by supurfluity of Meats Drinks or any other thing for every man that commits any Intemperance be it what it will acts it first Within and makes it substantial in the Spirit and then it becomes Corporeal for the Body is forced to obey the dictates of the Spirit whether good or evil for this cause Christ saith That nothing that went into a man defiled him for he pointed and had an Eye to the Root whence all Evils and Intemperances arise His Words are Spiritual and not otherwise to be understood for he makes no exception but saith NOTHING that goeth into a man defileth him Which words should they be taken in a Carnal ense then our dayly Experience shews the
of unfirm Nourishment and bad Blood for it too hastily slips out of the Stomach into the Bowels and has many evil Consequences causing Gripings and grievous Pains in the Bowels Few do imagin the Mischiefs that do arise from the frequent eating of bad Flesh. The Marks to know whether Flesh be good after its killed are first That the Flesh look with a brisk white colour and the lean of it with a lively bright Red not with a fading fainty whiteness nor with a dull dusky red for these last colours shew that the Creature was hurt and the Spirits wounded before it was killed or the flesh kept too long after 't was killed Another Mark to know whether the Mutton be perfectly good in every degree is when it s prepared either boyled or roasted viz. if when prepared it doth retain its perfect brisk lively colour both White and Red being plump or swelled and of a pure sweet delightful Taste as also by its sending forth a fragrant and inviting scent or smell which of all Flesh good Mutton yields the best These are essential Rules to know the goodness or badness of Flesh if the House-wife do perform her part in observing such Order as is both natural and proper to be used in the preparation of Flesh which I have sufficiently declared from the Root in another place Mutton is also made better or worse by the goodness or badness of the Ground it feeds on the best and sweetest is that of the smaller Sheep that are fed on high Hills and Pastures where the Grass is sweeter and freer from gross Juices than lower grounds and as Sheep delight most in dry places as best suiting to their Natures so they are there forced to labour viz. to continue feeding longer which motion does free the Body and pure Spirits from that gross matter which such as feed in low Pastures where Grass is more plentiful are subject to and also they are the longer before they be fat For these and the like Reasons those small Sheep if free from other disorders which they are not so subject to as great fat Sheep are do always eat much sweeter and pleasanter than great Mutton bred on low rich Grounds And therefore there is no reason why Citizens and the rich People should so much desire large great Mutton but only for Pride and State counting it a kind of Dishonour to have small Meat seen at their Table though the same is not only sweeter to the Pallate but more wholsom as being easier digested and generating better Blood and is far more healthy to all sorts of People especially for Children and People that live soft lives which for the most part eat the fattest and largest Mutton and other rich Food and cordial Drinks and for that very cause are more unhealthy than the meaner sort of People Of LAMB The Flesh of Lamb is much of the same Nature with Mutton being an Excellent Food generating a wholsom clean Nourishment as being easie of Concoction friendly to all Constitutions and Ages and much better than Veal if they be not killed too young 1st Because they are clean in their own Natures 2dly They have the advantage of sucking and running with their Dams not being altogether fed with Milk but also on Grass and Hay according to the season of the year which Calves for the most part are hindred from which renders their Flesh the more unwholsom There is no flesh either more healthy or grateful than Lamb if free from Surfeits and other disorders but their natures and spirits are so tender that they cannot endure driving or the like therefore Lambs that come from remote parts to great Cities are most of them in one degree or other surfeited or if they come thither free yet such is their bad usage between the Market and the Butchers Shop that 't is enough to spoil them and make their Flesh unwholsom Also when this sort of flesh is eaten the weather is for the most part Hot which does quickly wound their tender Spirits and cause a general faintness which renders their flesh soft and greasie generating a very unfirm Nourishment and filling the whole Body full of Venomous Juices that give a further occasion for Fluxes and Fevers to reign in August September and October in which time Lamb is much eaten But if these Creatures are killed off the Common without being prejudiced by driving or otherwise hurried it is not only the sweetest but may be eaten with as little danger as any Therefore there ought to be care and understanding used in managing them for if the Spirit in any thing be wounded or suffocated the Body presently becomes heavy dull flat and like a lump of Earth having neither its true natural sweetness smell nor taste but is dull on the Pallate heavy on the Stomach affording no proper Nourishment neither to the Body nor Spirits its venoms do by simile beget and awaken their Likenesses from whence proceeds Inequality and Discord which is the Root of most Diseases and even Death it self for every sort of Meat and Drink be it clean or unclean does by a natural and simpathetical operation incorporate its self with its likeness in the Body and powerfully strengthen it whence arise both concord and discord sickness and health as we see in Wine in which the Spirit is predominant does not the drinking of it presently awaken our Spirits and make them predominate over all other Qualities and changes the Inclinations Dispositions and Intentions during the time of its operation but afterwards it leaves a man with sowrer Spirits than it found him both because the Spirits of the Wine are not only evaporated but have caused the natural Spirits to evaporate also by its simpathetical awakening of them and as it were calling of them out of their several Centers the very same is to be understood in all sorts of Food of whatsoever Nature or Quality it is All which is worthy the consideration of all Understanding People Of the Flesh of Calves or Veal The Flesh of Veal is of a clean Nature easie of Concoction affording good Nourishment fit both for healthy and sick People if such may be allowed to eat flesh which to me seems somewhat improper especially when in their time of Health they made flesh their chief Food it being probable that the original of the Disease was occasioned by the eating of much flesh which is one reason why so many People in England when sick their Stomachs loath Flesh more than any other food for that food which a man does eat most of when in health that very same when sick he will loath especially when he feeds most on Flesh. But if this sort of flesh be eaten too young as too many do at twelve or eighteen days old then it is not so wholsom for it being of a soft slimy and phlegmatick Nature it generates an unfirm Nourishment and it quickly slips out of the Stomach into the Bowels and too
and Communication for they saw the inconveniences and dangers that all such things brought on man but in this Dark Gluttonous and Drunken Age there is no regard had to such things every man does imagin himself to have greater Understanding than the Ancients and Prophets so that there is little or no distinction made accounting all things as it were of a like nature and operation whence doth proceed innumerable Disorders and Diseases for the total Preservation of mans Health both of Body and Mind does consist in the Quantity and Qality of Meats Drinks Exercises Communications Customs and the good or ill Properties of Food all things have a secret Power in themselves to alter and change Nature either for better or worse or to Vertue or Vice according to the Natures and Degrees either of Evil or Good in each thing Of the Flesh of Fowls There are various sorts of Fowls most of which men eat some Wild others Tame of the two the Wild are the wholsomest for Food their Nature is more airy and cleaner and of a dryer substance affording a better and firmer Nourishment better Blood and purer Spirits than the Tame the cause of this is the Cleanness of their Food great Motion and their continual being in the open pure Air next in Goodness to these are those Fowls that have free Egress and Regress and are chiefly fed with Corn such do also afford a good clean Nourishment But all such Fowls that are kept up and fatted and crambed in Coops being hindred both from Action and Motion their Flesh is of a grosser substance than the former not so wholsom hard of Concoction of a stronger Taste and Smell generates a thick gross Nourishment as indeed all other Creatures that are fed or made fat after that manner are much the Unwholsomer not being so Healthy if frequently eaten as those Creatures that are at their own Liberty for Motion and Action are absolutely necessary for to preserve Nature from Diseases and other evils not only in Men but also in all other things for it Purges and cleanses the Body from all such superfluous matter which is contracted by Meats and Drinks and other Accidents that happen to most Creatures it causeth the Blood to have its free Circulation and generates pure brisk lively Spirits as daily Experience doth teach Therefore all such unnatural ways and inventions of fatting any Creature after such a manner ought not to be if People have regard to their Health For all sorts of Flesh is in its own nature not only more Unclean but it is of a grosser substance affording more matter for the generation of Diseases than either Herbs Fruits or Grains neither is there any Art found whereby to exhale or destroy the gross Phlegmatick part of Flesh as there is in Fruits and Grains Therefore Flesh will sooner fall into Putrifaction than other things whose Humidity is exhaled by the vertue and power of the Sun and Elements It being a general mistake for to imagine that those Fowls and other Creatures that are hastily fatted by being penned up close and having superfluity of Food should have the best and most Nourishment Indeed they are fuller of gross Juices and Matter but good Nonrishment and pure Spirits and Blood do not proceed from the gross Phlegmatick body in any Creature but from the lively spirituous Parts and the more gross and phlegmy any Body is the fewer and duller are the Spirits of that thing if this were not so then Horses fed with Grass would be stronger and livelier than those that are fed with Hay and Corn. Are not all Creatures when their Bodies are fraighted with much matter disabled thereby to go through with their Labour or Exercise their Spirits quickly evaporated or spent and soon out of Breath faint and weak Which comes to pass through the super-abounding phlegmy matter which suffocates the Spirits and stops the Passages weakening the natural Heat and Action of the Stomach Therefore both Men and all other Creatures that do feed on Food that is of a dry Nature and Substance the gross Phlegm being destroyed as in Corn Hay Fruits and many other things and are inclined rather to Leanness than fulness are not only stronger and abler to endure Labour but they have far greater and more Lively Spirits are of quicker Apprehensions and fitter for Exercises both of the Body and Mind which does also further appear in all such Flesh that is so fatted it is not so sweet nor will it so readily take Salt nor keep so long without falling into Putrifaction Likewise the fat of all such flesh when salted will in a little time waste and consume the phlegmy gross part which is so strong that the pure essential spirituous parts thereof are destroyed whereas the very same Creatures being fed with Corn or dry Food having their Egress and Regress in the open Air being killed in their season and Salted will continue much longer than the former being much wholsomer and more pleasant breeding good Nâ—urishment better Blood and Spirits CHAP. IV. The Proper and most Natural way of Boyling Roasting Frying Baking c. of Flesh and other Food THE proper and natural way to Boyl Flesh and other Food that the Spirits and Life of it may be preserved is fiirst To put your Flesh into a Pot or Vessel that is large and can hold good store of Water For this Element of Water being of it self sweet and pleasant does cleanse and sweeten all things especially Flesh which is full of gross matter but you are to note that your Flesh is not to be put into your Pot or Vessel unless it first Boyl for if it lie in the Water and receives Heat but Gradually it dulls and makes flat the spirituous part thereof Likewise when your Flesh is put into your Vessel let your fire be increased that it may not lie long in the Water before it boyl and as soon as it boyls you are to uncover your Vessel and to keep it boyling quick without intermission till it is ready for eating The Pot or Vessel is not to be Covered any time of the boyling for thereby the sweet and refreshing Influences of the Air are hindered that they cannot have their free Egress and Regress which does as it were suffocate and destroy the pure and Volatile Spirits in the food for the Air is the Life and preserver of the Spirit and the Spirit is also the Life and preserver of the Balsamick Body in every thing and in what thing soever the Spirits suffer violence the sweet Body and Oyl turneth Sower as is most manifest in all fermented Liquors if such Liquors be exposed to the open Air the Spirits will evaporate and then the sweet Body turneth Sower and becomes of a heavy dull Nature and Operation but in the preparation of all gross phlegmy Bodies the free Influences of the Air keep the Spirit Living till such Bodies are digested and the Spirits set at Liberty then if
the gross Body or phlegmy Matter in Food is in part digested then presently the spirituous parts appear externally which did not only lie hid but also the Body of the Phlegm before the preparation did keep the Spirits from Evaporation which all Corporeal Bodies do for the Body is the House of the Spirits Therefore great Care ought to be taken in all preparation of Food both for Man and Beast and this is to be understood that the pure Spirituous Parts and Balsamick Body cannot be preserved in the preparation of any Food neither for Man or Beast except that most friendly Element the Air hath its free Influences because it is the Life and gives the Power and Vertue to the Spirit Also this is to be minded that when your gross Body in the Food is by your preparation digested whether it be by the heat of the Sun or by the common Fire then ought you to proceed no further nor continue your Preparation no longer for when the pure Spirituous Part becomes Volatile the same Air which did keep and preserve the Spirit from Suffocation in the Preparation will now cause it to evaporate which every Country Husbandman knows in the making and preparing of his Hay which neither the House-wife does understand nor consider in her Preparations of her Food nor the Physitians in the Preparations of their Physick these things are of greater Consequence as to Health than most do imagine I do not desire any to give Credit to me but I would have them so Noble as to Try whether it be so or not Health being the best Treasure in this World and all those that want it do esteem and desire it more than any other thing tho' few do take Right Measures when they enjoy it to continue it Thus much for the Right and most Natural Way of preparing Food by Boyling and whosoever shall observe the afore mentioned Rules and Observations shall find great Benefit and Pleasure The very same Rules ought to be observed in the Preparation of All Pottages green Herbs and Pulses except dry-Pulses which will admit of a slower and more gentle Fire than the Green Of Roasting of Flesh. The Roasting of flesh is a good commendable way of Preparation and is rather sweeter than Boyling it affords a good dry firm Nourishment but it is some-what harder of Concoction but very sweet and pleasant by reason that the friendly influences of the Air hath its Free Egress and regress not being any ways inclosed so that the pure spirituous parts are kept living which do render it brisk and lively There are two things to be observed in the flesh you Roast 1st That you have your flesh if Beef as soon as it is throughly cold and then to give it some Salt and to keep it in a cool place a day or two for if you salt it much the Salt being of a fiery hot nature when the flesh comes to the fire it does as it were scorch or burn it destroys the Spirits and sweet Oyl insomuch that it becomes in its nature and operation hot and unpleasant causing great thirst in the Eater In Roasting it is also to be considered that you have a good clear strong and equal fire and that your flesh be placed at a convenient distance not too near because it will burn or scorch and so harden the out-side that the Heat shall not be able to penetrate into the middle thereof so that the out-side will be too much and the in side too little neither is your flesh to be too far off for then it flattens the Spirits such flesh loseth its pure sweetness with its colour and fragrant smell being dull on the Pallate and heavy on the Stomach in comparison of that which is placed at a convenient distance having a continued brisk fire The next thing that you ought to observe is That it be neither over nor under done but of the two it is better that it be under-done the point of time when the Preparation is at the hight is difficult and it can be no other way known but by its colour smell and taste which by a little Custom every House-Wife may understand for that Pallate that is used to eat and drink things well and properly prepared can presently distinguish the contrary and so on the other side those that do accustom themselves to either Foods of Drinks ill prepared cannot distinguish the good from the evil or the right from the wrong The same is in the sense of smelling as all such that do use to kill Beasts and to be much in Slaughter-Houses amongst the dead Carkasses the terrible Fumes and stupified Stinks are hardly smelled or perceived by them the same is to be understood of Tallow-Chandlers and other stinking Trades for every particular thing has power to strengthen and awaken its simile therefore there are but few that have their perfect Taste or Smell only those that do accustom themselves to the eating and drinking such things as are well prepared their Pallates are made the more perfect thereby But of all the ways of Preparing Flesh boyling is the easiest if the Rules be followed set down in the fore-going Paragraph Of the Baking of Flesh This Preparation is neither so wholsom nor healthful as either Boyling or Roasting for these following Reasons First Most sorts of Food that are baked are deprived both of the Element of Water and also of the Air which are not only the Purgers and Cleansers of all Food but the support and life of the Spirit 2dly The Air in Ovens becomes sulpherous and deadly by reason of the stopping of it that the reviving and refreshing Influences of this Element has not its free egress and regress so that the pure spirituous parts become as it were suffocated Nor can such flesh be supplied with convenient quantities of Water which in all preparations of flesh is a great cleanser and upholder of the Spirits so that it boyls in its own gross Humidity which all flesh does plentifully afford Also the heat of Ovens is fiercer and more sulpherous than the heat of other Fires where the Air has its Influences the Air also being confined is of a deadly poysonous nature and operation it also destroys the natural Colour Therefore flesh baked does no ways look like that which is boyl'd or roasted besides it is of a strong fulsom Taste in comparison of the former and a less quantity will cloy and fill the Stomach more especially if such flesh shall be eaten hot which renders it much more wholsom than cold for those sulpherous Fumes and Vapours that do proceed from baked Food are much more hurtful to the Health than that which is either boyl'd or roasted for there are but few Vessels in which Food is boyled that are or can be kept so close as Ovens This way of Preparation is chiefly followed in Summer especially in August September and October the Air in this season being sulpherous and fainty and the
desire it Likewise its true Colour is lost or in some degree destroyed as is most manifest by all Fry'd Flesh it does send forth a strong fulsom smell in comparison of either Boyled or Roasted its Taste is stronger and its natural Colour is chang'd by reason the pure Spirits and sweet Body are as it were suffocated by that fiery harsh heat the Pan does contain this Heat is more poysonous than the common heat of fire which is caused by the Metal whether it be Brass or Iron for the Fire does not only awaken the poysonous Nature that such Metal does contain but the present Quality or oily Body in the Fire whence it hath its bright shining friendly Quality is suffocated therefore all such Heat that proceeds from Pans is of a harsh fierce nature and operation The truth of this is further manifested by those that shall be Burned or scalded by such Pans which is more poysonous and the Flesh is harder to be Cured than what is burned by common Fire and often proves more dangerous the very same matter does cause any kind of Food to have such a strong smell for in all Preparations that cause the smell to become strong it is a sure sign that some Violence is done to the pure Spirits and Balsamick Body which doth awaken the Center of the dark wrathful Nature The very same is to be understood in all other things and that is the reason why Fryed Baked and Stewed Food does send forth a stronger and fulsomer scent than other Preparations and all such Food will sooner cloy and dull both Pallate and Stomach except in some few whose Natures and Stomachs have a Simile with such Food It is also to be noted that the Fat which is used in Frying that lies or runs between the thing Fryed and the Pan is by this sulpherous Heat and the want of the free Influences of Air and the benefit of a convenient quantity of Water turn'd into a stinking Oyl which does neither retain its Colour Smell nor Taste but is of a contrary Nature to what it was when it was put into the Pan. For these Reasons all Fryed Food is of a stronger fulsomer Nature than either Boyled Roasted or Broyled Meat harder of Concoction and does cloy the Stomach Therefore all House-Wives and others that do prepare Food if they regard the Health of the Body and true pleasure of the Pallate ought to understand the possibility of Nature in all Preparations that they may digest the raw gross Body of Food without offering any violence to the pure Spirits and balsamick Body and then all such Food would be of a most pleasant Smell Colour and Taste for if the pure Spirits be kept free and not suffocated in the Preparation such Food becomes friendly to Nature affording good firm and wholsom Nourishment easie of Concoction the frequent eating of such Food makes a man Airy full of lively Spirits and of a good Complexion So on the contrary if they be suffocated then presently the sweet Oyl is turned sower or into a stinking Quality then such Food so Prepared will have as is mentioned before a strong Smell and Taste not retaining its natural Colour for in all sorts of Food in which the Spirituous Parts and Balsamick Body is strong their Smell Colour and Taste is Pleasant and Friendly Also it is to be noted that most Preparations of Food the quicker they are performed provided there be no violence done to the Spirit the better and more friendly such Food will prove for slow and intermitting Fires in either Boyling or other Preparations do flatten and dull the Spirituous Parts Therefore no Baker can preserve the pure white Colour in his fine small Bread if he be not quick about it for if any Preparation be continued too long the volatile Spirits become in a degree suffocated then Venus Sol and Iupiter grow weak and according to the length of time and degrees of heat so the natural Colours do alter and change for the Colours of all sorts of Food when Prepared do arise by degrees one after another gradually and when the gross Body is digested then the inward virtue which lay hid and captivated in the Body of Phlegm appears in its own friendly Form with a most lively and pleasant Colour Smell and Taste this is the point of Time all Preparers of Food ought to understand for if their Preparation be continued any longer the operation of Nature goes backward towards the center of the Original Fire then Saturn and Mars and their properties are presently awakened which do cause the Colour Smell and Taste of such Food to change The first degree the Colour alters to is a dusky Yellow and if the Preparation be continued by degrees it turns blackish till at last it will become Black or deep Red or of a mixed streaked Colour all according to the Property which does predominate in the Original or dark Fire also all such Food is of a gross and fulsom Smell and Taste unpleasant both to the Pallate and Stomach Preparing of Food is a greater Art and Mystery than many House-wives and others do think and if it be well and properly performed it adds much to the preservation of the Health both of Body and Mind for every thing has Power to awaken its Simile in the Body Therefore every one ought to use that care and understanding in the Preparations of all sorts of Food that the meek and most friendly Life be preserved from suffering violence Of Broyled Flesh. Broyled Flesh was much used in former Ages but now it is little in Fashion in comparison of the aforementioned Preparations Flesh dressed this way is much sweeter and fuller of Life and Spirit than Baked or Fry'd by reason it does not boyl in its own fat as the other two do also it is quickly Prepared and the gross Humidity in the flesh does freely purge and run into the Fire it has likewise the free Egress and Regress of the Air the Fire being full of lively brisk Spirits which in Ovens and Frying-Pans are destroyed by which means the heat becomes more gross and sulpherous like the heat of Charcoal which does suffocate the pure Spirits and then the Fat becomes of a heavy gross and Oily Quality with a strong Taste and Smell which gross matter in Boyled Flesh is destroyed therefore it does not only eat sweeter but breeds better Nourishment if the Fire be clear and done as it ought the Fire of Wood does prepare all sorts of Food sweeter and better than Cole and renders it much wholsomer for in all Preparations in which the Food does boyl in its own Fat or in Fat put to it if it hath not plenty of Water and the free influences of the Air the gross Humidity in the Fat does suffocate the pure Spirits and then the sweet Body which all Fat does afford great store of becomes gross and fulsom in Smell Taste and Operation which will quickly cloy the
most of them of an opening and cleansinn Nature for they gently cleanse and purge the Passages and Bowels But all these Summer Fruits are best and safest Prepared being mixt with things of a drying and warming Quality or rather made into Drinks and when such Juices have passed through Fermentation the Phlegmy Body is digested and the spirituous Parts set at Liberty which do tincture the gross Body so that the Spirit and true Life is made thereby Predominant over the body of Phlegm such Drinks being drunk moderately prove very friendly to Nature especially to such as are Aged People which do most need spirituous Drinks Green Food is not capable either in Man or Beasts to generate so good Nourishment nor so firm as dry neither are the Spirits so brisk and lively the gross Juices of such Food do as it were suffocate the pure Spirits and turn the Balsamick Body sower as it farther appears by all sorts of Animals that live on green Food in this season are they not apt to faint and to be subject to many Diseases their Flesh and Fat being soft and greasy but those that live on dry Food their Bodies are freer from gross Phlegmatick matter their Fat and Flesh is of a firmer substance and their Spirits stronger and livelier and more capable they are to endure Labour without Prejudice to their Health it is also manifested by all Grains Seeds and other Fruits that are cut or gathered before the Sun and Elements have dryed away or exhaled the gross Phlegmy moisture all such things will presently Putrifie and Stink being loaded with so great store of Humidity but if they be gathered the Sun and Elements having dryed away the Humid Parts then all such things will keep sound and good for several Years for this cause all sorts of Food in which Phlegm does abound are very dangerous in this season if Temperance be wanting as our daily experience teaches 5thly In this Season the Sun also declines in strength and vigour which being the central Power and Life of all things they likewise do proportionably decline as appears in Herbage as for Example If you cut Grass in September which is then the Food of most sorts of Cattel the Hay made thereof is of a weak fading Nature and Vertue in comparison of that Hay which was made in Iune or Iuly which is of a lively brik strong substance and vertue for the Earth which is the Mother of all things in this Season is weak and impotent because she hath already put forth her strength and manifested her lively Vertues in the first spring or rising of the Sun for the Winter is the Rest and Sabbath of the Earth in which time she recovers strength-and vertue because she does then as it were cease from all her Labours and the Vegetative Quality stands as it were still and the more Frost and Snow and the drier the Winter is the more strength and vigour the Earth obtains such dry Weather cloaseth up the Pores by which the strength and vertue is prevented from having any Evacuations which is manifested by the goodness and great Increase of all Herbs Fruits and Grains being all filled with a Powerful Lively brisk Spirit and Vertue therefore in the first spring and rising of the Sun every thing rejoyceth and becomes very fragrant by vertue of the sweet Influences of this Coelestial Body and the Power of the Earth so that at this time all things seem to strive with a most lively motion to manifest their most inward Vertues this is the time for People to eat Herbs both Boyl'd and Raw Sallets and Pottages made thereof such Food at the Rising of the Sun are endued with a brisk lively Vertue and Strength and of an opening and cleansing Nature Purging the Blood and are good against all kind of Obstructions Also all sorts of Diseases are by vertue of Sobriety and Temperance and the use of good Medicines then easier cured than at any other of the Year it is also the Briskest and Healthiest Season and the same Intemperances and Disorders which may be the occasion of generating Diseases in the latter part of the Summer in this time will hardly be felt for now all things rejoyce and seem to concur for the Preservation of Nature 6thly In this Season viz. from the middle of Iune to the last of September most sorts of Cattel breed many Diseases First from the continual Heat and gross humid Air which in this season is more sulpherous the Pleasant Influences and Spirits of the Air are dull and thick which causes a dull and fainty Indisposition to possess the Bodies and Spirits of all Creatures Men themselves can witness the Truth of this Moreover all Creatures are more subject to sweat by which the Spirits do evaporate likewise the Food of most Creatures is Grass which is of a gross Phlegmatick Nature and generates not only an unfirm Nourishment but also fills the Body full of evil Juices the Fat and Flesh being of a soft greasy Nature having but few Spirits and those that are very impure the Blood of most Cattel being thick and gross which is the cause their Flesh will not take Salt as at other seasons also about this time most sorts of Cattel especially those that come from remote parts of great Cities are more or less Heated and Surfeited by Driving and other Accidents they being not formerly used to Driving the Weather being Hot and Fainty the Air thick and humid and they being loaded with much gross Flesh and Fat all these things concurring makes their Flesh unwholsom and subject to Corruption especially Sheep and Lambs whose Spirits and Lives are so tender that they cannot endure any kind of violent motion without manifest danger to their Health It is very rare that any Mutton or Lamb is good in this Season they not being free from the aforesaid Accidents you may easily distinguish by the Taste Smell and Colour of that which is killed off the Common without driving and other Accidents and that which is killed in London with driving the Bodies of all Creatures being in this season full of Phlegmy matter that every little Accident will wound the Spirit then presently the Body suffers many Inconveniencies and if such Cattel be kill'd before they have time to recover such Injuries their flesh is of a dull heavy Phlegmatick Nature the Spirits are few and those that are are impure for these reasons it will not take salt nor eat sweet as others will which are free from such Inconveniencies for salt has no Power to Preserve such Flesh from Putrifaction because as is mentioned before the Spirits are impure for those gross Bodies are Preserved by the Vertue and Power of the Spirit and in such flesh where the spirits are few and impure and the Flesh gross and full of Phlegmy matter the salt cannot incorporate therefore in this season use what Art you can in salting your Flesh it will not eat so sweet nor keep
of Vermin and Insects which is caused through the Contraction of gross thick fulsom Matter for want of Motion all which running Waters are not subject to But although Water be Natures common drink for Man as well as Beasts yet since now a-days Men generally betake themselves to other Liquors we shall briefly treat of them likewise Of Ale and its Nature and Operation as also of Beer Ale hath the first place of all Drinks made with Malt and is of greatest Antiquity That Ale is best that is made after this manner 1st That the Liquor or Water that you put to your Malt be made boiling-hot but not boyl and then put it into your Mash-Tub or Vessel and let it stand a little while before you put your Malt to it which will somewhat moderate the fierce heat of the Water thereby rendring it more capable to receive the Vertues and sweet Quality of the Malt which violent hot Water will not do so well for it doth not only hurt the pure Spirituous Parts of the Malt but will six or harden the Malt so that the Sweetness and good Vertues will not so easily give it self forth into the Water also if you put the Malt into the Water very hot then it will Tinge or cause the Wort to become of a red Martial Colour but on the contrary the cooler the Water is when you put in the Malt the Paler or more Venerial will the Colour of your Wort be which is the best Colour of the two for all Ale that does look Clear and White is to be preferred before that which hath a high Martial Red Colour And in some parts of England there is such Ale made which is much liked but this commendable White Colour depends also upon the well making of the Malt viz. in the Fewel and degrees of the Fire they dry or fix it with for if the Heat be too strong or fierce or if the egress or regress of the Air be hindred or any other Accident happen of the like nature then such Malt will make Ale and Beer to look of a Reddish Martial Colour which is not to be commended though some ignorantly cry it up For the predominant Quality in all sorts of Corn stands in the White and all the pure Water and sweet Body of it proceeds from the predominant Quality of Venus therefore the more gentle mild and natural the Preparation is from the beginning to the end the more wholsom and Balsamick will the Ale be If the Malt be dryed with too hot or fierce a Fire whence the Colour happens to the Ale it shews Violence done to the essential Spirits which also happens in Brewing when the Malt is put to the Water too hot or by overmuch boyling of the Wort which is not commendable in Ale for good Ale may be made with little or no boyling and indeed there is not much reason for the much boyling of any sort of Drink made of Malt except you design to keep it a great while For the boyling of Ale doth cause a too great Evaporation of the Volatile Spirit and Balsamick Vertues which will not endure the harsh Fire for this cause strong Wort will wast and evaporate as much in quantity in one Hour as Small shall in three and more Besides boyling these Liquors destroys their mild gentle cleansing Qualities and fixes them making them hotter and fiercer in Operation for the more you evaporate or destroy the sweet Body of any thing the stronger and fiercer the Original Qualities become and appear more external but so long as the pure Volatile Spirit and sweet Balsamick Body predominates the strong fiery Original Spirit of Saturn and Mars lies as it were hid and seeing all the friendly and wholsom Vertues of Ale reside in the sweet Body you ought not to destroy That by over-much boyling Nay I will add that the best and most wholsom Ale may be made and not boyled at all as some in this Nation do which does but wast it in Quantity and make it worse in Quality so that it becomes hotter in Operation and a friend to the generation of the Stone Every one knows or may know by experience that Beer heats the Body more than Ale the reason is the Balsamick Vertues in Beer are in part destroyed by boyling so that it becomes more like a Spirit and therefore it will keep longer and because of its lasting most People imagin it the best which is a great mistake for they might as well say that the best Sack drawn off by Distillation into a Spirit is better to drink than the Sack was whereas I think the contrary is known to every body of common sense The nearer you bring any thing to its Original by destroying the balsamick Vertues and middle Qualities or vegetative Vertue the longer that thing will keep sound this is manifest in all Spirits drawn from any Wines or other balsamick Liquors for this reason Beer that is boyled most will longest keep from turning sour or flat but still this is no Argument that it is therefore the best and wholsomest for the predominant Quality in all strong Beer especially if it be kept to be â—tale is of a fierce harsh Martial and Saturnine Heat of a hard greedy Nature which infects the blood with fretting eating Humours very prejudicial to Health also it generates the Stone not so much from the Hops which many accuse as the chief cause but for that the pure sweet body is in so great a measure destroyed in the boyling it to such an height that it might keep not but that the Hops do help to heat the body and cause the Stone and other Diseases but not purely and meerly as they are Hops but this comes to pass from the Preparation For Hops in their own Nature have no such operation to cause the Stone but altogether the contrary for Hops are of an opening cleansing Nature and they powerfully purge by Urine and make excellent Medicines against the Stone Dropsical Diseases but all their natural medicinal Vertues are destroyed in their being boyled in the Beer and then there remains in them chiefly the Martial harsh fiery Property which helps to preserve the Beer from growing flat or eager but it augments its heat and makes it of a harsher operation And as the boyling of Ale destroys the sweet cleansing purging Quality and causes it to evaporate just so it does by Hops and so much the more because in them the volatile Spirit stands as it were external for the Sun and Elements have exhaled the gross Phlegmy substance and thereby sets the spirituous at liberty only being close stuffed into bags preserves them from evaporating whilst there they continue but as soon as they come into the fierce boyling Liquor or Wort these essential Vertues and good Qualities are destroyed and flee away but still there remains the original strong bitter Quality which cannot be destroyed by boyling except they be annhilated for it is
them the effects are not better which rich compounded Meats and Drinks produce in those that are accustomed to them they weaken the Stomach and by their heat contract the Vessels of the Stomach insomuch that with a kind of nauseating they both eat and drink or rather they know not well what to eat or drink This is further manifest in those that use to drink Brandy and other Spirits for they do so consume the natural heat that after eating they feel their Food lie heavy in their Stomachs and sometimes are apt to cast the Food up again thus it is in all sorts of Intemperances and by the continuance or abandoning of the use of such unwholsome Liquors you may change and alter Nature as you please either for the better or worse But if you will be so habituated and wedded to your unhealthful Customs that you value not whether Nature be weak and impotent tender and unhealthy then you may mix your Food with all the Varieties that the East and West-Indies produce you may make your Drink as strong and Cordial as you list you make all your Preparations Ala-mode de France you may Boyl and Roast all your Food to pieces till there can be no more Nourishment then you may wrap your selves up in Furs and wear a brace of Night-Caps and bury your selves every night over Head and Ears in a Down-Bed barricado'd with a double Range of Curtains keep your House close and be sure that you skreen your selves up by a lusty Cole Fire and fortifie your Windows with those Shutters that you may see no light nor feel any Air and when it is nine or ten a Clock in the Morning look that you have a good rousing Fire in your Chambers and Breakfast ready and two or three hours after let a plentiful Dinner of varieties be made ready with strong and enflaming Liquors This is the Trade that many Thousands of this Nation use as if they studied to bring Diseases upon themselves and to dig their Graves with their own Teeth for in the midst of all their Affluences wherein they esteem themselves happy they are yet most miserable But on the contrary they who would have and preserve their Strength and a firm Health both of Body and Mind which of all Terrestrial Pleasures is the greatest will observe these Rules First Let your Meats and Drinks be simple not compounded of Variety and of things disagreeing in their Natures do not exceed the bounds of that necessary Nourishment which Nature requires lest the Natural Heat of the Stomach be thereby destroyed be sure that Nature be master not the Food use moderate Exercise and Labour for nothing does more strengthen the Body and make the Spirits more brisk and lively than pains taking As to wearing of Clothes use such as are neither too Warm nor too Thin of the two the latter is the best for it both hardens and strengthens Nature and has many other good effects before mentioned It is also convenient that the Head and Breast be kept cool for that strengthens the Stomach and all the Vessels thereof it helps Concoction and does greatly prevent the generation of Phlegms and other Crudities which are apt to obstruct the Passages from whence proceed Coughs Wheesings Shortness of Breath and other Distempers which Diseases do commonly invade those who accustom themselves to Delicacy and Niceness So on the contrary they who often go into the clear and ferene Air whose Imployments or Diversions are for the most part in the Fields have not only sharper Appetites but also are not so subject to the Distempers and Infirmities of the Breast as the former are tho' their Clothes are but poor mean often wet and their breasts bare yet it is undeniable but that they are more healthy than the other notwithstanding the Intemperances they are guilty of in Meats Drinks and Exercises for their business chiefly consisting of Exercise and lying much in motion and having the free Influences of the Air a little Intemperance does not much hurt their Spirits But such Disorders are not so easily thrown off by such as are accustomed to fine Food and rich Cordial Drinks and their Spirits and heats are not to be compared to the other and yet tho' their Clothing be thin their Houses and Beds cold their Coverings light tho' they had not quilted Caps for their Heads nor Curtains for their Windows and Beds nor it may be scarce any other Windows or Shutters than the Trees that grow before their Houses insomuch that the Fires Beds and Houses of such would kill a great many tender Gentlemen and Citizens yet we see they are far more healthy and strong and nothing so liable to Diseases as those others which are so nice and curious of themselves And tho' their Food be course and simple yet it does support Nature more than all the Superfluities of the other for this course manner of living does propagate Health and strengthens Nature because all such things are equal in their parts therefore I would advise all Citizens whose Affairs are most within their Houses to use themselves to wear thin Clothes and to keep small Fires and to let their Houses be as open as may be to the Air for where this Element has not its free Influences the Air in such places is thick the pure Spirits and thin Vapours thereof become as it were dull and suffocated that it cannot penetrate the Body by the way of the Pores whereas the Radical Spirits are in a manner supported refreshed and kept alive by a continual sucking in or penetration of that Element and if there were a total intermission but for a small time the Spirits could not subsist but Death must needs follow so where the same is in part obstructed the Spirits by reason of hot sulpherous Airs grow fainty and do in a manner die away and nothing will recover them but open clear Airs For the Support Life Strength and Vigour of the Body is the Spirit and the support and life of the Spirit is the Air therefore both Body and Spirits in Man and all other Creatures are not only supported in Health and Strength by gross corporeal Meats and Drinks but also by a pure thin spiritual substantial Life which the Elements of the Body and Spirits in man do continually suck in like Spunges from all the four Elements especially from the Air which if it be too close pen'd up and has not its free Influence it becomes sulphurous and awakens the dark poysonous fire in the body which is the original of every Life and this it does by simile as I have already at large explained Such is the pleasant and friendly Nature of the Air that it does 〈◊〉 a sympathetical operation give life and vigour to the Radical Moisture and Natural Heat for this Element hurts nothing but preserves all except those delicate tender Creatures who by a too great Indulgence of their unreasonable Appetites and foolish compliance with
ill Customs willingly deprive themselves of its singular benefits therefore those that regard their Healths ought not to make strong Bulwarks and Fences from the free visits of so good a friend but rather court its Familiarity by motion in the open Fields airy Houses c. I know it is a Custom in many places of the Country to plant Trees before their Houses but I am of opinion that they are not convenient nor profitable in respect of Health for it hinders the fresh breezing Gales of Wind to enter into and sweeten their Houses also Trees Woody places and Vallies do by simile attract the Clouds and moist Vapours which are injurious to some Constitutions of men It is likewise convenient that all sorts of People do not accustom themselves to sit by Fires especially those made of Cole or any other of the like Nature because they do as it were by a natural simile dry up a Radical Moisture exhale and suffocate the Spirits and with too great violence open the Pores of the whole Body and as it were chill the whole-Body making it thereby incapable to endure the Air without trouble and danger of taking cold it also dulls the edge of the Appetite and sends dark thick Fumes into the Head weakens the Eyes and causes a general indisposition through the whole body Besides that heat and warmth which is procured by Fires heavy Clothes c. is very troublesom in comparison of that pleasant natural Heat that is awakened by Motion and Action in airy and open places and there is as much difference both in the Appetite and the whole state of the Body and Spirits between the one and the other as there is between Light and Darkness the one being lightsom airy pleasant strong and lively with a sharp and perfect Appetite the other being unpleasant cold on one side and hot on the other dull and heavy of little Appetite and that not good and so the body being feeble and tender the man knows not what to eat nor what to drink nor what to wear he finds every Room too cold for him he is indisposed therefore he must have this and the other dainty Bit and this and the other Cordial Drink but all to little purpose so long as they drive their old Trade of Superfluities in the above mentioned things A Cup of cold Water or small Drink and a piece of brown Bread to a well-prepared Stomach is above all Dainties Therefore it is a very uncomfortable thing for a man to be ignorant of himself for such never use things that are friendly to Nature and the good Health both of Body and Mind but on the contrary are diligent to procure such things as are inimical and hurtful to it Wisdom which is certainly great Riches teaches a man to put an high Estimation upon mean and simple Things and to use them all with a thankful Heart to the Glory of God Of particular Trades and particularly of Seamen The last Consideration of the great Benefit of the open Air leads us to observe what Callings and Imployments may be esteemed the most wholsom or best accommodated for the preservation of Health touching which we are in the first place to note that all sorts of Trades that work in Wood as Carpenters Ioyners and other Trades of the like Nature are all of them wholsom Imployments as well because their Labour consists of sundry motions of the Body as for that the various sorts of Woods they work in send forth most pleasant and fragrant Smells which must needs be very refreshing to Nature and if those men were Temperate and Careful of themselves not to lift pieces of Timber beyond their strength c. they might enjoy their Health and Strength even to a good old Age. Also those Trades and Imployments that belong to the Water such as Sea-men and Barge-men Skullers c. are healthful Imployments for the pleasant and wholsom Vapours which the Water always sends forth being mixed with the friendly and gentle Breezes of the sweet Air does powerfully penetrate all the parts of the Body and cleanses all the passages of the Breast makes the Lungs sound sharpens the Stomach giving it a good Appetite and an easie Concoction it makes men lively and hardy and the Bones and Nerves strong for they being still in the fresh Air it is no wonder that they find such good Effects of it I know no Imployment men could spend their time about with more Vigour Health and Pleasure than This if the Rules of Sobriety were strictly observed But they are a fort of People whom no bounds of Sobriety can limit such as use no Medium or Equality in their Meats Drinks and Exercises for the greater part they are excessive drinkers of strong Drinks such as Brandy and other adulterated Spirits which not only weaken the Natural Heat but awaken the Original Fires and fierce Poysons in Nature which does cause fiery Passions and Head-strong Humors in the Mind and indeed they living on salt Flesh and Fish can hardly be free from doing Violence to Nature because the Spirituous Parts and Balsamick Body is almost destroyed in that kind of Food and the Quality which is predominant is of a hot sharp and fierce Nature and this Nourishment being commonly taken does heat and dry up the Radical Moisture and cools the refreshing Vapours which proceed from the Elements of Air and Water from whence also proceeds unnatural Droughts and the Generation of the Disease called the Scurvy and innumerable other Distempers But these friendly Elements the Water and the Air give them often great Relief for otherwise they could not as they do eat and drink to such an Excess Many men of this imploy ruin their Health by indulging too much their Appetites for they eating and drinking beyond measure and without exception when they come into hot Climates viz. the East and West-Indies where the Beams of the Sun are so powerful that their Pores are opened and they sweat continually and their pure Spirits and Radical Moisture so much exhaled and evaporated that they presently feel an inward Weakness and a Decay in the Natural Heat and in the Stomach accompanied with cloudy Fumes in the Head causing an Indisposition and Weariness through the whole Body and rendring Nature incapable to bear such a burthen of Intemperances as they lay upon her without manifest Prejudice Their eating I say of salt Flesh and Fish and their drinking of hot and inflaming Liquors and observing of no fit Season nor due proportion of time for taking of Rest which in hot Countries should be from twelve of the Clock to three in the Afternoon These and other Extravagances bring upon them Fluxes griping Pains of the Bowels and Acute Fevers their drinking of that Liquor called Punch is also very Inimical to Health For the Lime-Iuice which is one of the Ingredients they commonly use in it is in its Nature fierce sharp and Astringent apt to create griping Pains
saith Every Green Herb shall be unto you for Food And in the first Age of the World though their Food was scarcely any thing else but Green Herbs and pure Water yet when was there any Generation since that time who has lived in so perfect Health and to so great and flourishing an Age The great and illuminated Prophet Moses did endeavour to wean as it were the Children of Israel from eating of Flesh in their forty years Journey in the Wilderness and gave them Laws to distinguish between the Clean and Unclean Creatures but you could never read of any Laws forbidding the use of green Herbs Now the best Ingredients to mix and eat with Raw Sallets are Oyl Salt Vinegar Verjuice Oranges c. These make them warm in the Stomach and pleasant to the Taste but you are not to use these Ingredients when you eat at the same with them Flesh Butter and Cheese for so many Mixtures are not agreeable to Nature Some love Sugar in their Sallets which is better left out if you eat Flesh c. with them for Sugar does not well agree with fat Meats nor with Oyl except in way of Medicine As to Boyling of Herbs or Sallets I shall give you an account of the best way of their Preparation and how they shall be most conduceable to Health which will appear by the Observation of these following things First Your Herbs and Pulses must be fresh gathered for if they be kept two or three days before they are used or if they lie too close together the pure Spirits which are very tender in them will be destroyed and exceedingly diminished the evaporation of the Spirits make them dull and heavy affording little or no Nourishment and that none of the best Secondly The Vessel or Pot in which such things are boyled ought to be large that it may contain a good quantity of Water for Water is an Element so friendly and clean that it helps to preserve the Spirituous Parts and Balsamick Body and to digest the gross phlegmatick Substance it is the Sweetner Preserver and Purifier of all things Thirdly You should have a quick Fire and are not to put in your Herbs into the Pot until the Water boyl and then increase your Fire not suffering it to stand too long before your Pot boyl again when that is done let there be no Intermissions in the boyling for there is nothing that does more deaden and flat the Spirits especially in green Herbs than slack Fires and such Intermissions Fourthly So soon as your Pot or Vessel boyls then you should presently uncover it that these Sulphurous Fumes and Vapours may evaporate which are awakned and forced into the Food by the Fire and also that the fresh and friendly Influences of the Air may have its free egress and regress for the Air is the essential Life of the Spirit No Food can be well prepared if the Vessel be covered Fifthly Your Herbs and Pulse should not be over-boyled for then the spirituous parts and balsamick body will instantly evaporate and your Food will become flat and heavy losing its pure natural Colour Smell and Taste and is nothing so pleasant and wholsom it were better that it be under than over done because of the tenderness of the green Herbs If these fore-mentioned Rules in boyling be not observed then such Food will lose its proper Vertue and lively Tincture and will afford but a very dull thick and gross Nourishment and begets bad Blood and many other ill Effects but if they be thus prepared you may the more boldly venture on eating of Flesh with them for they will purge and cleanse the Stomach and help the digestive faculty to concoct that Food which appears more difficult to be digested Of Colworts Cabbage and Colly flowers Colworts are the best of the three being of a more lively opening and cleansing Nature and Operation than the other two because they grow open so that the Air with the Sun has its free Influences upon them and this is also the Reason that they look of a greener and fresher Colour than many other Vegetables they are also more wholsom If you boyl green fresh Colworts and keep them till next day and do the like with a Cabbage keeping it likewise till the next day your Cabbage shall smell more gross and fulsomer than your Colworts Also the Juice of green Colworts is of a thiner Substance and more penetrating than that of Cabbages Cabbages are so close compacted that the Air cannot penetrate them neither can the Sun have so free and powerful Influences upon them as on Colworts so that they become of a grosser thicker Substance fuller of Phlegm and gross Juices and more subject to Putrifaction for the Air is the true Life of the Spirit in all Vegetables By this and the Saline Quality in the Earth they are preserved in their greeness and freshness but that which is earthed up and hid from the Air cannot be so wholsom and is more fading where the Saline Power is strong the Vegetables are also lively and strong For Example lay a heap of Dung in the Field and let it lie a Week in the Rain and then move it and leave no Dung on that place and you shall presently see that the Grass in that place where it did lie will be strong and of a deep green fresh Colour far beyond the Grass in the place where the Dung was spread and the Reason is very apparent for the Rain did wash a salt oily kind of Liquor into the Earth The same Reason will hold in other things as in your low Grounds that lie between Hills and River-sides which are more fruitful than other Fields because the Rain does wash a certain Fat and Saline Quality from the Hills which drains down to the lower Grounds and Vallies also the Rivers sometimes over-flowing their Banks and reaching the adjacent Grounds do leave when the Water retires back a certain fat saline Quality behind which makes it more fruitful than otherwise it would be Colliflowers are somewhat of the Nature of Cabbage only they are a little sweeter they afford but very gross Nourishment to the Body they generate abundance of windy and flatulent Humors and send a great many Fumes up to the Head our Soil commonly is not Rich enough for them they are more forced by Art and Dung than they grow naturally they being a Phlegmatick kind of Food or rather more subject to Putrifaction than Cabbage yet both the one and the other should be eaten very sparingly But as for fresh green Colworts they may be eaten liberally especially by those that eat fat Flesh plentifully Of ROOTS Turnips are a Root of a very innocent and mild Nature it has several good Properties it removes Obstructions which lie in the Passages makes the Belly soluble and mightily helps Concoction by its moist and slippery kind of Quality one may eat plentifully of this with a great deal of safety but of
boyled 4. Bread and Butter Bread and Cheese 5. Milk and ripe Fruits as Milk and Apples c. 6. Butter and several kinds of Pulses boyled 7. Bread with all sorts of Flesh fit to be eaten 8. Herbs and Flesh. 9. Roots and Flesh. 10. Bread and Eggs but Butter is but an improper Ingredient with Eggs. 11. Bread and Fish 12. Oyl and Fish for Butter is not so good Also Fish is wholsomer boyled in Water than prepared any other way I could nominate many more Mixtures but these are the most natural and agreeable to each other and most of them have mutual and friendly Aspects from their Radixes so that what variation these Ingredients do make 't is for the better they advancing each others Vertues If People could be perswaded to be moderate in Quantity and prefer such simple Viands and proper Mixtures in their food and drink and observe to prepare their Meat according to the Rules before specified most of those cruel Diseases now reigning and raging would be prevented There is abundance more in the observation of these things than the generality of People understand or imagin All that I desire of the Reader is that he would be so friendly to himself to make Tryal for no man can be truly sensible of the Evil of any thing except he separate himself from his Errors and tries the contrary Butchers Tallow-Chandlors Poulterers and many other offensive Trades perceive not those filthy Stinks and Fumes which Slaughter-houses Melting-houses c. send forth except they separate themselves for a while into a more pure and cleaner Air and then they become capable of distinguishing one from the other For the like Reason those that have accustomed themselves to unnatural and improper mixtures of Food or bad Preparations their Pallates and Stomachs are become One with such things and they can as little distinguish the pure natural Taste and Scents of Food from the contrary as the Trades-men afore-said can the noisom fumes of their own Shops and Work-houses There are many Thousands of brave finical Dames in this Nation that are so curious in their Houses and in whitening their Linnen that they themselves can hardly tell what will please them and yet after all they lie on Beds that do really stink worse than Common Houses of Office tho being used to them they do not smell it neither can they so great is the power of the Evil Nature and Custom And in these stinking Dunghills these delicate Madams spend two Thirds of their time and surely then 't is no marvel if they are afflicted with so many Diseases and Weaknesses for if they did commit no other Disorders or Intemperances this alone were sufficient to destroy their Health as I have at large demonstrated in my Discourse of the Generation of that pernicious Vermin called Buggs CHAP. IX The Reasons in Nature why Cities and great Towns are subject to the Pestilence and other Diseases more than Country-Villages The Excellency of Solitude and Advantages of a retir'd Country-Life THe Reasons are 1. That the Air which is the Essential Life of all material Beings is defiled by the Congregating of such Troops of People together whose very Breath is enough to make the Air thick hot and sulpherous 2. The Closeness of the Streets and Houses whereby the pleasant Influences and Salutiferous Breezes of Wind are obstructed which does condense the Air and render it thick and humid 3. The abundance of Smoke that the multitude of Chimnies send forth which is of a keen sharp sulpherous Quality that incorporating it self with the Air encreases its dullness and fills it more full of gross Humidity whence proceeds Stoppages and many Obstructions and Diseases of the Breast and the Blood becomes tainted with a sharp salt Humour that causes the Scurvey and a wearisom Indisposition throughout the whole Body 4. The great Number of Houses of Easement that breath and send forth their putrid Smells and Scents into the Air together with the various Uncleannesses that otherwise proceed from both Healthy and Diseased People together with the Washings and Cleansings of Houses and the fulsom Liquors Flesh and Fish have been boyled in mixed with other loathsom and filthy Excrements all which are continually exposed in the open Air and do wonderfully defile it not forgetting the Smoke Dust and Ashes of Sea-Coal where the same is used which is of a pernicious Nature 5. The vast Number of various sorts of Beasts and other Creatures that are by Droves daily slaughtered and no care taken but their Blood is exposed to the open Air and runs through the Kennels as if it were clean Water and no more notice taken of it whereas the same does not only send forth deadly Smells and pernicious Vapours but fills the Air with Revengeful Spirits which are inhal'd into the Bodies of Men and there stir up Smilies Add to this the great Numbers of stinking Trades which are in such places as Tallow-Chandlers Tanners Dressers of Leather Soap-Boylers c. All these gross Scents Fumes and evil Vapours that Cities are subject to especially great Cities and populous such as Lodon Paris c. their Nature being Saturnine and Martial proceeding from the gross fierce wrathful matter as deriv'd from things wherein the pure Spirituous parts and Balsamick Vertues are destroyed and totally suffocated so that there does remain nothing but the gross phlegmatick Body and poysonous Spirits whose Fumes incorporate themselves with their Similies in the Air and all the Elements and Stars where by a secret and sympathetical power they awaken by degrees the wrathful and poysonous Properties for every particular Quality in Nature has a Key in its self to open the Gates of its own Principle whence proceed Pestilential Airs according to the degree of the awakened Poysons and Wrath there being a certain sympathy between the Terrestrial Bodies and the Coelestial for all things both in Heaven and in Earth have but one only ground and flow from the two grand Principles viz. Good and Evil. For this cause when the original Poysons in Nature and wrathful Spirits are by the occasions before mentioned or any others stirred up that they overcome the pure Vertues they powerfully penetrate all Elements and Bodies and wheresoever they find matter capable or disposed to receive them incorporate themselves and with highest diligence endeavour to destroy the good Vertues and thence arise evil Airs and various Diseases which suddenly seize the Bodies of Men. And this Nature doth not only in the Evil but also in the Good but not in a sensible way but in a Natural by Likenesses where things agree in Number Weight and Measure there they powerfully incorporate and rejoyce and cast out their Contraries A pregnant Example of this we have in Sounds if two Instruments of one sort be turned to an equal pitch strike one of the Strings and the same String on the other Instrument will shake or tremble this I have done my self and also seen it
in Men to awaken and attract their good or evil Nature as well as there is in the Coelestials to alter or change Mens Bodies and Minds This many of the Philosophical Ancients have consented to and most Astrologers are of the same Opinion The Calculators of Nativities find by their daily Experience that Vitiousness and Intemperance in the Natives Life not only cause a very malignant Configuration of the Coelestial Bodies to take place and have its Effects but also he that lives Intemperately is always in danger and subject to the male Aspects of the Superiors Whereas on the contrary it is most true that a Wise Man that is temperate just and circumspect may rule his own Stars But when Persons give themselves to Inordinate Living near or about such times as the Heavens threaten them with evil Aspects Transits or Directions then such disastrous Influences powerfully take place For this very reason Men are often insnared and drawn away to many Inconveniences before they are sensible of it for the wrathful unclean Nature having been by degrees awakened and strengthened by its simile either in Meats Drinks Imployments or Communications for every Property must have such Food as hath affinity therewith or else it cannot increase nor be brought into Manifestation but without it it languishes and becomes impotent in its Operation the Person so offending is thereby subjected to all the malignant Configurations of the Coelestial and Terrestrial Bodies Yet if such an one shall turn to the Lord by Prayer and abstain from the Evil Courses of this Life he presently destroys and weakens that threatning Malignity and this sober and temperate Life will by simpathy strengthen the Spirit of Wisdom and Undestanding If this were well understood there would be more Care and Diligence used both in particular and general as to outward and inward Cleanness than there is For in great Cities and Towns especially there are many Superfluities and Uncleannesses committed against God and Nature and therefore such places above others do suffer many Inconveniences The unclean Vapours and evil Spirits that do arise from Blood and other Excrements do not only awaken the Wrath in the Elements and Stars and draw down their evil Influences but incorporate with the common Air and defile it which being so corrupted nothing is more Injurious and Pernicious to the health of the Body and also to the Mind for outward Uncleannesses do naturally and powerfully attract the evil Power both Externally and Internally because all such pernicious Scents and Smells do arise and proceed from the poysonous Root and so bear a near affinity to the evil Angels and Spirits and do naturally attract them So when the Elements are disturbed by malignant Configurations and Aspects as in great Tempests of Thunder and Lightning and the like the evil Spirits and Angels are very busie and appear almost externally for by those malignant Configurations the Wrath in the outward Nature is violently excited and the same being predominant in the evil Angels they at such times become more apt and powerful to do mischief External Uncleanness does not only pollute the Body and Senses but also the Soul and Spirits for which cause some of the wise Ancients would not wear any Woolen Garments because they are made of the Excrements of Beasts And indeed all Hair and Wool does contain a gross fulsom impure Nature but it lies so hidden that it cannot be perceived unless it be set on Fire and then it manifests it self by its filthy offensive scent For the same Reason some of the Philosophers lived retired nay many of the Holy Men and Prophets of Old as the Scriptures testifie when the Spirit of the Lord was in a more than ordinary degree upon them and pleased to give them Visions and make known his Will unto them did with-draw themselves from Towns and Cities and from the Multitudes of People into the open clear Air in Fields Woods Mountains or by the most pleasant Rivers and Fountain of Water And our blessed Saviour Christ himself did often practise such Retreats when he made his earnest Supplication and Prayers to the Father Few do understand or imagin the manifold Benefits unfrequented places and clean pure Airs afford both to Body and Mind the Senses and Intellectuals of well disposed Men being free from those Uncleannesses Cities and Towns are subject to both External and Internal for in those loansom places the common Air is pure thin and clear free from those fulsom Vapours Scents and gross Smells which Cities are subject to and free from those varieties of Cursing Swearing and Multitudes of vain and impious Discourses which all places are liable unto where Rabbles reside and which wonderfully awakens the Internal Wrath and gives many Advantages to the evil Angels and Spirits to work their vile Purposes But on the contrary in open serene Airs as in Fields Mountains and by River-sides and Woods there is no such Tumults no stabbing of Heaven with dreadful Oathes horrid Curses and frightful Execrations no banishing of Temperance with drunken Healths and roaring Huzza's no fulsom fumes of Tobacco nor viler Steams of detestable Brothel-houses to infect the chaste Air no Plays or vain Games no Mistressing nor Revelling to spend precious time no clattering of Coaches Drums Fools Fidlers c. that make such a continual Din that a Man can hardly call his Ears his own But on the contrary all is sedate and serene still as the voice of good Spirits and quiet as the Birth of Flowers no noise to be heard but the ravishing Harmony of the Wood-Musitians and the innocent Lowings of Cows and Neighings of Horses and Bleating of the pretty Lambs or the like natural Tones wherein there is nothing of disturbance or danger because nothing of Evil but every thing praising the Creator according to the Capacity and Nature of each Here it was in these and the like places that the good Angels of the Lord appeared unto the Sons of Wisdom and taught them the true Knowledge of God and the Nature of things and shewed them what should come to pass in future times And whoever will obtain the true apprehension of God of Nature and of himself must be separated and chuse sometimes to sequester himself from the Tumults Confusions and Distractions of the publick World and Crowds of the chaffering and busling Rabble Besides all this Cities for the Reasons aforesaid are more liable to contagious Diseases And because the Nature of Infection and how it is spread and how to be avoided is very little or scarce at all understood we shall in the next place address our selves to discourse thereof CHAP. X. Of Infection or catching Diseases and how they are transferred from one to another and that all Diseases are Catching THE learned Moses whom the Lord inspired with divine and humane Wisdom commanded that none should sit on the Saddles lie on the Bed nor wear the Cloathes of the distempered which if any did they should
the latter are in the external parts of the Body as the Flesh or at deepest in the Blood as all Itchy and Leprous Distempers are such as catch them have them in the same parts But on the contrary when the Diseases are inward and hid in the Body it frequently happens that such as are infected therewith find not the ill effects in the very same parts but elsewhere yet arising from the same cause Nor do Diseases thus transferred use to make People sick in the beginning but steal on by degrees so that there are very rarely any Remedies applyed till it be too late And as strong Constitutions many times keep off the Assaults of contagious Diseases so neither are all weak-spirited People liable to receive Injuries and Diseases this way for there are many who have naturally weak impotent Spirits and consequently feeble Bodies who yet are as free from catching Diseases as any others because they are clean and sound so that the Rays and pernicious Vapours and bad Airs have no power to seize on them wanting a Friend or Confederate Traytor within to let them in nor can they incorporate themselves by reason of the antipathy of Nature For as every thing or Spirit is received by its Simile so on the contrary it is withstood and resisted by its opposite for this cause one is in danger of receiving Injuries this way and another not and contagious Airs are not fatal to all but in the greatest Sicknesses or Epidemical Pestilences many all the while continue sound and well and these as well weakly People as those that are strong and healthy nay many weakly People continue sound whilst those that are much more strong and healthy are seized and die For the Air being unclean and corrupted by the humid poysonous Vapours and Species penetrates all parts of the Body and where-ever it finds matter of its own kind or capable to receive its Influences then it powerfully stirs and awakens the inward or central Poysons of Nature which before lay hid or captivated in the Embraces of the sweet Oyl and thence presently follow violent burning Fevers which in few days cut off the thred of Life For every Life in its Root stands in the highest Persons so that there is matter in every man if it be kindled able to destroy the Life in a moment And therefore we often see by experience a man sound and well one day and the next near the Grave or the whole Mass of Blood corrupted as in the Small-Pox or the like For when the inward central Poysons are awakned they are so strong that they can and do often convert the whole Body and Flux of Humors into their own Property viz. into a Poysonous and Leprous Matter 'T is vulgarly believed that Distempers do oft-times seize the Body thro' Fear which is true in a Sense but first it is to be noted That the Spirit was wounded by some Gleam or Ray and the poysons awakned before-hand for all fear and dread doth arise from the Spirits which are often wounded before a man can be sensible hence arises that which we call a Pannick Fear that is a Dread Consternation or Astonishment which we can give no Reason for also the Spirits are often hurt by a Voice or hearing a Word spoken from the Mouth of another The very Air conveys the Speeches of diseased People more especially if there be fit and prepared matter for Diseases for then 't is done in a moments time insensibly for as soon as those dreadful Vapours incorporate with and awaken the Poysons in the Body presently the Phantasie and imaginative Faculty of Nature is filled with fear and dread more or less according to the degrees of those Poysons and strength or weakness of the Natural Spirits and Radical Moisture It is further to be considered that sometimes the state of the Body is such and the Spirit so weak that every small Intemperance Uncleanness ill Air c. will easily seize the Spirits and wound the Health the true Causes of which are known but to few as when Coelestial and Terrestrial Influences do concur then every little Accident indangers Nature For there are many secret Reasons why Diseases are more apt to seize the Body and Spirits at one time than at another and on the contrary a man may commit extream Outrages and Intemperance at some times of his Life and yet continue his Health tho' every Intemperance sows some Seeds of Diseases if Abstinence and Cleanness duly observed afterwards do not root them out for these if followed will cleanse and purifie Nature and digest all such Superfluities as disorders have contracted For these Reasons a man ought never to be over-confident or think himself secure from Sickness which often surprizes us when least we expect it which happens for want of the presence of and being governed by the good Genius for though Distempers for the most part proceed from irregular Lives and other Accidents of the like Nature yet it must be acknowledged that many cruel Diseases are occasioned by Rays Gleams Surprizes Fears Ioy Sorrow c. which seize the pure Spirits and cause a suffocation of them so that in a Moments time the Radical Moisture and Balsamick Vertues turn eager a loathing and weariness ensues and Nature having lost her way the Stomach grows sick and indisposed and its Action ceaseth because the same chiefly depends on the strength and goodness of the Volatile Spirits and Radical Moisture then also the Pallat forfeits its property of distinguishing whence most sick People complain they cannot taste the natural Sweetness of Meats and Drinks If this were not so People would not be able to live ten twenty or thirty days in Fevers and other Sicknesses with such small quantities of Sustenance But what they take in such Sicknesses affords but little Nourishment and that which it does is very impure for Nature is then in strife and contends with her Enemy using her utmost effects to vanquish him At this time a skillful Physitian is very useful and of as great an advantage to Nature as Auxiliary Recruits coming in to the Relief of an Army engaged in a doubtful Battle It is most manifest that what Food is agreeable to one is not to another and so of all other things and therefore 't is sottish Ignorance to argue that because one man does not receive harm by lying in or with such a Bed or Person therefore another shall not For this is no Rule as we have sufficiently demonstrated and shewed the Reasons thereof Nor must you forget that all soft warm Feather-Beds do not only help to transfer Diseases from one to another but also they are Unwholsom and Unhealthy in themselves as is before-mentioned And indeed next to Temperance in Food nothing is more Healthy than sweet hard Beds and to lie single or not more than Two at most in a Bed especially young People for lying alone cools the Body and keeps it in an equal
Temperature and procures quieter Rest and makes People more lively and brisk preventing many Diseases and burthensom Inconveniencies But here I must be silent lest the Ladies be offended However if good Council may procure my Pardon I doubt not but to recover their good Opinion as soon as they shall have read over the following Chapter CHAP. XI Of WOMEN their Natures Complexions and Intemperatures as also of their Children Together with an account of the Generation of all Windy Diseases THe Nature and Complexion of Women doth differ and vary even as Mens some being more Sanguin others more Cholerick c. But generally they are more Sanguin than Men of weaker Heats and fewer Spirits therefore cannot endure any Inequality or Intemperances without great danger to their Health whether it be in Meats Drinks Exercises or Passions of the Mind Their predominant Quality doth stand in and proceed from the Element of Water therefore are of a finer softer yielding Temper than Men and their Love doth exceed that of the other Sex and indeed all kind of Passions do both sooner and deeper wound their Spirits Therefore all sudden surprizes of Love or Hate Ioy or Sorrow are apter to destroy the Health of Women and suffocate their Spirits stopping the Circulation of the Blood and causing the Body to swell and then abundance of Wind is generated which stops all the Passages so that People in this condition can hardly breathe Now the Original of all such Diseases which are called Vapours or Wind come thro' the weakness of the natural Heat and because the Spirits of most Women are so Volatile that every sudden Accident or Inequality doth either evaporate or suffocate them during which time the whole Operation and Circulation both of the Blood and Spirits is hindered and so the Life seems to be in danger which causeth a Commotion of the inward parts as if they did arise out of their natural places which is nothing else but certain Stoppages and Swellings of the Vessels that the Breath or Air cannot pass and then the Body is in a kind of Agony and trembles during the Fit which is never long for if it were the Life could not continue But thro' this agonous condition and strugling strife of the Properties of Nature the Element of Fire is awakned which is of a quick powerful active Quality and doth penetrate all parts of the Body and breaks open all the Passages which sets Nature into a great Heat throughout all the Body like a Fever and then this taciturn Contraction and suffocation of the Spirits does begin to cease but great dry Ardors do remain a considerable time after and by their violence do awaken the Element of Water which causes a breathing Sweat to succeed that is very beneficial to Nature and gives ease and so the worst seems to be over for the present Now all those Diseases that cause Nature to shake and tremble as Agues Vapours and the like are caused thro' the suffocation of the Spirits which does first awaken the Original Quality viz. the astringent taciturn twitching Property that does forcibly draw and contract all the inward parts and particularly the Vessels of the Stomach and in a moment stops all the Passages which Nature cannot endure and live and therefore uses her utmost efforts to get rid of those Chains by which contention the bitter Quality is awakned for that Quality above all others cannot brook Confinement but breaks open all the barricado'd Passages with its fiery and rapid Motion and awakens the hot Property which presently sets Nature into such a Flame as should it continue would soon consume her but these Heats do so violently hunger after and draw the Airy Quality as its true Life that it rouzes the Watry Element and thereby quenches that Combustion whereby Nature receives Relief and Refreshment But the Original Cause of all at the first is the wounding the Volatile Spirit which in Women is quickly done but Men are very rarely troubled with this Distemper of Vapours and the like because their Nature stands in and proceeds from the Root of the Fire and the Properties of Saturn and Mars are more predominant in them and therefore their natural or central Heats are greater and stronger than Womens and consequently are of better Judgments and Abilities both for the doing and the governing of all things For Man was made first and hath in himself the strong might and tincture of the Fire which is furious and forth driving very desirous to manifest it self But the Tincture of the Female is from the Water viz. from Venus Therefore the Males of all sorts of Creatures are far hotter and of stronger and greater Spirits and more desirous of Copulation or more unchast than the Females not subject to those Uncleannesses but fit for Generation at all Times and Seasons which Women are not And hence it is and always was accounted a greater Sin and Shame for a Woman to be unchaste than for a Man though it is not excusable in either And for the same Reason Women were never allowed those Priviledges of Polygamy as Men among the Ancients For the unchastity of Women destroys the Generation of Mankind in the Root and brings Confusion and Desolation to Families so that Wantonness in Women is a Sin against God and against Nature For the Creator in the beginning hath implanted Modesty and given the Bridg of Chastity unto Women and indeed unto the Females of all Creatures by enduing them with a cold meek Temper derived from the Element of Water which doth allay and cool them and therefore they are naturally more moderate and not so hot and desirous of Copulation as Men and when once they have Conceived are satisfied till such time as they have brought forth setting aside the Consequences proceeding from a debauched Imagination or the wanton Provocations that happen between Men and Women which force and strain Nature but as for pure natural Inclinations they cease and are as free from them as Sheep or the Females of any other Creatures These are the wonderful Works of the great Creator for if it were not so all Generation would be destroyed and corrupted even in the very Root as sometimes it comes to pass among Lascivious and Petulent Men and Women through various sorts of Uncleannesses which are against God's Law and the Right of Nature Do not all the Beasts of the Field observe their Times and Seasons And after Conception do they not strictly withstand their Males and not suffer them to touch them till after they have brought forth and also brought up their young Ones and made them capable to shift for themselves All which time they remain without Inclination because the end of Nature is answered and this is according to the first Law of God which all Creatures have kept especially the Females unviolated EXCEPT WOMEN But though I said that Womans natural Inclinations to the Sports of Venus do cease after Conception yet it
is not so to be understood but that Nature in Women does remain in a possibility of being awakened as by the ardent desires of the Mind which if kindled can easily stir up the sleeping Powers of Nature and by many other wanton ways which are used to provoke Nature beyond the proper degree or what is Natural which is not only a Sin but tends to Corrupting of mankind in the Root Which Wantonnesses and Unnatural Courses of Life are much furthered by sundry sorts of Meats and Drinks exciting Nature to her damage and corrupt the Seed as the great number of gross adulterated Foods and strange Mixture of Flesh Fish Herbs Fruits c. and the too frequent drinking of Wine and strong Drinks which heats the Seed and provokes Nature and make her lose her way which is very pernicious and dangerous to all sorts of People but more especially to WOMEN and therefore the Ancients did direct those of that Sex to observe an higher degree of Temperance and Order than they prescribed to Men as knowing that the whole Wellfare and Preservation of Mankind did chiefly depend on their good or ill Constitution The Food therefore appointed to them was Simple and Natural as various sorts of Herbs Fruits Grains and pure Water for Drink which are endued with simple and equal Natures and have Affinity with the Feminine Nature having no manifest Quality that does too violently predominate therefore have no unequal Operation but do administer both dry and moist Nourishment far beyond all high prepared Foods and strong Drinks For all sorts of Meats and Drinks do beget their Likenesses and for that Reason mean simple things have in all Ages been Commendable especially for WOMEN What we have said of Diet the same is to be understood of Exercises and therefore the Philosophical Ancients did not count it proper or suiting their Nature to put Women ordinarily upon any share or care of the Government or hard Labours because of their weak Spirits and Heats for on all occasions of Difficulty Labour and Trouble they are subject to be either too Cholerick or too Sanguine which their Nature cannot bear for all Inequality be it what it will proves Injurious to them and Children Besides it is very unseemly to see Women dirty and imployed in hard slavish Drugdery and such of them as are forced thereunto through the bad Husbandry of their Parents or Husbands do they not by following such robustick Labours become bold rude and uncivil and seem to have to put off the Womanish Nature both in Words and Works Now this Rudeness is bad in the Males but an Hundred times worse in the Females For if their sweet courteous friendly Tempers and Natures be destroyed and wounded the Generation of Mankind is thereby corrupted in the Root Therefore Men ought not to put Women to such robust Imployments and hard Labours as many do except pure Necessity compels them to it It is a common Opinion That WOMEN are more Salacious and Unchast than Men but the same is a great mistake and built only on this Ground because many Women are found easily to comply with Mens Insinuations and Temptations which does not proceed from any natural desires of Lust or Unchastity but from their friendly Tempers and sweet Sanguine Dispositions many of them being naturally so Sanguine that the very shew of Love and Friendship will presently awaken the Love-Principle in them even before they themselves are sensible of it so that if a Man do but carry himself fair courteous and kindly to them he may command them beyond what is convenient which many wicked Fellows knowing make it their Business to betray them which proves the Ruin of many Now Men finding them thus to comply they being ignorant of their Natures and also of themselves judge that of Women which they find true in themselves And to this Scandal some vile Women have also given a further occasion by prostituting themselves to all Unchastity but those Abominations do not proceed from their simple natural Inclinations and Dispositions but through their depraved Free-wills and lewd Customs whereby they have forced Nature out of her simple way and then such become worse and far more detestably Impudent than the most debauched of Men. But still Women as Women and according to their simple natural Dispositions ought by all Men to be highly esteemed and honoured and if they themselves were but in the least sensible of or understood the noble Excellency of their own Complexions Natures and Compositions they would scorn any such base Actions and loath themselves for their depraved state and condition especially some of them who have precipitated themselves into all kinds of Intemperances and superfluous Courses and evil Customs whereby they have abused their Natures destroyed their Healths and intailed Diseases and many Miseries to Posterity which is much to be pitied But to descend to more particular Directions touching Women 1. Their Food ought to be well prepared neither too much nor too little but according to the Rules in our Chapter of preparations for Food well prepared is not only of easier Concoction but breeds better Blood and finer Spirits than which nothing brings more advantage to Females by reason of their weak Hearts also such good Blood breeds most excellent Milk 2. They ought to eat and drink so moderately that the natural Heat of the Stomach may overcome and digest it without any difficuly so that there may no superfluous Dregs remain as are always wont to do where Nature is over-charged which fills the Vessels full of sharp crude matter of a griping Nature for a small quatity of Meat and Drink when well concocted affords not only a better Nourishment but also greater Strength than abundance gorged down more than Nature can manage It being a gross Error for People to imain that a great quantity must be thrust into the Belly or else they cannot subsist never consulting the strength of the natural Heat Nothing destroys the Health and breeds evil Juices in the Body more than this Intemperance which most People are subject to more or less and from hence are generated Windy Diseases and Griping Pains in the Stomach and Fumes in the Head which miserably afflict many of these Gluttonous People 3. They ought as much as in them lies to forbear all sorts of rich fat Foods that do consist of various Natures and disagreeing among themselves all such Foods are heavy of Concoction fur the Passages dull the edg of the Appetite and breed bad Blood But on the contrary all simple innocent Foods which for the most part are easie and light on the Stomach are most agreeable to the Foeminine Constitution and also for their Children as Bread Butter a little Cheese Milk Herbs variously ordered Flesh but in its proper Seasons and simply and well prepared 4. But much Flesh and the frequent eating thereof does prove injurious to Women especially those of gross Phlegmatick Complexions whose Heats are so
add Water to it and keep it in motion and so by the help of the Water the motion and the Air the Spirituous parts are kept living which indeed is the best way of melting of Butter Nevertheless even this is grosser on the Stomach and oyls furs and obstructs the Passages more than Butter eaten on Bread which is the best and most natural way of using it The truth hereof is further manifested by this take Butter Flour and Water and make it into Paste as they do for Pies and then bake it and let any of those which love such things best be confined to live on it for two or three Weeks and confine another to Bread and Butter and see which will be tired first 't is certain he that eats the baked Bread and Butter shall presently loath it but he that lives on the common Bread and Butter may continue to live thereon and be well sustained without being weary of it for many Years and yet all is but Bread and Butter only the preparation makes the difference For you may observe that all kinds of Food made of fine Flour and Butter and baked is of a close heavy substance hard of Digestion that fouls and makes the Blood thick and gross and being first invented for Wantonness and State are continued to gratifie the same Properties and therefore ought to be banished Of the Quantity of Childrens Food There are but few Mothers or Nurses but do err in Quantity as much and more often than in the Quality of the Victuals which they take themselves or give their Children Now over-charging of Nature is more dangerous than Food that is of a contrary Quality or made so by improper Mixtures and Preparation tho both are very bad 'T is hardly to be imagined how little in Quantity and mean in Quality will gratifie and maintain Children in perfect Health and Liveliness and therefore we should consider how difficult a point it is even for People of mature Age to be Temperate in eating and drinking more especially when Meats and Drinks are made by Spices Sugars foreign Fruits and other mixtures enticing to the Pallate the pleasure of which you must note does always continue many degrees beyond the necessity of the Stomach which is one of the chief causes of Gluttony Now if it be so hard and difficult a thing for Men and Women to be Temperate and abstain from Excess who have Experienced the Dangers Indispositions Relapses and the like evil Consequences thereof how then can we expect that Children should understand when they have enough that is sufficient to sustain Nature and no more 'T is certain all healthy Children will eat and drink to the end of the pleasure of their Pallates and till their Stomachs loath it more especially where such Food or Drinks are made enticing as of late Years most are And therefore it may be truly said that all or most Children are as it were taught and trained up to Gluttony from their Infancy which has many evil Consequences 1st The over-charging Children with Meats and Drinks does suffocate their pure volatile Spirits which in them are very tender 2dly It stupifies all the Senses causing dull heavy Indispositions to attend the whole Body awakening the central Fire which spreads it self and causeth an unkindly heat through all the external parts and in some weakly Constitutions brings an inward Fever that consumes the very Flesh off the Bones 3dly It furs and stops the Passages breeds thick gross Blood and evil Juices which fall down upon the Joynts and makes them feeble and dilating the Vessels of the Stomach do so impair the natural heat and digestive faculty that most of that excessive Food is turned into phlegmatick gross watry or windy Humours which ascend into the Head and causeth it to grow great and as it were swell being heavy and sottish which Distemper is usually called The Rickets which generally proceeds from Intemperance and the indiscreet managment of Mothers and Nurses for Superfluity does not only contract malignant Diseases but makes all sorts of Children as well the strong and healthy as such as are weak so uneasie that thereby they are apt on all occasions to fret and cry it likewise makes them nasty and of an unpleasant dull sottish Humour requiring double the Tendence which otherwise they would need And when by over-gorging they have made them thus froward then to quiet them they presently clap more Victuals or Drink into their Mouths and thus force them even against their Desires as well as beyond the Necessities of Nature more than their Stomach can bear which continues and encreases their Disorders nay they feed them till they sputter out of their Mouths and also cast it up which latter many silly Women count a good sign of Health whereas in truth this Puking as they call it is a sure token indeed that such Children have strong Stomachs but withal that their Stomachs are overcharged and disordered with too much Food for no healthy Stomach either Young or Old will cast its Food up when in Health if such Foods be eaten moderately and be not too much in quantity or of a contrary quality Also sometimes when the Stomach is too moist and full of watry Humours such Children and others ought to fast a while and then eat some drying Food But on the contrary those Children that have weak Heats and Stomachs tho' over charged will seldom cast it up again but if they do it makes them very sick and disordered All which Evils are not by any means to be prevented but by Sobriety and good Order for all Mothers ought to give Children Meats and Drinks according to Reason and not according to the Childrens desire much less ought they to force them when their Stomachs loath it which wounds Nature in the very bud destroying the airy lively Spirits which Children as all other young Creatures are most endued withal Observe likewise not to give your Children Food too often that is not before the former is digested which many Women do and so destroy the poor Childrens Health and lay Foundations for Diseases Add to these Mischiefs of Intemperance in Children that it dulls the Wit clouds the Fancy and darkens the Apprehension and so renders them more uncapable of all kind of Learning For Temperance and Cleanness do not only make the Body sound healthy light and pleasant but strengthens the Intellect makes the Spirits brisk and lively helps the Memory and gives a penetrating understanding and fits one for all Imployments both of the Body and Mind and lays a hopeful Foundation for Health Strength and long life To conclude Cleanness and good Tendence in Children is very profitable and their Beds ought to be clean sweet hard and in airy Rooms for their Spirits are so tender that any gross thick Air suffocates them And as their Coverings ought not to be too thick or heavy so also should their Day-Garments be moderate easie and cool nor
should they be forced to Sleep as the Custom of some is but to go to sleep as Nature inclines them Also they must not sit or lie too long without Motion for 't is that gives Spirit and Life to all young Creatures It is to be noted also that Womens Distempers as to Windiness and many other Weaknesses are much encreased by their straight Garments and Lacings which do press and wound the strength of that part it being one main Reason of their shortness of Breath contracting the Passages and Vessels of the Stomach which causeth also Sickness with pricking pains in the sides and often sends Fumes into the Head nothing being more Injurious to them than those Bodice and Stays which are as stiff and hard as Boards which makes the Stomach Waste and Back so feeble that many when they leave them off they feel themselves so weak that they are forced to continue them neither can they hardly turn themselves in their Beds but seem as if they were unjoynted which causeth many other Inconveniences as growing deformed and makes Labour and Exercises burthensom If these Rules be followed and observed by any they will find great benefit thereby and be eas'd of much Trouble and prevent a great Number of Diseases and lay Foundations for an healthy sound Generation CHAP. XII The Cause of SURFEITS and how to prevent them and keep the Body in Health As also of large Drinking after Meals and of eating of Suppers WHen any one finds himself much wearied or very hot through some violent action or fainty through Labour or long fasting or any other Accidents of the like Nature which may have wasted the Radical Moisture and spent the pure Spirits whereby the whole Body becomes heavy dull and indisposed Then to recover Nature and the Spirits and yet at the same time prevent the Diseases called Surfeits these following Rules are absolutely necessary for every one to observe 1. Before eating or drinking you ought to rest by sitting still and silent or taking a small nap of sleep or if conveniency will permit go to Bed and keep your self warm for an hour or two or three according to the greatness of the occasion which will recover the Spirits and strengthen the natural Heat and sharpen the Appetite refreshing the whole Body and chearing all the Senses so that you shall not only eat and drink with tenfold more pleasure and delight but with much more safety as to Health For no Meats or Drinks though of the highest Preparation have such Power to recover and restore the Spirits and make the sweet Oyl in the Body burn clear as Rest hath for which cause a man can fast longer from Food and with less prejudice to his Health than from Rest or Sleep Nevertheless in some of these times of Weariness there is necessity of present eating or drinking but then it ought to be done sparingly and such Food as is easie of Digestion as thin brisk Gruels Pottages and the like and that in a small Quantity for when the Spirits are spent by any of the forementioned Accidents the natural Heat of the Stomach is so weakned that it cannot bear any great Quantity of Meats or Drinks nor such Foods as are too strong in Quality without manifest danger to the Health All Inequality in this state is very perilous for when the Radical Moisture is wasted the natural Spirits are dull and impure which cannot be restored but only by Rest for the quickness and sharpness of the Stomach and digestive Faculty does chiefly consist in the Goodness and Quantity of the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits And for this cause those that are tired with Labour a less Quantity of strong Drink or Food will overcome them Also those that are endued with strong Spirits and whose Radical Moistures are pure and free from Obstructions have good and sharp Appetites and can eat and drink greater Quantities without prejudice to their Health but on the contrary such as have but weak Heats and few Spirits have but little Stomachs and faint desires to eat their Stomachs being full before their Bellies and the same is to be understood when the Spirits and Natural Heat are impared and made impotent by Accidents Therefore Rest after any kind of Weariness be it what it will is a most safe means to preserve Health and prevent the generation of Diseases 2. It is to be noted that Surfeits and Obstructions are not as many suppose contracted at the first or second Inconveniency except the Accident or Disorder be very great but by degrees every Excess sows some seeds for Diseases which would be prevented if care were taken and Nature not overcharged especially at the forementioned times viz. when the Spirits are weakned or spent for then the sweet Oyl and Radical Moisture immediately turns sourish and then follows an unnatural Heat and Disorder through the whole Body with a dizziness in the Head for the Volatile Spirit is the true Life and Being of every thing Many lively Instances might be given to demonstrate this as we see in all the Vegetations of the Earth if the spirituous parts be any way destroyed or suffocated that Herb Seed or Grain decays and becomes of no use or vertue which is likewise manifest in all Spirituous Liquors as Beer Ale Syder Wine c. if by long keeping or other accidents the spirituous parts be wasted or evaporated immediately the sweet Quality as it were dieth and then the bitter sour astringent Properties predominate and appear in their own Forms which whilst the spirituous and sweet Qualities were strong and not violated did lie hid being therein incorporated So that were it possible for Man by any Art to retain the Volatile Spirit in any Liquors or other things then such things would continue firm and good in all their parts forever The same is to be conceived in the Humane Nature and therefore all People ought to consider the danger the Spirit is in on all Disorders and Superfluities for presently the Appetite is dulled and the Pallate cannot taste or distinguish the pure Relish of any sort of Food For where the Spirits are weak all the Properties of Nature become unequal in their operation and rise up with a kind of violence or hunger after the sweet Oyl with eagerness to devour it which is the true Life Pleasure and Moderator of all the other Properties and Qualities and therefore when once the same is wounded the whole System of Nature is disordered and all her Oeconomy disturbed And this is really the very Root of all Distemperatures both of the Body and Mind which if every one did understand and take care that Nature were not overcharged might easily be prevented But though Nature doth frequently complain sigh groan and languish under many such Inconveniences and burdens yet few there be that ever think or consider the cause from whence such Indispositions proceed but for the most part through Ignorance take wrong measures for if
any find themselves weak fainty weary and the like they presently think to supply this defect of Nature by giving her good store of rich Food and Cordial Drinks which for the most part do but add a second burthen to her and proves of a more hazardous consequence to the Health than the first Disorder since these Indispositions generally come not for want of Nourishment but rather the contrary and for want of due Rest after too violent Actions or over-long continuance at them and for lack of giving Nature proportionable Meats and Drinks whereby the Spirits and Radical Moisture are wasted as aforesaid tho' it must be confessed That Health and Strength cannot be maintained but by a constant supply of Meats and Drinks yet the main thing is in the due and proper Timing thereof Therefore weak-natur'd People at all times and others whenever by Labour Travel or Fasting they are brought into a weak and fainty state should then be more than ordinarily careful that their Meats and Drinks be not too strong nor too much in quantity nor of a contrary quality but proportionable to the present strength of their Natural Heat 3. Great drinking of Wine and strong Drinks after full Meals of Flesh and Fish most of them being of disagreeing Natures one to the other do often wound the health and that constitution is rarely known that they do not prove of evil and dangerous consequence unto which many of the richest sort of People in this Nation might know by woful experience especially in London who do yearly spend many hundreds I think I may say thousands of Pounds on their ungodly Paunches Many of whom may save themselves that charge and trouble they are usually at in learning of Monsieur Nimble heels the Dancing-Master how to go upright for their Bellies are swelled up to their Chins which forces them to behold the Skie but not for Contemplation-sake you may be sure but out of pure necessity and without any more Impressions of Reverence towards the Almighty All-wise Creator than their Fellow Bruits for their Brains are sunk into their Bellies Injection and Ejection is the business of their Life and all their precious hours are spent between the Platter and the Glass and the Close-stool and Piss-pot Are not these fine Fellows to call themselves Christians and Right Worshipfuls The natural Heat being overcharg'd by too great a Quantity of rich Food that contains overmuch Nourishment stops the Passages arrests the Spirits and makes the Stomach violently attract unto it self from all parts of the Body the pleasant moist Vapours to help and assist her to overcome and digest that load of Victuals which they have ingorged that often puts Nature very hard to it in her internal Laboratory causing a kind of suffocation of the pure Spirits drying and consuming the Radical Moisture and thin refreshing Vapours Therefore after such Epicurean Meals there is always an Indisposition through the whole Body with dulling Fumes in the Head and drouziness that generally continues four five or six hours more or less according to the strength of each mans Constitution and the quantity of Food During which time the Passages of the Spirits are obstructed the Pores stopt so that the thin pleasant Vapours of the Air from without cannot penetrate and thence the Blood is heated and its Circulation hindred and all this by gross phlegmatick Juices arising from Superfluities which impede the Passages and free Course of Nature But after some hours when Nature hath strugled with these Besiegers and flung off their Chains and overcome her Enemy and forced her way and made a separation then the Road of the Spirits is again laid open and the Pores are unlockt to let in the refreshing Breezes and the Man grows brisk and lively and fit for business And so indeed he might have been all this while if to pamper a liquorish Pallate and gratifie an extravagant Humour and Custom he had not wilfully Ingurgitated so much Food as thus oppressed Nature for the present and tho' he think now all 's over and is ready the very next day to attack her again with a like Debauch yet he shall shortly find the Dregs remain there is a Morbifick matter left and continually encreased which at length being ripened into Act by some proper Aspect of the Heavens or similary Accident on Earth breaks forth into a most grievous Surfeit or violent Fever and the Man is all on sire and sighs and languishes and dies And who shall pity him since if he would in time have hearkened to the Voice of Reason or Experience either of them would have told him That the sole Intention of Nature in eating and drinking is purely to support and refresh her and not burden her and therefore he ought to have chosen simple Food and the quantity not too great for the natural Heat and then he should have found after such eating and drinking a certain pleasant and refreshing and chearing Joy spread through the whole Body from the Center to the Circumference being more brisk lively active and useful than before But still many there are that be not content to Overcram Nature with too great a quantity of Food but they will needs drown her too with a deluge of Drink pouring in such vast Quantities of Wine and strong Liquors into their foolish Hogsheads as if they designed to make their Souls immediately swim out of their Bodies This second Charge especially when it comes immediately upon or soon after the first wounds Dame Nature to the very Heart and sets her on fire consuming the sweet Oyl and Radical Moisture by whole-sale suffocates the purer Spirits and puts the Blood their limpid and natural Habitation all into a combustion and the first and greatest Sufferer in this Hurliburly is the pure Volatile Spirit Balsamick Body and pure Oyl which is of a friendly Nature so meek and gentle that it cannot without manifest danger to the Health endure any such harsh Fires or churlish Motions And whenever Violence is offered to this benign quality Nature falls into a languishing which makes the Functions of the Stomach to cease and the Salt's spirit looseth its savour if the Disorder happen near the Center of Life But if only the pure Spirits and sweet Oyl of any Member be hurt then it often falls out that the Evil and Defect remains only in that Member and the Stomach and Center continue well and in such cases the Life is seldom in danger But many Physitians mistaken in Nature do conclude That the cause of such Defects proceed from some ill-habit or vitiated Tone of the Stomach and more Central parts and therefore they will give strong Potions of harsh Medicines both Purging and Vomiting which for the most part hurt Nature weaken the Center help to weaken and destroy the Balsamick Vertues and the Limb or Member afflicted grows worse for when in any Member the wrathful Saturnal and Mercurial Poysons and sulpherous Heats of Mars
Medicines have such Power either to prevent or remedy these Disorders in the Body as Temperance Cleanness and good Order for they have an inward Power and certain Efficacy for that purpose and if Temperance be continued it will augment the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits and by degrees strengthens the natural Heat of the Stomach which only hath the Power to draw all such windy gross sharp matter from all parts of the body and so cast it out if thro' length of time it be not become too central for the natural Heat hath a magnetick Vertue that forcibly attracts all such matter as burdens Natures even from the most inward Cavities and furthest Ciroumference unto it self and there digests and throws it off both upwards downwards if a proper degree of Temperance be observed both in quantity quality fresh supplies of Food Drink come not too often For so powerful is this attractive Faculty of the Stomach that it will draw the very Flesh off the Bones as is most manifest both by men beasts if the Stomach be not supplied with convenient quantities of Meats and Drinks for this Heat which serves for concoction separation is never idle but always continues its motion action so long as the Spirits are lively that there doth remain any Oyl in the Lamp For this cause moderate Fasting hath been commended by all wise men a clean well prepared Diet hath great Power not only to prevent Diseases both of the Body Mind but also to root them out especially when the cause of such Diseases as generally it happens have arisen from over-charging of Nature with too great quantities of Flesh Fish the more because People make no distinction between Clean Unclean nor of the Seasons of the Year of the Surfeits or Diseases the Cattle are subject unto whose Flesh they eat nor regard the improper Mixtures of such Food c. 2. The second cause of Windy Diseases I assign to be the frequent eating and drinking of Hot Foods I do not mean such as are hot in their own nature operation but such as having been prepared by Fire are eaten before those fiery sulpherous Steems are evaporated for they are of a very pernicions venomous quality and altogether of a contrary Nature to the genuine Heat of Nature particularly of the Stomach also for this fiery heat will no longer incorporate it self with such Foods Broths c. than it is forced by the constant heat of the fire for as soon as they are taken from thence this sulpherous Steem or humid Vapour will hastily separate of its own accord which does manifest that this Heat is an Alien that Nature casts it out as an Enemy for indeed it contains three venomous qualities that are absolutely pernicious to Health viz. 1st The first is an harsh Fire of a Saturnine Martial Nature of a keen sharp fretting operation which dulls the pure Spirits infects the Blood with a Maingy itching Humour 2dly It contains a gross deadly poysonous Water or humid quality that does incorporate it self with the grossest parts of the Air fly away in a steem or vapour if Food be eaten before those fiery evil vapours be separated evaporated it swells the body hurts the natural Heat of the Stomach insensibly but certainly generates both Windy Watery Diseases filling the inward Vessels of the Body with evil venomous Juices sending Fumes into the Head disordering the whole body this more especially in Women Children who as we have shewed you before are by Nature much more liable to Windy Diseases than men 3dly If this furious Steem be by any Vessel that covers the Meat after 't is taken out of the Pot or off from the Spit so that it cannot fly away but is stopt turned back or confined to stay with such Food after 't is prepared then will it re enter into it and make it flat and heavy alter the Taste of it so that it will be strong gross on the Pallat heavy on the Stomach It is also to be noted that the common eating of Hot Foods does possess the Blood with a salt sharp fretting Humour like a Mainge if Children were not accustomed to such things from their Mothers Breast it would more sensibly break out upon them in that kind For this very Reason in Dogs and many other Creatures if such hot Broths or Food be given them it will cause the Mainge in their Blood the very same it occcasions in the human Nature but not externally so manifest because rendered more familiar by use 3. The Third Cause not only of Windy Diseases but of many others is Peoples eating and drinking too often Nothing more burdens Nature or generates more crude sharp Humors for when fresh Food is thrust into the Stomach before the former is digested it mixeth with the half-concocted Food which does surprize Nature and disturb her Work and fouls the Stomach causeth sower Belchings makes the Vessels to swell and in some Constitutions is attended with griping Pains and Indispositions through the whole Body c. for the natural heat is so oppressed with these continual supplies of Food before it calls or is ready for them that it cannot make any perfect Separation which is a main cause of Windy Diseases filling the Vessels with unconcocted Juices which powerfully obstruct the due Functions of Nature and hinders the Circulation of the Blood and Spirits which is the reason that when such People do travel or labour and oft-times only upon the Change of Weather they are indisposed and presently tired and out of Breath and troubled with an inward heat and drought continually calling for Supplies of Drink which does but promote Disorder and swell the Body and make the Exercise more burthensom For indeed drinking between Meals is very injurious to all sorts of People except to those that labour hard and sweat much for such may drink but very moderately or else they may quickly out-do Nature but for others that live easie Lives and do not sweat to be sipping or rather pouring down strong Drink and Wine between Meals does prove of very evil Consequence for it destroys the edge of the Appetite and makes the Stomach disordered always seeming as if it wanted something and in some Constitutions an hot heavy dulness for all strong Drinks received in a greater quantity than the Stomach can conveniently master leave a sowr heavy stinking Matter behind them in the Body which furrs the Passages with a slimy Substance and which causeth loss of Appetite shortness of Breath Rheums with sharp tickling Matter that first ascends into the Head and offends it and then falls back again into the Breast and upon the Lungs whence Coughs and Consumptions proceed Also in some People it begets a kind of unnatural hunger or craving in the Stomach or a sharp gnawing Pain which causeth many to eat
but they are never the better satisfied nor eased but rather increase the Pain thereby I am confident abundance of People can witness this to be true from their own Experience and yet will not consider or regard the true Reason or Causes of it For it is a gross Mistake when any shall feel their Stomachs gnaw or gripe in this manner to run presently to the Cupbord and think thereby to cure that defect which for the most part does but increase it and no longer gives ease than the Food or Drink is in the Mouth for this evil habit of the Stomach does not proceed from want of Food or Nourishment but through sharp crude superfluous Matter which dulls and disables the Natural Heat that it cannot perform its due Office of Digestion for where Food is thus too frequently cramm'd in the digestive Faculty has not power to make separation which does as it were suffocate the pure Spirits and then presently the sweet Oyl or Juices of such Food turns either of a keen sowr or bitter Quality according to the disorder or nature of each man's Stomach and Constitution which depraved Juices disperse themselves into several parts of the Body enfeebling the Joynts and Members wounding the Spirits and making room for outward Colds and the like Accidents to take place for Colds do rarely seize any part of the Body provided the Accident be not too extream except first there be some inward defect or weakness as may appear by those that are troubled with stoppages of the Breast whom every petty Accident nay even the alteration of the Air shall sensibly afflict But as Nature abhors all Extreams so on the other side over-long Fasting does help to generate windy Diseases especially in infirm People whose natural Heats are weak and Spirits few for they will soon grow fainty and Fumes and Vapors will be apt to fly up into their Heads and when they come to eat a small matter makes them sick for too long fasting does spend and evaporate the Spirits and waste the Radical Moisture and hurt the digestive Faculty so that after eating and drinking the Senses seem to be stupified and the whole Body sleepy and indisposed and besides after such long Fasting People are apt to strain Nature by taking more Meat and Drink than she can bear Therefore a Mean is safest in all things for if any refrain from Food too long the Action of the Stomach is so vigorous and its attractive Faculty so powerful that it preys on the natural Spirits and radical Moisture so that you shall then find a very imperfect Appetite whence comes that common Saying I have out-fasted my self or My Stomach is gone For the strength and perfection of the Palate and Stomach consists in the strength and vigor of the Spirits and radical Moisture therefore both superfluous eating and drinking and also immoderate fasting do generate Diseases and cause Indispositions both in the Body and Mind Therefore it is not so commendable nor so healthy to make but one Meal in twenty four hours as to make two moderate Meals in that space for otherwise there is apt to be too great an Emptiness and too eager an Hunger which makes People give themselves such a freedom of eating as thereby the Vessels aâ—e stretched by the great quantities of Food which makes such have great Bellies and prove fat and gross But though they will eat but once a day yet many of them that are able to come by it do give themselves the liberty of drinking lusty Evening-draughts which do so stupifie the Senses and heat the Blood and furr the Passages so that it is no wonder that they are not prepared for a Breakfast In a word there is nothing so safe nothing so pleafant as Temperance and to observe proper times and feasons for eating and drinking and keeping within the bounds of what is necessary both in quantity and quality And this we must aver That as the world goes few there are that hurt their Health with Fasting in comparison of those Multitudes that destroy themselves by Superfluities nor is it so dangerous a consequence if any competent care be taken It is also to be observed That all kinds of Food ill prepared is hurtful and apt to forward those Windy Distempers for any Food that is too much or too little drest or under or over-prepared is prejudicial to the Health but over-prepared is the more hurtful of the two unless where it is very much too little done for over-preparation be it of what you will does in a great measure destroy the brisk lively Spirits which renders such Food of a heavy dull gross Nature and Operation so that it cannot administer such proper Nourishment nor can the natural heat of the Stomach draw such pure Spirits from it as otherwise it would yield for it cannot give what it has not 'T is therefore a great Error as to Health to overprepare Food as the custom of some is viz. to boil Flesh so long till 't is ready to fall to pieces which many do because the Broth should draw forth all the strength and vertue also they boil it in but small quantity of Water with the Pot or Vessel covered by which means the Broth loseth its proper and natural Complexion and becomes of a dull reddish Colour mixt with black which is very pernicious both to those that are in health and such as are already sickly but especially for weak consumptive people whom Physicians generally order to eat of such Pottages for their natural Heats being weak and Spirits low these unnatural Preparations gross Foods do further the growth of their Distempers for all such Pottages have lost their pure spirituous parts and volatile vertues in the preparation and are loathsom to Nature especially to weak people because by the small quantity of Water long boiling and the grosness of such Flesh the lively Vertues and Tiuctures are destroyed and therefore such Goods lose their natural Colour and fragrant Sent and become strong and fulsome for no preparation ought to be continued any longer than the crude body be opened and the gross matter digested for if it be continued longer then the pure spirituous parts will evaporate The Intention of kinds of Preparation is to digest the phlegmatick gross Parts that thereby the spiritual Vertues may he set at liberty but then if the Preparation be continued your Fire will serve you as the Celestial Fire viz. the Sun and Elements do the Husband-man when he makes his Hay or the Malster his Malt for first the Sun exhales the gross Body and phlegmatick Parts of the Grass or Herbs and sets the Spirit at liberty which perfumes the whole Field with most delectable Odors but if this Hay be continued too long in the Sun and open Air its spirituous Quality will also be exhaled and then it will become like Salt that hath lost its savour good for little but the Dunghil The very same is to be
comes to know somewhat of the operation of the Divine Principle he cannot be happy in this World nor in that which is to come This some of the Indian and Ethnick Philosophers seem to have been sensible of when they used all pains and diligence to bring those Savages from Cruelties and Inhumanities viz. from all Violence and killing the inferior Beasts of the Field and prohibiting them from eating their Flesh and Blood for Man being more highly graduated than any of the Beasts as being indued with divine and humane Wisdom and the Nature of all things viz. with the Treasures both of Time and Eternity ought not by any means enter with his Desires and Will into the savage Nature of wild Beasts neither should the depraved Property of Beasts be awakened in Man for whatsoever he joyns himself unto or communicates with whether it be Meats Drinks Employments or Communications that very thing be it what it will shall powerfully impose the true property of its Spirit on the Man by way of Simile Were not this so the wise Ancients would not have made such distinctions between clean and unclean Creatures neither would they so strictly have commanded that the Blood should be destroyed by Fire or buried in the Earth neither would the Apostle Paul have said That evil Communication corrupts good Manners that is evil Company or the evil Spirit in ill Men does awaken and strengthen its Likeness in the good Man and causes the divine Principle and Voice of Wisdom to withdraw or become captivated And it seems our Fore-Fathers even in this Nation have in some degree considered the great force and power of the wrathful savage Nature of the Beasts and that Men by accustomed violence towards them and their communication amongst slaughter'd Animals were rendered rash precipitate fierce and cruel and as it were destitute of Humanity and therefore by our ancient Laws and the immemorial Customs of this Realm Butchers and such People as are of Killing-Employments are not to be Iury men as being esteemed neither fit nor capable Judges of Life and Death And in the common Proverb if a man be fierce cruel and subjected to the Spirit of Violence we say Such a one is like a Butcher Nor can we but observe from daily experience that all sorts of People that are of rude robustick Employments and communicate much with fierce and strong Beasts as Bear-wards Hostlers Drovers and the like are generally headstrong rash fierce surly People and appear evidently to participate of the brutish Nature of those Animals with whom they converse And as the Sheep is one of the most innocent of Beasts so Shepherds have in all Ages been celebrated for the most harmless and best-humour'd of Men and therefore Governors both Temporal and Spiritual are recommended unto us under the Name of Pastors or Shepherds of the People 4. That killing and eating the Flesh and Blood of both clean and unclean Beasts was not in use from the beginning is clear from the Second Chapter of Genesis therefore we should consider when and by whom the same was introduced And first we must note That the first Beasts that were killed were not Cows and Sheep and the like useful Creatures whose Lives are far more profitable than their Deaths but wild savage Beasts and Birds of Prey the countenance of whose Lives was prejudicial unto Mankind and the rest of the Creatures nor were they hunted and slain to be eaten but to free Men and other Creatures from danger But after a little use and custom of Kiillng the Spirit of Wrath and Fierceness by the fierce Action in the Killer and the revengeful Spirits proceeding from the Creature killed both concurring was so powerfully stirred awakened and strengthened that Killing became as familiar as gathering of Fruit and the unclean brutish Nature encreasing they could not only kill without remorse but began to count it a delight and pleasure and then they could eat the Flesh and lap up the Blood of their Fellow-Creatures which they had slaughtered as freely and as greedily as Dogs and Lions or any other wild Beasts could do it for by continual use of Killing and Violence the very same savage wild Nature of those cruel Beasts of Prey were become predominant in Men so that now they could not only butcher and eat the Flesh of Beasts with pleasure and delight but they could also without remorse torture and slay those of their own kind and in some parts proceeded to eat them too as the Canibals who feed on Humane Flesh and will most savourly gnaw a Shoulder of a Man a Breast of a Woman or the Haunches of a Child and think it altogether as sweet and wholsome as my Lord does his Venison or my Lady her Partridge 5. It is to be noted That if Mankind had continued in its primitive State of Innocency and Unity there would have been no Hatred Strife Oppression Fighting or Killing one another no Slaughtering of Beasts Fish or Birds nor Eating their Flesh and Blood for that was not permitted until Man had immersed his Will into the warful savage unclean Nature of the worst of Beasts For there is no Creature in the World that has any desire to eat Flesh and Blood and tear the Creatures to pieces with violence except those in whom the fierce wrathful savage Nature does predominate And therefore after Man had awakened the Wrath and entred into the cruel Spirit of Killing the wise Prophets imposed special Commands not to eat the Flesh and Blood of such Creatures as Swine Dogs Bears Wolves c. But can we believe that Man was at first made like those savage unclean Beasts of Prey or indeed worse For so now he is and does exceed in Uncleanness and Cruelty the worst of Beasts as much as a Spar-Hawk exceeds a Titmouse for indeed Man is indued with all Properties and Qualities but the Wrath and evil unclean Nature ought not to have been manifested but the divine and humane Nature should have governed his Life but instead thereof the same are now as it were hid in Man and the cruel fierce Spirit does predominate which makes him so near affinity with all wild Beasts and Birds of Prey and to desire such Food as they do for that Nature that is chief in the government of any Creature 's Life be it either good or evil clean or unclean will stir up desires of Food suitable and correspondent therewith This is plain in several sorts of Beasts as those in whom the simple harmless clean Nature claims Dominion delight in a like clean and harmless Food and their Natures are satisfied therewith not but that there is an unclean Nature and fierce Quality in the cleanest and best of Beasts capable in some degree of being awakened for 't is not impossible by degrees and use to teach and bring Sheep Cows Horses and many other Creatures to eat Flesh and drink Wine and strong Drinks and after a little custom those
with the Ferocity of their Nature which prompts them to tear and hurry their Fellow-Creatures and eat their Flesh and Blood as Dogs Cats Swine Bears Lions Tigers Foxes and many others divers of which our Saviour likened Men unto because he saw that the same fierce unclean savage Nature of such Beasts did rule in them and thence the said Men were more fierce ravenous and hungry after Blood and all other Uncleanness than the very Beasts of Prey themselves so greatly mischievous is the depraved Nature of Mankind when he suffers his Will and Desires to enter into and live in the power of the Wrath of God in Nature But to eat Bread or any other Food with unwashen hands provided the Food be clean and not too much in Quantity nor of a contrary Quality is no manner of Uncleanness but a vain Superstition in the Pharisees who did love to make clean the Outside of the Cup but did not matter the Inside whereas the Work of Christ was to clean the Inward Man from every unclean Thought Desire and Inclination And when this cleansing state can be witnessed by any Man then no Meats Drinks nor other unclean thing can enter into him so as to defile him because his Desires thereunto are cut off in the Bud and utterly mortified for no Man ever did commit any Uncleanness or Intemperance but first the contrivance thereof was in the Heart nay when Men first think to commit an Uncleanness or Violence there does oft-times happen in the Heart great controversie or strugling between the divine Principle and the Wrath and which of these two does prevail and get the dominion accordingly the Man acts or forbears and sometimes it comes to pass that in this inward contest the evil Imaginations are cut off in the Bud that is when the divine Principle prevails and will not susser them to proceed into Act and attain unto a Substance but when the wrathful Nature gets the Day then every unclean Thought and Desire is accomplish'd and becomes a substantial Evil. Thus you see the grand Root and Cause of all kinds of Vertue and Vice is inward not outward each Man's Fruits manifest from what Principle they derive their Birth The external Cleanness and Vertue is only a manifestation of what Property does reign in the Soul Therefore the first step to Vertue Cleanness Sobriety and Temperance is to turn the eye of the understanding inward and there examine try what kind of Spirit rules in the Heart This Knowledge of a Man's self and to distinguish between the good and evil Principle of Nature in himself is of absolute necessity to every person for he that cannot distinguish the two Seeds viz. that of the Woman and that of the Serpent within can never be able to judge of Good or Evil Clean and the contrary without A true inward Knowledge goes before Self denial he that cannot distinguish the Properties of his own Nature cannot know what to deny himself of or what to embrace But happy is the Man that getteth Wisdom and findeth Understanding 12. We read in the Acts of the Apostles chap. 10. That the Apostle Peter had a Vision in which appeared before him all manner of Beasts Fowls and Creeping Things both clean and unclean and the Lord said unto him Arise Peter kill and eat Who answered Lord I have not at any time eaten any thing that is common and unclean And the Lord said What I have cleansed call thou not unclean Then Peter arose and said Of a Truth the Lord is no respecter of Persons neither to Jew nor Gentiles Bond nor Free but every one that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is respected and accepted of him This Vision was intended not so much to shew the lawfulness of eating clean Flesh or the contrary but to convince Peter and to take off the Scruple he had touching preaching the Gospel to the Uncireumcised or Gentiles for in the Vision was rep resented to him all kinds of Creatures as well poysonous creeping Vermin as clean and unclean Beasts which was a true Figure of the unregenerate state of Mankind and how the bestial fierce Wrath of the clean and unclean Beasts does reign in him and also that the poysonous Qualities of all sorts of creeping Creatures and Vermin have a being and rule in Men. This is a great Figure which did shew our depraved state and that the Creator did not respect one more than another but every one that would receive the Counsel of the Divine Light and through the good power and vertue thereof purge and cleanse themselves from the unclean bestial and poysonous Nature should be accepted of him and that Peter should preach the Gospel freely both to Iew and Gentile Therefore whosoever shall interpret this Text otherwise are mistaken as is apparent because as I said but now there were represented in the Sheet poysonous creeping things and Vermin never known to be eaten by any Nation or Sect but which did aptly denote the unclean state of Man and that poysonous unclean Property of all sorts of unclean Beasts and Vermin that does rule in and defile his Heart and Soul whence proceed those brutish Inclinations and Dispositions to Oppression and all kind of Evil as also Intemperances Superfluities Gluttony and the desire after unclean Food which evil Nature and venomous Contagion Iesus Christ the Cleanser and Purger of Souls came to destroy which Peter's Vision did manifest in that he was commanded to preach unto all Men the glad Tidings viz. That Christ the Redeemer was come to seek and to save that which was lost viz. the Soul of Man captivated under every inferiour bestial and unclean Power which Christ by his holy Grace and divine Power does destroy if its Counsel be obeyed for no sooner does it come to have dominion in the Heart but all those Beasts of Prey viz. Pride Revenge Ambition and Cruelty and those creeping venomous Vermin Lust Treachery c. are overcome and their Principle so weakned that in a little time they will find no place in the Soul for there is the same possibility and energy in the divine Principle in Man as there is the wrathful cruel Principle if the Will and Desires adhere unto and follow the first then that grows strong and gets the dominion and purgeth out of the Heart Violence and Oppession and destroys all Sensuality But if the Counsel of the fierce wrathful bitter Root prevail then the Man's Mind becomes a Cage of unclean Birds and is filled with Bestiality and poysonous Inclinations whereby Men come to exceed all the Savages of the Desart in Cruelty and Uncleanness and most of them that have Power live upon the spoil of others Labours and by killing and oppressing as well those of their own Kind as all other Creatures Hence because Man that was originally formed the Image of God and the Rival of Angels had now so far degenerated and depraved himself as to engross all the worst
Qualities of even the worst of Beasts The holy Sages are wont to liken some Men to Dogs for their snarling and contention others to Wolves for their ravenous Cruelty others to Swine for their sottish Sensuality and our Saviour calls the Scribes and Pharisees a Generation of Vipers for their venomous Qualities Farthermore this Vision of Peter does declare That this evil bestial cruel unclean Nature that had gotten the dominion in Man should be destroyed through the divine Power for the Lord said Arise Peter kill and eat That is Mortifie the bestial Properties and let the unclean Thoughts Words and Works be cut off in the Bud by the Sword of the Spirit It was the poysonous Vermin and violent unclean Nature within which the Lord would have destroyed and killed not the Beasts without for Man's most deadly Enemies are those of his own Houshold inward not outward and accordingly the chief work of every good Man is internal and if the Heart and Soul be clean then the Thoughts Words Works Meats Drinks and all other things belonging to the whole Life are also clean for where the divine Principle has the Ascendent all the Thoughts and Desires are generated from the same and relish of their Original which does attract the pure Vertue out of all things because it has an Unity and Agreement with its own Nature 13. It is a grand Mistake of People in this Age to say or suppose That Flesh affords not only a stronger Nourishment but also more and better than Herbs Grains c. For the truth is it does yield more Nourishment but not of so firm a Substance nor so good as that which proceeds from the other Food for Flesh has more Matter for Corruption and nothing so soon turns to Putrifaction Now 't is certain such sorts of Food as are subject to putrifie before they are eaten are also liable to the same afterwards Besides Flesh is of soft moist gross phlegmy Quality and generates a Nourishment of a like Nature Also Flesh heats the Body and causeth a Drought Likewise Flesh does breed great store of noxious Humours And it must be considered that all sorts of Beasts and other living Creatures are subject to Diseases and many other Inconveniences and Uncleannesses Surfeits Over-driving Abuses of cruel Butchers c. Which renders their Flesh still more unwholsom But on the contrary all sorts of dry Foods as Bread Cheese Herbs and many Preparations of Milk Pulse Grains and Fruits as their Origiual is more clean so being of a sound firâ— nature they afford a more excellent nourishment and more easie of concoction so that if a Man should exceed in quantity the health wil not thereby be brought into such danger as by the superfluous eating of Flesh. Add to this That all kind of Vegetatives being well prepared and the Mixtures properly made are abundantly more pleasant and delightful to an undepraved Palate and also to the Stomach than Flesh as they are also much more pleasant to look upon What an ill and ungrateful sight is it to behold dead Carcasses and pieces of bloody raw Flesh It would undoubtedly appear dreadful and no Man but would abhor to think of putting it in his Mouth had not Use and Custom from Generation to Generation familiariz'd it to us which is so prevalent that we read in some Countries the Mode is to eat the Bodies of their dead Parents and Friends thinking they can no way afford them a more noble Sepulchre than their own Bowels and because 't is usual they do it with a little regret or nauceousness as others have when they fall aboard the Leg of a Rabbit or the Wing of a Lark Suppose a Person were bred up in place where it was not a Custom no kill and eat Flesh and should come into our Leaden-Hall-Market or view our Slaughter-houses and see the communication we have with dead Bodies and how blithe and merry we are at their Funerals and what honourable Sepulchres we bury the dead Carcasses of Beasts in nay their very Guts and Entrals Would he not be filled with astonishment and horror Would he not count us cruel Monsters and say That we were brutified and performed the part of Beasts of Prey to live thus on the Spoils of our Fellow-Creatures Thus Custom has awakened the inhumane fierce Nature which makes killing handling and feeding upon Flesh and Blood without distinction so easie and familiar unto Mankind And the same is to be understood of Men killing and oppressing those of their own kind For do we not see that a Souldier who is trained up in the Wars of bloody-minded Princes shall kill an hundred Men without any trouble or regret of Spirit and such who have given him no more offence than a Sheep has given the Butcher that cuts her Throat If Men have but Power and Custom on their side they think all is well whence one that was going to be a Soldier being ask'd What he was going to do nimbly answer'd I am going to break one of God's Commandments by the Authority of Custom and Law To such People Violence Oppression and Killing of Men and Beasts is as easie and inoffensive as plowing of the Land or gathering ripe Fruits so rarely does any consider whether it be right in the sight of God's Law in Nature and so sadly is Man depraved and Self deprived of the true Understanding of Wisdom and yet if some of these same Men happen in a private Quarrel or Contest to kill a Man although it were partly in their own defence or to have committed private Murthers their Minds and Consciences have been so loaded and troubled with a sense of Guilt that many times they have been forced to confess their Evil though they knew their own Death would be the consequence of that Discovery the chief cause of which is because Law and Custom do forbid them to kill men that way but if two Princes have ever so little difference or if there be none yet if one of them for his own Glory and to enlarge his Empire have a mind to make War against his Neighbour on pretences never so frivolous false or unjust yet at the Beat of Drum or Sound of Trumpet he shall have a great number of Men offer themselves and take delight to kill oppress burn and destroy Men Women and Children without any cause given or ever considering in themselves whether it be right in the sight of the Creator or his Law in Nature and without having any remorse or trouble of Conscience for the same but rather boast and think the better of themselves the more Murthers they have committed The very same is to be understood in most other things but more especially in Religion Shall we not see a Turk afflict himself for having tasted a drop of Wine and a Papist be mightily troubled for having eaten a Mouthful of Flesh on a Friday And yet the same Men at the word one of his Mufti and the other
Blood so let forth was to be buried in the ground or burned and so the bestial Spirits prevented from Evaporations or incorporating themselves with the Air and consequently from entring into and infecting the humane Nature with their wrathful Effluviums and dreadful Species that the Blood of all Creatures are full of when killed in their health and perfect strength The greatest Excellency and common Virtue of men's eating much Flesh and Fish is that it makes them surly robustick sordid and of cruel inhumane Dispositions and Inclinations it being the most proper for Soldiers Hunters Moss-Troopers and all such as would have the bestial savage Nature strengthened and encreased and have a mind to be Lions and Devils not only to their own kind but all other Creatures and so long as People give their Wills up unto the fierce proud wrathful poysonous Nature we may not expect any other Trade to be driven amongst us whence we sind that the meek friendly Principle is trodden under foot Compassion has little or no place in Man farther than it is a Custom and he seems wholly given up to Rapine Oppression and Wickedness Whereas on the contrary Herbs Fruits Grains and many other the like innocent sorts of Food are more pleasant to the Eye of a better Scent and Smell afford a more grateful Taste to the Palate Nourishment finer and of better Substance to the Stomach they are of an easier Concoction breed better Blood are much more readily procured the Creation groans not or sighs there 's no Pain Violence or Cruelty committed in the Use of them they generate purer Spirits and make the Body lightsome and pleasant free the Mind from Dulness Care and Heaviness quicken all the Senses make a good Understanding preserve Innocency increase Compassion Love Humility and Charity give the Spirit of distinction between Good and Evil Clean and Unclean and help us with many opportunities for the study of all true Wisdom both of God Nature and our selves In a word the Virtues both Divine and Natural that follow Abstinence and Cleanness are not to be numbred many of them I know by experience through the mercy and good favour of the Lord It makes a man hate all rude vain talkative Company and the many Inconveniences that attend such a course of Life it also makes the observers thereof capable at all Seasons to speak the Words of Wisdom either divine or humane being but like large Glass-Windows to an House it lets in the pleasant light Air by giving opportunities to all the noble Faculties of man's Soul to exercise their Functions it tunes the Properties of Nature whence proceeds most excellent Harmony and whoever shall try it shall certainly find much more satisfaction and advantages than is here related or indeed than can be expressed in Words 15. It is farther to be noted that all kind of Inventions and Arts that encourage Violence and Oppression have proceeded from the fierce harsh wrath of God and the uneven properties of Saturn and Mars as Gun-powder Guns Drums and all Warlike Instruments of Musick There is nothing that does more manifest this than Gun-powder where the pure spirituous Parts and balsamick Vertues in all the Ingredients are suffocated and destroyed so that it becomes a meer composition of Wrath and Fierceness for every Property of Nature becomes fierce and terrible or strong fulsome and poysonous if the virtue and light thereofbe destroyed or separated from it for every particular Creature or Substance both Vegetable Mineral and Animal does consist of Fire and Light Love and Anger Ioy and Sorrow Good and Evil These are the Radixes of each Subject throughout all the three Kingdoms of Nature and if in any thing you violate the lovely light part then the angry Properties appear in their own Forms an Instance whereof we have before mentioned in Charcoal which is one Ingredient towards Gun-powder and all the rest are alike being of a terrible rending tearing devilish fierce nature and in it is a true Figure of the Wrath of God in the outward nature So likewise the sound of Drums and all Weapons of War and Violence proceed from the same Root of Wrath and accordingly the use of all such things do much encourage and strengthen the wrathful Properties in Mankind who if they had not or did not suffer their Wills and Desires to enter into the Wrath and fierce Properties of Nature in themselves and were not acted and influenced by it there would never have been any of those Hellish Inventions as Swords Guns Powder Drums Bows Arrows and other murthering Engines nor any thoughts of Killing Oppressing and Destroying those of their own Kind nor any other Creatures but Man should have kept that Dominion over the Creatures wherewith the Creator invested him in the beginning and no Creature should have had power to have influenced him or imposed their Properties upon him Hence then touching all Fighting Oppressing and Killing let it be little or much and the pretence what it will we affirm from a true light and ground That the same do arise and proceed from the fierce wrath of God and from that devilish hellish nature in Man which is as contrary to the friendly Love and Light of God in Jesus Christ as the Night is to the Day for if in man or any other Creature the evil Property do predominate and is most manifest there the good Qualities and friendly Light is overcome and so on the contrary For every Property and Principle does manifest and bring forth its own fruit as our Saviour Christ says Every Tree is known by its Fruits a good Tree cannot bring forth evil Fruit nor an evil Tree good Fruit. According to what Property does rule in the Heart of any Man such are his Thoughts Words and Actions where the divine Principle of God's eternal Love and Light doth predominate such Persons bring forth those good and precious Fruits of Love Mercy Compassion courteous Speeches Works of Charity and doing unto all men as they would be done unto but those in whom the hellish Principle bears sway their Fruits are worse than Briars and Thorns such as Back-biting Hatred Oppression Killing not only inferiour Creatures but even those of their own Kind and working all sorts of Impiety with greediness Therefore 't is of unspeakable moment to be able to distinguish in our selves the Two Principles and their respective Fruits and to be careful to deny and root out the Evil and cherish and follow the Counsel of the holy Light which if obeyed is sufficient to destroy all the mischievous Works of Self-hood and the Devil for as the more men habituate themselves to Cruelty Oppression Unmercifulness Killing and the like the stronger the hellish Principle of Wrath does grow and the worse and more cruel they become So in the practice of Vertue every Property and Principle grows strong by Use and Exercise and he that enters into the narrow Path of Regeneration and Self-denial ought always
had then would the wrath have been again awakened and Noah with the Creatures would have been comprehended in the same Judgment with those without the Ark For the Ark does truly signifie the heavenly Principle of God's eternal Love in which he has established his Covenant with Mankind and all Men that safeguard their desires and wills in this holy Ark denying themselves and abandoning all kinds of Violence but taking with them all kinds of Food that do bear a Simile with this friendly Principle shall be preserved from that deluge of Wickedness and Misery wherein the rest of the World is overwhelmed Now after this Deluge the Lord did permit Man to eat Flesh but not without distinction not with the Blood for Man would not be obedient nor keep himself within the Bounds and Limits of the holy Ark of God but turned their Wills into the wild bestial Nature and so longed after the Essences and Qualities of the Beasts whence arises the desire of killing and devouring of Flesh. This the Lord did well know and also his Prophets viz. That if Man did not obey the Voice of Wisdom and abstain front eating of the Fruit that grows in the midst of the Garden viz. in his Heart which is the wrathful violent Spirit of Oppression he should die which Spirit should not have been manifested nor have had any Government in Man As for the Tree that grows in the midst of the Garden 't is called the Tree of Life but not without a great Mystery for the Centre of Life stands in the Wrath's Property or fierce Fire whence proceeds the Sensibility and knowing Part in Man and therefore he was forbidden to eat thereof that is he should not have awakened it by his Imaginations and Desires but have continued in Resignation and Self-denial and then the Evil would not have been manifested in him nor have overcome him but as it came to pass well might the Prophets call it The Tree of Death For when Man did eat of the Fruit thereof be died unto the divine Life and lived in the Power of the fiery Spirit of wrath which has corrupted all Flesh even the very Earth and all things therein 'T was after this was come to pass when Man had by his Longing and Lusts precipitated himself into the fierce Spirit and wild Nature that the Lord permitted him to kill and eat the Flesh of the Beasts but it must be understood that this License or Permission of killing or eating of Flesh proceeded from the wrath of God in Nature as the Scripture saith in another place Such as the People are such is their God For the Lord appears to every one according to what Spirit and Property they live in whether it be in his Love or his Anger If they live in the divine Principle of his eternal Love then he appears to them in the same Principle as a loving Father and the God of all Consolation And on the contrary when men introduce their Wills and Desires into the fierce wrath then the Lord appears to them in the same Spirit dreadful and Terrible As the Scripture saith in another place Unto those that fear my Name and obey my Commandments I will be merciful and gracious but to those that despise my Commandments I will be an angry jealous God and a consuming Fire Or as the Apostle saith To one a savour of Life unto Life to the other of Death unto Death Thus all shall glorifie God either in his Love or Anger and remain Monuments of his Mercy or Trophies of his Justice Thus it happened to the Men of old whom the Lord permitted to kill their fellow-Creatures and eat their Flesh their Cruelties and Oppressions soon awakened the Wrath of the Lord even as the Blood of innocent Abel did therefore the Lord said He would go down and see if it were so Which Expression of God's coming down does intimate the kindling and awakening of his Wrath in the external Element as it came to pass in the ensuing Deluge when the Element of Water was enraged from this very Property of the awakened Wrath did the permission proceed for killing and eating of Flesh as also all the Commands for Fighting and the like for if the Lord's People in former Ages had continued their Obedience and lived in his fear there had never been any cause or foundation for Wars nor Oppression for as our Saviour saith The Tempter cometh but findeth nothing in me that is he findeth no Wrath nor Violence awakened in him and therefore he could have no ground to work on nor matter to entertain him or that would suit his Principle The like is to be understood of all Men that do live in the Power of God's Love and Light for whensoever the Lord suffers any to sight or engage in War with his People the original cause thereof hath been Sin in that they have forsaken the ways of Truth and Righteousness and entred into Oppression Pride and Cruelty which awaken the evil Principle and cry for vengeance and strengthen the common Enemy of Mankind and then the Lord suffers Wrath to take place Now whereas Men say It is lawful in the sight of God to fight kill and destroy one another and oppress and kill all other Creatures 't is true if it be understood as it ought to be viz. in the sight of the Principle of his Wrath as he is a consuming Fire and a jealous God but not as he is a God of everlasting Love and Mercy in Jesus Christ for in that respect all Fighting and other Violences are as contrary to him as Light is to Larkness Therefore in the Revelations to the Souls that were under the Altar crying to God to avenge their Cause being slain for the Testimony of Jesus it is answered Rest for a season which was as much as to say Be still do not awaken the Powers of Wrath for no Man can call for Vengeance but from the Power of that Principle and therefore White Garments were given unto them that is they were more replenished with the blessed Power and Vertue of the Love of God in Jesus Christ. Some may say If we should not fight and be ready to withstand our Enemies and neighbouring Nations we should quickly be brought into subjection This is very true if Men should leave off fighting and yet live such wicked ungodly Lives as they do but if any Nation would repent of the Evil of their Ways and enter with one mind into Unity and live in the power and operation of the Love of God c. they then should have no occasion to fear or dread any outward Enemies having so perfectly subdued those within they should rest secure This the Children of Israel did often witness when they did fear the Lord and refrain from Idols that is when they did not set their Hearts and Affections upon the Creatures nor live in Wantonness c. Then their Enemies were bowed before them and the very
the heavy fierce Fires of Saturn and Mars do carry the upper dominion in them But if the Gravity of Iupiter and Sweetness of Venus do interpose then all is made delightfully pleasant But as it is impossible for any Man to make good Harmony that has never learned Musick nor knows how to tune his Instrument because one String will be several Notes too high and others as many too flat or low from which can proceed no Melody but a rumbling jarring Noise of Discords So impossible it is that any Man should attain to the holy Harmony of God in the Kingdom of his Love and Light or to live in the power of Unity except he be born again and hath learned himself for the true knowledge of God in a Man's self is absolutely necessary for if a Man do not understand the Treasures and holy Virtues the Vices and Evils he always carries about him in his own Vessel how is he like to distinguish the Natures Properties and Operations of those things which he shall daily meet withal within him 20. This degeneration of the humane Nature is apparent from the Words of our Saviour Christ who saw into the very Roots of their Hearts and Spirits and yet made no scruple to call them Foxes Sons of Belial c. For such inwardly they were as appear'd by their Works But it had not been so from the beginning for if it had Man would not have been cloathed with such a compleat Angelical form and shape as he is for when the Creator moved himself by the production of all things each was cloathed with an external Body suitable to its Spirit and according to the degrees and nature of each Spirit such form it attained for each spiritual Substance had power to attract out of all things such corporeal Matter for a Covering or Body as had a Simile with its own Nature as appears most manifestly by the Shapes Forms Inclinations and Dispositions of each Creature And as the internal Property and Disposition of each Creature did vary so their outward Form and Shape did vary Thus where the fierce Wrath did predominate there sprung up wild Beasts and Birds of Prey but where the Qualities of Nature were more equally mixed there were formed more benign and friendly Creatures as Beasts and Birds humane tame and tractable called by the wise Men clean Beasts and Birds and where the Spirit was more noble and great so the Body and Form was accordingly And as Man was in the Spirit and primitive Properties and Qualities greater and more noble than any other of the Creatures visible so the Lord gave him a proportionable Body above all the rest of the lower Creation for we never read that any of the Holy Angels of the Lord appeared in any other than Humane Form But when God has at any time permitted evil Angels to assume Shapes and Forms they have always been hideous monstrous and frightful as Dragons Lions Cats Swine and the like which may demonstrate what Principle and Kingdom they belong unto and which would have been Man's Condition had he not fallen into the humane Nature which has not only been the chief Means to preserve Man's Angelical Form but to raise him to a Supernatural Dignity by the Lord Christ's assuming an humane Body and making all them Sons and Coheirs that believe in him and are incorporated with him For though Man through Sin and Transgression hath lost his Heavenly Angelical Understanding and Wisdom which yet shall be again restored to all those that obey the Counsel of the holy Seed and divine Light yet he did not bereave himself of his first Shape or Angelical Form because he fell into the Humane Nature where every Body has the Seed in it self to produce its like Species in all respects But as for the Spirits or Souls of most Men they have through the desire of Vanity Oppression Violence Killing both Men and Beasts wanton Superfluity Pride Vain-glory c. precipitated themselves into the divided Forms and harsh fierce Wrath of God and into Bestiality and the savage Nature so that they have lost the humane Property are grown hard-hearted cruel and sordid having no Compassion Fellow-feeling or Mercy and all that do live and die in this savage brutish state shall in the Resurrection when every Soul shall be re-invested with a new Body attract such Matter out of all things as their Spirits are capable of and have a Simile with and so appear in Forms hideous frightful and loathsome as their Natures require for such Seed as Men do sow such a Body may be expected for so the illuminate Apostle speaks of the Resurrection God giveth to every Seed it s own Body and therefore if Men sow hellish Seeds in their Lives no wonder if they be cloathed with suitable shapes in the next World But on the contrary those that in their earthly Pilgrimage have retained Humanity and introduced their Wills and Desires into the divine Principle of eternal Light and Love and been guided by the counsel thereof shall in that day arise in a more perfect beautiful and glorious humane Shape and Form of whom Christ Jesus was the first for after his Resurrection he appeared in the same Shape Form and Body as he had before his Death 21. Consider how unpleasing it would be to most People to behold the dead Carkasses of Beasts cut into pieces and mangled and all over bloody And how nauseous and frightful a thing it would be to think of putting those begored Gobbits into our Mouths and feeding our selves thereon did not continual Use and Custom make it familiar And how difficult a Task would it be for many People who do for the most part live under the power and operation of the tender compassionate Principle of God's Love to kill the Beasts for their own Food until a little Action of that kind and custom hardens them therein How quickly also will the dead Carkasses putrefie and stink defiling the Elements both Earth and Air How offensive are the Places where Flesh is killed and sold How rude cruel fierce and violent are most of those who are employed therein In a word there is nothing that is pleasant or friendly in the whole business nor any one Circumstance that is grateful to the innocent Principle in Man nay the Taste of most sorts of Flesh is strong fulsome and smells of the original Cruelty to all those that have for any time separated themselves from the eating thereof or having communication with it And indeed none are or can be sensible how it is nor be competent Judges of what is said here but only such as have made Trial. Is there any comparison to be made between an Herb-Market and a Flesh-Market In one there is a thousand pieces of the dead Carkasses of various Creatures lie stinking the Chanels running with Blood and all the Places full of Excrements Ordure Garbage Grease and Filthiness sending forth dismal poysonous Scents enough
richest of the Earth in Courtly Gluttony Drunkenness and Superfluity nor the Inferiours be not bold surly inhumane and swinish nor are any of us delighted with slanderous Speeches nor lend our Ears to hear Lies nor are we pleased with the evil Reports of others that do wound those who are not present which do chiefly serve to advance Hatred and make Divisions neither do we nourish such evil Passions but take care by the observing of our Duty that is by doing unto others as we we would be done unto to destroy those evil Beasts of Prey in the bud We pray for our Enemies and praise them when they do well nor are we grieved when Prosperity attends them nor rejoyce at the Evil which happeneth unto them We are not subiect to that detestable Spirit of Scoffing Jearing and idle Jesting neither do we spend whole days and nights in Drunkenness nor waste precious Time in wanton vain Discourses neither are we skilled in Horse-Races nor exhaust our Treasures by Gaming and Night-Revelling Our Streets are not troubled with the Cries and Complaints of the Blind Lame and Distressed nor are our Common Halls filled with the disharmonious noise of drunken Healths and roaring Huzza's no fulsome Fumes of Tobacco nor detestable Steams of Brothel-houses to infect the chaste Air no Mistrissing nor Revelling turning Day into Night and Night into Day no Merriment or Sporting at the Funeral of the Beasts neither do our Women spend most of their Time in lying a-bed Idleness nor in superfluous Inventions to gratifie their luxurious Palates nor with playing and sporting themselves with negre nosed Dogs who make these ravenous unclean Savages their Day and Night-Companions for which some have been put to death by the Sentence of the Judge by playing kissing and embracing of them sitting in their Laps which many of them will hardly afford their Husbands the like kindness also sit at their Tables feeding them with the choicest of Food and Dainties whereas at the same time they will suffer those of their own kind to perish for Want which Custom and Communication is inhumane depraved and most detestable Neither do we accustom our selves to Lye nor go to drunken Clubs to tell Stories of Dogs Tobacco-boxes Hunting Riding for Wagers Scoffing and Jearing each other speaking lightly of their absent Acquaintance We do not forget that Scripture that saith Let us lay aside all Maliciousness Guile Dissimulation and Evil Speaking Neither do we celebrate any unnatural Marriages Our young Men do hold it unlawful to marry Women past Child-bearing or those that are deformed diseased or unfit for Generation for the sake of Money Honour or any other base depraved Ends Our Ways and Passages are not filled with Thieves and Vagabonds we fear not those of our own kind Our Sons are not disobedient drunken nor riotous neither are our Daughters unchaste nor idle though their Parents be rich which are the Well-springs of Evil and Mistress of Poverty neither do we surfeit our selves by Over-labour nor put Nature on the Rack by violent Exercises whence proceed sundry Diseases Neither have we any occasion to be obliged to those we like not neither do we make a boasting Shew of our Friendship We do overcome Ingratitude by our continual Kindness and Well-doing We fear no Enemies but those of our own House We readily expose our Goods to those that are in want Our Superiours hear all Complaints and Petitions readily neither do we detain the Rights and Privileges of any We count nothing so profitable noble and honourable as that which we give and assist our Neighbours with There comes no Harmony into our Ears which is more welcome than the Prayers and good Wishes of our Neighbours and Friends We count Riches and great Substance base and abject if possessed privately or spent superfluously on Men's Lusts and Passions but on the contrary being well employed and put to the End for which they were given doth innoble them and make them magnificent and a Blessing The Knowledge of God and his holy Law in Nature doth invite us to do good There is no better way nor means to imitate God than to live soberly in peace doing good to one another and by allowing that Liberty to our Neighbours and to God's Creation as we would willingly enjoy We come in nothing nearer the Nature of God than to cease from Oppression and to do good We desire to live in Peace and to have our Liberty and so do all other Creatures We do not desire to be hurt imprisoned banished stoned or killed wherefore then should we deal so unmercifully with any of God's Creatures especially with those of our own kind All Creatures shun and dread all such Evils God made all things by his wonderful Power and he doth by his holy Word preserve all why then should we work contrary to him seeing we cannot make one Hair either white or black Man is the only Prince and Governour in this World and therefore he ought to take his Measures of Government from his Creator whose Image he is and not from the depraved Nature which he through Sin is fallen into where every Form and Property of Nature does with highest diligence endeavour to be Lord and to domineer over each other which the Man of Vanity counts right but it is a gross Errour Man was made to live in Unity and to have Dominion and govern over all things In the same Spirit of Unity he that doth good and lives in Peace doth by a magnetick Quality draw Virtue out of all things The fear of Want Sickness and even Death it self is made easie to us by Mercy and Well-doing wherefore then should we fear any thing seeing we hurt nothing He that lives according to God's Law shall not die before the highest Number be accomplished and then Death will be easie unto him and his Change a Comfort We do count it an Indiscretion to condemn all that do not walk just in our Path provided it be not an Evil against God and his Law Carking Cares perplex not our Minds nor do Over-Labours tire our Bodies We are honestly curious in the Enquiry of the Mysteries of Nature for God doth will that Man should partake of his Secrets Opinions nor Sensuality do not becloud our Understandings We do not oblige our selves to follow Authors a few Books do serve our turns Our principal Book hath but three Leaves by which we always pray unto the Lord that he would teach us which is the true Knowledge of God in our selves and the three grand Principles of the Universal Nature wherein is contained all Mysteries both divine and humane We trouble not our Heads nor spend much good Time in learning many Languages We account the more Paint the Glass-Windows have the more it keeps out the Light Neither do we account or esteem that to be Pleasure wherein Voluptuousness is Captain for such Pleasures do tickle the Senses only for a Moment and then slip away and leave
amongst us if any of us by the enticement of our liquorish Palates or other Accidents commit any Intemperance in Meats Drinks or otherwise we in all Particulars make it publick at our Meetings and such do of their own free choice appoint unto themselves a certain time of Abstinence and Separation according to the nature of the Offence viz. Days Weeks Months or Years whereby our Bodies are cleansed and purged from superfluous Matters which are the Seeds of Diseases by which we are preserved in health and our Souls are freed from the Chains of that Offence and our Minds and Spirits strengthened by the Spirits of our Friends Penance and Separation keep the Evil fresh in our Minds with a continual Spur to call on the Lord for Mercy This many of the Prophets and holy Men practised We do account it unlawful to innoble the Carcases of slaughtered Beasts by intombing them in our Bodies The Flesh of Beasts is too near a-kin unto us therefore the humane Nature ought not to join or incorporate it self with the Bestiality The Wood-Musicians do freely communicate with us because we do not hurt them All things are friendly unto us because we are like unto them also the holy Scriptures do testifie the Truth of this viz. The Lord hath made his Angels ministring Spirits to minister to them that fear him and live in his Love Abstinence Cleanness and Separation do fortifie us and support our Spirits which do by a secret and natural Attraction even as the Loadstone doth Iron attract the Celestial Powers by which the good Angels become prompt and do readily serve us and communicate to every one according to his Merits and Capacity But on the contrary those that have introduced their Wills and Desires into the central Wrath and live under the divided Forms and evil Properties do thereby subject themselves not only to all the inferiour bestial Properties but are always liable to be tempted and give great Advantages to the evil Genius and to the malignant Configurations of the Celestials which forcibly attract unto them the evil Angels which draw many into great Errors as Gluttony Drunkenness Adulteries Theft and Murders as also unto all vain Sports and violent Exercises as Bear-baitings Bull-baitings Fencing Fighting with Dogs and Cats Swearing Lying and Fighting with one another as also Playing at Cards Dice Nine pins and many other evil robust Egyptian Sports which are the Inventions of the evil Genius and Angels and do all proceed from the fierce Wrath of God in Nature It is farther to be noted that all those that are Spectators and love to see those violent Exercises and vain Pleasures and take delight to be in the presence of them are all led and governed by the same evil Genius and with their Wills do confent to those Villanies O ye Multitude stand still and consider what fire it is that is kindled in you and what Fewel it is that doth keep it burning and from what Centre it takes its Birth and then you will find it to be the hellish Fire which proceeds from God's fierce Wrath which can no ways be quenched but by your ceasing from Evil and standing still and the Lord will by his Power part the Red Sea and conduct you safe through his Wrath and drown the Man of Sin but preserve his Camp by his holy Angel 3. But in our Country we have none of the aforementioned Sports nor Egyptian Pastimes We do not use Cruelty or do Violence neither to Man nor Beast for fear we should become worse than Savages as the People of Egypt and those of the Land of Nod are for no Man can do Violence and not awaken the Wrath and violent Spirit for all Inclinations to Violence do proceed from the same Spirit and all that take delight and pleasure therein are precipitated into it and then this hellish Quality gets dominion and crucifies the Son of God viz. the friendly Principle of Light and Love afresh as the Scripture saith For these Reasons our Philosophers will not admit any Violence to be done either to Man or Beast because all Oppressions and Violences whether they be little or great have but one Root or Fountain the same is to be understood of Vertue and as Use and Custom do encrease Vertue and make it impregnable so doth the practice of Evil make the fierce Wrath strong and powerful Therefore we have no Bear-baitings to gather the rude violent Multitude together and to torment the Creatures of God who bear his Image either in his Love or Anger neither have we Bull-baitings to make and force one Beast contrary to their Inclinations cruelly to tear another to pieces whilst a company of People look on that in their nature are tenfold worse than Beasts neither have we any Cock-fightings nor no Festival Days that serve chiefly to call the violent Rabble together nor no Whitson-Ale or Morris-dancing all our Dancing and Fencing-Masters since we came out of Egypt have given off their Trade and applied themselves to the Study of Wisdom and many of them are become excellent Proficients therein All our Ale-houses and Taverns are put to honest uses viz. to entertain Strangers and the Instruments of Musick which were used in them during Pharaoh's Reign we have caused to be burned as a Sacrifice or Retaliation because the Egyptians had profaned the Lord in the use of them We have no fatted Swine fatted Oxen or Punchanelloes amongst us neither have we any of Pharaoh's lean Kine We wear no Swords by our Sides but all our Weapons of War are inward and we never use them for any other Occasion but to defend our Souls from Viciousness We join not Harmony Swearing and vain Discourses together as the Egyptian Masters of Musick do Our Men do not rob Women of their principal Ornament neither living nor dead nor adorn their Heads with theirs which shews in those that do a base depraved effeminate Nature Most of this sort of People belong to Pharaoh's Troops that are or may expect to be swallowed up in the Sea of Wrath. Our Women do not gather themselves into Companies in the Streets and there spend Time in evil Communication neither do they stand idling at their Doors in painted counterfeit Dresses to allure the wanton Eyes of the Passers by We have no Play-houses neither dare we use Consorts of Musick in any such places We do not suffer our Children to go to any of the publick Shews and Games of Sodom for fear they should look back and so become Monuments of God's Wrath as Lot's Wife was We do not allow or suffer our young Men to run nor ride for Wagers neither do we suffer our Women to use robust Employments for fear they should become rude and immodest as the Egyptian Women are for the whole preservation of Mankind doth chiefly depend on their well Conduct and Temperance We turn our Backs on all idle Discourses which serve only to invite Men to Folly and spend precious
1683. I find 12 and 21 which doth shew that the 12th and the 21th are the best Days to gather that Herb in Again I desire to know what time is best in the Year 1684. to gather Scurvey-Grass in I find Scurvey-Grass to be an Herb of Iupiter and to be gathered in April and May then look in the Table underneath for April and May and against 1684. I find 5 22 27 11 31. which shews that the 5 22 27 Days of April and the 11 31 Days of May are the best times to gather that Herb in and so of the rest When you have gathered your Herbs in their proper Seasons not only those you intended for Physical Operations but also such as you keep for common uses you are in every particular to observe the same Method and Rules that Husbandmen do in making of their Hay that is to dry them in the Sun where the pleasant lively Rays of the Air have their free Influences and to keep them duly turned until the gross moisture and phlegmy substance be Exhaled or consumed by the Sun and Elements and if the Season be dry the best way is to put them together as they do Hay and let them lie out all Night but if not then put them in the House at Nights and when they are sufficiently dryed then make strong Paper-Bags and stuff them in as hard as possibly you can tying them up close and lay them in some open airy dry Room but in the Winter when the Air is humid you may dispose of them in Rooms where Fire is kept but not too near for too much either Heat or Moisture quickly destroys their pure Vertues for the Volatile parts when the slimy Substance is digested will not endure any Violence without manifest Injury to the whole 2. Herbs thus preserved are best for all uses when they have lain together two three or four Months in the Bags for in that time they will heat and ferment and pass through another Digestion which does consume a certain fainty moist Quality which the Sun and Elements could not destroy in the first preparation without Prejudice to the whole whereby their pure Spirituous Parts become more free and Volatile and will give forth their good Vertues as readily as Mault does when they shall be put into any proper Menstruum or Liquor Herbs I say thus ordered are fit for all Physical and Common Operations do not the Husband-men observe all the fore-mentioned Rules in making their Hay viz. when they have dryed it in the Sun and open Air not in the Shade as Physicians and Apothecaries do who destroy thereby the Vertue of their Herbs then they make it into small Cocks and let it stand two or three days or more as the Weather will permit after which many will make it into large Ricks viz. Almost a load or more in each and let it stand two or three Weeks more which does prepare and make it fitter to be made into Stacks or Mows where it must settle very close and heat and ferment and so in four or five Months time it will by this second Fermentation digest and destroy that moist fainty Quality which all Hay newly made does plentifully contain After this it sends forth a finer or more pure Scent and Smell and is far better for all Cattel Where by the way it is to be noted that Hay made into Stacks in the open Air is to be preferred before that in Barns or Houses for the former will settle much harder and closer because the pure thin Spirituous Vapours of the Air do penetrate it and thereby keep the Spirituous Parts living and free from Suffocation or contracting any gross Humidity which all places do abound with where the pleasant comforting Rays of the Sun and Air are hindred from their having their free Ingress Egress and Regress therefore such Hay has a more odoriferous smell that proceeds from the goodness and strength of the Spirituous Parts and all sorts of Cattel will chuse to eat this before any other especially Sheep who are of all others most curious Whereas Hay put into Barns c. will not settle so hard and close though never so much care and pains be taken in treading it down the Reason is because the Sun and Air are shut out by the Walls and closeness of the Houses so that there is great store of Humidity that suffocates the Volatile Spirits 3. In drying your Herbs care ought to be taken that the same be neither too much nor little for the Sun and Air by their secret Influence exhale consume and destroy the gross Humidity and Phlegm that before did hold the Spirituous Quality captive which hereby is set at liberty as is manifest in all Herbs and Grass whilst it remains green and unseparated if you smell to it its scent is gross fulsome and earthy but when the Sun and Elements have made separation then it sends forth a Smell most Fragrant and Delightsome perfuming the whole Field with its wholesome Odours But then if the same be there too long continued the very same Influences which exhaled and destroyed the gross phlegmy Body will also prey upon and consume the Spirituous Parts too as all observing Husband-men do know and then such Herbs or any other thing of like nature will not have any true Vertue or Life in them On the other side if they be not dryed enough the gross phlegmy Substance that remains will suffocate the pure Spirits and cause Putrifaction and kindle the bitter sower and astringent Qualities which in a short time will destroy all the pure Balsamick Vertues 4. If any kind of Herbs be dryed in the Shade or House they thereby lose all their good Vertues or very much impair them For 'T is the Sun and open Air that keeps the Volatile Spirits and Balsamick Virtuers living for want whereof the true Life and spirituous Properties will be suffocated and destroyed Is not the Air of all Houses gross fulsome and humid if you compare it with the common Air abroad Are not all Insects and Vermin generated in shady dull places and whence is it but through the great store of Humidity and gross Vapours which such places do contract Thus Moths are bred in Garments that are kept in close places where the Air has not its free Influences whereas on the contrary the Sun Beams and open Air prevent the generation of such Vermin But now contrary to Nature Reason and common Sense the fashion which our Lip learned Physicians and Apothecaries that serve a perpetual Apprenticeship to Tradition practice is this They dry their Herbs in the Shade and afterwards expose them to the Sulpherous Stinking Humid Air of their Houses But I believe should the Learnedst Doctor or Pot-earrier of them all tell a Country-man that the best way to preserve the strength and natural Virtues of his Hay were to dry it in the Shade or House he could not but laugh at their simplicity for
Patriarchs in the first Ages of the World that they were Sick No there is not a word of their Sickness but that they lived to great Ages in perfect Health for ought we find and soundness of Mind and Body There was then no need of Universities where Men must spend ten or twenty Years meerly to read Receits over and to learn to write a Bill of Confusion to the Apothecaries or to put their own Eyes out that so they might see with other Mens nor to learn Canting words to deceive the Ignorant Their whole drift and design from the beginning to the end being to get Money to live in Wantonness Gluttony and Superfluity There was no occasion amongst the Ancients for this sort of People for every one was his own Physician for so long as Men studied the Knowledg of God and Nature in themselves there was no place for this External Babylonical Building or for the authorizing of Ignorant Pedantry for the sole Curing or rather Killing of their Neighbours Can any understand or read another Man's Book that cannot read one word in his own A Man's self is a Book in which is comprehended all kind of Learning both Humane and Divine the Radix of all Arts and Sciences For in this Little World Man was communicated unto the Wise Ancients the Virtues of all Herbs Seeds Granes Animals and Minerals for the Ancient Physicians had not Libraries of many Thousand Books nor did they spend their time in reading other Men's Works nor satisfied themselves with Traditions but were contented with one Book viz. The Knowledg of God and Nature in themselves and this Book they read with their own Eyes and not with the Counterfeit Spectacles of Aristotle or Galen If Men would but stand still from Self-hood then would they see the Salvation of the Lord. The Old Physicians and Naturalists when they were not well or any of their Neighbours were distemper'd did not content themselves with musty uncertain Receipts for they knew that the same Herb which has proved beneficial to the Cure of one mans Diseases might not do any good but rather harm to another even though their Diseases seemed to proceed from a like Cause And does not our daily Experience manifest the truth of this Therefore they in all difficult points applyed themselves to the Divine Oracle and Holy Light in themselves which did teach them some Herb Seed Grain or the like and also the manner how to use it which did perform wonderful Cures because there was an inward Virtue and the power of the Spirit went with them they did not keep any certain Method with all Patients alike as our Quacks do now-a-days for the same Herb or other thing that cured a Consumption in one they did not administer to another in the like Disease except they were pointed unto it by their Good Genius Herein consists the right Cure both of the Soul and Body when man does apply himself to the right Object with Faith in the Lord then will the Lord teach him in all particulars for the Spirit of the Divine Power can make every little and small thing work wonderful Effects 'T is true the Ancients did set down in writing many of those Herbs and other things which their Genius did teach them for the Cure of various Diseases but they did as little think that after-generations would make a great Trade of getting Money by their Receipts as the Prophets and holy illuminated men of God did That the men of the world would do the like by their Writings and yet alas what an Huckstering there is kept now-a-days with them both The worthy Sayings and Writings of the Ancients cannot be understood or applyed but only by the same Spirit that gave them forth either in things Divine or Natural But these things are not considered either by those that are called Divines and Physicians or by the People But so soon as any one finds himself disordered by Sickness they presently run to the Doctor and the Doctor to his Books and out of some one of them Scrawls a Receipt and if that won't do the poor Creature may die for him for neither the one nor the other so much as think to enquire of the true Physician viz. the never-failing Oracle in themselves which if hearkened unto in Humility would teach them what to do in all particulars as it did the Ancients for those Herbs and great Cures wrought by them were not set down and recorded that after Generations should imitate them like Apes without the true understanding of the Spirit but that men might see the wonderful Power and Efficacy of the Spirit of the Lord when men do apply themselves unto its Government If men would but stand still and not so eagerly pursue Tradition and the Inventions of men and Self-hood then the good Genius would be ready and prompt to shew and instruct them in any things belonging to their Preservation for in the way of God and Nature every little thing is made strong and powerful but when men have not the knowledge of God and Nature in themselves then all goes astray and the true Efficacy or Virtue is not known nor have the Applications of the best things any good effect By what hath been said appears the Reason why those Physical Herbs and Seeds which the Ancients have appropriated for the cure of such and such diseases do not cure those distempers nor have any such Effects for if every Herb could accomplish such Cures as are recorded thereby to have been done certainly there would none be sick but All would be made whole but Experience shews the contrary Nay are there not many living Testimonies at this day who waiting in Humility at the Internal Altar have been directed such an Herb or other thing and the manner of using it which being followed the Cure has been effected in a wonderful manner And yet the very same Persons at other times in the like Distresses and Disorders have not minded their good Genius but looked abroad amongst the Swine for Cure where there is neither Life Knowledge Power nor Virtue but only an Ignorant busie Imitating Ape cloathed with a Velvet Coat and as their Course hath been the success proved answerable he has perhaps purged their Purses to a Vacuum stuffed their Bodies with Slops filled their Chambers with Gally-Pots and Glasses weakened Nature and strengthened the Disease so that it carries away Life Captive at the Wheels of its Triumphant Chariot and all that Mr. Dunce-Doctor has to say for himself is That he proceeded secundum Artem and destroyed you after the exactest method in the World All Practice of Physick that is from Receipts and Tradition is uncertain and abominable to Nature more especially where there is a multitude of Ingredients mixed together for the most part of various Natures and contrary Qualities as though they would force Nature into obedience by the several sorts of Engines and Enemies of divers kinds which they
bring against her Whereas in truth when there are twenty thirty forty fifty sixty or an hundred several things compounded together and of as many distinct Natures no man on Earth can know the Genuine operation of such a Medicine Does not Experience shew that in Food if you compound ten or twenty sorts of things the best and strongest Stomach will loath such Food after one Meal or two Who is there let his Constitution be what it will that would be satisfied if he were confined to live on your richest sort of Cake-Bread that has ten or twelve Ingredients in it Are not the pure natural Operations of each thing destroyed and adulterated where various things are thus mixed together of different Natures And does not the Pallate and Stomach grow weary and sick if confiâ—â—â— to such Foods The very same is to be understood in Physical Preparations there being not much difference between the Apothecaries and our more curious Cooks Compositions both being alike preposterous and inimical to Nature To demonstrate this I shall here insert a learned Doctor 's Prescription A Gentlewoman had a Son whom being not well she supposed was in a Consumption she applies her self to a Famous Doctor for Learning and Skill who informs her her Son was in a wasting condition and you must needs believe it for he saw it in the Boy 's Piss Then she desired him to give her Directions how she might prevent that Consuming Distemper Mr. Doctor having once more peep'd in the Urinal thrice shook his Noddle and twice stroked the place where he should have had a Beard perceiving the Angels to appear was presently enlightned by the False Prophet Tradition to give the Gentlewoman this following Bill to the Apothecary which does consist of no less than three and thirty Ingredients But by that time the Apothecary had mustered up his several Slops and compleated the Composition of Omniumgatherum the Small-Pox began to appear and put a period to Goodman Doctor 's future proceedings who else to prevent the Boy 's Consumption would have loaded his Guts with Materials enough to half set up an Apothecary The Receipt R. Ol Amygd dulc rec Syr. Capiat Veneris anaÊ’iss Sacchar Cant. Ê’iss mis. exactissim Capiat cochleare unum ter quaterve in die superbibendo â„¥ iv 〈◊〉 pozem sequent calid Re. Decoct pector depurat lb jss Tinct Crocj Syr. capil Veneris ana â„¥ iss mis. fiat Apozema R. Cons. Ros. rub antiq per setacerum traject â„¥ ii Pulv. HalyÊ’iss Laud. liquid Ê’i Syr. Balsamic q. s. m. f. Electurium de N. m. singulis noctibus quo Capiat Quantitatem In English Take Oyl of sweet Almonds new drawn Syrup of Maiden-hair of each one Ounce and half White-Sugarcandy-powder one Dram and half mix them and take one spoonful three or four times a day drinking after each Dose a quarter of a pint of the following Apozem warm Take of the Pectoral Decoction depurated a pint and half Tincture of Saffron and Syrup of Maidenhair of each one Ounce and half mix them for an Apozem Take Conserve of Old-Red-Roses pulped two Ounces Pulvis Haily a Dram and half liquid Laudanum one Dram Syrup of Balsom a sufficient quantity to make it into an Electuary To be taken the quantity of a Nutmeg every Night at bed-time This is the Bill whose Ingredients if you trace them to their Originals are thirty three and their various Natures as many disagreeing one with the other and consequently make a Medicine of a loathing Quality and far sicker in Nature than the distempered Patient The very same is to be understood of most or all the things they administer under the Name of Cordials to sick languishing and dying people as being Mixtures of cool'd stilled Waters of several sorts with certain Syrups Epidemick-Waters and other like Slops which are all great Nauseates to Nature even in the healthiest state and if so what a miserable Condition then must the Sick be in The truth is men in the time of health strength and vigour do make the best of Cordials too common to them viz. Wine which many drink to the destruction of their Health and then when they are sick they must have a change tho' it be for the worse and so they take up with these loathsome Compositions of the Apothecaries which are so sar from being really Cordial that they are oppressive to Nature 'T is a thing of evil consequence to be ignorant of the most excellent and sublime Virtues of the Herbs which our own Countrey does produce both for all Physical Uses and also for Food there being no way so safe for Nature as to apply and use simple Herbs in the Cure of Diseases for as simple Food is always the most harmless as administring a proper and equal Nourishment to the Body and Spirits the very same is to be understood in all Physical Operations for the Nature of each thing is adulterated and its physical virtue destroyed by the contrary Qualities of other intermixt Ingredients It is further to be noted that most sorts of Herbs when cut in their proper Seasons and under good Influences and afterwards dryed according to the Rules before-mentioned are far better than when green for the makng of Posset-drinks and Decoctions and also for Cordials by infusion for the Sun and Elements do exhale and destroy the gross earthy phlegmy substance and preserve the pure spirituous parts and Balsamick Virtues and sets the Spirit free that it becomes volatile which pure Virtues in all or most green Herbs are captivated by the earthy Body of Phlegm Therefore when dry Herbs which are properly preserved are committed to any proper Liquor as Hot-Water Beer Ale Cyder Wine Spirit of Wine c. any of those Liquors will greedily receive the good Virtues and Spirituous parts better than they can from Herbs that are green And when Herbs have lain together five or six Months they are fitter for such uses than when first gathered and being so preserved as before is directed will keep good for several years This preparation of the Sun and Elements is much to be esteemed and no preparation performed by common Fire is to be compared therewith for by this Chymical Art of Nature the more sublime Virtues and vegitative Qualities are preserved and the gross earthy Substance destroyed but in all our Chymical Preparations and Separations there is a contrary Operation for when the Chymist takes Herbs and commits them to his Fire he cannot preserve neither the pure Volatile Spirit nor Balsamick Body or Vegitative Virtue but only the fierce fiery harsh astringent bitter Spirits which properties are the original of every Life and cannot be destroyed in any preparation though never so unnatural except the things could be annihilated for this Cause all such Sulpherous fiery Liquors will not work and ferment as all other sorts of Liquors will even Water it self when any Balsamick Body is joyned with it as Sugar or the like but those other
and Minerals The Salnitral and Seminary Virtues of the Earth varying also in the predominant Qualities from ours there being a concurrence in all Countries and Climates between the Influences and Operations of the heavenly Bodies and the earthy whence it comes to pass that the people of the South are black and the Northern white their Countrey generates Gold and ours Lead Tin and Iron the East-Indies yielding precious Stones which is a Degree higher than Gold and the West-Indies Silver which proceeds from the powerful Influences of the Sun and Venus but especially of the Sun its warming Beams continuing there all the year without much variation and therefore their Nights and Days are more equal than in the North where the cold harsh Properties of Saturn and Mars do bear sway Therefore the Herbs Drugs and Fruits that are brought forth in those remoter Regions are not Homogenial to our Bodies as Experience might teach us by the great numbers of new Diseases that have of late been cantracted by the superfluous Mixtures of the East and West-Indian Ingredients with our common Food as Spices Fruits Sugars as also Tobacco c. which have strangely wasted the Healths of many For the All-wise Creator of all Beings has endued both the Heavenly and Earthly bodies with an inward Virtue Power and Nature in every Climate and Country so as all places do plentifully bring forth all manner of Herbs Fruits Seeds Drugs and Grains suitable and proper for the Sustenance of both Men and Beasts of that place and also for Medicine there being a Sympathetical agreement in the Radixes between the Animals of each Country and the Vegetations thereof both being brought forth under the same Influence Do not our own Herbs Fruits and Grains growing in our own Country maintain the numerous Troops of brave Animals amongst us viz. Cows Sheep Horses and many others in plentiful healthy state without the help of Foreign Vegetatives And are there not a great number of Medicinables likewise of our own growth proper for the cure of those Diseases that are generated in our Elevation and had it not been the great happiness of England if men had known no more of Outlandish-wines Spices Sugars c. either for Food or Physick than our Beasts do which would have rendred us more healthy and sounder both in Body and mind For in the Beginning the Divine Word of the Lord that as the Scriptures testifie made all things moved it self in all Places and Climates and formed framed and figured all Bodies according to the Degrees of the Innate instant Qualities of each Place and as the property of the Seven-fold Nature and Constellation did there predominate and as the Salnitral Properties and Spirits were internally strong or weak good or evil such was the Nature Inclinations Forms and Shapes of the Creatures in each Climate for every Creature was clothed with a Body according to the Nature and Degrees of the Spirit which is the Life of all things having an innate Power to attract proper matter for a Body of a proportionable Nature And as the Internal Powers and Qualities are infinitely various so are the External forms every thing both in the Animal Mineral and Vegetative Kingdoms varying in Shape Virtue and Vice And where the Property of the Wrath did predominate in the Salnitral Quality in any Country there did arise and were made fierce wrathful wild Beasts of Prey as Bears Lyons Tygers c. On the contrary where the sweet Water and friendly Nature had Dominion there were generated Tame Mild Creatures as Sheep Cows c. the same is to be understood in the Vegetative and Mineral Kingdoms and the outward Body or Signature does in all particulars manifest and shew the inward Nature of each thing to the enlightned understanding and sagacious Naturalist whom God and Nature have made capable of such sublime Learning It is very Improbable if I had said Impossible I had not much over-shot the Truth that one Herb should have specifick virtue and power to cure so many various Diseases and Defects of Nature as the Ancients do appropriate except such an Herb Fruit Seed or the like be endued with and have the Universal Tinctures compleat which hath never been known nor is it possible that any gross Herb should have that Divine Efficacy to cure so many Different Distempers and in various Complexions except there be a Living Faith in the Patients and also in the Physician which then can make Water Wine and Clay and Spittle an Eye-Salve and as Christ saith remove Mountains as also witness the Woman that had the Bloody Issue she believed in her heart That if she could but touch the Hem of Christ's Garment she should be whole which enabled her to press through the Throng and Multitude to touch his Garment where 't is to be noted that this Woman did first press in her self by Faith through the Wrath of God and Multitude of Evil Properties and Inclinations into the Divine Power and Virtue of the Son of God which by a sympathetical Attraction and Divine Power awakened the Balsamick Virtue and friendly Nature first in her self and afterwards in our Lord for then he enquired Who had touched him At which his Disciples marvelled because of the Multitude that pressed him but Christ was sensible of the Inward Kindlings and of the secret Attractions and Influences the Wowan's Faith had in a powerful Degree awakened and as it were drawn forth and united or joyned it self with the friendly Divine Principle of the Light and Love of God in Iesus Christ which healing Virtues her earnest Faith did draw forth and so miraculously her Cure was immediately effected for Christ saith Thy FAITH hath made thee whole The truth is there is but One Way for the right Cure of all Diseases both Corporeal and Incorporeal whether they proceed from the Body or the Mind which is by the Virtue and Power of the Good Quality and friendly Nature which the Creator hath endued every Herb and other thing with for as the Sickness of the Soul or Mind is nothing else but the Deprivation of the Divine Vision viz. man's being departed from the Government and Council of the good Light and Love of God which cannot be remedied nor the Soul restored unto its first state of Health Strength and Unity with God but only by Faith and elevating the Soul to the Divine Principles which will reinforce all the good Powers and Virtues of God's Love and not only render a man sound and healthy but the same Grace-being obeyed will maintain the Soul and Spirit in serenity so the very same is to be understood of all kind of Sicknesses of the Body and Elements of the Outward Nature Diseases being nothing else but an unequal Motion or Contrarieties of the Properties and Qualities of Nature which comes to pass through various Intemperances and concurring Influences of the Elements and Coelestial Bodies which wound the pure Volatile Spirit and then presently
to every one It hath never been known that this troublesome Vermin was ever seen in Warehouses Kitchins Parlours Dining-rooms or any places where Beds have never been except they have by accident been brought into such Rooms or Warehouses by Furniture of Chambers that have been troubled with them tho all such places have the same Furniture as Chambers except Beds 5. From the same Substance or Matter whence Bugs are bred is also occasioned the generation of many nasty Diseases in the Blood so that the destruction of the Matter that breeds them is of greater Consequence than most people are sensible of And if these following Rules be observed I dare affirm That the Generation of Bugs will cease and also many other Inconveniences and Distempers that are got by this sort of Uncleanness will be avoided First You are to destroy all Press-Bedsteads which stand in Corners of Rooms being made up with Boards so close that the Air cannot penetrate or dry up and consume the moist sulpherous Vapours that are contracted These Sorts of Beds that stand so are apt to have them more than others Also you are to set your other Sorts of Beds as near as you can in the most airy places of your Rooms exposing them to the Air the most part of the Day with your Chamber-windows open that the Air may freely pass which is the most excellent Element that does sweeten all things and prevents Putrefaction In the Night also you ought not to have your Window-Curtains drawn nor your Curtains that are about your Beds for it hinders the sweet refreshing Influences of the Air so that the Air of all close places becomes of a hot sulpherous Nature and Operation the thin pure Vapours which do wonderfully refresh Nature are as it were suffocated And this preventing the Influenees of the Air is in an especial manner observable when people are sick or out of order as tho the sweet pleasant Air had been the cause of their Disease such Rooms being so very close with great Fires in them that if a Healthy Person do but continue three or four Hours in them the fulsome Steams and thick Vapours will much disorder him and take away the edge of his Appetite And if so what will the Operation be on those whose Spirits are weak and disordered with Distempers What is more pleasant and healthful than good Air It chears and comforts the Spirits it opens the Passages of the Joynts and Nerves it purifies the Blood creates an Appetite increasing Strength and Vigour But on the contrary hot thick sulpherous Airs do not only obstruct the Passages of the Spirits but suffocate them loading the Joynts and Nerves with evil Juices whereby the Limbs and Members become full of pain causing a general Tenderness to possess the whole Body and destroying the Appetite and the power of the digestive Faculty in the Stomach Also do not all Houses and Places grow Musty and contract too great store of Moisture if the Air be any way prevented by Window-shutters or the like that it cannot have its free egress and regress Therefore moderate Cloathing hard Beds Houses that stand so as that the pleasant Briezes of Wind may air and refresh them and also Houses that are full of Wâ—â—â—ows are to be preferr'd For where the Air hath not its free Influences the Spirit becomes dull and heavy this being the true Life of the Spirit in every thing 7. Now the certain means and way not only to prevent the Generation of this Vermin but also to preserve Health and Strength is Straw or rather Chaff-Beds with Ticks of Canvas and Quilts made of Wooll or Flocks to lay on them which certainly is the most easy and pleasant Lodging that can be invented and a little Custom will make it appear friendly to Nature and in every respect far beyond the softest Feather-beds on which when a Man lies down he sinks into them as into an Hole with Banks rising on each side of him especially if two lye together when first they go to Bed they lye close and after a little time when they begin to be hot or sweat they are generally willing to lye a little further off that they may cool themselves but cannot do it without great difficulty and trouble by reason of the softness of the Bed and those Banks that rise on each side Besides such soft Feather-Beds do over-heat the Reins and Back making all the parts tender and causing Sweating and many other Inconveniences to attend the Body Feather-Beds also are nothing so easy as Quilts after a little time being accustomed to them they are also extream fulsome and by their Heat they do powerfully dry up the Radical Moisture causing a general Faintiness to attend the whole Body But on the contrary hard even Beds that lye smooth are not only easy through Custom as is mentioned before but a Man may turn freely both Sleeping and Waking They harden and strengthen the whole Body especially the Back and Reins make the Nerves and Sinews strong preventing the immoderate Evacuations by Sweating and keeping the Body in a temperate Heat Besides such Beds may be often changed with but little Trouble and less Cost they send forth no stinking Fumes or â—â—eams as Feather-beds do but are sweat and clean Certainly nothing is more healthy next to Temperance in Meat and Drink than clean hard Beds 8. All sorts of Beds especially Feather-beds ought to be changed driven or washed at the least three or four times in a year or else it is impossible to keep them sweet and clean and to prevent the Generation of Vermin or the other Inconveniences before-mentioned Would not every one condemn a Man if he should wear a Shirt a year and lye in one pair of Sheets seven years Which if any should do it would not so much endanger his Health nor bring half the Inconveniencies on his Body as old stinking Feather-beds do which possibly stunk before ever they were lain on by reason of the fulsom Excrements that the Quills of the Feathers contain Also Feathers do certainly contain an unclean putrified Matter that hath a near affinity with the Nature of Bugs and therefore Feather-beds are more apt to breed them than Wooll or Flocks tho both will do it if the fore-mentioned Rules be not observed But if you are not willing or so lowly-minded as to have Straw or Chaff-beds under your Quilts then you may have Flock-beds with Canvas-Tickings which may be both aired and washed as often as you please with little Trouble and Charge If any shall question the Truth of what I have alledged concerning Beds I desire they would please but to try the Experiment by filling a Bed with the freshest and cleanest Straw or Chaff which will smell very pleasant and having so done let them lye on it half a year in a corner of a Room as Beds generally stand and then smell to it and instead of sending forth a Pleasant Scent as it did
and women on purpose for the sake and love of Wantonness to hinder the ends of Nature making a Sport and Pastime of that great formative Power which is essencial in every man and Woman that thereby they might produce their Species and the Images of their Creator which they bear the Word of Divine Power is always in motion viz. a forming figuring and shaping of all things both Spiritual and Corporeal if it should cease all things would drop into their Original And if men would but be still and cease from their own ways of self-hood and from kindling the fierce wrath of God they could not but see the gross evil of such unnatural Practices which how odious it is we may perceive by his fierce indignation against Onam whom the Scripture testifies the Lord slew because he willfully prevented Generation which thereby seems to be reckoned as a Degree of Murder Therefore let all that fear the Lord separate themselves from such unfit Marriages which ought not by any pretences to be countenanced but condemned by all sober-minded people as a practice of Sodom and AEgypt and such as follow it without repentance will be swallowed up by the Red-Sea of Divine Vengeance and Indignation 2. Such men as through Age or other Infirmities are so weakened and their Natures so decayed as they are incapable of Generation are not fit for Marriage nor ought to delude themselves with the pleasurable Fancies of Youth for the company of women in age if there be not Strength and Temperance is not only a Sin against God and his Law in Nature but generally proves of ill consequence as to Health tho' otherwise men may in the sight of God be permitted Marriage even in Old Age that is to say such men who are vigorous of Strength lasting Healths but then it ought to be to such Women as are not past Child-bearing for the suitableness of Marriage is not when the Man and the Woman are of an equal Age but when on either part they can answer that end for which Marriage was ordained viz. the having of Issue and Posterity But generally as for ancient men if it hath pleased the Almighty to take away the Wives of their Youth it is far better they should spend the remainder of their Days single for Solitude does afford unto the sober-minded and contemplative Soul many excellent Advantages both by Night and Day it being easier for such an one to keep his Mind intent and upright and free from cares and wandering for there are many infirmities that attend Women which will always add some trouble and affliction to the Husband more especially if there be a dear affection and respect besides that Society plunges men more in the Affairs of the World which if we mind Virtue and Eternal Happiness as we ought to do will prove as so many Clogs and Fetters to the Soul and press her down to earthly Thoughts and Considerations when she would gladly mount up to Heaven on the soaring Wing of a Devout Meditation and this ought the more to be resented by Aged People because they are certain their opportunities can be but short because there is but little Sand left in their Lives-Glass and 't is pity to triflle away any of it on Vanity in making Love where no Fruit can be expected or on the gossipping Stories of Talkative Women that like the Nighting-gale is become nothing but Tongue and Voice and much worse to be snatch'd from the sweet Contemplations of Eternity by the perpetual bawlings and noise of an unreasouable Screich-Owle or Croakings of a Nigh-Raven that makes ones Bed more uneasie than a Nest of Hornets or Regulus's Barrel stuck full of sharp Nails whereinto he was thrust stark naked The Inconveniences that attend Marriage in Age are many the Benefits very few how ill it looks to see the Spring of Wantonness arise in the Autumn of Life and a Man according to the Vulgar Proverb appear like an Onion with a Gray Head and a Green Tail too pregnant Symptoms that they have not forgot their Youthful Vanities and Lusts but would fain act them over again tho Nature refuses them the means their Minds being as much as ever inflamed with sensual Fires tho their enfeebled Bodies cannot keep pace with them to bring their loose extravagant Desires into act Such Matches therefore however they may be cloaked with the Title of Holy Matrimony are indeed Rapes upon Nature and lustful Sallies of a debauched Imagination which always proves very prejudicial to the Health of the Body and obstructs the ways of Virtue and Piety Besides if the Wives of such Doting Old Men happen to be Strong Youthful and aimable they are freequently tempted by Lude Young Gallants to defile their Nuptial-Beds and finding at home only Dalliance enough to stir up wanton Desires without Ability to satisfie and allay them they thereupon are too often led away to take wrong measures abroad to the Destruction of their own Souls and many times of their Bodies too to the Grief and Disgrace of their too late repining titular Husbands and the Dishonour and Confusion of Families Therefore if men on whom Age hath snowed her Silver Locks which ought to be the Ensigns of Wisdom will enjoy Health and Strength and Peace and live a virtuous quiet Life let them beware of embarquing themselves in such unfit Marriages which if they shall prove tolerable to themselves as rarely it happens yet if they have Children by former Wives 't is great odds but it proves a great Mischief to Them and an occasion of such unnatural Heart-burnings and Animosities as every prudent man would willingly prevent 3. There are another sort of Youngsters that are for an equality in Estates and Births despising the innocent simple and natural influences of agreeing Hearts and united Affections and all those Real though Secret Grounds of Love whence proceed our inclinations to affect such and such Complexions Features or Humours all which is not regarded by this sort of people but they are meer Iockies in the Art of Wiving and will Higgle for the other Hundred pound in Portion and fifty pound more at the birth of the first Child or else the poor Lass after the Wedding-Cloathes are made must go look her an Husband such sordid Spirits as these make nothing to strain Nature and offer Violence to their own Inclinations nay to their Consciences too if it may but make for their Covetous Interests The first Question they ask is Has she store of Money If she have that 's sufficient encouragement whether she be of good Temper or Virtuously inclined or of an healthy sound Constitution fit to bear healthy sound Children or be a good House-wise and of a prudent peaceful Behaviour or have the fear of God before her Eyes or not they never regard and yet these ought to be the chief Ends and Considerations of every mon in Marriage and not the mixing of Mannours and joyning together of Farms
and coupling of Stocks as if their Bags must needs mutually Engender and breed and multiply as well as their Persons This making of Matrimony a Matter of Money and Miserly Parents sacrificing their Children to Mammon is a wretched Idolatry little inferiour to theirs of Old who offered their Sons and Daughters to Molock they made oblations of them in Flames which quickly devoured them but you deliver them up and force them into loathed Embraces where perhaps they languish out twenty or thirty Years in perpetual Vexations and Torment without one hours solid Content or Satisfaction and all this for a little Base Pelf which never has been known to make any happy where Content Sobriety and Virtue have been wanting But if God's Law and the Influences of unbiast Nature did take place in peoples hearts there would not be such over-looking those that have but a little Money the Rich and Noble then would often marry with the poor or those they now call their Unequals For where shall we find a healthy fresh rosie straight-Limb'd Angel-fac'd Innocent Virgin fit for Emperours to get Princes upon sooner than amongst the Daughters of Shepherds or the untutor'd Troops of a poor Country-Village Did men live in the Power and Operation of God's Laws and the Dictates of Nature none of them would delude the Simplicity of Virgins by Deceitful Kindnesses and when they have gotten their Lewd Desires of them then leave them and their own Off-spring to beg their Bread exposed to shame and want and all the Evils imaginable making nothing to cut off the Thread of Love and bury Affection through the power of their depraved Wills which is a Crying Sin and next door to Murther The truth is there is scarce one Person of an hundred that make his or her choice from Wisdom or a right Understanding and to answer the end for which the Lord instituted Marriage in the beginning but if a Man have but an Estate tho otherwise never so diseased infirm or unfit all is overlook'd and excused Money covers all Infirmities where the heart is degenerated from Truth and Virtue making that there Master which if well used would be a good Servant most People being so blind and stupid that they dare not cast their Care and repose their Trust in him who by his bountiful Divine Hand of Providence taketh care for all and preserveth all and from whom every good Gift proceeds both Temporal and Spiritual this trusting and relying on the Creature more than the Creator is the greatest Idolatry and that which the Lord abominates for a Curse does follow all those who prefer their devillish Lusts and foolish Passions and greedy Desires of Money before the good and holy fear of the Lord and his Innocent Law Themselves Wives and Children being afflicted with a numberless Number of Diseases and Infirmities and what Fruit can be expected from such corrupt Trees Whence think ye proceed Leprous Scabby Diseases Joint-evils and that which they call the Kings-Evil wherewith many thousands in this Nation of all sorts are afflicted as also the Gout in Youth Consumptions and other incurable Diseases Are not most or all these Evils the effect of undue Marriages Uncleannesses and Intemperances And yet if a Man ask them how came such or such a Disease they will confidently answer We do not know even as it pleaseth God we know nothing we have done which should occasion it Thus laying the Cause on the Lord of all their Infirmities and Evils never considering that it is the Reward of their own Transgression and of their own Evil Courses which have awakened the poysonous Properties in the Elements of the Body 4. A fourth sort of Blame-worthy are those who do Marry without any due Consideration of the weight and importance of what they go about sure a thing in which the Happiness or Misery of a Man's whole future Life is involved and which can be done but Once should be considered Twice before we undertake it But many People are so hurried away with the Heat and Fury of youthful Lusts Passions and Wantonness as they mind nothing but a present Satisfaction of their bruitish Desires vainly imagining that they shall never be otherwise but alas as soon as those fiery Transports are allayed their Love languishes grows cold and flat and those very Embraces wherein they placed their highest Happiness become wearisom nauseous and perhaps loathsom and then these hot Lovers become Rude Sordid Stubborn Bold Surly and Inhumane having no true Natural Affection unto nor taking any honest Care for Wife or Children but grow Dissolute Drunken and Idle as they get Childen in the heat of Drink and Lust so they make not the least Provision to preserve them How many thousands of poor Women and Children are more miserable than any Creatures on the Earth if we do but consider the Hunger Cold Diseases Griefs Vexations and Distractions which they endure from the intolerable Idleness Debauchery Crosness or other ill Carriage Words and Communications of some brutified Things whom they are obliged to call Husbands and Fathers 5. The Fear of the Lord being the beginning of all Wisdom both Divine and Humane ought to be the principal Object of every Man and Womans Thoughts Words and Actions and then they would be taught by the Spirit of Truth how they may chuse unto themselves suitable Wives and Husbands For Marriage is as it were the Foundation either to Virtue or Vice and nothing can make a Conjugal Life happy but suitable Dispositions and Virtue and where their coming together is from a well-grounded Love and natural Affections mutually combined to answer the End of that State that is to raise up Seed in the fear of the Lord and then the Blessing of the most High is with and upon them in all their Affairs and whether they have much or little of the World's Wealth they are satisfied as knowing that it is not Riches but true Love that can make a married Life pleasant or encourage Industry in the Man and Wife But where Equality in Tempers Years and Virtues meet it makes this Society the most happy of all others there Love covers a multitude of Infirmities Joys are doubled Griefs divided and all Troubles made easy 'T is true every Married Estate is followed more or less with Inconveniences for it forceth a Man to appear in the World and thrust himself into Business and attend and bow himself to those that perhaps he doth not much care for or desire their Company because they often spur him to Evil or to do that which if Interest were not at stake he would not do and where there are six or seven more in a Family there will unavoidably be committed many Disorders sometimes by Servants sometimes by Children and seldom is it that they are all in Health long together And if it happens that the Wife have a good esteem of her Doctor and his Physick then she will do nothing without his Advice
worse Guide than the Crowd Few there be that ever in their whole Lives consider or so much as imagine that they can be guilty of any Sin with their own Wives tho they commit all kinds of Folly Wantonness and Uncleanness with them Whereas in truth since thereby they violate the Law of God and course of undepraved Nature there is but very little difference as to the Intrinsick Evil between him that Marries an Old Woman or him that commands his Wife at unfit seasons as in the time of Pregnancy or her Lunar Visits and him that goes to Common-Harlots only the former is not so Scandalous because allowed by Law or Custom which forbid the latter but in the sight of God and Nature they are both grand Evils 6thly Intemperance is so great an Enemy to Mankind that it corrupts both Root and Branch as when Men overcharge themselves with Meats and Drinks which heat the Blood and so violently inflame and swell the Spermatick Vessels whence proceed wanton Desires and loose Imaginations that vehemently impress and incorporate themselves in and with the Venerial Properties even as the Imagination and Desires of a Woman with Child do impress the Image of the thing longed for on the Fruit or Child The Seed does contain all the true Properties and the whole state of the Mind and Sensual Powers whether it be Good or Evil at the time of Conception and accordingly the Fruit is endued with good or evil Dispositions and Inclinations and the Face or Complexion of each Child is figured or framed according as the Posture and Aspects of the Parents Faces are at the very juncture or time of Conception viz. whether they look Soberly or Merry Languishing or with Wide Mouths Eyes distorted sullen sleepy or heavy and dull or lively and brisk or any other Fashion or Form the very same will the Imagination impress on the Fruit or Child for Nature has a secret Power of conveyance by Virtue of the Phantasy and Spirits which is unperceivable to the Parents Therefore all Fathers and Mothers ought at all times to be Sober and keep themselves cool and low that the Spirit of Understanding may have its Operation For every Thing or Quality whether it be Evil or Good has a Key in it self to open its own Principle and hath a Seed to beget its own Likeness in all Particulars For this cause a simple mean Life in which the Power of God and Nature have their Operation in equal weight and measure is to be preferred before the Grandeur and State of this World Sobriety and the Fear of the Lord being the Foundation of all Virtue for all Health Strength and Vigour both of the Body and Mind do consist in the Unity of the Parts and a just Temperament or Equality As on the other side Contrariety is the Root and Parent of all Diseases both Internal and External Therefore let every one apply himself to Wisdom which will teach the Knowledg of God in a Man's self which Knowledg and Eye of Wisdom will lead and conduct every one that is an obedient Student into the Life of Uniformity where every property of Nature does impress and reign in each other sending forth Hymns and Hallelujahs and Everlasting Songs of Praises unto the God of Unity and Order Lastly It is to be noted That the Lord and Great Creator of all Beings has subjected all Creatures unto his unalterable Law of Nature and therefore they keep and observe their proper Times and Seasons for Generation and consequently are more healthy and sound than Mankind but Man being made greater than any other Creature visible viz. God's Image and endued with Divine and Humane Wisdom and a free uncontroulable Will which he can immerse either into Evil or Good the Lord for this cause saith I have set Life and Death before you chuse ye Now most Men inclining to the left-hand-way are thereby precipitated into all Uncleanness Unchastity and Intemperance and in all Evil do as much exceed most sorts of Beasts as Men do excel Beasts in Wisdom for the Lord endued Man with the Spirit of Understanding by which he might be a Guide and Law unto himself but he has degenerated and withstood the good Counsel of Wisdom and chosen the left-hand-way which leads into all kind of Evil and Superfluity Whereas if this had not come to pass but instead thereof if men had chosen the right way and lived in the Power and Operation of God's Law then there would have been no need of Outward Laws and Magistrates but every Man would have done what was Right and Just in the sight of the Lord from an innate power and virtue in himself and not for fear of external Laws neither would he have leaned on the shoulders of the Multitude nor complyed with Tradition and Custom against the Dictates of Nature and Reason The Beasts of the Field bieng under the driving and impulse of God's Natural Law they are wholly acted by it so that when Nature stirs and prompts them on then they move and when Nature stands still they are quiet This is the Way of God and his unalterable Law in the course of natural things but Man has so greatly depraved himself through the power of his Free-will always inclining to Evil that he forceth Nature out of her simple Way violating the Law of God to the great hurt of his Soul and Body But few there be that are sensible of the sublime Virtues and Benefits that accompany Sobriety and Chastity tho the Pleasures that attend them are so many and great and most easily attainable if we will hearken to the Voice of Wisdom which is the best Physician and the best Law-giver and the only Theology in a word The opener of all Seals and Mysteries both Divine and Humane and Happy yea thrice Blessed are all they that are acquainted with and obey it CHAP. XX. How to cure Wounds Cuts Pricks of Thorns and other Accidents without Salves Oyntments or Plaisters Also if any part of the Body or Flesh be Poysoned it is a certain Remedy MANY persons happening to Cut or Prick with Thorns or Splinters some Parts of their Bodies or being troubled with Ring-worms Tettors Fellons on their Hands or Fingers or with Common Bruises or any the like Accidents running presently to Chyrurgions who for gain put them to much pain and misery or otherwise tampering therwith so far encrease those Maladies that many times they grow to Gangreens and Mortifications and their Fingers Arms Legs are often forced to be cut off and not a few have their Lives thereby shortened To prevent which Mischiefs I think my self obliged in Charity ty my Countrey-men to recommend to them an easie ready Course of Remedy without any Charge Trouble or Hazard which as has been proved by manifold Experience will not fail to heal and cure all such Defects and let none slight it for its plainness and meanness for all the ways of God and Nature are so
with the Voices that it seemed but one Voice and when they lift up their Voices with the Trumpets and Cymbals and other Instruments of Musick the House of God was filled with a Cloud so that the Priests could not endure to minister by reason of the Cloud for the Majesty of the Lord filled the House Here the Mental Vocal and Instrumental Harmony of the People did by a secret attraction draw forth and incorporate its self with the inward and holy Harmony so that the Glory of the Lord appeared externally there was an inward Life Power and Agreement in the minds of the Musicians and whole Congregation all was done in the Unity of the Spirit and to the Glory of the Lord. But on the contrary as Amos has it Chap. 6. Those that sit on the Stool of Wilfulness and lie on the Beds of Ease and practise Wantonness upon their Couches and eat the best Lambs of the Flock and slaughter the fattest Calves of the Droves and that sing to the Lute and in playing on Instruments of Musick compare themselves to David and drink Wine in Bowls that is to superfluity and excess and anoint themselves Effeminately with Oyl and yet have no Bowels of Compassion nor Commiserate the Afflictions of Joseph that is the Miseries of their Brethren and fellow-Creatures but crucifie the Lord of Life that is the Divine Principle by their Discord Oppression and Intemperances shall be the first that shall be led away into Captivity For every Thought Word and Work follows the Principle from whence it proceeds and as every Man shall apply Musick or any other thing either to the glory of God or to his vain Glory Vanity or Lusts so it becomes either good or evil to him So that what is a Blessing to one Man proves a Curse to another and that which some honour the Lord withal others do dishonour him with And as in a well-tuned Instrument the Strings being struck or played upon will make the Strings of another Instrument tuned to the same Key to move shake or tremble The same and far greater Sympathy is to be understood in the humane Nature though in so secret and imperceptible a manner as to outward Sense that many Thousands are wounded or impressed with the Influences before they perceive or are aware of it He that has not the Fear of the Lord and the Knowledg of God in himself is liable to be hurt by most things not only in playing upon Instruments of Musick as Amos hath it but in and by all other things therefore as the Wise Man saith Even in Plowing of Land we ought not to make others Rules our Prescriptions so as to imitate them like Apes nor ought we to be froward and averse to it because many in former Ages or in the present have or may use Musick as a Companion of Debauchery or enticement to Evil to the dishonour of their Creator and the hurt of themselves But all men ought to be sober and use things to their right ends for which they were designed by God and Nature and then whatever they take in hand will prove good and profitable unto them Wherefore most convenient it is for every particular Man and Woman to search and examine themselves that they may come to understand what Spirit and Principle has dominion in and over them if it be the Divine Principle and Voice of Wisdom then it will lead them into the heavenly Harmony where all the various Properties and Qualities of Nature do in friendly manner embrace each other whence proceeds an eternal Peace and Consort But they that shall find the Spirit of Envy Strife Back-biting Jeering Scoffing Uncleanness Vanity Oppression Killing and the like to bear sway in their Minds and reign in their Hearts such cannot make any pleasant Harmony but altogether the contrary a most unpleasant Noise burthensome to themselves and the whole Creation But by the way it is to be further considered that there is no possibility that any should obtain that sublime State of Unity and Concord and to have Peace and Good-will for the whole Creation except there be a continual Self-denial no Observations or Medium tho they be agreeable seemingly to Scripture will do Men must not stand still in the Wilderness but press on towards Perfection in perseverance Many in this Age have been taught this by woful Experience At first when the Day did begin to dawn and the Star of God's Eternal Love to shine in them whereby they saw the Errors of their Ways whence did arise Self-denial and Scruples as to the Modes and Customs of Egypt and the vain Multitude If such had not stood still and fixed themselves in some outward Forms but followed like the Ancient Sages of the East the Conduct of that heavenly Star till they arrived at the place where the Child Iesus was born they might have travelled without stop or hindrance through the unequal ways of this World and the Heathenish Customs thereof and arrived at the Coelestial Canaan a Land flowing with Milk and Honey and entred into the ravishing Harmonies of the New Ierusalem But too many after a few Steps in this Holy Iourney having denied themselves the Superfluities and Vanities of the World as some would not eat Flesh because it could not be procured without breaking the Harmony and Unity of Nature and doing what one would not be done unto and refrained many sorts of Plays and Vain Exercises and Riding in Coaches and Chariots and unnecessarily on Horses for fear Pride should get the Dominion going on Foot being generally esteemed Poor and Base as tho the Creator had not given Man Feet and Legs for that use and also were wary of gratifying their sensual Appetites with various sorts of Meats and Drinks both in Quantity and Quality but because they did not persevere but looked back towards Sodom and AEgypt became Pillars of Salt and fell in the Wilderness And the Reason is they gave themselves liberty and so went back by degrees and before they were sensible were again ensnared and entangled in the Vanities of the World and so deprived of those blessed Talents which before they enjoyed A wise consciencious Scruple and Self-denial are always the fore-runners of true Wisdom if diligently pursued and improved being the ways by which the Spirit of God hath dealt with Man in all Ages thereby giving him a right Understanding and Distinction of what things are good wholsome and profitable and what not And this tenderness hath generally the greatest power and vigour in the beginning as all that have travelled in this way can witness but in process of time if there be not great Diligence used this Divine Seal becomes defaced and the Scruple grows less and less and a certain Freedom appears to the Understanding which is the only time of Trial and the hour of Temptation Most lose ground when they come to this state by purposing to themselves the using of those things moderately and
temperately which formerly they have spent in superfluity and of late have altogether declined but with Colour of using moderately many are ensnared and by degrees led again into Captivity It being for Example more difficult to drink Wine with a just Moderation than to drink no Wine at all And 't is the part of a wise Man if he sees an hundred things lawful to deny himself of ninety of them being certain of this that every inferior thing a Man toucheth or communicateth with has a special Power and natural Inclination to beget its own property and by degrees enslave the more noble Properties in Man Therefore 't is safer to deny ones self many of those things that are lawful and mean as well as those things that are not because Men has Power either by Sense or Understanding to hinder the Influences and Spiritual Impressions of Nature if he shall joyn himself to any thing whether it be Meats Drinks Imployments or Communications there being no Caviates that can prevent those Inconveniences but only Scruple and Self-denial which has been and alone is the first step and also the last to all Virtue and Wisdom He that can regulate himself and his Imaginations Words Communications Meats Drinks and Imployments may preserve his Spirit pure and potent and make his Soul thereby an unpolluted Temple of God which is the Supream Musick attainable where all the various Forms do incorporate and imbrace each other in an holy Consort of Love and where there is no despising envying or persecuting of one another because they are of different Forms Shapes Figures Complexions Inclinations or Understandings of which Vocal and Instrumental Harmony is a true Similitude Therefore it is much to be pitied that those that are Players on Instruments and skilled in Musick be not more Temperate Sober Grave and Wise for the wicked Wantonness and vain Lives of some of them have brought a Scandal on Musick and most People being ignorant of the Nature and Eccellency of Harmony have charged Musick as tho that had been the chief Cause of those Evils some of them have committed against God Themselves and the Law of Nature But this is a grand Mistake for the Original Cause of all Evil and Sin proceeds from a Man 's own Lusts and Passions and not from any outward thing 'T is true Man hath the two Seeds and Tinctures in himself and as he shall give his Will up unto either Evil or Good so he has power to attract unto himself either Virtue or Vice out of all things and also to use them either to the Praise of his Creator or profit of himself or the contrary as the Apostle saith Unto the Pure all things are Pure but to the perverse the contrary for the Lord appears to every Man either in his Love or Anger according to what Principle he hath suffered his Will to enter into as the Scripture saith That the Lord is an angry jealous God and a consuming Fire And yet again it saith That he is a merciful gracious God full of Love and Pity and will shew Mercy unto the third and fourth Generation of those that fear his Name and live in Unity Therefore Musick is not at all to be contemned or slighted for the badness of some that pretend to its outward Practice for they still are Strangers to its inward Power and Efficacy For Concord and Harmony are the best Accomplishments and sublimest Gifts that can be attained in this World the pleasures of Time and Eternity enduing both Soul and Body with perpetual Health it being that happy state which Man and all other Creatures do travel with great Desires and Groanings to be delivered unto even that holy Unity whence all proceeded But Unity Concord and Intellectual Harmony have hardly any thing in the hearts of Men for if they had then there would be Peace and Love not only amongst Men but to the whole Creation for that Paradisical State in this World which many have hoped to see and do expect shall come viz. that all Mankind shall live in perfect Love Concord and Harmony can never be expected to come to pass except Men do take other Measures than hitherto they have done For before any can attain to such a blessed harmonious Condition he must first live in the Observation of God's Law in the outward Nature for the greater cannot be understood if the lesser be not put into practice Man cannot by his Prayers move the Lord in his holy Fountain of Love except he lives in the Power and Operation of the same Fountain nor can attract the sweet Influences of the Elements and Coelestial Bodies any other way but by living and observing the simple innocent Law of Nature For this cause those that live under the Dominion of the Spirit of Discord Pride Envy and Contention their Devotions cannot move the Lord in this principle of his Love and Mercy but on the contrary moves him in the stern Wrath and therefore is said to be an Abomination unto him For this Reason there ought to be more care in every one to know what Spirit reigns in the hidden Ground of the heart than about outward Forms Every one that feareth God and worketh Righteousness saith the Apostle is accepted of the Lord who makes no difference of Forms for every Form is either Good or Evil as the People are either Virtuous or the contrary Therefore it is highly necessary for every one to study the knowledg of himself that he may understand the differences of Spirits and from what Fountain or Property every Thought Word and Work does proceed and to recommend and promote such Self-study and Heart-knowledg is the scope of this whole Treatise which being once attained unto a Man may be able to correct himself and Tune his own Instrument whence will proceed Concord Love and Harmony without which there is no Satisfaction either in this World or that which is to come For to fear God and keep his Commandments is the true Musick which all Mankind ought to be skill'd in and practise This is both the Glory and the Happiness the Ioy and Solace of created Beeings the celebrated Musick of the Spheres the Eocho of Heaven the Business of Seraphims and the Imployment of Eternity Amon. FINIS A DIALOGUE Between an East-Indian Brackmanny OR Heathen-PHILOSOPHER AND A French-Gentleman Concerning the Present Affairs in EUROPE LONDON Printed for D. Newman and R. Baldwin at the King 's Arms in the Poultrey and near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane 1691. A Dialogue between an East-Indian Brackmanny or Heathen Philosopher and a French Gentleman c. Heathen SIR I will not be so inquisitive as to ask what Accident or Occasion brought you into these Oriental Regions Be it either Curiosity or Business a natural desire of improving your Understanding or intension of Commerce I speak you heartily welcome and shall to my power be ready to serve you esteeming it both my Duty and my Happiness to