the last doe conuert themselues from the Deuill to God so God bee thanked this Weapon-Salue his Aduersarie led rather by a good Spirit then his owne will concludes truely and saith that it is not the good Angels and therefore much lesse the Deuill that can doe such a feate but God onely I reioyce at his conuersion though against his will Loe how he accordeth with his great enemy that damned Magitian Paracelsus as he tearmeth him who affirmed that it was Donum Dei As concerning his authors which he citeth against it I esteem them not there are as many for it of a better authority and Iudgement For they are neither your Schoolemen who deale onely in imaginary speculatiue Philosophy nor Ioanâ—…es Roberti the Iesuit and such like phantasticall Theorickes but learned Physicians great Philosophers both theorically and practically profound in the mysteries of nature and therefore the fitter persons to discusse a businesse of this physicall nature Amongst the which I nominat in the first place the Bishop Anselme who for his integrity deepe learning and holâ—…nesse of life is canonized a Saint and then amongst the deepe Philosophers and Physicians which haue been conversant in the Mysteries of God and nature Theophrastus Paracelsus who tearmes it iustly Donum Dei Cardanus Ioannes Bapista Porta Oswaldus Collius Ioannes Ernestus Burgrauius Rodulphus Goclinius Ioannes Baptista ab Helmont and many other excellent and well experimented Philosophers Physicians who as well by the practicall art of Alchymy then which there is no Science in the world that doth more ocularly bewray and discouer the hidden mysteries of Nature as other assiduall obseruations grounded vpon proofe and not on imaginary contemplation onely haue like true philosophers diued into this mystery of healing Men I say who haue beene as subtill to eschew and wary to foresee the Diuels craft yea and to distinguish his act from that of God in Nature as Master Foster or any other of his paedagogicall Rabbies And although some superstitious Physicians of this kingdome such I meane as are apter rashly to iudge this businesse then to ponder it with due consideration may seeme to bee aduerse vnto it yet they cannot choose but know that Plura latent quam quae patent there are many thousand things more that are hidden in the secret closet of nature then commonly man doth know or can at the first discerne And therefore if they are ignorant in this myâ—…ery it will prooue an effect of their highest wise-dome to hold their peace and not meddle in the censuring of it as being assured that there are many things hidden in Nature which fall not in the spheare of their capacity verbum Sapienti Againe I esteeme it a thing fit for freshwater Souldiers in Philosophy and not for a settled person in the secrets of nature to say Ipse dixit this man or that man saith or writeth thus and thus Ergo it is so because humanum est errare Ti 's most familiar euen in the wisest men to erre but it is the best wisdome in a Philosopher first to diue wisely into the Mysteries of God in Nature and then being confident to conclude demostratiuely and not according to other mens sayings but on his owne knowledge Now seeing Master Foster hath done his worst for the vilifying and calumniating of this excellent Medicine vnto which by manner of opposition I haue as yet but superficially and by way of solution of his obiections answered I hope you will giue mee leaue to doe my best to squeese out of his formidable Sponge the Weapon-Salues reputation which like a cormorant it hath deuoured and sucked vp The Question Whether the cure of wounds by the Weapon-Salue bee witchcraft and vnlawfull to be vsed I deny it and maintaine it two manner of wayes First Theologically Lastly Theophilosophically or by the purest naturall Philosophy CHAP. II. Herein the vertue and good operation of the Weapon-Oyntment is prooued to be the Gift of God and not any act of the Diuell MAster Foster saith that Paracelsus affirmeth the vertue of this medicine to bee Donum Dei the Gift of God wherefore hee is very angry with him and called him a witch a Coniurer and a Magitian Hee is well serued that will preach goodnesse either to a mad man or an vnthankfull person or to one that is zealous without vnderstanding But whereas Master Foster hath done his best to proue the vse of this ointment to bee Magicall prestigious and Diabolicall I hope I shall demonstrate the contrarie vpon the same foundations ascribing the due and right belonging vnto God vnto the right owner and depriuing the Diuell of that which by his instruments he hath falsely vsurped As before we presume to build any stately Palace wee must lay a strong foundation to vphold the whole fabricke thereof euen so before we enterprize to establish or reare a strong Castle of defence to serue as a firmer Negatiue opposition against mine Aduersaries affirmation I thinke it fit to collect some firme grounds or spirituall arguments which in lieu of corner stones may statuminate and prop vp the whole truth of the proposed Question and expresse the true resolution of it to bee cleane adverse and different from that which he maketh shew of I will therefore imitate him in making my entrance into this enquiry with this Sillogistical argument grounded on his owne confession which he maketh Pag. 7. The Angels of Heauen saith he cannot worke at such a distance onely God whose Essence is infinit and is omnia in omnibus all in all can worke thus If God therefore worketh all in all by himselfe without the essentiall Assistance of any created spirit or body then the Diuell is no Actor in the Weapon Salue but God worketh all in all of himselfe without the essentiall Assistance of any creature Therefore the Diuell operateth nothing of or by himselfe although he in his office is euill and destructiue much lesse in doing good as is supposed by the curing through the Weapon-Salue which is vtterly against his condition being created or ordained after his fall for another vse The Maior is euident because a Generall comprehendeth euery particular And therefore if God operateth all in all then the Diuell operateth nothing but curing is an operation and therefore a worke onely of God The Minor or the assumption is iustified by the Apostle in these words There are diuersitie of gifts but the same spirit and there are diuersitie of Administrations but one Lord and there are diuersitie of operations but one God and the same worketh all in all It is by one and the same spirit that the gifts of healing are giuen Whereby it is apparent that first God by his Spirit operateth all in all and among those operati-ons the excellent act and gift of healing is numbred Therefore it is not the Diuell but God who onely healeth Againe the prophet saith He sent his Word and healed them And the wise man saith
spirit of the lesser world or man For the selfe-same spirit that viuifieth the ayre in the great world after a foure-fold fashion bringeth forth the very same effects in the lesser which I proue in this manner The Prophet saith A quatuor ventis adueni ô spiritus perflato interfectos istos vt reuiuiscant c. Come O spirit from the foure winds and breath vpon these flaughtered persons that they may liue againe and the breath came into them and they liued and they stood on their feet By which words wee may gather these foure things First that it was one onely Spirit which was indued with the property of the foure winds according to whose variety in properties the foure winds were animated with contrary natures that they might worke after a foure-fold manner in the Catholike element of the world to effect the will of the Creator in any manner whatsoeuer Next that this Spirit which is the essentiall actor and mouer in the winds was that incorruptible spirit of the Lord by the which hee vseth according to that of the Apostle to viuifie all things and vnto that of the Prophet dare â—…atum populo spiritum calcantibus terram to giue breath vnto the people and a spirit to all that trace on the earth or vnto that of Iudith emittere spiritum creare omnes creaturas to send foorth his spirit and to create by it all creatures or according to that of Esdras Spiramine suo facere omnia serutinare â—…mnia in absconditis terrae to make all things by his breath and to search out by it all things that are in the bowells of the earth or according vnto that of Iob Apponere homini animam suum cuilibet creaturae nam fi spirituÌ„ seuflatum suuâ—… ad se reciperet veltraheret omnis caro expirato giue man his spirit of life and to euery creature for if God should receiue or draw vnto himselfe his spirit all flesh would expire And therefore in this place when the dead bodies should arise againe hee commanded the Prophet to say Come spirit from the foure winds as if hee should say Come O thou Catholike and Vniuersall spirit of life of the world and doe thy office in viuifying and making the dead to liue againe Thirdly that this same spirit is it by which the Apostle doth acknowledge that God worketh all in all sometimes giuing life by taking away the killing Northerne cold and dissoluing the deadly or immobil congelation of spirits which did stupifie them as it were with the sleepy and restfull enchantment of Morphaeus by his Southerne or Easternely properties which is to liquifie resolue and giue a new motion and life to spirits congealed and stupified by the Northern property and therefore Dauid saith in the foresaid Text Emittit verbunâ—… liquefacit ista simul ac efflat ventum suuÌ„ effluunt aquae Hee sendeth forth his Word and melteth them as soone as hee bloweth forth his wind the congealed and as it were dead waters â—…oue and flow againe whereby we ought to obserue that it is Gods Word or his incorrupble spirit which animateth the winds Fourthly that the very selfe-same spirit which viuifieht and giueth life and motion vnto the great worlds spirit and at his pleasure by a contrary property killeth stupifieth ceaseth to act by life motion congealing mortally doth performe the very selfe-same office when the will of the Father is in the Catholike spirit of the little world or man yea in euery creature And therefore Iob saith It is God that wounâ—…eth or striketh and it is he that cureth the reason heere hee sheweth in the place before mentiened as also wee may find in Deuteronomy I will kill and I will make aliue againe and Salomon saith Thou hast the power of â—…fe and death in thine hand Thou bringest vnto the graue and bringest backe againe and the Sonne of Syrach Vita mors bonum malum à Deo sunt Life and death good and euill are from God Wherefore as this secret and mysticall spirit hath breathed into the dead a blast of life so that very blast or breath is essentially of the nature property and Will of the Breather which was to make aliue by a quickning and not a stupifying spirit and thereupon created spirits which were before congealed and mortified became now quickned and liuely and were closed in an externall body and in an ayery or bloody vehicle which by vertue of this quickning blast his spirit did moue in the channels or veines and arteries being animated by the vertue of that spirit of life And this is the reason that God did ordaine so strict precepts touching the blood of the creatures as is said before namely that it should not be eaten as is aboue related because in it is the spirit of life or the soule of the creature in which is the spirituall vertue of the foure winds For in this action of life hee exerciseth the very same property in the heart of the creature or little world as hee doth in the heauenly sunne of the great world For as the Sunne is hot operating by rarefaction and exciting vnto motion and therefore reuiuing and multiplying as well in vegetation as in generation graines plants and other animated things of the earth powring downe from aboue the beames of life and light vnto the inferiour creatures euen so this incorruptible spirit or blast of life thus infused into man is the spirituall Sunne of the little world who maketh the heart which represents the body of the celestiall Sunne his Tabernacle from which by the arteries and vaines he sendeth forth his beames and animateth the vniuersall spirit of mans fabrick and maketh the blood agill fluent and liuely euer mouing and operating vnto the nourishment and preseruation of the members as well with naturall as vitall spirits cauâ—…ng both corporall and spirituall vegetation and multiplication of parts in euerie specificall bodie But now that I may in this place touch in few words though somewhat allaterally Master Fosters Aristotelicall limited spheare of Actiuity which the old Schoolemen haue so tumbled and tossed in their externall Phantasies without any centrall regard vnto this true and essentiall viuifying and vegetating spirits dilatiue or contractiue power I would faine know whether any worldly philosophicall Axiome can conclude or limit this princely spirit of the foure Winds which bloweth and breatheth as well in the great world as little when where how farre and at what distance it pleaseth I will first giue an example of his action from each wind in the great world and shew you how it commandeth carrieth and dilateth the spirit of the vegetable Creature Wee can gather and collect the virtuall operation of the vegetable ad distans by no meanes but by the scent as for example Rosemary and Sassaphras c Doe emitt their spirit into the Aire at a proportionated distance more or lesse
of this feate of occult curing and not rather such ingredients as are collected out of mans body being that they are neerer and more familiar vnto their kinde and therefore more benigne and affable vnto it then stranger Medicines as are vegetables or such like If the Reader will well ponder this he will perceiue all that our Sponge-carrier speaketh Pag. 8. is but foppery The Deuill saith he maketh the Mediciner beleeue it is spent by a vertue going to the wound whilst hee skilfull by long experience in all Arts and so in the Art of Medicine doth himselfe secretly apply some other vertuall operatiue Medicine to cure the wound to delude his credulous Mountebankes and makes them beleeue that this Salue which dropped out of the Hangmans bouget hath performed it O wonderous miracle and what getteth the Deuill by that namely to cure a man in that sort whose body and soule is in the hands of the Almighty In maâ—… Iehouae saith Iob est anima omnis 〈◊〉 spiritus 〈◊〉 carnis In the hand of God is the soule of euery creature and the spirit of all flesh Thinkes he that God will leese his owne by so weake and poore a sleight Nay more to giue or grant vnto the Deuill his Word which as Salomon saith 〈◊〉 all things to deceiue himselfe of his owne heritage What The Deuill doe good where no profit vnto him is to be expected And why not then by the virtuall contact of this Medicine being of a neerer consanguinity with man and therefore a more easie Curer then any other Medicine that can worke by any virtuall contact A goodly tale As if a man would perswade me that it is not the Load-stone that draweth the Iron but the Deuill vseth some other creature to doe the deed to coozen and deceiue the Philosopher or Mariner These are but fabulae Inuentions I say of a fantastick braine who to perswade vs vnto his imaginary and no way probable will would make vs beleeue that Castles are built in the Ayre and that we are in all our good actions deluded by the Deuill and that flying with the wings of Master Fosters wit we must needs be wafted on the clouds of error and so in a mist of ignorance forget the blessed workes of our good God and Sauiour and by Master Fosters palpable delusions to acknowledge them to be effected craftily by Gods enemy And how in Gods name hapneth it that the Deuill is become so great a Student in Physick and doth proue so expert in the art of curing who hath employed his whole cunning and bestowed the best fruits of his industry to play the Kill-cow and to destroy A very wonderous thing Master Foster said it ergo must we beleeue it No God forbid But blessed be our Lord God who by emitting forth the benignity of his countenance sendeth onely health where how and vnto whom he list But to proceede CHAP. IIII. This Chapter sheweth Master Fosters error in saying that the soule doth not reside after an hidden manner in the spirits The second attempt of the Sponge against the same Text. Fourthly I deny that the soule resideth after any hidden manner in the spirits The Stoicks indeed held that the spirits were vincula animae corporis but the Peripatetick and Diuines deeme this as needlesse seeing the body is generated for the soule and the soule created for the body and both make the totum compositum What needs there any bonds to fasten them together There is a reciprocall desire to come together at the first and an endeauour after the vnion to keepe together The soule cannot in any kinde depend on or reside in the spirits her instruments but the spirits in the soule c. We squeese once againe in this Argument this swelling and full-gorged Sponge after this manner Though in the precedent I answered sufficiently that point yet must I wring this Sponge a little harder or it will keepe some of the iuyce of verity in his porous paunch I said before that animaesedes was in sanguine and her chiefest vehicle was the humidum radicale as we see that the Spirit of life in the great world did place His Tabernacle in the Sunne of Heauen And againe it is said that the incorruptible Spirit is in all things but this is that spirit which viuifyeth all things and therefore it resideth in the blood and consequently in the spirits which are contained therein after a hidden and mysticall manner As touching the Peripateticks and some 〈◊〉 opinion who hold that it is needlesse there should be a tye betweene the soule and body verily that doctrine is most erroneous and false First because the soule and body are so contrary in complexion vnto one another that except an vnion were made betweene the two extremes it were impossible that they should meet together or if they should or could meete yet the pure and heauenly light of the soule would suddenly forsake the impure and earthly darknesse of the body For how can duo contraria conuenire in vnum Doe we not see that all influences from aboue must haue an ayrie Chariot vehicle or medium to conuey them into bodies and to vnite them together Why did God ordaine and place the Ayre betweene the Heauen and Earth but to serue as a vehicle to vnite celestiall things with terrestriall ones quasi amoris vinculo as it were with the band of loue Can we haue a better proofe hereof in this typicall world then that of the Archetypicall Is not the Father vnited to the Sonne by the Holy Spirit which Saint Augustine calleth and many others Diuinum amoris vinculum The Diuine tye or vnion of loue Now after the Archetypicall image were all things effected both in the little and great world For the Prophet saith By the Word of the Lord the Heauens were fashioned and by the Spirit of his mouth all the vertues of them So that the vertuous vnion or linke which is made betweene the effects of the Word in whom is life and the creature to be viuified is the Good and Incorruptible Spirit by which tye God hath his essentiall relation vnto the creature By this Spirit all the discordant elements are tyed in an vnion and louing consent whereupon it is called Peace and Loue and Concord which beareth as the Apostle saith and sustaineth all things by the Word of his vertue By it weight and proportion is assigned vnto the ayre and the clouds are fastened or hung vp in measure and the waters are tyed so fast in the thicke clouds that they cleaue not To conclude in the great World the Earth and the Heauens are established and linked together by the Word of God as the Apostle Peter telleth vs or else the elements would be continually at warre And by the same reason the soule and the body or Heauen and Earth in the little World are linked together by this intermediate eternall tye or
diuell was ordained for another vse quite contrary vnto the pious and mercifull act of healing The Minor is proued by that which is said already as also the words of our Sauiour are very efficacious for this our purpose For when he had cured one that was both blinde and dumbe and possessed with an euill spirit so that as the Text saith He that was blind and dumbe could see and speake The Pharises said This man casteth out diuells no otherwise then by Belzebub the prince of diuells But Christ answered Euery kingdome diuided against it selfe is brought to naught and euery house or citty diuided against it selfe shall not stand so if Satan cast out Satan hee is diuided against himselfe Whereby it is cleare that being all diseases as well internall as externall are by Gods decree inflicted by the diuell and his angels as being created ministers by which and in which God vseth to execute vengeance and to punish mortall creatures It were a wrong vnto the Office assigned vnto him in or immediately after his creation to worke violence against his owne subiects by casting them out or curing the harmes they haue effected Wee haue many places in holy writ to confirme that Satan and his angels are contrary to the Art of curing and are alwayes ready to hurt with sicknesses and afflict with death but we câ—…not find one to testifie any curing faculty in him As for example It is sayd that there was power assigned vnto the foure Angells which were by God made presidents of the soure Windes to hurt the earth the Sea and the trees Now euery one of these were Princes of many Legions of euill and wounding spirits Againe the Prophet saith God commeth from the South the heauens were couered with his glory and the earth was full of his praise at his feet was death or as S. Ieremy haâ—…h it Egredietur diabolus ante pedes eius the diuel â—…ill goe forth before his feete but other interpreters say the pestilence went before him and the contagion raging and destroying in the South And Dauid saith Doe not feare the plague raging in the South as some interpreters haue it But S. Ierome saith a Daemonia meridiano from the Dâ—…on or spirit of the South We find that it was Satan that was Gods Instrument or Organ by which hee wrought his will on Iob and thereupon hee said to his Creator Lay thou but thy hand vpon him c. by which words it may be signified that he vsed more reuerence vnto his Creator in that his acknowledgement then Mr. Foster doth in making this Organ of sickenesse a peremptory and absolute actor as well in the effect of healing as destroying namely of himselfe and not as hee is onely the Organ or Instrument by which God doth essentially worke his owne ends of vengeance against offenders This therefore was he that wounded patient Iob with a foule botch or vlcer and incited in his spirits a fiery feauer which made him thus to cry out in his anguish The arrows of the Omnipotent are grieuous against mee their poyson drinketh vp my spirits and the troubles of God which are sharply set against mee doe oppose mee where hee attributed all vnto God and not vnto Satan who is his wounding Organ Also Dauid saw the destroying angell of the Lord betwixt heauen and earth with a naked sword in his hand extended against Ierusalem who strucke a great many with the pestilence Also Iehoua sent the killing angell into the campe of the Assyrians who destroyed euery valiant man at armes in one nights space Also Moses by the destroying Organ of God vsing in steed of the weapon-curing-salue which was contrary to his office art and skill the aspersion of an infectious powder afflicted the Egyptians with vlcers and pustules Now that it is not the Angelicall Organ but God himselfe in the Organ which doth essentially act and strike it apppeareth by this place where Iehoâ—…a saith Circa mediam noctem ego egressurus ero in medium Aegypti morietur omnis primogenitus about midnight I will goe out into the midst of Egypt and euery first borne shall die But in the next Chapter it is said Iehoua transibit praeter portam illam non sinet interfectorem seu percussorem seu vastatorem domos vestras vastare God will passe ouer that dore and will not suffer the destroyer to strike or hurt your houses Whereby it is apparant that the essentiall Act of God is present with the organicall destroyer and doth act in it Lastly to shew you that it was wicked spirits which by the agitation of their Creator did cause these diseases in Egypt the Kingly Prophet argueth in these words before mentioned Immisit in eos iram in dignationis suae iram tribulatinem per malos angelos Hee sent amongst them the fiercenesse of â—…is anger wrath and indignation by euill angells I can prooue this by many more examples of holy Text namely how God doth punish and plague with sickenesse diseases and death by these his destroying ministers or organicall causes which hee created of set purpose to performe his will in this afflicting manner but it cannot be prooued that hee did imploy them in the contrary office namely in that of healing and curing For when he is pleased to cure or heale he hath an infinity of good Angels to performe that office all which are concluded vnder the dominion of the Archangel Raphael which therefore hath that name Quasi medicina Dei as who should say the medicine of God I must therefore conclude that as the onely act of God is as well to wound as to cure so hath he ordained Instruments or Organs to serue his turne in the execution ofboth these operations which are so contrary one to the other in condition as light is to darkenesse or good to euill Now that it is the act onely of God as well to heale by his good Organs as to strike and wound by his destroying Organs wee learne out of many places of Scripture Si plaga afficiet Iehoua Aegyptum qui plagis afsecit sanat cum conuersi fuerint ad Iehouam If God will afftict Egypt with plagues hee that â—…leth with diseases can againe heale the afflicted when they turne vnto him And yet Dauid confesseth that he did afflict them with euill angels and Iob saith Deusest qui vulnerat medetur percutit sanat It is God that woundeth and cureth he striketh and healeth and yet it was Satan which was Gods hand to act Iobs misery And in another place Ego occidam viuere faciaâ—… percutiam sanabo non est qui de manu mea possit cruere I will kill and I will make to liue I will strike and I will heale and there is not one that can escape my hand And Salomon Tu vitae mortis potestatem habes deducis ad portas infâ—…ni
reducis manum tuam nihil potest effugere Thou hatst the power of life and death in thine hand thou bringest into the mouth of the graue and deliuerest or bringest backe againe Whereby it is manifest that it is onely God who eyther miraculously or by vertue of his creatures which he hath instituted for this or that wholesome purpose that cureth and againe woundeth by the meanes of his organicall ministers be they angelicall or humane As for example hee causeth his Angell Raphiel to make vse of the fish his Liuer and Gall for the chasing away of the destroying Fiend and to heale the blind Tobias Also the Angel did giue the vertue of healing vnto the Lake Bethesdas And againe the Psalmist saith Plag a non appropinquabit tentorium tuum nam Angelis suis praecipiet de te but that by any authority of Text hee made vse of Satan or any of his darke angels to accomplish any such deed of light or to employ any of Gods creatures as are the Fat Blood or Flesh to cure a wounded or vlcerous creature when I can finde it in Scripture I will in some sort beleeue it but because that will proue too long a search for Master Foster and againe I finde the precedent places of Scripture to be generally against it therefore I conclude that the mysticall curing by the Weapon-Salue is the mercifull gift of God only Wherefore vnto him wholly and vnto no diuell in hell be ascribed all vertue power and glory for his mercies in generall and for this vertue and property of healing by the weapon-salue in particular for euer Amen Blessed I say with the Prophet Dauid be the Lord God of Israel who onely worketh all wonders and therefore effecteth this wonderfull manner of curing which passeth mans vnderstanding To him therefore be ascribed for it all praise and honour for euermore CHAP. III. How by an abstruse inquisition made into the mystery of Sacred Philosophy the question proposed concerning the lawfulnesse or vnlawfulnesse of the Weapon-salues vsage is resolued and Mr. Fosters Sponge well squeesed IN this precedent Chapter I haue proued Thelogically and that by pure examples out of Scripture that the diuell was the spirituall Organ ordained by God in the creation for an vse cleane opposite vnto that of curing and healing and therefore it is vnlikely that now in his latter dayes after so many destructions committed by him in his former age hee can become a sauer and healer of diseases Now wil I proue in a more euident manner and that by Sacred Philosophy that Gods viuifying Spirit mouing in the ayry Organ of the World doth by his vertuous application or aspect to the weapon-salue effect the cure of such as are wounded And I call this manner of prouing Theo-philosophicall or belonging vnto Sacred Philosophy because it respecteth the nature of this manner of curing as it receiueth his essentiall act and being from God mouing and acting in and by his created Spiriâ—…uall Organs in and ouer all Of this manner of Philosophy St. Paul speaketh thus Videte ne quis vos decipiat per philosophiam inanem fallaciam secunduÌ„ traditionem hâ—…minum secundum element a mundi non secundum Christum quia in ipso habitat omnis plenitudo diuinitatis corporaliter estis in illo repleti qui est Caput omnis principatus potestatis Beware lest there be any man that deceiue you through philosophy and vaine deceit according to the traditions of men according to the rudiments of the world and not after Christ for in him dwelleth the fulnesse of the God-head bodily and 〈◊〉 are complete in him who is the head of Principalities and Powers By which words hee seemeth to terme the Ethnick philosophy vaine and deceitfull forasmuch as it is framed out according to the rudiments of this world which doe ordaine many essentiall subalternate Agents acting and operating absolutely and simply of themselues without any consideration had vnto the Catholicke and supreme Power of God the Father of all things from whom radically all essentiall actions proceed which are afteward effected by our Lord Iesus Christ by whom all things haue their being and not from any subalternat agent or efficient creature For though they ferue as organicall ministers yet they are but dead except God apeareth and opperateth in them by his Spirit and therefore is all act and operation attributed vnto God as it is proued before by the Apostle saying One God operateth all in all And againe he saith Though there be that are called Gods in heauen and in earth yet vnto vs there is but one God who is the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and wee by him For this cause is God called Alpha and Omeâ—…a the beginning and the end namely as in himselfe he decreeth all and by his Word he essentially operateth and effecteth all and that immediately Now that his very Spirit is in all things the wise Salomon doth intimate expressely saying that the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord is in all things and that from the Spirit of Gods mouth proceedeth the vertues of all things as the Prophet Dauid telleth vs which being so it must consequently follow that the essentiall forme or life of euery Creature in this world must depend on this Spirit and haue his centrall seate of Actiuity in proportion more or lesse from this Agent of Agents who as it acteth in the Center of all things so is it euen continuat vnto the circumference that is from Alpha or the Center vnto Omega or the Circumference for else would there bee a diuision of the diuine Essence which is impossible And for this cause is God said to fill all and to operate all in all wherefore the Apostle concludeth as before that the Ethnick Philosophy framed out by the tradition and inuention of mans wisdome is false and deceitfull but that which is founded onely vpon Christ is to bee embraced because that in him dwelleth the fullnes of Diuinity which operateth all in all according vnto the will and decree of his Father who is the head of all Potestates and principalities and consequently of all Angels And therefore Angels can effect nothing but as he acteth in them and by them as his spirituall Organs Loe this is therefore that Theosophicall subiect whereby I make my strickt Inquisition into the mystery of this manner of healing by the Weapon-Salue And thus much for a preamble to the discourse Now to the purpose Wee must obserue in the cure done by this Weapon-Salue three principall things namely the partie wounded the Oyntment curing and lastly the occulte actiuity which raigneth in the blood and issueth from the blood vnto the Oyntment The party wounded may rightly be compared to the world and therefore is called a little world he is composed of heauen and earth namely of spirit and body
and as the Creatour did send out his Spirit which moued vpon the waters and did informe animate and viuifie them so that as St. Peter saith of them and by them were the heauens and the earth framed and by this spirituall Word established vnto this day euen so mans heauen and his earth are fashioned out by the same eternall spirit of life on which it relyeth and continueth in his specificall succession euen vnto this very day And therfore is it said Ye are carued out of one and the same Spirituall Rocke and that In him wee line wee moue and haue our Being and that we are the Temples of the Holy Ghost and the Members of Christ and that We are in God the Father and by our Lord Iesus Christ as it is rehearsed before and that Regnum Dei sit intra nos The Kingdome of God is within vs Neither let vs ascribe this Gods goodnesse to our selues alone since that it extendeth it selfe to euery Creature besides though not so abundantly For in Verbo erat vita in the Word was life and Iudith saith in her prayer Seruiat Dcâ—…omnis omnis Creatura quia dixisti factae sunt misisti Spiritum tuum creatae sunt Let euery Creature serâ—…e thee O Lord because thou spakest the Word and they were made thou didst send forth thy spirit and they were created And the Prophet saith Haec dicit Deus creans coelos extendens eos firmans terram quae germinant in ea dans flatum populâ—… qui est supraeam spiritum calcantibus eam Thus saith the Lord who hath created the heauens and extended them and fastned the earth and all things that grow out of it who giueth breath vnto the people that is vpon it and spirit to those Creatures that tread vpon it And King Dauid Deo dante Creaturis colliguâ—… abscondente faciemsuam perturbantur recipiente spiritum eorum exspirant emittente spiritum suum receantur God giuing to the Creatures they receiue it hiding his face from them they are troubled taking back againe from them their spirit they dye and sending forth his spirit they are recreated or reuiued And Iob hominâ—…m constituit Deus super terram apponens ad â—…am animam suam si spiritum seu flatum eius adse reciperet deficeret exspiraret omnis caâ—… simul â—…omo in cinerem reverteretur God made man vpon earth giuing vnto him his soule or life If he should receiue or draw vnto himselfe his spirit or breath of life all flesh would dye and also man would returne to ashes By all these authorities we are taught that the life forme and nature of euery Creature doth essentially spring and proceed from God and therefore what gift of healing is found to proceed either from compounded or simple medicines be they Angelicall Celestiall Elementall or of an Animall Vegetable or minerall composition it proceedeth from their Creatour as being either bestowed vpon them in their Creation for that wholesome purpose or else miraculously and beyond the common course of Nature imparted vnto some Creatures to effect And therefore man ought not rashly to condemne a medicine because it worketh after an other manner then the vulgar doth For God hath allotted vnto some medicines occult hidden properties and therefore worke they not by an externall and euident elementarie qualitie And this occult vertue is called by some wise men Angelicus actus qui est tanquam inter Deum Naturam virtus media à quâ fiunt operationes in rebus quâ—…s natura earum vel non faceret vel sic faceret quas alij dicuut prouenire a proprietate occulta alij quia tales An Angelicall act which is as it were a middle vertue betweene God and nature whereby operations are effected in things which the elementarie Nature of them could not performe or would so bring to passe as they which are said by some to proceed of an occult quality and others quia sunt tales And such was the effect in curing by the water of the poole of Bethesdas not that the manifest elementary quality of the water did it But the Act of the Angell which mooued it In like manner can no man expresse any naturall reason that is manifest for the attraction of the Iron by the Loadstone or of straw by Amber or why the Loadstone looketh towards the North or why the Laurell or Baytree preserueth from the harmes of lightning and thunder and likewise how directly this cure is effected c. The causes of these things are occult and hidden vnto the common philosopher but to come a little neerer to the point It is apparant then that the incorruptible Spirit is in all things but most abundantly next vnto the great world in the little world called man For as in the great world God is said rightly by Ierome his translations leauing the corruption of others to haue put his Tabernacle in the Sunne from whence by a perpetuall and neuer dying motion hee sendeth forth life and multiplication to euery member and creature of the great world and by the agility of his Spirit for Salomon saith It is omni re mobilior the most moueable of all things hee moueth and giueth life vnto the whole Spirit of the world which also the same wise man doth iustifie in these words Sol gyrans à meridie flectitur ad Aquilonem lustrans vniuersain circuitu pergit spiritus The Sunne mouing from the South bendeth toward the North illuminating the whole world the spirit or ayre of it doth moue circularly Whereby hee argueth that the spirit in the Sunne animateth and giueth motion life and spirit vnto the ayrall spirit of the whole world for without his assiduall motion and act as Aristotle and all other Philosophers confesse the ayre would soone be corrupt and be as it were dead and of no validity for the reason heereof the holy Text concludeth that the Holy spirit of discipline filleth the whole world So also and in the very like manner the same incorruptible spirit filleth the little world est enim Templum Spiritus Sancti it is the Temple of the Holy Ghost and hath put his Tabernacle in the heart of man in which it moueth as in this proper macrocosmicall Sunne in Systole and Diastole namely by contraction and dilatation without ceasing and sendeth his beames of life ouer all the whole frame of man to illuminate giue life and circular motion vnto his spirit And thereupon the Apostle reciprocally saith of this little world as in another place of the great one In Deo viuimus mouemur sumus In God we liue moue and haue our being also as this abstruse spirit doth giue heate by his actiuity and essentiall motion vnto the great world the very same it doth effect in the little world and all things else when it doth not quiescere or in se delitescere that is not rest or withdraw
Spirit of God by whom wee liue moue and exist All this Mercurius Tresmegistus that diuine Philosopher seemeth to confirme in these words Anima hominis in hunc vehitur modum mens in anima anima in spiritu spiritus in corpore Spiritus per venas arteriasque sanguinemque diffusus animal vndique ciet Mans soule is carried in this manner the mentall beame is carried in the soule the soule in the spirit or ayre the spirit in the body The Spirit being dispersed through the veynes and arteryes doth stirre vp and moue the liuing creature in euery part These things being thus euidently proued out of holy writ we will now proceed vnto a greater mystery concerning the double propertie of this Spirit of life in both worlds that thereby we may demonstratiuely come by little and little vnto the very point or perfect resolution of the question in hand That eternall Lord God who is all one and the same Spirit because of an indiuisible Essence is he that viuifieth the Creature and againe taketh away the life of it at his pleasure as hath been prooued already for that he operateth all in all according to the Apostles words and meruaile not though I say hee worketh contrary effects although he be but one indiuisible Essence for these are the words of Salomon Spiritus Disciplinae sanctus est vnicus seu simplex multiplex c. The Spirit of Wisdome is one and simple and yet manifold simple in himselfe but manifold in operation And doth not Dauid acknowledge so much when he saith Deo emittente spiritum suum recreantur Creaturae abscondente faciem suam conturbantur recipiente Spiritum eorum exspiâ—…ant c God sending forth his Spirit recreateth the Creatures but at the hiding of his face they are troubled and when he receiueth or taketh vnto him their spirit they dye c. Touching the first member of this axiom of Dauid he proueth it else-where thus Vita aaesâ—… beneuolentiâ Iehoâ—… Life proceedeth from the benignity of Iehoua Vitae restaurator est Iehoua Iehoua is the Giuer of life Vitae meae Fontes omnes à Deo all the Fountaines of my Life are from God Vitae prolongatio est Benignitasâ—… Iehouae the prolongation of of Life is the Benignitie of Iehoua Whereupon it is euident that the Spirit of God is the immediate Creatour Actor Preseruer and Multiplier of Life As for the second Member thus much Deus malos relinquit abscondit faciem sâ—…am ab iâ—…ys vt obveniant â—…s mala multa angustiae God leaueth the wicked and hideth his face from the impious that euill and necessity may encomber them Sic increpare solet mortales in lectulo thus doth hee chide and punish mortalls in their beds as Iob hath it Thus did hee send his plagues vpon the Egyptians Thus made hee Ieroboams hand to wither Thus did he strike with leprosie Miriam Arons Sister Thus did hee afflict with the Hemorrhoides the Ashdedomans Thus laid he the plague on Ezekias namely by hiding or with-holding his Spirit And againe by emitting his beames of life he recouered him And therefore saith Dauid Vitae hominis spatium est miserum absque benignitate Iehouae The space of a mans life is miserable without the benigne Presence of God For hee that is sicke seemeth to be still dying Now to the last clause of the aforesaid text of Dauid God said when hee perceiued the wickednesse of men Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine in aeternum quia caro est eruntque dies illius centum viginti annorum My Spirit shall not remaine perpetually in man because he is flesh and his dayes shall bee an hundred yeeres and twenty And Iob saith as before Hominem const ituit Deus super terram apponens ad â—…m animam suam si spiritum seu flatum eius ad se reciperet vel traheret deficeret exspiraret omnis Caro simul homo in cinereâ—… reuertetur God made man vpon earth giuing vnto him his soule or life if hee should receiue or draw to himselfe his spirit or breath of life all flesh would faile and dye and man also together with them would returne vnto ashes And againe Spiritus Dei fecit me inspiratio omnipotentis â—…ficauit me The Spirit of God made me and the breath of the omnipotent did viuifie mee For this reason therefore the aforesaid action of Dauid shall be the maine foundation on which I will rely as well in my proofe as also to shew the various properties of this diuine and incorruptible essence in the spirit of both the worlds and I will prooue vnto you euidently that as this spirit worketh in the greater world so also in euery respect it bringeth foorth the like effects in the lesser Wee finde that it is but one spirit in the great world though in a contrary propertie that animateth foueefoldly the foure winds which are sent from the foure corners of the earth to blow and thus I proue it Deus edit glaciem flatu suo flante Deo concrescit gelu seu glacies coarctatur superficies aquarum God by his breath procureth Ice when hee bloweth from the North hee maketh the Ice to congeale and grow together and doth contract or straighten the superficies of the waters into Ice And the Kingly Prophet more pertinently Deo imittente sermonem suum in terram quà m celerimè excurrit verbum qui niues dispergit sicut lanam pruinam quasi cineres deâ—…cit gelu suum tanquam frusta coram frigore eius quis consist at Emittit verbum suum liquefacit ista simul ac 〈◊〉 ventum suum effluuntaquâ—… God sending forth his Word vpon earth it runneth swiftly which spreadeth the snow as wooll vpon the earth and the froâ—…t like ashes and casteth downe the Ice as gobbets who is able to resist his cold hee sendeth forth his Word and melâ—…eth these congealed bodies againe so soone as hee bloweth foorth his Wind the congealed waters moue and flow againe Here it is euident that the diuine Spirit is the essentiall actor in this Northern blast which is an enemy to the act of life For as God did emit and send forth the beames of his light from the infinit fountaine of his being to chase away cold by dilatation of spirits and to breede a hot humidity in the spirit of the world thereby to inact it with life and motion and to make those spirits fluent and actiue which before were congealed with the power of his contracting property that is opposite vnto the other so againe by the priuatiue Agent or his Boreall attribute and property which is cold hee contracts dilated spirits and maketh them of moueable fixe of light transparent dark and opack of liuely spirits substances without life of liquid and fluid vnmoueable and congealed and in conclusion motus is so turned into quies motion I say into rest actus
into potentiam act into puissence positio into priuationem position into priuation But contrariwise when he meanes to reuiuifie and as it were cause the dead spirit of the world to rise or reuiue againe he sendeth out a Southerne spirit or blast of a cleane contrary property namely a wind whose nature is hot and moyst and therefore in the consequence of the foresaid Text it is said he sendeth out his word and melteth all these so soone as hee bloweth forth his wind the waters and spirits which were made dead spisse fixe congealed and opack are beocme aliue moueable fluent subtill and diaphanous or transparent If Mr. Foster like none of these testimonies I will yet goe a little further and make an ocular demonstration to proue it thereby the better to perswade him if hee will be pliable vnto her who is the mother of fooles namely experience Let him but looke therefore vpon the Kalander glasse an Instrument commonly knowne amongst vs here in England called by others the weather glasse and hee shall see that the ayre contained in it will be contracted and thickned by cold and to proue thus much hee shall finde the water to be drawne vp by so many degrees in the neck of the glasse as the externall cold hath dominion in the ayre which proueth euidently that cold doth contract the dilated ayre in the glasse from a larger roome into a straighter and consequently that the ayre is thicker and neerer to congelation fixation and rest then it was before Contrariwise hee shall finde that the ayre included feeling the heate of the externall ayre by little and little to get dominion ouer the cold will dilate it selfe and by dilatation is made more mobill subtill and liuely and therefore requireth a larger capacity as is ocularly proued thus namely because the water is strucke down by so many degrees lower by how many the externall heate doth vanquish the cold in the ayre But perchance my aduersary will say What haue we to doe with this These are naturall conclusions and not belonging to Gods act or property And how proue you that the other winds are the essentiall acts of God To this I say That if God operateth all and in all then this operation in the glasse much more that in the winds is the act of God and as wee finde that the incorruptible spirit doth moue and operate two manner of contrary wayes namely from the center to the circumference by â—…manation and dilatation by the which meanes it stirreth of it selfe who is the center of all things whose circumference is no where but comprehendeth all circumferences or bodies and maketh them to exist and liue so also this vniuersal centre contracting it selfe in it selfe maketh ' all things in act potentiall of a liuing creature a dead carcasse of an agill and mobill thing a stupid and vnmoueable one Lastly of an actuall positiue something a potentiall priuatiue nothing Wee see it plainely persormed according vnto the precedent Text of Dauid in the spirit of the world for as much as it is altered from one forme to his opposite according vnto the variety of the property or wil of him which is the internall agent of all the world The incorruptible spirit of the Lord saith Salomon is in all things If in al things then as it is the most worthy and of the highest digty and the most mobill and operatiue spirit of all spirits it worketh centrally and moueth all the externall wheeles of the whole machine of the creature in which it is and consequently operateth à centro ad circumferentiam If it doe quiescere in centro rest in the center all the externall wheeles haue lost their life For it is in him it liueth in him it mooueth and in him it existeth And therefore without he act all is stupid and dead like a senselesse stone as Dauid and Iob haue taught vs. Now to proue that it is this spirit of God which doth agitate and animate the winds we haue many other expresse Texts of Scripture to confirme it The whirle wind saith Iob commeth out of the South and the cold from the North wind at the breath of God the frost is giuen and the breadth of the waters is contracted Againe Ventus profectus a Iehoua abreptas coturnices à mari disseuit ad castra c. A wind proceeding from Iehona did scatter the Quailes which it brought from the sea in the camp Againe Vento tuo flauisti operuit eos mara Thou didst blow with thy breath or wind and the sea couered them Againe flatunarium tuarum coaceruatae sunt aquae The waters are accumulated and heaped together by the blast of thy nostrills And againe Iehoua adduxit ventum Eurum seâ—… Orientalem and God brought an Easterly wind Againe ventum Occidentalem vehementem immisit c. he sent out a vehement Westerly wind Againe ventus procellosus efficiens Verbum Dei the stormy wind doth effect the Word of God Wee doe not say that the wind is the reall breath of God but a created spirit or ayre animated by the increated spirit of the Lord who according vnto the will of him that sent it fooâ—…th doth sometimes contract his vertue in himselfe from the circumference of the creatures spirit and then the creature is dead and vnmoueable and starke cold for want of the warme and comfortable act of this spirits emanation from the centre to the circumference according to the words of Daâ—…ids former Text Deo abscondente faciem suam à creaturis conturbantur recipiente spiritum coruâ—… expirant God hiding his face from the creatures they are troubled and resuming his spirit againe they dye that is if in part he contracts himselfe or hides the viuifying beâ—…s of his countenance they are sicke and troubled but if hee withdraw the spirit of life wholly from the circumference of the the creatures spirit into it selfe who is in the centre and euery where vnto the circumference they dye or expire Master Foster may reply what is all this to the purpose of man who is the maine subiect wee haue in hand or what haue wee to doe though God by his Spirit worketh a priuatiue property in the spirit of the world by congealation or contracting it from the spirits circumference vnto the centre leauing the spirit cold destitute of heate congealed immobile and as it were dead and without life and that in his Northerne nature what doth this concerne our matter or what is this to the nature in man or how can it touch the act of curing in our Weapon-Salue I answere that as the selfe-same spirit is the cause of a foure-fold nature in the spirit of the great world and as it causeth death and priuation by his Northerne and congealing blasts and contrariwise life and position by the opposite or the relenting nature of his Southerne property euen the selfe-same operation it affecteth in the created
vnto the Diuell Doe I thinke you doe amisse Was it not I pray you for these very words of Paul that in his Sermon at Athens Demetrius and his crafts men were so much offended with him The Lord saith he who hath made heauen and earth dwelleth not in Temples made with hands netther is worshipped with mens hands as though he needed any thing seeing he giueth to all life and breath and all things and hath made of one blood all mankind c For in him we liue and moue and haue our Being for wee are also his generation For as much then as wee are the Generation of God wee ought not to thinke that the Godhead is like vnto gold or siluer or ston◅ grauen by art and the inuention of man c. This angred Demetrius and his company namely to say that the Godhead is not like vnto gold or siluer grauen by art which if they had suffered no body would haue bought the images of Diana framed by them In like manner this Chirurgicall faction decryes the Weapon-Salue fearing that few wounded persons would trouble them for their cure being that frustra fit per plura quod potest fieri per pauciora it would bee but vaine for a wounded man to bee tormented by flashing eating corrosiues incisions and dolorous tentings of Chirurgions besides great bargaines and compacts for the cures and perchance also little attendance when the immediate Act of God doth operate the ◅ure gratis gently without dolorous tents or grieuous incision and that honestly without an ill conscience seeing that it is Gods Spirit which doth operate as well in the blood as salue For I beseech you obserue the words of Saint Paul which if they moue in some degree the Ephesian siluer-smiths they will much more nettle such couetous Chirurgians as would suffocate and smoother this excellent and diuine vertue in the Weapon-Salue whose originall is ofblood The which words that you may with the better solidity conceiue you must gather or collect out of them these three seuerall things First that the Lord of Lords is hee who hath made heauen and earth whereupon wee collect tha the which hath made heauen and earth is the guider and operatour both in the spirit and body of both the great and little world called man and therefore neither Hag nor diuel can work to the health sustentation or preseruation of either as the consequence shall confirme For the Text saith Hee giueth life breath and all things Next hee hath made all mankind of one blood and spirit And therefore he operateth all in all in mans blood in generall as well to life as health And againe the spirit of the dead mans bones and consequently their excrescence which issued originally out of mans blood in the which in part lurketh Gods Spirit of life hath an homogeniall reference vnto the liuely blood of man for as much as the Text saith that all mankind is made of one blood onely and therefore this vnion of symphoniacall or sympatheticall harmony is not easily to bee limited by Master Fosters phantasticall spheare of actiuity For the text following vnto the Athenians is In him wee liue and moue and haue our Being And lastly that wee are the Generation of God and for that cause Christ did not disdaine to call vs his Brethren and the Sonnes of God Neither is it sufficient to say as these precisians doe that this is ment onely of the Beleeuers and not of the Infidels For Saint Paul at that very time when hee preached this doctrine spake vnto the Idolaters and such as worshiped vnknowne gods and he did let them to know th◅s much namely that they liued moued and had their being in the true God and that this Lord of Lords giueth life and breath and being and that they were all of Gods Generation All this hee truely taught that thereby they might leaue their false gods and betake themselues vnto their right Lord only God from whom by whom in whom they exist and persist in their being as hee declareth else-where Let therefore Demetrius his Goddesse Diana be forgotten and let Fosters healing diuell be depriued from all his imaginary power practice in curing of wounds And lastly let all couetuous Chirurgians expectations be thorowly quashed and disanulled by this inuiolable assertion of the Apostle Though there be that are called Gods whether in heauen or in earth as there be many gods and many lords yet vnto vs there is but one God which is that Father of whom are all things and wee in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him but euery man hath not that knowledge Let M. Foster mark this as who shouldsay though the Ephesian Demetrius with his complices did attribute all power vnto the false Goddesse Diana and Foster the secret maruellous power of healing by the weapon-salue vnto the diuell as the prince of this world without any consideration vnto this Text yet it is certaine that it is God the Father of whom are al things and consequētly this act in curing and by our Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and therefore each blessed gift of healing For Salomon auerreth that it is the Word that cureth all things But saith the Text Euery man hath not this knowledge c. Wherefore Mr. Foster is the more to be blamed to professe the name of Gods Minister and to be ignorant in this point Or at the leastwise if he knew it hee is to be blamed both before God and man to speake so bluntly and against his conscience for any pruiuate companies cause or worldly affection yea it may appeare that hee was troubled in his conscience when hee writ so staggeringly and vnaduisedly touching the originall cause of this cure For first of all pag. 8. he saith that it is not the salue that cureth but the diuell by the secret applications of other medicines In another place namely pag. 17. hee acknowledgeth that the act of curing is the salue but concludeth it to be magicall by reason of the superstitious obseruations in the collection or gathering of the ingrediences and in the anoynting of the weapon Then pag. 39. hee seemeth to auerre that it is the bathing of the wound with Vrin and the keeping it cleane which doth effect this cure whereby hee taketh away all vertue from the salue and acting power from the diuell But pag. 7. hee saith that it is onely God that cureth at such a distance for as much as his essence is infinite and is omnia in omnibus and not any Angell The Gentleman you see is in many minds God amend him and make his head-piece more setled and of a more solid consistence and constant nature or wee shall be troubled heereafter with many words but little substance appertaining to the right matter I heare he threatneth me with a volume of some impieties and I know not what which hee hath found in
Confutation of his into two Branches or Members whereof the first shal produce this question namely Whether Blood Flesh Fat Bones haue any naturall Balsam or radicall moisture residing in them sympathising with the Hypostaticall Balsam remaining with the liuing Man The later containeth this Whether a Horse haue a Balsam sympathising with the Balsam of Man The first of these two is flatly held by M. Foster negatiuely and I in a surer confidence doe hold it affirmatiuely and will proue it first by Naturall Reason secondly by the Authority of Holy writ and lastly by Common Experience In the first place therefore I would haue M. Foster to learne what a Balsamicke nature is before hee thus rashly seeketh to censure the creatures to haue it or to bee without it I must therefore let him know that it is nought else but a volatill and essentiall salt that is full of vegetating and multiplying vertue which it receiueth from aboue as a precious soule to viuifie and animate it the which vertue is that Calidum innatum or Naturall heate by whose vertue euery creature doth exist and the volatile vehicle in which it is carried is that Humidum Radicale or Radicall Moisture or Humidity by which and in which the foresaid vertue doth immediately moue and act vnto life vegetation and multiplication By the operation therefore of these essentiall actiue and passiue Vegetables and Animals doe manifestly and Minerals occultly vegetate and multiply and that as well in their forme or naturall fire as in their substance And for this cause the true Alchymists do cal this mystical Salt Sal Sapientûm the Salt of Wise men for as much as in it consisteth the mystery of Nature And others tearme it the true Balsamum Naturae or Balsam of Nature in which all the Mystery of Nature doth consist Whereupon the wise Philosophers affirme Quod sit in sale isto quicquid quaerunt Sapientes That all that Wise men seeke after is in salt Touching the aëriall part it is the volatile salt which is euery where expansed in the open ayre and it is the purest essence of and in the ayre in which the graine of life is and therefore other Wise men say Est in aëre occultus vitae cibus The hidden food of life is in the ayre c. It is not without a very mysticall and secret cause also that our Sauiour Christ tooke an especiall notice of Salt In one place he saith Sal Terrae estis vos Ye are the Salt of the Earth where hee meaneth the spirituall man in which is the breath of life And againe Sal si euaneurit in quo salietur ad nihilum valet vltra nisi vt mittatur for as conculcetur ab hominiâ—…us If the Salt shall vanish away with what shall it bee seasoned It will be of no further value saue onely to bee cast cut of doores and to be troden on by men Whereby it is euident that nothing can exist or be of any reckoning or estimation without this Mysticall Salt or Glew of Life but will be quite dead and corrupt There is Salt in the very dunghill that giueth life and heart vnto the ground whereby it multiplieth the Graine in a greater proportion and sucketh vnto it more plentifully the Celestiall influence of life To conclude the very essence of the Animall creatures blood in generall consisteth in this Balsamicke Salt By it the body is animated by it the flesh through apposition vnion and agglutination of parts is viuified multiplied and successiuely preserued By this in the bread and the flesh of creatures the blood in man is daily increased in this therefore is the incorruptible spirit of life which keepeth man aliue and defendeth him from corruption and vnlesse it acteth his viuifying office man is quickly rotten or corrupted Doe not Scriptures confirme thus much in many placesâ—… namely that Anima ominis est insanguine That the life of man is in his blood and Anima carnis est in sanguine The life of the flesh is in the blood Now it is certaine that this viuifying Spirit which is Donum Dei cuilibet Creaturae The Gift of God vnto euery Creature as is proued before is the true operator in this his Radicall moist Tabernacle to heale mend and agglutinate wounds being assisted with any application made either by a Reall or Virtuall Contact It followes therefore that this Spirit being in the Blood Fat Bones and Flesh of Man for as much as they doe subsist by it and were first animated and engendered and multiplyed by it doe participate of this Spirit which the Scripture saith doth animate and heale all things Spiritus seu Verbum Dei saith SALOMON sanat omnia The Spirit and Word of God healeth all things But M. Foster will say that this Spirit of life is in the Blood Fat and Flesh when it is not separated from the liue Man but after it is separated it hath no more life or being I haue told him and proued the contrary in my Philosophicall Demonstration For without this Salt and liuing Spirit in it neither Blood Fat Bones nor Flesh could subsist but according vnto that of Christ beâ—…ore mentioned it would be of no vse Againe it is intimated in Holy Writ that the Spirit of life is in their centrall or inward parts though it doth not act or operate but quiescere in Centro rest in the Center as I haue before expressed plainely For else why should it be said Thou shalt altogether forbeare to eate the Blood and the Fat And againe Thou shalt not take in thy meate the blood of the creature And againe The blood of the Beast or Foâ—…le killed in hunting must be powred on the ground and the reason is there giuen namely Because the Spirit of life is in the blood And againe it is said The Soule of the flesh is in the blood Now if the Spirit of life did vanish out of the Blood Flesh Fat and Bones immediately after their separation from the liuing creature what needed all these words or strict precepts for the not eating of the Blood and Fat after the death of the creatures Or why should that reason be giuen Because the soule or life is in the blood or the blood is the seeâ—…e of the soule or life The text doth not say The Blood was the seate of the soule or life but It is namely the subsistence of these parts though separated from the liuing body doe yet participate with the Spirit of life therefore beware that you eate it not I will not here remember you of the viuifying vertue remaining with Elias his Bones which made the murthered body that was by the theeues cast into the Graue of the Prophet rise againe nor that the soules of such as were slaine for the Words sake did cry vnto the Lord from vnder the Altar for vengeance nor that the voyce of the murthered Abels blood did cry out to
did not sympathise but Antipathise the nature of the one would abhorre the nature of the other which experience proueth false Againe that there is a Balsamick nature in a Horse sympathising with that in a man the effect proueth For the effect of a Balsamick nature is to agglutinate wounds and to incarnate and breed flesh and that by a secret vertue of vegetation But the flesh of a Horse doth render his Balsamick suck or iuyce vnto the liuer of a man where it so sympathiseth with the nature thereof that it condenseth it selfe by a homogeneall transmutation into blood and becommeth as fibrous and well compacted as the other humane blood and in conclusion is made all one with it and after that by apposition vnion and assimulation that I may vse Galen his owne words it becommeth mans flesh An infallible argument that the Balsamick nature of these two creatures do consent and sympathise for else they could not make one vnion Thus our sharp-witted Remembrancer may see that I doe not onely say after his fashion but also proue and demonstrate my case so palpably that euery simple person may feelingly perceiue it I come now to such priuate experiments as the Noble Earle aboue-mentioned hath made vpon Horses whereof some haue beene pricked and some wounded or hurt otherwise He was pleased to tell me of many of his Cures as well on his own Horses as on others which by the vertue of this Oyntment hee had performed Now would I faine know whether any person of worth or discretion would rather beleeue that which this Nobleman affirmeth and auowed vpon his owne knowledge and manifold experience or else the threed-bare assertion of M. Foster who would perswade the world and that by his meere asseueration onely without any other proofe or practice that Castles may be builded in the Ayre What shall wee say then shall we call a conuocation of these turbulent incredulous and all-iudging persons to haue it decided whether the Deuill did this Cure to gaine the Horses soule or no Alas their demure worships wil after the due pleading and scanning of the cause finde that his blacke Lordship would not bestow the paines for a soule which is so fading transitory and not immortall as is that of a man after which he so eagerly thirsteth and gapeth But if they reply that he doth it to delude the credulous Mediciner and by that couert meanes to gaine his soule I answer that Frustrà fit per plurâ—… quod fieri potest per pauciora The Mediciner cured many reasonable persons before and would not that suffice the Deuils turne to gaine him but hee must assist him also in curing vnreasonable creatures to make the Obligation for the Practitioners soule the surer I would perchance giue more credit to these bold and high thundering Iudges or condemners and vilifiers of Iehouah's power by attributing that vnto the Deuill which appertaineth vnto him if one man had many soules to lose but who is so foolish to cast the Dice twice for that he hath surely wonne at once By this therefore each wise and iudicious Reader may plainely discerne that M. Fosters Sponge is herein also squeesed for as much as it is most certaine that the naturall Balsam of one Animal doth sympathise with his like in the other by reason that they haue both but one and the same acting vertue and one generall Balsamick spirit in nature and condition which is common vnto euery specifick CHAP. II. Wherein is proued contrary vnto the Sponge-carriers Tenent that mans Bones proceed originally from Blood The naked Assertion of D. Fludds text The Blood is mingled with the Mummy or Flesh the Fat or the Vsnaea or Mosse of the Bones which Blood was the beginning and food of them all M. Fosters Collection These ingredients haue their beginning and aliment from the Blood The act of his mundifying Sponge Secondly I deny that Mans Bones haue their beginning and aliment from Blood For Physicians and Philosophers sâ—…y that they haue their beginning from the grosser seminaryparts and their aliment from Blood or Marrow or both Here the Sponge is squeesed I wonder that my Confuter like the Comediant parasiâ—… sometimes denieth and againe with the same breath affirmeth For first hee denieth that Bones haue their aliment from Blood and then he concludes that they haue Well wee will passe this staggering error and come to the point Mans Bones saith he haue their beginning of the grosser seminary parts ergo not of Blood The consequence is erroneous For if he will â—…ucly looke into the nature of the Sperme he shall finde it to bee nothing else originally but the purest part of Blood strained from a double kinde of vessell whereof the purer or internall part issueth from the arteriall vessell the grosser and externall from the venall vessell What needs M. Foster to looke on Bauhines Notes or Galens Opinions and those of many other differing from them and so make Ipse dixit his whole strength when his eyes will teach him if he euer knew Anatomy as perchance his Father did that the fountaine of sperme is the Blood of two natures namely Arteriall and venall for the preparing seminary vessels that alter it purifie it haue their issues and heads out of the great artery and vena Caua Which being so I would faine know of M. Foster whether hee thinketh that the spearme doth not proceed from the Blood as original thereof for as much as the vessels from which it floweth be full of nothing else but Blood I care not for ipse dixit when in euery mans ocular experience it appeareth the contrary For some men will haue the substance of the seed to come from the braine and other some from the subtile parts of the whole body and some will haue it spring from the purest part of the foure humours which is all one to say that it proceedeth from the Blood which is composed of the foure humors though the element of ayre hath the dominion But most sure it is that the Blood is his fountaine and appeareth by ocular demonstration Which being so I pray you good M. Foster what error is it in me to say that Blood is the beginner of Bones when your selfe doth confesse that their immediate being is of sperme whose immediate existence is of Blood Againe we are taught that the â—…eat of life is in the Blood if therefore sperme doth bring forth life it receiueth that gift of life from the Blood To conclude it is euident by this that the viuifying Spirit of the Lord which is the animater of the foure Windes from whence the Prophet Ezechiel called it to animate the slaine moueth and operateth radically in the spirituall Blood and that the sperme is animated and moued by this spirituall Blood which is the spermes internum which Philosophers call semen in whose Centre the viuifying Spirit of the Lord acteth and then this Spirit in the seed framed Skin Flesh
Bones Nerues and giueth them Life Action and Motion all which the patient â—…ob expresseth thus Thou hast powred mee out like Milke that is in the forme of sperme thou hast coagulated mee like Cheese thou hast endued me with Skin and Flesh thou hast compacted mee together with Bones and Sinnews thou hast giuen mee life by thy mercy and by thy visitation thou hast preserued my spirit but all this thou hast hidden in thy minde but I know all this to bee from thee Whereupon it is euident that God operateth all beginning radically in the blood and for this reason the Apostle saith rightly In him we liue we moue and haue our being I conclude therefore that here againe is all the Sponges validity so squeesed out as hereafter I hope it shall not be able to digest any great matter nor yet to bite any longer vpon the Marble Rocke of Truth CHAP. III. In the which it is proued contrary vnto our Spongy Authors opinion that spirits doe reside in the separated Blood Doctor Fludds naked Text. In the Blood is the spirit of life and with the bright soule doth abide and operateth after an hidden manner Master Fosters Collection In the Blood reside the vitall spirits in the vitall spirits the soule in an hidden manner The act of his mundifying Sponge Thirdly I deny that any spirits reside in separated Blood and Casman is so confident in this that in parts separated from the body remaine no spirits and saith that the very Deuill cannot beget or conserue any in them The Sponge squeesed Here you see that this fresh-water Souldier hath nothing to maintaine his Tenent but Ipse dixit If that faile farewell all further expectation But I will proue that this his and his Masters assertion is erroneous by three manner of wayes namely first by Philosophicall reason for being that euery amputated creature euen from the liuely stocke of his growth is filled with a Balsamick Salt of the nature of the Tree or Plant from which it sprung by which it doth exist such as indeed it is it is not possible but that it should haue of the spirit of his wonted life in it although it doth not act but rest in its Center Next by Holy Scriptures for as is proued abundantly before the blood spilled and flesh killed is full of liuely spirits though they remaine potentially in them or else why should the Israelites be commanded not to eate the fat and blood For it is said because the blood is the seate of the soule or spirit of life For if that spirit of life were fled from it what sinne had it beene to haue eaten it But the text saith for it is the seate of life and therefore it is commanded that they should powre it out on the Earth Againe let Parson Foster answer this The incorruptible pirit of the Lord is in all things Ergò in the effused blood flesh fat and bones separated from the whole And lastly by common experience for we finde that fat and blood and mummy haue singular properties of healing which they could not haue if all the spirits which they did receiue from the liuing body were exhaled but it is the office onely of the incorruptible Spirit and Word to heale and therefore being these ingredients haue an healing property they must needs in this their existence participate or communicate with this good Spirit whose nature is to expell and take away all corruption and sicknesse and other vnnaturall impediments Verbum tuum saith Salomon curat omnia thy Word cureth all for in it onely is life Ergò the viuifying spirit Moreouer I know and with mine eyes haue seene abundance of spirits which by the aâ—… of the least fire haue beene excited out of the essence of corrupted blood and fat in so much that with the naturall heate of the hand they in forme of little Atomes haue beene obserued to dance and caper in the ayre which is an euident token that there is the spirit of life lurking in the dead blood though it appeares but potentially in the essence of the dead thing in respect of vs. Againe if this were not is it possible that dead blood flesh and fat could nourish the liuing being that like is nourished by his like which could not be if in the blood flesh and fat there did not lurke naturall and viuifying spirits to maintaine their like in the liuing creature and therefore will one kinde of flesh nourish both a Man a Beast a Fish and a Fowle because all those naturall spirits are of one kinde and condition Is it not I pray you apparent to the vulgar that flesh and fat hung vp in the Sunne will bee quickly conuerted into liue Wormes or Magats Which were impossible except the spirit of life did lurke in the flesh and fat after the creature was dead yea I haue seene a whole dead Crow which I hung vp in the Sunne for a certaine purpose to be wholly sauing bones conuerted into verminous animals An euident argument of the viuifying spirits presence in the dead flesh blood and fat Yea verily I haue obserued that the Balsam of Wheate so aboundeth in it that if it bee put into Raine-water in a short space it produceth long Wormes of a white colour The same effect produceth flesh after putrifaction It is most certaine therefore that the spirit oflife is in the dead flesh and fat yea and in the graine which though it operateth not except it be stirred vp by the viuifying spirits acting property working in such an organicall body as is the Sunne the fire the liuing creature and such like yet is it most certaine that it is in the amputed blood fat flesh and bones c. You may discerne by this gentle Reader how Casman and his compleat disciple Foster haue erred But wee must excuse them modestly seeing that Humanum est errare Why I pray you should I esteeme these men more Catholick in knowledge then Bernard But Bernardus non videt omnta And yet blinde Bayard is subiect to iudge and censure any thing though vnto himselfe vnknowne Wherefore let Master Foster put vp his authority in his Pouch for I esteeme it not hauing naturall reason the testimony of Holy Writ and lastly vulgar experience or ocular demonstration to proue the contrary And whereas his Master Casman teacheth him that the very Deuill cannot beget or conserue any spirit in them I wonder how the Deuill then can worke this Weapon-Salue Cure being that the Oyntment hath no spirits of it selfe nor yet the Deuill can beget or conserue any in the ingredients thereof And if he saith that the Deuill is of great experience and doth this with other herbs or simples I would haue him to tell me why should herbs or other simples being also after they are gathered but dâ—…ad as it were and without spirits by Master Fosters owne rule serue as meanes vnto the Deuill for the working
the blood drawne from the body it is most euident by the example of witches The Deuill sucketh blood from them this blood remaining with the Deuill participates of his maligne nature and hauing recourse by the spirits thereof vnto the Witches body maketh all their blood sympathise with that the Deuill hath and so the blood changeth the Witches nature and they become maligne and Diabolic all Here againe you may see that hee wresteth my Text beyond his true intended sense But I will yeeld him his desire and will please the Gentleman in his humour The act of his neate wiping Sponge vpon this Text. The Doctor proueth it by the example of blood sucked by the Deuill from Witches which remaining with the Deuill and sympathising with the blood in Witches bodies changeth their nature and makâ—…s them become maligne and Diabolicall O profound example Here Master Doctor 〈◊〉 a ground of his Argument which neither true philosophy nor orthodox Diuinity will giue vs leaue to assent vnto The Witches blood remaining with the blood-sucker the Deuill sympathiseth with the blood of the witches body How can this be How can blood a substance corporeall remaine with the Deuill incorporeall c Here this his Sponges validity is squeesed out O wonderous wit of our Sponge-bearer O light and spongy vnderstanding of so weighty a conception But if indeed Angels as he saith were incorporeall how could meate and drink a substance corporeal remaine with the Angels which Abraham entertained if they were incorporeall or if they assumed bodies accidentally could they eare and drinke with them naturally or was Abraham so senselesse to offer counterfeit shapes meat and drinke Surely a man so profound in diuine mysteries would not haue beene so absurd as to haue offered them his food if he had knowne that it would not naturally haue nourished them The same absurdity might iustly haue beene imputed vnto Lot Verily it is aboue the reach of Worldlings to scan rightly or discouer iustly this doubt But suppose it be granted that Angels and Deuils be not corporeall but spirituall creatures yet he confesseth elsewhere that the Deuill can indue and put on an organicall body namely of a man a Dog or Cat and consequently those Angels indued humane shapes I pray you when a squirt or syrynge or boxing glasse draweth is it the organ or the spirit in the organ that draweth Man operateth not with his body but with the inward spirit neither doth blood act any thing of it selfe but by the occult viuifying spirit which acteth in it Mans throat and tongue serue as organs of voyce but it is the Spirit that acteth If the Deuill enter into a body as he did into the Swine and humane bodies did he not make vse of the organicall voyce of the Beast and those men to speak vnto Christ But it was the spirituall act of the Deuill which did mingle it selfe with the aëry spirit of the Beast and man possessed and made it to answer according to the will of the Agent so I say that by the ayde of the creatures mouth and spirit which it indued it did suck the blood not that the blood in his grosse nature did abide with the Deuill in his spirituall substance but I say that the spirituall substance in the blood which participates of ayre is easie to ioyne and make an vnion by the contract with that of the Deuill euen as we see that Amber when it is burnt sendeth forth his spirit which vniting or mingling it selfe with the ayre infects it with his odoriferous nature and so there is an actuall communication made betweene the ayre and the fume betweene the spirit of the one and the other betweene a Priuy-house or plaguy Botch infecting and the spirit of the ayre infected the which ayre communicateth also that infection vnto the spirit of the smeller Againe doe we not see in one infected with the plague that first it was a corrupt spirit which by the virtuall contact ofit did infect not the blood onely but the inuisible spirits in the blood And doe we not see also that the same inuisible spirit so infecting doth inuisibly also infect the inuisible ayre about it and though it be in part exspired out of the body and blood yet it hath such communication with the blood that for all that the inuisible fume infecteth abroad not leauing neuerthelesse his persecution at home If therefore the Botch of the Plague in one man which the Prophet Abaku ' termeth the Daemonium or Deuill of the South doth infect the spirituall blood of another it is not the bodily Botch that doth it but the infected spirit in it The corporeall Boâ—…ch therefore we compare to the body assumed by the Deuill and the corrupting spirit vnto the Deuill Wherefore as we see that after the Botch of the one hath touched the person of another the spirit easily by reason of the reciprocall similitude of them communicate with one another so that although the party that hath the Botch departeth neuer so farre yet neuerthelesse the malignant spirit 〈◊〉 with the blood of the last infected and conuerteth it absolutely into his malignant nature Is it then impossible that the spirituall maligniâ—…y of the Deuill by a contactuall sucking of the blood should contaminate with the malignity of his spirit the spirit of the blood of the party sucked and leaue it so infected and changed vnto his owne nature as the venemous spirit of the Plague into a plaguy disposition Did not the Deuill worke the very same feate with Iudas his spirit when it was said 〈◊〉 Diabolus in cor 〈◊〉 vt traderet Christum hee sent or put it into the heart of ludas to betray Christ That is hee infecteth his spirit first and those spirits corrupted his thoughts or vnderstanding for without the helpe of a medium the Deuill being expelled from Heauen can not attempt the heauen of mans vnderstanding But to answer Master Foster at his owne weapon I meane that quick-sented Gentleman that so soone can smell a Rat What doth he thinke that Deuils haue not tenuia corpora Yea verily for he hath for it as he sayeth authorities of Scripture Counsels Fathers and Schoolemen to confirme so much But by the way he saith The Doctor who impiously attributes composition in God dareâ—… falsly attribute corporeity to Deuils In the first place M. Foster hath the Deuill the father of lyes for his Foster-father who can both foster and father vntruth vpon any one But as I haue said before the simple Frier Marinus Mersennus saith so namely because I auerred that the Spirit of the Lord filled and animated the heauenly Spirit Ergò saith he Fludd maketh God a part of Composition and therefore Master Parson holding the Friers words as an Oracle without pondering the sense of the businesse blundereth out like a Parrat these very words of the Frier The Doctor doth impiously attribute Composition vnto God But if I say that God is
in composition I meane it not as a part compounding but as the sole Compounder in composition Againe if he were absent from composition the word could not be said to be incarnated nor the Incorruptible Spirit to be in all things neither could God by the Apostle be said to be ouer all and in all But leauing this paratticall or parasiticall garb He bringeth the authorities of Scripture And what are they Saint Paul hath this We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spirituall wickednesse or euill spirits in high places And therefore Christ said Handle me and touch me for a spirit hath not flesh nor bones as yee see mee haue But Deuils can not be handled Therefore they haue no bodies Here is a stout Argument because Deuils as they are in their thinne aëriall bodies cannot bee handled Ergo they haue not any corpulency I would faine know of this acute Arguer what organicall body for speech this spirit had when hee in reciprocall words and speech did tempt our Sauiour Doth he thinke that the very ayre which is the externall of the Deuill as shall be proued is not a spirituall body when it may be felt heard or vnderstood though not as flesh and bones Doth not the Apostle make mention of a spirituall or heauenly and thin body and an earthly or grosse and thick body It is most true that there are some of the Fathers and Schoolemen who are of opinion that the Angels are absolutely incorporeal as Damascene Thomas Aquin Denis and so forth But there are as many yea and more of the learneder sort who giue a contrary sentence touching the bodily existence of these spirits and say flatly that an Angel is a corporeal substance and consequently that Angels may without any error be termed bodily creatures and amongst this number of the Fathers are ranked Basil Origen Gregory Augustine Isidorus Peter Lombard and of Philosophers Mercurius Trismegistus with all the Schoole of the Academicks And as for S. Augustine he saith in his Booke vpon Genesis in expresse words quòd Daemones sunt aërea ignea animalia that the Daemons or Angelicall spirits are aëry and fiery Animals and consequently assigneth vnto them aëry bodies Againe he affirmeth in another place that the Angels had in their creation aëry bodies to wit framed and fashioned out of the purer part of the superior ayre made more apt and proper to act then to suffer and hee auerreth that the euill angels were by reason of their fall changed as touching their bodies or externall being into the nature of the grosser ayre that they might be the rather made to suffer the torments of fire And Fetrus Lombardus saith Angeli corpora in quibus hominibus apparent de summo aëre sumunt solidamque speciem ex coelesti elemento induunt vt humanis obtutibus manifestiùs demonstrentur So that it is euident that Augustine and he agree in one Also Basil doth teach vs what manner of bodies the Angels haue when he saith they are thinne aëry and pure Spirits Againe Arteplius that wise man saith in his great Key of wisedome That the externall of the Deuill is ayre but his internall is fire For the which reason he sheweth that it is easie for him namely in regard of his externall or body to insinuate and communicate with the aëry and bloody spirit in man and consequently to engender in him hot and fiery diseases But why should we rely onely as Master Foster doth on bare Authorities I will come vnto plaine Philosophicall proofes to shew and demonstrate that Angels haue soules and bodies or externall and internall First you must know that if they were Identity that is of all one simple formall being they would be all one in essence with God their Creator who is called Identitas or absolute and simple vnity but for as much as they are compounded of two namely of light which is the beame of God which they receiue to informe them and make them creatures and spirit which as polished Looking-glasse receiueth the glory of that diuine light they are called Alteritas or Alterity that is composed of two And this is most liuely expressed by Saint Denis when he termeth them Algamatha that is most cleare Mirrours or Looking-glasses receiuing the light of God And therefore he defineth an Angel to bee the Image of God the shewing forth of bid light a mirrour pure and most bright And Damascen saith That they are intellectuall spirits hauing light as their soules from the first Light And Salomon describing the Prince of all Angels which as Ecclesiasticus saith was ante omnia creatus that it was candor lucis aeternae speculum sine macula Maiâ—…slatis Dei or the brightnesse of eternall light and a glasse without spot of the Maiesty of God Whereby it is euident that the Angels internall and as it were his soule is the brightnesse of Gods emanation his polished or pure aëry internall is his 〈◊〉 body which receiueth this light For we must note That in the beginning Heauen and Earth were made of water and by water consisting by the Word as S. Peter speakes And therefore the whole World was composed of an internall or inuisible which is the soule or spirit animated by Gods Word and an externall and visible earth and water which is the body So euery creature must needs be compounded of an internall or actiue soule and an externall or organicall receptacle of that soule which is the body Is it not apparent That when the Spirit of the Lord did moue vpon the waters the water was the Catholick Patient and the spirit the internall Agent For Saint Augustine super Genesim saith Spiritus ferebatur super aquas igneum â—…s vigorem impertiens The Spirit moued on the waters imparting vnto them a fiery vigor or vertue that is a viuifying nature So that the spirituall created Catholick waters were animated by the spirituall increated Catholick breath and light of life whose Spirit in euery creature is the Spirit of life and therefore their centrall soule and the creature animated is the body Wherefore as the purest and most spirituall part of water or ayre is the externall of the Angell so his internall is the lucid act of Gods Spirit Now I conclude thus If the externall substance of the Angel be ayre for either it must be of spirituall water or else of the substance of God which is meerely formall and not materiall then wee know by the rules of Philosophy that ayre subtiliated is fire and againe ayre inspissated is a vapour a mist a cloud and so by inspissation ayre inuisible becommeth a visible substance yea and a bodily vocall organ too as it appeareth by lightning the which soule of the cloud except it haue his cloudy organ or bodily instrument will not speake in thunder We finde therefore out of Holy Writ that God is said to speake out of his organic all cloud And
for that very cause the Text calleth it in one place latibulum Dei in another tigurium Dei and in another vehiculum currus â—…ehoua so that if lebâ—…ua maketh this organicall Tabernacle of ayre to vtter vnto mortall eares his voyce as Scriptures in many places doe testifie it is no sinne to say that his inferiour spirits haue for their externall bodies aëry substances which being granted what should hinder spirits by contraction of this their external substances to appeare when they please visibly and organically to talke with a person as the tempting spirit did to Christ and againe by an immediate dilatation of the same externall aëry spirit to become inuisible no otherwise then a smoake by dilatation vanisheth or a cloud or mist made of a compacted and thickned ayre doth oftentimes without the appearance of any drop of raine passe away inuisibly Was it not strange that Christ himselfe that had flesh and bones should appeare etiam clausis ianâ—…is and then immediately to vanish And yet if we consider that after he was risen he did put on a spirituall body euen that body for that cause could deponere Tabernaculum suum visibile tangibile and become by subtiliation and dilatation as subtile and impalpable as the voluntie of him who hath the spirituall body pleaseth and so can appeare and vanishat an instant It is an admirable speculation to ponder and consider duely how God worketh in this world by contraction and dilatation by priuation and position by darknesse and light by apparition and disparition as we see when his Spirit moueth from the North the common ayre is by the contractiue nature of that spirit turned from inuisibility to visibility from transparency to opacity from ayre to Snow Haile Frost Ice from leuity to ponderosity from agility and mobility to fixation and immobility Contrarywise by his blast from the East or South the said bodies are altered againe into water and water into ayre and ayre into fire by dilatation and in conclusion corporeity terrestriall into corporeity aëriall or celestiall hardnesse into saltnesse grossenesse into subtility opacity into transparency fixation into mobility rest into action darknesse into light And to conclude contraction caused by this Spirit of God into dilatation visibility into inuisibility What shall I say more If Angels of all kindes haue their externall from the aëry spirit of the World and their internall act from this externall viuifying spirit in whom is the property of the foure Windes and therefore the Prophet said Come O Spirit from the foure Windes whereby he did argue that this one Spirit as being the essentiall actor in the foure Windes had the properties of the foure Windes in himselfe by the which he acted all things whereupon the Prophet called it from the foure Windes wee ought not to make any question but that by vertue of that internall act and the substance of that their externall ayre they may contract themselues from a spirituall fiery and aëry inuisibility vnto a nebulous or watery yea and earthly visibility or snowie or Icie nature especially the grosse malignant and darke spirits which by their fall haue indued the grosser ayre as Augustine saith and therefore is Satan called by the Apostle The Prince of the ayre And this is the reason that the Deuill or euill spirits do in their contraction conuert themselues into solid or firme shapes of man or beast and appeare in touch to be so excessue cold according to Master Fosters confession namely because the spirit by which they liue contracting it selfe from the Circumference of dilated ayre into the Center of contracted earth leaueth the externall or aëry compacted composition chill and cold like Ice For it is by his emanation or dilatation from the Center vnto the Circumference that kindleth naturall heate in the externall of euery creature To conclude against those that affirme that spirits haue no corporeity It is most certaine that where there is rarum densum thin and thick there consequently is corporeity either thinne or thicke For whatsoeuer is in his substance transmutable vnto a thinner or thicker body must needs bee bodily though not a visible body So is a Starre of Heauen called Densior pars sui orbis that is The inuisible â—…thereall spirit or thin body of Heauen thickned into the visible body of a Starre So also may fire be condensed into ayre and ayre into water and water into earth And againe that earth may be rarified into water and water into ayre and ayre into fire For such is the naturall rotation of elements Now the externall of Angels must be created of the spirituall substance of the higher world or not at all according vnto Basils tenor and consequently it is bodily though of a thinner or thicker consistence according vnto the dignity of the Angell Doth not also Dauid acknowledge thus much in these words Qui facit Angelos spiritus seu aëra 〈◊〉 Ministros ignem vrentem who maketh his Angels spirits or windie ayre and his Ministers flames of fire And therefore it is a shame that such mysteries as these which are most apparent to the considerant should by the ignorant bee derided and esteemed not workes and operations of the Spirit of God in the common element of the world but of the Deuill and so through their blindnesse mistake euill for good darknesse for light of which sort of people the Prophet meaneth in these words Woe vnto them that speake good of euill and euill of good which put darknesse for light and light for darknesse that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Woe vnto them that are wise in their owne eyes and prudent in their owne sight Thus iudicious and vnpartiall Reader you may perceiue by that which hath bene expressed in this Member how vnable mine Aduersaries Sponge hath beene to wipe away the least tittle of that naturall value and diuine vertue which in my mysticall Anatomy I haue ascribed vnto the Weapon-Salue And therefore for all I can see hee may inuent some more substantiall meanes then is this windie Sponge an expresse argument of a light braine or fantastick wit to subuert a Medicine of so weighty an importance and admirable power in working Hee must haue I say strong Cable-ropes in stead of a light Sponge to remoue the foundation of verity and yet I feare they will cracke too before they will be able to draw wise men to beleeue that the good gifts of healing in this Weapon-Salue should proceed from the Deuill and not from God and his benigne mercies which is the onely giuer of health and goodnesse And now I must remember you by the way of one absurdity in our Sponge-bearing Author For he saith first that this manner of cure is Diabolicall and afterward hee seemeth to attribute the effect of it vnto the vrine of man His words are these Doctor Fludds directions are that the Weapon be left in the Vnguent-pot till the
deliuereth them from their graues let them confesse before the Lord his louing kindnesse c. Whereby it appeareth that it was his louing kindnesse and not his seuerity and vengeance which by his Word did heale and cure For he operateth vengeance in his seuerity or destructiue will by the organ of the Deuill And then of Salomon But the teeth of the venemous Dragons could not ouercome thy Children for thy mercy came to helpe them and healed them for neither herb nor plaister healed them but thy Word O Lord which healeth all things for thou hast the power of life and death and leadest downe into the gates of Hell and bringest vp againe c. Now I would know whether it ought to be any true Christians opinion that the Deuill can command the misericord of God and so be Master of his word at his pleasure as to heale Gods creatures nay one framed after his owne Image for any wicked stratagems cause I meane for the gaining of both body and soule of man from God to himselfe Doth not Iob say In the hand of God is the life of euery liuing creature and the spirit of all flesh To conclude as Saint Iohn doth truely auerre that in the Word was life So it is certaine that all healing and restoring power is from this viuifying vertue in the Word and not from the priuatiue power of the Deuill in whom contrary wise is death and destruction Moreouer I would haue you to note these words of the Apostle Now there are diuers gifts but the same Spirit and there are diuersities of operations but God is the same which worketh all in all but to one is giuen by the Spirit the Word of wisedome to another the word of knowledge to another is giuen faith and to another the gift of healing by the same Spirit c. Can any good Christian thinke that this one Spirit that onely worketh these things is the Deuill No verily For in the third verse the Apostle termes it the Holy Ghost What shall we say then That the Deuill doth heale by the gift of the Holy Ghost or that the holy Spirit will grant the euill spirit his good gift of healing to deceiue mankinde and to rob God of his right God forbid But with iustice giue that vnto God which belongeth vnto God and assigne vnto the Deuill that property which was allotted him by his Creatour from the beginning the first Spirit from all creations was ordained in his office to be a good viuifying and a quickning Spirit the latter a bad a killing and a mortifying spirit For it is said by the Prophet in the person of God Ego creaui destructorem ad disperdendum I haue created the destroyer to destroy I will boldly therefore conclude and finish my Pamphlet or petty discourse as I began it namely with this religious verse mentioned in the diuine Hymne of the Royall Psalmist to the honour of God and disabling of either Deuill or any other creature to worke essentially wonders of himselfe or by himselfe Benedictus Dominus Deus Israël qui facit mirabilia solus Blessed be the Lord God of Israël who onely worketh wonders Or as he hath it in another place Confitemini Domino Dominorum quoniam in aeternum miserâ—…or diaâ—…ius qui facit mirabilia magna solus Prayse the Lord for his mercy endureth for euer who onely doth great wonders And therefore if the Lord of Lords onely or alone then hath he not any mortall man to helpe him if he alone then not any Angel of Heauen and lastly if it be God alone and onely then not any Deuill of Hell nor Daemon or spirit of the fiery or aëry or watry or earthly element to assist him For the text saith It is the Lord of Lords alone and therefore not any creature to helpe him or that is able to doe this without him it is he I say onely and consequently not the Deuill who performeth wonders But by euery mans acknowledgement this manner of cure is wonderfull for as much as the manner of working in it passeth the capacity of worldly mens vnderstanding Therefore with Dauid I will say Benedictus Deus qui facit tale mirabile solus and consequently I may inferre thereupon and that iustly Maledictus homo qui diuina falsò attribuit Diabolo Wherefore I wish euery zealous and religious person to haue this inuiolable Motto engrauen in his heart that by the vertue thereof he may fright away and banish from his thoughts all such irreligious perswasions as would moue him to derogate one Iota or tittle from Gods power who is Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end of all things to arrogate falsly vnto the vilest of creatures who in himselfe is nothing but what God is pleased that he shall be of himselfe hath nothing but what God pleaseth to bestow on him and by himselfe can doe nothing but what God is pleased to act in him and by him that he doth and not any thing else and therefore what God will not that he cannot doe Let this then be your Motto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Finis omnium principium Deus God is the end and beginning of all things And for this reason Reuchlin in his Booke de verbo mâ—…risico saith Omne hominis miraculum cuius vera non imaginaria deprehenditur substantia tum grande tum mediocre tum minimum si ordo sacrorum prascriptus obseruetur referendum est semper in Deum gloriosum cuius nomen est benedictum in aeternum Is enim solus est qui vel seipso vel delegato non sine seipso velper substitutum exseipso talia facit qualia demiramur quorum causam adaequatam scire non possumus vel quod fiant vel quod hoc modo fiant Euery miracle of man whose substance is certaine â—…nd not imaginary or prestigious bee it great or meane or little if the prescribed order of Holy Writ bee obserued is alwayes to bee referred and ascribed vnto one glorious God whose Name bee euer blessed For it is hee alone who either of himselfe or by a delegat with whom hee is present or by a substitute of his owne and from himselfe that effecteth such things the true or plaine grounds whereof and by what meanes they are brought to passe wee neither can discerne nor comprehend Thus farre Iohn Reuchlin And therefore in the period of this Treatise I may iustly put home and allude vnto Master Foster and his Complices the woe of Isaias against such persons which I did mention in the beginning of it for as much as they presuming too too much on their worldly wisedome doe mistakingly and through their blindnesse ascribe the things of God vnto the Deuill the deeds of goodnesse vnto euill and the effects of light vnto darknesse ISAIAS 5.20 21. Woe vnto them that speake good of euill and euill of good which put darknesse for light and light for darknesse that
defence of the Weapon-Salue well he may he is called by Franciscus Lanouius Medico-miles a Souldier-Physitian and being a Weapon-bearing Doctor may well teach the Weapon-curing medicine especially setting the Armiger before the Doctor the Gunne before the Gowne the Pike before the Pen. Good Reader obserue this vnreasonable iest rather than sit out the Gentleman will picke strawes or play with a feather What Not one word with reason nor yet any Syllable in good Rime but all vpon the Letters G. and P An excellent argument of a simple wit But touching that which seemeth most materiall in this pretty discourse I will answere with the like obiection vnto that of our conceited Master of Arts He would seeme to teach mee that the Armiger or Esquier ought to be set before the Doctor being that there is a question whether a Knight or a Doctor should challenge the first place and therefore saith hee the Esquier was ill placed before the Doctor being that the Doctor is the better man verily I thinke that it ought to be so and yet neuerthelesse it is certaine that now adayes a reasonable Esquier thinketh much to yeeld place vnto a Doctor But this is not to our question Hee seemes to accuse me because I say Robertus Fluddus Armiger in Medicina Doctor Robert Fludd Esquier and Doctor of Physicke I will answere and pay him with his owne Coyne Why doth hee put the Master of Arts before the Parson or Minister being that the Minister is the better man by reason of the Sanctitie of his Vocation Hereupon it is that a Doctor of Diuinitie though of a latter standing taketh place of a Doctor of Physicke who had his degree before him Againe Why doth Master Foster in his Dedicatory Epistle put the Baron of Wing before the Viscount of Ascot and the Viscount of Ascot before the Earle of Carnaruon And lastly why doth hee Pag. 38. terme me Master Doctor setting the Master before the Doctor Verily our wise brother findes a mote in mine eye but will not looke vpon the beame in his owne And now I will expresse the cause why I put the Esquier before the Doctor It is for two considerations first because I was an Esquier and gaue armes before I was a Doctor as being a Knights sonne next because though a Doctor addeth gentilitie to the person who by descent is ignoble yet it is the opinion of most men and especially of Heraulds that a Gentleman of Antiquitie is to be preferred before any one of the first Head or Degree And verily for mine owne part I had rather bee without any degree in Vniuersitie than lose the honour was left me by my Ancestors Thus farre I haue thought fit to satisfie the Gentleman in his humour wondering at nothing more than that he should leaue the maine matter to snarle at my gentilitie Would he thinke it decent in mee to revile him for his lownesse of birth or ignobilitie For I know what he is God forbid such an absurditie should come from my pen much lesse to vpbraid him with his gentilitie if hee were a Gentleman indeed In another place hee inueigheth bitterly against me in this manner The Doctor who impiously attributeth composition vnto God dareth falsly to attribute corporalitie vnto Devils the contrarie of which that they haue no manner of bodies is the tenent of the Church I see that our Master in Arts is scarce in this matter his Arts master hee talkes with Mersennus the Fryer his tongue and therefore is but Mersennus his Parrat wherefore as I haue answered him in Latine so will I partly in the same sense satisfie this importunate Author in English not with impious tearmes according to his custome but modestly Mersennus maketh it an impietie in mee to say that God filleth the heauenly Spirit of the World whereupon hee concludes and saith Facit proinde Deum compositionem cum hoc spiritu aethereo hee therefore maketh God a composition with this aethereall spirit My answere to him is this that the incorruptible spirit of the Lord is in all things as Salomon auâ—…rreth And Saint Iohn saith All things were made by the Word and without it nothing was made in it was life c. And againe Hee filleth the heauens and viuifieth all things What And must I therefore attribute composition vnto God or doe I make God part of composition No verily forasmuch as God in his essence is indiuisible and therefore hee cannot bee a part in composition but hee is said to bee in all and ouer all as he is the Catholicke Actor of life whereupon the Apostle teacheth vs that hee viuifieth all things and therefore hee is said to bee in the spirit of the world and also without it no diuision of his diuine Essence being made So also it is said that in God wee liue moue and haue our being and yet God is not in vs as a part in composition but as an eternall Actor in compositions not mixed but mingling the composition in number weight and measure that is tempering and vniting euerie particle as it were with the glew of perfect loue and harmonie And to this purpose it is said in Iob Sicut argillam fecisti me Nonne sicut lac fudisti me tanquam caseum coagulasti me cute carne induisti me ossibusque neruis texisti me cum vita benignitatem exercuisti erga me visitatio tua conseruauit spiritum meum whereby it is euident that God is the compounder in mans composition but not a part of it To conclude I haue answered this point more at large in that Reply I made to Gassendus his Retection of my Philosophy where I proue that the vertue of God is in euerie thing as it composeth all things But if I had said that God entred into composition was it so impious a thing when the Scripture auerreth that the Word was incarnated I am too long in prouing that which Master Foster taketh barely out of the Fryers mouth but knoweth not what eyther he or I meane thereby as for the deuils corporalitie I will proue it elsewhere CHAP. III. Wherein the Author is wrongfully accused by his discourteous homebred Aduersary of Magicke and afterwards by his forren opposites though of a contrary Religion is excused and cleared from that crime IT is no maruaile though mine Aduersarie doth rashly and vniustly wound a mans Reputation who differeth from him in Profession or Vocation being that his Satyricall or Cynicke passion will not spare such learned men as are of his owne calling or habit for if you will bee pleased to read and obserue his Dedicatorie Epistle you shall finde there that hee partly as it seemeth being moued thereto by Enâ—…ie at such as are in a better way of preferment than himselfe and partly to insinuate and beget a better opinion and liking in his Patron inueigheth in these verie words against some of his owne Coate nor am I saith hee of
their minde which to become great by being accounted good Preachers preach not aboue twice or thrice a yeare and then lay all their strength on their Sermon my resolution is otherwise I will read much write somewhat and preach often Loe how hee condemneth others and prayseth himselfe yea hee doth not sticke in his Epistle to the Reader to snarle against his Superiours in the Church because they doe not stop his mouth with a good Benefice or Church-liuing considering his great deserts yea and seeme to calumniate them and lay Simony vnto their charges his words are these Shall any man for my boldnesse thinke to sit vpon my skirts Let those know I esteeme my selfe infra inuidiam I cannot haue lesse in the Church vnlesse nothing and if they shall endeauour to keepe me still low let them know I looke for no good from them that enuy at my endâ—…auours to doe good if I sit panting on the ground I will not refuse to be fed with Rauens to keepe me aliue with Elias but I looke not to be lifted vp by any but by Eagles Heroicke spirits Men fearing God and hating Simoniacall couetoustnesse He scorneth to be raysed by his Superiours in the Church and expects onely to bee raysed by Eagles Heroicke Spirits namely by such as his noble Patron is in whom is no Simoniacall couetousnesse as who should say that in others there is Simonia-call couetousnesse c. What therefore can I expect from his outragious pen bnt slanders of witch-craft Magicke and such like abominations What lesse can I appeare in his sight than an anathema one I say abandoned and accursed vnto the Deuill His scandalous texts are these Doctor Fludd hath had the same censure passed on him and hath beene writ against for a Magitian and I suppose this to be one cause why hee hath printed his Booke beyond the Seas Our Vniuersitie and Bishops are more cautelous God bee thanked than to allow the printing of Magicall Bookes here Surely D. Fludds very defence of the Weapon-Salue is enough to make it suspected himselfe being accused for a Magitian by Marinus Mersennus with a wonder that King IAMES of blessed memory would suffer such a man to liue and write in his Kingdome But if to bee accused were to bee guiltie who could bee innocent Master Doctor hath excused himsâ—…lfe in his Booke entituled Sophiae cum Moria certamen cuius contrarium verum est saith Lanouius c. Heere Gentle Reader you may see him pull off his hood of simplicitie or feined veile of sanctitie which hee professed in his Epistles and discouer â—…he malice and enuy of his heart against me In the first place therefore for the better satisfaction of my Country-men and friends I will expresse the cause why I touched the superstitious Magia or Magicke of the ancient Ethnickes My scope was and haâ—…h beene to write aswell the naturall discourse of the great world and little world which wee call Man as also to touch by way of an Encyclophy or Epitome all Arts aswell lawfull which I did commend as those which are esteemed vnlawfull which I did vtterly condemne as superstitious and of little or no probabilitie at all among the rest where I came to speake of the Arts which belong vnto the little world or Man I mention the Science of Genethlialogie which treateth of the Iudgement of Natiuities wherin I produce the great dispute which did arise betweene the two famous Philosophers Porphyrie and Iamblicus whereof the first did hold that a man might come to the knowledge of his owne Genius or good Angell by the Art of Astrologie namely by finding out the Planet and Nature of his spirit that was Lord of the eleuenth house the which by the Astrologians was for that cause called Bonus Daemon or the good Angell But Iamblicus his opinion was that a man had neede of the Assistance and Knowledge of a higher Spirit than was any of those which were Gouernours of Fatalitie namely of such Intelligences as were ascribed to the rule and direction of the seuen Planets wherefore I did thereupon expresse the superstition of the Ancients with the Impossibilitie thereof that thereby I might the better descry it make it the more ridiculous to wise men I then suspecting the captious Natures of some enuious persons did there make an Apologie to excuse my selfe and to shew the vanitie of the thing and how full of idle superstition it was and to shew it to bee onely Imaginarie But I seemed there to consent with Iamblicus auerring with him that without the Reuelation of that high and heauenly Spirit which was granted vnto the Elect none could come to the familiaritie or knowledge of his good Angell I proue it out of many places of Scripture Loe this is all Now iudge all yee that are vnpartiall and truely learned what an offence was here to decide according vnto my power that great Controuersie of these two notable and eminent Philosophers which hath stucke and beene vndecided euen vnto this day being that I in the conclusion ascribed the whole Glorie vnto that sole and onely Spirit which is the Prince and Lord of Angels and Spirits I professed to write generally of all but as I went along I distinguished the good from the euill that men might the better beware of and refuse the one and make choyce of the other Now therefore that I haue expressed vnto you the ground why this our Criticke and his CynickeMaster the Fryer Mersennus haue slandered me with the Title of a Magitian I will proceed to the answer of euery member of his friuolous obiections Doctor Fludds defence of the Weapon-salue is enough to make it suspected And why I pray you Marry because he himselfe is accused for a magitian by Marinus Mersennus The conclusion is much like the capacitie of the concluder Doctor Fludd is suspected for a Magitian Ergo the purge of Rubarbe which he prescribeth or rather any point in Philosophie or Physicke by him maintained in writings is Magicall Non sequitur argumentum So Roger Bacon is accused for a Conjurer and a Magitian Ergo the Perspectiue or Opticke Science hee writeth of is deuilish and Magicall or at least wise to be suspected I but this Salue hath a Caco-magicall propertie in it for it healeth a farre off and not per contactum So doth Bacons Opticke make vs to see the Images of liue men to walke in the Ayre and it is said that by his Art he made an Apparition of a man to walke from the top of Alhollows steeple in Oxford to the top of S. Maries Surely these Opticall conclusions must be Magicall and not by naturall reflection of glasses because these are vtterly vnknowne to M. Foster and his adherents and consequently are to bee condemned as diabolicall But to come to the purpose M. Foster if his eies had beene so fauourable and his will so charitable as to haue looked on
his owne act within it selfe as shall be expressed forthwith This therefore being well considered in the first place we proceed thus As this Principall and centrall mouer in the spirit of each world doth radically and soly act and moue essentially in and ouer all namely from the centre to the circumference his Primum mobile or first moued in the great world is the principall Aetheriall region or spheare by the circumrotation whereof the Sunne which as Dauid saith is a vessell full of the Glory of God is wafted about the earth in 24. houres that thereby the whole spirit of the world may be recreated with life vegetation and multiplication And therefore this Spirits first and most worthy spheare in which it centrally doth moue is the Quintessentiall or Aetheriall spirit of life which by his presence is viuified and animated and this Aetheriall spirit being the immediate vehicle of that incorruptible spirit of life is carryed in the grosser elementary or sublunary ayr by which medium it penetrateth into animall vegetable and minerall bodies by inspiration or exspiration in animals partly occult as by the pores of the body partly manifest as by the lungs in vegetables and minerals occultly and only to be perceiued with intellectuall eyes and so giueth life multiplication to euery thing As this emanation came from God into the world the Prophet said Vestitur lumine quasi vestimento hee is clothed with light as with a garment and so Verbo Domini facti sunt Coeli spiritu ab ore eius omnis virtus eorum by the Word of the Lord the heauens were made and by his spirit all the vertues thereof among the which vertues life forme vegetation and multiplication were the chiefest As hee tooke possession of the Etheriall or starry heauen the same Prophet saith Posuit Tabernaculum suum in Sole hee made the Sunne his Tabernacle Againe as hee endued the grosser vestiment of the ayre so the Prophet saith Densa Nubes tigurium eius qui vehitur super alas venti Hee made the thicke and darke cloud his dwelling place who is carryed on the wings of the wind Againe he spake in thunder and lightning went from his nostrills as hee entred into the little world or man so the Apostle saith Vos estis Templum spiritus sancti Yee are the Temples of the holy Ghost Vos estis membra Christi Yee are the members of Christ. And againe Aperiatur terra pariet Saluatorem Let the earth open and it shall bring forth a Sauiour as hee penetrated into the earth so the Wise man saith Spiritus sapientiae implet orbem terra rum To conclude as to create viuifie and sustaine each creature hee put on all things so hee saith Spiritus incorruptibilis inest â—…nibus and againe Spiritus Dei implet omnia whereby it is euident that this diuine and incorruptible spirit by which wee liue moue and haue our being is in man for without it hee is dead a snuffe a nothing his place therefore or the heauen wherein it moueth is out Aether or heauenly spirit which acteth inuisibly in our ayeriall vehicle the grosser and courser part whereof is blood as well vitall or arteriall as naturall and venall Hence came those especiall ordinances or legall precepts which were giuen by God touching the blood not only of man but also of beast For as much as it was the seat of the spirit oflife Sanguinem saith God sedem vestrarum animarum requiram I will require your blood which is the seat of your liues or soules and againe Sanguinem hominis qui effuderit per hominem sanguis 〈◊〉 effundatur quoniam in imagineÌ„ suam fecit Deus hominem whosoeuer sheddeth the blood of man by man let his blood be shed because God made him after his owne Image whereby is argued that by reason of the diuine spirit which dwelleth in mans blood by the which we are fashioned after the Image of God God himselfe hath giuen an especiall charge to haue a respect vnto the blood For this reason therefore did the 〈◊〉 of the blood of Abel cry out for vengeance against the homicide Cain Yea so precious was the Blood euen of common Animals or vnreasonable Creatures that their blood was prohibited to bee eaten with their Flesh. And againe Hee that eateth the blood of the creature shall die the death And in another place he sheweth the reason Qui comedcrit sanguinem obfirmabo faciem meam aduersus animam illius quia anima carnis in sanguine est ego dedi illam vobis vt super altare in eo expietis pro animabus vestris sâ—…nguis pro animae piaculo sit Whosoeuer shall eate the blood of the Creature I will set my face against his Soule because the life of the flesh is in the blood and I haue giuen it vnto you that by it you may expiat on the Altar for your selues and that the blood may serue for an Oblation for your soules And for that cause man is by God commanded that if he in the chase or otherwise kill a wild beast hee should powre out his blood on the earth And againe Sanguinem omnis Animalis non sumetis in cibo Thou shalt not eate of the blood of any liuing Creature Sanguis cum Carne non edendus The Blood is not to be eaten with the Flesh. Sanguis hominis etiam à bestia requiritur The blood of the man is required of the beast Sanguinem Adipem omnino non comedetis You shall wholly abstaine from eating the Blood and Fat. Sanguinem non comedat omnis anima evobis Let not any man amongst you eate of blood Sanguis animalium pro anima est minime comedendus The blood of all beasts or animalls in Generall are not to be eaten for their soules or liues câ—…se Sanguinem 〈◊〉 Animalis tam â—…ndi quam immundi non comedes sed effundas super terram qâ—…asi aquam Thou shall not eate the blood of any liuing Creature bee it cleane or vncleane but shalt powre it out as water vpon the earth And the reason is because the Blood is the seate of the Soule or vitall Spirit which is inspired by God and therefore it is said Sanguinem Sedem animarum vestrarum requiram I will require of you that shed blood your Blood F r as much as it is the Seate of your Soules or Liues As who should say I haue animated the internall Spirit of your Blood with my Spirit of Life and therefore be carefull of it By all these places therefore we may easily discerne how the vitall spirit of man not onely of manâ—… but of beast also is contained in that ruddie vehicle of the blood as the Etheriall Spirit in the Airy and that the essentiall mouer and guider of the sterne in this Spirituall barke of man is the incorruptible
and fight against the Icteritious humor in the vrin which fading and being by little and little conquered maketh his like in the sicke body to dye and vanish Besides all this the spirit lurking in the salt and exuscitated partly by the excited spirit of the plant and partly by the emanating spirit of the sicke body doth send or carry backe a curatiue property vnto the whole bulke of the blood I leaue this vnto the more serious consideration of the learned who can better iudge of the hidden and abstruse operations of Gods incorruptible spirit closing vp a-l in these very words of the Apostle Deus operatur omnia in omnibus God worketh all in all ex eo per eum in eo sunt omnia of him by him in him are all things Deus viuificat omnia God viuifieth all things And finally Dij sunt qui dicuntur in coelis in terra nobis autem vnus Pater à quo omnia nos in illo vnus Dominus Iesus Christus per quem omnia nos per illum There are in the estimation of some men gods in heauen and in earth but vnto vs there are no more then one God the Father from whom doe proceed all things and we are in him and â—…ne Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him Ergò it is vainely and presumptuously said of Mr. Foster that the cure of the weapon-salue is effected by the diuell the enemy of Iesus Christ and not by Christ himselfe being that Iesus is the only Sauiour and curer or healer both of soule body who as he hath all powers potestates vnder his dominion vseth his good Angels to work his goodnesse and not the bad Angels which hee did ordaine for a cleane contrary office I will not say that this assertion of his is a kinde of blasphemy but it is little better At the leastwise it is the grossest sort of Idolatry to ascribe the good works of God vnto the essentiall act of the worst and most wickedest of all his creatures whom God instituted for a clean contraryvse namely to be his punishing and destroying minister or angel Now I will proceed vnto the particular defence of mine owne doctrine expressed in my mysticall Anatomy Against the which Master Foster doth enueigh so bitterly and with so great a confidence He crowes there like a Cocke on his owne dunghill before hee hath occasion and challengeth gloriously the palme and proclaimeth the trophey of his owne prayses before he hath got the victory The end crownes all for truth is not boulstered vp with high and braging termes It had beene best for Master Foster to haue heard me speake before hee had publikely slandered me and set vp the Titles of his booke on the posts of my doore in my disgrace whether it was discreetly done of him or not I leaue it to the censure of the world and so I moue to the last Member of this Treatise The Third Member Wherein the Author doth disannull all those Arguments and Obiections which M. Foster with such inuincible confidence hath produced for the refelling of his opinion expressed in his mysticall Anatomy where he proueth that the action of curing by the Weapon-Salue is meerely Naturall and no way Magicall or Diabolicall The Prelude to this Member Wherein the Author doth expresse that his Aduersaries slanders of him are grounded on malice and not on any â—…ust desert of his Here also he sheweth the method of his proceeding in this Member with the Reason thereof EAch discreet Reader may discerne by M. Fosters scandalous vehemency against mee for composing in my mysticall Anatomy the subiect of this Member that it is more of enuy and malice then for any desert in me or offence committed by me either against him for as much as I know him not or any other person else For out of doubt he would not else vpon so slight an occasion as was this short chapter expressed in the foresaid place haue so slandered me with the title ofa Magician as he hath and alledged his wise Master the Frier Mersennus his authority for it as profound an Author for rayling and false slander as himselfe But why I beseech you should he induce Mersennus his scandalous words against mee in this his writing when he seeth that the Frier is so taunted by his friend and champion Gassendus for it that in his Reply which he maketh with Gassendus and Lanouius against me after that I had thorowly nettled and gauled him for his follies hee dared not to vtter or repeate one word against me touching the precedent slanders of Magicke which in his Booke on Genesis vpon little or no ground hee laid vnto my charge but grafted all his spight and malice in that Reply vpon certaine Impieties as hee termeth them which hee most weakely layeth vnto my charge Againe whereas this our home-bred Aduersary saith that I haue excused my selfe from Magick in a Booke intituled Sophiae cum Moria certamen and that Lanouius saith Cuius contrarium verum est I must tell him that it doth ill become a man of his Profession to vtter such a falshood For Lanouius though in as malicious a manner as he could doth cleare me of that crime alledging that mine vnskilfulnesse or insufficiency in such things made him to thinke the contrary And therefore I must tell this my English calumniatour that there is a Starre-chamber to punish such abuses and consequently he may perchance heare of mee sooner then he doth expect vnlesse hee bridleth his slanderous tongue the better hereafter It is an Argument of little Philosophie and lesse Diuinity to rayle vnreasonably and scandalize with immorality For Philosophie is Sapientiae amor the loue of Wisedome and the Wise man saith It is the part of a foole to rayle Againe all Diuinity is founded on Loue and Charity and Christ his chiefest preaching wasto loue our Brethren and to affect our Neighbours as our selues and to admonish vs that wee iudge not our Brethren rashly But to come vnto our businesse Hath this Chapter of mine iudicious Reader in which our diligent Inquisitor hath made so strict a search and against which he hath framed so punctuall a confutation any Cacomagicall busines in it that I should so hardly be censured by our quick-witted Confuter at the very entrance into it Doe you discerne in it any thing that should cause our Aduersary to make such a scandalous and vnchristian-like ingression into the inquiry of it that thereby the simpler sort of men may deeme me a Witch or Magician As for such as are of the wiser sort I am sure they laugh at it But is not this an argument of enuy founded on no solid foundation And is not he as well for his vnreasonable spight as some things else of each good Christian to be pittied For what hath he in him should deserue enuy being that he confesseth in his Epistle
else the body and soule would neuer abide together but warre against one another being that they are as contrary in nature as fire and water But vnlesse the spirit of ayre were put betweene these two contrary elements to ioyne them together they would neuer agree nor abide in their spheares no more would the soule and body without a spirituall meane Now as we see that the Heaven of the great World is composed of light and spirit proportioned and as it were glewed together by the eternall Spirit which is the Infuser of life in them both so also is the spirit in man so firmely vnited vnto the soule by the spirituall Word which is the tye or glew of life that it is not possible to be separated the one from the other except it be by that Spirit which did ioyne them together And this may easily be gathered out of these words of the Apostle Viuus est sermo Dei efficax 〈◊〉 omni gladio ancipiti pertingens vsque ad diuisionem animae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Word of God is liuely and effectuall and more piercing then a â—…edged Sword and attaineth euen to the diuision of the soule from the spirit Whereby it argueth that the life consisteth of soule and spirit and that these two are so vnited together by the tye of the Word that nothing but the composer or binder can make any separation of them And for this reason wee may see that there is a strong tye as well betweene the spirit and the soule as betweene the soule and the body And therefore as the soule is more worthy then the spirit so the spirit excelleth in dignity the body and consequently the spirit is by proportion interposed betweene the soule and the body no otherwise then the Ayre betweene the Sunne and Earth Wherefore it is an absurdity in the Peripateticks to deny this tye and vnion and more absurd for Master Foster to make such a poore excuse as to say that the body was generated for the soule and the soule created for the body and therefore that there needeth no bands to faften them A poore conclusion I say of so eminently appearing a Philosopher and Theosopher as who fhould say two extremes could more be ioyned together without a medium or middle tye or intermediate spirit to conioyne and vnite them then the two extremes of a Diameter in a Circle without a middle point or Center And more absurd it is in him to say that there can be a reciprocall desire of two extremes and contrary opposites to come and dwell together at the 〈◊〉 when they are so contrary that the Wise man saith Corpus infestum corruptioni aggrauat animam terrena habitatio deprimit mentem multis curis plenam The body which is subiect to corruption doth ouerburthen and aggrauate the soule and the earthly habitation doth depresse and keepe vnder the minde that is full of cares Is it not strange and vnnaturall that any captiue spirit should not desire his freedome and liberty especially the bright soule which is captiued in her darke bodily prison For this reason therefore Iamblicus saith that Anima dormiat in corpore humano The soule sleepeth in mans body And Porphyrie hath it That it is alwayes 〈◊〉 in the body And Mercurie Trismegistus That the body is vnto the soule a veile of ignorance Whereupon it is certaine that there is a spirit which keepeth it in this his darke prison By this therefore you may see what goodly doctrine this is of Master Fosters But to mend the matter he proceedeth thus And they endeauour after vnion so to keepe together c. It is true if he speaketh in the behalfe of the darke body who is â—…oth to leaue the bright soule which is his treasure But as for the soule we see how many there are that to escape the fetter of this prison doe sluce out their owne blood or destroy themselues and many as well amongst the Elect as by Scriptures we finde it as among the common Worldlings desire earnestly of God as being weary of this World to be dissolued and to passe out of this life Cupio dissolui esse cum Christo saith the one c. Whereby it is apparent that the soule doth not desire to liue in the body or with the body as Master Foster concludeth And when she departeth she cannot leaue her body without the spirit so firme is their vnion as the Apostle sheweth in the text before mentioned neither can the spirit wholly forsake that relation it hath to the body as is said I conclude therefore â—…at against Master Fosters assertion that the soule doth with a strict vnion depend and rely on the spirit and reciprocally the spirits rely on the soule no otherwise then the Agent can not be esteemed as an Agent without the Patient nor the Patient without the Agent And therefore they must both of them be vnited in one And consequently as an essentiall Agent doth act from the Center vnto the Circumference euen so it is to be conceiued that the agile soule is contained in the spirits as the Agent in the Patient or soule in the body or lightning in the cloud And thus farre haue we proceeded to squeese out all Master Fosters Sponges validity touching this matter I come vnto the next CHAP. V. The Authors essentiall Carrier of sympathetical vertue giueth in this Chapter vnto our Sponge-bearer but Iack Drummes entertainment for calling him Tom Long the Carrier Reade and you shall see the manner The naked assertion of D. Fludds Text. VVHereupon it is manifest that 〈◊〉 spirituall Line being inuisibly protracted or extended in the Ayre betweene the places of the wounded person and the Box or Pot of Oyntment doth carry along with it his animal forme the which soule or spirit of life is no lesse to bee diuided from his whole or integrality contained in the body of the â—…unded then the beame of the Sunne is from the Sunne Therefore as the beame of the Sunne swimming in the 〈◊〉 of the world is as it were a Messenger betweene Heauen and Earth euen so this animal beame is the faithfull conductor of the healing nature from the Box of the Balsam vnto the wounded body and this medium or directing and carrying Line namely that which conueyeth the wholesome and salutiferous spirit by meanes of the soule or spirit of life is that spirit which is inuisibly extended or drawne out in the ayre the which vnlesse it had beene in a hidden manner figured and fashioned forth the vertue of the Oyntment would euaporate or sluce out this way or that way and so would bring no benefit vnto the wounded Master Fosters Collection The spirit of the bloodshed is carried by the ayre which is the carrier of the spirit of euery thing vnto his body this spirit going by this ayre in a direct inuisible Line carrieth the sanatiue vertue from the anointed Weapon to the wounded party For the
Thy Wâ—…rd O Lord healeth all things And Saint Iohn hath it that In the Word was life c. Ergo all healing and viuifying power commeth from him as ordained by him the speaker or Creator from the beginning to informe viuifie and create all things Whereas contrariewise in the Diuell is Death and Destruction for the Prophet doth testifie that he was created to destroy Ergo nothing but afflictioâ—… and wounding with sicknesse death and destruction are to be expected of him in his created property and that especially after his fall But I know Master Foster will reply that it is true he is Causa primaria principalis the prime and principall cause of all things but there are many sâ—…balternate efficient causes which operat by themselues that according to their owne inclinations some to good and some to euill To this I â—…swer that it is granted if he meaneth organicall causes and not Essentially Efficients for such are the Angels the starres the winds the Elements the meteors or imperfect bodies and the perfect or compounded Creatures But it is most euident that onely God worketh essentially in them and by them all And I proue it by many places of holy writ harmonically agreeing in one sense As for example Ego Dominus saith the Lord by the Prophet faciens omnia solus nullus mecum I am the Lord who operate and act all things alone not hauing any one to helpe or assist me in mine action or operation And againe Iuxta voluntatem suam facit tam coeli virtutibus quam c. Hee doth what hee list as well with the vertues and powers of Heauen as with the dwellers on the earth and there is not any that can resist his hand Whereby it is most euident that onely God alone without any Co-assisting Creature doth essentially worke in each organicall Subiect as in an Instrument created for him to operate his will and pleasure by as well in Heauen as in Earth and that the creature without that act is as a dead stocke a plaine inane vacuum without all vertue act and operation being vnable to doe more then the pipe without the blast of the piper And to this effect speakes the Prophet thus Consilium meum stabit omnis voluntas mea flet c. My counsell shall stand and my will shall bee accomplished calling a bird from the East Quarter of tâ—…e world and a man of my will from a remote Countrey I haue said it and I will bring it to passe I haue created it and I will doe it whereby it is euident that as the Spirit of his mouth which hee hath sent out for the animating of euery Creature moueth which way the will of the Creatour or inspirer pleaseth So the Spirit of the Creature which is partaker of his Power and Will is immediately obedient and bringeth his bodily case or instrument along with it to performe his Creators Will which is irresistible according to that other place Deus quodcunque voluit hoc facit what God would haue done that he effecteth And this operation of God as well by himselfe as in his created Organs doth extend it selfe not only vnto vulgar manifest actions and effects but also vnto arcane or hidden yea and to such as are miraculous wonderful euen as this cure by the weapon-salue appeareth to be vnto the fantasies oâ—… worldly men making them to admire and wonder at it as a company of birds doe at an Owle in an Iuie bush censuring after the wisedome of this world diuersly and that according to euery mans imagination Some boldly and presumptuously proclaiming it to be the work of the Diuell Some auerre it to bee a maine fopperie and vaine imagination in too credulous persons who by hauing only a good opinion of the thing are cured Some condemne it as a superstitious and abominable manner of healing for as much as the election of ingredients must be done by an Astrological obseruation And others approacâ—… nearer the truth terme it a Naturall Magia or a Magneticall or secret act of Nature And some more essentially grounded and religiously obseruing the prescribed order of holy writ doe as true Christians are bound to doe referre both this miraculous and wonderous act in curing euery other wonderous worke besides vnto that glorious God who hath made both heauen and earth and assigned to them by his spirit as well those vertues which worke in the eyes of worldlings miraculously or wonderfully as others which appeare more familiar vnto their sense according vnto that of Dauid verbo Domini firmati sunt coeli spiritu ab ore eius omnis virtus corum by the Word of the Lord the heauens were established and by the breath of his mouth each vertue or power thereof And their maine ground and foundation for the maintainance of Gods right and the abolishing or taking away of all such miraculous and wonderfull power as is falsely by blind worldlings ascribed vnto the Diuell is prescribed them out of this diuine and truth-telling hymne of the Royall Prophet Blessed bee the Lord God of Israel who onely and by himselfe worketh mâ—…ruailes Or as he hath it in another place Praise the Lord for his mercie endureth for euer who onely doth great meruailes And consequently not any Diuell nor Angell nor man nor medicine but God onely performeth it by that spirituall Gift of healing he hath imparted vnto man and his creatures in their creation and continued it in them from generation to generation It is manifest therefore that onely God operateth all in all essentially and not any created organ bee it spirituall or corporall and consequently not the Diuell who is the organ of darknesse ordained and animated or agitated to effect onely deeds of darkenesse as are sicknesse and destruction and not to be conuersant in goodnesse and especially about deeds of light as are life healing and preseruing As who should say that God acting and operating essentially in all and ouer all had not created good Angels or spirituall Organs to bring to passe and effect the gifts of life and health which hee hath of his mercy imparted vnto his creatures but hee must make election of that spirituall Organ to performe such good deedes whom he created for a cleane contrarie purpose as shall be forthwith proued Gods purpose and will as well in his Creation as after it cannot be withstood that is there cannot be produced an effect contrarie to his will or decree But Gods will and purpose was to make the Deuill his instrument or minister to punish and afflict with diseases sickenesse and death Ergo this his purpose as well in the Deuils creation as by ordination after his fall cannot bee withstood or contradicted by any effect which is contrarie vnto that first will and decree of God Now for the confirmation of the Major we find it thus written Deus iuxta voluntatem suam
God from the earth nor the sudden reuiuing of the dead blood in the murthered at the presence of the murtherer which could not happen without this Viuifying Spirit did participate with and lurke in the blood though without action till by the murthering spirit it was excited vnto action c. But I will bring you to an ocular experience It is most certaine vnto such who haue applyed themselues vnto the art of distilling that mans Blood and Bones doe containe an admirable deale of volatile Salt in which there is so excellent a Balsamick diâ—…position that it doth by reason of the propinquity of nature suddenly appease dolours of the Gout and intolerable Aches cureth Wounds healeth such as are affected with the Mother and Falling-sicknesse and in fine experience hath made manifest that the Volatile Salt and Oyle of the Blood is an excellent Cordiall Againe that the Oyle of Mans Fat is a great appeaser of the Gout and other Dolours and a healer of Wounds and a present dryer vp of all manner of Excoriations often experience hath taught as well my Masters as my selfe Doe we not see that the dropping of a Candle will in one night heale vp an Excoriation And euery Ostler will certifie you that a Horses heele being wounded or cut with a stone or shoo with the anointing of a Candles end that Hogs-grease Deeres-suet are esteemed good and necessary ingredients for a healing Salue there is not a Chirurgion but will confesse And whence doth this sanatiue property in them proceed what from the benigne act of God or from the Deuill If from it is from that curing and viuifying Spirit which first made those Members and gaue them that vertue or it could haue no healing property Spiritu ab ore Dei saith Dauid omnis procedit virtus From the Spirit of the mouth of God proceedeth all vertue Ergò from that Spirit had the Fat Flesh Blood and Bones that vertue of healing or not at all and by the presence they hold still that vertue of it euen after their separation or amputation from the liuing body that it receiued from it whilest they were Members in the liuing Body onely this is the difference that when they were in the liuing Body their vertue was actuall but being separated it is onely potentiall and will not be reduced vnto act vnlesse it be incited by the 〈◊〉 viuifying and actuating Spirit euen as we see that Grease or Tallow is fixed with the cold and will not flow but with the act of naturall heate or fire it will forthwith melt and flow What of all this may our Sponge-bearing Author say Must therefore the Spirit of life be in this for without it there can bee no sympathising betwixt this and the Hypostaticall Balsam residing in the liuing Man I must haue this Inquisitor know that as it was but one Spirit that was called by the Prophet from the foure Windes to breathe life vnto the slaine so there is but one Spirit that giueth vertue as well to the liuing Blood Flesh Fat and Bones as to the other that seeme to vs to be without life or in puissance to act It is but one Spirit but in diuers properties that congealeth and as it were killeth the Spirit of the moueable Element of Ayre and fixeth it by his Northerne blast into Snow Frost Ice and Haile and againe reuiuifieth it by a Southerne blast Neither will it serue our Opposites turne to exclude this Spirit from the Fat Blood Flesh and Mosse of Bones that are in the Oyntment for the Wise man saith That the incorruptible Spirit is in all things Ergò in this Oyntment We haue therefore the Balsamick Salt in all of these ingrediences and in that Salt lurketh the actiue Vertue which being stirred by his fountaine of action flowing and acting à termino à quo doth reagere or act againe à termino ad quem that is from the end to the beginning This is the reason that this Oyntment cureth not onely by a Reall but also Virtuall Contact namely by reason of that vertue which it holdeth from his first Creator As who should say that an herb or roote should lose all their sanatiue vertue because they are gathered from the plant namely a Graine of Wheate or an Apple gathered from the Straw or Tree should haue no Balsamick nourishment in it because they are now past growing and yet the contrary is manifested in that they haue still in them their vegetating and multiplying Spirit For being put into the Earth the very Atom of life lurking in them doth manifest it selfe and maketh them grow againe and multiply in their kinde Neither are the flesh of Beasts destitute of their nourishing property though they seeme dead and are seuered from the liuing Creature For the Scripture saith Anima carnis est in sanguine The life of the flesh is in the blood which if it were not so it would not nourish or bee conuerted into mans bodily substance namely Blood Flesh Fat and Bones as also if the viuifying Spirit did not lurke in the flesh of the dead Carkas it were impossible that it should be conuerted into wormes by the exposition of it vnto the beames of the Sunne as shall be told hereafter Lastly I could shew this deepe Philosopher that this viuifying Spirit in the volatile Salt is abundantly inbred I could shew him ocularly how it sucketh downe the forme of life from the Sunne insomuch that of a cleare aëriall volatile Salt as white as Snow or chrystalling vnctuous fluent liquor it wil in few houres become as red as a Ruby by exposing it to the Sunne-beames Such is the sympathy betwixt it and the forme of the Sunne and in the selfesame kinde is their reciprocall appetite as is betweene the Patient and the Agent or the Female and the Male. I could shew him also in a short space the admirable power this vegetable Spirit hath to cause vegetation in all things And I haue proued it to be a soueraigne Balsam to cure wounds and to take away aches and therefore it sympathiseth with the Hypostaticall Balsam of man For else it would not be conuerted into the same Image namely into Blood and Flesh and Fat and Bones and much more therefore the very Blood Flesh Fat and Bones of the selfesame species being that simile magis nutritur à suo simili like is nourished more by his like Doe we not see mans blood yea the blood of euery creature to consist of such a volatile Salt If it were nothing but the vrine which is the whayie excrement of the blood it would witnesse so much being that it is passing full of salt Armoniak or volatile Animal Salt and by reason of the Balsamick nature thereof mans vrine is so proper to mundifie and cure a slight greene wound as also the Yellow-Iaunders is cured at such a distance from the patient as is already declared You see therefore with what ease and that by