Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	according_a	good_a	life_n	1,193	5	4.3355	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26259	Averroeana being a transcript of several letters from Averroes an Arabian philosopher at Corduba in Spain, to Metrodorus a young Grecian nobleman, student at Athens in the years 1149 and 1150 : also several letters from Pythagoras to the King of India, together with his reception at the Indian court, and an account of his discourse with the King, and his gymnosophists, and his rules and precepts : his account of the power and efficacy of numbers, and magical uses thereof : to which is prefixt, a Latin letter by Monsieur Grinau, one of the Messieurs du Port Royal in France, to the ingenius Monsieur Gramont, merchant at Amsterdam, concerning the subject of these papers, and how they came to his hands : the whole containing matters highly philosophical, physiological, Pythagorical and medicinal, the work having been long conceal'd is now put into English for the benefit of mankind, and the rectification of learned mistakes.; Correspondence. English. Selections	Averroës, 1126-1198.; Pythagoras. Correspondence. English. Selections.	1695 (1695)	Wing A4271; ESTC R1981	54,271	185

of so much Science in any Person 's Hands but yours who so well know how to use it and so bountifully to dispence it And I beseech you let the Accomplishments of my Desires hitherto be an Encouragement to me of hoping to prevail with you to give my Curiosity some further Satisfaction in the Works of Nature particularly in this whether there be any fixt Salts in Vegetables or Animals according to the common Opinion of Philosophers and Physicians which shall be embraced by me with the highest Testimony of Respect and Honour Athens 1149. Metrodorus IT is not the least Delight I take to see a Person of your Eminence and Quality so vehemently to aspire and thirst after Truth besides the Complacency I have to be able to contribute any thing towards your Noble Endeavours I greatly commend your Emulation which can never be unjust while you have so inestimable and desirable a Prize in Chace the Attainment whereof will more illustrate your Name than all the Trophies and Dignities of your Ancestors In answer then to the Question you sent me I deny that the Sal-nitral Vertues of things can be fixed for then there would be no waste or decay for you must know that so soon as any Animal or other thing arrives to its highest degree of Perfection those Salnitral Vertues or Balsamick Spirits become more or less Volatile according to the Nature and Strength of that thing Could you by any Art continue and maintain the Oily Vertue or Sun's quality in any Animal or Vegetable so long would that thing remain in full strength and vigour All Death and Decay arising from the Evaporation of the fine Spirits and Volatile Salts Take any Herb when 't is in full force and vertue dry it a little in the Sun but not too much then burn it into Ashes and from these Ashes you may gather a great quantity of that Matter which the Physicians call fixed Salt Amongst Herbs Wormwood affords the most by reason of its bitterness and heat But if you take the same Herb and expose it to the Sun and Elements till it becomes light dry or like Chaff till it hath lost its smell and taste and then burn it you shall find very little or none of that fixed Salt There can be no such thing as fixed Salt in any Vegetable so long as it remains intire for if it were there it were impossible for it to evaporate or fly away but if you burn this Herb when it is in its full Vertue the heat and violence of the Fire doth Coagulate or Condense the Volatile Spirits and Oily Qualities into a fixed Salt which Effect is to be assigned to the meer accidence of the Fire and nothing else even as the Balsamick or sweet qualities in Spirituous Drinks by a fierce Fermentation are turned and transmuted into a quite contrary Nature By these little Arts Men can change one quality into another but for the most part for the worse viz. They can transmute the Noble Spirits and Vertues into a keen and soure quality and thence into a fierce Sulphureous Spirit And also in Vegetables by the help of Fire captivate and fix the fine and Volatile Vertues into a sharp standing Salt and neither the one nor the other can be reduced to their former state but by the powerful Operations of the Heavens and Elements which by their wonderful and undiscerned Influence can change and unfix that that was fixed so that it becomes Volatile again so great and admirable is the Power of God in Nature's Works None of the Chymists Furnaces with their fierce and terrible Fire can unlock the Body of Salt so fixed if you have any desire to do that you must hearken to the Voice of Nature and attend her Motions and Works in her own way Take your fixed Salt either of Herbs Stones Wood c. sow or mix it with the common Earth it will abundantly enrich the Soil and enable it to produce a large and plentiful Crop and by this means the Fixed will become Volatile again and is the Life Power and Vertue of all Vegetation but in time it will again evaporate There is no fixed Salt in Nature nor made by Art that this Method will not unlock and unmix till it becomes a pure fine Volatile Spirit but only the Crude Unseparate Seawater-Salt that we use with our Food which some affirm passes through us undigested The Physical Uses of these fixed Salts are much the same in Operation as to quality though they differ in strength and power according to the Vigour Heat and Vertue the Body from whence they are Extracted is endued with All Salts i● their o●n Nature are quick penetrating and opening and of excellent use ●●ng duly compounded with proper Medicines Of all sorts of Salts that of Tartar is the best and most Medicinal for 't is more subtle and penetrating than any derived from Herbs c. And those Physicians that have this by them have no occasion to search for other let the Disease be what it will Thus Metrodorus I have over and above answered your Question both by proving that there can be no fixed Salts really in Animals or Vegetables And have also given you the true nature and use of all fixed Salts Extracted thence by Art I had thought that by this time I had fulfilled your Request But another Question suggesting it self relating to the former I shall a little trespass on the Limits of ●●●stolary Confinement in order to offer somewhat by way of Solution to That and so intirely dismiss the present Subject Having already affirmed that there is very little difference betwixt fixed Salts I shall proceed a little further to acquaint you with somewhat of the Nature of Spirits drawn from Wine Sugar Fruits c. in Physical Operations All Spirits be they drawn from what they will have as to quality one and the same Operation only weaker or stronger according to the Nature of the Matter from whence they are Extracted Being taken inwardly they have all more or less a hot-penetrating Vertue and are of good use if properly administred viz. now and then as Medicines but otherwise they become destructive to the natural Heat and inimical to the Vital Powers and after a Series of Paralytick Contractions of the Nerves and Sinews induce as their utmost Malignity Death it self which consideration ought to have a peculiar place am●●g those who would make the most ●● a short Life and not lose the advantage of the most inestimable Blessings the Gods can bestow even Health it self When by Burning any Herbs c. to Extract its Salt which by no other Method can be obtained do not you destroy or at least change and transmute all the lively and brisk Volatile Vertues into another quality of a contrary Nature and Effect The same is to be understood of all Vegetations when fermented And hot strong Spirits drawn from them are much less Medicinal than fixed Salt if not partaking of

humane Number in which wonderful variety consists the highest degrees of unity Therefore Man should not put Locks on the Doors of his Spirit for nothing hurts the holy Powers so much as to fix them in constant methods For this cause Herbs and Medicines have not such efficacy and power to Cure Diseases and Infirmities as some of the Philosophers and Physicians talk of they fixing certain Vertues in them and so they administer them having no regard to the power of the Soul nor to the present Dictates of the good Demon its Son so that the Herb or Medicine is dead and without Life and Spirit But on the other side when he that administers observes the Voice and Dictates of the Spirit or Light of Mens Hearts then the Medicine or Herb becomes full of Life and hath a wonderful Operation and Cures to an high degree This is the method we and our Followers observe in the Practice of Physick always following the Directions of our good Demon which leads us into as great variety as there is of Creatures in the Animal Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms or four Worlds And though we Cure even to a Miracle with Sage or Balm yet for the same or like Distemper we are led or directed to some other Herb or Thing at another time by our good Angel therefore we esteem it a great Sin to observe certain methods and to kill Men by outward Authority No all our Authority and Power is from our Souls and good Angels which Men ought to consult in all difficulties We do also make great use of the Number three as being a holy Number and a Number of Perfection and most powerful not only in Medicine but also in Religion We also prefer the Number Four it being endued with great Power and Vertue being as it were the Foundation and Root of other Numbers as well of Artificial Things as Natural and Divine The Number Five stands us in great stead in all our Magical Operations this Number is as it were the Birth of the Son and Daughter of Light and a Flame of Love and is the wonderful Perfection and Virtue in all Operations and some of our Fathers have entitled it the Number of Wedlock and of Justice This Number does contain many great Mysteries which aptly used are of good success The Number Six is also of great use and is a Number of Perfection in all the Magical and Sympathetical Operations of Nature Also the Number Seven has no less Vertue and Power than the other and of which all our Fathers have made great observation in Sacred Things in which Numbers all Mysteries are most compleat The Number Eight our Fathers have made great use of and they call it the Number of Justice and Fulness Note also that the Number Nine is of great Vertue both in Medicines and Religion and in all Magical Operations There are also many other Numbers that are of great use and benefit to all that live Innocent Lives and observe God's Law in Nature for Man is in Nature and therefore he must work and penetrate into the inward Mysteries of God's Law by the power of his Soul and light thereof This O King is some part of our methods in the Practice of Physick We dare not in this place discourse of our Secret and Divine Magick nor of the wonderful things that are performed by the power of Sympathy and Antipathy the publishing thereof is forbidden us but this is sufficient to the wise and he that understands how to practice and apply these Rules and Methods here set down is not far from the great and most Secret Knowledge distinguishing the good Powers of God the true understanding of which is the highest degree both of Divine and Natural Magick An Extract of some of the Precepts and Rules that Pythagoras Recommended to his Disciples and Followers O Thou doubly compounded Man fram'd of an Earthly Body influenced by an Immortal Soul convert the Eye of thy Understanding inward study thy self and thou shalt know the wonderful Powers and Qualities God has implanted in thee Thou art the Similitude the Resemblance of all Powers Worlds and Elements In thee the true Natures and Properties of all Created Beings are contained Thou art the Son and Off-spring of all Worlds both Material and Immaterial whereby thou Vertually containest and Symbolically representest the Essences and Qualities of them all For the Great Creator has indued every Being with an Influential Vertue and Vice but more especially thee O Man By which means there is a Secret and Sympathetick Operation and Working of one Body on another For which cause we Command and Recommend to our Disciples and Children I. Temperance and an Abstinence from all Hurtful Things in Eating Drinking and Communication That they keep themselves Clean and Unpolluted Besides we have a particular regard to the great Law of Retaliation to which man must submit either in this or the other World This is the Law of Justice by which all must be tried and none can be exempted Which is the Original Ground and Reason of our Prohibition of Killing Living Creatures and Eating Unclean Foods II. The Gods are not only the Creators but the Preservers of all Creatures and none can enter into the Regions of Bliss but such as observe the Rules of Justice and in all Things imitate them For whosoever opposes them must be compelled to undergo the Severity of Retaliation seeing every thing is moved by a Sympathetick Motion and Inclination and not according to Sence as some vainly imagine but according to God's Eternal Law in Nature and her secret Operation III. The Heavens Sun Moon Stars and all the Elements distil their genuine Influences and prolifick Vertues on all Creatures The most inferior have an equal share in the benefit of those Immortal Preserving Powers according to the Capacity of their Nature So that to obtain their Favour we must of necessity be like them in our Works and Communications IV. We likewise forbid all manner of Violence and Murder not only of those of our own Kind and Species but likewise of all inferior Animals For no Man can do the Work of the Spightful Powers but he must at the same time enter with his Will into their Qualities which have an innate power to advance all kind of Cruelty darkening the Soul and rendring it apt and ready to receive and embrace the Suggestions and Impressions of evil Demons making it a Companion of all the Rapacious Beasts of the Wilderness which we call a double and treble falling from the heighth of Good to the fathomless Abyss of Evil cloathing the Soul with a Bestial Body the Essences whereof will stick to it in Eternity For this Practice is contrary to the Laws of Creation and Preservation 't is Man only by a whimsical Conceit that makes the distinction and not the holy Powers for the Imaginary Security of himself and the Maintenance of Society V. Houses and Hospitals sufficiently endowed must be

some necessary Qualification Therefore as to those forced Spirits of Scurvy grass c. which make Men look like so many spotted Leopards which the publick and scandalously Licensed Quacks and Empericks together with their Orvietan or disguised Mi●hrida●● Aqua S●iptica of which not one knows truly even the Etymology of the Word which destroys more than they pretend to Cure are only to be regarded as so many Cheats put upon Mankind and a meer Trick for an Impudent Blockhead to get a Penny at the Expence and Hazard of a Life better worth than his own For I look upon all those Cattle as the Pest and Plague of a Nation and ought to have the Libera nos fixed over their Door if ever they deserve to be Owners of an House But Metrodorus for fear I should over-lash I will quit the Discourse at present and say somewhat more in my next wherein setting aside the prejudices of Education the common Method of Physicians in the Country where I at present live and the Vulgar Opinion of Philosopers I shall endeavour by following my Mistress Nature to contribute what I can to the satisfactory Curiosity of a Person I believe so desirous of being acquainted with Truth Farewel Dated Corduba 1149. Averroes to Metrodorus SInce my last I have met with some Occur●●nces that I think may be of use to you in the Study you are engaged in I am sufficiently acquainted with the Noble Disposition of your Soul which sets too high a value upon Truth to l●● any thing pass by you unexamined and scorns to despise any thing meerly because 't is easie to be had and at a cheap rate The true value of things is never lessen'd by their being ordinary and common for we are yet ignorant of the Nature of that which we most familiarly converse with How many are the Doubts the Philosophers are perplexed with about the Substance and Operation of their Souls even whilst they are employing them And how few if any are acquainted with the Constitution of their Bodies whilst they daily carry them about with them and seem to take so much unnecessary care for them Were we but better informed of our own Natures it would conduce much more to the gratifying our Curiosity in the search of Truth and withal deliver us from the power of many Accidents that so often surprize and overwhelm us There would be less need of the Doctor would every Man become his own Physician which would very easily be done could we but maintain a regular observation of the condition and temperament of our Constitutions Having therefore of late been particularly engaged to make some Observations on a Consumptive Person I shall briefly communicate to you what Methods ought to be followed by People afflicted with that Disease and that generally only not entring into a Philosophical Disquisition of its Origine and Cause To begin then The lowest and simplest Foods and smallest Drinks are most advantageous to such as labour under wasting Distempers All Spoon Meats made ●● Oat-meal and Water eaten with Bread but without Butter are proper Some commend Flower and Water eaten with B●ead and Salt two or three times a Week and Chocolate made with Water and only sweetned with Sugar Sometimes let your Food be mean and other times rich for Nature loves Variety but then remember to eat sparingly Such People ought to be cautious of visiting the Shades of Venus which is extreamly prejudicial and is perhaps in many the Original of that Distemper All sorts of strong Liquors are to be avoided also new Milk though the Learned do often advise it Salt is very proper in most Foods it strengthens the Stomach and procures Appetite In fine Temperance is the main thing to be observed and it is safer to err in quality than quantity which over-burdens Nature stagnates the Blood and Humours and induces a general Ca●hexy through the whole Body It is very wholesom also to walk in the Fields especally by Running Rivers where the Air is more fine and spirituous and more readily penetrates the Body on all sides wonderfully helping the Circulation of the Blood and facilitating Digestion Lying alone on Quilts and Flock Beds is beneficial for Consumptive Persons Their Cloathing ought to be moderate rather inclining to thinness for heat gotten by Exercise is surely most salutiferous Once a Day let them remember to drink a Pint of good Water which will cleanse the Vessels of the Stomach and help Concoction the often changing their Cloaths will contribute much to a Cure provided they take care not to catch Cold. This may be thought a strange Method but Metrodorus I have seen the Power and Vertue of it by Experience It abundantly refreshes the Spirits enduing them with new Life and Strength increases the Menstruum of the Stomach sharpens the Appetite to an high degree and unconceivably assists Nature in several respects But because I have touch'd a little upon Milk I shall give my Opinion of it a little more fully Milk in its own Nature is a noble healthy Food but some better than other according to the disposition of the Cattle from whence 't is drawn and the Nature of the Pasturage whereon they feed from whence arises that great variety in the several forts of Butter and Cheese The principal Season of the Year for the eating of Milk is from the beginning of April to the last of July It is good indeed at all times of the Year provided the Cows be new Milch for it is by no means to be eaten after the Cows have taken Bull for then it becomes thick and as it were stagnated difficult of Concoction and exceedingly detrimental to wasting People and naturally generates frothy and phlegmatick Juices in the Stomach which is drawn and attracted by the Lungs and Nature having no other way to disburthen her self of these Crudities is necessitated to send the greatest part up the Windpipe occasioning Asthma's and Coughs the foundation of inexplicable Diseases which discovers of what importance 't is to be very wary in our method of eating and drinking I shall before I finish this Letter make some Observations that may be useful to several Constitutions if duly regarded and then take my leave of you till another occasion gives me liberty to discourse further on this Subject The Phlegmatick ought to eat when they break their fast Bread Butter and Cheese or some other dry Food and not drink till two or three hours of whatever you drink let it be of a middle strength This method will not only Purge by Urine and open the passages but beget a brisk Appetite for a Dinner To eat a Toast and Oyl together with a draught of good Ale and Beer is very wholesom but if the Party inclines to fatness then walking in the open Air is a good Remedy It prevents Obstruction and gross Humours and unperceivably assists the Operation of Nature The Sanguine Complexion ought chiefly to desire the most

the Principle of Love and defaced the Image of God wherein he was at first Created following the directions of Evil Spirits turned an exasperated Persecutor of the innocent Inhabitants of the Lower World wild in his Imaginations and untractable in his Dispositions His great Creator had provided plentifully for him without exposing him to offend in such a Rude and Barbarous manner He appointed the Earth to him for an Habitation together with his Fellow Creatures he ordained the Ground to bring forth Fruit Herbs and Corn for their Food and the gentle murmuring Rivers for their drink the Gra●s for their Beds and the Thick spreading Trees to defend them from the scorching heat of the Sun It is likely too he ordained the Beasts of the Field for the Service of Man so far as they might be serviceable without suffering Injustice and being Cruelly dealt with He was on every hand furnished with what might contribute to his Necessity or Delight without being compelled to pollute his Hands in Blood and worrying and tormenting harmless Creatures that bore God's Image and the express Signatures of Divine Wisdom as well as himself It was for other Ends he was sent into the World viz. to Contemplate the Glories thereof and in Reflection thereupon to adore with an holy Heart and unpoluted Hands the Immense Power and Bountiful Wisdom of his Creator He was therefore left at liberty that his Actions might be Humane not that he should become a Lawless Tyrant and an uncontroulable Destroyer 'T is true indeed the poor Brute Animals are constrained to their motions they have the necessity of an unavoidable Law upon them which they cannot transgress neither shall they receive Reward for the observation of it 'T is Man only whose Actions are capable of Reward and Punishment Therefore it is that he was sent into the World with a Law written in his Heart to guide him in the paths of Vertue Goodness and Innocency that keeping up the Divine Life he might preserve the Image and Resemblance of his Maker and not degenerate to so poor an Ambition as of Exercising an Unjust and Tyrannical Barbarity over Innocent Animals that continually acknowledged his Superiority over them by their Natural and Implanted Fear of him Then a certain Gymnosophist of India that stood by said If things are as thou saist Pythagoras these Inferior Creatures are in a happier and more blessed Condition than Man himself For what becomes of all his boasted Authority Where 's the Dominion he pretends to hold by his Creator's Bounty and the peculiar Excellence of his Nature if these Creatures are exempted from his Jurisdiction and not subjected to his Government Thou hast said that Man is the Image of God and the Perfection of his Maker's Works in this Lower World Where 's the Preheminence then if he has nothing to glory in but the liberty of his Will which had better a Thousand times be confined which at one time not only exposes him to inexplicable Perturbations here but thereby Subjects him to his Soveraign's Indignation and to endless Torments hereafter whilst those Creatures enjoy an undisturbed security free from the danger of suffering worse in another place The natural necessity of their Actions makes all their motions easie and delivers them from the fear of Transgression and Punishment Our Doctors have taught us That as God is Soveraign Master of the Upper Worlds and hath all Angels and Spirits subject to his Dominion so as an Image of himself he has planted Man Lord in the Lower World and endued him with Authority to command and controul all inferior Beings That they were not Created as so many Pictures only to gratifie the diversion of his Eyes but were also made for his Use and Service in as many ways as he shall think fit to employ them some to furnish him with Food some with Raiment and others to serve him for Recreation and Diversion Nor in this does it appear that any Violence is exercised upon them for as much as having no Immortal Souls and being but Temporary Beings they have no Charter to plead with Priviledge of Immunity from such Services as the natural and peculiar ends of their Creation seem to design them for For had the Great Creator who is perfectly Good and Gracious and cannot endure to see the meanest of his Creatures abused intended otherwise he would have provided means for their preservation furnished them with ability to avoid or resist impending mischief or restrained this exorbitant Appetite in Man and have turned the stream of his Inclinations another way For as the Fabrication of all things was the Effect of his Power so the particular management and determination of all to their proper and respective ends is guided by the conduct and concurrence of his Providence And as his Wisdom at first ordained these Creatures for such and such Ends so his Spirit inspires Mankind with Power Sagacity and Desire to compel those Creatures to the Accomplishment of those Ends for which his Wisdom had before contrived and appointed them So that Man is but the Manister of God in this matter and in this respect at once pursues the end of his own Being and that of other Beings too After the Philosopher had thus discoursed he retired a little and the King stood up and said What saist thou Pythagoras to these Arguments for to me they seem to have some Face of Reason in them For if there be any Injury done to the Creatures in reducing them to our Service and using them for our Pastime it must proceed either because they have a natural Right of being exempted from our Power or from some mutual Contract and Stipulation agreed to betwixt Man and them If thou canst make either of these out we shall gladly quit the Cause and submit to thy Doctrine For if thou provest the former we must acknowledge our present Practice to be an Invasion if the latter Injustice But if thou canst prove them both we shall readily confess it to be a Complication of Tyranny Cruelty Oppression and Abominable Iniquity Then Pythagoras advanced forward and after having made submissive Reverence answered Most Mighty King It is not only the greatest Honour but the most desireable Happiness and Satisfaction that I have the Liberty to defend the Doctrine I have taught my Disciples before so Discerning and Sagacious a Prince that is willing to submit the Custom of many Ages and the Practice of many Countries to an Unbyassed and Impartial Disquisition This shall Illustrate thy Name more than the Trophies of thy Ancestors or the Success of thy Indisputable Courage and Bravery that has Built so many Obelisqs to thy Fame through all the Territories of thy Enemies Truth is the Brightest Gem in the Regal Diadem and sets it off with a far more shining Lustre than all the Praises of Poets or the extravagant and misapplied Commendations of Dissembling and Hypocritical Parasites I see O King it is the Genius of thy