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<DATE>2011-11-29</DATE>
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<NAME>Alexis Jakobson</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A DISCOVRSE OF FIRE and SALT, DISCOVERING Many &s;ecret My&s;teries, AS WELL PHILOSOPHICALL, AS THEOLOGICALL.</P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>Richard Cotes,</HI> 1649.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To his worthy friend Captaine <HI>Thomas Falconbridge.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_J Have been informed of your zeal and forwardne&s;&s;e in advancing Learning and Truth, two com|mendable vertues, for a man of your merit and profe&s;&s;ion. And meeting with a &s;ubject compo&s;ed by a <HI>French</HI> Authour, I pre&s;ent the Tran&s;lation to your favourable acceptance: It is of forraign birth, though &s;wadled up in an Engli&s;h habit: It hath done much good abroad, and I am confident it will do the like here, if &s;upported with your appro|bation: It had not &s;een the Pre&s;&s;e here, had I not been a&s;&s;ured of the candor and integrity of the Authour. I repo&s;e confidence of acceptation, becau&s;e the Tran&s;|lator hath been of your long acquaintance, and was lately &s;en&s;ible of your propen&s;ity and a&s;&s;i&s;tance, when he came in your way: If this may find grace with you, you will engage him to make further inqui&s;ition into this mo&s;t &s;acred and &s;ecret my&s;tery, and to re&s;t,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your mo&s;t affectionate friend <HI>EDVVARD STEPHENS.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
<PB REF="3">
<PB N="1" REF="3" MS="y">
<HEAD>AN EXCELLENT TREATISE OF FIRE and SALT. Compo&s;ed by the Lord <HI>Blai&s;e</HI> of <HI>VIGENERE.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The fir&s;t part.</HEAD>
<P><HI>_PYTHAGORAS</HI> who of all Pagans was un|doubtedly, by common con&s;ent and appro|bation, held to have made more profound &s;earch, and with le&s;s incertainty penetrated into the &s;ecrets as well of Divinity, as of Na|ture, having quaffed full draughts from the living &s;ource of Mo&s;aicall Traditions, amid'&s;t his darke &s;entences, where, accordlng to the Letter, he touched one thing, and my&s;tically under&s;tood and compri&s;ed another; (wherein he imitates the <HI>Aegyptians</HI> and <HI>Chaldaeans,</HI> or rather, the <HI>Hebrewes,</HI> from whence all theirs proceeded) he here &s;ets downe the&s;e two: Not to &s;peake of God without Light; and to apply Salt in all his Sacrifices and Offerings; which he borrowed word for word from <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as we &s;hall hereafter declare. For our intention is here to Treat of <HI>Fire</HI> and of <HI>Salt.</HI></P>
<P>And that upon the 9. of Saint <HI>Marke, ver.</HI> 49. <HI>Every man &s;hall
<PB N="2" REF="4"> be &s;alted with Fire, and every Sacrifice &s;hall be &s;alted with Salt.</HI> Wherein foure things come to be &s;pecified, Man, and Sacrifice, Fire, and Salt; which yet are reduced to two, comprehending under them, the other two; Man and Sacrifice, Fire and Salt; in re&s;pect of the conformitie they beare each to other.</P>
<P><HI>In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth;</HI> this &s;aid <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> on the entrance upon <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI> Whereupon the Jew <HI>Ari&s;tobulus,</HI> and &s;ome Ethniques willing to &s;hew that <HI>Pythagoras</HI> and <HI>Plato</HI> had read <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> bookes, and from thence drawne the greate&s;t part of their mo&s;t &s;ecret Philo&s;ophy, alledged that which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;hould have &s;aid, that the heaven and the earth were fir&s;t created; <HI>Plato</HI> in his <HI>Timaeus,</HI> after, <HI>Timaeus Locrien</HI> &s;aid that God fir&s;t a&s;&s;embled Fire and Earth, to build an univer&s;e thereof; (we will &s;hew it more &s;en&s;ibly of <HI>Zohar</HI> in the Weik of a Candle lighted, for all con&s;i&s;ts of light, being the fir&s;t of all Creatures.) The&s;e Philo&s;ophers pre&s;uppo&s;ing that the World con&s;i&s;ted (as indeed it doth) of the foure Elements, which are as well in heaven, and yet higher, as in the earth, and lower, but in a diver&s;e manner.</P>
<P>The two highe&s;t, Aire and Fire, being compri&s;ed under the name of Heaven and of the Aethereall Region: for the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> comes from the verbe <GAP DESC="foreign"> to &s;hine, and to enflame, the two pro|prieties of the&s;e Elements. And under the word Earth, the two lower, Earth and Water, incorporated into one Globe. But although <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;et Heaven before Earth; (and ob&s;erve here that in all <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> he toucheth at nothing but things &s;en&s;ible, but not of intelligible things; which is a point apart) for concerning this, there is no good agreement between Jewes and Chri&s;tians; Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> in his first <HI>Homily.</HI> Ob&s;erve a little with what dignity the Divine Nature comes to &s;hine in his manner of pro|ceeding to the creation of things; For God contrary to Arti&s;ts in building his Edifice, &s;tretched out fir&s;t the heavens round a|bout, afterwards planted the earth below.</P>
<P>Hee wrought fir&s;t at the head, and afterwards came to the foundation. But it is the Hebrewes cu&s;tome, that when they &s;peake mo&s;t of a thing, they ordinarily put the la&s;t in order, which they pretend to touch fir&s;t: And the &s;ame is here practi&s;ed, where Heaven is alledged before Earth, which he comes to di&s;|cry immediately after.</P>
<P><HI>In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth, and the Earth
<PB N="3" REF="4"> was without Forme and void;</HI> Saint <HI>Matthew</HI> u&s;eth the &s;ame, upon the entrance to his Go&s;pell, <HI>The Booke of the Generation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t the &s;on of David, the &s;on of Abraham, Abraham begat I&s;aac, &amp;c.</HI> For it is well knowne, that <HI>Abraham</HI> was a long time before <HI>David:</HI> Otherwi&s;e it &s;eemes, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> would particularly demon&s;trate, that the Earth was made before the Heaven, by the Creation of man, that is, the Image and pourtrait of the great World, for that in the &s;econd of <HI>Gene&s;is, God formed man of the &s;lime of the earth,</HI> (that is to &s;ay,) his body which it repre&s;ents; <HI>and afterwards breathed in his face the &s;pirit, or breath of life:</HI> that carrieth him backe to heaven; whereunto &s;uits that which is written in the 1 to the <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. <HI>The fir&s;t man from the earth is earth|ly, and the &s;econd man from heaven is heavenly: the fir&s;t man Adam was made a living &s;oule; and the la&s;t Adam, a quickning &s;pirit.</HI> Whereto the Generation of the Creature relates, who &s;ix weeks after the Conception, is nothing but a ma&s;&s;e of informed fle&s;h, till the &s;oule that is infu&s;ed from above, doth vivifie it.</P>
<P>Moreover the foure Elements (whereof all is made) con&s;i&s;ts of foure qualities, Hot and Drie, Cold and Moi&s;t; two of them are bound up in each of them: <HI>Earth,</HI> that is to &s;ay, Cold and Dry, the <HI>Water,</HI> Cold and Moi&s;t; the <HI>Aire,</HI> Moi&s;t and Hot; the <HI>Fire,</HI> Hot and Dry: whence it comes to joine with the earth; for the Elements are circular, as <HI>Hermes</HI> would have it; each being engirded with two others, with whom it agreeth in one of their qualities; which is thereunto appropriate: as Earth be|twixt Fire and Water, participates with the Fire in dryne&s;&s;e, and with Water in coldne&s;&s;e; and &s;o of the re&s;t.</P>
<P>Man then which is the Image of the great World, and there|from is called the Microco&s;me, or little World, as the World which is made after the re&s;emblance of his Archetype, is called the great man; being compo&s;ed of foure Elements, &s;hall have al&s;o its heaven and its earth: The &s;oule, and under&s;tanding, are its heaven, the body and &s;en&s;uality, its earth: So that to know the heaven and earth of man, is to have true and entire knowledge of all the Univer&s;e, and of the Nature of things.</P>
<P>From the knowledge of the &s;en&s;ible World, we come to that of the Creator, and the Intelligible world; by the Creature, the Creator is under&s;tood, &s;aith Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> Fire then gives
<PB N="4" REF="5"> motion to the body, Aire feeling, Water nouri&s;hment, and Earth &s;ub&s;i&s;tence. Moreover heaven de&s;ignes the intelligible world, the earth the &s;en&s;ible: Each of them is &s;ubdivided into two, (in every ca&s;e I &s;peake not but after <HI>Zohar</HI> and the ancient <HI>Rabbins.</HI>) The intelligible into Paradi&s;e and Hell; and the &s;en&s;ible, to the Cele&s;tiall and Elementary world: Upon this pa&s;&s;age <HI>Origen</HI> makes a faire di&s;cour&s;e at the entry on <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> that God fir&s;t made the heaven or the intelligible world, follow|ing that which is &s;poken in the 66. of <HI>E&s;ay, Heaven is my &s;eat and Earth my foot&s;toole;</HI> Or rather it is God in whom the world dwel|leth, and not the world which is Gods habitation: For in him <HI>we live,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 17.28.</NOTE> <HI>move, and have our being;</HI> for the true &s;eat and habitation of God, is his proper e&s;&s;ence: and before the Creation of the World, as <HI>Rabbi Eliezer</HI> &s;ets downe, in his Chapte<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s, there was nothing but the e&s;&s;ence of God, and his name, which are but one thing: Then after the heaven, or the intelligible world, <HI>Origen</HI> pur&s;ues, <HI>God made the Firmament,</HI> that is to &s;ay, this &s;en&s;ible world; for every body hath I know not what firmne&s;&s;e and &s;olidity, and all &s;olidity is corporal; and as that which God propo&s;ed to make, con&s;i&s;teth of Body and of Spirit, for this cau&s;e it is written, that God fir&s;t made the Heaven, that is to &s;ay, all &s;pirituall &s;ub|&s;tance, upon which, as upon a certaine throne, hee repo&s;eth him&s;elfe. The Firmament for our regard is the body, which <HI>Zohar</HI> calleth the Temple, and the Apo&s;tle al&s;o, <HI>Yee are Gods Temple,</HI> 1 Cor. 3.17. And the Heaven, which is &s;pirituall, is our &s;oule, and the inner man; the Firmament is the externall, that neither &s;eeth, nor knoweth God but &s;en&s;ibly. So that man is double, an animall, and &s;pirituall body, the one Internall, Spirituall, Invi&s;ible; that which Saint <HI>Marke</HI> in this place de|&s;igneth for man; the other Externall, Corporall, Animal, which he denotes by the Sacrifice which comprehendeth not the things that are of the Spirit of God, but the Spirituall di&s;cerneth all; So that the exteriour man is an animal compared to brute bea&s;ts, whereout they tooke their offerings for Sacrifices: He is com|pared to fooli&s;h Bea&s;ts, and is made like them; for a man hath no more then a Bea&s;t: we mu&s;t under&s;tand the Carnall, and A|nimall, that con&s;i&s;ts of this vi&s;ible body, that dyeth as well as Bea&s;ts, are corrupt and returne to Earth: Whence <HI>Plato</HI> &s;aid very well, that which is &s;eene of man, is not man properly. And in
<PB N="5" REF="5"> the fir&s;t of <HI>Alcibiades,</HI> yet more di&s;tinctly, that Man is I know not what el&s;e, then his body, namely his &s;oule, as it followes after|wards. That which <HI>Cicero</HI> borrowed out of <HI>Scipio's</HI> dreame; But under&s;tand it thus, that thou art not mortall, but this body; thou art not that, which this forme declares, but every mans minde is him&s;elfe, not that figure which may be demon&s;trated by the finger: And the Philo&s;opher <HI>Anaxarchus</HI> while the Ty|rant <HI>Nicocreon</HI> of <HI>Cyprus,</HI> cau&s;ed him to be brayed in a great Mar|ble Morter, cried out with a loud voice, <HI>Stampe hard, brui&s;e the barke of Anaxarchus, for it is not him that thou &s;tampe&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>But will it be permitted for me here, to bring &s;omething of <HI>Metubales?</HI> All that is, is either Invi&s;ible, or Vi&s;ible; Intelle|ctuall, or Sen&s;ible; Agent, and Patient; Forme, and Matter; Spi|rit, and Body; the Interiour and the Exteriour man; Fire, and Water; that which &s;eeth, and that which is &s;een.</P>
<P>But that which &s;eeth is much more excellent and more worthy then that which is &s;een, and there is nothing that &s;eeth, but the invi&s;ible, where that which is &s;eene, is as a blind thing; therefore Water is a proper and &s;erviceable &s;ubject, over whom the Fire or Spirit may out-&s;tretch his action.</P>
<P>Al&s;o he hath elevated it for his habitation and re&s;idence; for by introducing it, he elevates it on high in the nature of Aire contiguous unto it: which invi&s;ible Spirit (of the Lord was carryed on the waters, or rather did &s;it over t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e waters) did &s;ee the vi&s;ible, moved the immoveable, for water hath no motion of it &s;elfe; there is none but Aire, and Fire, that have, and &s;peake by the Organs of one that is dumb; for as when by our winde and breath, filling a pipe or flute, we make it &s;ound though ne|ver &s;o mute.</P>
<P>This Body and Spirit, water and fire, are de&s;igned unto us by <HI>Cain</HI> and <HI>Abel,</HI> the fir&s;t Creatures of all others engendred of the &s;eed of man and woman, and by their Sacrifices, whence tho&s;e of <HI>Cain</HI> i&s;&s;uing from the fruits of the earth, were by con&s;equent corporall, dead, and inanimate, and together de&s;titute of faith, which dependeth of the Spirit, and are by Fire di&s;&s;olved into a wateri&s;h vapour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pour le nou|veau.</NOTE> &s;o that to go to finde it in its &s;phere and habita|tion, for the newes, we are to &s;uffer thereunder. But tho&s;e of <HI>Abel</HI> were &s;pirituall, animate, full of life, that re&s;ides in the bloud; full of piety and devotion. This al&s;o <HI>Aben Ezra,</HI> and the author
<PB N="6" REF="6"> of the <HI>Handfull of Myrrh,</HI> call a fire de&s;cending from one a|bove to regather them: which happened not to tho&s;e of <HI>Cain,</HI> which a &s;trange fire devoured; and from thence was declared the exteriour man, &s;en&s;uall, animall, that mu&s;t bee &s;alted with Salt; But <HI>Abel</HI> the interiour, &s;pirituall, &s;alted with Fire; which is double, the materiall and e&s;&s;entiall, the actuall and potentiall, as it is in burnings. All what is &s;en&s;ible, and vi&s;ible, is purged by the actuall, and the invi&s;ible, and intelligible, by the &s;piritual and potentiall. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> on the Treati&s;e of <HI>I&s;aac</HI> and of the Soule. What is man, the &s;oule of him, or the fle&s;h, or the a&s;&s;embly of tho&s;e two? for the clothing is one thing, and the thing clothed another. Indeed there are two men (I leave the <HI>Me&s;&s;ibe</HI> apart) <HI>Adam</HI> was made and formed of God; in re&s;pect of the body, of a&s;hes, and of earth, but afterwards in&s;pired in him the Spirit of Life; if he had kept him&s;elfe from mi&s;pri&s;i|on, he was like unto Angels, made participant of eternall bea|titude, but his tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed him. The other man is he, which comes &s;ucce&s;&s;ively to be borne of man and woman, who by his originall offence is made &s;ubject to death, to paines, travails, and di&s;ea&s;es, therefore mu&s;t hee returne from whence he came. But touching the &s;oule that came from God, it remains in its free will: if it will adhere to God, it is capable to bee admitted into the ranke of his children, <HI>who are borne not of blood, nor of the will of the fle&s;h,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 1.13.</NOTE> <HI>nor of the will of man, but of God.</HI> Such was <HI>Adam</HI> before his fir&s;t tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>The &s;oule then, which is the inner man, &s;pirit, and the very true man which liveth properly, for the body hath no life of it &s;elfe, nor motion; and is nothing el&s;e but as it were the barke and clothing of the inner man, according to <HI>Zohar,</HI> alledging that out of the 10 of <HI>Job</HI> 11. <HI>Thou ha&s;t clothed me with skinne and fle&s;h;</HI> whereunto that in the 6. of S. <HI>Matthew</HI> &s;eemeth to agree, where to &s;hew us how much the &s;oule ought to bee in greater recommendation then the body, as more worthy and pretious; our Saviour &s;aith, <HI>Take no care then how to cloth your body, is not your body better then raiment?</HI> and by con&s;equent, the &s;oule more then the body, &s;ince the body is but as it were the ve&s;tment of the &s;oule, which is &s;ubject to peri&s;h, and to u&s;e, <HI>(all &s;hall wax old as doth a garment.)</HI> And the Apo&s;tle in the 1 to the <HI>Corinthians, The old man falleth away, but the inner man is renewed dayly;</HI> for it
<PB N="7" REF="6"> wa&s;heth it &s;elfe (according to <HI>Zohar</HI>) by the fire, as doth a <HI>Sala|mander,</HI> and the outward man by water, with Soaps and Lees that con&s;i&s;t of Salts. Of which two manners of repurging, it is thus &s;aid in the 31. of <HI>Numb. v.</HI> 23. <HI>All that which &s;hall &s;upport the fire, &s;hall be purged thereby, and that which cannot beare it, &s;hall be &s;anctified by the water of Purification;</HI> which was a figure of that which the Fore-runner &s;pake in the 3. of <HI>Matthew, It is true that I baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that comes after mee, &s;hall baptize you with the Holy Gho&s;t, and with Fire.</HI></P>
<P>But behold how <HI>Zohar</HI> &s;peakes more particularly. If it bee &s;o, <HI>Adam</HI> what is he? it is nought but skin, and fle&s;h, and bones, and nerves, he mu&s;t not pa&s;&s;e &s;o. But to &s;peak truth, man is nothing el&s;e, but the immortall &s;oule that is in him; and the skinne, fle&s;h, bloud, bones, and nerves, are the ve&s;tments wherein it is wrapped, as a little creature newly borne within the beds and linnen of its Cradle: The&s;e are but the uten&s;ils, and in&s;tru|ments allotted to womens children, not to man or <HI>Adam;</HI> for when this <HI>Adam</HI> &s;o made, was elevated out of this world, he is deve&s;ted of tho&s;e in&s;truments, wherewith he had beene clothed and accommodated. This is the skinne wherewith the Son of man is envelopped with fle&s;h, bones, and nerves; and this con|&s;i&s;teth in the &s;ecret my&s;tery of Sapience, according to that which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> taught in the Curtains or Vails of the Tabernacle, which are the inward ve&s;tment, and the Tabernacle the outward: To this purpo&s;e, the Apo&s;tle in the fifth of the 2 to the <HI>Corinthians,</HI> &s;aith, <HI>We know that if our earthly hou&s;e of this Tabernacle were di&s;|&s;olved, we have an Aedifice not built with mans hand, but eternally per|manent in the high Heavens. For in this we groane, earne&s;tly de|&s;iring to bee clothed upon, with our hou&s;e which is from hea|ven, if &s;o be, that being clothed wee &s;hall not bee found naked.</HI> So <HI>Adam</HI> in re&s;pect of his body, is a repre&s;entation of the &s;en|&s;ible world; where his skinne corre&s;ponds with the Firma|ment, extending heaven like a Curtaine. For as the heaven covereth and enveloppeth all things, &s;o doth the skin every man; in which, are introduced and fa&s;tned its &s;tarres and &s;ignes, that is to &s;ay, the draughts and lineaments in the hands, the forehead, and vi&s;age, in which wi&s;e men know and reveale, and makes them di&s;cerne the inclination of its naturall, imprinted in the inward; And he that doth conjecture from thence, is as he, to
<PB N="8" REF="7"> whom heaven being covered with Clouds, cannot perceive the con&s;tellations that are there, or otherwi&s;e darkened from his &s;ight. And although the &s;age&s;t and mo&s;t expert in the&s;e things can finde out &s;omething therein denoted by the draughts and lineaments of the palme of the hand, and fingers, or within them; for by the out&s;ide, (it is ca&s;e a part) and &s;hew nothing, but the nailes which are not a little &s;ecret and my&s;tery, becau&s;e by death they are obfu&s;cate, but have a &s;hining lu&s;tre while they live, in the haire, eyes, no&s;e, and lips, and all the re&s;t of his per&s;on. For as God hath made the Sunne, Moone, and Stars, thereby to declare to the great World, not only the day, night, and &s;ea&s;ons&punc; but the change of times, and many &s;ignes that mu&s;t appeare in the earth. So hath he manife&s;ted in the little world Man, certaine draughts and lineaments, holding place of lights and &s;tarres, whereby men may attaine to the knowledge of very great &s;ecrets, not common, nor knowne of all. Hence is it that the Intelligences of the &s;uperiour world do di&s;till and breath as it were, by &s;ome channels their influences, whereby the effects come to &s;truggle and accompli&s;h their effects here below, as of things drawn with a rude and &s;trong bow, will plant them&s;elves within a Butt, where they re&s;t them&s;elves.</P>
<P>But to retake the di&s;cour&s;e of this double man, and the ve&s;t|ment of him, the Apo&s;tle in the 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. &s;aith, <HI>That there are bodies Cele&s;tial, and bodies Terre&s;trial, yet there is a glory both of the one, and of the other. There is a naturall, or animall body, and there is a body &s;pirituall: he will rai&s;e up the &s;pirituall body incorruptible;</HI> To this relates the Fire, to the corruptible Salt.</P>
<P>From the&s;e ve&s;tments furthermore the occa&s;ion pre&s;ents it &s;elfe to a larger exten&s;ion, the better to declare who mu&s;t be &s;ea&s;oned with Fire, and who with Salt; which is here expre&s;&s;ed by the offering, to whom the exteriour doth corre&s;pond, according to the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 12. <HI>I pray you brethren, by the mercy of God, that you offer up your bodies a living Sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto him, which is your rea&s;onable &s;ervice:</HI> which it could not make it &s;elfe the habitation of the Holy Gho&s;t, if it were not pure, neat, and incontaminate. <HI>Know you not that your Body is the Temple of the holy Spirit which is in you?</HI> which in Scripture is commonly de&s;igned by fire, with which wee mu&s;t be &s;alted inwardly, that is to &s;ay, pre&s;erved from corruption; and from what corrup|tion?
<PB N="9" REF="7"> from &s;inne that putrifies our &s;oules. <HI>Origen</HI> in his 7. book again&s;t <HI>Cel&s;us</HI> &s;peaking of its ve&s;tments, &s;ets downe, that being of it &s;elfe incorporeall and invi&s;ible, in what corporall place &s;oe|ver it findes it &s;elfe, it mu&s;t have a body convenable to the nature of the place where it re&s;ides. As then when it is in this Elemen|tary world, it mu&s;t have al&s;o an elementary body, which it takes when it is incorporated in the belly of a woman, to grow there, and there to live this ba&s;e life with the body, that it hath taken to the limited terme; which expired, it deve&s;ts it &s;elfe of this corruptible ve&s;tment, although nece&s;&s;ary in the earth from whence it came (following that which God &s;aid to <HI>Adam</HI> in the third of <HI>Gene&s;is, Thou art du&s;t, and &s;halt returne to du&s;t,</HI>) to be reve&s;ted with an incorruptible, who&s;e perpetuall abode is in Heaven. <HI>For this corruptible mu&s;t put on incorruption, and this mortall mu&s;t put on immortality.</HI> And &s;o the &s;oul putting off its fir&s;t Terre|&s;triall ve&s;tment, takes another more excellent above in the Aethe|reall Region, which is of the nature of Fire: hitherto <HI>Origen,</HI> to which nothing could be found more conformable, then that which <HI>Pythagoras</HI> puts towards the end of his golden ver&s;es: Thus for&s;aking this mortall body, thou pa&s;&s;e&s;t into the free Ae|thereall Aire, you &s;hall become an immortall God, incorrupti|ble, and no more &s;ubject to death: as if he would &s;ay, that after this materiall corruptible body, &s;hall put off the Terre&s;triall and impure ve&s;tment, the perfect portion of it &s;hall &s;hake off the&s;e filthine&s;&s;es and impurities, and &s;hall pa&s;&s;e aloft to heaven and adhere to God, which it could not doe, but being pure and neat; nor effect this, but by fire. <HI>Zohar</HI> &s;peakes to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, when the Elements de&s;troy them&s;elves, an aethereall body &s;uc|ceeds in their place which doth recloath them; or to &s;peak bet|ter, the aethereall body which was reclad with them, deve&s;ts it &s;elfe; and this is repre&s;ented to us in the 5 of <HI>E&s;ther,</HI> where it is &s;aid, that <HI>on the third day</HI> &s;hee tooke off her clothes that &s;hee was wont to weare, <HI>and put on her royall apparell to appeare before the King;</HI> which &s;ignifies the holy Spirit, and <HI>E&s;ther</HI> the rea&s;o|nable &s;oule, who&s;e ve&s;tments are the garments of the kingdome of Heaven; of which he that <HI>Daniel</HI> 3. chap. was &s;aid to be like to the Son of God, that crowns the ju&s;t, and adornes them with royall apparell, to bring them into the pre&s;ence of the King of Kings, to the Paradi&s;e of plea&s;ure, clen&s;ed with aire from above,
<PB N="10" REF="8"> which the holy Spirit breathed into it. <HI>Origen</HI> in his &s;econd Homily upon the 36 <HI>P&s;alme.</HI> It is the manner of holy Scripture to introduce two &s;orts of men, that is to &s;ay, the interiour and the exteriour, each of which, hath need as much as concernes him, of apparell, as well as nouri&s;hment; the external corporal man, maintaines him&s;elfe with meats corruptible, proper and familiar to him&s;elfe, having ever need of Salt, be&s;ides their own connaturall; but there is al&s;o meat for the inward, whereof it is &s;aid in the 8 of <HI>Deuteronomy, Man doth not live by bread onely, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.</HI> And for matter of drinke, the Apo&s;tle in the 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10. <HI>Our fathers did eat the &s;ame &s;pirituall meat, and did drinke the &s;ame &s;pirituall drinke; for they did drinke of that &s;pirituall rocke that followed them, and that rocke was Chri&s;t.</HI> Who &s;peaking of this drinke in the 4. of Saint <HI>John,</HI> &s;aith, <HI>that hee is the fountaine of living water, and who &s;o drin|keth of the water that he &s;hall give them, &s;hall never thir&s;t.</HI> There are al&s;o two rayments in regard of the inner man. If he be a &s;inner, it is &s;aid <HI>P&s;alme</HI> 109. <HI>He hath put on malediction as a garment,</HI> which mu&s;t <HI>be to him as his apparell, wherewith he is covered, and as a girdle wherewith he is girt.</HI> And on the contrary the Apo&s;tle <HI>Col.</HI> 3. <HI>Lie not one to another, having ca&s;t off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new, but be clothed with mercy, benignity, humility, and meekne&s;&s;e of Spirit.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e are the ve&s;tments which <HI>Zohar</HI> &s;aid were the good works and the nuptiall accou&s;trements of the &s;oule, which cannot bee wa&s;hed or clean&s;ed but by Fire, <HI>Every mans worke &s;hall bee made manife&s;t, for the day &s;hall declare it, becau&s;e it &s;hall be revealed by fire, and the fire &s;hall try every mans worke of what &s;ort it is,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.13. wherein they &s;hall per&s;i&s;t without impaire, or con&s;umption, but &s;hall be purified when the &s;oule &s;hall therewith be clothed; from this uncleane &s;cumme, wherein there may remaine &s;ome &s;pots that the fire goes on to purge, con&s;uming and defacing them. But what it this fire? It is it which is &s;aid in the 4 and 9 of <HI>Deuteronomy, our God is a con&s;uming fire:</HI> which as <HI>Irenaeus</HI> inter|prets, was to &s;trike feare and terror into the I&s;raelites; and this afterwards in the 12 to the <HI>Hebrewes,</HI> 28, 29. <HI>Let us &s;erve God acceptably with feare and reverence, for our God is a con&s;uming fire.</HI> For they had &s;ufficiently under&s;tood that the world once peri|&s;hed by the univer&s;all deluge, and that it may not incurre the
<PB N="11" REF="8"> like accident, but &s;uffer its la&s;t extermination by fire. Adde that in the 33. of the Mo&s;aicall Law, it is called <HI>The Law of fire,</HI> which is in the right hand of the Almighty, becau&s;e of its au&s;te|rity and rigour, all filled with menaces, with feares, with hor|rors; as much as the Chri&s;tian is, with &s;weetne&s;&s;e and mercy: in his right hand, there is a fiery Law: which the <HI>Chaldean</HI> Para|phra&s;e interpreteth, for that it was given on <HI>Mount Horeb,</HI> through the midde&s;t of fire, according as it is &s;aid in the 4. to the purpo&s;e touching this feare. <HI>The Lord &s;peake unto me &s;aying, A&s;&s;em|ble the people there below, that they may heare my words, and learne to feare me: Then came you neare to the foote that burned even to heaven, and the Lord &s;pake unto you out of the mid&s;t of fire.</HI> And <HI>Exodus</HI> 3. <HI>the burning bu&s;h wherein God appeared unto Mo&s;es, and was not con|&s;umed.</HI> Of this con&s;uming fire, further &s;peaketh <HI>Zohar</HI> thus in conformity to that received <HI>Maxime</HI> in naturall Philo&s;ophy, that a great flame doth devoure and quench a le&s;&s;e: as wee may &s;en&s;ibly perceive by a lighted Torch, which is extingui&s;hed by the Sunbeams, and by a kettle &s;et neare a great fire that &s;ucks and drawes all out to it &s;elfe: Hee &s;aith then upon this Text of the 35. of <HI>Exod. You &s;hall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath:</HI> To which purpo&s;e, &s;aid <HI>Rabbi Simeon,</HI> was that ordained? and why was it not lawfull to kindle a fire on the &s;e|venth day? becau&s;e that when men kindle fire, it goeth ever up|wards according to its naturall, and moving above every thing, following that of the 7. of Sapience, where it is compared to fire. In Wi&s;dome is the &s;pirit of under&s;tanding, holy, one only, manifold, &s;ubtill, lively, cleare, undefiled, plaine, moveable a|bove every thing, and overtops all by rea&s;on of its purity. The Fire hath two properties, to be moving, and pure, not partici|pating of any uncleanne&s;&s;e; and all motion, is a kinde of action and operation, forbidden expre&s;ly on the Sabbath day. Fire then mounting aloft, caries with it the impurities de&s;igned in the 10. of <HI>Leviticus</HI> by &s;trange fire, which is there devoured by that which proceeds from the pre&s;ence of the Lord. And &s;hould bee as much, as thereby to draw from it &s;elfe a judgement of his offences that mu&s;t not be renewed in the &s;anctification of the Sabbath, for feare that the fire of Gods wrath do not devour and con&s;ume that of our iniquities, and us at once, if this our fire be not fir&s;t purged by a &s;tronger fire, that con&s;umeth and devou|reth
<PB N="12" REF="9"> the le&s;&s;er and more feeble: <HI>Zohar</HI> runs through all that, and upon the pa&s;&s;age of the fore&s;aid fourth of <HI>Deut. Thy God is a con&s;uming fire;</HI> he &s;peakes further,</P>
<P>There is a double fire, the one &s;tronger, that devoures the o|ther. He that will know it, let him contemplate the flame that parteth and mounteth from a kindled Fire, or from a Lampe or Torch; for it mounteth not, except it be incorporated to &s;ome vi&s;ible &s;ub&s;tance, and united with the aire, whereupon it feedeth. But in the flame that mounteth there are two lights, the one white, which &s;hineth and illightneth, having its root &s;omewhat blew; the other red, fa&s;tned to the wood, or to the weik that it burneth. That which is white, mounteth directly upwards, and underneath the red remaineth firme, and departs not from the matter, admini&s;tring wherewith to flame and &s;hine to the other; but they come upon the point to joine and unite toge|ther, the one burning, the other burned, till they bee converted into that which predominates and playes the ma&s;ter, namely the white, alwayes the &s;ame without variation and change, as the other doth; which now growes blacke, after becomes red, yel|low, peach colour, sky colour, azure reinforced above and below, above with a white flame, below with the blackne&s;&s;e of the mat|ter, which furni&s;heth it where withall to burne, and at the la&s;t is therewith con&s;umed. For this azure, red, and yellow flame, the more gro&s;&s;e and materiall it is, endeavours alwayes to exter|minate and de&s;troy that which nouri&s;hed and maintained it: as &s;innes do the con&s;cience which harbours them, to the end to make them the perdition and ruine of all that which adheres to it here below, &s;o long, till at the la&s;t it remaines extinct; there where the light annexed thereunto, is not eternally extingui&s;hed but goes freely upward, and returnes to its proper place of a|bode, or re&s;idence; having accompli&s;hed its action below, with|out changing its brightne&s;&s;e into any other colour then white. In the like ca&s;e is it of a tree, who&s;e roots are fa&s;tned within the earth, from whence it takes it nouri&s;hment, as the weik takes his from the tallow, waxe, or oyle, which makes it burne.</P>
<P>The branch that drawes its juice or &s;ap, by the root, is the &s;ame as the weik, where the fire is maintained by the liquor which it drawes unto it, and the white flame, are the branches
<PB N="13" REF="9"> and boughes, clad with leaves, the flowers and fruits, whereun|to tends the finall end of a tree, are the white flame when all comes to bee reduced: wherefore <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aid that <HI>thy God is a con&s;uming fire,</HI> as it is true; for the fire con&s;umes and devoures all that which is under it, and upon which it exerci&s;eth its action. And therefore very proper in the Hebrew text <HI>Elohenu,</HI> thy God, and not <HI>Anonenu,</HI> thy Lord, becau&s;e the Prophet w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s in this &s;uperiour white light, which neither devoureth, nor can be devoured. And the I&s;raelites were the blew lights, who endea|vour to lift up them&s;elves, and unite to him under the law: for the ordinary of this blew light, inclining rather to blackne&s;&s;e, then to whitene&s;&s;e; it is true that is con&s;tituted as in the mid&s;t, and to ruine and de&s;troy all that it layes hold on, and whereunto it adheres.</P>
<P>But if &s;inners &s;ubmit thereunto, then the white light &s;hall bee called <HI>Admenu,</HI> our Lord, and not <HI>Elohenu,</HI> our God, for that it domineers and devours it. And it is this blew flame de&s;igned by the little and la&s;t <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>He</HI> of the &s;acred venerable foure lettered <HI>Jehovah,</HI> which a&s;&s;embles and unites with the three fir&s;t <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Jehu</HI> the white light, which &s;hineth in a mo&s;t cleare &s;implicity Trin-one, having under it the blacki&s;h, ruddy, &amp; azure colour of the little <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>He,</HI> which is the humane nature con&s;i&s;ting of the four Elements, for that it is &s;ometimes repre&s;ented by 4 <GAP DESC="foreign">, the fourth letter of the Alphabet, and which marketh the number of 4. You will &s;ay I have brought you here a prolixe place of <HI>Zohar,</HI> I do avow it, but it mu&s;t have a more ample explication, for there are great my&s;teries covered thereunder. This <HI>Rabbi</HI> &s;u|perlative to all others, endeavouring in his profound and ab|&s;tracted meditations which tran&s;cend all to elevate our &s;pirits by the &s;imilitude of a light, to the knowledge of &s;pirituall things, which differs not from our principall purpo&s;e, which is fire and its effects.</P>
<P>Of this white light, and of its collaterals: other <HI>Rabbins</HI> &s;peake, as <HI>Kamban, Gerunden&s;is;</HI> That by the <HI>Caballe</HI> it appears unto us, that the Scripture was an ob&s;cure and darke fire, upon the backe of white fire, and marvailou&s;ly re&s;plendent.</P>
<P>It is the fire (&s;ay they) of the holy Spirit, con&s;uming our ini|quities, denoted by the red inflamed ardor, and the blew and azure flame, which is the &s;trange fire, as Saint <HI>Am|bro&s;e</HI>
<PB N="14" REF="10"> very well expounds it in his fourth Epi&s;tle to <HI>Sim|plician.</HI></P>
<P>Strange fire, is all the ardor of &s;lippery concupi&s;cence, of ava|rice, hatred, rancour, and envy; And of this fire no man is pur|ged nor expiated, but well burned, which if men offer in the pre&s;ence of the Lord, cele&s;tiall fire will devour, as it did <HI>Nadab</HI> and <HI>Abibu;</HI> and therefore, he that will purge his &s;inne, he mu&s;t ca&s;t off from him this &s;trange fire, and let him expiate there|from; whereof it is &s;aid in the 6 of <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 6. <HI>One of the Seraphims flew to me hauing a live coale in his hand, which he had taken with the Tongs from off the Altar, and touched my lips, &s;aying, Lo this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is saken away, and thy &s;inne purged.</HI> Having &s;aid a little before, that all the hou&s;e was filled with &s;moake, which is as an excrement and vapour of fire, bee it be|fore it be lighted, or inflamed, or after it be mortified, and ex|tinct; from whence it comes to procreate &s;oot, then which, there is nothing more trouble&s;ome and hurtfull to the eies, ha|ving carryed away with it a parcell of a du&s;tible corruption; which admini&s;tred to the fire its nouri&s;hment and food This may bee &s;een in the di&s;tillation of &s;oote, where there appeares a notable quantity of inflamable oyle, which cau&s;eth it yet to burne; and of this burning there will ari&s;e a &s;moake, which will againe be concreted into a burning &s;moake, as a fore&s;aid, but not &s;o much.</P>
<P>The&s;e are the remnants of &s;inne, whereof remained &s;ome &s;taines printed in the &s;oule, untill at the la&s;t, by a &s;ucce&s;&s;ive re|purgation of fire, it be reduced to a point of compleat purity; whereof it is &s;poken in the 4. of the <HI>Canticles, Thou art faire my welbeloved, there is no blemi&s;h in thee;</HI> which the white flame noti|fies, which is the highe&s;t degree of burning. Tho&s;e al&s;o well know it that maintaine a fire, for when a Fornace begins to bee hot, it waxeth blacke, then enforcing the fire, it becomes red, and at la&s;t it waxeth white when it is in the &s;upreame and high degree of heat, where it per&s;i&s;teth in whitene&s;&s;e more and more. Such are the actions of fire, but there are great my&s;teries there|under, ever to declare further the advantage and praecellency, that the white colour hath above the red, as to the Chri&s;tian faith, de&s;igned by white water, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 4, <HI>&amp;</HI> 6. <HI>&amp;</HI> 15.2. <HI>(In the middle of the Throne there was a Sea of Gla&s;&s;e, like unto Cry&s;tall,)</HI> far
<PB N="15" REF="10"> above the Judaicall faith, red, heat with rigour, and &s;everity, de&s;igned by a <HI>pillar of fire, that in the night &s;ea&s;on conducted the I&s;|raelites through the Wilderne&s;&s;e, and the white cloud by day, Exod.</HI> 13.21. In the &s;ecret Hebrew Theology, the red alwayes notes <HI>Ghe|burah,</HI> Au&s;terity; and the white <HI>Ghedulah,</HI> or Mercy; <HI>Eliah</HI> was tran&s;ported, and by force carried into heaven, in a fiery Chari|ot, drawne with the like hor&s;es. But in the transfiguration of our Saviour, <HI>Mat.</HI> 17.2. <HI>His ve&s;tments became white as &s;n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">w;</HI> and <HI>Apoc.</HI> 3.6. <HI>The Elect are ever clothed in white;</HI> and in the 6.11. &s;peaking of the martyred Saints for the faith of their Redeemer, <HI>there was given unto every one of them white robes;</HI> Having &s;et down a little before, <HI>that the Angell which had gotten the victory, and the Crowne, was mounted on a white hor&s;e,</HI> (as in the 19, and 20. <HI>the Throne of God is dre&s;&s;ed with white) and hee that was mounted on the red hor&s;e, had a great bloudy &s;word in his hand, that one might ma&s;&s;acre another.</HI> But yet more expre&s;ly in the fir&s;t of <HI>I&s;aiah, Although your &s;ins were as red as fine Scarlet, they &s;hould be as white as Snow.</HI> And further, <HI>though they were as red as crim&s;on, they will become as white as wooll.</HI></P>
<P>But &s;ome may &s;ay here are many things, which by little and little do turne us from our principall aime, and are as it were extravagant dre&s;&s;es. But not altogether, yet as to mount &s;ome &s;harpe precipice, wee mu&s;t turne about to goe at more ea&s;e, to &s;hunne cliffes and precipices: So are wee &s;ometimes to make &s;ome &s;mall by-cour&s;es and digre&s;&s;ions to facilitate our Theame. Rivers that goe turning are more commodious for Navigation, then tho&s;e that runne impetuou&s;ly one way downe.</P>
<P>There &s;hall bee nothing at la&s;t (God willing) unprofitable, nor from the purpo&s;e. Then all this red and white, is but Fire and Water, the pillar of fire by night, and the white cloud by day; into which, as the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, <HI>the people of the Jewes were baptized;</HI> and in this cloud the divine Wi&s;dome e&s;tabli&s;hed his Throne; that of the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> this of grace; Fire and Salt. <HI>Zohar</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his two fir&s;t Tables, broken for the Idolatry of the Golden Calfe, with two pillars, the one of fire, repre&s;enting naturall heate, by which all things are vivified; the other is water, that is radical moi&s;ture, which maintaineth life, (from which, that is not much different in the 15. of the <HI>Apoc.</HI> where it is &s;aid, that <HI>he &s;aw as it were a &s;ea of gla&s;s mingled with fire,</HI>)
<PB N="16" REF="11"> which radicall moi&s;ture was perverted and changed in the de|luge by the univer&s;all inundation, &s;o that it was not &s;ince &s;o vigorous as before: but &s;hall at la&s;t bee brought to exterminati|on on all &s;ides, at the end of time by a finall conflagration. The fir&s;t mutation &s;hall meet with &s;ome mercy, the race of mankinde being at that time not wholly extinct, but the remainder was &s;a|ved with <HI>Noah,</HI> and his in the Arke: but the &s;econd &s;hall have none, but all &s;hall peri&s;h by the extreame rigour of fire: To the purpo&s;e of the&s;e two &s;ub&s;tances, the <HI>A&s;&s;yrians</HI> and other peo|ple of the Ea&s;t adored Fire, as that which repre&s;ented to them naturall heat, and the Aegyptians with all tho&s;e on the South of <HI>Nilus,</HI> which is radicall moi&s;ture which goes to render it &s;elfe into a Sea impregned with &s;alt, to pre&s;erve it in the end from corruption: Now for this effect, all humours of animall bo|dies, bloud, &s;pittle, urine, and the re&s;t, are &s;alted, without which, all would corrupt each other, in an in&s;tant: Behold the diffe|rence that there is in holy writ, that apply the meditations of things &s;en&s;ible to Sacramentall my&s;teries; and of ratiocinations of blinde Pagani&s;me, who not turning it but above the barke, penetrate no further, then that which the uncertain and doubtful &s;en&s;e may make them comprehend, without pa&s;&s;ing further to the relation of divine things; where at la&s;t al mu&s;t refer to &s;piritualty: re&s;embling therein properly to the <HI>O&s;trich,</HI> who beates &s;uffici|ently with the wing as if &s;hee would mount to heaven, but yet her feet for all that, do not for&s;ake the earth.</P>
<P>The <HI>Phaenician</HI> Theologie, admitted but of one Element, Fire; which is the principall and chief of all, the productor, and de|&s;troyer of all things: which doth not much di&s;agree from that in the 118. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> is the fiery word by which times were formed. <HI>Heraclitus</HI> al&s;o puts fire, for the fir&s;t &s;ub&s;tance that informed all, and from whence they drew all things from power into action, as well &s;uperiour, as inferiour, cele&s;tiall and terre&s;triall: For hot and cold, moi&s;t and dry, are not &s;ub&s;tances, but qualities and accidents; from whence naturall Philo&s;ophers forged four Elements, whereas according to verity there is but one; which according to the ve&s;tments that it receives from the accidentall qualitie, takes divers appellations. If from the heat, it is from the Aire; from moi&s;ture, Water; from dryne&s;&s;e, Earth; which three are but one fire, but reclothed with divers and different
<PB N="17" REF="11"> habits. Even as Fire extending it &s;elfe in all, and through all; &s;o all things come to render unto it, as to the center. So that it may be rightly called an infinite and indetermined vigour of na|ture, or rather the vivification thereof, for without it nothing could be comprehended, &s;een, or obtained, above or below; that which illightens is cele&s;tiall, that which concocts and dige&s;ts Aereall, and that which burnes, is terre&s;triall; which cannot &s;ub&s;i&s;t without &s;ome gro&s;&s;e matter coming from the Earth, which he reduceth in the end to it &s;elfe; as we may &s;ee in things burned, converted to a&s;hes, from whence after the extraction of Salt, re&s;ts nothing but pure earth. Salt being a potentiall fire, and wateri&s;h, that is to &s;ay, terre&s;triall water, impregned with fire; from whence all &s;orts of mineralls, come to production, for they are of the nature of Water. The experiment may bee &s;eene in &s;trong Waters, all compo&s;ed of minerall Salts, Alums, Saltpeters, which burne as Fire: which produceth hot and dry exhalations agitated with winds, ea&s;ie to take flame, al&s;o of flints, of Iron, and of Wood, and of &s;craped bones, e&s;pecially tho&s;e of a Lion, as &s;aith <HI>Pliny:</HI> whence we may gather that there is potentiall fire in all.</P>
<P>Not without cau&s;e then did <HI>Pythagoras,</HI> after <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> ordaine not to &s;peake of God, or divine things, without fire: for of all things &s;en&s;ible, there is nothing that &s;ymbolizeth, or more cor|re&s;ponds with Divinity then Fire: <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> writing to <HI>Alexander</HI> related unto him, that hee had learned of the <HI>Brachmans,</HI> that there was a fift Element or E&s;&s;ence, which is fire, wherein the Divinity re&s;ides: becau&s;e it is the noble&s;t, and pure&s;t of all the Elements; and that which purgeth all things according to <HI>Zo|roa&s;tes: Plutarch</HI> alledgeth that this Divinity is a &s;pirit of a cer|taine intellectuall fire, that hath no forme, but transformes to it &s;elfe all that it toucheth, and tran&s;mutes it &s;elfe into all, as <HI>Pro|teus</HI> the <HI>Genius</HI> of Aegypt was wont to &s;ay,
<Q>Omnia tran&s;format &s;e&s;e in miraecula rerum.</Q></P>
<P>And according to <HI>Zoroa&s;tes</HI> all things were engendred of this fire. It is the light which dwelleth (this &s;aith <HI>Porphyrius</HI>) in an Aethereal fire, for the elementary di&s;&s;ipates all: But more authen|tically, Saint <HI>Denis,</HI> in the 15. of the Cele&s;tiall Hierarchy. Fire, fora&s;much as its e&s;&s;ence is void of all forme, as well in co|lour, as in figure, hath beene found the mo&s;t proper to repre|&s;ent
<PB N="18" REF="12"> Divinity to our &s;en&s;es, fora&s;much as they can conceive and apprehend of the nature and divine E&s;&s;ence. The very Scripture in many places, call God and Angels Fire, and doth not onely propo&s;e unto us Chariots and wheeles of Fire; but of igneall animals, of burning brookes and rivers, of coales and men all burned: All the&s;e cele&s;tial bodies are but flaming lights, and thrones, and Seraphims all of fire; there is &s;o great affinity and agreement with Divinity: for the fire that the feeling and &s;melling perceiveth, is &s;eparated in re&s;pect of the &s;ub&s;tance from all others, that may bee joined and mingled therewith, except it bee of the matter, to which it is incorporated to burne. It &s;hines, it &s;preads it &s;elfe from &s;ide to &s;ide, and gathering it &s;elfe to its &s;elfe, with its light it illu&s;trates all that is neare it, nor can it bee &s;eene without the matter whereto it adheres, and exer|ci&s;eth its action no more then Divinity, but by its effects; nor arre&s;t, nor fa&s;ten, nor mingle with any thing, nor change &s;o long as it liveth, there where it handleth all things, and draws them to its &s;elfe, and to its nature. It renewes and rejoyceth all with vitall heat, it illu&s;trates and illuminates all, tending alwaies upward, with agility and incomparable &s;peed. It communi|cates his motion to all, its light, its heat, without any diminu|tion of its &s;ub&s;tance, what portion &s;oever it lends, but ever re|maines entire in it &s;elfe. It comes &s;uddenly and returneth as fa&s;t, without mans knowledge whence it comes, or whither it goes: with many other worthy con&s;iderations of this common fire, which brings us to the knowledge of the divine fire; where|of this materiall, is but as a garment and coverture; and Salt the coverture of Fire, which is appea&s;ed in Salt, and agreeth with its enemy, Water; as Earth in Saltpeter doth with its contra-oppo&s;ite the Aire; by rea&s;on of the water that is be|tweene them, for Saltpeter participates of the nature of Brim|&s;tone, and of Fire, for that it burnes; and of Salt, for that it re&s;olves into water. For &s;aith <HI>Heber,</HI> it is the property of Salts, and Alums, to bee di&s;&s;olved into water, &s;ith they were made thereof. But of this more to the purpo&s;e hereafter in its place.</P>
<P>The meditations of the Covertures, and reve&s;tments are of no &s;mall importance, to mount from things &s;en&s;ible, to things intelligible, for they are all infolded one in another, as an <HI>Ency|clie</HI>
<PB N="19" REF="12"> or a &s;pirall Moone. <HI>Zohar</HI> makes the&s;e reve&s;tments double,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pag. 29. Encyclides ab <GAP DESC="foreign"> round. Eph. 4.22, 24.</NOTE> the one <HI>mounting</HI> and deve&s;ting its &s;elfe, <HI>Put off the old man, and put on the new;</HI> for no &s;pirituall thing de&s;cending downwards, operates without a ve&s;tment; <HI>Sit yee in Jeru&s;alem till you be clad with power from above, Luk.</HI> 24.49. And in this ca&s;e the body envelopeth and reclotheth the &s;pirit, the &s;pirit the &s;oule, the &s;oul the intellect, the intellect the Temple, the Temple the Throne, the Throne the <HI>Sechinah,</HI> or the glory and pre&s;ence of God, which &s;hineth in the Tabernacle. In de&s;cending, this glory is &s;hut out from the Throne, and from the Arke of the Covenant, which is within the Tabernacle, or Intellect, the Tabernacle within the Temple, which is our Soule; <HI>Yee are the Temple of God</HI> the Temple is in <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> our vital &s;pirit, <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> in <HI>Pale&s;tine,</HI> our body, and <HI>Pale&s;tine</HI> in the mid&s;t of the earth whence our body is compo&s;ed.</P>
<P>God then being a pure Spirit, &s;tript of al corporeity and mat|ter, (for our &s;oule being &s;uch, for more rea&s;on mu&s;t hee be &s;o, that made it to his image and re&s;emblance) hee cannot bee in this &s;imple and ab&s;olute nakedne&s;&s;e comprehended, nor appre|hended by his Creatures, but by certaine attributes which they give him&punc; which are as many ve&s;tments, which the <HI>Caballi&s;ts</HI> do particularize to ten <HI>Zephirots,</HI> or numerations; 3 in the intelli|gible world; and 7 in the cele&s;tiall; which come to terminate in the Moone, or <HI>Malcut,</HI> the la&s;t in de&s;cending, and the fir&s;t in mounting from the Elementary world upwards, for it is a pa&s;|&s;age from here below to heaven. So that the Pythagoreans call the Moone the Cele&s;tial earth; and the heaven or terre&s;trial Star, all the nature here below in the elementary world, being in re|gard of the cele&s;tiall, and the cele&s;tiall of the intelligible; this <HI>Zohar</HI> called feminine &amp; pa&s;&s;ible, as from the Moone towards the Sunne, from whom &s;o much as &s;he ab&s;ents her &s;elfe till &s;he comes to its oppo&s;ition, by &s;o much &s;he increa&s;eth in light for our re|gard here below; where on the contrarry in her conjun|ction, that &s;hee remaines all darkened, the party upward is all illightned, to &s;hew us, that the more that our under&s;tanding doth abate to things &s;en&s;ible, &s;o much the more doth he disjoine or &s;ever them from the intelligible; and contrariwi&s;e, this was the cau&s;e that <HI>Adam</HI> was lodged in an earthly Paradi&s;e, to have more lei&s;ure to contemplate on divine things; when he thought
<PB N="20" REF="13"> to turne after &s;en&s;ible and temporall things, willing to ta&s;te of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evill, whereby hee departed from that of life, to a&s;&s;ubject him&s;elfe to death, he was bani&s;hed from thence and put out. To this very purpo&s;e <HI>Zohar</HI> doth yet adde, that two ve&s;tments come from heaven to this temporall life; The one formall, white, and re&s;plendent; ma&s;culine, fatherly, and agent; for what&s;oever is active takes place from forme, of the male and from the father, and this ve|ry thing comes to us from fire, and from the clearne&s;&s;e of the &s;tars to illu&s;trate our under&s;tanding. The other is red, mater|nall, faeminine; for the &s;oule, coming from the &s;ub&s;tance of heaven, which is more rare then that of heavenly bodies. That of the under&s;tanding is lodged in the braine, and the other of the &s;oule, in the heart. The intellect or under&s;tanding, is that part of the rea&s;onable &s;oule made and formed after the image and &s;emblance of its Creators and the &s;oule in it, the animal fa|culty called <HI>Nephe&s;ch,</HI> the life, namely, that which re&s;ideth in the bloud: and as the heaven containes the &s;tars, this contains the intellect, which to us is for the re&s;t common with brute bea&s;ts. But the intellect, or rea&s;onable &s;oule is proper and par|ticular to men, that which can merit or demerit; therefore it needs repurgation and clean&s;ing from the &s;pots that it hath drawne and conceived from the fle&s;h wherein it was plunged, according to that in the 8. of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> 21. <HI>The thought and imagina|tion of mans heart, were inclined to evill from his youth.</HI> And fith it is a que&s;tion, about clean&s;ing the ve&s;tment which is of a fiery na|ture, it mu&s;t likewi&s;e be, that it be done b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> meanes of fire; for wee &s;ee by experience, that one fire cha&s;eth away another, as it hath been &s;aid heretofore, &s;o that if a man bee burnt, there is no readier remedy, then to burne it againe in the &s;ame place; enduring the heat of the fire as much as you can: which drawes the inflammation to its &s;elfe, out of the party, or el&s;e tempering it with <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> wherein <HI>Vitriol</HI> hath beene calcined, from whence Chirurgeons have not found a more &s;overaigne remedy to take away the fire of a musket &s;ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, to heale inflammations and gangrenes; and yet there are two fires joined together. But <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">at which during this life mu&s;t repurge our &s;oules, i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> that where|of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">int <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in the 29. Sermon &s;peakes thus out of the Apo&s;tles words, for there is another afterwards: Kindle in your
<PB N="21" REF="13"> &s;elves a &s;parkle of good and charitable dilection, blow it, and kindle it, for when it &s;hall grow to a great flame, that will con|&s;ume the hay, wood, and chaffe of all your carnall concupi|&s;cences, but the matter wherewith this fire mu&s;t bee continued, are prayers, and good workes, which mu&s;t alwayes burne on your altar, for it is it whereof our Saviour &s;aid, <HI>I am come to put fire in the earth, and what will I if in bee already kindled Luke</HI> 12.49. There are further two fires: one on the bad part, to wit, of car|nall concupi&s;ence; the other of the good, which is charity, which con&s;umes all the bad, leaving nothing but good, which exalts it &s;elfe in a fume of a &s;weet odour; for the heart of every on, is as an altar, either of God or of the adver&s;ary: and there|fore hee that is illuminated with the torch of charity, which mu&s;t more and more bee increa&s;ed by good works, that it may nouri&s;h in it &s;elfe the ardour that our Saviour will vouch&s;afe to kindle, whereby that is accompli&s;hed, which the Apo&s;tle &s;aith in the 5 to the <HI>Ephe&s;. That Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath appropriated to him|&s;elfe a Church, not having &s;pot or wrinckle, holy, and pure, without blemi&s;h.</HI> For that which the Church is in generall, and com|mon towards God, the con&s;cience of every one of us, is in par|ticular the &s;ame, when it is &s;incerely prepared, as it is requi&s;ite; and that upon the f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ndation thereof, men build Gold, Silver, pretious &s;tones; that is to &s;ay, a firme faith, and beleefe, accom|panied with good works, without which faith is dead and bu|ried; all upon the model and pattern of the heavenly <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> de&s;igned in the 21 of the <HI>Apoc.</HI> which is the type of the Church; as is al&s;o the rea&s;onabl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;oule, where it mu&s;t burne alwaies with fire upon the Altar, and after the imitation of the wi&s;e and pru|dent virgins, we may have our lamps ready, well lighted, and garni&s;hed with what is needfull to maintaine light, attending the Bridegrome: as our Saviour commanded is in Saint <HI>Luke</HI> 12.</P>
<P><HI>Zohar</HI> furthermore makes this repurgation of the &s;oule to bee double, which is not &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;agreeing from our beleefe. One is while&s;t the &s;oule is y<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> j<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ne body, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ee cals that according to the my&s;ticall manner of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">king, the conjunction of the Moon with the Sunne then when i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="4 letters">ard of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> here below it is not illuminated; for as long as the &s;oule is an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">exed within the bo|dy, it enjoyes very little of its owne light, being all darkened
<PB N="22" REF="14"> thereby, as if it were impri&s;oned in &s;ome darke ob&s;cure pri&s;on. And this repurgation doth con&s;i&s;t in repentance of its mi&s;doings, &s;atisfaction for them, and conver&s;ion to a better life; in fa&s;tings, almes, prayers, and other &s;uch penitences, which may be exer|ci&s;ed in this world. The other is, after the &s;eparation of &s;oul and body, which is made in the purgative fire; which neither Jewes, Mahometans, or Ethnicks, ever called in doubt.</P>
<P><HI>But when with &s;upreame light life leaves us, yet all evill from mi&s;e|rable men, nor yet all coporeall plagues do pa&s;&s;e away, and the puni&s;h|ment of old evils do weigh us, &s;ome are expo&s;ed to vaine windes; to others under a va&s;t gulfe their infected wickedne&s;&s;e is wa&s;hed off, or burnt with fire.</HI></P>
<P>Where there are &s;et forth three repurgative Elements, Aire, Water, and Fire; But wee mu&s;t not under&s;tand (&s;aith Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> on his third Sermon upon &s;uch as are di&s;ea&s;ed) that by this tran&s;itory fire grievous and mortall offences, and capitall &s;ins are purged, if they have not beene repented of in this tempo|rall life; or to blot out the expiation on the other &s;ide, where the re&s;t is perfected in the fire, as man-&s;layers, adulterers, fal&s;e witne&s;&s;es, concu&s;&s;ions, violences, rapines, inju&s;tices, infidelitie, erroneous ob&s;tinations, and the like; which are directly oppo|&s;ite to Gods Divine precepts and commandements: but the &s;maller faults onely, which they call veniall &s;innes, as eating and drinking to exce&s;&s;e, vaine words, fooli&s;h de&s;ires, and depra|ved concupi&s;cences, not brought to effect: not to exerci&s;e the works of mercy, whither common charity, and commi&s;erati|on cals us, and &s;uch other frailties: of which if we repent not, in this world, fire &s;hall repurge us in another, and more &s;harply. To this purpo&s;e the Hebrewes make a triple di&s;tinction of &s;ins, <HI>Chataoth</HI> are tho&s;e that wee mi&s;take again&s;t our &s;elves, without hurting any other, but our &s;elves, gourmandizings, incon&s;tan|cies, lazines, idlene&s;&s;e, anger, &s;pite. The <HI>Avonoth,</HI> are addre&s;|&s;ed to our neighbour, which do not blot out and pardon, but by meanes of reparation: and the <HI>Pe&s;chaim</HI> the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, praevarications, and impieties, directly addre&s;&s;ed again&s;t God: They draw this fir&s;t out of the 34 of <HI>Exodus</HI> 7. pardoning ini|quitie, rebellion, and offences; more in the 106 <HI>P&s;al. 6. We have &s;inned, wee have committed iniquity, wee have done fooli&s;hly;</HI> and in the 9 of <HI>Dan. Chatanu, Veavinu, Vehir&s;annu;</HI> there are &s;innes
<PB N="23" REF="14"> &s;aith <HI>Zohar,</HI> imprinted above, others below, and others both in the one and in the other; above, again&s;t God; below, again&s;t our neighbour; and in the one, and in the other again&s;t our &s;elves, bodies and goods, as well our neighbours as our owne; noting that below, the &s;oule; that above, made after the image and &s;emblance of God. If they bee blotted out below, they are &s;o above. Je&s;us Chri&s;t after his re&s;urrection <HI>breathed on his Di|&s;ciples, and &s;aid unto them, Receive the holy Gho&s;t; To whom &s;oever you pardon &s;innes, they &s;hall bee pardoned; and who&s;e &s;innes &s;oever yee re|taine, they are retained. Joh,</HI> 20.23. that which you &s;hall binde on earth &s;hall be bound in heaven.</P>
<P>But to returne to the reclo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">thing, and to &s;ay &s;omething there|of, the &s;uperiour is alwaies clad with the inferiour, the intelligi|ble world, with the cele&s;tiall, which is but as it were a &s;hadow thereof, and the cele&s;tiall with the elementary: and notwith|&s;tanding it would &s;eeme cleane c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ntrary by the figure of <HI>Hypallage</HI> as in the 18. <HI>P&s;al. God hath put his Tabernacle in the Sunne,</HI> which is to &s;ay, hee hath put the Sunne in his Tabernacle, which is, heaven; for God doth not re&s;ide in this World, but rather the World in God, who comprehends all, <HI>for in him wee live, wee move, and have our beeing.</HI> Al&s;o the intelligible world &s;hould be clothed with the cele&s;tiall, and the cele&s;tiall with the elementary. But this to &s;hew that we cannot well comprehend heaven, being &s;o remote from us; but by that which is expounded to the know|ledge of our &s;en&s;es here below, nor of the &s; parated Intelligences, but by the &s;en&s;ible. There was nothing (&s;aid the Philo&s;opher) in the intellect, that was not fir&s;t in the &s;en&s;se. And the Apo&s;tle in the fir&s;t to the <HI>Romanes,</HI> that <HI>the invi&s;ible things of God, are &s;eene in the Creation of the world, by tho&s;e that were made.</HI> This all con|formably unto <HI>Zohar,</HI> In thee (&s;aid he; in the prayer of <HI>Elias</HI> ad|dre&s;&s;ing him&s;elfe to God) there is no re&s;emblance, nor any image interiour, or exteriour; but further, thou ha&s;t created heaven and earth, and produced out of tho&s;e the Sunne, and the Moon, the Starres and the Signes of the Z<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">diack; and in earth Trees, and Herbs, delights in Gardens, with Bea&s;ts, Birds, and Fi&s;hes, and at la&s;t Men; that from thence things above might bee knowne. And of the &s;u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eriours, the inferiours together, &s;o that the one and the other may bee governed: <HI>Plutarch</HI> alledgeth in his Treati&s;e of <HI>O&s;iris,</HI> that in the City of <HI>Sais</HI> in <HI>Aegypt,</HI> there
<PB N="24" REF="15"> was &s;uch an in&s;cription in the Temple of <HI>Minerva, borne out of Jupiters braine, which is nothing el&s;e but the &s;apience of the Father.</HI></P>
<P>I am that which was, which is, and which &s;hall bee, and as yet there is none among&s;t mortall men, that hath yet di&s;covered my vaile: for Divinity is &s;o wrapped in darkne&s;s, that you can|not &s;ee day through it. I &s;ee him not, for hee is darkened with an over dark cloud, &s;aid <HI>Orpheus:</HI> and in the 17 <HI>P&s;al. which made darkene&s;&s;e his hiding place.</HI> Further in the 4 of <HI>Deut. You came to the foot of a mountaine that burned, even to heaven, and therein was darkne&s;s, thick clouds, and ob&s;curity:</HI> for in regard of God towards us, light and darkne&s;&s;e, are but one thing: as is his darkne&s;&s;e, &s;uch is his light: And in the 16 of <HI>I&s;aiah, Make thy &s;hadow as the night, in the mid&s;t of the noone day.</HI> The very &s;ame, as well the affirmative, as the negative; by which, that which is aequippollent unto darkne&s;&s;e, we may better apprehend &s;omething of the Divine E&s;&s;ence, but not by the affirmative, that relates unto light, as <HI>Rabbi Mo&s;es</HI> doth excellently well di&s;pute it in his 57. chapter of his fir&s;t booke of <HI>More:</HI> For the Divine light, is in&s;upportable above all to all his Creatures, even to the mo&s;t perfect, following that which the Apo&s;tle &s;ets downe in the 1 of <HI>Tim.</HI> 6. <HI>God dwels in light in acce&s;&s;ible, that no man can &s;ee:</HI> So that it is to us in &s;tead of darkne&s;&s;e, as the brightne&s;&s;e of the Sun is to Moulds, Owles, and other night birds: which darkne&s;&s;es are the reve&s;tments, and as the borders and cloi&s;ters of the light; for repre&s;ent to your &s;elves &s;ome Lanthorne placed on the top of a mountaine: all round about it as from the Center to the Circumference, it &s;hall &s;pread its light equally, as farre as it can extend it: &s;o that at the la&s;t darkne&s;&s;e will terminate it, <HI>for dark|ne&s;&s;e is nothing el&s;e, but the ab&s;ence and privation of light:</HI> Even the very &s;ame, the exteriour man, carnall, animall, is the coverture; yea darkne&s;&s;e of the interiour &s;pirituall: after the manner or fa&s;hion of &s;ome Lanthorne of wood, or &s;tone, and other darke matter, which keeps that the light there &s;hut in, could not &s;hew forth its light, the Lanthorne &s;ymbolizing to the body, and the light within to the &s;oule. But if the body bee &s;ubtiliated to an aethereall nature, from thence it comes to pa&s;&s;e, as if the Lanthorne were of &s;ome cleare Cry&s;tall, or of tran&s;parent horne: for then the &s;oule and its functions, do &s;hine there a|bout
<PB N="25" REF="15"> openly without ob&s;tacle. Sith then, to the one of the&s;e two, namely to the inner man, is attributed fire, that an&s;wers to the &s;oule, and &s;alt to the outward man, which is the body: as the &s;acrifice or man animall is the reve&s;tment of the &s;pirituall de&s;igned by the Man, and by Fire: The ve&s;tment of this Fire will bee Salt, in which, fire is potentially &s;hut in; for all Salts are of the nature of fire, as being thereof begotten. <HI>Geber</HI> &s;aith, that &s;alt is made of every thing that is burned, and by con&s;e|quent, participant of its proprieties, which are to purge, dry, hin|der corruption, and unboile; as wee may &s;ee in all &s;alted things which are as it were halfe boiled, and are kept longer uncorrupt then raw, al&s;o in potentiall burning irons which burne, and are nothing el&s;e but Salt.</P>
<P>Will it bee lawfull for us here to bring one entire pa&s;&s;age of <HI>Rha&s;es</HI> in a book of the <HI>Secret Triplicity?</HI> for it is not common to all, and wee will &s;trongly in&s;i&s;t on this number by rea&s;on of the three Fires and three Salts, whereof wee pretend to Treat. So that there is a My&s;tery in this number of 3 that mu&s;t not bee forgotten, for that it repre&s;ents the operation, whereof Fire is the Operator; for 1, 2, 3, makes 6. the 6 dayes wherein God in the Creation of the world perfected all his workes, and re&s;ted the &s;eventh day.</P>
<P>There are (&s;aith <HI>Rha&s;es</HI>) three natures, the fir&s;t whereof can|not bee knowne nor apprehended, but by a deepe elevated Me|ditation: This is, that all-good God Almighty, Author, and the fir&s;t Cau&s;e of all things; The other is neither vi&s;ible, nor tangible, although men &s;hould <HI>bee all contrary;</HI> that is to &s;ay, heaven in its rarity. The third is the Elementary World, com|prehending all that which is under the Aethereall Region, is perceived and known by our &s;en&s;es. Moreover God which was from all aeternity, and with whom before the Creation of the world, there was nothing but his proper name knowne to him|&s;elfe, and his Sapience; that which hee created on the fir&s;t day, was the water wherein hee mingled earth, then came hee to procreate after, that which had a beeing here below. And in the&s;e two Elements, thicke and gro&s;&s;e, perceptible to our &s;en&s;es, are comprehended the two other, more &s;ubtill and rare, Aire, and Fire. The&s;e four bodies being, (if we mu&s;t call them bo|dies) bound together with &s;uch a minglement, that they could
<PB N="26" REF="16"> ot perfectly &s;eparate. Two of them are fixed, namely, Earth nd Fire, as being dry and &s;olid; the other two volatil, Water, and Aire, which are moi&s;t and liquid: &s;o that each Element is agreeable to the other, two wherewith is bounded and enclo&s;ed, and by the &s;ame meanes, containes two in it &s;elfe, the one cor|ruptible, the other not, the which participates of the Divine na|ture: and therefore there are two &s;orts of Waters, the one pure, &s;imple, and elementary; and the other common, which we u&s;e in Lakes, Wels, Springs, and Rivers, raines and other impre&s;&s;i|ons of the Aire. There is likewi&s;e a gro&s;&s;e Earth, filthy and infected; and a Virgin Earth, cry&s;talline, cleare, and &s;hining, contained and &s;hut up in the Center of all the compo&s;ed Elemen|taries; where it remaines reve&s;ted, and covered with many foldings one upon another. So that it is not ea&s;ie to arrive there, but by a cautelous and well graduated preparation by fire. There is al&s;o a fire which is maintained almo&s;t of it &s;elfe, and as it were of nothing, &s;o &s;mall is the nouri&s;hment that it needeth; whence it comes to bee more cleare and lucent, and another ob|&s;cure, darke, and burning, and con&s;uming all that to which it is fixed, and it &s;elfe at la&s;t. And Aire on the other &s;ide pure and cleane, with another corruptible full of legerity, for of all the Elements, there is none more ea&s;ie to be corrupted then the aire; all which &s;ub&s;tances &s;o contrary and repugnant, mingled with elementary bodies are the cau&s;e of their de&s;truction: wherefore of nece&s;&s;ity that which is pure and incorruptible, mu&s;t be &s;eparated from its contrary, the corruptible and impure, which cannot be done but by fire, the &s;eparator and purificator. But the three liquid Elements, Water, Aire, and Fire, are as in&s;eparable one from the other, for if the Aire were di&s;tracted from the fire, the fire which hath therefrom one of its principall maintainments and food, would &s;uddenly extingui&s;h, and if the water were &s;e|parated from the Aire, all would bee in a flame. That if the Aire &s;hould be quite drawne from the water, for as much as by its legerity, it holds it &s;omewhat &s;u&s;pended, all would be drow|ned. Likewi&s;e if Fire &s;hould be &s;eparated from the Water, all would bee reduced into a deluge. For three Elements never|thele&s;&s;e may well bee disjoined from the Earth, but not wholly, there mu&s;t remaine &s;ome part to give con&s;i&s;tence to the Body: and render it tangible, by the meanes of a mo&s;t &s;ubtill and thinne
<PB N="27" REF="16"> portion thereof, which they will elevate with them, out of this gro&s;s thickne&s;s that remaines below, as wee may &s;en&s;ibly &s;ee in gla&s;s, which by an indu&s;trious Artifice of fire, is depured of the darkne&s;&s;e that was in the a&s;hes, to pa&s;&s;e from thence to a tran&s;pa|rent clearne&s;&s;e, which is of the nature of Fire and indi&s;&s;oluble Salt, accompanied with a firme and &s;olid thickne&s;&s;e, having nei|ther tran&s;piration nor pores.</P>
<P>But wherefore &s;hould wee not hereto file all in one traine, tho&s;e &s;o excellent Meditations of <HI>Zohar,</HI> &s;ith all depends on the &s;ame purpo&s;e? <HI>God formed Adam of the &s;lime of the earth,</HI> or ac|cording to the Hebrew, <HI>God formed man du&s;t of the earth;</HI> which word of forming belongeth properly to Potters, who fa&s;hion of earth all that they thinke good. And touching the du&s;t, this is but to abate our pride, with which wee may bee &s;wolne, when wee con&s;ider the vile and corruptible matter, whereof wee are made, in re&s;pect of our bodies, which is nothing el&s;e but mire and dirt. Con&s;ider then three things (&s;aith <HI>Zohar</HI>) and thou &s;halt not fall into tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion. Remember from whence thou art come, of &s;uch filthy and foule &s;tuffe, and whither thou mu&s;t at la&s;t returne, to du&s;t, wormes, and rottenne&s;&s;e; and before whom thou art to render an account, and rea&s;on of all thy a|ctions, and comportments; who is the &s;overaigne Judge, the King of all, who leaves no tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion unpuni&s;hed, nor good worke irrecompen&s;ed. <HI>Adam</HI> then and all his po&s;terity were formed of the du&s;t of the earth, which had before beene moi&s;t|ned with the fountaine or vapour, which was highly elevated by the Sunnebeams to water and to &s;often the earth: For the Earth being of it &s;elfe cold, and dry, is altogether &s;terill and fruitle&s;&s;e, if it be not impregned with moi&s;ture and heat, whence proceed fecundity. So that <HI>Adam</HI> was compo&s;ed of Earth and Water mingled together: The&s;e two elements betoken a dou|ble faculty in him, and double formation, the one of the body, in regard of this age; the other of the &s;oule, in another world. Water &s;hewes the cele&s;tiall Meditation whereto our &s;pirit may exalt it &s;elfe; and the earth of it &s;elfe immoveable, and that can never budge from below, nor willingly mingle with the other three volatil elements, by rea&s;on of its extreame dry|ne&s;&s;e, &s;o that it doth but grow hard by the action of fire, and makes it &s;elfe more contrary and untractable by the &s;pirit of
<PB N="28" REF="17"> contradiction hard and refractory from the fle&s;h, again&s;t the &s;pi|rit, &s;o that &s;hee &s;hould reject the water which men thought to put therein, if it were not by meanes of the &s;ubtill Aire, inter|po&s;ing and mingling therewith, and penetrating into the &s;mal|le&s;t parts: which being &s;uckt within the water, forces the earth to feed on it, to inclo&s;e it in her &s;elfe, as if &s;hee would detaine it pri&s;oner, and by that meanes remaines great; as the female by a male: for every &s;uperiour thing in order and degree, holds the place of male, to that which is inferiour and &s;ubject there|unto.</P>
<P>Now if the Aire ab&s;ent it &s;elfe, which a&s;&s;ociates and unites them together, as being &s;uppeditated and bani&s;hed, which is moi&s;t and hot, from the extreame dryne&s;&s;e and coldne&s;&s;e of the earth, it will force it with all its power to reject the water, and &s;o reduce it &s;elfe to its fir&s;t dryne&s;&s;e; which we may perceive in Sand, which will never receive water, except it be quickly &s;epa|rated. Even &s;o the earth is alwaies rebellious and contumaci|ous of it &s;elfe to bee mollified, be it by water, by aire, by fire; and after this manner there was a &s;pirit of contradiction and di&s;obe|dience introduced into <HI>Adam,</HI> by rea&s;on of the earth, whereof he was formed: as his Companion and him&s;elfe do &s;hew, when by the &s;ugge&s;tion of the Serpent, the mo&s;t terre&s;triall animall of all others, they &s;o ea&s;ily contradicted that extreame prohibi|tion which was given them of not ta&s;ting the fruit of the know|ledge of good and evill: for the puni&s;hment whereof, it was &s;aid to the Serpent, <HI>thou &s;hallt eat earth all the dayes of thy life:</HI> which <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> re&s;umes in 65. chap. <HI>Du&s;t is thy bread:</HI> And to <HI>A|dam,</HI> that <HI>the earth &s;hould produce nothing but thornes, briars, and thi|&s;tles,</HI> by means whereof, if he would live, he mu&s;t cultivate it with the &s;weat of his browes, till he returne to that from whence he was drawne, for being du&s;t hee mu&s;t returne to du&s;t. But water which notifies Divine &s;peculations, di&s;irous to mingle, and unite with all things, to whom it gave beginning, and made them grow and multiply, is as the carriage or ve&s;tment of the &s;pirit, following that which was &s;aid in the beginning of the Creation, that the Spirit of God was &s;tretched over the waters, or as the Hebrew word <HI>Marachephet</HI> caries it, hovering over them, fomenting and vivifying them, as a Henne doth her Chickens, with a connaturall heat; for this word <HI>Elobim</HI> imports I know
<PB N="29" REF="17"> not what, of heate and fire. By Water then the docill &s;pirit, obedient to the invitations of the intellect, in&s;inuated it &s;elfe into <HI>Adam;</HI> and by Earth the refractory, and opinia&s;ter, that &s;purneth again&s;t the pricke; for as the earth was the mo&s;t ignoble Ele|ment of all others, water rejecteth it, and di&s;daineth it, and could agree with it, but as to a lee and excrement; but if the pure and neat &s;pirit remaines within the water, where it made choice of its re&s;idence; for from the three natures of earth, wa|ter at lea&s;t never joines with the two, (that is to &s;ay) &s;and, for its extreame dryne&s;&s;e that cau&s;eth a di&s;continuation of parts: and the dirt to be fatty and unctuous: there is not any thing el&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Argilla.</NOTE> but &s;lime only, with which &s;ome food and mingling which may bee thereof made, the water at la&s;t lets it re&s;ide below, and it &s;wimmes over: as being of a contrary nature, the one altogether immoveable, &s;olid, and compact; the other fluent, removing, and gliding as bloud through the veines, wherein the &s;pirits re|&s;ide; who can ea&s;ily bee elevated to bee of a fiery quality, al|wayes &s;oring upward: So that the water which notifies the in|teriour &s;pirit, endeavours to deve&s;t it &s;elfe of this externall coa|gulation; for all coagulation is a kinde of death and wateri&s;h|ne&s;&s;e of life; and would never more a&s;&s;ociate therewith, nor re|ve&s;t it &s;elfe by rea&s;on of its contumacy; were it not that the &s;overaigne Ma&s;ter, and Lord <HI>Adonai</HI> by his providence, for the propagation of things, (as long as hee &s;hall plea&s;e to maintaine in beeing, this faire worke of his hands) con&s;traine the&s;e two, Earth and Water, to agree in a &s;ort together, by its Angell or Mini&s;ter that rules in the Aire. Man moreover hath towards him&s;elfe frank and free will in his full power and di&s;po&s;ition: <HI>The appetite of &s;inne &s;hall be under thee, and thou &s;halt have domination over it, Gen. 4.</HI> But if hee be adheering to the earth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 4.7.</NOTE> (that is to &s;ay) to carnall de&s;ires and concupi&s;cences, whereunto he is mo&s;t inclinable, he &s;hall do nothing but evill. And if to the &s;pirit, de|&s;igned by water, all that hee doth &s;hall goe well. The River of God is filled with waters. And in the 44. of <HI>I&s;aiah, I will powre out water upon him that is thir&s;ty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will powre out my Spirit upon thy &s;eed, and my ble&s;&s;ing upon thine off|&s;pring.</HI> So that as long as the water doth &s;uffer and remaine uni|ted with the earth, the good Spirit re&s;teth with man, by which wee are admoni&s;hed by the wi&s;e man, <HI>Prov. 5.15. to drinke waters
<PB N="30" REF="18"> out of our Ci&s;terne, &amp; rivers out of our own Wel.</HI> But when the earth by its rebellious and repugnant drought, rejecteth water, there re|&s;teth nothing therein but its hard and refractary ob&s;tination, till that by meanes of the aire, the &s;pirit that joines and unites them together (which are holy in&s;pirations) it bee newly remoi&s;tned and watered: By meanes whereof when wee have this good &s;pirit of &s;alutary water, whereof it is written in the 15 of <HI>Eccle|&s;ia&s;ticus, Thou &s;halt give him the water of wi&s;dome to drinke:</HI> wee mu&s;t take heed of ca&s;ting it away, and to make our &s;elves all dry earth and &s;andy, which is not &s;atisfied with water, and therefore produceth nothing.</P>
<P>But all this is more clearly expre&s;&s;ed in the Go&s;pell, where by the meanes of this fructifying water, our Saviour which is a Fountaine that is never dry, the holy Spirit commeth to put in|to our hearts that which moi&s;tneth the hardne&s;&s;e of the earth, watereth it, and dre&s;&s;eth it, to produce the ripe fruits of good and charitable works. <HI>The water which I will give you</HI> (&s;aith he, <HI>Joh.</HI> 4.14.) <HI>&s;hall be a Fountaine of living water, &s;pringing up into eter|nall life.</HI> Of this water the Prophets have clearely &s;poken, as <HI>David</HI> in the 36. <HI>P&s;al. For with thee there is a Fountaine of life, and in thy light wee &s;hall &s;ee light.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 36.6.</NOTE> See how he joines water with light, which is fire; &s;o that this digre&s;&s;ion &s;eemes to bee le&s;&s;e impertinent; and in the 12. of <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 3. <HI>You &s;hall draw water with joy out of the wels of &s;alvation.</HI> More <HI>Jerem.</HI> 2. <HI>They have for&s;aken me, that am the Fountaine of living water, and have digged to them&s;elves Ci&s;ternes, broken Ci&s;ternes that will hold no water.</HI></P>
<P>In this of <HI>Zohar</HI> (as above) are compri&s;ed the principall &s;ecrets and actions of Fire, and of its contrary, the Patient, which is, Water: for the acts of Actives are in the di&s;po&s;ition of the Patient, (&s;aid the Philo&s;opher;) for the effects cannot better be di&s;cerned then where they act. Fire then hath three propri|eties: but in this re&s;pect, wee mu&s;t argue the thing more deeply.</P>
<P>As then, all that which is, are divided into 3, called Worlds, or Heavens, (it mu&s;t not be thought &s;trange, if wee repeate the &s;ame more then once; for from thence proceed all the &s;ecret &s;ciences,) that is to &s;ay, the elementary here below, &s;ubject to perpetuall alteration, and vici&s;&s;itude of life, and of death; the Cele&s;tiall aloft, above the Circle of the Moone, incorruptible in
<PB N="31" REF="18"> re&s;pect of it &s;elfe, as well for its purity, and uniformity of &s;ub|&s;tance, as for its continuall and equall motion; nothing there|in praedominating the one or the other; which two con&s;titute the Sen&s;ible world. There is afterward the Intelligible, ab&s;tra|cted from all corporeity and matter, which the Apo&s;tle cals the third World, where hee was ravi&s;hed, this (&s;aid hee) <HI>whether in the body or out of the body, God knowes,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.3. for not one|ly the World and the Heaven, are put one for the other, but yet the Heaven for Man; <HI>The heavens declare the glory of God,</HI> accor|ding to which, mo&s;t part of the Fathers interpret it; and Man re|ciprocally for Heaven. As <HI>Origen</HI> &s;ets it forth, upon the 25 Treati&s;e of Saint <HI>Matthew.</HI> Mans heart is properly called Heaven, and the Throne not already of the Glory of God, as is the Temple, but of God properly. For the Temple of the glory of God, is that wherein, as in a Gla&s;&s;e, wee &s;ee our &s;elves by <HI>Aenigma.</HI> But Heaven that is above the Temple of God, where his Throne is, is to &s;ee him wholly as it were face to face: which hee hath al|mo&s;t tran&s;cribed word for word out of the booke <HI>Abahir</HI> to <HI>Zo|har,</HI> and other ancient <HI>Caballi&s;ts,</HI> whereof he con&s;i&s;teth for the mo&s;t part.</P>
<P>Moreover &s;ome &s;ay that the Heavens are &s;ometimes put for God him&s;elfe, as in the 32 of <HI>Deut. Heare O Heaven the words I &s;peak:</HI> and in the 8 chapter of the 1 of <HI>Kings,</HI> according to the Hebrew verity, in the prayer of King <HI>Solomon</HI> at the dedic<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tion of the Temple; <HI>Heare O Heaven.</HI> In this third Heaven or World, whereof the Apo&s;tle &s;pake, although God bee every where, yet the &s;eate of his Divinity is there more e&s;pecially e&s;tabli&s;hed, then el&s;ewhere, with his &s;eparated Intelligences that a&s;&s;i&s;t him to exe|cute his commands. <HI>Ble&s;&s;e the Lord yee Angels, mighty in power, doing that which he ordaineth, hearing the voice of his words:</HI> where|fore <HI>Theologians</HI> called it the Angelicall world, without all place and time; which <HI>Plato</HI> in his <HI>Phaed.</HI> &s;aid that no mortall men ever yet had &s;ufficiently celebrated it, according to its ex|cellency and dignity, being all of light; who from thence &s;tret|ched out her &s;elfe, and derives it &s;o, as out of an in exhau&s;tible Fountaine, to all &s;orts of Creatures, even according as the an|cient <HI>Phaenician</HI> Theologie carryed which the Emperour <HI>Julian Parabates</HI> alledged in his prayer to the Sunne. That Corporeal Light proceeded from an Incorporeal Nature. The Cele&s;tial
<PB N="32" REF="19"> world participates of darkene&s;&s;e, and of light, whence proceed all the faculties and powers that it brings it. And the elemen|tary all of darkne&s;&s;e, de&s;igned for the rea&s;on of its in&s;tability by water. The Intelligible by Fire, becau&s;e of its purity and light, and the Cele&s;tial by the Aire, where fire and water come to joine; the Earth by this reckoning, &s;hould remaine for Hell; as in truth this earthly habitation is nothing but a true Hel: But by Heaven <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> under&s;tood the Intelligible World, and by earth the Sen&s;ible, attributing the two higher elevated Elements, Aire and Fire, to Heaven, becau&s;e they alwayes tend upwards, and Water and Earth, which for their gravity tend downward: but all that, by him was yet more my&s;tically &s;hadowed, as <HI>Z<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">har</HI> &s;heweth it, by the admirable con&s;truction of his Tabernacle, then which, there is nothing more &s;pirituall. Gold, Silver, and pretious Stones, repre&s;enting the Sen&s;ible world, and <HI>Bezaleel,</HI> that was the Conductor of the worke, the Intelligible, and the Workman filled with a Divine Spirit, with Sapience, Intelli|gence, Knowledge, and all the mo&s;t accompli&s;ht learning, as almo&s;t every word carries it, woven with <HI>Bezel,</HI> the &s;hadow, and <HI>El</HI> God.</P>
<P>The prophane Poets have divided the Sen&s;ible World into 3, for they never tooke much paines to penetrate into the Intel|ligible: And a&s;&s;igned the &s;uperiour part thereof, from the circle of the Moone upward, to <HI>Jupiter,</HI> the low Terre&s;triall to <HI>Pluto,</HI> and the middlemo&s;t, which is from the Earth to the Moone, to <HI>Neptune:</HI> which the Platoni&s;ts call the Generative Vertue, be|cau&s;e of the humidity, impregned with Salt, which provoketh much to generation, according as the word <HI>Salacitas</HI> de&s;ignes it, as <HI>Plutarch</HI> puts it in the 4 Que&s;tion of Naturall Cau&s;es, and in his Treaty of <HI>O&s;iris:</HI> wherefore the &s;aid Poets attri|bute more fecundity to the &s;aid <HI>Neptune,</HI> then to all the other Gods.</P>
<P>Each of the&s;e 3 worlds furthermore, hath particularly its &s;ci|ence, which is double; the one common and triviall, the other my&s;ticall and &s;ecret. The Intelligible world to our Theologie, and the Caballe the Cele&s;tial to A&s;trologie and Magie; and the elementary, to the Phy&s;iologie and Alchymie, which revea|leth by the re&s;olutions, and &s;eparations of Fire, all the more hidden, and darke &s;ecrets of natures, in three kindes of the com|po&s;ed:
<PB N="33" REF="19"> for no man can know the compo&s;ition of a thing that is ignorant of its de&s;truction, &s;aith <HI>Geber.</HI> But the&s;e three divine &s;ciences have beene by the depravation of ignorant and evill &s;pi|rits turned a&s;ide to a crying downe, that men dur&s;t &s;carcely &s;peak thereof, but mu&s;t pre&s;ently incurre the bruite of being an Athei&s;t, Witch, or a fal&s;e money-coyner. We &s;ay then, after <HI>Empedocles</HI> and <HI>Anaxagoras;</HI> All this our rea&s;on di&s;putes by a Journey of compo&s;ition and re&s;olution, going this way and that way, up and downe. That all the Elementary &s;cience con&s;i&s;teth in the mixtion and &s;eparation of the Elements, which is perfected by fire, to which Alchymy turnes all: As <HI>Avicen</HI> declareth very o|penly in his Treaty of <HI>l'Almahad,</HI> or Divi&s;ion of Sciences. And <HI>Hermes</HI> in that of his 7 chapters, Under&s;tand yee &s;onnes of the wi&s;e, the Science of the four Elements, who&s;e &s;ecret apparition is no where &s;ignified, except they bee divided and compounded, becau&s;e out of the Elements nothing is made profitable without &s;uch a Regiment; for where Nature ends her operations, there Art begins. Take &s;uch a compo&s;ed Elementary, what you will, herbe, wood, or other the like, upon which, fire may exerci&s;e its action, and put it in an Alembic or Cornue;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cornue&punc;</NOTE> fir&s;t let them &s;epa|rate the water, and afterwards the oyle, if the fire bee moderate, if more pre&s;&s;ed and reinforced, both together: but the oyle will &s;wimme above the water, which may ea&s;ily bee &s;eparated by a fonnel of Gla&s;&s;e. This water is called <HI>Mercury,</HI> which of it &s;elfe is pure and cleane; and oyle, the &s;ulphur, adu&s;tible and in|fect, that corrupts every compounded thing: In the bottome of the ve&s;&s;el will re&s;t the A&s;hes, of which by a forme of lee, with water the Salt will bee extracted, and after you have withdrawn the water with <HI>Balneum Mariae,</HI> as men call it: for the oily unctu|o&s;ities do not mount by this degree of fire, no more doth the Salt, but much le&s;&s;e; and the indi&s;&s;oluble Earths &s;tript of all their humidities proper to vitrifie: for &s;aith <HI>Geber,</HI> every private thing by its owne humidity doth performe none but a vitrifi|catory fu&s;ion. So there are two volatill Elements, namely the liquid, Water and Aire, which is Oyle, for all liquid &s;ub&s;tances naturally &s;hunne the fire, which elevates the one, and burnes the other. But not tho&s;e two which are dry and &s;olid; which are Salt, wherein is contained Fire, and pure Earth, which is Gla&s;&s;e: over whom the fire hath no power but to melt and re|fine
<PB N="34" REF="20"> them. See there the four Elements redoubled, as <HI>Hermes</HI> cals them, and <HI>Raymund Lullius</HI> the great Elements; for as eve|ry Element con&s;i&s;ts of two qualities, the&s;e great Elements redou|bled, <HI>Mercury, Sulphur, Salt,</HI> and <HI>Gla&s;&s;e,</HI> participate of the two &s;imple Elements, (to &s;ay better) of all four; according to the more, or the le&s;&s;e, of the one, or of the other; <HI>Mercury</HI> hol|ding more of the <HI>Aire,</HI> to which it is attributed; Oyle or <HI>Sul|phur,</HI> of the Aire; <HI>Salt,</HI> of Fire; and <HI>Gla&s;&s;e,</HI> of the Earth, who findes it &s;elfe pure and cleane in the Center of all the compo&s;ed Elementaries, and is the la&s;t to reveale it &s;elfe exempt from o|thers. Of this &s;ort by the Artifice and operation of Fire, and of its effects, we depure all infections and filth, even to reduce them to a purity of incorruptible &s;ub&s;tance from this time forward; by the &s;eparation of their inflamable, and terre&s;triall impuri|ties; for (&s;aith <HI>Geber</HI>) the whole intention of the Operator, is ver&s;ed in this that the gro&s;&s;er parts being ca&s;t away, the worke may bee perfected with the lighter; which is to mount from the corruptions here below, to a purity of the Cele&s;tial world, where the Elements are more pure and e&s;&s;ential, fire there pre|dominating which is the chief of all others. Hitherto touching <HI>Alchymie,</HI> and wherein &s;hee is ver&s;ed.</P>
<P><HI>Magick</HI> for the Cele&s;tial world, was in times pa&s;t, a holy and venerable Science, which <HI>Plato</HI> in his <HI>Charmis</HI> cals the true Medi|cine of the &s;oule; and in the fir&s;t, <HI>Alcibiades</HI> puts it, that it was wont to &s;hew the Elders of the great Kings of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> to teach them to reverence God, to forme their temporall domination according to the patterne of the order and policy of the Uni|ver&s;e. But it is nothing el&s;e properly (as <HI>Orpheus</HI> &s;aith) but a forme of marriage of the &s;tarry heaven with the earth, whither hee darts his influences, by which &s;hee impregnes comming from the Intelligences who a&s;&s;i&s;t therein; and an application of agent vertues upon the pa&s;&s;ive, and that without the cooperati|on of Daemons the mo&s;t part, evill, fal&s;e, and deceptive, yet &s;ome more then others; with which it is thought that the three wi&s;e Kings, <HI>Magi,</HI> that came &s;o farre to adore Je&s;us Chri&s;t, were willing to have &s;ome acquaintance and com|merce.</P>
<P>The third is that which men call <HI>Caballe,</HI> or reception, be|cau&s;e men left it there verbally, and by mouth from hand to
<PB N="35" REF="20"> hand, from one to another. It is divided into two, the one of <HI>Ber<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ith,</HI> that is to &s;ay, of the Creation, that con&s;i&s;teth in the Sen&s;ible world, where <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;taid, without &s;peaking of the Intel|ligible, or of &s;eparated &s;ub&s;tances. The other is of <HI>Mercavah,</HI> or of the Throne of God, which <HI>Ezekiel</HI> principally treats of, who&s;e vi&s;ion is almo&s;t all of fire. So much is this Element throughout the whole holy Scripture appropriated to Divinity, as one of the mo&s;t perfect and neare &s;ymboles and markes in things &s;en&s;ible; by meanes whereof wee are &s;o elevated, that by <HI>Jacobs</HI> Ladder, or <HI>Homers</HI> golden Chaine, we come to the know|ledge of things &s;pirituall and intelligible; <HI>for the invi&s;ible things of God from the Creation of the World, are clearely &s;eene, being under&s;tood <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">by the things that are made, even his eternall power and Godhead.</HI> For the world with the Creatures be|ing there, they are a portraict of God; for the Creator is under|&s;tood by the Creature; &s;aith Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine;</HI> for God hath made two things to his image and re&s;emblance, according to <HI>Tre&s;megi&s;tus:</HI> the world, therein to rejoice, and plea&s;e our &s;elves with the infinite brave pieces of worke; and Man, wherein hee &s;et his mo&s;t &s;ingular delight and plea&s;ure, which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath tacitely expre&s;&s;ed in <HI>Gen.</HI> 1. <HI>&amp;</HI> 2. where when there was que&s;ti|on of creating the world, Heaven, Earth, Vegetables, Minerals, Animals, Sunne, Moone, Starres, and all the re&s;t, hee did no more but command by his word, for hee &s;aid, and they were done; hee commanded and they were created. But in Mans formation, hee in&s;i&s;ted much further therein then in all the re&s;t, &s;aith he; <HI>Let us make man after our Image and Similitude, hee crea|ted him male and female, and formed him du&s;t of the earth, afterward breathed in his face the &s;pirit of life, and hee was made a living &s;oule.</HI> In which are touched 4 or 5 particularities. So <HI>Cyrill</HI> ob&s;erves it. After the &s;ame manner then, as the Image of God is the world, &s;o the image of the world, is man: therein there is &s;uch a relation of God with his creatures, that they cannot bee well comprehended, but reciprocally one by the other, for all the Sen&s;ible nature, (as <HI>Zohar</HI> hath it) in regard of the intelligible, is as that of the Moone, towards the Sunne, who thereinto re|verberates its light: or as the light of a Lampe or torch, which parteth the flame fa&s;tned to the weik, which is therein nouri&s;hed by a gro&s;&s;e matter, vi&s;cous, adu&s;tible, without which this &s;plen|dor
<PB N="36" REF="21"> and light could not communicate it &s;elfe to our &s;ight, nor our &s;ight comprehend it: And likewi&s;e the glory and e&s;&s;ence of God, which the Hebrewes call <HI>Sequinah,</HI> could not appeare but in the matter of this Sen&s;ible world, which is an image or pat|terne thereof. And it is that, which God &s;aid to <HI>Mo&s;es, Exod.</HI> 33. <HI>You &s;hall not &s;ee my face, you &s;hall &s;ee my binder parts.</HI> The face of God is his true E&s;&s;ence in the intelligible world, which no man ever &s;aw, except the <HI>Me&s;&s;ihe, I did &s;et the Lord alwayes before mee, P&s;al.</HI> 16.8. And his po&s;teriour parts are his effects in the Sen&s;ible world. The &s;oule likewi&s;e cannot bee di&s;cerned and knowne, but by the functions it exerci&s;eth in the body whil&s;t it is annexed thereunto: <HI>By which Plato was moved to thinke that &s;oules could not con&s;i&s;t without bodies, no more then fire without water.</HI> So that after long revolutions of times, they &s;hould come againe to incorporate them&s;elves here below: whereunto adheres that in the 6 of <HI>Virgils Aeneads.</HI></P>
<Q><L>All the&s;e when they have turned for many yeares,</L>
<L>God cals them to the floud of Lethe, by great troopes,</L>
<L>Bei<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">g forgetfull that they mu&s;t review the upper convexe,</L>
<L>And begin againe to bee willing to returne into bodies.</L></Q>
<P>But this &s;avours a little of new-birth, and <HI>Pythagorean</HI> chan|gings of &s;oules into bodies, in which <HI>Origen</HI> was likewi&s;e out of the way, as may be &s;eene in his booke of Princes, and in Saint <HI>Jeromes</HI> Epi&s;tle to <HI>Avitus.</HI> But more &s;incerely <HI>Porphyrius,</HI> al|though in the re&s;t an impious adver&s;ary, a Calumniator of Chri&s;tiani&s;me; that for the perfect beatitude of &s;oules, they mu&s;t: &s;hunne and fly all bodies. So that, when the &s;oule &s;hall bee re|purged from all corporal affections, and when it &s;hall returne to its Creator, in its fir&s;t &s;implicity, it hath no great de&s;ire to fall againe into the hands and calamities of this age, when the op|tion &s;hould be left unto it free.</P>
<P>From the Intelligible world then, it runnes downe into the Cele&s;tial, and from thence to the Elementary, all that which the &s;pirit of man can attaine from the knowledge of the admira|ble effects of Nature, which Art intimates, in what &s;hee can, whence by the revelation of the&s;e rare &s;ecrets, by the action of fire, the mo&s;t part is magnified, the glory and magnificence of him who is the fir&s;t motor and author thereof; for mans un|der&s;tanding according to <HI>Hermes,</HI> is as a Gla&s;&s;e where we come
<PB N="37" REF="21"> to &s;have off, and to abate the cleare and luminous rayes of the Divinity, repre&s;ented to our &s;en&s;es by the Sunne above, and the fire his corre&s;pondent here below; which inflame the &s;oule with an ardent de&s;ire of the knowledge and veneration of his Creatour, and by con&s;equent of his love, for men love nothing but what they know.</P>
<P>So each of the&s;e three worlds, which have their particular &s;ciences, hath al&s;o its fire, and its &s;alt apart: both which do in|forme us namely of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his fire in the heaven. And the Salt for its firme con&s;i&s;tence and &s;olidity to the earth. What is this Salt? aske one of your Chymicall Philo&s;ophers; a &s;corched and burned earth, and congealed water, by the heat of fire, poten|tially enclo&s;ed therein. Moreover Fire is the operatour here below, in the workes of Art, as the Sunne and Cele&s;tiall Fire is in them of that nature; and in the intelligible, the holy Spirit by the Hebrewes called <HI>Binah,</HI> or Intelligence, which the Scrip|ture de&s;ignes ordinarily by fire, and this &s;pirituall fire, or igneal &s;pirit, with the <HI>Chomah</HI> the verbe, where the Sapience attributes to the Sonne, Wi&s;dome, the Arti&s;t of all things, taught mee, are the fathers operators. By the word of the Lord were the hea|vens firmed, and all their beauty by the &s;pirit of his mouth; from whence that maxime of the Peripateticks differs not much, Eve|ry worke of Nature is a worke of Intelligence.</P>
<P>Behold the three fires, whereof we pretend to &s;peake, of which there is none more common among&s;t us then the elementary here below, gro&s;&s;e, compo&s;ed, and materiall; that is to &s;ay, al|wayes, fa&s;tned to matter; nor on the the other part le&s;&s;e known. That which is of him, from whence he came, and whither hee goes; reducing in an in&s;tant all to nothing: a&s;&s;oone as his nouri&s;hment failes him; without which he cannot con&s;i&s;t a mo|ment, but goes as hee comes, being all in the lea&s;t of his parts: So that he can in le&s;&s;e then nothing, multiply to infinity, and in le&s;&s;e then nothing empty it &s;elfe: for one little waxe light will at plea&s;ure enkindle the greate&s;t fires we can imagine, with|out any lo&s;&s;e or diminution of its &s;ub&s;tance:
<Q>Though they take a thou&s;and, yet nothing peri&s;heth:</Q> And in the third of Saint <HI>James, Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth;</HI> yea one onely &s;mall &s;parkle of fire, would pre&s;s in the twinckling of an eye, all the immen&s;e hollow of the Uni|ver&s;e,
<PB N="38" REF="22"> if it were filled with Gun-powder or Napthe and pre&s;ently after will vani&s;h away. So that of all bodies, there is nothing that doth approach nearer to the &s;oule then fire, &s;aid <HI>Plotin.</HI> And <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> in his fourth booke of <HI>Metaphy&s;ickes,</HI> &s;ets downe, that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|ven to his time the mo&s;t part of Philo&s;ophers had not well knowne fire, nor yet Aire to bee perceivable to our &s;ight and feeling. But men may &s;ay the &s;ame, that neither <HI>Ari&s;totle,</HI> nor other Grecians of his time knew &s;o well the fire and its effects, at lea&s;t wi&s;e not &s;o exactly as did (&s;o long while after) the <HI>Ara|bians,</HI> by <HI>Alchymie,</HI> on which all the knowledge of fire dependeth, The <HI>Aegyptians</HI> &s;aid, that it was a ravi&s;hing and in&s;atiable Ani|mal, that devoures that which taketh birth and increa&s;e, and at la&s;t it &s;elfe; after it is therewith well fedde and gorged: when there is no more to feed or nouri&s;h it; for that having heat and motion, he cannot pa&s;&s;e from food and aire to breath therein; if for want hereof, it remaines at la&s;t extinct, with that where|with it was fed: All things proper to animate &s;ub&s;tances, and which have life, for life is ever accompanied with heat and mo|tion, which pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">c eds from heate, rather then heate from moti|on; although they be reciprocalls, for one cannot be without the other. But <HI>Suidas</HI> thereupon formed &s;uch a contradiction, that not onely animals, but all that which take nouri&s;hment and en|crea&s;e, tend to a certaine butt, whither being come, it &s;tayes with|out pa&s;&s;ing any further, where neither nouri&s;hment nor increa&s;e of fire are limited nor determined; for the more is admini&s;tred, &s;o much the more it would have, and grow every day greater: for neither the one nor the other can be limited, as do the&s;e ani|mals. Then by con&s;equent it mu&s;t not be put in their ranke; So that the motion of fire &s;hould rather be called generation, then nouri&s;hment or growth; for there is but that one element, that nouri&s;heth and increa&s;eth it. In the others, that which &s;uper|abounds therein is by appo&s;ition, as if you would joine water to water, or earth to earth; you &s;hall never do the &s;ame to fire, to thinke to make it greater by joining thereunto other fire, but by the appo&s;ition of matter, upon which it may bite and exerci&s;e its action, as wood and other like things, which perforce mu&s;t turne into its nature, and &s;o it augments it &s;elfe. The Poeti|call fictions relate that <HI>Prometheus</HI> went into Heaven to &s;teale it to accommodate mortals; for which he was &s;o grievou&s;ly pu|ni&s;hed
<PB N="39" REF="22"> by the Gods, as to remaine 30. yeares bound to a Rocke in Mount <HI>Canca&s;us,</HI> where a Vulter dayly eate up his entrails which did grow againe in cour&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Autor <HI>de roolle</HI> p 61. in cour&s;e, in order one after a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o|th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r.</NOTE> But it is to bee beleeved that the Gods that are &s;o watchfull, and &s;o affectionate towards man|kinde, would not deny this &s;o nece&s;&s;ary a portion of Nature, without which the condition of their life were wor&s;e then that of bea&s;ts, as well for the boyling of their meats, as to warme them, and dry them, and infinite other nece&s;&s;ary commodities. Be&s;ides of that which &s;oares alwayes upwards, being of one ce|le&s;tial original, whither he a&s;pires to returne, it &s;eemes that this belongs properly to man.</P>
<Q><L>Sith other thingt lookes downe unto the earth</L>
<L>It gave man a face, to looke up, and &s;ee the heavens,</L>
<L>To erect his countenance unto the Stars.</L></Q>
<P>Almo&s;t all other animals do &s;hun the fire, whence <HI>Lactantius</HI> to &s;hew that man was a divine Animal, alledgeth for one of his mo&s;t pregnant rea&s;ons, that hee onely among&s;t others u&s;ed fire. And <HI>Vitruvius</HI> in his &s;econd booke, &s;ets downe that the fir&s;t ac|quaintances of men, were contracted by comming to meete, to warme them&s;elves at common fires: So that the cau&s;e why God &s;ent fire downe to men mu&s;t bee, that by the meanes thereof, they are come to penetrate into the profound and hidden &s;ecrets of Nature: whereof they could not well di&s;cover, &amp; know the man|ner of proceeding, for that &s;hee workes &s;o rarely: but by his counterfoote,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> which the Greeks call <GAP DESC="foreign"> the re&s;olution and &s;eparation of the Elementary parts, which are made by fire; whereof proceeds the execution almo&s;t of all Artifices, that the &s;pirit of man hath invented; So that if the fir&s;t had no other in&s;trument, and toole, then the fire, as we may lately &s;ee by the di&s;coveries of the <HI>We&s;t Indies; Homer</HI> in the Song of <HI>Vulcan</HI> &s;ets downe that hee a&s;&s;i&s;ted with <HI>Minerva,</HI> taught men their Arts and brave Workman&s;hip; having formerly beene accu&s;tomed to dwel in Caves and hollow Rockes, after the fa&s;hion of wilde bea&s;ts; willing to inferre by <HI>Minerva</HI> the Godde&s;&s;e of Arts, and Sciences, <HI>the under&s;tanding and indu&s;try, and by the fire, Vul|can, that puts them in execution; wherefore the Aegyptians were accu|&s;tomed to marry the&s;e two Deities together, willing thereby to declare no|thing el&s;e but that from the under&s;tanding proceeds the invention of all Arts and Sciences, which fire afterwards effected, and brought from
<PB N="40" REF="23"> power to action;</HI> for the Agent in all this world is nothing el&s;e but fire and heat, &s;aith <HI>Johannicius,</HI> and <HI>Homer,</HI>
<Q>Whom Vulcan and Minerva knew.</Q> Which was the cau&s;e (as may bee &s;een in <HI>Philo&s;tratus</HI> by the birth of <HI>Minerva</HI>) that &s;hee for&s;ooke the <HI>Rhodians,</HI> for that they &s;acrificed unto her without fire, to goe to the <HI>Athenians.</HI> More|over <HI>Vulcan,</HI> according to <HI>Diadorus,</HI> was a man, <HI>who from an acci|dent by a clap of Lightning, whereby a Tree was &s;et on fire, fir&s;t revea|led to the Aegyptians the commod<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ty and u&s;e of Fire: for being there|withall overcome, all joyfull of his light and heate; he thereunto added other matter to keepe it, while&s;t hee went to &s;eeke the people, who after|ward for this, deified him.</HI> Whereto <HI>Lucretius</HI> agrees,
<Q><L>Do not in the&s;e tbings tacitely and by chance require,</L>
<L>Lightning brought fire on earth to mortalls</L>
<L>Fir&s;t: thence all heate of flame was given.</L></Q></P>
<P>The Greekes attribute it to <HI>Phoroneus,</HI> and put it, that it was neare to <HI>Argos.</HI> That fire being fallen from heaven there-about, it was afterward there kept within the Temple of <HI>Apollo;</HI> which if by chance it came to extingui&s;h, they lighted it againe anew by the Sunnebeames; as al&s;o they did at <HI>Rome</HI> that of the Ve|&s;tals. And in <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> their &s;acred fire which they carried ordina|rily where the King marcht in per&s;on &s;ingularly reverencing it, for their re&s;pect to the Sunne, which they adored above all o|ther Deities; for they e&s;teemed it here below, their Image. They caryed it (I &s;ay) in great pompe and &s;olemnity on a mag|nificent Chariot drawne by four great Cour&s;ers, and followed by 365 young Mini&s;ters, for as much as there are &s;o many dayes in the yeare, which de&s;cribe the Sunne by its cour&s;e, clad with yellow guilded, the colour conformable to the Sunne, and fire, &s;inging hymnes to their prai&s;e. And there was among&s;t them, no crime more capitall and irremi&s;&s;ible, then to ca&s;t any dead carka&s;&s;e or other uncleanne&s;&s;e therein, or to blow it with your breath, for feare to infect it, but they did it to give it aire, for in all this they hazzarded no le&s;&s;e then life; as to quench it otherwi&s;e in water: So that if any one had perpetrated any grievous forfeit, to obtaine grace and pardon therein; the be&s;t expedient then was, as <HI>Plutarch</HI> puts in his fir&s;t Treati&s;e of the fir&s;t cold, to put him&s;elfe in running water with fire in the hand, threatning to quench it in the water if they did
<PB N="41" REF="23"> not grant his reque&s;t; but after hee had obtained it hee was not left unpuni&s;hed for his offence, but for the impiety that hee had forethought to commit. And from thence it became a common proverbe mentioned in <HI>Suidas:</HI> I am a <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> borne of <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> parents; what a &s;trange <HI>Per&s;ian?</HI> yea Sir, for us to pollute fire, it is &s;harper then cruel death. But all this which may bee &s;aid of fire, and by the meanes thereof, hath not yet been revealed, nor knowne by men: Is there any thing more admirable then Gun|powder, &s;o ea&s;y to make, and con&s;i&s;ting of &s;o few ingredients; and &s;o common Sulphur, Saltpeter and coale? which &s;eeme to have been my&s;tically de&s;igned by the Aegyptians, by the three Cele&s;tial powers, whence they alledge Thunder, Lightning, Tempe&s;ts, to be conducted and governed, <HI>Jupiter, Ve&s;ta,</HI> and <HI>Vul|can.</HI> By <HI>Vulcan,</HI> Sulphur; by <HI>Jupiter,</HI> Saltpeter, full of aire and winde, as <HI>Raymund Lullius</HI> puts it, who well knew it, and its nature, and its, effects if he would have di&s;covered them; and by <HI>Ve&s;ta</HI> Coale; as well for the Terre&s;treity that is in it, as for that it is incorruptible, being able to keepe it many thou&s;ands of yeares within the ground, without alteration or &s;poiling, which was the cau&s;e that they made a place and &s;tage for it, in the foun|dation of the Temple of <HI>Diana</HI> at <HI>Ephe&s;iu:</HI> Saltpeter is appro|priated to the Aire; becau&s;e it is as of a meane di&s;po&s;ition of nature, betwixt Sea water, and the Fire, or Sulphur, whereof it participates, for that it is &s;o inflamable, and &s;alti&s;h, on the other &s;ide, re&s;olving it &s;elfe into moi&s;ture, and water, as the Salts do; from whence it hath bitterne&s;&s;e and acuity; and as the inclo&s;ed and retained aire, within the clouds, doth breake and lighten by the impetuo&s;ity of Thunder, the &s;ame doth Saltpeter: But this will come to better purpo&s;e hereafter in Salts. Moreover hee that can make powder compo&s;ed of certaine proportions of Sulphur and Saltpeter, and in &s;tead of Coale, with the Terre|&s;trial &s;curf of Antimony, which mu&s;t be &s;eparated by frequent and reiterated ablutions of lukewarme water; may come to an artificiall fire, not to bee di&s;dained; of a powder, that will give a &s;mall report; 'tis true that it is not &s;o impetuous and full of force, as the common. In regard of the invention of Gunpow|der, the relations of <HI>China</HI> do cary, that by their ancient Chro|nicles it is found out, that they have had the u&s;e of it more then 1500 yeares; as al&s;o of printing. <HI>Roger Bacon,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1500 years.</NOTE> the famous
<PB N="42" REF="24"> Engli&s;h Philo&s;opher, who writ above 300 yeares agoe, in his booke of the admirable power of Nature and Art, &s;ets downe, that with a certaine compo&s;ition imitating lightning and thun|der, <HI>Gideon</HI> was wont to feare his Enemies with. And yet that it is not formally as it is written in the 7 of <HI>Judges,</HI> yet it is &s;aid neverthele&s;&s;e more then &s;ix&s;core yeares before the divulgation of Gun-powder; &s;ee his word: furthermore there may bee made perpetuall lights and bathes, burning without end, for we have knowne many things that are not burned, but purified; but be&s;ides the&s;e, there are other &s;tupendious things of Nature and Art; for &s;ounds may be made in the aire, like thunders, and of greater horror then &s;uch as are made by nature. And a little matter adapted to the quantity of a thumb, makes a horrible &s;ound, and &s;hewes a vehement coru&s;cation; and this may bee done many wayes, by which every City and Army may bee de|&s;troyed; after the manner of <HI>Gideons</HI> Artifice, who with broken pitchers and lamps, fire breaking out with ineffable fragor, de|&s;troyed the <HI>Midianiti&s;h</HI> Army, with only 300 men. The&s;e may be Granadoes and fire pots. And to be &s;hort, nothing could bet|ter agree on all points to Gun-powder; but the&s;e good men fore&s;eeing the ruine that &s;uch things might bring, made too great con&s;cience to reveale it. To the purpo&s;e of perpetuall fires, by meanes of mo&s;t long durance; <HI>Hermolaus Barbarus</HI> in his notes upon <HI>Pliny,</HI> relates that in his time there was an old Sepulchre opened in the Territory of <HI>Padoua,</HI> and therein found a little Coffer, where there was a Lampe yet burning, although that according to the in&s;cription it mu&s;t have beene more then 500 yeares &s;ince it was lighted.<NOTE PLACE="marg">500</NOTE> So that by this reckoning, it &s;hould not bee altogether impo&s;&s;ible to make fires, that will not be put out; for wee &s;ee the &s;ame in many &s;orts of that which men call Grec; whereof <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> as it is reported heretofore compo&s;ed a Treati&s;e, which could not bee quenched with water, chiefly Sea water, by rea&s;on of the fatty and unctuous Salt min|gled therewith, but they grow wor&s;er, and waxe more fiery. But what hurt were there to &s;tay thereon a little, &s;ince likewi&s;e it is a que&s;tion of Fire: Of Acornes &s;teeped in wine, afterward dryed and put in a mill &s;o long till the liquor come forth, which afterwards accompanied with other oyles be&s;meared upon quicke chal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, Pumice &s;tone, &s;pectacle gla&s;&s;e, and Alum calci|ned
<PB N="43" REF="24"> together with Soap, and other the like things, that hold their adu&s;tible impurities in the bottome of a ve&s;&s;el, while&s;t that the oile by di&s;tillation mounts cleare, neat, and purified, and le&s;&s;e inflamable; but this requireth a &s;ufficient good fire; for the matches corre&s;ponding thereto, make them of cotten yearne be&s;meared within the Lee: then bath them in the oile, or li|quor of Tartar, Saltpetring them over <HI>Alum plumed,</HI> intermin|gled with <HI>pitch, rozin finely brui&s;ed and beaten,</HI> or of <HI>Colophon.</HI> The&s;e fires of &s;o long duration would &s;eeme to us a thing fabu|lous, if wee were not a&s;certained by authentique Authors of that &s;o famous a Lampe hung in a certaine Temple of <HI>Venus,</HI> where there burned without cea&s;ing the Stone called <HI>Asbe&s;tus,</HI> which being once &s;et on fire, never goes out. But &s;ome will &s;ay that that is al&s;o a fable; I will leave others to decide it, and I will tell you what befell mee, &s;eeking nothing le&s;&s;e then that, to meet with a &s;ub&s;tance, conducted thereunto, by graduall ar|tifices of fire: which being bound fa&s;t within a Viall of gla&s;&s;e and &s;ealed with <HI>Hermes</HI> his Seale, that no aire could any way en|ter in, might be kept 1000 yeares (after the manner of &s;peech) in the bottome of the Sea: and opening it at the termination of &s;o long a &s;ea&s;on, or when you &s;hall plea&s;e, you &s;hall therein finde a &s;uddaine fire, (which when it &s;ents the aire) will light matches. We reade in the &s;econd booke of the <HI>Maccabees,</HI> chap. 1. ver&s;. 20. that at the tran&s;migration of <HI>Babylon,</HI> the <HI>Levites</HI> having hid their &s;acred fire in the bottome of a well or pit, 70 yeares, after they found there a thicke water and whiti&s;h, who a&s;&s;oone as e|ver the Sunbeames gave thereon, tooke fire.</P>
<P>The&s;e two Deities afore&s;aid, <HI>Pallas</HI> and <HI>Ve&s;ta,</HI> one and the o|ther, cha&s;te Virgins, as is al&s;o Fire; repre&s;ent unto us the two fires of the Sen&s;ible world; that is to &s;ay, <HI>Pallas,</HI> the Cele&s;tiall; and <HI>Ve&s;ta,</HI> the Elementary here below, the which notwith&s;tand|ing it bee more gro&s;&s;e and materiall, then that above, tends ne|verthele&s;&s;e alwayes upward, as if it endeavoured to unmingle it &s;elfe from a corruptible &s;ub&s;tance, where it remaineth fixed, to returne free and exempt from all the&s;e hinderances to its fir&s;t Original from whence it came, as an impri&s;oned &s;oule,
<Q><L>There is in them fiery vigor and cele&s;tiall Origin,</L>
<L>In &s;eeds as much as our harmele&s;&s;e bodies &s;tay them,</L>
<L>And our terrene joints dull them, and our dying members.</L></Q></P>
<PB N="44" REF="25">
<P>The other on the contrary, though more &s;ubtill and e&s;&s;ential ru&s;heth out here below toward the earth, as if the&s;e two a&s;pired ince&s;&s;antly to encounter each other, and to face each other, in the fa&s;hion of two Pyramides; whereof that above &s;hould have its ba&s;is planted in the <HI>Zodiack,</HI> where the Sunne perfects his annuall cour&s;e through the 12 Signs: from the point of which <HI>Pyramis,</HI> comes to ca&s;t here below all that which is here procre|ated, and hath being, according to the A&s;tologers of Aegypt; that there is nothing produced in the earth, and in the water, which was not fir&s;t &s;owed in heaven, which is there, as a labourer to cultivate it, and by his heate, impregned here below, with the efficacy of his influences, conducts the whole to its compleat perfection and maturity, which <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> al&s;o confirmes in his bookes of Beginning and Ending. But the fire here below on the contrary at the ba&s;is of his <HI>Pyramis,</HI> fa&s;tned to the earth, making one of &s;ix faces of the Cube, whereof the <HI>Pythagoreans</HI> give him the forme and figure, becau&s;e of its forme, and invari|able &s;tability; and from the point of this <HI>Pyramis</HI> the &s;ubtill vapours mount upwards, which &s;erve as nouri&s;hment to the Sun, and to all the re&s;t of the Cele&s;tiall bodies, according as <HI>Phurnu|tus</HI> writeth after others. Men attribute (&s;aith hee) inextingui|&s;hed fire unto <HI>Ve&s;ta,</HI> peradventure for that the power of fire that is in the world, takes it nouri&s;hment from thence, and that from thence the Sunne is maintained and con&s;i&s;teth. This is that al|&s;o, that <HI>Hermes</HI> would inferre in his Table of <HI>Emerandes:</HI> That which is below, is as that which is above, and contrarywi&s;e, to perpetrate miracles of one thing. And <HI>Rabbi Jo&s;eph</HI> the &s;onne of <HI>Carnitol</HI> in his ports of Ju&s;tice, the foundation of all the inferior aedifices is placed above, and their heap or top here below as a Tree inverted. So that a man is but as a &s;pirituall tree planted in the Paradi&s;e of delights, which is the earth of the living, by the roots of his haires; following that which is written in the <HI>Canticles</HI> 7. <HI>The haire of thy head like purple, the King is bound in the Galleries.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e two fires then, the high and the low, who do know them&s;elves, and &s;o one another, have beene no le&s;&s;e unknowne to the Poets, for <HI>Homer</HI> in the 18 of his Iliads, having placed <HI>Vulcans</HI> forge in the eighth &s;tarry heaven, where he is accompani|ed with his Arti&s;ans endowed with &s;ingular prudence, and who
<PB N="45" REF="25"> know two &s;orts of workes, which were taught them by the im|mortall Gods, wherein they labour in his pre&s;ence; <HI>Virgill</HI> in his 8 of the Aeneads hath &s;uffered him to &s;et his &s;hop here be|low in the earth, in an I&s;land called <HI>Vulcanian.</HI></P>
<Q>Vulcans hou&s;e, and by name, Vulcans earth.</Q>
<P>To &s;hew that there is fire in the one, and the other Region, the Cele&s;tial, and Elementary; but diver&s;ly: Men make more|over four &s;orts of fire; that of the intelligible world, which is all light; the Cele&s;tiall participates of heate and light; the E|lementary of light, heate, and ardour; And the infernall op|po&s;ite to the intelligible, with ardor and burning without light; we &s;ee Lanthornes upon Mountaines that burne on the in&s;ide, and other like called <HI>Vulcans.</HI> And it is a thing very admirable, as one of the <HI>Rabbins</HI> quoteth, that Sulphur &amp; Pitch that are &s;o rea|dy and ea&s;y to take fire, and continue &s;o little in their combu&s;tion being expo&s;ed to the aire, re&s;trained neverthele&s;&s;e within the Earths intrails, it &s;eemes they there renew them&s;elves, and multi|ply by their owne con&s;umption, although their heat and burn|ing bee there much more violent without compari&s;on, then here above. According as wee may &s;ee in Mountaines that burn for &s;o many continued ages, and hot Bathes. This &s;eemes to emancipate from the common order of Nature by a &s;ecret di&s;po|&s;ition of Divine providence, who will have them continue &s;o; till the &s;curf and impurity of this inferiour world be extermi|nate, with this infected &s;tinking and corruptible odor; and to bani&s;h it from hence and &s;end it backe to hell for the puni&s;h|ment and torment of the damned; whereof it is written in <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 11.6. <HI>&V;pon the wicked hee &s;hall raine &s;nares, fire and brim|&s;tone, and an horrible tempe&s;t, this &s;hall bee the portion of their Cup.</HI> This fire there, which is blacke, ob&s;cure, thicke, and dark, the more devouring and burning it is, re&s;embles that of &s;ome great coales of &s;tone, which conceive a mo&s;t &s;trong ignition, whereof it is &s;poken in the 20 of <HI>Job</HI> 26. <HI>A fire &s;hall devour them which is not kindled.</HI> And more particularly in the 4 of <HI>Baruch</HI> 26. <HI>Fire &s;hall come upon them from the everla&s;ting to continue many dayes, and Devils &s;hall a long time dwell there.</HI></P>
<P>There where the Cele&s;tial fire is all clear and &s;hining as a lamp, who&s;e flame &s;hould bee nouri&s;hed with water of Life, mingled with a certaine compo&s;ition of <HI>Camphire, Salnitre,</HI> and other in|flamative
<PB N="46" REF="26"> matters. So that the&s;e combu&s;tible &s;ub&s;tances, where|of there are infinite varieties, may endure very long, but it is true that it will bee but a gentle and weak flame. And of the like, but more &s;ubtill without compari&s;on, the Cele&s;tiall bodies are nouri&s;hed and fed, that need but little nouri&s;hment, as ap|proaching from &s;pirituality. I can tell you, being at any o|ther time brought, to make the fa&s;hion of a &s;hining Sunne, in the darke,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P. 73. Lamp.</NOTE> (it was a fire of a Lampe) &s;o glittering, that a whole great Hall might bee therewith rather dazled, then lightened; <HI>for this did more effect then two or three dozen of great Torches, and yet in</HI> 24 <HI>houres u&s;ed no more oile then I gave it, with matches corre|&s;ponding thereunto, which held no more then a nut &s;hell, for this was a Lampe of Gla&s;&s;e, plunged or dipped within a Globe of Cry&s;tall as great as a bead filled with vinegar, di&s;tilled three or foure times; for there is nothing more tran&s;parent, nor more &s;plendent. Sea water is al&s;o good thereto, and much better then fre&s;h water, how pure &s;oever it may bee; It is the Salt mingled among that gives it this luminous bright|ne&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>But to returne to our di&s;cour&s;e, &s;ome have thought that &s;ith the Starres receive nouri&s;hment, they &s;hould al&s;o vani&s;h in cer|taine periods of time, and others come in their &s;tead; which were no other thing then a &s;eparation of their clearne&s;&s;e and light, with their Globe of &s;ub&s;tance more gro&s;&s;e and materiall, by which they come to di&s;&s;ipate them&s;elves, and to vani&s;h with|in the heaven; as vitall &s;pirits within the aire: while&s;t they are ab&s;ented from &s;ome animated body, and leave it void of life. So that by this meanes, their Globe from this time forward would remaine darke as a Lampe, whereby light, which before gave it light, &s;hould bee quenched for lacke of nouri&s;hment, or other accident. This light or luminous fire is in the Starres, as the bloud is in animals, or juice in vegetables, whereto <HI>Homer</HI> &s;eemes willing to grant in the 5. of his Iliads, where he puts, that for as much as the Gods do not live by bread and wine, as mor|talls, but by <HI>Ambro&s;ia</HI> and <HI>Nectar,</HI> &s;o they have no bloud, but in lieu thereof,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> a &s;ub&s;tance which they call <GAP DESC="foreign"> which is as it were a &s;ubtill &s;alti&s;h wateri&s;hne&s;&s;e: hindering corruption in ani|mals, and all other compo&s;ed Elements; but wee mu&s;t here a little better cleare this, for the great affinity that the Sunne and Fire have together: Wee mu&s;t then under&s;tand, that the Sunne
<PB N="47" REF="26"> ari&s;ing by its attraction elevates the &s;pirits of the earth, which are of two natures, (a moi&s;t vapour including, and a dry vapour included) are together exalted, (&s;aith the Philo&s;opher in the 5. of his Meteors) the one hot and moi&s;t, as is the Aire and Water, potentially; this which is properly called Vapour; the other hot and dry, of the nature and power of fire, called Exhalation. The fir&s;t re&s;olves into water, as raines, &s;nowes, hailes, mi&s;ts, fogges, and other &s;uch moi&s;t impre&s;&s;ions as are formed of this vapour, in the middle Region of the Aire, for being gro&s;&s;e and heavy, they cannot mount higher, but afterwards being thick|ned, and congealed by the cold that re&s;ides there, they fall backe here below, more materiall then tho&s;e which were not mounted from thence, and at la&s;t, all do re&s;olve into water. The &s;econd, called Exhalation, is &s;ubdivided into three kindes; the fir&s;t, more vi&s;cous, gro&s;&s;e, and heavy, is that whereof your fires are formed, which are called <HI>Ca&s;tor</HI> and <HI>Pollux,</HI> otherwi&s;e <HI>Saint Herme;</HI> the <HI>foole fires,</HI> and the like, which cannot mount higher then the low Region of the Aire: the &s;econd is a little lighter, more &s;ubtill, and depured, penetrating even to the middle Re|gion, where thunders and lightnings are formed, the wandring &s;tarres, <HI>barres</HI> of fire, <HI>cheurons,</HI> and other &s;uch inflamations.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P. 75.</NOTE> The third, is yet more dry and light, and more free from un|ct<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o&s;ity, almo&s;t of the nature of that Quinte&s;&s;ence, which we ob|&s;erve in <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> &s;overaignly depured: therefore it may mount not onely to the highe&s;t Region of the Aire, and that of Fire contiguous; but e&s;cape yet whole and &s;afe higher then the Heaven, with which, for its greate&s;t &s;ubtilty and depuration which it hath gotten in this long way, it hath a great conformi|ty: For being come to the Globe of the Sun, it is there perfected to concoct and to dige&s;t into a pure and cleare light; for the nou|ri&s;hment, as well of it &s;elfe, as of other &s;tarres; the &s;ame that <HI>Pliny</HI> toucheth in the 8 and 9 chapters of his &s;econd booke: So that the Starres receive all their light and nouri&s;hment from the Sunne, after that it hath been there concocted and fitted, and not by the forme of reflexion, as from its raies, which would le&s;|&s;en them&s;elves either in water, or in a looking Gla&s;&s;&s;e; for all that which participates of fire, hath need of nouri&s;hment. This is done as in the Animall, where the mo&s;t pure bloud, comes from the Liver to empty it &s;elfe through the Arteries into the
<PB N="48" REF="27"> heart which conducts it to its la&s;t perfection for the nouri&s;h|ment of Spirits. But this mu&s;t be under&s;tood, if the&s;e Exhalati|ons and vapours finde i&s;&s;ue atwhart the pores and &s;pongio&s;ities of the Earth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tuffe p. 76. a kind of white Sand, or &s;oft and brittle Stone.</NOTE> to evaporate upwards. But if peradventure it meet with Tuffe, or Sand, or the like lets, and hindrances, which do contradict them, or let them, they &s;tay there and wax thicke, for procreation of minerals: that is to &s;ay, a hot and a dry exhalation, in the nature of Brim&s;tone, and a moi&s;t vapour in the nature of Quick&s;ilver; not vulgar, but a &s;ub&s;tance yet &s;pirituall and full of fume, from the a&s;&s;embling of which two, in a &s;ubtill vapour, they come to procreate in them&s;elves after|wards by a long continuance of time, metals, and meane mine|rals, according to the purity or impurity of their coagulated &s;ub&s;tances; and the temperature, defect, or exce&s;&s;e of the heat that recocts them in the entrails of the earth. Without going from my intention of the fore&s;aid exhalations, I thought fit to touch a little upon an experiment whereunto I arrived by my indu&s;try, which I thinke will not be di&s;agreeable. Take good old Wine, and put therein a certaine quantity of Salnitre, and Camphire, in a Platter upon a fire pan, within a Clo&s;et well firmed, that aire cannot enter, and make it evaporate therein, and that there be no more covering then the thickne&s;&s;e of the backe of a knife, to give it &s;o much aire as it mu&s;t have, to make it burne. This being done, &s;hut well your little window, that nothing may vapour out after you have withdrawne the di&s;h, or platter, from thence to 10. 20. or 30. yeares; provided that the aire do not enter, and that the winde blow not in; bring|ing in thither a lighted waxe candle, you &s;hall &s;ee infinite little fires capring as lightnings in the great heate of Summer, which are not accompanied with thunders and lightnings, nor with &s;tormes, windes, and raines, having nothing but an inflamation of Aire, by rea&s;on of Saltpeter, and Sulphur, which are eleva|ted from the Earth.</P>
<P>Before wee pa&s;&s;e from our intention of vapours and exhala|tions, that no man doubts but do proceed from heat introduced within the earth by the continuall motion of the heaven round about, and of the Cele&s;tial bodies, whence light is accompani|ed with &s;ome heat that it darts thereinto: Let us come to the experiments next approaching to our &s;en&s;ible knowledge, wee
<PB N="49" REF="27"> &s;ee, that the fire leaves two &s;orts of excrements, the one gro&s;&s;ers namely, A&s;hes; remaining in the bottome of its adu&s;tion, that containeth Salt and Gla&s;&s;e; and the two fixed and &s;olid Ele|ments, Fire and Earth: The other more light, and &s;ubtill, which the fume carries upwards; that is, the Soote, wherein are con|tained the two volatill and liquid Elements, called by the <HI>Chy|mi&s;ts,</HI> Mercury and Sulphur, and by the <HI>Naturali&s;ts,</HI> Vapour, and Exhalation. By <HI>Mercury,</HI> is de&s;igned Water, or Vapour, and by <HI>Sulphur,</HI> Oile, and Exhalation; Of Salt and of Earths therein, there are found a very &s;mall quantity, yet &s;ufficient, thereby to perceive how the four Elements are found out in the re&s;olution of all the compo&s;ed Elementaries: Take then the Soote of Chimney, but of that which &s;hall mount highe&s;t in a very long Chimney pipe, and in the very top, where it mu&s;t bee mo&s;t &s;ubtill, thereof fill a great Cornue, or an Alembic two parts of three, then apply thereunto a great recipient, which you wrap about with linnen wet with fre&s;h water. Give fire by &s;mall quantities, the water and the oil will di&s;till together, although the water ought in order to i&s;&s;ue out fir&s;t. After that, all the&s;e two liquors &s;hall pa&s;&s;e through the Recipient, and when no|thing el&s;e &s;hall ari&s;e, increa&s;e your fire with faggot &s;tickes well dryed, or other like, continuing it for 8 or 10 houres, &s;o long that the earths which &s;hall re&s;t in the bottome bee well calcined: but for that they are in &s;mall quantity put to more Soote, and continue it as afore&s;aid, untill you have earth enough which you &s;hall take out of the Alembic, which you &s;hall put into a little earthen pot, of <HI>Parris,</HI> not &s;moothed, or in a little hollow pot. The water and oile, which you &s;hall have di&s;tilled may be ea&s;ily &s;eparated by a gla&s;&s;e fonnell, where the water will &s;wimme above the oile: This done you &s;hall rectify your water by <HI>Balneum Mariae,</HI> by redi&s;tilling of it two or three times; for oile doth not mount by this degree of fire but by Sand; keepe them a&s;under upon the earths, that &s;hall be calcined within the &s;aid pot or cru&s;et, put their water thereon a little warme &s;tir|ring it with a &s;pit, &s;o long till the Salt which &s;hall therein bee revealed by the fires action, do totally di&s;&s;olve it &s;elfe into this Water; withdraw it by di&s;tillation, and the Salt &s;hall bee left you in the bottome, of the nature of <HI>Salarmoniac,</HI> &s;o that by pre&s;&s;ing it, it will elevate it &s;elfe. But of this more plainely
<PB N="50" REF="28"> hereafter in its owne place, when we &s;hall &s;peake of Salt. Of Earthes wee need not take much care, for wee mu&s;t &s;eeke for the be&s;t in the A&s;hes, as al&s;o fixed Salt. So by the meanes of Water, extracted out of a&s;hes (we will here a little pa&s;&s;e from Soote, a little better to declare the &s;ubject of Earthes.)</P>
<P>In this Element the more gro&s;&s;e and materiall of all, which wee call Earth, we mu&s;t con&s;ider three &s;ub&s;tances; the Hebrewes al&s;o have better di&s;tingui&s;hed them then we, by giving them 3 names, <HI>Erehs, Adamah,</HI> and <HI>Jaba&s;&s;ah. Erehs</HI> is properly durt or mud, <HI>Jaba&s;&s;ah</HI> &s;and, and <HI>Adamah</HI> clay, wa&s;h of the common earth with water, and powre it &s;uddainly into another ve&s;&s;ell, with the &s;lime that it hath gathered; reiterate it &s;o long, that there remaine no more in the bottome but Sand, in the Scripture called <HI>Arida: And his hands laid the foundation of the earth, P&s;al.</HI> 94. where he properly u&s;eth the word of laying a foundation, becau&s;e that Sand is the &s;ub&s;i&s;tence, and retention of the earth, where it is mingled with &s;lime by a certaine providence of na|ture to &s;trengthen it again&s;t the moi&s;ture of water, as wee &s;ee in Morter, where wee adjoine &s;and with chalke, for feare le&s;t it melt, and di&s;&s;olve into moi&s;ture. It &s;erves al&s;o, to give it coun|terpoi&s;e, for that Sand is very heavy, <HI>A &s;tone is heavy, and &s;and burden&s;ome, or weighty, Prov.</HI> 27. But the &s;lime is lighter, where|in minerals, vegetables, animals, are procreated, as wee &s;ee by experience, by putting pure &s;lime to the <HI>Erthree;</HI> for in le&s;&s;e then three weekes, you will finde therein &s;mall &s;tones, herbs, wormes, and &s;nailes, and other little bea&s;ts, producted therefrom. Of the nouri&s;hment remaining that the&s;e individuals &s;hall bee, as that of Sand, deprived of all humidity; accordng to what wee &s;ee in Earths, which having beene too much cultivated, and &s;owed, without bettering of them, are reduced from being fertill, as for|merly they were, and become &s;andy and &s;terill; for Sand pro|duceth nothing, as wee &s;ee in De&s;erts and Sea coa&s;ts: whence comes this proverbe, <HI>(You plough the Sands)</HI> for a vaine and un|profitable labour: for of the two qualities, whereof each Ele|ment participates, there is one that is more proper to it, and the other appropriated: Dryne&s;&s;e is the proper quality of the Earth, for that cold is more proper to Water: wherefore is it that the Earth, as afore&s;aid, is called in Hebrew <HI>Jaba&s;&s;ah,</HI> and in Greeke <GAP DESC="foreign"> dry land; <HI>and God called the earth dry land.</HI> Slime
<PB N="51" REF="28"> is more wateri&s;h; for of the gro&s;&s;ene&s;s of the water, earth was made, &s;aith <HI>Hermes;</HI> as wee may &s;ee in &s;now, in hail, in raine, or with water &s;o conden&s;ed, there is much &s;lime mingled, of which (as afore&s;aid) every thing here in the earth below is pro|duced. Man him&s;elfe according to his body, was formed of this &s;lime; and from thence it followeth that all the fertility of the earth comes from Water. <HI>God created all the buddes of the earth before they grew, and all the herbes of the field before they brought forth &s;eed; for the Lord God had not yet made it to raine upon the earth, but a mi&s;t went up therefrom, that watered the whole face thereof.</HI> Or as the <HI>Chaldaick</HI> Paraphra&s;t turneth it, <HI>Onkelos,</HI> in &s;tead of &s;ource and fountaine, vapour and clouds, which are engendred from the vapours that the Sunne elevates here below to the height in the middle Region of the Aire, from thence to water the earth. But neither the &s;lime, nor the &s;and, nor the clay on the other &s;ide, are not each by it &s;elfe, nor reduced together, are this virgin and pure earth, that is &s;hut up in the Center of all the compo&s;ed Elements, that is to &s;ay, in the bottome of them, for that produceth nothing, becau&s;e it is incorruptible: and that which cannot corrupt, cannot produce any thing that &s;hould be &s;ubject to corruption; as we &s;ee in Fire, Salt, and Sand, which are of the nature of Gla&s;&s;e, all &s;ub&s;tances not onely incorrupti|ble for their re&s;pect, but which pre&s;erves from corruption, that wherewith they are mingled; witne&s;&s;e herbs, fruits, fle&s;h, fi&s;h, and other the like, which being &s;alted or buried in Sand are thereby kept the longer. And in <HI>Mummies,</HI> of tho&s;e that re|maine choked and buried in the Sands pa&s;&s;ing the De&s;erts, which are pre&s;erved whole many &s;uits of yeares, even as well, nay better then if they had been enbalmed. So that this earth is formed of two incorruptible &s;ub&s;tances, Salt, and Sand, by meanes of the water whch is thereupon congealed; as wee &s;ee in this faire Cry&s;talline Gla&s;&s;e, made of Salt, of gla&s;&s;e wort, a|mong&s;t which they mingle &s;and to retaine it; otherwi&s;e, in the great &s;harpne&s;&s;e of fire that it mu&s;t indure, to worke therewith, it would all vani&s;h into &s;moake; wee depure and refine it after|wards in cleare Cry&s;talline, joining thereunto <HI>perigort,</HI> or <HI>&s;inople</HI> made of Lead.</P>
<P>Their are &s;ome that carry their Sand with them, as <HI>Foulgere, Charme,</HI> or <HI>Foutean,</HI> firebrakes, charme, or beech, and &s;ome o|thers.</P>
<PB N="52" REF="29">
<P>But this comes better to our di&s;cour&s;e, of Gold and Gla&s;&s;e, and &s;ome others upon the 28. of <HI>Iob,</HI> where &s;peaking of Sapience, hee &s;aith, that nothing can compare with it, nor Gold it &s;elf, nor Gla&s;&s;e. This Earth then, &s;o excellent, and incorruptible, is not this vile and gro&s;&s;e Element, that we trample on, and cultivate to draw there hence our nutritune and &s;u&s;tentation, but that whereof it is &s;poken in the 21. of the <HI>Revel.</HI> cl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ar and tran&s;|parent: <HI>I &s;aw a new Heavnn and a new Earth, and the holy City was of pure Gold, like unto pure Gla&s;&s;e, and the &s;treets thereof were of &s;hining and re&s;plendent Gold:</HI> See how hee doth liken more then once Gold and Gla&s;&s;e, which is produced by the depura|tions of Fire: for that is the la&s;t action thereof, having therein no power but to refine and depure, as he doth Gold. Which the Sun produceth in long millions of years: To the imitation of that, the &s;peculative under&s;tandings are forced by means of fire, to extract out of the corruption of the&s;e inferior elements, and their compounds and incorruptible &s;ub&s;tance, which was to them a modell and pattern of that, whereto the whole uni|ver&s;e &s;hould at la&s;t bee reduced: from hence we here draw from Soot a repre&s;entation and image of the works of nature, upon vapours and exhalations, whence Meteors are formed, and impre&s;&s;ions from the middle Region of the Air, Water hold|ing place of the wateri&s;h, and oil of the fiery, and inflamable, which oil is altogether impure, to bee adu&s;tible and unprofi|table to the procreation of this Virgin Earth: called by &s;ome the Philo&s;ophers Stone, which &s;o many ignorant avaricious men have &s;ought for, but could not find becau&s;e they &s;ought it with blind eyes, darkened with a &s;ordid de&s;ire of unlawfull gain: to make them&s;elves on a &s;udain richer then another <HI>Mi|das,</HI> who at la&s;t got nought, but the ears of an A&s;&s;e, and did not cheri&s;h it to prai&s;e and admire God in his admirable workes following that which is &s;aid in the 37. of <HI>Job,</HI> con&s;ider the wondrous works of God, for we cannot doe a greater plea|&s;ure to a workman, then to mark attentively, to admire and magnifie his works; nor a greater reproch then to &s;corn and &s;light them: And of &s;uch the Apo&s;tle in the 4. to the <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> &s;peaketh thus, <HI>They have their thoughts ob&s;cured with darkne&s;&s;e, being aliena|ted from the life of God, becau&s;e of the ignorance that is in them, in re&s;pect of the blindne&s;&s;e of their heart:</HI> Take then this Oil &s;o ex|tracted
<PB N="53" REF="29"> from Soot, and repa&s;&s;e it three or four times upon Sand; for it is one of tho&s;e, that la&s;teth very long. And af|ter the extraction of the Water and Oil, and the Calcination of the earths, that &s;hall remain in the bottome of the ve&s;&s;ell, ca&s;t your water thereon, and put the matter to putrifie ten or twelve dayes in dung: then draw back the water by di&s;tillati|on calcining at the end thereof the Earths &s;even or eight houres by the fires flame. Put again the water upon the Earths, putrified, di&s;tilled, and calcined, reiterating as above&s;aid. For by means of water and fire, the Earths will be calcined, untill they have drunk up and retained all their water: or the great|e&s;t part: which will be done at the &s;ix or &s;eventh reiteration. This done, give it the fire of &s;ublimation, and it will elevate it &s;elf a pure earth, clear and Cry&s;talline fa&s;tened in the Cen|ter. The water hath great proprieties and vertues, but this Earth hath yet more, whereof I will endeavour to &s;peak more at large. There may be al&s;o Salt extracted by the di&s;&s;oluti|ons of its water and gla&s;&s;e, of the Earths that &s;hall remain af|ter the elevation of the &s;aid Virgin Earth. For every private thing by its proper humidity doth perform nothing but vitrifi|catory fu&s;ion, &s;aith <HI>Geber.</HI> And there are here three: two vo|latiles, water, and oil, and the third fix'd and permanent; which is congealed, namely Salt: which beyond all other moi&s;tures ex|pects the conflict of fire, &s;aith the &s;aid <HI>Geber.</HI> For there is no|thing more moi&s;t, and more unctuous then Salt, nor that better endures fire: Al&s;o all metals are nought el&s;e but fu&s;ible &s;alts; whereunto they are ea&s;ily re&s;olved: common Salt melteth al&s;o, after it hath been recalcined, and di&s;&s;olved, three or foure times, whereof wee will &s;peake more plainly in its place.</P>
<P>I have here a little extended my &s;elf upon Soot, as upon a Sub|ject, where rare &s;ec<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ets appear remarkable; &amp; the &s;ame upon char|cole, made of &s;tone, and of that vitrification of sky colour, that remains of Iron whereof wee &s;ee great heaps in furnaces and forges, and being &s;o dry, yet there may be water, and oil drawn therefrom: wee will yet &s;ay the &s;ame concerning Soot: Fire burning wood, or other adu&s;tible matter, cha&s;eth away the wateri&s;h humidity, therein contained, and feeds it &s;elfe with oil, or aereall &s;ub&s;tance. The terre&s;triall part, which are the a&s;hes, remaining in the bottom calcined, where the Salt re&s;ides,
<PB N="54" REF="30"> which thereby being &s;eparated by the wa&s;hings, and di&s;&s;olu|tions of the water, the remainder is nought but &s;lime, which is drawn away by frequent ablutions, and the Sand remains at the la&s;t proper to be vitrified; ob&s;erve in re&s;pect of one of the excrements of fire, which is not contented therewith, but by its impetuo&s;ity, and heat tending naturally upwards, carries on high with violence a part of the &s;ubtiliated &s;ub&s;tances. Let us adapt this to the <HI>Coupelles.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">oupelles.</HI> pag. 6. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he little <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hen pot, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">herein gold|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">miths melt <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nd fine their <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">etals.</NOTE></P>
<P>Wee &s;ee that part of the lead, from thence goes away in &s;moak as in the fire, whence Soot is procreated, a part thereof is burned, namely its &s;ulphurous part, and part grows tough within the <HI>coupelles</HI> almo&s;t in the manner of Gla&s;&s;e or varni&s;h. Of the two fir&s;t volatils, there is no account to be made thereof, for they goe and di&s;per&s;e them&s;elves. But bray the <HI>Coupelles</HI> where this vitrification is as it were baked, wa&s;h them well with warm water, to depure them from their gro&s;ne&s;&s;e and un|cleanne&s;&s;e, then put them into a de&s;cen&s;ory with a &s;trong expre&s;|&s;ion of a bellows fire with the Salt of <HI>Tartar</HI> and <HI>Salnitre,</HI> and there will fall down through a <HI>Metalline:</HI> which being <HI>recoupled</HI> with new lead you will find more fine, without compari&s;on then at fir&s;t, and ever from that time forward, more and more, by reiteration as above&s;aid. So that hee, that would take the patience to boil the lead on a regulated and continuall fire, that &s;hould not exceed its fu&s;ion, that is to &s;ay, that the lead &s;hould therein remain alwayes melted and no more, putting thereto a &s;mall portion of quick&s;ilver or &s;ublimate to keepe it from Calcination, and to reduce it to powder: at the end of a certain time, you &s;hall find that <HI>Lamwell</HI> hath not &s;poken frivo|lou&s;ly to &s;ay that the &s;ix grain is contained in power with lead, (that is to &s;ay) gold and &s;ilver, would multiply and increa&s;e them&s;elves as the fruit upon a tree doth.</P>
<P>But to return to the&s;e oils of long durance, whereof he might make a large volume that would run through not all but a part: Let him draw from the Tartar of wine, of which the be&s;t comes from <HI>Mompellier,</HI> even that which adheres unto the Tun. One which is very important, Tartar is one of the &s;ubjects,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Coupta ruer.</HI> pag. 87.</NOTE> where tho&s;e who practi&s;e in the fire, do find &s;o <HI>many blows to ca&s;t.</HI> Take of this Tartar beaten into &s;mall powder and put it in a leaded earthen pot with clear fountain
<PB N="55" REF="30"> water, upon a Trevet or furnace, making it boil ea&s;ily and &s;cum the villanies and filthine&s;&s;e off with a feather: the &s;ilver <HI>Cru&s;ts</HI> that &s;hall afterwatds ari&s;e, gather them with a head of Gla&s;&s;e, where the&s;e gro&s;&s;e <HI>moules de&s;tang,</HI> of <HI>mudd,</HI> &s;o long till they ri&s;e no more, renewing the water by mea&s;ure when it comes to di|mini&s;h. Turn it by Inclination, and put a part, that which re&s;ts in the bottom in the &s;hape of Sand. Put again the Cru&s;ts in new water, make them boil gently as before, and gather together the Cru&s;ts that &s;hall ri&s;e up more clear and lucent then the fir&s;t, &s;eparating their dregs and impurities, if there be any pre&s;ented, and reiterate this &s;ix or &s;even times, till your Cru&s;ts be clear and &s;hining as &s;ilver or pearls. Dry them in the Sun, or before the fire upon a linnen, and put them in a cornue with an open breech, and a graduate fire reinforcing it by &s;malls: and through the beak of the Cornue, there will i&s;&s;ue as a &s;mal rivolet of milk, that will re&s;olve into oil with the Reci|pient. Pa&s;&s;e it once again, or twice upon Sand, or &s;alt of Tar|tar: which is done by calcining of Tartar, within a pot of Earth of <HI>Paris,</HI> not leaded in a fire of reverberation, or in Charcoles: afterwards di&s;&s;olve it, with hot water and filter, and congeal it, and there will remain white Salt which will re&s;olve it &s;elf into a liquor called the oil of Tartar; <HI>or after it is well calcined let it re&s;olve</HI> to it &s;elf in moi&s;ture. <HI>This Liquor is of great efficacy to quench and root out all &s;orts of wildfires. But of the &s;ands that remain in the bottom, without being unwilling to ri&s;e in Cru&s;ts: there will be extracted another more exqui&s;ite oil and le&s;&s;e adu&s;tible.</HI></P>
<P>Tartar may be governed after another fa&s;hion.</P>
<P>Wee in&s;i&s;t therein in this re&s;pect, becau&s;e it &s;hews to have I know not what agreement with Soot: for as Soot is an ex|crement of fire, &s;o are Tartar and lees, the &s;ame of wine, that have great affinity with fire. Take then of Tartar in Powder within a leaded earthen ve&s;&s;ell, and ca&s;t hot water there on &s;tir|ring it &s;trongly with a &s;tick; and letting it re&s;t a little, put out the water; with that which it hath gotten from the Tartar: which is after the form of &s;lime within another di&s;h: and put new luke warm water upon the Tartar: reiterating as afore&s;aid &s;o many times that the water may come forth neat &amp; clear; which will be perfected at the fifth or &s;ixth time. And in the bottom there will remain the fore&s;aid &s;and, which being dryed di&s;|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">olves
<PB N="56" REF="31"> it &s;elf within the di&s;tilled vinegar, and not into common water. <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> likewi&s;e di&s;&s;olves in a little &s;pace, when the one and the other would take no more. Wa&s;h that which re|maines, with common water, then dry it &s;lowly, and having put it into a Cornue with a &s;ufficient good expre&s;&s;ion of fire gra|duating it by &s;mall pieces, there will be extracted an odoriferous oil, as of <HI>a&s;pic.</HI> one of <HI>Raimond Lullius</HI> his &s;ecrets: which is one of his principall keyes, and entries into Metallick di&s;&s;olutions. Take the fore&s;aid evacuations, and elevate the Cru&s;ts as afore&s;aid. There are too many things to &s;peak of Tartar, and that which wee have now &s;et down is not vulgar, but the rare&s;t of our ex|periments; Of vinegar, after that the clear &s;hall bee di&s;tilled, and that the white fumes &s;hall begin to appear, which is his adu&s;tible oilyne&s;&s;e, put the dregs that &s;hall remain (for you mu&s;t have a great quantity) in a cellar or other fre&s;h place, and in five or &s;ix dayes there will be procreated &s;mall Cry&s;talline lit|tle &s;tones; &s;eparate them from their re&s;idences, by ablutions of common water, and dry them; and you &s;hall draw thereout an oil of no &s;mall importance, &s;o great certainly and admira|ble are the &s;ub&s;tances, which the art of Fire extracts from Wine.</P>
<P>The mo&s;t part of the oils that wee have touched on, hereto|fore, being adu&s;tible, are by con&s;equent of a &s;trong and trou|ble&s;ome odour, as &s;melling the burnt, when they burn, you mu&s;t therefore &s;et them in the Sun certain dayes, that is to &s;ay, to dry them in the Sun, and in the Air, to take away from them this fiery &s;mell: for recompence we will here treat of &s;ome rare ones and of good agreeable odour. And in the fir&s;t that of Been, which prefumers u&s;e, hath neither colour, odour, nor &s;avour: and therefore it is &s;u&s;ceptible of all tho&s;e which you &s;hall apply thereunto. Being repa&s;&s;ed up|on Sand to take away the fatne&s;&s;e, it would bee of long du|rance, and without an ill &s;ent, but it is too dear. As for oils of Olive, rapes or long turneps, <HI>chenevy,</HI> &s;e&s;amum, but is rare in the&s;e quarters: and other the like which are drawn by the pre&s;s, by means of the heat of fire: what repa&s;&s;es &s;oever there may bee, yet they never de&s;i&s;t to be of a good odour, but &s;o much le&s;&s;e, according as they &s;hall bee depured and by the &s;ame means of longer durance: Oils of Sage, Thyme, Pepper and
<PB N="57" REF="31"> other the like, drawn by an in&s;trument proper thereunto, &s;uch artifices, are &s;o divulged even unto Chamber maids, that I &s;hould bee a&s;hamed to &s;peak of: That of Benzoine is more rare, and le&s;&s;e known, and more laborious to make. Take Benzoin throughly beaten to gro&s;&s;e powder, and put it into a Cornue with fine <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> which &s;wimmeth there over three or four fingers, and leave them &s;o for two or three daies upon a moderate fire of a&s;hes, that the <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> may not di&s;till, remo|ving them every houre; this done, accommodate the <HI>Cornue</HI> upon the furnace with an earthen ve&s;&s;ell full of Sand. Di&s;till the <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> with a gentle fire, afterwards increa&s;ing it by de|grees, there will appear infinite little <HI>aiguilles</HI> and filaments, &s;uch as in the di&s;&s;olutions of lead and quick&s;ilver. The which &s;hew|eth &s;ufficiently that Benzoin participates thereof: It whitens Copper, quickens Gold, and put in decoction of <HI>gaya<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Liguum vitae.</NOTE> doth admi|rable effects, as al&s;o Tartar, which containeth much quick-&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ver. When then the&s;e veins or little <HI>aiguilles</HI> &s;hall &s;hew them&s;elves, continue this degree of fire, and let them play within the Cor|nue a certain &s;pace, &s;o long that all vani&s;h away. In the interim have in a readine&s;&s;e a little &s;tick which may enter within the neck of the <HI>Cornue</HI> for the&s;e <HI>aiguilles</HI> will come thither to bring again as in an <HI>mouelle,</HI> and if you take them not away &s;peedily the ve&s;&s;ell will break when this Gumme or Mouelle &s;hall bee all pa&s;t, with a certain form of butter, which will ca&s;t it &s;elf afterwards within the Recipient, the oil will begin to di&s;till fair and clear, of an hyacinth colour, and fragrant odour: af|ter which reinforcing the fire, there will i&s;&s;ue out another more thick and dark, which you mu&s;t receive apart. This Gumme or white marrow, which you &s;hall have drawn out of the neck of the Cornue, wa&s;h it with the <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> which you di&s;tilled therefrom, in the beginning, which &s;hall extract there|from a tincture or Citrine colour, as Saffron, and &s;hall leave the Gumme very white, and of a mo&s;t agreeable &s;mell, fit to make <HI>Pater No&s;ters</HI> of &s;ents, of &s;uch a colour as you will <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lea&s;e to give it: withdraw your <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> by a bath, and in the bot|tome there will remain a yellow Tincture of a good &s;ent like|wi&s;e, which hath great proprieties and vertues. The black oil is, a &s;overaign balm again&s;t all hurts: and of the remain|ing earths a Salt of great efficacy. Thus you have of Benzoin five or &s;ix &s;ub&s;tances, a white Gomme, with its yel|low
<PB N="58" REF="32"> Tincture, the two oils and Salt.</P>
<P><HI>Aqua vitae</HI> which is its principall manife&s;tation, and without which nothing would bee done therein, there is al&s;o Storax, Calamint, Ladanum, Myrrh, and the like Gums, out of which oil is extracted by the means of the carriage of <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> and therein you mu&s;t proceed as in Benzoin: But ther<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> are not &s;o many things to mingle together: Out of Myrrh there is like|wi&s;e extracted a liquor, very proper to take away all &s;pots and marks remaining of &s;cabs, or pox and other like accidents. Take hard Egs, and cleave them in the middle, take away the yellow, then fill the hollows with grains of Myrrh, and cover them a|gain with the other half: Leave them three or four dayes in the clear and in the air, where the Sun comes not: and they will re|&s;olve them&s;elves into a liquor like unto hony, or thick dew, fran|kincen&s;e likewi&s;e doth the &s;ame.</P>
<P>Out of Sulphure al&s;o there may bee drawn an adu&s;tible oil by opening it, with <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> and al&s;o by other wayes. For Sulphur hath in it two &s;ub&s;tances, the one inflammative, the other not, but aluminous and vitriolique: whence proceeds this liquor which is called oil of Sulphur: which hath yet greater proper|ties and vertues then the oil of vitriol, which is more cau&s;tick and burning: as well again&s;t evill inward affections, as in Cankers and ulcers of the mouth, tooth ach, cankers, and other the like, where it works more moderately.</P>
<P>Take then fir&s;t a match of Cotten yarn of the bigne&s;&s;e of your little finger and two els long, which you &s;hall be&s;mear with mol|ten wax and with Turpentine, as to make waxe Lights.</P>
<P>Take on the other &s;ide a pot of <HI>Paris</HI> earth leaded, wherein you &s;hall put a bed of &s;ulphur enough gro&s;&s;ely beaten, and thereup|on lay a round of your fore&s;aid matches, untill the pot be full&punc; on the top whereof, you &s;hall leave a little end of your Ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ch to light it: (fine musket match is very good al&s;o). Put your pot under a chimney and hang thereupon an Alembic Cap, who&s;e mouth &s;hould relate <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o that of the pot. But you mu&s;t fir&s;t be&s;mear and cru&s;t over the clay to the thickne&s;&s;e of a thumb: you mu&s;t not join it ju&s;t to the pot, but that there may be an inch opening betwixt them. Light the Match, and make the Sulphur burn, which will ca&s;t from it a &s;mall white fume, which will adhere within the Cap and from thence it will re&s;olve into a
<PB N="59" REF="32"> liquor of peach color, that will fall into the Recipient, when you have to &s;uch an end, applyed it to the beak of the Cap: But this will do better in &s;oft weather with &s;outh winds and <HI>d'aval,</HI> and not in dry weather.</P>
<P>Wee have long in&s;i&s;ted on the&s;e oils, as well for that they are produced for the mo&s;t part out of the action of fire, of which there is here a que&s;tion as for that nothing is nearer of kin to fire, then fatty oils, unctuo&s;ities, pitch rozin, and black Turpentines, Gums, and other like Inflammative &s;ub&s;tances, that are the true food, and nouri&s;hment thereof: And for that we are &s;o far enbarked therein, there will be no hurt, here in one train to pro|&s;ecute &s;omething of the Artifices which are commonly called Grecian fires, whereof there are many &s;orts, that cannot bee quenched with water.</P>
<P>The foundation of them are Sulphur and Bitumen, black pitch, and ro&s;in, Turpentine, Colophone, Sarcocoll, oils of Lin, pe|troll, and Laurell, Salt-Peter, Camphere, Tallow, Grea&s;e and other unctuo&s;ities facil to conceive flame: Of the&s;e Greek fires <HI>Plu|tarch</HI> &s;pe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">keth in his Treati&s;e of not lending upon u&s;ury: &amp; more lately by <HI>Zonaras,</HI> in his 3. Tome in the life of <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> the <HI>P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">gonate</HI> where it is &s;aid that in the year of our Lord 678. the <HI>Sa|racens</HI> being come to be&s;ige <HI>Con&s;tantinople,</HI> an Ingenier by name <HI>Callini<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">us</HI> brought an Artifice of certain fire, by means whereof the <HI>Saracens</HI> Fleet was d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">feated: But Gunpowder, and the ar|tifices that may bee made thereby, hath &s;lubbered them all; whence con&s;i&s;teth the mo&s;t part of our artificiall fires, pots, and fire pikes, circles, granadoes, &s;aucig<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s, petards, fu&s;es, and infinite other the like, which we pretend not here to &s;pecifie in particular.</P>
<P>Take then a pound of Salt-Peter, 8. ounces of Sulphur, 6. ounces of Gunpowder, incorporate them together for Gra|nadoes, and fire-pots, which make great noi&s;e in the breaking. But to tye fire to wood, and other inflammative matters, mingle a pound of pitch, ro&s;in, a quartern of black pitch, 3. ounces of Colophon, and 5. of Sulphur, brui&s;e the Gums, and ca&s;t into the melted Sulphurs, when it is cold beat them again, and moi&s;ten them with oil of Bayes, or linnen. There is another compo&s;ition much more violent, but more dangerous.</P>
<P>Melt a pound of Sulphur within a leaded earthen pot, and put therein by little and little, but di&s;creetly, a quartern of powder
<PB N="60" REF="33"> gro&s;&s;e grained, with as much &s;alt Peter, &s;tirring them often with a rod of Iron. Take them off the fire and let them dry. This ming|led with the afore&s;aid Artifices wil work wondrous effects. Some mingle al&s;o a little beaten gla&s;&s;e, which coming to be warmed, rewarms con&s;equently the matter, when it comes to flame: who&s;e heat makes it &s;tronger, and of longer durance. Camphere &s;erves to make it burn in the water, as likewi&s;e all other grea&s;es do, and above all oil of brim&s;tone, drawn by a bath, then which there is nothing more &s;ubtible or inflameable. But it would bee too tedious to penetrate into the ruins of mankind, of which there would bee no end, if a man &s;hould <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">unne through them all.</P>
<P>Therefore let us return to our left purpo&s;e, of two fires. That above, de&s;igned by <HI>Pallas</HI> and <HI>Minerva,</HI> and that below by <HI>Ve&s;ta.</HI> Which although they be &s;o far di&s;tant, yet fail not to have &s;uch an affinity together, that they ea&s;ily tran&s;mute one into the other: for the Sun beams are illightned by fire, by rea&s;on of a violl filled with water, as <HI>Plutarch</HI> relate in the life of <HI>Numa.</HI> Where from a burning looking gla&s;&s;e, of which I remember that I &s;aw one &s;o pui&s;&s;ant, in the States of <HI>Orleans,</HI> that in le&s;&s;e then no|thing, and yet in the moneth of <HI>Ianuary,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t &s;et a fire the &s;taffe of a torch, and the fire contrariwi&s;e by many conveyances and con|trivings from the top to the bottom, and through the &s;ides in many circular revolutions, as in tho&s;e of a Labyrinth, and in furnaces which they call a Tower, its heat comes to be &s;o mo|derated, that it pa&s;&s;eth into a naturall heat, vivifying, and nou|ri&s;hing in &s;tead of burning, baking or con&s;uming: And with &s;uch a fire I can &s;ay that there were hatched at <HI>Rome,</HI> at one time more then 100. or 120. Chickens, the Egs being therein couved and &s;etled as under a Hen.</P>
<P>The <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> and <HI>Ve&s;talls</HI> fire at <HI>Rome</HI> reverenced as well by the one, as by the other, as very holy, was very carefully enter|tained. Touching the <HI>Per&s;ian, Strabo</HI> in his 15. Book writeth that the <HI>Magi</HI> had a cu&s;tome to con&s;erve it under a&s;hes, before which they went every day to make their prayers and devoti|ons, which is not without &s;ome my&s;tery. The a&s;hes denoting the &s;en&s;ible world and the body of man which it repre&s;ents: being nothing el&s;e but a&s;hes: and the fire therein inclo&s;ed and covered, the &s;parkle of life, wherewith it is animated and vivi|fied.
<PB N="51" REF="33"> The&s;e a&s;hes furthermore, mu&s;t be of &s;ome gummy trees,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Coals kept in Junipe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> for t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;pace of a yea</NOTE> to make it of longer durance: namely, of <HI>Juniper,</HI> wherein I here|tofore have kept living coals, more than a year, heaping up bed upon bed within the a&s;hes, being all lock't fa&s;t within a little bar|rell that no air may enter; and this is that which is meant in the 120. <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> 4. <HI>ver.</HI> with <HI>Juniper</HI> coals, according to the He|brew, in place of uncomfortable. With the&s;e burning coals the <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> came to light the luminaries of their Temples when they came to be extingui&s;hed. But the Ve&s;tals in ca&s;e their fire &s;hould extingui&s;h, as it &s;ometimes happened, it was not lawfull for them to light it again, but mu&s;t draw it from the Sun beams: And did not only attend that it &s;hould quench of it &s;elfe, or by &s;ome ca&s;uall accident, but they renewed it yearly, the fir&s;t day of <HI>March</HI> from that of heaven, as <HI>Ovidius</HI> ob&s;erves <HI>tertio Fa&s;to|rum.</HI>
<Q>Adde that new fire was made in the &s;ecret hou&s;e and the renewed fire took force.</Q> Which <HI>Macrobius</HI> al&s;o toucheth in his &s;econd of <HI>Saturnals,</HI> 12. chap. The fir&s;t day of <HI>March</HI> the Ve&s;tals lighted a new fire on the Altar of the Godde&s;&s;e; that by the renewing of the year, they &s;hould renew in them&s;elves their care of keeping it from going out. Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his third Book of <HI>the City of God,</HI> 18 ch. In what reputation (&s;aith he) this &s;acred fire was at <HI>Rome,</HI> men may know by this, that when the City was a fire, the grand Pon|tifex <HI>Metellus,</HI> for fear that this &s;trange fire &s;hould not mingle with the other, put him&s;elfe in danger to be con&s;umed by the flames, to make it retire. So that there is nothing more confor|mable to the tenth of <HI>Leviticus.</HI> That if the&s;e poor blind people, which took the Symbols and My&s;teries of Religion but &s;uperfi|cially, and from the bark, as do al&s;o the Jewes, from whom they borrowed all their important Traditions, had known that which was covered and prefigured thereunder, what accompt is there to beleeve that they made thereof? Some do alledge that this &s;a|cred fire of the Ve&s;tals, was illuminated by means of <HI>fu&s;il,</HI> brui|&s;ing two pieces of wood one again&s;t another, or in piercing them with a borrier as <HI>Fe&s;tus</HI> would have it, and <HI>Simplicius</HI> upon the third Book <HI>of Heaven,</HI> according to <HI>Ari&s;totle. Plinie</HI> in the 16. Book, 4. chap. Men rub two woods one again&s;t another, from whence fire is forced; which is received in by a bait made of
<PB N="62" REF="34"> dryed leaves and put in powder, or in the match of the touch|wood of a tree. But there is nothing, which doth better con|duce thereunto, then Ivy beaten or brui&s;ed with Laurell; the &s;ame is of late more practi&s;ed by the Savages of the We&s;t Indies, as <HI>Gonzale d'Ovidiedo</HI> in his natural Hi&s;tory of tho&s;e quarters, <HI>lib.</HI> 6. <HI>cap.</HI> 5. binding (&s;aith he) two dry &s;ticks hard one again&s;t ano|ther, and putting betwixt their juncture the point of a rod well rounded, which they rub thick and thin betwixt the hands, &s;o long till the fire by rubbing, and the rarefaction of the air that followes them may lighten them. Of this new relightning, to &s;hew us, that we mu&s;t renew and be borne again to a better and more prai&s;able life, not farre different from the Ceremonies of the Chri&s;tian Church, when on the Eves of Ea&s;ter, and Whit&s;on|tide, at the Benediction of Springs and Fountains, they make a new great wax Taper, wherewith all the other luminaries are &s;et on fire.</P>
<P>Touching <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> fire, it was fir&s;t &s;ent from Heaven, and la&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ed to the con&s;truction of <HI>Solomons</HI> Temple, which was again re|newed from Heaven; and maintained to King <HI>Mama&s;&s;es</HI> his time, when the Jewes were carryed captives into <HI>Babylon,</HI> which the Levites kept in the bottome of a Well, where it was found again at their return 70 years after, in the form of a glui&s;h and white water, as hath been &s;aid heretofore. <HI>Pau&s;anias</HI> to the <HI>Corinthians,</HI> &s;ets down, that in the dayes of <HI>Antigonus</HI> &s;on of <HI>D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">metrius,</HI> there appeared a fountain of warm water near to the City of <HI>Mathana,</HI> but from the beginning it appeared not in water, but in great flames of Fire which were re&s;olved into hot and &s;alt water. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> yet di&s;cour&s;ing upon this water of the Levites, in the third of his offices, &s;ets down, that this doth &s;ufficiently demon|&s;trate, that this was a perpetual fire which could not be taken from another place, to &s;hew that they mu&s;t not acknowledge any other God, or other religion, and ceremonies then tho&s;e that were e&s;ta|bli&s;hed by the in&s;piration of the holy Spirit de&s;igned by fire; for we may &s;ee what the children of <HI>Aaron, Nadab</HI> and <HI>Abihu,</HI> found in the 10 of <HI>Leviticus,</HI> being willing to take upon them to offer &s;trange fire unto God. Then all fal&s;e doctrine, idolatry, here&s;ie, and impiety, may be called &s;trange fire, that devours the &s;oul as a feaver doth the body, with the life that maintains it; there where this true fire &s;ent from Heaven, is that of the holy Spirit,
<PB N="63" REF="34"> which &s;alteth our hearts and con&s;ciences, that is to &s;ay, pre&s;erves them from corruption, according whereunto the Prophet <HI>Jere|mie</HI> &s;pake in his 20. chapter when he had received it. Then it was made <HI>as a burning fire in my heart, and &s;hut up in my bones, and I was weary in forbearing and could not &s;tay.</HI> That the Holy Spirit &s;hould not be only light, but very fire, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> doth manife&s;t chap. 10.17. <HI>And the light of I&s;rael &s;hall be for a fire, and his holy one for a flame.</HI> For even &s;o as the burnings, which are a potentiall fire, compo&s;ed of igneal and burning &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ts, work not upon a dead part, in&s;en&s;ible, and deprived of Natures heat; &s;o the holy Spirit doth not exerci&s;e its actions upon cold langui&s;hing hearts, that make no account of its ticklings, and invitations, but &s;hew them|&s;elves contumacious and refractary; ju&s;t &s;o as the heat of the Sun, and of the fire, but more and more hardens earth, and clay, in &s;tead of &s;oftning it, and melts it as they do wax, butter, and grea&s;e. For the acts of Actives are in the di&s;po&s;ition of the Pati|ent, where we &s;ee fire does divers effects in di&s;agreeable &s;ubjects, but not wholly contrary, and directly oppo&s;ite; as when it blacks a coal, and white chalk where its vertue is imprinted, but all to the contrary; for fire by cu&s;tome is extingui&s;hed by water, it is it, that in this re&s;pect inflames and renewes that which was im|printed and hidden in the chalk: whence a fair meditation is pre|&s;ented; that as fire is the &s;ymboll of life; water (that is its con|trary) and extingui&s;heth it, mu&s;t be of con&s;equence the &s;ymboll of death; water naturally tending downwards, and fire up|wards, wherein con&s;i&s;teth life.</P>
<P><HI>Strabo</HI> to this purpo&s;e in his 15. Book, &s;peaking of the <HI>Brach|mans,</HI> &s;ets down, that which we call death, to be renewing of life, and that this temporall is but a conception as it were, and a <HI>car|riage</HI> which comes about the end of its term, to bring forth to death, to pa&s;&s;e from thence to eternall life. Which <HI>Seneca</HI> imi|tates in the 103 Epi&s;tle, The day that we fear &s;o much, as the la&s;t of our life, is a rena&s;cence of an eternall day; let us then chear|fully leave behind that which &s;erves for nothing but a tedious charge. Why do we &s;o much turn our backs, as if we had not been before this fir&s;t frail body, in which we remain included and hid? we &s;truggle and temporize therein, to the be&s;t of our power, and not without cau&s;e, for we have been forced out by a endea|vour of our mother in bearing us; and we weep and lament when
<PB N="54" REF="35"> we arrive to this, which we think to be the la&s;t day, but to com|plaine, cry, and weep, are they not marks and tokens of one that is to be borne? And a little more Chri&s;tian-like, although a little before; I will lay down this body where I have found it, and clothed it, and will render my &s;elf above to the immortall Gods, although I am not without them at this pre&s;ent, but while&s;t I am detained here within this grievous ma&s;&s;e of earth, in the low a|bode of mortality, my &s;en&s;uality will fight and combat again&s;t this other better and longer life. Now as we have been for nine or ten months, &s;hut up within our mothers belly, not to prepare therein for it &s;elfe, but at la&s;t, to come to this place, whither we ought to be &s;ent, when we &s;hould be perfectly accompli&s;hed and made fit to breath, and remain openly out of this clo&s;et, where we were formed. In like manner during the &s;pace that we have run through from our infancy to old age, we dye to go whither another originall attends us, and a new &s;tate of things. All this doth in nothing derogate from the Traditions of our Church, who celebrated for the nativity of Martyrs the day of their death and martyrdom.</P>
<P>To conclude then, that which was heretofore &s;aid of fire, and of the four worlds; that of the Int<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lligible is all lumin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">us; of the Cele&s;tiall, &s;hining, and hot, by rea&s;on of its motion; of the E|lementary here below, &s;hining, hot, and burning; and of Hell nothing but burning. So the&s;e three proprieties of fire, to light, to warm, and to burn, though the effects be divers and &s;trange, and the operations almo&s;t infinite, only of the elementary to be|gin with that which is neare&s;t to our &s;en&s;es. <HI>Rabbi Elchana</HI> great|ly honoured among&s;t the Hebrewes, &s;ets forth, that out of the 10. fingers of the hand, being addre&s;&s;ed and conducted, by the under&s;tanding, may proceed more different &s;orts of works then there are &s;tars in Heaven; the mo&s;t part whereof come from the action of fire, on which almo&s;t all labouring in&s;truments do de|pend. Fire principally &s;erved the fir&s;t men, who had nothing but it for all working in&s;truments. In regard of its motion, we may &s;ufficiently &s;ee, that there is nothing more gli&s;tring and moving then the fire, which is the very cau&s;e of all motion. Take away heat, there will be no motion, &s;aith the Chymicall Philo&s;opher <HI>Alphidius,</HI> and this motion is accompa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ied with depu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ation, for fire will have none but pure things, according to
<PB N="65" REF="35"> <HI>Raymond Lullius.</HI> For it is not only the pure &s;ub&s;tance of all o|thers, but it purgeth, mundifieth, and clean&s;eth all that, upon which it can have Action, of that which therein may be corrup|tible. <HI>The Lord will wa&s;h away the filth of the children of I&s;rael, by the &s;pirit of burning, E&s;ay.</HI> 4.4. wherefore the Greeks call it <GAP DESC="foreign">, Purging. So that the <GAP DESC="foreign"> or <GAP DESC="foreign"> purifying, was not made but by fire, as the &s;olemn annuall fea&s;t of Candlema&s;&s;e witne&s;&s;eth. And in all the Ea&s;tern Churches, when they would &s;ay the Evangel they burn great Tapers, as we do upon the day of Purification, and that for token of joy and rejoicing, whereof fire is a &s;ymbole; and according to that, we make two fires upon the fea&s;t of Saint <HI>John Bapti&s;t,</HI> conformable to that, in the fir&s;t of <HI>Luk.</HI> 14. <HI>Many &s;hall rejoyce at his birth;</HI> and fires of joy, in &s;ome happy &s;ucce&s;&s;es of victories, at the birth of Kings children, and the like occa&s;ions of alacrity.</P>
<P>We have alledged heretofore, out of the 31. of <HI>Numbers</HI> 23 that which is &s;aid of fire and water, the two purifying Elements, whereby in our bapti&s;ms we are accu&s;tomed to put a little piece of wax light or match, which they make the Creature to hold when they hold it over the font, the Church being thereby re|gulated by the pillar of fire which garded the I&s;raelites, and the cloud (bapti&s;mall water) by day, whereunto &s;utes that of Saint <HI>John,</HI> in the 3. of <HI>Matthew,</HI> That in re&s;pect of him&s;elfe he bapti|zed with <HI>Water</HI> unto repentance, but he that commeth after, &s;hall baptize you with the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> and with <HI>Fire,</HI> to the re|mi&s;&s;ion of &s;innes; for fire is a mark of the Holy Spirit, by which grace is conferred, and de&s;cended upon the Apo&s;tles on the day of Penteco&s;t, in the form of fiery tongues, <HI>Act.</HI> 2.3. The Sto|icks, although too &s;uper&s;titious therein, made great account of this Element, which they &s;aid, was I know not what living thing, the mo&s;t wi&s;e Fabricator of the whole univer&s;e, and of all that which is contained therein; to which purpo&s;e, as I alledged before out of the 7. of <HI>Wi&s;dome</HI> 24. that Wi&s;dome the Arti&s;t of all things taught me, that it is more moving then motion, for &s;he pa&s;&s;eth through all things by her purene&s;&s;e. Wherein two properties of fire are attributed to Wi&s;dome, Motion, and Puri|ty: And in &s;umme e&s;teemed it to be a God, according to which Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his 8. Book of the City of God, 5. chapter &s;ets down <HI>Zohar</HI> according to his high elevated contemplations al|ledging
<PB N="66" REF="36"> upon <HI>Exodus</HI> this pa&s;&s;age of the 7. of <HI>Daniel</HI> 9. The Throne of the ancient of dayes, was flames of fire, and a River of fire running lightly i&s;&s;ued from his face, his ve&s;tment white as &s;now; &s;aith, that within this &s;hining river of fire, were wa&s;hed the ve&s;tments of the &s;ouls that mounted on high, and repurged them&s;elves there from the old &s;cum of the Serpent without con|&s;uming it &s;elfe, which did but clear it &s;elf from the old filth that it had the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e gathered. And this is very properly &s;aid becau&s;e we &s;ee by experience, that grea&s;es are not clean&s;ed, but by other grea&s;e, which carries one the other, as doth Soap and Lees, which con|&s;i&s;ts all of gro&s;&s;e and unctuous &s;alts; for if tho&s;e were not, they would not bite upon unctuo&s;ity and fatne&s;&s;e; witne&s;&s;e &s;imple water, which doth nothing, by rea&s;on of the contrarieties of their natures, which do not &s;uffer them to be able to joine and unite. And where there is no mixtion, there is al&s;o no alteration, be|cau&s;e that which doth not enter, doth not change (&s;aith <HI>Gebe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">:</HI>) So that Salts being in the nature of Fires, have from them their proprieties and effects, that is to &s;ay, to purifie and clean&s;e all ordures and uncleanne&s;s. For as Salt (the &s;ame <HI>Zohar</HI> pur&s;ues it) hinders putrefaction, to which every corruptible thing is &s;ub|ject; &s;o the Fire of Gods love, and of Gods knowledge, which is illightned in the &s;oul, repurging it from all corporall coinqui|nations, cau&s;eth, that after it hath been duly purged and clean&s;ed, it remaines for ever in its purity, for as much as fire devours and con&s;umes the filthy &s;cumme thereunto fa&s;tned, cloathing it &s;elfe with a new and pure fire, which it could not otherwi&s;e do. For if it were not &s;o a&s;&s;i&s;ted with this pure fire, the Cherubin which is committed to the keeping of the Gate of the City of <HI>Delices,</HI> with a fiery &s;word, to forbid the approach to the tree of Life, would not permit it to enter therein; from whence the curio&s;ity of ta|&s;ting of the knowledg of good and evill excluded our forefathers, and us with them hereditarily.</P>
<P>Hitherto <HI>Zohar,</HI> then which nothing could &s;eem more con|formable, nor which carryed it &s;elfe better to our &s;ubject. <HI>Every man &s;hall be &s;alted with Fire, and every Sacrifice with Salt.</HI> For to &s;alt, in this regard, to clean&s;e, and purifie, are but one thing, as al&s;o to &s;alt, and to burn, becau&s;e of their con&s;emblable effects. <HI>Burne my reines and my heart;</HI> where burning, is put for repur|ging and clean&s;ing, according to the Hebrew, and the Chaldee; and in the 13 of <HI>Zachary</HI> 9. <HI>I will burn them, as &s;ilver is burned.</HI> To
<PB N="67" REF="36"> which &s;utes al&s;o that which the Apo&s;tle writ in the 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.12. <HI>If any man build upon this foundation, gold, &s;ilver, pretious &s;tones, or wood, hay, &s;tubble; Every mans work &s;hall be made ma|nife&s;t, for the day &s;hall declare it, becau&s;e it &s;hall be revealed by fire, and the fire &s;hall try every mans work of what &s;ort it is. If any mans work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he &s;hall receive a reward. If any mans work &s;hall be burnt, he &s;hall &s;uffer lo&s;&s;e, but he him&s;elf &s;hall be &s;a|ved, yet &s;o, as by fire.</HI> Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> citing this place through|out the whole &s;cope of his works interpreteth it in the 21. of the <HI>City of God,</HI> 26. chap. for the vanities which men have too nar|rowly embraced in this age, which we &s;hall not enjoy in ano|ther, but they mu&s;t be aboli&s;hed and defaced by the repurgation of fire; for that which he had not without provoking love, he &s;hall not lo&s;e without burning grief. And at length &s;hall be &s;aved as by fire, becau&s;e nothing &s;hall be able to remove it from this foundation upon which it &s;hall be built. S. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, in his third Sermon upon the 118. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> As good gold, even the very Church when it is burnt, receives not detriment, but its lu&s;tre and re&s;plendency encrea&s;e more and more. The <HI>Per&s;i|ans</HI> e&s;teemed that when they voluntarily burned them&s;elves, the &s;oul remained thereby repurged from all iniquities &amp; mi&s;doings, which con&s;umed by the flames as touching the body, which had power to move the Indian <HI>Calanus</HI> and &s;ome others to come from thence, (for God would not that we &s;hould advance our dayes by one moment) who, at the time they receive him, he wa|&s;heth us, and clean&s;eth us from all preceding faults. Whereby &s;ome abu&s;ing them&s;elves thereby, attended to receive it as &s;lowly as they could; and others baptized them&s;elves for tho&s;e which were already decea&s;ed. In <HI>Aethiopia</HI> one who had con&s;pired a|gain&s;t the proper per&s;on of their <HI>Neguz,</HI> or Emperour, by bapti|zing him&s;elf thereupon, before he was impri&s;oned, remained quit.</P>
<P>So the proprieties of fire, are in the fir&s;t place to &s;hine and lighten, and that is, by it, common to the Sunne, but it is there|by much &s;urmounted. And afterwards to warm, dige&s;t and bake, which this luminary doth al&s;o primitively, as we may &s;ee in that the Earth produceth, but for that the naturall heat doth not bring them wholly for our u&s;e, to the la&s;t and perfect degree of maturity, fire for the mo&s;t part &s;upplyes its wants, and de|faults; for the regard of the concocting of what we eat, for we
<PB N="68" REF="37"> hardly thereby make our profit being raw, there where it is ba|ked in the fire, it becomes of more facil dige&s;tion, and le&s;&s;e cor|ruptible, as having le&s;&s;e of crudities; afterwards the fire &s;eparates &s;trange things, and not alike, and after, having taken away the corrupting &s;uperfluities, namely the wateri&s;h humidity, which it d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">iveth out, and the oily unctuo&s;ity, which it burns and con|&s;umes with the terre&s;trieties that remain, at la&s;t it doth gather together in a new compo&s;ure, the pure homogenealities; which compo&s;ure, then con&s;i&s;teth of &s;oul, body, and &s;pirit, from now forwards in&s;eparable, and incorruptible, which relates to the three worlds, the &s;oul to the intelligible, the &s;pirit to the cele|&s;tiall, and the body to the elementary; but this is not a rea&s;on|able &s;oul, or &s;en&s;itive, nor a vitall &s;pirit, &s;uch as is in animals; but &s;ub&s;tances equipollent unto them: which may be &s;een in gla&s;s, which is an image of the Philo&s;ophicall Stone. Where|upon <HI>Raymond Lullius</HI> enquiring of the confection of the &s;aid Stone, and how men may attain thereunto, made an&s;wer, hee that knoweth to make gla&s;&s;e, becau&s;e their manner of proceed|ing are alike; and &s;uch ought that pretious &s;ub&s;tance to be, which <HI>Hermolaus Barbarus</HI> in his Annotations upon <HI>Plinie,</HI> and <HI>Appian,</HI> in his di&s;qui&s;ition of antiquities, alledgeth to have been found in an old Sepulchre, in the Territory of <HI>Padua,</HI> not above a hundred years &s;ince, having this Di&s;tique with two others.
<Q><L>For he &s;hut in with great labour, the dige&s;ted Elements</L>
<L>under this &s;mall ve&s;&s;el; greate&s;t <HI>Olybius.</HI></L></Q> The Roman <HI>Morienes</HI> to <HI>Calid</HI> King of <HI>Aegypt</HI> on his Treati&s;e of Metallick tran&s;mutation. Who&s;oever &s;hall know well how to neatify, and whiten the &s;oul, and make it mount on high, and can well pre&s;erve its body, and take therefrom all ob&s;curity and blackne&s;&s;e, with the evill &s;mell, &s;he may then replace it in its body and in the hour of their rejunction great marvels will appear: yet <HI>Rha&s;es</HI> in his Epi&s;tle. So every &s;oul doth reconjoin to its fir&s;t bo|dy: which in any other manner cannot be reunited to another, and from thence forwards &s;hall never &s;eparate; for then the bo|dy &s;hall be glorified, and reduced to incorruption, and to a &s;ub|tilty and brightne&s;&s;e un&s;peakable. So that it will penetrate all &s;o|lid things what&s;oever they be; bccau&s;e its nature &s;hall be &s;uch, as of a Spirit: that which he borrowed out of <HI>Hermes,</HI> it &s;hall penetrate every &s;ubtill thing. An admirable thing that the&s;e
<PB N="69" REF="37"> Chymicall Philo&s;ophers under the vaile and curtain of this Art, treating wholly about things &s;o materiall as are metals, and that which depends thereon, with their tran&s;mutations by fire, have comprized the mo&s;t high &s;ecrets of Intelligibles and even of the re&s;urrection, whereunto it &s;eems this would &s;eem to &s;trike, wherein bodyes &s;hall be glorified and reduced as into a &s;pirituall Nature, again&s;t which no &s;pirituall ob&s;tacle can contradict, nor hinder its actions; from this the Apo&s;tle in the 15. of the 1. to the <HI>Corinthians</HI> doth not much vary, <HI>It is &s;own a naturall body, it is rai&s;ed a &s;pirituall body. There is a naturall body, and there is a &s;pi|rituall body: howbeit, that was not fir&s;t which is &s;pirituall, but that which is naturall, and afterwards that which is &s;pirituall.</HI> I know moreover, an Artifice whereunto I have obtained in divers &s;ub|jects, that burning an herb, the &s;alt extracted from the&s;e a&s;hes and &s;owed in the earth, a like herb will grow therefrom. But this burn|ing mu&s;t be made in a very clo&s;e ve&s;&s;el, wherein we &s;hall &s;ay more hereafter about Salt, and yet we will yet bring further another of our experiments which ought not bee di&s;regarded. Of three li|quors &s;wimming one above another without either mingling or confounding together, what mingling &s;oever they be; that they may not return into their re&s;idence and &s;eparated: to repre&s;ent the four Elements in a little ve&s;&s;el of gla&s;s, or a little black enam|mill gro&s;&s;ily beaten will hold place of earth in the bottom, wa|ter will do thus, Take calcined Tartar, or gravelled a&s;hes, which is almo&s;t the very &s;ame thing, and let them go to the moi&s;t air ta|king the di&s;&s;olution that &s;hall be made thereof, the cleare&s;t that you can, and mingle therewith a little blew &s;tone, to give it the colour of Sea water. Note here a maxim, and let this be &s;aid by the by, for tho&s;e that exerci&s;e them&s;elves in the Spagirique, that in one of the&s;e re&s;olutions into moi&s;ture, which are made by them&s;elves, all &s;alts and alums, do depure and &s;ubtiliate, more then 12, or 15 di&s;&s;olutions made with vineger and other like di&s;&s;olvants.</P>
<P>Every thing that di&s;&s;olveth it &s;elfe, is of the nature of Salt and Alum, as <HI>Geber</HI> &s;aith, For air, take fine <HI>aqua vitae</HI> which you &s;hall turn into a Cele&s;tiall blew, with a little turn&s;ol; and for fire, the oil of Been, but for that it is more rare, take of Turpentine oil, which is made thus, Di&s;till common Turpentine in <HI>Balneo Marie,</HI> there will mount up together both water and oil, &s;o white
<PB N="70" REF="38"> and tran&s;parent, the one as the other: but the oil will &s;wim a|bove the water; &s;eparate them by a gla&s;&s;e fonnell, and dye this oil, into a fire colour, with <HI>Orchanet</HI> and with Saffern. The three liquors will never mingle, what ever trouble you u&s;e to them; but will &s;eparate them&s;elves di&s;tinctly, into le&s;&s;e then nothing, by &s;wimming one above another: Of the Turpentine, that re|mains in the Alembique, you &s;hall extract it by Sand, in a <HI>Cornue</HI> with a &s;tronger fire, then by the bath, a thick red oil, which is mo&s;t excellent balm: water and oil extracted by the bath are very &s;erviceable al&s;o, in many accidents of Medicine and Chirurgery; only the white oil will make &s;cars quickly fall away without pain, or evill impre&s;&s;ion. But if with the water of the &s;aid Tur|pentine, you di&s;&s;olve &s;alt of lead, you &s;hall have yet a more So|veraign balm. But we mu&s;t a little better clear this: for &s;ith we treat here of fire, and of its effects, what hinders but that we may extend our &s;elves at length upon many things which our long labour and experience have acquired? This oil of lead, was one of <HI>Raymond Lullius,</HI> his great &s;ecrets: &amp; of many other excel|lent per&s;onages, who have as it were made con&s;cience to remem|ber it: for this hath been to them an entry of more admirable works. Some, as <HI>Riply,</HI> &amp; others, have taken the <HI>minium</HI> of lead, but it is too ea&s;ie, &amp; of an unea&s;ie re&s;olution, as al&s;o ceru&s;e &amp; calcined lead. For my part I have found litharge, which is nothing el&s;e but lead, for a pound of litharge, you &s;hall extract 14. or 15. ounces of lead: put them into powder, and poure thereon di&s;tilled boiling vinegar, &s;tirring it &s;trongly with a &s;taffe, and &s;odainly the vinegar will charge it &s;elf, with the di&s;&s;olution of litharge: Evacuate the clear, and reiterate with new vinegar, &s;o long till all the li|tharge be di&s;&s;olved: Evaporate the vinegar, which &s;hall be un|&s;avory as the water, untill the &s;alt &s;hall remain congealed in the bottom. Take thereof a good quantity, and put thereof with|in your <HI>Cornue,</HI> as much as it will hold half full: and put it on the furnace with an open breech: in the beginning with an ea&s;ie fire cha&s;ing away that which therein may appear a remainder of &s;trange humidity: And when the white fumes &s;hall begin to appear apply thereunto a Recipient big enough, and lute it well in the Jointures: after reinforcing your fire by little and little un|till it become a very great one, and the <HI>Cornue</HI> buried in the a&s;hes, you &s;hal &s;ee i&s;&s;ue as a little continued torrent after the fa&s;hion of a
<PB N="71" REF="38"> filet of oil, but white as milk, and could as ice, which will come within the Recipient to re&s;olve into an oil of the colour of an <HI>Hyacinth,</HI> and odoriferous, as that of <HI>A&s;pio.</HI> Continue the fire till there comes no more out of the <HI>Cornue,</HI> and leave it there to &s;ettle, al the night long. So now this &s;ecret oil, whereof that which <HI>Raimond Lullius</HI> never more expre&s;ly &s;aid was towards the end of his &s;hort Epi&s;tle, in the&s;e very terms. Out of black lead is ex|tracted the Philo&s;ophers oil, of a golden color, or as it were: and know that there is nothing in the world more &s;ecret then it. That which remains in the <HI>Cornue,</HI> put burning charcoals upon it, and that will take fire as the match of a fu&s;ee: whence you may draw a fair &s;ecret: for as long as it feels not the air, it will not flame, and it may di&s;&s;olve againe with vinegar, to doe as before. But &s;alt of lead di&s;&s;olved in water, and yet better then Turpen|tine, oil will re&s;olve to a greater quantity of oil; and thereof may &s;ee more ample marvailes. Take this oil, which <HI>Raimond Lullius</HI> calleth his wine, and put it into a &s;mall Alembic of gla&s;&s;e; in <HI>Balneo Mariae,</HI> and di&s;till tkerein <HI>aqua vitae,</HI> which will come in vains even as that of wine. Draw all out &s;o long till the drops and tears come to appear in the Chap, which is a &s;igne that there is no more flegm: which being out in the bottome, there will remain a pretious oil that di&s;&s;olves gold and is admi|rable again&s;t wounds, and great accidents, from within, for it holds the &s;ame place with potable gold: Lead having great af|finity with gold, as <HI>Geber</HI> &s;aith, with which it agrees in Surdi|ty, in weight, and in that it cannot ru&s;t: And <HI>George Riplay</HI> the mo&s;t learned <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Philo&s;opher, in his book of the 12. portes.</P>
<Q><L>There is extracted oil of golden colour,</L>
<L>Or like it, out of our &s;ubtill red lead:</L>
<L>When Raimond &s;aid, when he was old,</L>
<L>Was much more pretious then gold.</L>
<L>For when through age he was near death,</L>
<L>He thereof made, his potable Gold,</L>
<L>Which revived him; as may bee &s;een.</L>
<L>This is that oil and vegetable Men&s;truum, &amp;c.</L></Q>
<P>In regard of the burning water therout extracted, more inflame|able then the mo&s;t fine powder of a harguebuze, it di&s;&s;olves &s;il|ver into &s;ubtill Cry&s;talline flakes, whieh melt at the fire of a
<PB N="72" REF="39"> lampe, as ea&s;ily as butter, and are fix as &s;ilver in the &s;ame proofs of fire: further &s;ee that which the &s;aid <HI>Riplay</HI> &s;ets down in his marrow of <HI>Alchym<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e:</HI> The body being prepared, put upon this water to the thickne&s;s of your thumb which wil &s;traight boil a|bove chalks of the body, without other external fire, by di&s;&s;olving the body, and by elevating it, in the &s;hape of ice, with the dry|ing of the &s;aid water: and &s;o let it bee reiterated, by removing that which was elevated. But to abbridge (for this <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> is in very &s;mall quantity and very unea&s;y to make) if you pa&s;&s;e two parties of water of the the departure, that di&s;&s;olves the &s;ilver upon one party of the &s;alt of lead, this will do the &s;ame effect for the tran&s;mutation of matals, but not within a mans body, where it mu&s;t not in any ca&s;e bee applyed, except after great &s;weetning, that is to &s;ay, a <HI>demi &s;extier</HI> of the di&s;&s;olution of &s;trong water, to make evaporate three or four pails of water, running down within by a filter to the mea&s;ure that elevates the &s;trong water with the &s;pirits and malignity of this fire again&s;t Nature. Think not that I would &s;tay my &s;elf here &s;o preci&s;ely, nor re|&s;train to the Text of Saint <HI>Mark,</HI> nor upon that, which de|pendeth upon the religion in this regard, although our princi|pall aim tends thitherward, that wee would not enlarge by the &s;ame means to the works and progre&s;&s;e of nature, who&s;e prin|cipall key is <HI>Alchymie,</HI> to mount from thence to the <HI>Architype</HI> the Creator by means of the <HI>Caballe.</HI> But we would not likewi&s;e here &s;o reveal occa&s;ions to abu&s;e this divine Art, to the ill turnings of perver&s;e ignorants, who to gain a piece of &s;ilver would make no difficulty to deceive the world one way or other, as wee could do in revealing unto the means of blanching copper, to the likene&s;&s;e of &s;ilver, with I&s;cicles accompanied with a Metalline of Orpiment, the which, as yellow gilded as it is, and its red ele|vations as rubies, being notwith&s;tanding brui&s;ed in a cop|per morter, and &s;ublimed upon burned bra&s;&s;e, pa&s;&s;eth within the head of the <HI>Cornue,</HI> white as &s;ilver; But if it be well governed, with the fore&s;aid I&s;icles would make indeed great alterations upon the Copper which men may wel mi&s;u&s;e, wherefore we will forbear to &s;peak thereof any further. We may too well &s;ay, that the preparation of this body, that <HI>Riplay</HI> intends &s;ilver, is to calcine and reduce it into &s;alt, which is done after this man|ner. But if in the di&s;&s;olving there be <HI>aqua fortis,</HI> it &s;ufficeth to cal|cine
<PB N="73" REF="39"> it. Take then &s;ilver plates of the bigne&s;&s;e and thickne&s;&s;e of a riall and put them in a Cru&s;et, or a little pot of <HI>Paris</HI> earth, not leaded, bed upon bed, with prepared Salt, that is to &s;ay, di&s;|&s;olved in common water, afterwards filtred, congealed, and de|crepited, and leave it 10. or 12. houres with burning coals, (it would be better in an oven of reverberation) draw it from the fire and ca&s;t it yet all hot into an earthen ve&s;&s;ell, leaded, full of water, &s;alt will di&s;&s;olve it &s;elf therein, and that of the &s;ilver which &s;hall be calcined will goe to the bottome: Let them re&s;ide well; and &s;eparate them warily, by inclination: after put again the plates to bee recalcined with new &s;alt, and reiterated as before, evaporate the water, or the &s;alt if it be di&s;&s;olved, and that which remains &s;hall be as good as new, to the third or fourth reitera|tion, all your plates will find them&s;elves reduced into chalk: which you &s;hall ea&s;ily di&s;&s;olve in di&s;tilled vinegar, for &s;ilver, lead, and iron, are not of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ard re&s;olution, nor al&s;o Copper to take it in <HI>Roche</HI> of <HI>azur:</HI> Tin much more, and Gold more then all the re&s;t, for that its calcination, is very unea&s;ie. Which <HI>Geber</HI> knew very well: the compleat calcination of Sol, is mo&s;t diffi|cult: He rend<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rs the cau&s;es thereof. But it would be too long to dilaee upon all the&s;e things: wee will content our &s;elves, to trace &s;ome &s;hadows of that which our perqui&s;ition and labour hath enabled us to acquire, by the &s;pace of 50. years of one &s;ide, and another, and proved more then once, not to &s;peake un|advi&s;edly: All which &s;ecrets are revealed as is &s;aid; by the Fire. And not by mervails, &s;ince it analogically di&s;covers the &s;pirituall: <HI>Thou ha&s;t tried me with fire, and in mee, there is found no iniquity;</HI> &s;aid the Prophet, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 16. There where you &s;ee, how hee couples fire with iniquities, as if it were it, that revealed them as well as hee did the impurities of mettalls, where it doth the &s;ame operation, and effect, as &s;alt doth, in corruptible things; for although metalls, bee the permanent &s;ub&s;tance of all others, by rea&s;on of their mo&s;t &s;trong compo&s;iti|on which doth not permit them ea&s;ily to ca&s;t away out of their radicall form any alteration which men may make them indure in powder, chalk, &s;alt, water, oil, gla&s;&s;e, I&s;icles, and infinite o|thers: which happeneth not to one of the other elementaries, Minerals, Vegetables, Animals; the which being once changed from their primitive form, they cannot again reintegrate or be put together. By means whereof, to &s;peak of fire without me|tals,
<PB N="74" REF="40"> which are its true &s;ubject, it would bee as to propo&s;e to an Arti&s;t furni&s;hed with nece&s;&s;aries and in&s;truments, but had no &s;tuffes proper to imploy them, &s;o that would remain to him unprofitable. In metalls then there may be revealed and con|&s;idered the faire&s;t &s;ecrets of nature, by the help of fires action. Which if in &s;ome more particularly then in others, &s;he hath &s;hew|ed a will to recreate, yea to put in evidence her greater know|ledge. It &s;eems this was in &s;tones and and metals, then which nothing could be pre&s;ented more fair or agreeable to the &s;ight, nor more profitable and nece&s;&s;ary, at lea&s;t in regard of Iron without which mans life would irk&s;omely pa&s;&s;e away, &s;hee re|ceiving &s;o many commodit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">es thereby. But pretious &s;tones be|yond the &s;imple contentment and plea&s;ure of the eye, have no|thing wherewith men may know to draw out profit or &s;uccours in any one of our bu&s;ine&s;&s;es. And if they be once deprived of their naturall &s;hining form, they never return thereto again, as met|tals doe, &s;o pui&s;&s;ant and indi&s;&s;oluble is the a&s;&s;embling of their e|lementarie parties, and their mixtion one with another. Where|fore wee mu&s;t not marvail if &s;o many good &s;pirits have tra|velled all their time to meditate upon this &s;ubject, and their di|vers tran&s;mutations, having been there unto drawn rather out of tho&s;e fair con&s;iderations which they found therein for their &s;pirits contentation, then for any &s;ordid and greedy de&s;ire of gain, which hath made the ignorant &s;o ob&s;tinat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, who have &s;o cried down this divine Art, &s;i&s;ter germane to the <HI>Caballe:</HI> for that which the <HI>Caballe</HI> is divine and intelligible things, into the profound &s;ecrets whereof, &s;hee penetrates, <HI>Alchymie</HI> is in naturall and elementary, which &s;hee reveals unto us. <HI>Geber</HI> &s;aith &s;ome man cannot know the compo&s;ition of a thing, that is igno|rant of its de&s;truction; which de&s;truction is perfected by the &s;e|parations cau&s;ed by fire.</P>
<P>Nature then taketh great pains, care, and plea&s;ure, to labour in metals; and puts in them a very great length of Time, to bring them to the la&s;t degree of perfection, which &s;ettles in Gold, the mo&s;t perfect and incorruptible &s;ub&s;tance of all others, and the homogeneall and equall in all his parties: whence it is taken for di&s;tributive ju&s;tice, for mingle a party of Gold with 3. or 4. hundreds of &s;ilver, or Copper, leaving them melted to|gether to &s;port never &s;o little within a little Cru&s;et, every portion
<PB N="75" REF="40"> how &s;mall &s;oever it may be, of &s;ilver or copper, will &s;uck up its equ<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ll part and portion of gold. It is moreover &s;o exactly de|pured, that it cannot be altered or corrupted by any thing, that is either in the earth, water, air, or fire, nor by any corro&s;ive or poy&s;on that you can apply thereunto. It is not corrupted by clay, nor burnt with any burning thing: nor mortified or devoured, by any green colouring, or dividing water, there is nothing in it &s;uperfluous or defective: There are (&s;aith <HI>Hermes</HI>) &s;even Metallick bodies, of which the mo&s;t worthy and princi|pall is gold, attributed unto the Sun: from whence it hath its name, for the &s;ame that the Sun is to the &s;tars, gold is toward the elementary bodies, what thing &s;oever burning it can bee, cannot burne it, the earth cannot corrupt it, nor the water de&s;troy nor alter, becau&s;e its complexion is tempered in heat, moi&s;ture, coldne&s;&s;e and drine&s;&s;e, and there is nothing in it &s;uper|fluous or deficient. By rea&s;on whereof, I finde that tho&s;e are farre wide of their accompt, which to keep them&s;elves from poy&s;oning, would &s;erve them&s;elves with ve&s;&s;ells of gold to eat and drink in; for gold re&s;pects no more poi&s;ons nor venomes, then it would doe of capon broth: So do &s;ilver, pewter, copper, lead &amp; iron, which would therewith change immediately. Even as a fearful man, and of &s;mall re&s;olution, who at the encounter of a Serpent or other venemous bea&s;t, would grow &s;uddainly pale, and come to change colour: The care, curio&s;ity, and a&s;&s;iduous travell of infinite, rare, and meditating &s;pirits, by the &s;pace of 4 or 5000 years, have found in metals &s;ecrets without number, and yet knew not to do &s;o well, but that they have left much more to enquire into, and to &s;earch after: although there be but &s;even in all, comprehending therein running quick-&s;ilver.</P>
<P>Wherein it is wonderfull, that Nature &s;o copious and abun|dant in all her procreations, which are divers, is plea&s;ed in this re&s;pect with &s;o &s;mall a number. Metals then, being &s;uch who&s;e regiment depends on fire; which is one of the proper vi&s;ible &s;ymboles to repre&s;ent the mo&s;t hidden &s;ecrets, and my&s;teries of Divinity; invi&s;ible, and imperceptible to our &s;en&s;es.</P>
<P>The Prophets al&s;o, were willing to &s;erve them&s;elves for the mo&s;t part of their parables, and &s;imilitudes, aenigmaes, allego|ries and figures; where they have covered and hid that which they would not &s;o openly declare, for they have very &s;eldome expre&s;&s;ed them&s;elves, as did <HI>E&s;ay</HI> in his 5 Chapter,
<PB N="76" REF="41"> where he interprets that the vi&s;ion of the Lord of Ho&s;ts, whereof he there brought a parable, was the people of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and the men of <HI>Judah</HI> his delectable plant. And in another pa&s;&s;age many wa|ters, are many nations. Moreover <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> 23. having &s;poken of the two &s;i&s;ters <HI>Aho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ah</HI> and <HI>Aholibah,</HI> he &s;et downe that this was <HI>Samaria</HI> and that <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> God by the mouth of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> in the 28. of <HI>Leviticus,</HI> and in the 28. of <HI>Deuteronomy,</HI> threatned the I&s;|raelites, &s;aid, if they come to mi&s;-know him, and do not keep well his commandements, that he would make the heaven over their head bra&s;&s;e, and the earth under them iron, which are the two mo&s;t terre&s;triall metals, and mo&s;t hard and rebellious to melt and to handle, oppo&s;ing them to the durity of this people, as it is there &s;aid. <HI>I will brui&s;e the pride of your hardne&s;&s;e, and will make hea|ven over you as iron, and earth as bra&s;&s;e, your labour &s;hall con&s;ume unpro|fitably, your earth &s;hall not bring forth its &s;eed, nor the tree yeeld any fruit.</HI> For metals produce nothing, but are barren; the Poets of their &s;ide have u&s;ed many &s;orts of Metaphores, and figures, as in the 6. of the <HI>Aeneid.</HI> an iron voice, for a &s;trong and re&s;ounding voice, and <HI>He&s;iod</HI> calleth the infernall dog <HI>Cerberus,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, a voice of bra&s;&s;e, becau&s;e it is the mo&s;t &s;ounding metall; <HI>His voice &s;hall &s;ound as bra&s;&s;e, Jer.</HI> 16. and <HI>Origen</HI> upon the 25. of <HI>Exod</HI> Bra&s;&s;e is taken for a &s;trong and thundering voice, becau&s;e of its re&s;oun|ding. Although I &s;hould &s;peake with the tongue of Angels, and have not charity in me, I am as &s;ounding bra&s;&s;e, and as a tin|kling cymball. <HI>Pindarus</HI> hath appropriated to Heaven the Epi|thet of <GAP DESC="foreign">, Heaven of bra&s;&s;e, in the 10. of the <HI>Pythi|ans;</HI> becau&s;e of the firme &s;olidity of the firmament, as the word importeth. <HI>Homer</HI> doth the &s;ame in the 3. of his <HI>Odes,</HI> calleth it <GAP DESC="foreign">, mo&s;t bra&s;&s;e, as <HI>Euripedes</HI> and <HI>Anaxagoras,</HI> make the Sunne a fired iron; for the Greek Poets ordinarily doe put fire and bra&s;&s;e one for another; the &s;ame doth <HI>Homer</HI> in many pla|ces, as in the 4. of the <HI>Iliads,</HI> where <HI>Apollo</HI> to encourage the <HI>Tro|jans,</HI> remon&s;trates unto them, that the Greeks have not impene|trable bodies, of &s;tone, or of iron, that they &s;hould be able to re&s;i&s;t blowes of cutting bra&s;&s;e, without hurting them. The&s;e are manners of &s;peech, which are not very &s;trange among&s;t the Pro|phets, who have thereby figured out the mo&s;t part of their &s;olu|tions, under which &s;ome my&s;teries were &s;hadowed; which if men would take altogether raw according to the letter, without alle|gorizing
<PB N="77" REF="41"> thereupon, they would find them&s;elves farre from their reckoning, as the Martyr <HI>Pamphilus</HI> &s;aid well in the defence of <HI>Origen,</HI> &s;peaking of tho&s;e who to &s;hunne allegories were con|&s;trained to &s;tumble at gro&s;s impertinencies. They think it of this &s;ort, &s;aid he, for that they would not admit of allegories in the holy writ, by rea&s;on whereof, a&s;&s;ubjecting them&s;elves to the li|terall &s;en&s;e, they imagine and invent to them&s;elves fine fables, and fictions. And indeed how could a man take according to the letter that of the 33. of <HI>Deut.</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>A&s;er? Thy &s;hoes &s;hall be iron and bra&s;&s;e,</HI> for he would not &s;ay that <HI>A&s;er</HI> was &s;hod with iron and bra&s;&s;e, but he would under&s;tand thereby his force and power, denoted as well by the two metals, as by the &s;hoe; I <HI>will extend my &s;hoe again&s;t Idumaea, &s;trangers are my &s;ubjects;</HI> The&s;e are all allegories and figure, as al&s;o in the 60. of <HI>E&s;ay, For bra&s;s I bring thee gold, and &s;ilver in &s;tead of Iron, bra&s;&s;e for wood, and fire for &s;tones.</HI> Marke well how the Prophet ob&s;erves the relations op|po&s;ing bra&s;&s;e to gold, and iron to &s;ilver; and againe, bra&s;&s;e to wood, and iron to &s;tones; for as gold excelleth &s;ilver, and trees &s;tones, it is the &s;ame in the metallique order, bra&s;&s;e is more pretious then iron. But all tends to denote that the heavenly my&s;ticall <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which is the Church trium|phant, &s;o much more excellent then the Jewi&s;h Synagogue, which was but a figure thereof. And certainely hee that would looke more narrowly thereinto, the Prophets never &s;pake any thing improperly, even to the lea&s;t trade or mechanick arts; for in their ravi&s;hments they &s;aw things in their reall being, within the <HI>Za|pheret</HI> or &s;upercele&s;tiall Sunne, which is a clear &s;hining looking-gla&s;&s;e, a living &s;ource of all Idea's, as Idea's are of formes. This is furthermore well to be ob&s;erved, for the regard of metals, which they a&s;&s;ociate commonly iron and copper for their affinity; will iron make a covenant with iron from the North? and bra&s;&s;e? for iron is ea&s;ily changed into copper, by means of vitrioll, by put|ting them bed upon bed in a de&s;cen&s;ory with a &s;trong fire of bellowes, &s;o long till the iron grow liquid and melt into copper, having fir&s;t moi&s;tned them with a little vineger, wherein there &s;hould be di&s;&s;olved &s;al niter, or &s;alt peter, &s;al alcali, and &s;alt of tartar, with verdigrea&s;e. Otherwi&s;e put of vitriol in powder, and di&s;till the water in a cornue, that which &s;hall remaine calci|ned in the bottome, impo&s;t it with its water, and therein quench the glowing gads of iron, or filings of iron, you &s;hall find them
<PB N="78" REF="42"> by little and little reduced into copper: Otherwi&s;e yet, di&s;&s;olve vitrioll in common water, evaporate the water, and calcine the congelation that &s;hall re&s;t in the bottome; di&s;&s;olve that in the like water, and it will become green, evaporate a part thereof, and put the re&s;t in a cave for a night, and you &s;hall &s;ee greene flakes. Make them red in the fire, after di&s;&s;olve them three or four times with di&s;tilled vinegar, drying them every time, and the flakes will become red, di&s;&s;olve them againe in the &s;ame vinegar, and therein quench the gads or other iron work, as above &s;aid. In briefe, that by the means of vitriol, iron is conve<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ted into cop|per, as we may &s;ee in penknifes &s;teeped in inke made of copper as or vitriol.</P>
<P>The&s;e flakes here are an entry to a higher work, and of more things for Chirurgery and Medicine. But all the&s;e practi&s;es (you may &s;ay) are long and trouble&s;ome and rather chargeable then gainfull, and profitable. Al&s;o our intention here, is not to &s;tretch to gaine, this booke is not to get brend, but to penetrate into the &s;ecrets of nature: from thence to mount and elevate his &s;pirit to &s;pirituall things, whereto &s;en&s;ible do &s;erve as a &s;tair or as <HI>Jacobs</HI> ladder; and there are no rarer con&s;iderations and ob|&s;ervances, then in fire, and metallique tran&s;mutations: Copper on the other &s;ide, is changed into &s;teele; if it bee true that &s;ome <HI>Rabbines</HI> quote, upon that pa&s;&s;age lately alledged out of the 15. of <HI>Jeremiah</HI> 12. Iron and Bra&s;s, the Prophet (&s;ay they) calleth Iron mixed with Bra&s;&s;e, Steel, which &s;heweth (for we mu&s;t di&s;dain nothing of theirs) that Damake Steel was compo|&s;ed of Iron and Copper, that is to &s;ay, of Iron halfe covered in Copper, and &s;oftned to re&s;trengthen it the more by means of lead. Whereupon make what <HI>Abuhali</HI> &s;ets downe in a Book of the nature of things.</P>
<P>Make a little long trench within a barre of iron, and ca&s;t thereinto melted lead, then make it evaporate with a &s;trong fire as of a coupelle. Put againe therein new lead four or five times, and the iron will grow &s;oft, which you may afte wards make hard againe quenching it in forge water, to make lancets, and other &s;ubtill cutting irons, yea that &s;hall cut other iron, with|out &s;plinters or gapping. And indeed we have found by expe|rience, that to temper well a harne&s;&s;e again&s;t the &s;hot of harque|bu&s;e, we fir&s;t &s;weeten it with oils and gums, with wax and the
<PB N="79" REF="42"> like incerative things; and after we harden them by frequent extinctions, in waters that make it fa&s;t againe. <HI>John</HI> the Gram|marian expounding this place of <HI>He&s;iod,</HI> they wrought in bra&s;&s;e, for iron was not yet knowne, was forced to relate the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> to the people <HI>Chalybs</HI> in <HI>Scythia,</HI> who (&s;aith he) fir&s;t found out the u&s;e of iron and &s;teel: the Poet <HI>Lucretius</HI> in his 5. booke imitates <HI>He&s;iod</HI> in this kinde,
<Q><L>Antient arms were hands and nails,</L>
<L>Stones and fragments of tree boughes,</L>
<L>And flames and fires, were fir&s;t knowne,</L>
<L>Afterwards the force of Iron and Bra&s;&s;e,</L>
<L>But the u&s;e of Bra&s;&s;e, before Iron.</L></Q> Steel furthermore is made of the mo&s;t pure and &s;ubtiliate iron; for that it participates le&s;&s;e of the earthine&s;&s;e, then iron. The artifice of it, is &s;ufficiently knowne, and is common in forges. But to come to that of <HI>Damas,</HI> you mu&s;t fir&s;t re&s;weeten it of its too much bitter tartne&s;&s;e, and after it is reduced into filings to make it red in a cru&s;et, and quench it many times with oil of O|lives, where there hath often times been quenched molten lead, &s;uddenly covering the ve&s;&s;ell, for fear le&s;t the oil take flame. There are yet other &s;ecret ob&s;ervations, which our intention is not to reveal all; it is enough to have attained to the ma|xims.</P>
<P>Now for that there is &s;uch an affinity between iron, and cop|per, that they may ea&s;ily be converted one into the other; the &s;ame may likewi&s;e be done with lead, and tinne, by means of Sal Armonaick, and of certaine incerative powders of Borax, Salt peter, &s;alt of Tartar, Salalchali, and other the like, which are called Atinears. <HI>Panthee</HI> in his <HI>Voarchadumie,</HI> oil of gla&s;&s;e. Quick|&s;ilver al&s;o, is changed into lead or tinne, according as it is con|gealed to an imperceptible vapour, either of the one, or of the o|ther, in this manner. Melt lead or tinne in a cru&s;et, then let them a little cool, &s;o long that they may be taken, but yet hot, or with a &s;taffe of a torch, or the like, make a trench therein, wherein you &s;hall put quick&s;ilver which will be &s;uddainly con|gealed, but brui&s;eable into powder. Reiterate that two or three times, and make it afterwards boil in the juice of <HI>Mercuriale,</HI> and will convert it &s;elfe into metall according to the odour of that it was congealed&punc; there is lo&s;&s;e therein and that not a little: but
<PB N="80" REF="43"> yet at lea&s;t, we may thereby &s;ee a po&s;&s;ibility of tran&s;mutations of metals: In this re&s;pect, furthermore of lead, and tinne, there pre&s;ents a very fair con&s;ideration, very unea&s;ie to comprehend, and doth merit, that the cau&s;e thereof &s;hould bee &s;ought after. We &s;ee by experience, that the&s;e two metals, each apart, are very &s;oft, and of a tender fu&s;ion, yet b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ing mingled they grow hard, and become firm and &s;olid, touching which &s;ee what <HI>Av<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">er|roes</HI> &s;ets downe in his Book of Vapours. That which doth con|&s;olide, and &s;trengthen tinne, is lead; and reciprocally, lead tinne; for the glewi&s;h vi&s;co&s;ity, which binds their partie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, mu&s;t con&s;i&s;t of moi&s;ture and dryne&s;&s;e, this being done, there is no congluti|nation of tinne with tinne, therefore lead is mingled therewith, which is more moi&s;t, and with lead, tinne, which is more dry: &s;o that tho&s;e two mingled together, &s;trengthen one another, bet|ter then being &s;eparated, and of their mingling, comes to pro|create a glewing vi&s;co&s;ity, which cau&s;eth in them a greater durity then they had, and binds them more firmly; ju&s;t as &s;and, and chalke in the compo&s;ition of Morter, which <HI>Albertus</HI> al&s;o con|firmes in his fourth and fifth chapters of Minerals. But wee will put off all the&s;e metallique particularities, and their divers tran&s;|mutations, to our Treati&s;e of Gold and Gla&s;&s;e, upon the 28. of <HI>Job,</HI> where under gold we wil comprehend all that &s;h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l depend on metals: and under gla&s;&s;e, &s;tones, as well naturall, as artificiall; and all vitrifications, and enamels. Here we will take but that which will conduce to our &s;ubject, which is to treat of things intelligible, by the &s;en&s;ible: after the imitation of the Prophets, and chiefly metals and fire, who&s;e operation is better known in metals, then in the other compo&s;ed elements. The Prophets then have &s;et downe iron and bra&s;&s;e for a firme re&s;i&s;tance. <HI>My &s;trength is not the &s;trength of &s;tones, nor is my fle&s;h bra&s;&s;e, Job</HI> 6. and in the 18. <HI>P&s;al. Thou ha&s;t made my arms as a bow of bra&s;&s;e.</HI> Furthermore in the 4. of <HI>Micah, I will make thy horne iron, and will make thy hoofs bra&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>As touching iron, for a hard and rigorous oppre&s;&s;ion, accor|ding as it is hard and inflexible of its nature, and which doth &s;uppeditate almo&s;t all; I will rule them with a rod of iron in the 2. <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> and in the 4. of <HI>Deut. I have brought thee out of the iron fornace of Aegypt;</HI> there where iron denotes &s;ervitude, wherein they were, for the oppre&s;&s;ion of their per&s;ons, and the fornace of
<PB N="81" REF="43"> fire, was that of their &s;ouls and con&s;ciences con&s;tituted amid&s;t &s;o many Idolatries and impieties, which mu&s;t be unto them a &s;ervi|tude, more intolerable then all travails and afflictions; and the mo&s;t cruell and pitile&s;&s;e u&s;ages of their bodies, for as much as the &s;oul excels it, for the zeal which they carry to their God, with the &s;ame locution the Eccle&s;ia&s;ticke &s;erved him&s;elf in his 28. &s;pea|king of a wicked tongue; happy is he that can &s;ave him&s;elf from a wicked tongue, for the yoke thereof is as iron, and his band as the band of bra&s;&s;e. But for affliction and angui&s;h, all openly in the 105. <HI>P&s;al. v.</HI> 18. <HI>Iron pierced his &s;oul,</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> a pri&s;o|ner in <HI>Aegypt,</HI> untill his word came. To be &s;hort, there is not a point of locution figurative, more frequent in the Prophets, then tho&s;e that are drawn from metals and from fire, which for the rea&s;on of its proprieties and effects, as it is one of the mo&s;t commodi|ous and nece&s;&s;ary things of all others, according as it is &s;aid be|fore, for it bakes our viands, it warms us, and doth revigour us again&s;t the colds; it clears and lightens in the darkne&s;s, in lieu of the &s;uns brightne&s;&s;e, and other infinite u&s;ages, and chiefly for the execution of arts and trades: Otherwi&s;e we may &s;ay that with|out iron, fire it &s;elfe would as it were be almo&s;t unprofitable for this re&s;pect. And <HI>Plato</HI> doth not exempt one onely art from fire, but the pottery of clay, in the 3. of his Lawes, where he treats very excellently of the life of the fir&s;t men; and although iron and copper had brought them commodities to civilize them&s;elves and to poli&s;h them to a more humane life. So that not without cau&s;e, the&s;e poor bea&s;tly Savages of the <HI>We&s;t Indies,</HI> did wonder in their gro&s;&s;e under&s;tanding, how people in the&s;e parts, &s;o well advi&s;ed and indu&s;trious, for a little piece of gold or &s;ilver, unprofitable to all u&s;es, &s;hould offer them &s;o liberally hatchets, &s;ithes, reaphooks, and other iron work, commodious for all u&s;a|ges, and which they <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ould &s;o &s;horten that which they had with &s;o great pain perfected but to the halfe with fire, which was to to them for all in&s;truments and tools, with &s;ome ba&s;e pointed flints. But we may here likewi&s;e alledge to the contrary the hurts and incommodities that iron bringeth, for of it, are forged all offen&s;ive arms, wherewith men &s;horten their dayes by their reci|procall Ma&s;&s;acres: for that, it is <HI>Mars</HI> his true Mini&s;ter, and exterminator and ruine of mankinde, as <HI>Jupiter</HI> qualifies it in the 5. of the Iliads,
<Q><PB N="82" REF="44">Mars, Mars, the plague and ruine of men, contaminated with murders, overthrower of wals.</Q></P>
<P>Which he could not do, at the lea&s;t very unea&s;ily without the means and aid of fire. Al&s;o they give it the name of <HI>Mars.</HI> But let us here a little con&s;ider a plea&s;ant allegory covered under the fiction of <HI>Venus, Vulcan,</HI> and <HI>Mars. Venus</HI> without doubt is mankind, which is continued by venereall propagation of linage. Its lawfull &s;pou&s;e is <HI>Vulcan,</HI> which by conjugall love, brings him all or the greate&s;t part of his nece&s;&s;ary commodities, by rea&s;on of <HI>Mars,</HI> which is iron. But for that he is his adultererer, he al&s;o de&s;troyes the greate&s;t part of what &s;hee procreates; and the husband maintains iron for a double u&s;e, good, and bad; for we mu&s;t not mea&s;ure the works of the Creator by their apparent incommodities or commodities. For God &s;aw all that he had made, and they were very good; for this goes according as the Creatures apply it. Is there any thing more fair, more plea&s;ant or more delectable to the &s;ight, then a cleare &s;hining flame? any thing that doth more rejoice then light? And on the other &s;ide, there is nothing more hurtfull, fuller of damage, nor more dan|gerous then fire, which burneth and con&s;umeth all that comes neare it. A Satyre the fir&s;t time he &s;aw it, he rejoyced &s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">angely to &s;ee it &s;o fair, &s;o clear, but thinking to approach nearer, to embrace, and to care&s;&s;e it, when he perceived it &s;o offended, with extreame griefe, hee was never after able to come near it. We may al&s;o &s;ay the &s;ame of iron, as <HI>Plinie</HI> cals it the be&s;t and the wor&s;t in&s;trument of life; for therewith (&s;aith he) we til the earth, graffe trees, prune vines, with other infinite commo|dities and u&s;ages, as chiefly to build hou&s;es for our covert and &s;afety. But on the other &s;ide, we imploy it no le&s;&s;e, if not more, in our mutuall a&s;&s;a&s;&s;inates and ma&s;&s;acres to &s;horten our life; as if it were trouble&s;ome to continue &s;o long. Yet it is &s;o &s;hort with|out the inconveniencies that &s;horten it and make of iron the mo&s;t pernicious mini&s;ter and in&s;trument of all others. To which pur|po&s;e <HI>I&s;iodorus</HI> &s;aid very well,
<Q>From whence a long while agone earth was drawn from thence now bloud is &s;hed,</Q></P>
<P>Which proceeds rather from our malice and depravation, then from the fault of this inanimate in&s;en&s;ible &s;ub&s;tance, which nei|ther moves to good or to bad, but by our &s;elves.</P>
<PB N="83" REF="44">
<P>And yet, &s;aith the &s;ame <HI>Plinie,</HI> it &s;eems that nature was not willing wholly to excu&s;e it, but to puni&s;h it onely, rendring it &s;ubject &s;o to ru&s;t, more then any other of the brother hood, and principally by mans bloud, which it is &s;o apt to &s;pill.</P>
<P>The &s;ame natures benignity, exacting puni&s;hment from very iron by ru&s;t, from whence humane bloud revengeth it &s;elfe; for being touched therewith it more &s;peedily draweth ru&s;t there|from. And indeed there is nothing which &s;ooner ru&s;teth iron then mans bloud. But this ru&s;t becau&s;e we are purpo&s;ely falne upon it, it is not altogether unprofitable, though mo&s;t whol&s;ome to many good effects, as well within as without the body, beyond that which it doth in tinctures. Wherefore it will do no hurt to touch &s;ome thing therein in this place, and therein to reveal that which experience hath manife&s;ted unto us to be mo&s;t rare, and mo&s;t important, but this is handled divers wayes. Take then filings of iron very clean, and be&s;prinkle them with a lit|tle di&s;tilled vineg<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r, leaving it &s;o in a cave for two or three dayes or other fre&s;h and moi&s;t place; and that will all convert into ru&s;t, which you &s;hall brui&s;e very &s;ubtilly in an iron or a &s;tone morter. Put it in a little pot, and put thereon boiling di&s;tilled vineger, &s;tirring it lu&s;tily with a &s;taffe or rod of iron, and the vi|neger will charge it &s;elfe with the di&s;&s;olution of the ru&s;t: turne it by inclination, and put therein o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">her vineger, reiterating tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;o long, that all the alumino&s;ity and tincture of the iron be di&s;|&s;olved, and that nothing remaines but blacke and dead earths which you mu&s;t ca&s;t away: cau&s;e the vineger to evaporate very &s;weetly, and there will remain a powder of Canneale colour, which the chymi&s;ts call &s;affron of iron; which is made al&s;o by putting of &s;mall pieces of iron to calcine in Gla&s;&s;e makers Ove<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> for the &s;pace of three weeks or a month; and they will reduce them&s;elves to a &s;mall and impalpable powder, as dough, red as blood, but it doth not di&s;&s;olve it &s;elfe in &s;trong waters. There is neither Bole-armonaic, or <HI>Terra &s;igillata,</HI> which can compare to them, who know well to practi&s;e their proprieties and con|&s;emblable effects.</P>
<P>In regard of the former, take of the phlegme of <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> and do upon all the &s;ame ju&s;t that which you did with the di&s;til|led vineger upon the ru&s;t, it will di&s;&s;olve more then the halfe: withdraw your phlegm by a light di&s;tillation, and upon the gum that &s;hall re&s;t congealed, ca&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ine <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> &s;tirring it &s;trongly
<PB N="84" REF="45"> with a ba&s;ton upon warme a&s;hes, but you mu&s;t not warme it &s;o much as the vineger and the phlegme, and when the <HI>aqua vitae</HI> &s;hall be well charged of its di&s;&s;olution, retire it by a &s;low di&s;tilla|tion in <HI>Balneo Marie,</HI> in a limbeck; for it will &s;erve you againe as before: and if that be very proper for the dy&s;enteries, and fluxes of the belly, with exulcerations and gangrens with &s;mall &s;hot; as al&s;o is the &s;econd Crocum drawne by the phlegme, of very great efficacy: and the third yet of more, drawne by <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> which will remain in yellow powder the true e&s;&s;ence of iron, which we have &s;earched even to the Center. But in all di&s;|&s;olutions take heed to leave them well in repo&s;e, and not to re|ceive but the clear, pure, and neat, without any feces or re&s;idences; rather put them for an hour in a warm bath to clarifie them. The vineger that remaines, and the phlegm, you may filter, but not the <HI>aqua vitae,</HI> becau&s;e of its unctuo&s;ity: which makes it difficult to &s;eparate it, from its re&s;idences; we mu&s;t therefore attend till it be cleare.</P>
<P>Behold the&s;e three earths, and the three di&s;&s;olvants proceed|ing one and the other from the vegetable, that is to &s;ay, wine, the mo&s;t excellent &s;ub&s;tance of all the vegetabl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s, which the Phi|lo&s;opher <HI>Cali&s;thenes</HI> called the blood of the earth. Now for the affinity that is betwixt iron and copper, we will here pur&s;ue in one traine &s;ome experiments proceeding from the &s;aid copper. Take (to &s;horten as much as may be) of the &s;tone of <HI>Azur,</HI> which is a minerall of copper, which will render you more then twelve ounces neat and liquid for a pound.</P>
<P>But here we &s;hall be con&s;trained to make a little digre&s;&s;ion to &s;erve for adverti&s;ement. In metallick di&s;&s;olutions, (and let this be a maxim) we mu&s;t rather take raw minerals, coming from the earth, and not the accompli&s;hed metals, and that for three rea|&s;ons. The fir&s;t, for that excu&s;eth you of labour, and length of time, to calcine them, and make them di&s;&s;oluble. The &s;econd, that in the di&s;&s;olution of the minerall you &s;hall find more of the &s;alt, and &s;hall extract it more ea&s;ily, then in &s;ix of one of their chalx. And the third, for that the &s;pirits of metall, are not yet at fir&s;t &s;o impri&s;oned in their corporall ma&s;&s;e, as in the &s;uperficies within this minerall and in much greater aboundance: there when it hath pa&s;&s;ed the a&s;perity and rigour of the fire, to &s;epa|rate the metal, mo&s;t part of the &s;pirits di&s;per&s;e them&s;elves and the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;t are drowned and barred fa&s;t in the bottome of the body:
<PB N="85" REF="45"> whence it is a difficulty to draw them; &s;o that afterwards the oil is wor&s;e ea&s;ie to extract from &s;alt, in the di&s;&s;olution of chalks, then of that which &s;hall be drawn from the minerals. Take then of this <HI>Azure</HI> &s;tone for the &s;horter, or if you have it not of <HI>aes u|&s;tum</HI> burned Bra&s;&s;e, which we make <HI>coupellans</HI> of bra&s;&s;e, in three parts of lead, (verdigrea&s;e is too gummy and unfit) or making meal of the filings of copper, even as we &s;aid heretofore of iron, putting thereunto a little <HI>aqua fortis,</HI> make it clear, which will be green, as an <HI>Emeraud,</HI> and pur&s;ue it, in and through all as you did iron: till the &s;alt or gum remain in the bottome congealed, proper for hollow ulcers, and many other effects of chirurgery; you may yet governe this gum with phlegme and <HI>aqua vitae,</HI> as you did iron. And of the fir&s;t very gumme extracted by the vineger, may thence draw an oil, as it was &s;aid of lead. In regard of the earths that remain of the di&s;&s;olutions of the <HI>aqua vitae,</HI> without any further di&s;&s;olving of it, nor leaving any tincture therein, nor to disjoin them which is hard to do, nor to clarifie the <HI>aqua vitae,</HI> but will remain impa&s;ted together as milk with dough, for they will be white, after you have dryed them well in the Sunne, or before a gentle fire. Put them upon a plate of iron, or of warmed copper: and if they fume not, it is a &s;igne they are all deprived of their &s;pirits. Yet put them in a cornue, with a naked bottome among coals, and perfect the drying of them; then at la&s;t give a fire of calcination. Ca&s;t <HI>aqua vitae</HI> thereon to di&s;&s;olve that which you can; and evacuating the di&s;&s;olution, perfect to dry the moi|&s;ture which may thereof remain giving againe fire of calcination in the end: and againe putting <HI>aqua vitae</HI> thereon to perfect the extraction of all the &s;alt therein remaining, which will be per|fected in the third or fourth reiteration. I have put you to an addre&s;&s;e of great effects, where I do not pretend to lead you by the hand any further, not to injure good and curious &s;pirits, that by long labours and perqui&s;itions have travelled to obtaine that which others had better cheap, and al&s;o to that which we re&s;erve for our di&s;cour&s;e of Gold and Gla&s;&s;e, where we will declare that which &s;hall here be left imperfect, not having attained, but by the <HI>end of the lip:</HI> wherefore we will take but that which is nece&s;|&s;ary to clear what the Prophets have thereupon touched in their parables and &s;imilitudes. In the fir&s;t place of the two perfect gold &amp; &s;ilver, on which they have mo&s;t in&s;i&s;ted on the good part, for the imperfect tinne, copper, and iron, they have ordinarily applyed
<PB N="86" REF="46"> to the wor&s;t part for vices and depravations, contumacies and du|rities; and lead for vexations and mole&s;tations. Gold for true beliefe, faith, piety, and religion, and in &s;um, all that which concernes the honour and &s;ervice of God; Silver, for good and charitable works of mercy; due in re&s;pect of our neighbour. So that the&s;e two metals repre&s;ent the two tables of the Deca|logue. And it would not be farre from the purpo&s;e to make a trimming of the Altar. The fir&s;t of gold, containing four pre|cepts, in four azure letters, which &s;ignifieth heaven, and the o|ther of &s;ilver in green letters, &s;ignifying the earth. <HI>Origen</HI> in the 2. <HI>Homil.</HI> upon this text of the fir&s;t of <HI>Canticles (We will make thee borders of gold, with &s;tuds of &s;ilver,)</HI> triumpheth to allegorize the &s;hape of gold, this (&s;aith he) holds the figure of the invi&s;ible and incorporeall nature, (and this for that it is of a &s;ub&s;tance &s;o ho|mogeneall and &s;ubtill, that nothing can extend it &s;elfe more fine) and &s;ilver, repre&s;ents the vertue of the <HI>Verb,</HI> following that which the Lord &s;aid in the 2. of <HI>Ho&s;ea, I have given you gold and &s;ilver, and you have therewith made Idols to Baal.</HI> But we make the Holy Scri|pture Idols of gold and &s;ilver, when we turne the &s;en&s;e thereof to &s;ome perverted interpretation: or that we w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">uld Pindarize it by elegances, as if vertue con&s;i&s;ted on the vaine flowers of Rheto|ricke, for in doing this we open our mouth, as if we would &s;wal|low and &s;uck in heaven, whil&s;t our tongue licketh the earth, like as if the Prophet &s;hould &s;ay, <HI>I have given you &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on, where|by you ought to acknowledge me for your God, and reverence me; but you have turned them a&s;ide, and therewith have made Idols:</HI> By &s;en&s;e are under&s;tood the internall cogitations which repre&s;ents them; and by Rea&s;on, which is <GAP DESC="foreign"> the word, for it &s;ignifies the one and the other, as &s;ilver denotes, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 12.6. <HI>the words of the Lord are pure words, as &s;ilver proved in the fire, when they &s;ay, or hold, that &s;ilver tryed in the fire, is the tongue of the ju&s;t, are not my words as fire?</HI> But Cherubins are &s;aid to be gold, becau&s;e they interpret them for the ple<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">itude of divine Science. And the Tabernacle of the alliance is of Gold al&s;o, becau&s;e it carries the type and i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> age of the law of nature, where con&s;i&s;ted the gold of &s;cience; &s;o that Gold is referred to the conc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ption and thought, and &s;ilver to the word, according to which the wi&s;e man alludeth in the 25. of the <HI>Pro|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">erbe, As Golden apples with &s;ilver nets, &s;o is he that &s;peak<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> words in a fit &s;ea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">on.</HI> Hitherto <HI>Origen.</HI> But will we hear what <HI>Zohar</HI> &s;ets down, from whence <HI>Origen</HI> hath fi&s;hed out the greate&s;t part of his rare
<PB N="87" REF="46"> and profound meditations and allegories, and to the purpo&s;e of tho&s;e apples of gold, encha&s;ed within the nets of &s;ilver. The gold from above is the gold <HI>&s;agur,</HI> inclo&s;ed or folded up; that from below is more exepo&s;ed to our &s;en&s;es, (nothing &s;hould bet|ter agree to the <HI>M<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;ihe</HI> which is the true pure gold of <HI>Evihah,</HI> mentioned <HI>Gen.</HI> 2. hee which is reinclo&s;ed within &s;ilver,) namely his divinity, and re&s;hut up with the humanity. <HI>Zohar</HI> pur&s;ues it; In the Tabernacle there were mingled gold, and &s;ilver, to a&s;&s;em|ble the divine my&s;tery above in one &s;ubject, where &s;overaigne per|fection was found. But the Cherubims were all of gold, &s;hewing their Angelicall nature which doth not participate of any cor|poreity, without any &s;ilver or copper mingled therewith. Gold within &s;ilver expre&s;&s;eth mercy, by which the whole univer&s;e was built, (the world was built in mercy,) upon which Gods Throne is e&s;tabli&s;hed, <HI>His Royall &s;eat &s;hall be prepared in mercy.</HI> But the rigour of judgement is de&s;igned by copper, which approacheth to the colour of bloud, without the effu&s;ion whereof, al&s;o there is no remi&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>And therefore it was ordained, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;hould erect a Ser|pent in the Wilderne&s;&s;e to heale tho&s;e who were bitten by the vermine and ca&s;t th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ir eyes upon it. Then gold, &s;ilver, and cop|per, are the three metals that go together, the <HI>Cha&s;ma'l,</HI> or the <HI>electrum</HI> of <HI>Ezechiel.</HI> And there is a faire meditation upon the 3 colours, which are the&s;e, white, of &s;ilver, that repre&s;ents water, is mercy, manife&s;ted by the particle <HI>Jah,</HI> a&s;&s;igned to the Father, which the Apo&s;tle cals <HI>the father of mercies,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.3. Copper that in redne&s;&s;e imitates fire, is the rigour and the &s;everity of ju&s;tice, which the Aegyptians call <HI>Din,</HI> attributed to the Holy Spirit, again&s;t which if any bla&s;pheme, hee &s;hall neither be par|doned in this world here, nor in the other. The third, in the middle of two, is the citrinity of the gold, compo&s;ed of white and red, as we may &s;ee in &s;affron, bloud, vermillion, and other the like, tempered with water, which is white, for from thence is procreated a golden yellow; for Citrinity, &s;aith <HI>Geb<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r,</HI> is nothing el&s;e, but a determinate proportion of white and red. And this guilded citrinity is attributed to the Sonne, who participates of Mercy and Ju&s;tice: in pur&s;uance of that &s;poken in the 16. of <HI>Eccl.</HI> 11. becau&s;e <HI>mercy and wrath are with him.</HI> But latten or copper, which in its exteriour hath &s;ome re&s;emblance with gold, but
<PB N="88" REF="47"> within all impure and corrupt, denoting hypocri&s;ie, which un|der a ma&s;que of pious zeale, and religion hatcheth its wicked de&s;ires, and dete&s;table ambitions, impieties, erroneous opinions, lu&s;ts, animo&s;ities, revenges, and other unju&s;t and perver&s;e inten|tions. The whitene&s;&s;e of the &s;ilver, on the one &s;ide, of which this lett on participates, for it is but at 16 Carats being pallied by the redne&s;&s;e of copper, that cau&s;eth it citrinity. But this redne&s;&s;e is but cruelty, and malice, which corrupteth gentle &s;incerity. <HI>If your &s;innes were as red as &s;carlet, or vermillion, they &s;hall bee as white as &s;now, E&s;ay</HI> 1.16.</P>
<P>In regard of lead, it is put for vexations and mole&s;tations, wherewith God doth vi&s;it us; by means whereof, hee bringeth us unto repentance; for as lead burneth, and exterminateth all the imperfections of metall, which <HI>Boetius</HI> the <HI>Arabian,</HI> calleth water of Sulphur; &s;o tribulation dive&s;teth us here below, from many &s;pots, which wee thereby have contracted, &s;o that, St. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> calleth it, Heavens Key, following that which is written, <HI>Act.</HI> 14.22. <HI>Through many temptations we mu&s;t enter into the King|dome of Heaven.</HI> The Apo&s;tle <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.3. and 4. &amp;c. u&s;eth a very fine gradation, <HI>Trihulations begets patience tpatience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not a&s;hamed, becau&s;e the love of God is &s;hed abroad in our hearts by the holy &s;pirit, that is given unto us.</HI> Fire denotes tribulation, whereupon the &s;aid Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> up|on the fir&s;t p&s;alm, Fire &s;aith he, burneth waxe, which melts it &s;elf to bee purged, and wee are proved by fire, for God de&s;iring to convert a &s;inner cha&s;ti&s;eth him, and burneth him, to purge him: for fire is light to Beleevers, and puni&s;hment, to the incre|dulous. Said Saint <HI>Jerome</HI> very well upon <HI>Ezechiel.</HI> That fire illuminates Beleevers, and blinds Infidels, &s;erving for nothing but &s;moak which makes them weep, and darkne&s;&s;e, as &s;moak which is noxious to the eyes. With which fume the hou&s;e of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was all filled and darkened;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 10 26. E&s;a. 6.4.</NOTE> Let the ju&s;t then rejoyce, when they &s;hall find them&s;elves upon this text of the 50. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 3. A fire &s;hall burn in his &s;ight, for they &s;hall be thereby illuminated, and ob|&s;tinate &s;inners burnt by the &s;ame, having the two properties to il|luminate, and burn: for that it illuminates, it mu&s;t bee the ho|ly Spirit, which is the true fire, that is kindled in our hearts, and not fooli&s;h and prever&s;e opinions, vain and erroneous, which would quickly draw us to that which the Prophet <HI>E&s;ay</HI> &s;aith,
<PB N="89" REF="47"> Chap. 50.11. <HI>Behold all yee that kindle a fire, and that compa&s;&s;e your &s;elves about with &s;parks, walk in the light of your fire, and in the &s;parks that ye have kindled, and you &s;hall &s;leep in &s;orrow.</HI> From thence &s;aith <HI>Origen,</HI> it &s;eems that &s;inners kindle them&s;elves a fire, wherewith they mu&s;t be crucified. <HI>O I&s;rael thou ha&s;t de&s;troyed thy &s;elf, Ho&s;.</HI> 13. And in the 28. of <HI>Ezek.</HI> 18. <HI>I will bring forth a fire, from the mid&s;t of thee, it &s;hall devoure thee, and I will bring thee to a&s;hes upon Earth.</HI> The matter then which entertains it, are our iniqui|ties, and our offences, <HI>their iniquity &s;hall burn as fire.</HI> And in the 7. of <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 17. <HI>The vengeance of the ungodly is fire, and wormes,</HI> which toucheth upon that in the 9. of St. <HI>Mark.</HI> 44. alledged out of the 66. of <HI>E&s;aiah</HI> 24. <HI>Who&s;e worm &s;hall not dye, nor their fire bee quenched:</HI> for the one and the other are endle&s;&s;e, namely the fire that burns them, and the worm that gnawes their con&s;ci|ences in this world, and in the other, torments them for ever. There where on the contrary, if God &s;et it on fire, wee may &s;ay with one of our ancient fathers, O happy flame, but not burn|ing, illuminating, but not con&s;uming: Thou do&s;t transform whom thou do&s;t touch, &s;o that they, even merit to bee called Gods. Thou ha&s;t warmed thy Apo&s;tles, who for&s;aking all things but thee, have been made Gods children: Thou ha&s;t warmed the Martyrs, who have &s;pilt their bloud: Thou ha&s;t warmed the Virgins, who by the fire of Divine Love, have quenched the heat of concupi&s;cence. The Confe&s;&s;ors likewi&s;e, that have &s;eparated them&s;elves from the world, to join and to unite un|to thee. So that every creature, by the beneficence of this fire, repurgeth it &s;elf, from its coinquinations, and ordures, and there is nothing exempted from its heat, if it would come to injoy the fellow&s;hip of God; for it is this fire, that kindleth in us by the illuminations of the holy Spirit, by means of our corporall tribulations, which brings us &s;ooner to God, then any other thing, of which Lead is one of their &s;ymboles, working the &s;ame operations in metals, as afflictions do in us. There is &s;o gallant a pa&s;&s;age in the 6. of <HI>Jer.</HI> under the figure of a Coupelle, which I think, that there is not a Gold&s;mith, Refiner, or a Mettleman, which hath &s;poken more properly: <HI>They are all corrupters,</HI> &s;peaking of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> people, then <HI>iron or copper. The bellows are bu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nt, the Lead is con&s;umed in the fire, the Founder melteth in vain, for their wickedne&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s are not plucked away, R<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">probate &s;ilver &s;hall men cal them, for the Lord hath rejected them.</HI> Whereupon <HI>Rab. Sol.</HI> is a little
<PB N="90" REF="48"> interveared for that hee doth not well under&s;tand the <HI>Coupelles,</HI> being willing to adjoin one of his own. The prophet &s;peaketh here (&s;aith hee) of God as of a Gold&s;mith, who de&s;irous to purge gold puts thereunto lead or tin, that the fire &s;hould not con&s;ume the gold: for after the lead is con&s;umed, the fire hurts the gold by con&s;uming it. Mark what it is to &s;peek unadvi&s;ed|ly of things wee doe not under&s;tand, for &s;o doing we &s;uffer our &s;elves to fall ea&s;ily into gro&s;&s;e ab&s;urdities: There are are here two faults &s;o apparent, that even appr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ntices would mock at them: the one to mixe Tin at the <HI>Coupelle</HI> or a&s;hes in &s;tead of lead: for it would not bee fit: al&s;o the Prophet takes heed therein. See what <HI>Geber</HI> &s;ets down, in the Chap. of <HI>A&s;hes,</HI> Metalls that partici|pate lea&s;t of the &s;ub&s;tance of quick-&s;ilver, and more of Sulphur, &s;eparate them&s;elves &s;ooner and more ea&s;ily from their mixtions. So that lead, becau&s;e it hath more of the Sulphureall terre&s;treity, and le&s;&s;e quick-&s;ilver, it is of more tender and light fu&s;ion, then any other: hardens le&s;&s;e in the coupple and &s;eparates &s;oone&s;t: therefore it is more proper to this examination, for that it carries away with le&s;&s;e time and pains, the impu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">iti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s of imperfect metals, mingled with gold and &s;ilver. Upon which there is no action, and by con&s;equent b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ings le&s;&s;e domage thereunto: the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e where becau&s;e the &s;ub&s;tance of tin participates of much quick &s;ilver, and of little &s;ulphurous earthine&s;&s;e, &s;o that being more pure and &s;ubtil, the more profoundly it mingles it &s;elf, and adheres more &s;trong|ly to gold and &s;ilver, from which it is &s;eparated more &s;lowly and more unwillingly, with &s;o much of their lo&s;&s;e and falling off: the other error is to think, that when the lead in the <HI>Coupelle</HI> hath ex|terminated the imperfect metals, and it &s;elf is partly gone away in &s;moak, partly burned, and partly inglued, within the <HI>Coupelle</HI> as in vitrified litarge, fire cannot in any thing hurt gold, for be|ing fire and pure, it would remain there a thou&s;and years with|out the lo&s;&s;e of one grain: to which nothing of things is want|ing, it is even &s;afe in burnings, and great fires; the matter re|maining &s;aid <HI>Pliny</HI> well, &s;peaking of gold in his 33. Book, chap. 3. as wee may &s;ee by experience. The prophet &s;aid then, and that &s;o properly as nothing more, that even as when there are more impurities mingled with gold and &s;ilver, to repurge them we mu&s;t put thereunto more lead at once. So the Jews iniquities were &s;o great that it was needfull to vi&s;it them with more afflictions one
<PB N="91" REF="48"> upon another to make them know their offences and to for&s;ake them: as Phy&s;itians who redouble oftentimes their purgations and medicaments in tho&s;e bodies, where the malady is contuma|cious and rebellious: for tribulations and adver&s;ities, are in us as fire, and as lead, in impure metalls: As gold and &s;ilver are tryed by the fire, &s;o the Lord tries our hearts, <HI>Prov.</HI> 2. and in the 2. of <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 5. <HI>What&s;oever is brought upon thee, take patiently, for gold and &s;ilver, are tried by fire, and men by the furnace of tribulation, and angui&s;h:</HI> Saint <HI>Gregorie</HI> in his Pa&s;toralls upon this pa&s;&s;age of the 11. of <HI>Ez<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">kiel,</HI> who dilateth and in&s;i&s;teth hard upon this metaphor and &s;imilitude. <HI>The hou&s;e of I&s;rael is to me become dro&s;&s;e, all they are bra&s;&s;e and tin, and iron in the mid&s;t of the furnace, and they are the dro&s;&s;e of &s;ilver, and therefore &s;aith the Lord, I wil gather you in the mid&s;t of Ieru&s;alem, as a ma&s;&s;e of &s;ilver, bra&s;&s;e, tin, and iron, and of lead, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon them to melt them. So I will gather them in mine anger, and in my fury, yea I will gather them and blow upon them, in the fire of my wrath, and they &s;hall be melted, in the mid&s;t thereof. As &s;ilver is melted in the mid&s;t of the furnace, &s;o &s;hall they be melted in the mid&s;t thereof, and they &s;hall know, that I the Lord have poured my fury upon them.</HI> Saint <HI>Gregory,</HI> interprets this for the <HI>Jews,</HI> who in their &s;trong adver&s;ities would not leave to go out of the way of their vices, and depravations, and would receive no correction but made them&s;elves wor&s;e: <HI>Mala|chy</HI> 3.3. u&s;eth the &s;ame form of &s;peech. <HI>The Lord &s;hall fit to melt and purge &s;ilver, hee &s;hall purifie the Sonnes of</HI> Levi, <HI>and purge them as gold, and &s;ilver, and they &s;hall offer to the Lord an offering of righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e.</HI> See how hee there re&s;embleth very well, Gold to Faith, and Religion and Silver to works, for i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> the one and not the o|ther be not very clean, in vain would we pre&s;ent them unto God. And all this mu&s;t bee perfected by fire: according <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o which the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaketh, <HI>Thou h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t proved my heart, and ha&s;t vi&s;ited me in the night, thou ha&s;t examined mee by fire, and there is no iniquity found in mee, P&s;al.</HI> 17.3. for (as St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith) fire according to the will of God, doth divers operations. It did not burn the three children in the furnace, yet burned tho&s;e that were with|out: and as the Sea gave way to the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> to pa&s;&s;e on dry foot, and drowned <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> and all his that pur&s;ued them. There is a fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e, &s;aith St. <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> upon the 39. <HI>P&s;al. ver&s;.</HI> 3. <HI>which with its Ardor devoureth the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, and blotteth out the &s;in:</HI> But wee mo&s;t not under&s;tand it materiall fire here below, for there is
<PB N="92" REF="49"> nothing common here, with &s;pirituality, but by way of analogy, and corre&s;pondence; there being a very great di&s;proportion be|twixt intelligible and &s;en&s;ible things, as in <HI>Jer.</HI> 20.9. <HI>And there was a burning fire in my bones.</HI> In &s;um that the holy Scripture is &s;tuffed with the&s;e manner of &s;peeches drawn from fire and metals. As in <HI>Hag.</HI> 2.8. <HI>The &s;ilver is mine, and the gold is mine, &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI> Gold, &s;ilver, and all metals, yea generally, all things what&s;oever, although they may bee &s;aid to bee of God; as St. <HI>Jerome</HI> &s;aid very well, fora&s;much as he created them, and gave them being, &s;ub&s;i&s;tance, and maintenance. <HI>The earth is the Lord and the fulne&s;&s;e thereof:</HI> notwith&s;tanding this gold and &s;ilver, which God alleadgeth here more particularly to bee his, mu&s;t bee under&s;tood my&s;tically. By &s;ilver, interpret the law of the mouth, <HI>Tbe words of the Lord are pure words, as &s;ilver tried in a furnace of earth, purified &s;even times.</HI> And by Gold (&s;aith <HI>Zohar</HI>) the written Law, where there are many brave meditations to be con&s;idered; for there i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> not a form of a letter, point nor accent, but importeth &s;ome my&s;tery, as it is particularly &s;pecified in <HI>Ghi|nab Egoz,</HI> in the garden of drowning of <HI>Rabbi Jo&s;eph Ca&s;tiglia<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> On the other &s;ide &s;ilver is applyed to the old Te&s;tament, gold to the New. <HI>Origen</HI> confronts Faith to Gold, and the confe&s;&s;ion and preaching thereof to &s;ilver. That there, to the conceptions of the thought, and this here, to the word and enuntiation made by month which expre&s;&s;eth it, and puts it out. The tongue of the ju&s;t is cho&s;en &s;ilver. Of which two metal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, namely of right Faith and purity of con&s;cience, and of verball confe&s;&s;ion, the Temple, and Church of God in Chri&s;tiani&s;m, and the glory of him was greater then the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Law, which was but a dark &s;hadow th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">re|eof. So that gold, de&s;igns the heart, that corre&s;ponds to the Sun, and to fire: and &s;ilver words, with Salt wherewith they mu&s;t be &s;ea&s;oned: <HI>The word is near unto thee even in thy mouth, and in thy heart that thou mai&s;t doe it:</HI> which the Apo&s;tle appropria|ting, <HI>If thou confe&s;&s;e the Lord Ie&s;us with thy mouth, and do&s;t beleeve in thy heart, that God hath rai&s;ed him from the dead thou &s;halt be &s;aved: for wee beleeve with the heart to Iu&s;tification, and confe&s;&s;e with the mouth to have Salvation.</HI> It is gold and &s;ilver which hee would that wee &s;hould build on his foundation: the gold of <HI>Havilah,</HI> that groweth within the terre&s;triall Paradi&s;e, with the Carbuncle and the Emrauld which the P&s;almi&s;t in the 67. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> calleth the Greens of Gold.</P>
<PB N="93" REF="49">
<P>Behold here the depurements that fire operates where it pa&s;&s;eth: and chiefly upon metals, which are of a mo&s;t &s;trong and per&s;i&s;ting compo&s;ition, as any other Elementary &s;ub&s;tance, therefore wee have therein a little in&s;i&s;ted, becau&s;e that the Prophets have therein founded the greate&s;t part of their Allegories: where wee mu&s;t note, that they have commonly put the imperfect, lead, tin, iron, and copper, in the bad part, and &s;ometimes gold al&s;o: as in <HI>Jer.</HI> 51.7. Babylon is a golden Cup: and in the 2. of <HI>Dan.</HI> 32. &s;peaking of <HI>Nebuchadnezar,</HI> Thou art the Golden head, more in the 31. of <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> there are many chances in gold: <HI>Zohar</HI> calls it Satans dung, following the Text of the 37. of <HI>Job:</HI> Gold comes from the North: for the North is alwayes taken by the <HI>Cabali&s;ts</HI> in the evill part, becau&s;e the Sun never pa&s;&s;eth thereby, and it relates to midnight, where the hurtfull powers are in their great reputation and vigour: as on the contrary, Noon in good part; Wee mu&s;t not then under&s;tand, that <HI>Job</HI> would &s;ay that gold came from the Northern parts, for it grows not there by rea&s;on of their continuall colds: but in &s;ome certain place, where it pro|creates; this is more ordinarily towards the North: again&s;t which the Sun, as again&s;t a But, darts its beams, being to the Meridi|on all part, as likewi&s;e all good wines. And to this purpo&s;e <HI>Franci&s;cus Oviedus</HI> in his 16. Book, Chap. 1. of his generall hi&s;to|rie of the <HI>Indies,</HI> &s;peaking of the I&s;le of <HI>Borichen,</HI> puts this, <HI>Bori|chen,</HI> otherwi&s;e called St. <HI>Johns</HI> I&s;land, is very rich in gold, and men draw it, in great quantity, even on the Northern &s;ide, as in the oppo&s;ite part towards the South, it is very fruitfull of victu|alls: the &s;ame al&s;o is found even in <HI>Spain</HI> it &s;elf. Gold then is &s;ometimes taken in the wor&s;er part, as in the golden Calf which the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> melted in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his ab&s;ence, from whence one of their <HI>Rabbins</HI> &s;aid, there had never befallen them any calamity and mi&s;ery, but there was an ounce of that Idol mingled there|with: Silver becau&s;e of its whitene&s;&s;e, denotes Mercy, is alwayes in the good part, and fir&s;t in e&s;teem before gold, as it is <HI>Hag.</HI> the 2. <HI>Mine is the &s;ilver, and mine is the gold.</HI> The <HI>Onorocrites</HI> al&s;o hold, that to dream of gold pre&s;ageth &s;ome near affliction, becau&s;e it a|greeth in colour with gall, and the pain in the ears, two &s;ub&s;i|&s;tences extreamly bitter: and bitterne&s;&s;e &s;ignifies, trouble, angui&s;h, and grief; as Pearls doe tears for their re&s;emblance: But &s;ilver expre&s;&s;eth joy and merriment. And therefore &s;aith the &s;ame <HI>Zo|har,</HI>
<PB N="94" REF="50"> Gold is attributed to <HI>Gabriel,</HI> and Silver to <HI>Michael,</HI> which in order is his &s;uperior, Bra&s;&s;e to <HI>&V;riel,</HI> becau&s;e it repre&s;ents him in colour of fire, faith to <HI>&V;r</HI> of the <HI>Caldees,</HI> Gold, &s;aith he, and fire march together, and copper with them, where was built the little Altar without, where the bloud of the Sacrifices was &s;pilt, and that within was of gold, <HI>Exod.</HI> 38. and 39. Silver is the primary light of the day, and <HI>Jacob.</HI> And gold, that of the night, and <HI>E&s;au</HI> or <HI>Edom</HI> red: Silver repre&s;ents milk; and gold wine, alluding to craft and &s;ubtilty, where it is &s;aid, in the 2. <HI>Eccle&s;. I thought to draw my fle&s;h with Wine, to give my&s;elf unto Wi&s;e|dome.</HI></P>
<P>But to return to our principall purpo&s;e, fire among&s;t other its properties and effects, is very purging, and al&s;o in fle&s;h, and other corruptible &s;ub&s;tances, Salt con&s;umes the greate&s;t part of their corrupting humors: fire al&s;o doth the &s;ame, and analogically &s;pi|ritual fire, which is nothing but the charitable ardor of the Holy Spirit, that inflames us with Faith, Charity, Hope. Shakes off the impurities of our &s;ouls, as it is <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 1.25. <HI>I will purely purge away thy dro&s;&s;e, and take away all thy tin,</HI> for this place here in the 10. of the &s;ame Prophet, ver&s;. 17. <HI>And the light of I&s;rael, &s;hall be for a fire, and his holy one for a flame,</HI> &s;heweth &s;ufficiently that the Holy Spirit is not only light, but fire and flame, which &s;alteth and repurgeth our con&s;ciences from corruption, vices, and ini|quities.</P>
<P>The Sun al&s;o, which is a vi&s;ible Image of the invi&s;ible Divi|nity, as for light, fo for its vivifying heat, wherewith all &s;en&s;ible things are maintained, as the intelligible by the &s;uper c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">le&s;tial Sun, works the &s;ame effect in ca&s;e of purification, as fire. As we may &s;ee by experience, as the places where the Sun-beams come not, are ever mu&s;ty and mouldy, and to purifie them wee open windowes to admit light into them: and there make great fires, which is very proper in the time of the Plague, for it cha&s;eth away ill air, as light doth darkne&s;&s;e. Al&s;o evill &s;pirits, who have more re|putation in the dark, from plague walking in darkne&s;&s;e, the <HI>He|brews</HI> call this Divell ravaging by night <HI>Deber,</HI> and from his vio|lence and Meridian Divell, that of the day <HI>Ketch;</HI> the Greeks <GAP DESC="foreign">. There is in the fire, &s;aith <HI>Pliny,</HI> a certain faculty and medicinall vertue again&s;t the Plague. Who for the ab&s;ence and hiding of the Sun, comes to form it &s;elf: wherein wee find by
<PB N="95" REF="50"> lightning it here and there may bring great comfort and &s;uccour in many kinds. As <HI>Empedocles</HI> and <HI>Hippocrates</HI> doe el&s;ewhere &s;ufficiently demon&s;trate. There was al&s;o a Phy&s;itian at <HI>Athens</HI> that got much reputation, by cau&s;ing them to kindle many fires during the Plague time. So that, the true Plague of the &s;oul be|ing iniquities and offences, which poi&s;on it, its <HI>theriac</HI> or counter-poy&s;on, cannot bee better found then in the fire of contrition that the Holy Spirit kindles therein: <HI>My heart was hot within mee, while I was mu&s;ing, the fire burned, P&s;al.</HI> 39.3. There is al&s;o a fire of Tribulation which was &s;poken of before, that con&s;umes our va|nities, and unruly concupi&s;cences; and makes us retun to God, whereupon one of the ancient Fathers &s;aid, it was a happy tri|bulation that forceth to repentance. And St. <HI>Gregory,</HI> the evils that pre&s;&s;e us here, doe compell us the &s;ooner to come to God. And that for our greater good, that God doth thus burn us by the fire of tribuation: that which was &s;aid by the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> 26.3. <HI>Prove me O Lord, and examine mee, try my reins, and my heart:</HI> And in the 13. of <HI>Zach. ver&s;.</HI> 9. <HI>I will bring the third part through the fire, and I will refine them as &s;ilver is refined, and I will try them as Gold is tried:</HI> For fire hath a double property, as hath been &s;aid, the one to &s;eparate the pure from the impure, and the other to perfect that which remains of the pure. Take away ru&s;t from &s;ilver, and it will go forth a mo&s;t pure ve&s;&s;ell: But the propriety of the&s;e &s;ignifications is better kept in the Hebrew, then in any other tongue. Where the verb <HI>Szaraph</HI> is joined and attributed unto &s;ilver, which &s;ignifies, to melt, and to refine, and to Gold <HI>Baban</HI> to prove. The one denotes Gods in Elect an holy purity of con|&s;cience by &s;ilver, the other by gold a perfection of con&s;tancy, which wee cannot know better then by proof: and from thence comes dignity and eternall glory, the one and the other acquired by the fire of Examination and of probation; for, as &s;aith St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome,</HI> that which fire is towards gold and &s;ilver, the &s;ame is tribulation in our &s;oules from which fire clean&s;eth the impu|rities and uncleanne&s;&s;e, and makes them neat &s;hining: follow|ing that which is &s;aid in the 17. of <HI>Prov. As &s;ilver is tried by fire, in the furnace, &s;o God proveth the hearts of his Creatures,</HI> and in the 27. of <HI>Eccle&s;. ver.</HI> 5. <HI>The furnace tryeth the Potters ve&s;&s;ell, and tenta|tion of tribulation, trieth good men.</HI> There are many, &s;aith one of the Fathers, who while&s;t they are red in the fire of adver&s;ity, make
<PB N="96" REF="51"> them&s;elves flexible, and malleable, but departing therefrom, they harden them&s;elves again as before, making them&s;elves unfit for conver&s;ion or amendment; <HI>Origen</HI> in his 5. <HI>Homilie</HI> upon the 3. Chap. of <HI>Je&s;us Nave,</HI> they that draw near unto me, draw near unto fire: If you bee (&s;aith hee there) Gold or &s;ilver, the nearer you come to the fire, the more you will become re&s;plen|dant: but if you build with wood, &s;traw, or chaffe, upon the foundation of Faith, and come near the fire, you &s;hall be con|&s;umed: very happy then are tho&s;e that drawing near the fire, are therewith lightned and not burnt. According as it is written in the 3. of <HI>Mal. The Lord will &s;anctifie thee in burning fire.</HI> St. <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> upon a ver&s;e of the 45. <HI>P&s;alm. Wee have pa&s;&s;ed through water, and fire:</HI> Fire burneth (&s;aith hee) and water corrupteth: When adver&s;ity comes upon us, it is as it were fire unto us: and worldly pro&s;perities on the contrary are as water. The earthen ve&s;&s;ell that is well hardened in the fire, fears neither water nor fire. Let us then &s;tudy to amend our &s;elves by the fire of tribu|lation, by bearing it patiently; for if the pottery be not firmly &s;trengthened by fire, the water of temporall vanity will &s;often it and mingle it as durt. And therefore wee mu&s;t pa&s;&s;e through the fire, to come to the water of Mercy, and Grace, whereof St. <HI>John</HI> &s;peaketh in the 3. of S. <HI>Mat. I Baptize you with water unto repentance, but hee that comes after mee is &s;tronger then I, and he will B<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">p|tize you with the holy Spirit, and with fire.</HI> Of which fire we may &s;ee in the 16. of <HI>Wi&s;dome,</HI> 17. for it is wo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">derfull, that in the water that quencheth all things, fire &s;hould be mo&s;t powerfull. That which made St. <HI>Augui&s;tine</HI> him&s;elf &s;ay; that in the Sacrament of Bapti&s;m, which they exerci&s;e and Catechi&s;e, they fir&s;t came to fire, and after to the Bapti&s;m of water: where the &s;ame comes to the temptations of this age, where in the angui&s;h which oppre&s;|&s;eth us, the fire fir&s;t pre&s;ents it &s;elf, but when the fear therein is out, it is to bee feared that a wind of vain glory proceeding from temporall felicity, di&s;&s;olve it not into rain, which will come to quench the fire of heat and Charity, which affliction hath taken within our Souls. To this purpo&s;e, from fire to bapti&s;mall water, de&s;igned by the afore&s;aid pa&s;&s;age, wee have pa&s;&s;ed through water and fire, this b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ats upon the 31. of <HI>Numb.</HI> of clen&s;ing by fire, and b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> water, according as the things may &s;uffer: for vi&s;ible bapti&s;m, is made by vi&s;ible water, and wherein
<PB N="97" REF="51"> the water con&s;i&s;ts in parts which is nothing el&s;e but congealed water, by the acuity of fire thru&s;t thereinto: with which &s;alt every Sacrifice mu&s;t bee &s;alted, that is to &s;ay, the externall man, and the invi&s;ible bapti&s;m of the internall &s;pirituall man is wrought by the Grace of the holy Spirit repre&s;ented by fire which of it &s;elf is invi&s;ible, and unperceivable, except it bee atta|ched to &s;ome matter, as the &s;oul is in the body: This fire there burneth in us mortall &s;ins, and the water wa&s;heth away Veniall and Originall.</P>
<P>But &s;ome wil demand, What is that fire, from whence comes it, that &s;o purifies our &s;ouls, and warms them in the Love of God, and illightens them with his knowledge? for wee love nothing but what wee know: and wee cannot know God, nor &s;ee his light, but by his light <HI>(In thy light wee &s;hall &s;ee light:)</HI> that is to &s;ay, by his word and parol who hath vouch&s;afed to reve&s;t us with our fle&s;h. Thy word is a fiery word, and thy &s;ervant loveth it. It <HI>this fire</HI> then which our Saviour &s;aith, <HI>hee was come to &s;end into the earth: and what will I, if it bee already kindled?</HI> For as <HI>Prometheus</HI> brought fire here below, which hee had lighted, in one of the wheels of the Suns Chariot: The word hath ren|dred, lightened in the <HI>Mercavah</HI> Chariot or throne of God, which is all of fire; as al&s;o in the 17. of <HI>Dan.</HI> ver&s;. 9. <HI>Origen</HI> in his 13. <HI>Homil.</HI> upon the 25. of <HI>Exodus.</HI> Jacinth, Purple, double Scarlet, and Silk: &s;ets down, that the&s;e four repre&s;ented the four Elements, Silk or Linnen, the Earth from whence it came; Pur|ple, Water, becau&s;e extracted from bloud with the &s;hell or cockle of the &s;ea; Jacinth in Hebrew <HI>Techeleh,</HI> the Air, for it is without heavenly blew; and Scarlet, fire, by rea&s;on of its red enflamed co|lour. But wherefore is it there &s;aid, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> redoubled the fire; and not one of the re&s;t? Becau&s;e that fire hath a double propriety, the one to &s;hine, and to bee bright, and the other to burn: wee mu&s;t under&s;tand corruptible things, for upon the in|corruptible, wee mu&s;t look upon for this regard, to refine them and amend more and more. <HI>Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while hee opened to us the Scriptures? Luke</HI> 24.32. &s;aid the Pilgrims of <HI>Emaus.</HI> And this is it where|fore it is commanded in the Law to offer double Scarlet&punc; to a|dorn the Tabernacle. But how can this bee? Aske <HI>Origen,</HI> a Doctor in&s;tructing people in the Church of God, de&s;igned by
<PB N="98" REF="52"> the Tabernacle, if hee did but cry after the vices, bla&s;phem, and reprove them; without bringing in&s;truction and con&s;olation to the people, explaining to them the Scriptures, and the ob&s;cure &s;en&s;e therein concealed, wherein con&s;i&s;teth the internall Doctrin, and the my&s;ticall under&s;tanding: hee well offers Scarlet, but &s;imple and not double, becau&s;e that this fire doth not but burn and not lighten. But on the other &s;ide, if they doe but clear and interpret Scripture without reprehen&s;ion of vice and &s;in, and to &s;hew requi&s;ite &s;everity to a declarer of the Word of God, wee offer as it were &s;imple Scarlet: for this fire there, doth not but il|luminate &amp; doth not enflame per&s;ons to repentance of their mi&s;|doings, correction and amendment of life: whereunto coope|rates the Grace of the Holy Spirit, which is dome&s;tique fire, with which wee mu&s;t &s;alt our &s;ouls to pre&s;erve them from corruption: for there is nothing that doth more &s;ymbolize to the nature of the &s;oul then fire: becau&s;e it is that of al things &s;en&s;ible, which ap|proacheth more to &s;pirituality, as well for its continuall and light motion which &s;oars alwayes upwards, as for its light, which <HI>Plotin</HI> &s;aith mu&s;t properly be attributed to the intelligible world, heat to the Cele&s;tiall, and burning, to the Elementary. And for as much as it participates more of light then any of the other Elements: that likewi&s;e acquires unto it a precellency a|bove the re&s;t: for the Earth being a body wholly without mo|tion, dark and duski&s;h; is by con&s;equent le&s;&s;e in dignity, as the &s;ettlement and lees of all others. Water becau&s;e it is clearer, is more worthy, and the Air yet more: But fire is that which &s;ur|pa&s;&s;eth all, therefore it is lodged in a higher place, and nearer to the Region of the air: It is that, which <HI>Vincent</HI> no de&s;picable Author, was plea&s;ed to &s;ay in his Philo&s;ophicall Mirror, 2. Book, 33. chap. Every thing for as much as it participates more of light, &s;o much the more it approacheth nearer to the Divine E&s;&s;ence, which is perfect light, by which God began the Creation of the Univer&s;e, or the fir&s;t thing that hee ordained to bee made, was light: and to &s;hew us, that wee mu&s;t alwayes walk in light and not in darkne&s;&s;e. And on the contrary, how much more the Ele|ments are di&s;tant from light, by &s;o much they approach to their di&s;&s;emblance and deformity, which is a token of corruption. For as much as the parties of the compo&s;ed Elements are homogeneall and homomaternall, or like one to another, &s;o much le&s;&s;e are they
<PB N="99" REF="52"> corruptible and &s;eparable, as wee may &s;ee in gold, the mo&s;t pro|portionate &s;ub&s;tance of all, and which approacheth neare&s;t to fire: that which moved <HI>Pindarus</HI> from the beginning of his fir&s;t O|lympian, to join the&s;e three, water, fire and gold together, water is be&s;t, gold, and &s;hining fire, &amp;c.</P>
<P>Doe wee not &s;ee that at every end of a field almo&s;t that the Earth doth change nature and quality, and that there are infinite &s;orts of them? Not &s;o many of Water, Air is mo&s;t like unto it &s;elf: but if there bee any changes or alteration therein it is by accident, as if &s;ome maladies &s;hould fall thereupon: which doe more readily adhere thereunto, becau&s;e of its rarity of &s;ub&s;tance then to any others. Fire is altogether exempt therefrom, being alwayes one, and in its al like to his parts, which are like to them|&s;elves, except the matter to which it doth adhere makes it vary. And this it is in which it comes neare&s;t to the Cele&s;tiall nature which is all Uniform in it &s;elf, and &s;o well regulated, that it hath nothing unlike: which maketh that the fire is repurgative above the re&s;t of his fellow Elements, to clear them and put in evidence. In the 12. of St. <HI>Luke</HI> our Saviour warneth his Di&s;ciples to have their <HI>Lampes burning in their hands, that their light might come to &s;hine among&s;t men, that their good workes may bee &s;een, to glorifie their Father which is in heaven,</HI> for <HI>hee that doth ill hates the light,</HI> which <HI>Job</HI> &s;aith is wor&s;e to Malefactors, then <HI>the &s;hadow of death.</HI> It is the &s;ame al&s;o that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> would &s;ecretly infer in the 3. of <HI>Gen.</HI> where hee makes God to walk <HI>at noon,</HI> which is the cleare&s;t light of the day. And the Apo&s;tle in the 1. of <HI>Tim.</HI> 6.16. &s;aith that <HI>he dwells in light in acce&s;&s;ible,</HI> without which all would be confu&s;edly folded up in hideous darkne&s;&s;e. Let us then take heed, that the light which hee hath plea&s;ed to put into our &s;oul, be not obfu&s;cate and converted into black ob&s;curity: and that on this &s;olid foundation which hee hath granted us of his knowledge, wee build not hay, wood, and chaffe, all things of them&s;elves ob&s;cure and dark, in lieu of gold, &s;ilver, pretious &s;tones, &s;o clear, &s;hining and bright. Let us hear again that which <HI>Zohar</HI> divinely di&s;cour&s;eth of, about fire and light, upon the Text of the 4. of <HI>Levit. Thy Lord God is a con|&s;uming fire.</HI> That there is one fire which devoures another being the &s;tronger, as wee may &s;ee in &s;ome burning firebrand, or torch, that which proceeds therefrom is of two &s;orts: the one blew, attached to a black match, which retaineth it &s;elf there nouri&s;h|ing
<PB N="100" REF="53"> it &s;elf from corruption. The other flame proceeding from the red inflamed Match is white, and the blew is white in the highe&s;t, as to return to the fir&s;t originall: this <HI>Homer</HI> was not ignorant of, when in the 6. of his <HI>Ody&s;&s;es</HI> hee attributed to the <HI>Olympus</HI> a pure and bright &s;plendor.</P>
<P>Nothing &s;hould better repre&s;ent unto us the four worlds name|ly the white which is &s;upercele&s;tial, the blew cele&s;tiall, the match fired, the Elementary, and the burning darkne&s;&s;e, Hell: which abundantly &s;hews us the body. Rednes, the vitall &s;pirit, re&s;ident in the bloud; the blew, the &s;oul; the white, the intellect, and the divine character imprinted in the &s;oul: and as the blew light doth quickly change into yellow, quickly into white, the &s;oul al&s;o can doe the &s;ame according as it &s;hall incline it &s;elf to good or to evill: or whether &s;hee follows the provocations of the fle&s;h or the invitations and exhortations of the intellect, following that which is written in the 4. <HI>Gen.</HI> 7. <HI>If thou doe well, &s;halt thou not bee accepted? and if thou do&s;t not well, &s;in lieth at the dore. And unto thee &s;hall bee his de&s;ire, and thou &s;halt rule over him.</HI> The white flame is alwayes the &s;ame, without variation or change, as doth the blew: So the fire in this re&s;pect is fourfold. Black in the lower part of its weik, where the flame that is fa&s;tened to it, is blew. Red in the top of the weik, and the flame white. This which relates al&s;o, to the four Elements, black, materiall, to the Earth: Blew more &s;pirituall to the air, Red to fire, and white to water. For heaven is compo&s;ed of fire and water, which is above the heavens. <HI>Let the waters that are above the heavens prai&s;e the Lord.</HI> Yet neverthe|le&s;&s;e all this is but fire, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the &s;on of <HI>Maynon</HI> declares very well in the &s;econd Book of his <HI>Mor.</HI> chap. 31. where he &s;aith that under the name of Earth are compri&s;ed the four Elements, and by darkne&s;&s;e was under&s;tood the fir&s;t fire: for it is &s;aid in the of <HI>Deut. You have heard his words out of the mid&s;t of fire,</HI> and then he adds of a &s;odain, <HI>You have heard his voice out of darkne&s;&s;e:</HI> This fire moreover, was called the fir&s;t fire, becau&s;e that is not it which is &s;hining and clear, but it is only, &s;o tran&s;parent to the &s;ight, as is the Air: and could not comprehend it &s;elf therewith, for if it were &s;hining wee &s;hould in the night &s;ee all the air &s;hine as fire. And for that the darkne&s;&s;e, which was fir&s;t named, denoted fire, namely that whereof it is &s;aid, that <HI>darkne&s;&s;e was upon the face of the
<PB N="101" REF="53"> Aby&s;&s;e:</HI> becau&s;e the fire was under the three Elements; compri|&s;ed under this word <HI>Aby&s;&s;us.</HI> There are other darkne&s;&s;es which follow after: then when the &s;eparation of things was made, and the Darkne&s;&s;es he called Night. All this, the fore&s;aid <HI>Rabbin</HI> put out. To which that would touch, which the <HI>Alcoran</HI> car|ries in <HI>Azoare.</HI> 65. <HI>I will &s;end you a clear and beautifull fire.</HI> All this which adheres then to the low black part, is therwith con&s;umed &amp; de&s;troyed, and holdeth place of death: after which, cometh true life: the blue flame likewi&s;e if it therein degenerate, and lets it pre|dominate; but the white doth not endeavor but to uncover it &s;elf here below to tran&s;port it &s;elf upwards: and not &s;uffer it &s;elf to bee over ma&s;tered by others. And doth not devoure nor de&s;troy, nor is not thereby devoured, nor his clear &s;hining &s;plendor alter|ed, as are tho&s;e of the others: By rea&s;on whereof wee mu&s;t ad|here and let our &s;elves be &s;alted with this white fire, and bee il|luminated with this fair white light that never varies, following that which is &s;aid in the 4. of <HI>Deut. You which adhere to the Lord your God, you are all living al&s;o, as at this day.</HI> But if our blew light the &s;oul, adhere to the black, and to the red, which are our &s;en&s;ualities and concupi&s;cences, the &s;trange fire will force it &s;elfe into us, and will devoure and con&s;ume us. This knowledge of the Elements, and of their colours, doth not in&s;i&s;t only in compo&s;ed bodies, here below, but thereby wee may mount as by <HI>Jacobs</HI> Ladder, the height of this cele&s;tiall world, where the Elements are al&s;o, yet of another &s;ort, more &s;imple and depured: and from thence to pa&s;&s;e beyond into the intelligible world, where they are in their true e&s;&s;ence; for all con&s;i&s;ts in the four Elements. Sons of wi&s;dome under&s;tand (&s;aith <HI>Hermes</HI> in his Tract of 7. chapters) not only corporally, but al&s;o &s;piritually, the &s;cience of the four Elements, who&s;e &s;ecret apparition is in no wi&s;e &s;ignified, except they bee fir&s;t compounded, becau&s;e of the Elements; there is no|thing made without their compo&s;ition and Regiment. Will we dive more deeply into the &s;ecrets of this Caball? This Compo|&s;ition and Regiment of the Elements, is no other thing then the <HI>Sacro&s;anct.</HI> four-lettered ineffable <HI>Jehovah:</HI> which comprehends all that which is, was, and &s;hall bee: where the little and finall &he; notes the body and matter, or other the like, where the Fire cleaveth or fa&s;teneth unto: The &finalkaf; <HI>vau</HI> or cloud copulative which
<PB N="102" REF="54"> a&s;&s;embles the two &he; the intelligible and the &s;en&s;ible, are the &s;pi|rits that join the Soul with the Body: the red inflammation of the coal or weik, with the azure flame, doe &s;ignifie the &s;oul: and the Jod is the white unchangeable and permanent flame of the intellect, where all at length comes to terminate, which white|ne&s;&s;e is the &s;eat of the true &s;pirituall hidden light, which is not &s;een nor known, but by it &s;elf: for indeed our nature to take it in it &s;elf, is but a dark &s;ub&s;tance; right re&s;embling the Moon, which hath no light but what it receives from the Sun, which &s;he is apt to receive, as our &s;oul is that of the intellectuall light: And there is not a creature what&s;oever, which is of it &s;elf a &s;ub&s;tanti|all light; but only a participation of the only true light, which &s;hineth in all, and through all, plainly and &s;en&s;ibly. It is the <HI>Cha&s;mall</HI> of <HI>Ezechiel</HI> according to <HI>Zohar,</HI> whence proceeds fire or light a&s;&s;embled of two, which are yet but one thing: the white light, namely which mounteth and cleareth that, which no mor|tall eye could &s;uffer, that of which is written in 46. <HI>P&s;al. Light is ri&s;en to the ju&s;t, and gladne&s;&s;e to the upright in heart:</HI> which corre|&s;ponds to the intelligible world, and the inward man. The o|ther is a twinckling and flaming light, of a red fiery colour, joined and united to a coal, or a weik, &s;ignifying the &s;en&s;ible world, and the outward corporall man. The &s;oul is placed in the middle, namely the blew light, part whereof, is fa&s;tened to the weik, and part to the white flame; quickly adhering to one, and quickly to another, whence according as &s;hee applies it &s;elf it comes to bee either burned or illuminated, following that which <HI>Origen</HI> &s;ets down upon the 14. of <HI>Jer. That God is a red burning fire, con&s;uming and de&s;troying, as concerning &s;inners, and to holy and ju&s;t per&s;ons, a white rejoycing and vivifying light: Jamblicus,</HI> that doth not &s;oar &s;o high as <HI>Zohar,</HI> being not a&s;&s;i&s;ted but by the light and in&s;tinct of nature, &s;aid very well, but afterwards the <HI>Phae|nician</HI> Theologie, that al which we can perceive of goodne&s;&s;e and contentment, in this &s;en&s;ible world, comes from the light which is imparted to us from the Sun, and Stars illu&s;trated with it. And as the Sun imparts his light to the Moon, to the Stars, and to the Heavens: &s;o God (communicates his to the intelligible world:) the lively Fountain of all others, to his ble&s;&s;ed Intelligences. So that, all what our &s;ouls can have of good, of joy, of beatitude, be it while&s;t they are annexed to the bodies, or &s;eparated there|from,
<PB N="103" REF="54"> comes from this primordiall light, which &s;hineth in them by reflexion, as the Sun beams in a ba&s;in, a concave looking gla&s;&s;e, or in water, or twhart a looking gla&s;s, according as St. <HI>Denys</HI> &s;ets it down, in his 4. chapter of divine names: which proceeding from the Soveraign good, carries therewith the &s;ame appellation. And <HI>Rabbi Eliezer</HI> in his chapters &s;ets down, that the heavens were created with the light of the Creators ve&s;tment, grounding him&s;elf upon the P&s;almi&s;t, 204.2. <HI>Clad with light as with a ve&s;t|ment, and the Earth with &s;now, which was under the throne of his glo|ry.</HI> All Rabinique Allegories, may men &s;ay, but where doe the great my&s;teries con&s;i&s;t, from which St. <HI>Denys</HI> doth not &s;traddle far in the place alledged? for even as this fair great and clear &s;hining Sun, that hath in it &s;elf &s;uch a manife&s;t repre&s;entation and image of Soveraign good, extends it light throughout the Uni|vers, and doth communicate it to all that are capable to receive it. So that there is nothing, which doth not participate of his light, and vivifying heat: there is nothing, that can hide it &s;elf from the heat thereof. In the &s;ame manner this Eternall &s;uper|cele&s;tiall light, illu&s;trates, vivifies, and perfects all that which hath being, and bani&s;heth darkne&s;&s;es and all &s;oftning hoarine&s;&s;e, that may bee brought thereinto, lightning our &s;ouls with a de&s;ire al|wayes to participate more and more of this light: for when &s;he comes to prove it by little and little, and by degrees that helps it and conducts to the joy and fruition of a Soveraign good, which is the light of the Soul, namely the Intellect that clears it, to be a|ble to apprehend the living &s;pring from whence it came; for light is not &s;een, but by her &s;elf the mo&s;t worthy and excellent property of fire, with which it hath this in particular and proper, that &s;hee makes her &s;elf to &s;ee, as it doth, and by her means manife&s;teth all that which our &s;ight may apprehend. Yet there is nothing har|der to comprehend, then that which is either of the one or of the other, for in &s;hewing us, and revealing us all it is then, when &s;hee hides her &s;elf mo&s;t from us, even to blinde us and to reduce our brightne&s;&s;e into darkne&s;&s;e; As is his darkne&s;&s;e, &s;o is his light.</P>
<P>Wee mu&s;t then not &s;peak of God without light, becau&s;e he is the crue light becau&s;e, O Lord, thou art my Lantern: which doth enlighten us, by thy word, <HI>Thy word is a Lantern to my feet,</HI> the &s;plendor of the Father, and the living fountain of life: as holy St. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> after St. <HI>John. In him was life, and the life
<PB N="104" REF="55"> was the light of men, and light &s;hined in darkne&s;&s;e, and the darkne&s;&s;e com+prehended it not.</HI> So that from this light, wee have double com|modity: the one, that life, by which wee live, the other the light by which wee &s;ee, that which enlightens us. The &s;pirituall man, the true man enjoyes the one and the other: the Carnall man, life onely: for touching the re&s;t, <HI>hee is in darkne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e they have been rebells to light,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Job, becau&s;e they have not her wayes.</HI> Even as if one &s;hould inclo&s;e a to<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ch within a Lantern of cut-&s;tone, or the like ob&s;cure and dark matter, where its light would remain as quenched and buried, without ability to extend it &s;elf abroad for the ob&s;tacle that hinders it. And if we want light (&s;aith St. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI>) there would bee no more comeline&s;&s;e, be<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">uty, or plea&s;ure in our hou&s;e: for it is it which makes all &s;eem agree|able: which he borrowed from <HI>Homer</HI> according to what was at|tributed in <HI>Suidas,</HI> who through an un&s;ea&s;onable time of cold, and rain having been received into an Inne, where they made him a fire, hee &s;odainly made ver&s;es containing in &s;ub&s;tance, that children were the ornament and Crown of the Father; Towers, of walls; hor&s;es, of the fields; &s;hips, of the Sea; Magi&s;trates, of the places of the A&s;&s;embly, where they admini&s;tred ju&s;tice to the people; and a fair burning and lighted fire, the comeline&s;&s;e and rejoicing of an hou&s;e, which renders it &s;o much the more hono|rable. To &s;ee a burning fire in an old h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">u&s;e. Some attribute them to, <HI>He&s;iod: Tri&s;megi&s;tus</HI> among&s;t the re&s;t cals light the father of all, who hath procreated man like unto i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, participant of light, and of life depending thereon: and life was the light of men. The Father is as the Sun in his E&s;&s;ence: from whence comes &s;plendor and heat, which three are not &s;eparated one from ano|ther, but remain united together, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lthough they are di&s;tinct: in this fire then our &s;ouls are warmed in the Love and fear of God, and lightened in his knowledge. Whereupon Pope <HI>Inn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">cent</HI> the 3. in a Sermon upon the Holy Spirit &s;ets down, that hee was &s;ent to the Di&s;ciples in &s;hape of fire, to m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ke them &s;hine by wi&s;dome, and to warm them by charity, that which regulates and forms life, and wi&s;dom forms doctrine, and as this fire hath life, and heat by which it purifieth and clean&s;eth: &s;o the Holy Gho&s;t by its light illuminates the &s;pirit of man by wi&s;dome, and repurgeth it by its ardent charity. This is the fire with which the inner man, &s;hould be &s;alted, for to &s;alt, bake, and burn, doe communi|cate
<PB N="105" REF="55"> their appellations and &s;ignifications, by their con&s;emblable proprieties and effects: becau&s;e that Salt boils in the ta&s;tes by rea&s;on of its acrimony, and fire the &s;en&s;e when it burnes, and a thing &s;alted is half boiled, as is before &s;aid: as well to make it of more ea&s;ie dige&s;tion, as to con&s;erve it longer, which are the pro|prieties and effects of fire.</P>
<P>But to mount from fire here below to the Cele&s;tiall, which is the Sunne, the eye and heart of the &s;en&s;ible world, and the vi&s;ible Image of the invi&s;ible God. Saint <HI>Denis</HI> cals it an all-apparent and cleare Statue of God; and <HI>Iamblichus</HI> the Image of Divine in|telligence, the father of life, the Image and portraict of the Prince, and Soveraigne Dominator of all the univer&s;e, the light of the one, and the other world, the Cele&s;tiall and Elementary. But may we not here alledge at once this brave authority of <HI>Plutarch</HI> on the interpretation of the word <HI>El,</HI> where after he had turned it, and returned it about a pot by many di&s;cour&s;es, which at la&s;t concluding nothing, vani&s;hed away in &s;moak: he concludes that this word, as indeed it is, would &s;ay nothing el&s;e, but thou art? which hath been drawn from the two fir&s;t letters of the holy four lettered word <HI>JEHOVAH,</HI> tran&s;po&s;ed the one before the other, in the Greek <HI>E.L.</HI> which &s;heweth that they have all drunke of this Caballine or Mo&s;aicall fountaine. And at la&s;t come to &s;ay, We wor&s;hip God in his e&s;&s;ence, by our thoughts, and reverence the Sun, which is its Image, for the vertue which it hath given it, to produce things here below: only repre&s;enting by its &s;plen|dor, which he communicates to all, I know not what appearance, or rather &s;hadow of beatitude and mercy, &s;o much as it is po&s;&s;i|ble for a vi&s;ible Nature to repre&s;ent an Intelligible, and a moving to that which is immoveable and &s;table. We &s;ee the Sunne, as wel as fire, but not &s;o neare, to be able &s;o exactly to marke it, we &s;hall very well conjecture in our &s;pirit of that which we may well ap|prehend by &s;ight, that this mu&s;t be the mo&s;t admirable peece of worke of all vi&s;ible Creatures. For although it appears unto us little bigger then a di&s;h or platter, in regard of the great di|&s;tance betwixt us and it, &s;o that I tremble to conceive it, after the very demon&s;trations Mathematicall, which are certaine and in|fallible, yet it is many times greater then the Globe of the Earth and Water joined together, which containeth more then 6000 miles about, an apparent witne&s;&s;e of the wi&s;dome and greatne&s;&s;e
<PB N="106" REF="56"> of its Architect. Of which <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;ticus</HI> in the 43. chapter makes this fine Epiphonema&punc; Who is he that can ever &s;atisfie him&s;elf to contemplate the glory of the Creator? the Firmament in its height which comprehends all things under it, &s;o pure and cleare? and the forme of this va&s;t and immen&s;e hollow of Heaven &s;o faire and admirable to the &s;ight? Is not this an apparent vi&s;ion of his glorious and triumphant Maje&s;ty? The Sunne at his ri&s;ing &s;hew|ing the light of the day (an admirable ve&s;&s;ell) arrived in the mid|dle of his dayly Carreer, it burns and ro&s;teth the earth, and who is it that can &s;ub&s;i&s;t before its extreame heat? It burneth thrice double the mountains, more then the fiery furnaces the pottery which they put to &s;cum off, exhaling from it &s;elfe flaming vapors, and a &s;plendor which darkens the mo&s;t &s;trong a&s;&s;ured &s;ight. Sure|ly the Lord which hath made and formed it of nothing &s;o fair, &s;o great, and admirable, may well &s;ay it to be greater then his owne worke, and which ha&s;teth it &s;o &s;peedily, as to mea&s;ure this incomprehen&s;ible &s;pace in 24 hours. With the &s;urplus of this di&s;|cour&s;e, which refers it &s;elfe, and is as a Paraphra&s;e upon the 19. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> where in few termes, there are touched three principall points of the Sunne: Its beauty compared to a &s;pou&s;e comming out of his bed chamber, and he as a B<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">idegroome comming out of his chamber, his force and impetuo&s;ity as a Giant to runne his cour&s;e: nor is there any thing that can hide him&s;elfe from the heat thereof. And its extream celerity, his going forth is from the end of the Heaven, and his circuit to the ends of it. So that as Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his third Sermon upon Advent, there are three things in the Sunne, its cour&s;e, its &s;plendor, and its heat; the heat dries, the &s;plendor illuminates, and its cour&s;e runs through the univer&s;e. And as in man, which is the little world, the heart is the chiefe &s;eat of life, fir&s;t living, and la&s;t dying: So the Sunne in the great man, which is the World, is the &s;pring, the light and heat which vivifieth all things which im|parteth to the Starres and to the Moone the light by which they &s;hine; even as Chri&s;t, which is the Sunne of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and the light of our Souls, which without it, would remaine bu|ryed in a blinde ob&s;curity. He that followes me &s;hall not walke in darkne&s;&s;e, but &s;hall have the light of life, which con&s;erves it &s;elf for the good, and extingui&s;heth it &s;elfe again&s;t the wicked wit|ne&s;&s;e, <HI>Job</HI> 18. <HI>The light of the wicked &s;hall be put out.</HI> Where light
<PB N="107" REF="56"> is &s;uch, that &s;ometimes the evill Angels transform them&s;elves to deceive us; for in as little as we can blow it backe behinde us, it growes dead and di&s;&s;ipates. But the true and right light doth il|lighten us without variation as well in the knowledge of God, in this which dependeth on our Salvation, as of things &s;en&s;ible and naturall; whereunto the clearne&s;&s;e of the Sunne and of Fire, and their effects do guide us more then any other thing, to ap|prehend &s;ome &s;parkle of this &s;overaigne Wi&s;dome, wherewith God built this great All by his Word. For every &s;cience to which we may attaine by our ratiocination and di&s;cour&s;e, proceeds from the knowledge of &s;en&s;ible things, (for there is nothing in the in|tellect, but was fir&s;t in the &s;en&s;e) but incertaine and variable, to be in continuall variation and vici&s;&s;itude. So that the knowledge that comes from the light of Nature, is very weake, and full of doubts, and incertitudes, if it bee not illu&s;trated by Divine Revelation, which makes us &s;ee all as it is in its true and reall e&s;&s;ence, as the light of the Sunne doth all things corporall. So that the mo&s;t part of heathen Philo&s;ophers, after they have alem|beck't their &s;pirit to the perqui&s;ition of naturall cau&s;es, they finde them&s;elves &s;o confounded, that they are forced to avow that by the only way of ratiocination you cannot draw truth therefrom. As <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> di&s;cour&s;eth thereupon well at large, in the 4. of the <HI>Metaphy&s;icks. Ptolomie</HI> al&s;o, that we mu&s;t not ground and rule our conceptions for regard of corporall things above &s;pirituall; for they are farre di&s;tant each from other, and there is much di&s;|parity and di&s;proportion between them. But yet le&s;&s;e between intelligible above &s;en&s;ible; although they &s;erve us herein as a ladder, following that which the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, That the invi&s;ible things of God are &s;een by the Creation of the world, by things made, al&s;o his eternall power and divinity. We mu&s;t therefore run back to this &s;piritual light, which holdeth the highe&s;t &amp; &s;overaign place in the knowledge of the under&s;tanding; So that light is more properly of things &s;piritual, then corporal, and more certain and true are the invi&s;ible then the vi&s;ible; for as much as God only is a true light in his e&s;&s;ence from whence he derives into our &s;pirit all the knowledg wherewith it can be illu&s;trated, as the potentiall light of our eye is from the brightne&s;s of the Sun, or of &s;omething artificial, traver&s;ing the tran&s;parence of the air, the place of which eye the &s;oul holds in &s;piritualty, as the divine Intelligence maketh
<PB N="108" REF="57"> that of the Sun, which is a repre&s;entation and image thereof.</P>
<P>By rea&s;on whereof, &s;o long as our under&s;tanding &s;hall leave it felfe to be clean&s;ed by the fire of Divine love, he will ever keep its living and luminous brightne&s;&s;e. But if it &s;uffer it &s;elfe fooli&s;hly to go after exterior light, it &s;hall be al&s;o ob&s;cured and extingui&s;hed with the interiour which domineers over it, even as a &s;mall can|dle or wax taper with the twinckling beames of a cleare &s;hining Summer Sunne. Sith then this &s;en&s;ible light, &s;ai<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h Saint <HI>Thomas</HI> upon the 36. of <HI>Job,</HI> by the ab&s;olute Omnipotency of God, who di&s;po&s;eth it as he plea&s;eth, it is &s;ometimes hid to mortals, &s;ome|times communicated; from whence we may gather that there is another light more perfect and excellent, namely the &s;piritual, which God re&s;erves for a recompence of good works, following that which <HI>Job</HI> &s;ets downe, God covereth the light in his hands, and ordaineth it that it &s;hould returne againe and manife&s;t it &s;elf. He &s;heweth it to tho&s;e he loveth, that they may well mount unto it. Whereto that of <HI>Zoroa&s;tres</HI> word for word was conformable. You mu&s;t mount up to the true light and to the bright b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ams of your father, from whom the &s;oul was &s;ent you, reve&s;ted with much intellect. Behold the relations of the&s;e Sunnes the &s;en&s;ible and intelligible, and of the two lights that proceed therefrom. For as that of the Sunne obtains the fir&s;t place in corporall things, &s;aith Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his book of freewill, and that by means thereof, the inferiour communicate with the &s;uperiour, the &s;ame doth the light of the &s;pirituall Sun in regard of intelligibles.</P>
<P>There are al&s;o things that have heat, and no light, as that of Animals of quick chalk be&s;prinkled with water, hor&s;e and pige|on dung, which <HI>Galen</HI> writes, he hath &s;een to wax a fire of it &s;elfe, heapes of oats, and other graines, except Barly, new wines which boil, the lees in the vintage, heaps of Olives, Apples, and Peares, which is a kind of putrefaction, whence al&s;o there is engendred &s;ome &s;trange heat, as we &s;ee in Apo&s;temaes, and in fle&s;h which begins to bee corrupted; and on the contrary wee &s;ee others that have light and no heat; as worms that gli&s;ter in the night, and of little flies that fly in the dark in &s;ummer time; of &s;hels and &s;cales of fi&s;h, in rotten wood, in &s;tones, and in the eyes of ravenous bea&s;ts. <HI>Suidas</HI> &s;peaking of the vi&s;ible and invi&s;ible, this &s;aid he, cannot wel be expre&s;&s;ed in words; it is as little flyes which flye in the &s;um|mer, which by di&s;playing their wings, fly into the eyes with
<PB N="109" REF="57"> &s;mall &s;parkling fires; the worms al&s;o that &s;hine in the night, the &s;hels and &s;cales of &s;ome fi&s;hes, and other the like, which cannot be perceived in the light, but very well in the darke, for the fire which &s;o &s;hineth from them in the dark, is not a colour, who&s;e property is to make it &s;eene at the brightne&s;&s;e of the Sunne, or other light, becau&s;e that the air being tran&s;parent and deprived of all colours, the &s;ight might very ea&s;ily pierce it, and pa&s;&s;e through to apprehend them.</P>
<P>But there are four differences of vi&s;ible things, &s;ome cannot &s;ee but by day, the others, on the contrary, but by night, others by day and night, and others that have no place in darkne&s;&s;e. Colours are not &s;een but by day, not by night; Of things called re&s;plendent, &s;ome by day, others by night, others by day and night; for there are &s;ome that are illu&s;trious and cleare, others darke and heavy, and others betwixt both; others that have lu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tre and &s;plendor, dark and wateri&s;h, and are not &s;eene but by night, as the fore&s;aid flyes, worms, fi&s;h &s;cales, rotten wood, and the like, for in the day time their &s;plendor is &s;urmounted by another more powerfull which defaceth it; as al&s;o there are more &s;tars, &s;o that the darker the night is, the clearer they &s;hine. Tho&s;e betwixt both, as the Moon and &s;ome Stars, by day and by night, as the morning and the evening Stars, called by the Greeks <HI>Pho&s;phor,</HI> by the Latines <HI>Lucifer,</HI> this is <HI>Venus</HI> Starre. Fire al&s;o which pierceth the air more then it may, and illu&s;trates it to demon&s;trate the colours that are therein; for the re&s;t it is con|tent to make it &s;ee, without bringing into action the tran&s;pa|rence that is in the air, as we may &s;ee in the darke, where wee &s;ee fire a great way off, but not by the colours that are betwixt them. By day it &s;hines al&s;o, but not act again&s;t the air, for that it is &s;uffocated and extingui&s;hed by a &s;tronger light. The clearne&s;&s;e of the Moone likewi&s;e, for that &s;hee is not very dark, &s;hee is &s;een in the day time, but better in the night. <HI>Suidas</HI> runs through all this; But to the purpo&s;e of lights without heat, I have read of nothing more admirable and &s;trange, then that which <HI>Gonza|lo de Oviedo</HI> in the 15. Book 8. chap. of his <HI>Naturall Hi&s;tory of the Indies,</HI> alledgeth of a certain little flying animal, of the bigne&s;&s;e of an Hanneton, very frequent in the I&s;le of <HI>Spaine,</HI> and in other I&s;lands thereabouts, having two wings above, &s;trong and hard, and two below them, two others more thinne and fine. The little
<PB N="110" REF="58"> bea&s;t called <HI>Cocuye,</HI> hath &s;hining eyes as lighted candles, &s;o that where&s;oever he pa&s;&s;es he illuminates the air, and gives it &s;uch a brightne&s;&s;e that a man may &s;ee him a great way off, and in a chamber as dark as it may be, even at midnight, men may read and write by the light that comes from them: So that if a man binde two or three together, this would give more light then a Lanthorne or a Torch, in the field: and amid&s;t the Woods in the night, as darke as may bee, they make them&s;elves to be &s;een more then a mile. This clearne&s;&s;e con&s;i&s;ts not onely in the eyes but al&s;o in their flanks, when they open their wings. They are accu&s;tomed to &s;erve them&s;elves with them, as we do with a Lamp or other light, to &s;up at night&punc; and to do the affairs of the hou&s;e. But when he comes to determine and dye, its light extingui&s;h|eth al&s;o. The Indians had a cu&s;tome to make a po&s;t of them to &s;trike feare in &s;eeing them by night, for that it &s;eemed that they had a vi&s;age, being rub'd therewith, as if it were all fire. <HI>Plinie</HI> in his 21. Book, chap. 11. &s;peaketh of a &s;hining herb in the night, called <HI>Nyctegretes</HI> or <HI>Nyctilops</HI> for that we may &s;ee it &s;hine a farre off, but he alledgeth many things by heare-&s;ay, as not ha|ving &s;een them.</P>
<P>But to returne to the Suns light which is therein more per|fect, then in any other thing &s;en&s;ible with heat, for it is the true heavenly fire, as <HI>Speu&s;ippus</HI> &s;aid, which de&s;cribeth all that apper|taines to the nouri&s;hment of this great man, the Univer&s;e; as the Elementary doth the viands of the animal man. And as the heart in animals is the principall &s;oul of life, the &s;ame is the Sunne in the heart of the world; and the primordiall &s;pring of all light therein, which he departs to the Stars, as doth Je&s;us Chri&s;t to our &s;ouls. And no more nor le&s;&s;e then the Sunne and the Moon (&s;aid <HI>Origen</HI> upon <HI>Gene&s;is</HI>) illightens our bodies; likewi&s;e our con&s;ciences and thoughts are from this &s;plendour of the Father if wee be not blinde, and that this proceeds not by our faults: Now if we be not all equally illuminated, no more then the Stars are by the Sunne, which differ in brightne&s;&s;e one from the other but according to our capacity and carriage, and as more or le&s;&s;e, we lift up the eyes of our contemplation to receive this light. Returne you towards me, and I will returne towards you, for he is a God at hand, and not a God a farre off. That which we can have of intelligence (&s;aith <HI>Zohar</HI>) by our naturall ratiocina|tion,
<PB N="111" REF="58"> is as if our &s;pirit were lightned by the Moone: but the Divine relation holds place of the Sunne, whence the light cha|&s;eth away and bani&s;heth the Princes of Darkne&s;&s;e, where their greate&s;t force and vigour raignes. The Sunne is ri&s;en, they &s;hall be placed in their chambers, &s;ayes the 104 <HI>P&s;alme</HI> &s;peaking of Devils and wicked Spirits, under the name of &s;avage and reve|nous Bea&s;ts. For (as <HI>Zohar</HI> puts it) the&s;e tenebrions are &s;tronger and more gallant in the darke, &s;o the good Angels that a&s;&s;i&s;t and favour us, receive great reinforcement from the light, not onely from the Divine, but from the Cele&s;tiall and &s;olar, by which the Divine and Supreame &s;hining brightne&s;&s;e, imparts her vertue to the heavens, and by them communicates it to all that is under the &s;phere of the Moone within the elementary world. Where|fore, not without cau&s;e, about dead bodies till they bee put in the grave, they imploy lights to drive farre off this ancient Ser|pent <HI>Zamael,</HI> to whom for malediction it is &s;aid, thou &s;halt <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">at earth all the dayes of thy life; for our Bodies being deprived thereof, are no more but du&s;t and earth. So that fire is a great aid and comfort to us, not onely during our life, but yet after our death again&s;t the&s;e wicked dark powers which gnaw in ob&s;curity, as the&s;e night birds and &s;avage bea&s;ts which dare not appeare in the day, fearing the light of the Sunne; how much more then that of good &s;pirits their adver&s;aries, which receive it from the divine re&s;plendence? for the &s;ame, as is the Sunne to|wards it, the fire is in regard of the Sunne, who &s;erves us, a|mong&s;t other things to make us &s;ee this &s;o great accompli&s;hed work of the univer&s;e built by the Soveraigne Creator of &s;o ex|cellent Artifice, and that which his light doth manife&s;t unto us, in this &s;en&s;ible world, it is nothing for this regard, for the true being doth con&s;i&s;t of things intellectual, &s;tript of all cor|poreity and matter, the Sunne it &s;elfe, the rare&s;t ma&s;ter-piece of all others could not &s;ee it &s;elfe, but by its proper light, which is pre&s;ently accompanied with a heat vivifying all things; for there is a double propriety, one to &s;hine and clarifie, the other to warme, yea to burne the &s;ubjacent matters which illuminates the whitene&s;&s;e, and waxeth blacke with the Sunnes heat. The <HI>Sunne hath coloured mee, Cant.</HI> 1. Whereupon <HI>Origen</HI> notes, that there where there is no &s;inne, nor matter of &s;inne, there is &s;corch|ing or burning following, the 121 <HI>P&s;alm. The Sun &s;hall not burne
<PB N="112" REF="59"> thee by day, nor the Moon by night;</HI> for the Sunne illuminates good men, but it burnes up &s;inners; who hating light for the evill they have done; for in many places of Scripture you &s;hall finde that the Sunne and the Fire, whereof it &s;peake, they are not tho&s;e that wee &s;ee, but the &s;pirituall. The &s;pirituall Sunne &s;aith Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> doth not ri&s;e, but upon holy per&s;ons, following that which is &s;poken of the perver&s;e, in the 5. of <HI>Wi&s;dome, The light of Ju&s;tice is not ri&s;en upon us, nor the Sunne of Intelligence is not come to illighten us.</HI> As for its heat, it mu&s;t rather be kept for witne&s;&s;e of Holy Scripture, there is no man can hide him from the heat thereof; not to frivolous imaginations and &s;ubtilities of tho&s;e that maintaine it to be neither hot nor cold, grounding them&s;elves upon this argument, All heat in long continuance although that it remaine alwayes in the &s;ame e&s;tate and degree, doth notwith&s;tanding augment it &s;elfe, &s;o that it would bee intolerable.</P>
<P>If then the Sunne be &s;o hot, as it &s;eems, after five or &s;ix thou|&s;and years &s;ince when it was fir&s;t created, it would follow that there would come a conflagration under the torrid <HI>Z<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ne,</HI> from whence he &s;tirs not; who from thence was extended to all the re&s;t of the earth; there where we &s;ee the contrary, for the whole is alwayes in the &s;ame e&s;tate. And afterwards for that the &s;unne is many times greater then the globe of the Sea, and the Earth, and its Sphere, &s;o farre e&s;loigned from it, that it hath no propor|tion with it, it &s;hould follow, that it was as hot in one time and place, as in another. With &s;emblable deductions, again&s;t which it is ea&s;ie to contradict, but this would turne us a&s;ide too farre from our principall Subject. <HI>Anaxagoras</HI> al&s;o &s;aid, that it was a gro&s;&s;e enflamed &s;tone, or a plate of burning fire. <HI>Anaximander,</HI> a wheel full of fire, 25. times greater then all the earth. <HI>Xenophanes,</HI> an heap of little fires. The Stoicks, an inflamed body, proceeding from the Sea, wherein they have &s;hewed the affinity of fire and &s;alt together. <HI>Plato</HI> a body of much fire; and thus, one after one fa&s;hion, one after another, but all tending to make it of the nature of fire. Moreover, it is a thing too admirable, of its greatne&s;&s;e, &s;o immen&s;e, whereupon the &s;pirit of man hath fair Galleries to walke, in pur&s;uit of the high fetched meditations of Gods mer|vails; for (as <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aid well upon <HI>Gene&s;is</HI>) we mu&s;t from the contemplation of the creatures, a&s;cend and come to the Cre|atour.
<PB N="113" REF="59"> So that tho&s;e then, are very ignorant and void of un|der&s;tanding, who cannot from the Creatures, attain to the know|ledge of the Creator. Tho&s;e that dwell in the extremities of the We&s;t, where it goes as it were to bed, in the waters of the Ocean, &s;ee it at his ri&s;ing of the &s;ame grandeur, as tho&s;e of <HI>Catai,</HI> where it ri&s;eth; which &s;heweth the &s;mallne&s;&s;e and di&s;proportion of the earth in compari&s;on thereof. That if the Moone, which is farre inferior in greatne&s;&s;e thereunto, &s;heweth it &s;elfe almo&s;t equall, it is by rea&s;on of the great di&s;tance from the one and the other, for by &s;o much as things are at a di&s;tance, by &s;o much the more they le&s;&s;en them&s;elves to our &s;ight, and this is &s;ufficiently verified by the rules of per&s;pective. Surely the&s;e are two chiefe Ma&s;ter|works, that of the&s;e two great luminaries, which are not of &s;mall ornament and commodity, for the life of man, as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o|&s;tome</HI> puts it, upon the 135. <HI>P&s;alme,</HI> but it doth contribute much thereto, yea almo&s;t all, in regard of that which concernes the body; for be&s;ides the light wherewith they enlighten us by day and by night, they di&s;tingui&s;h times and &s;ea&s;ons, help us to make voyages, as well by Sea, as Land, they ripen fruits, without which our corporall life could not be maintained, with other in|finite u&s;ages which proceed from them. The Sunne is put for the whole Heaven, for that it is the greater part thereof, and for fire; and Heaven is the &s;eat and ve&s;&s;ell of incorruptible and un|alterable bodies. The Moone pre&s;ident of moi&s;ture, repre&s;ents water and earth, and &s;alt compo&s;ed thereof; for there is no|thing wherein moi&s;ture is more permanent, nor which is more moi&s;t then &s;alt, whereof the Sea for the mo&s;t part doth con&s;i&s;t; and there is nothing where the Moone doth more di&s;tinctly make her motions to appeare, then in the Sea, as we perceive in the ebbing and flowing thereof, and in the braines and marrows of Animals, &s;o that for good cau&s;e &s;he is called the Regent of the waters, and of phlegmatick and wateri&s;h moi&s;ture; which although it &s;eem to be dead and inanimate, (in re&s;pect of fire which is living) &s;he is permanent chiefly in &s;alt, which hath an inexterminable humidity; and is that which keepeth the Sea from drying up, for without Salt it had been long agone drawn out and dryed up, there where the fire lives not in it, but in ano|ther; for in that it is a materiall Element, it hath no place pro|per to it. Of the&s;e two, namely, the heat of the Sun, and moi|&s;ture
<PB N="114" REF="60"> of the Moone, in which con&s;i&s;teth the life of all things; and without which nothing would grow, increa&s;e, nor be main|tained, not fire it &s;elfe, which cannot &s;ub&s;i&s;t without air, which is double, one participating of the heat of fire, a&s;cending from the water (out of the bowels of moi&s;t nature, a &s;incere and light fire forthwith flying out, &s;eeks things aloft, &s;aith <HI>Tri&s;megi&s;tus.</HI>) And the other as water de&s;cending from fire, &s;o long till it come to congeal. For &s;o there is one moi&s;t water which tends up|wards, to rarifie it &s;elfe in the aire, and another cold comming downe to thicken it &s;elfe in the nature of Earth, untill at la&s;t it comes to terminate in red fire, which is in gold, for gold is the la&s;t &s;ub&s;tance of all. And Aire is the mediating conciliator be|twixt the moi&s;ture of pa&s;&s;able water, that con&s;titutes matter and the fires heat, on which the Agent and form doth depend: Earth is as the matrix where fire, by the means of air and fire introdu|cing its action, excites, and thru&s;ts out, which is thereby engen|dred to its determined end. The other five Planets, and the fixed &s;tarres come in but collaterally, as a&s;&s;i&s;tants and coadjutors of the effects of the two luminaries, where all their influxions are redu|ced, as do the rivers of the Sea, and from the earth reciprocally comes back their norriture; &s;o that heaven and fire, are as the male, the agent, and water and earth, as the female, patient; but under heaven, the air is comprized. And as mans &s;eed, inclo&s;ed and l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">pped within the matrix, is nouri&s;hed, fomented, and en|tertained with corrupt bloud by the help of naturall heat, &s;o fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e, by the means of air and water, is maintained in the earth for the production of things which engender thereof. So the Heaven, Sunne, Fire, and Air, march together, and the earth under, which are compri&s;ed in the Elements below, water and dry land, on their &s;ide. It is <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> Heaven and Earth, and <HI>Hermes</HI> his high and low, which relate one to the other; that which is above, is as that which is below; and on the contrary, to perpetuate the mi|racles of one thing as he &s;aith in his Table of <HI>E&s;meraulds. Zohar</HI> the intell<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">gible and &s;en&s;ible World, by the contemplation where|of we come to the contemplation of &s;pirituall things, which th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Apo&s;tle before him had touch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d in the fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t to the <HI>Romanes, The invi&s;ible things of him from the creation of the Word, are made knowne in tho&s;e things which are &s;cene;</HI> for all that is here below in the earth, is of the &s;ame manner as in heaven above;
<PB N="115" REF="60"> for God the Creator made all things annexed one to another, which <HI>Homer</HI> was not ignorant of, by his golden chaine to bind together this inferiour and &s;uperiour World, and that they ad|here one to the other, that his glory may &s;tretch through all, above and below. And in imitation thereof, man the image of the great world, and the mea&s;ure of every thing was thereof made and formed of things low and high. <HI>And God took du&s;t and thereof formed Adam, and breathed into him the breath of life;</HI> the very light that &s;hineth in the &s;en&s;ible world, depends upon this &s;uperiour light that is hid from us; from whence proceed all faculties and vertues, which from thence are expre&s;&s;ed to our knowledge, for there is nothing here below that doth not de|pend from that above, by a particular power, committed unto it, to govern and excite it to all its appetites, and motions, &s;o that all is bound together.</P>
<P>We hold well for the remainder, that all we have from light in the &s;en&s;ible world, comes from the Sun, for that of the Moon, and of the Stars although inumerable, is a very &s;mall thing; yet it proceeds from the Sun; and that of fire, is but artificiall to give us light for default of the Sunne, But how &s;hall it &s;quare with that to be willing to attribute the primitive &s;ource of light, and chiefly that of the producing and vivifying to the &s;unne, for that we &s;ee in the beginning of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> that the fir&s;t thing that was made, was the light on the fir&s;t day, and the Sunne not till the fourth, vegetables being produc't from the former? This was (&s;ay the <HI>Rabbins</HI> thereto) mo&s;t wi&s;ely advi&s;ed by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as all his other writings proceeding from divine in&s;piration, to take away from men all occa&s;ion to Idolize this luminary, when we &s;ee that light was procreated before it. But in this re&s;pect there pre&s;ents a very rare my&s;tery, and worthy of ob&s;ervation, that the compleat perfection of things fals out alwaies on the fourth day, as of the light. The Sunne and Moone were made the fourth day, waters on the &s;econd day, produced nought but fi&s;hes; the fifth, which is the fourth after, and al animals; the &s;ixth with man, for whom the fruits of the earth were made the third. Which &s;heweth us that the 4 number &s;o much celebrated by <HI>Pythagoras,</HI> denoteth the perfection that re&s;ides in ten, re&s;ulting from the four fir&s;t numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, make <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">en.</P>
<P>So <HI>Plato</HI> was willing to informe his <HI>Timaeus,</HI> where he treats
<PB N="116" REF="61"> of the procreation of things by the&s;e words, one, two, three, but where is the fourth? <HI>Zohar</HI> upon this particle of the 14. of <HI>Leviticus, you &s;hall keepe my Sabbaths.</HI> See &s;aith <HI>Rabbi Eliezer,</HI> what is the my&s;tery here contained. In &s;ix dayes was the world created, in each of tho&s;e is manife&s;ted the worke that was made therein, and God gave it his particular vertue after he had fini&s;h|ed it; but on the fourth he attributed one more expre&s;&s;e, for tho&s;e of the third preceding, being &s;ecret and hidden, came not in evidence, except that the fourth day happened their faculties would reveal them&s;elves; for water, air, and fire, the three &s;u|periour elements remained as &s;u&s;pended, and the workman&s;hip of them did not appeare till the fourth day manife&s;ted them, and then appeared all that was made on each. But if you will alledge that this was the third day, that then God &s;aid, <HI>Let the earth &s;prout and produce the green herb, producing &s;eed, and the fruit trees bearing fruit after his kinde, which hath his &s;eed in it &s;elfe upon the earth, and it was &s;o;</HI> yet this, notwith&s;tanding that this happened on the third day, he &s;uffered not to be annexed with the fourth, without any &s;eparation; the which fourth comes to meet with the Sab|bath, which is the fourth day, the fourth, and is by it &s;elfe the perfect fourth, where there appeared all the works of the &s;ix pre|ceeding dayes: and it is the fourth foot of the <HI>Merchavah,</HI> O the divine throne, whereon God &s;ate for his repo&s;e all the &s;ix dayes, Thus discour&s;eth <HI>Zohar.</HI></P>
<P>We mu&s;t not here pa&s;&s;e over another my&s;tery, which the&s;e two luminaries have, each three names, the Sunne is called <HI>Cho|mah</HI> wi&s;dome, <HI>Sceme&s;ch</HI> heat, and <HI>Cheres</HI> dryne&s;&s;e <HI>Plato</HI> in <HI>Timaeus,</HI> All moi&s;ture that the celerity of fire rai&s;ed, and that which re|mained arid and dry, wee call <GAP DESC="foreign"> potters earth. That of <HI>Maor</HI> Luminary, is common to the one, and to the other. The Moone is called <HI>Malchut,</HI> reigne, or kingdome, <HI>Jareha,</HI> which the Greek call <GAP DESC="foreign">, for that &s;he perfects her cour&s;e in a month, and <HI>lebenab</HI> white, for as the Sun repre&s;enteth Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the Moon denotes the Church which is all fair without any blemi&s;h, following that which is written in the 6. of <HI>Canticles</HI> 10. <HI>Who is &s;he that looketh forth, as the morning, fair as the Moone, clear as the Sun?</HI> Of this light of the Sunne of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, whereof it is &s;aid in the fourth of <HI>Malachy, But unto you that do feare my name, the Sunne of Ju&s;tice &s;hall ari&s;e,</HI> 4. 2. Where the Moone the Church is
<PB N="117" REF="61"> illu&s;trated on a perpetuall day without darkne&s;&s;e, according to <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 60. <HI>v.</HI> 20. <HI>The Lord &s;hall be thine everla&s;ting light, who hath planted his Tabernaele, or Church, within the fair clear &s;hining Sunne, that illuminates every man that comes into the world;</HI> no more nor le&s;&s;e then the &s;tarres, which are innumerable, and the lea&s;t as big as the whole earth, receive all their light from the vi&s;ible &s;unne. Of whom &s;hall it not here bee lawfull to relate &s;omething of his prai&s;es of the Song that <HI>Orpheus</HI> made unto it.</P>
<Q><L>Hear m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed</L>
<L>Sunne, Worlds heart and eie,</L>
<L>Heavenly brightne&s;&s;e &s;hining,</L>
<L>Living mens plea&s;ing a&s;pect,</L>
<L>Begetting Aurora in thy right hand,</L>
<L>And the night on thy left.</L>
<L>Thou governe&s;t the four &s;ea&s;ons,</L>
<L>Who dance in a round,</L>
<L>At the found of thy golden harpe</L>
<L>Thou runne&s;t through this great vault,</L>
<L>&V;pon thy &s;hining Chariot</L>
<L>Drawn with thy Cour&s;ers</L>
<L>That re&s;pire heat and life.</L>
<L>Ardent, unpolluted mea&s;urer</L>
<L>Of times, that &s;hewes thy &s;elfe to all.</L>
<L>A Soveraigne aid to each,</L>
<L>Keeping faith, eye of Ju&s;tice.</L>
<L>Brightne&s;&s;e of &s;hining light.</L></Q>
<P>Behold that which we here thought to runne through con|cerning the&s;e three fires, (as for the three &s;alts which relate thereunto, we will &s;peak thereof hereafter) namely, the Terre|&s;triall and Elementary, the Heavenly and Solary, and the Intel|ligible, that of the Divine E&s;&s;ence denoting the Father, from whence proceeds the light which is the Sunne, and the&s;e two the heat of the Holy Spirit, which kindles our hearts with the love and knowledge of God, and with charitable love to our neigh|bour.</P>
<P>The &s;ame in heaven, the light of the Sunne expands it &s;elfe to illighten all the &s;tarres, and here below to the production and
<PB N="118" REF="62"> vivification of all that which is there begotten, and maintained. And in the Elementary world, fire doth clear us, warm us, and boil our viands, and lends us all other commodities, and u|&s;ages.</P>
<P>As for fire in the 66. of <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 15, 16. which the Evangeli&s;t cites here, who&s;e fire &s;hall not extingui&s;h, and who&s;e worme dieth not. It is without doubt de&s;tinated to the puni&s;hment of re|probates, which &s;hall never be quenched, nor the worme that &s;tingeth the con&s;cience &s;hall never dye; To keep that this worm that is engendred of corruption may not procreate, we mu&s;t &s;alt it with di&s;cretion and prudence, that it may do nothing which may offend and &s;candalize his neighbour, according as the E|vangeli&s;t &s;pecifies it, <HI>Hee that &s;hall &s;candalize one of the&s;e little ones that beleeve in mee.</HI> And as for bani&s;hing and cha&s;ing away &s;trange fire, that devours our &s;oul, as a burning feaver doth vi|tall heat, this mu&s;t be done by the mediating intervention of divine fire, which is much more pui&s;&s;ant then any other. Let us heare that which to this purpo&s;e Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> alledgeth in the 3. <HI>chap.</HI> of his Offices, Saint <HI>John</HI> baptized Je&s;us Chri&s;t with the Holy Gho&s;t and with fire, which is the type and image of the Holy Gho&s;t, who after his a&s;cen&s;ion, mu&s;t de&s;cend for the re|mi&s;&s;ion of &s;innes, &s;o enflaming as a fire doth the &s;oul and heart of the faithfull, according as <HI>Jeremie</HI> &s;aith in 20. &amp; 9. after he had received the Holy Gho&s;t, <HI>and it was as a burning fire in my heart, &s;hut up in my bones.</HI> What is the meaning then of that in the <HI>Maccabees,</HI> that the fire was become water, and this water excites the fire, but that the &s;pirituall grace burneth by the fire, and by the water it doth purifie and clean&s;e our &s;innes? for &s;inne wa&s;heth and burneth, according to which the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, fire will prove what each mans works &s;hall bee; for it mu&s;t nece&s;&s;a|rily be, that this examination &s;hould bee perfected in all tho&s;e that de&s;ire to returne into Paradi&s;e. It was not without cau&s;e, nor idlely &s;et downe in the 3. of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> that after <HI>Adam</HI> and <HI>Eve</HI> were bani&s;hed from thence, he placed at its entrance a bran|di&s;hing &s;word of fire, to keep the pa&s;&s;age to the tree of life. With this fire then we mu&s;t all be &s;alted that are in the way of &s;alva|tion; following that which <HI>Origen</HI> &s;ets downe in his 3. <HI>Homil.</HI> upon the 36. <HI>P&s;alme,</HI> Wee mu&s;t all goe to the fire of Purgatory, and <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>Paul,</HI> but all &s;hall not pa&s;&s;e thereby, after the &s;ame
<PB N="119" REF="62"> &s;ort as they did, whereof it is &s;aid in the 43. of <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 2. <HI>When thou &s;halt pa&s;&s;e through the waters, the waves &s;hall not cover thee, for I will be with thee, when thou &s;halt march through the fire, thou &s;halt not bee burnt.</HI> The I&s;raelites pa&s;&s;ed through the red Sea dry-&s;hod, and the Aegyptians were drowned therein: The three children in <HI>Nebuchadnezzars</HI> furnace, had no detriment, and tho&s;e that heated the fire without, were therewith con&s;umed. And in the 19. <HI>Hom.</HI> upon the 16. of <HI>Leviticus,</HI> All are not purged by this fire that parts from the Altar, it is the fire of the Lord; for hee that is from the Altar, is not of God, but a &s;trange fire, dedica|ted for the cruciating of &s;inners, which &s;hall never be quenched, nor the worm that gnaweth &s;hall never dye: for after that the &s;oul by a multitude of its wicked comportments hath heaped up within him abundance of &s;innes, this congregation of evils in &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of times, comes to boil and enflame us with a paine and puni&s;hment internall, as the body doth of a feaver procee|ding from the exce&s;&s;e of the mouth, or other &s;uperfluities, when &s;he &s;hall come to thinke and relate a hi&s;tory of its delinquencies, which will bee a perpetuall prickle, wherewith it will bee tor|mented, &s;o that &s;hee will make her &s;elfe as an accu&s;er and wit|ne&s;&s;e again&s;t her &s;elfe, a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">cording as the Apo&s;tle &s;aid, <HI>Rom.</HI> 2.15. <HI>Their con&s;cience al&s;o bearing witne&s;&s;e, and their thoughts either accu|&s;ing or excu&s;ing one another, in the day when God &s;hall judge the &s;ecrets of all men.</HI> But <HI>Jeremie</HI> on the other &s;ide, &s;peaking of a drinke of the wrath of God, which &s;hall be poured out upon all manner of Nations, whereof who&s;oever will not drinke, &s;hall not be pu|rified; and from that we learne, that the fury of Gods ven|geance, profiteth for the purgation of &s;ouls, as well in generall as in particular, and there is nothing more purgative then fire, of which the Prophet <HI>Malachy</HI> &s;hould &s;ay in his 3. <HI>chap.</HI> 3. <HI>The Lord will &s;anctifie them in a burning fire,</HI> and &s;uch is the fire of tri|bulations and adver&s;ity, with which we mu&s;t be &s;alted and pur|ged; for &s;alt is purgative above any other thing, as wee may &s;ufficiently perceive in tho&s;e that drink Sea water, who all dye of a flux. Of the other fire which is exterminative and &s;trange, of which it is al&s;o in the 10. of <HI>Leviticus</HI> 2. <HI>And a fire went out from the Lord, and devoured Nadab and Abihu:</HI> God &s;aid in the 32. of <HI>Deut. v.</HI> 22. <HI>They &s;hall burne unto the lowe&s;t hell, and &s;hall con&s;ume the earth with her encrea&s;e, and &s;et on fire the foundations of the Moun|taines.</HI>
<PB N="120" REF="63">
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<PB N="121" REF="63">
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<PB N="120" REF="64"> For the ju&s;tice of the Almighty, &s;aid one of the good Fathers fore&s;eeing that which mu&s;t come, from the beginning of the world, created this fire of eternall hell, that whereof <HI>E&s;ay</HI> in|tends to &s;peak, who&s;e fire is not quenched, to beginne to be the puni&s;hment of the wicked, without that burning and heat &s;hould cea&s;e, now for that it is neither wood nor charcoale, nor other matter to maintain it, but &s;hall be eternally t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rmented therewith in body and &s;oul, becau&s;e they have offended with the one and the other; for &s;ins are the bait and nouri&s;hment of this fire, which by a gathering together of mi&s;deeds, and &s;uperabundance of ini|quity heaped one upon another, enflame the &s;oul to a perdura|ble puni&s;hment, even as a burning feaver, the repleat body, and render it a joice of ill dige&s;tion, by a &s;uperfluity of viands, and other di&s;orders, and exce&s;&s;e from whence there was drawne a wicked habitude; for the &s;oul then comming to remember her delights, agitated with the living and mo&s;t rigorous pricks which gall it, &s;he comes to be her owne accu&s;er, by certaine remor&s;e of con&s;cience that can profit them no more, (becau&s;e in hell there is no redemption) and to be his witne&s;&s;e and judge, as the Apo&s;tle &s;ets it downe in the 2. of the <HI>Romanes, Their con&s;cience bearing wit|ne&s;&s;e, and their thoughts accu&s;ing them, in the day when God &s;hall judge the &s;ecrets of men.</HI> But there is al&s;o a fire in this world, by which we mu&s;t be &s;alted and purified, for as much deduction of it as we mu&s;t endure from thence, namely, tribulations, which are to us as a Minorative in Phy&s;ick, of the compleat purgation that wee mu&s;t receive thereby.</P>
<P>The two fore&s;aid fires furthermore, that of the Altar, and the &s;trange, may be very properly compared, that there to <HI>aqua vitae,</HI> the other to <HI>aqua fortis,</HI> which ends and de&s;troyes all, where <HI>a|qua vitae</HI> &s;erves for nouri&s;hment, for all that wee eat or drinke participates thereof, and is that which pa&s;&s;eth and converts into nutriment. It is true that it is revealed more nearly in &s;ome &s;ub|jects then in other. Wine is that where it manife&s;ts it &s;elf &s;oone&s;t, and with le&s;&s;e preparation and pa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ne, afterwards wheat, and &s;o of the re&s;t; for there is nothing wherein n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ture doth &s;o &s;oone make his profit, as of the&s;e two. <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> is al&s;o called burn|ing, becau&s;e it conceives &s;o ea&s;ily the flame and burneth, for that it is nece&s;&s;ary, that what&s;oever doth nouri&s;h mu&s;t &s;uffer under the fires action. Otherwi&s;e how is it that naturall heat could
<PB N="121" REF="64"> work thereupon, which is much weaker then that of fire? wee know by experience that we could not draw any nouri&s;hment from &s;tones, metals, earth, and other &s;ub&s;tances, whereupon fire cannot bite: and if wolves doe &s;ometimes eat clay, wild-ducks, and other birds, &s;mall flints, and gravell, it is either to avoid vacuity, or for &s;ome medicament to them knowne by a &s;e|cret in&s;tinct of nature, but not that this doth dige&s;t or &s;erve them for maintenance, no more then Iron doth <HI>O&s;triches;</HI> which yet they corrupt by a &s;trong and great heat of their &s;tomach. But you will &s;ay, that this a&s;&s;imilation contraries the text of the 10. of <HI>Leviticus</HI> where <HI>Aarons</HI> &s;onnes are &s;o burned for offering &s;trange fire.</P>
<P>That which <HI>Rabbi Simeon</HI> to <HI>Zohar</HI> relates in part, that they &s;erved at the Altar, being drunk, and overcome with wine, for that which followes after demon&s;trates it; that God &s;aid unto <HI>Aaron,</HI> Thou nor thy &s;onnes &s;hall not drink wine when you en|ter into the Tabernacle: whereto may be an&s;wered, that &s;imili|tudes cannot in all, or through all agree, otherwi&s;e it would be the &s;ame thing they repre&s;ent. <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> doth not make drunke if men take not &s;o much at a time, that it may alienate people from their &s;pirit. And yet being &s;eparate from wine, the re|mainder &s;hould be nothing but phlegme, and re&s;idences, which cannot in any &s;ort make drunke, nor being therewith mingled and adjoined by nature, as to &s;toppe again the acuity of the <HI>aqua vitae.</HI> Yet we &s;ee by experience, in Germany and other cold Re|gions, where <HI>aqua vitae</HI> is in good e&s;teem, as well for the quanti|ty which they take; it doth not for that make men drunke, as wine would do in &s;uch a quantity, as that, wherewith it &s;hould be quenched; and putting a little Salt in very &s;trong wine, it will make men drunk &s;ooner then to drinke it pure. I have often made tryall, that often joyning together <HI>aqua vitae</HI> to that which men had drawne, this mingling could not cau&s;e drunkenne&s;&s;e any more, becau&s;e the parts once &s;eparated of the compounded elements, and then reconjoined, take another nature then it had at the fir&s;t. Cer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tes it is a great &s;upport and comfort that <HI>aqua vitae</HI> hath for a weak &s;tomach, either through age or other accident, although men thinke that it burnes and offends the noble parts; for though it be inflamable, it is not <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">herefore burning. He that would &s;ee the great vertues thereof, let him read the <HI>Quinte&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nces</HI>
<PB N="122" REF="65"> of <HI>Raimund Lullius, Rupe&s;ci&s;&s;a, &V;l&s;tadius</HI> his heaven of Philo&s;o|phers, for wee will not &s;tay here as on a thing too triviall and beaten. They call it the quinte&s;&s;ence for the conformity it hath with the cele&s;tiall nature, becau&s;e that as the heaven, which is as another Air, but more &s;ubtill then the Elementary, contains the Stars, whence it receives divers impre&s;&s;ions and effects that it doth infu&s;e and communicate unto us, here below, the &s;ame <HI>A|qua vitae</HI> doth ea&s;ily impregn it &s;elf, with the qualities and &s;pe|cificall vertues which are therein put to infu&s;ion. To this pro|po&s;ition of heaven and Stars, and of their different impre&s;&s;ions, wee will not here pa&s;&s;e over a fine di&s;pute which here pre&s;ents it &s;elf. The Earl <HI>Pica de Mirandula,</HI> truly a prodigious &s;pirit accom|panied with great Literature, in his 3. Book again&s;t Judiciall A&s;trolog<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, 25. chap. tran&s;ported with too hot a curio&s;ity to im|pugn this Art, Will we (&s;aith he) prove that the vertue of all the Stars is but even one? Let us &s;uppo&s;e this Maxime. That the na|ture of heaven cannot more openly and &s;ucinctly, expre&s;&s;e, then by &s;aying heaven to be a unity of all bodies, for there is nothing in all the univer&s;e that doth not depend upon this cer|tain one, as from his primitive cour&s;e, with many other premi|&s;es wherewith hee would conclude that of the propriety and vertue of each Star indifferently, depends the facultie and ver|tue of all the compo&s;ed Elements, without having there other difference between them, if peradventure, this was not in greatne&s;&s;e; as it is apparently &s;een: nor can men &s;ay, that one pre&s;ides more particularly to one thing here below, then to another: for every Star pre&s;ides to all; &s;o that if all were <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">oined and united together in one onely body, this &s;hould be as if infinite flames and fires &s;hould come to a&s;&s;emble, to make but one, which would be &s;tronger then true, but not of diver&s;e propriety and nature, which doth not change it &s;elf into homo|geneall, and homomaternall &s;ub&s;tances, by a coacervation, nor which comes to produce other effects then it did, being &s;epara|ted, as one may &s;ee in water, and a great torch in re&s;pect of a little waxe light, which will light infinite others as well as the torch, though more powerfull, to heat, boil, and burn, as being in a greater volume.</P>
<P>But it is a very hard thing to overthrow an opinion already received of long durance, chiefly if it bee &s;upported with au|thority
<PB N="123" REF="65"> of holy Scripture; which mu&s;t bee to us as a touch|&s;tone, by it to verifie our ratiocinations, for the mo&s;t part un|certain and erroneous, if they bee not conducted by divine in|&s;piration: Is is written in the 147. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 5. <HI>He knoweth all the Stars, and calleth them all by their names.</HI> That if they have all different and particular names, wherefore &s;hould it &s;erve but to di&s;tingui&s;h them in their effects, proprieties, qualities and vertues? for the name of things, imports the &s;ame. Follow that which is &s;aid in the 2. of <HI>Gen.</HI> as <HI>Adam</HI> named every thing, &s;uch was its true and proper name: which <HI>Plato</HI> in his <HI>Cratylus</HI> &s;aith is not onely the type and repre&s;entation of things, but their E&s;&s;ence. And in this ca&s;e there is a fair con&s;ideration to bee marked, that God left to <HI>Adam</HI> the nomination of terre&s;triall things: but re|&s;erved to him&s;elfe that of Cele&s;tiall: as hee expre&s;&s;eth in the 115. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 16. <HI>The Heaven of Heavens are the Lords, but the Earth hath he given to the children of men:</HI> which is as much to &s;ay, accor|ding to <HI>Rabbi</HI> the <HI>Aegyptian</HI> in the 2. Book of his <HI>More,</HI> or dire|ctor, 25. Cha. That the Creator knoweth him&s;elf alone the cer|tain verity of the heavens, what is their form, &s;ub&s;tance, and their motions; but upon that under heaven he hath given power to man to know, for Earth is properly mans world, where hee produceth, and the place of his conver&s;ation, as long as hee liveth: as fire and light attached to matter: there where the cau&s;es upon which we might found our demon&s;trations con|cerning heaven, are out of our knowledge, being &s;o far re|mote from us. And in this ca&s;e <HI>the Heaven of Heavens, are the Lords,</HI> there may be a double expo&s;ition, according to the punctuation and reading. <HI>That Heaven belongs to the Lord of Heaven,</HI> and &s;o the <HI>Hebrewes</HI> take it, but who doubts, but that the Earth al&s;o belongs to him, as well as the Heaven? <HI>The Earth is the Lords, and the fulne&s;&s;e thereof,</HI> and in the 23. of <HI>Jer. Doe not I fill the Heaven and the Earth? And the Heaven of Heavens is re&s;erved for God, and the Earth is left to the children of men,</HI> which is a manner of &s;peech u&s;uall in the holy Scripture. <HI>For if the Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens cannot comprehend thee,</HI> &s;aith <HI>So|lomon</HI> to God; for the <HI>H<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">brewes</HI> metaphorically call Heaven, things that are far di&s;tant from our &s;ight: and we al&s;o after their imitation, as when wee &s;peak of a Kite, Heron or Gerfalcon, when they fly &s;o high, that wee can hardly di&s;cern them, that
<PB N="124" REF="66"> they goe to loo&s;e them&s;elves in Heaven: &s;o that all which is here under the &s;phere of the Moon, and generally all that is a|bove us, they call it Heaven: and the Heaven of Heavens, the Aethereall Region from the Moon to the Firmament, as well the Firmament it &s;elf, or the <HI>Empyrean</HI> Heaven. But farther that the Stars &s;hould bee all of one nature, propriety and effect, to &s;ee them &s;o like, be&s;ides their greatne&s;&s;e and clearne&s;&s;e, it follows not that the &s;ame appears of the &s;ame &s;ort as of fire, yet wee com|monly call them fires and cele&s;tiall lights: It is as if the &s;eeds of trees and plants, whereof there are infinite, &s;hould all mixe to|gether, and the fir&s;t buds al&s;o, that they ca&s;t, which differ as no|thing, but to the mea&s;ure whereunto they grow, their differen|ces doe manife&s;t them. The <HI>Hebrewes</HI> hold that there is not &s;o little, and poor a herb on the Earth, nor any other thing of the three kinds of the compo&s;ed Mineralls, Vegetables, or animals, that hath not above its corre&s;pondent Star, that a&s;&s;i&s;ts it, and from which it receives its maintenance and con&s;ervation. But how can that agree? will &s;ome &s;ay to the contrary; becau&s;e it &s;eems to derogate and contradict that which in expre&s;&s;e terms is &s;et down in the 1. of <HI>Gen.</HI> where it is written, that in the third day, <HI>the Earth of her &s;elf brought forth herbs, and trees, containing in them their &s;eeds: according to their kinds:</HI> neverthele&s;&s;e the Sun, nor the Moon, nor the Stars, were created till the day after, the fourth by which is de&s;igned its effect and function: <HI>Let there bee lights made, in the firmament of the heaven, namely the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, to &s;eparate the night from the day: and let them bee for &s;ignes, and &s;ea&s;ons, for dayes and years:</HI> without attributing any thing of their a&s;&s;i&s;tance, upon trees and plants, and other ele|mentary things.</P>
<P>But to return to the particulars of <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> there will be no hurt here to touch upon this experiment thereof made, very gentile and rare, leaving others that are more common, <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> hath this particular, that it di&s;&s;olves not &s;ugar, nor joines not with it, as doth its flegm and common water, vinegar, and other liquors: but by artifice it &s;elf, of two it makes a thrice &s;weet liquor, very proper again&s;t the fluxes of Catarrhs, and &s;alt rheumes, that mole&s;t the &s;tomach, and throat, and is thereun|to very good and comfortable. Lay in &s;teep a day or two Cin|namon
<PB N="125" REF="66"> gro&s;&s;ely beaten; and take off the infu&s;ion very neat: take fine &s;ugar within a pottage di&s;h that hath ears, brought into fine &s;mall powder, and &s;o perfume it, mingle it with a &s;mall portion of Sugar ro&s;et. Poure thereon this <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> and make them a lit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">le warm upon a&s;hes, then put fire thereto with a lighted paper, &s;tirring all well with a little &s;pit of clean wood, &s;o long untill the <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> burn no more, &amp; there will remain a liquor mo&s;t agreeable to the ta&s;te, and mervailou&s;ly comfortable: you may add the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eto liquor of pearls, Coral and other the like, which di&s;&s;olve ea&s;ily in the juice of Citron or di&s;tilled vinegar, which makes it &s;weet to &s;tream out upon it a quantity of common wa|ter or the phlegm of <HI>Aqua vitae:</HI> and not by calcining it as <HI>Pa|racel&s;us</HI> and his followers do, with Salt-Peter, which is manife&s;t poy&s;on: &s;o that things are done in vain by more, that may be done by fewer, &s;o that it bee ju&s;tly done. Further, every one &s;uf|ficiently knowes how to draw <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> filling two parts of the Alimbeck with Gla&s;&s;e, or <HI>Beuvois</HI> Earth, with good old wine, and di&s;tilling it with an ea&s;ie fire through a Bath in a Caldron full of water, with chaffe. Continue the di&s;tillation untill you &s;ee long veines and &s;prouts appear, in the Chappe and in the Re|cipient. For it is <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> which mounts fir&s;t, and the phlegm comes after in gro&s;&s;e drops, as tears; which is a token that there is no more <HI>Aqua vitae.</HI> Men may refine it, pa&s;&s;ing again another time: But I &s;hould not bee of an opinion, that to take it into the body, it &s;hould bee more then once. And it is a &s;trange thing that by its own &s;ubtilty, for it will mount through five or &s;ix doubles of paper <HI>brovillas</HI> without wetting it. I have &s;een them ca&s;t a full gla&s;&s;e thereof in the air, and not one drop to fall to the earth: It is of &s;overaign force again&s;t all burnings and chiefly that of &s;mall &s;hot, with which &s;hee hinders (as was &s;aid before) the <HI>E&s;tiomenes</HI> and Gangreenes:<NOTE PLACE="marg">An inflamati|on ari&s;ing from purecho|ler in the skin exulcerating it with pain.</NOTE> which &s;heweth &s;ufficiently the purity of its fire which may by good right be cal|led Cele&s;tiall. See here that which <HI>Raimund Lullius</HI> &s;ets down of his proprieties and vertues. Wee mu&s;t not under&s;tand (&s;aith he) that neither quinte&s;&s;ence nor any other thing here below, can render us immortall. It is ordained for all men once to die: nor can we prolong our dayes beyond and above the prefixed time, for that is re&s;erved to God. <HI>Mans daies are &s;hort, and the numher of his moneths are with th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters"> thou ha&s;t appointed his limits which hee
<PB N="126" REF="67"> cannot pa&s;&s;e,</HI> there where on the contrary they may well bee accidentally &s;hortned: <HI>Aqua vitae</HI> then, nor all other &s;orts of quinte&s;&s;ences and re&s;toratives, cannot prolong our life for one minute of an hower; yet they may con&s;erve and maintain it to the la&s;t but, pre&s;erving it from putrefaction, which is it, that &s;hortens it mo&s;t: But to defend putrefaction by corrup|tible things, that cannot bee: we mu&s;t therefore find out &s;ome incorruptible &s;ub&s;tance, proper and familiar to our nature, which con&s;erves and maintains the radicall heat, as oil doth the light of a Lampe. Such is the <HI>aqua vitae</HI> drawn from wine, the mo&s;t comfortable and connaturall &s;ub&s;tance of all others, pro|vided it be not abu&s;ed with exce&s;&s;e. <HI>Plutarch</HI> in the 3. Book, the 8. que&s;tion of his Sympo&s;iaques, compares wine to fire, and our body to clay. If you give fire (he &s;ets it down there) which is of a mediocrity to the clay, and earth to the Potter, he will con&s;olidate it in the pots, bricks, tiles, and other the like works, but if it be exce&s;&s;ive, hee re&s;olves it, and makes it melt and run. Moreover <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> pre&s;erves &s;trongly from their corruption, as wee may &s;ee by things vegetable and Animall, which men put there to mingle, which by this means con&s;erves them in their entire length. It comforts and maintains a man in vi|gor of youth: which it re&s;toreth from day to day, it rejoy|ceth and &s;trengtheneth the vitall &s;pirits: it dige&s;ts crudities taken fa&s;ting, and reduceth the equality, the exce&s;&s;ive &s;uperfluities, and the defaults which may bee in our bodies; cau&s;ing divers effects according to the di&s;po&s;ition of the &s;ubject where &s;hee ap|plies her &s;elfe, as doth the Sunnes heat, which melts wax and hardens durt, and fire doth the &s;ame. And there is that cele|&s;tiall &s;pirit re&s;iding in <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> &s;o &s;u&s;ceptible of all qualities, proprieties, and vertues, that &s;he can make her hot, empreg|ning it with hot things, cold with cold things, and &s;o of the re&s;t; being &s;hee is naturall, conformably to our &s;oule, inclina|ble to good and evill, for although it con&s;i&s;ts of the foure Ele|ments, they are therein &s;o proportioned, that the one doth not domineer over the other. Wherefore they call it Heaven, where|to wee apply &s;uch &s;tarres as wee will, namely of the &s;imple Ele|ments, of which &s;he conceives the proprieties and the effects: here|in we may compare cele&s;tiall fire to the Altar.</P>
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<P>But &s;trong waters, which di&s;&s;ipate and ruine all, are this &s;trange fire, and &s;o Alchymi&s;ts call them, and fire again&s;t nature externall fire, and other the like exterminatives. Certes if the effects of Cannon Powder be &s;o admirable, con&s;i&s;ting of &s;o few &s;pecies, and ingredients, which may be well called the true infernall fire, the devourer of mankind. The action of &s;trong waters is no le&s;&s;e which burne all, being compounded onely of two or three &s;ub&s;tances, that which wee commonly call the <HI>Sepa|rator, Salt-peter, Vitriol,</HI> or Allum Ice, and this di&s;&s;olves Silver, Copper, Quick&s;ilver, and Iron in part. <HI>La Regalle</HI> which is no other thing then the prec ding rectified upon <HI>Salarmoniac,</HI> or common Salt, di&s;&s;olved partly with Iron, Lead, Tinne, and in|tameable Gold, with all &s;orts of fire. It is true, that &s;trong wa|ters doe not de&s;troy metals, that they returne not to their fir&s;t forme and nature, but drawes them to water, and a melting li|quor. This was certainly a good Artificiall indu&s;try in mans &s;pirit, to excogitate &s;o &s;hort a way to &s;eparate Gold and Silver melted together, and &s;o uniformedly mixed, that an ounce of Gold melted with an hundred markes of Silver, each part there|of will equally attract his portion, as wee may &s;ee by the refiners practi&s;e, which to prove that which it holds of Gold &amp; of Silver, a confu&s;ed ma&s;&s;e of divers metals will take but 30. grains to make their e&s;&s;ay in the Coupelle, and from thence will judge that the &s;ame proportion that you &s;hall finde in this &s;mall vo|lume, &s;hall bee al&s;o in the whole ma&s;&s;e; all that which may bee therein of impure imperfect metall goes away partly in &s;moake, and is partly con&s;umed by fire, and partly &s;ticks like Birdlime within the Coupelle, nothing remaining above it but what is fine, namely Silver and Gold, which is there inclo&s;ed, with which they &s;eparate &s;trong waters called on the occa&s;ion the <HI>divider,</HI> which di&s;&s;olves Silver into water, and Gold falls to the bottome as &s;and; the water afterwards evaporated, the Silver retires it &s;elfe. But here it would be too much to &s;peake of the effects of &s;trong waters, one of the principall and &s;hort in&s;tru|ments of Alchymie, and the Art of fire and Salt, infinite fine allegories, which thereby may be appropriated upon Holy Writ.</P>
<P>Yet the&s;e two fires may be compared, namely the &s;trange fire
<PB N="128" REF="68"> to Leaven, to the Sea water which is &s;alt, and to Vinegar, a corrupted Wine, and other &s;orts of Leavens Fires again&s;t nature. And the Cele&s;tiall to the Altar to pure and unleavened Pa&s;t, to &s;weet water fit to drinke, to <HI>Aqua vitae,</HI> without Vinegar, re|pre&s;enting the &s;tate of innocence in our fir&s;t fathers, before their tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, and the &s;implicitie of their knowledge, infu&s;ed in|to them by the Creator. But when they were once tempted af|terwards with ambition, to know more then they &s;hould, they would by humane di&s;cour&s;e become more &s;ubtill and &s;age, in ta&s;ting the fruit of knowledge of good and evill; their Pa&s;t without Leaven began to &s;well, to bee proud with the Leaven them&s;elves introduced, which perverted and &s;poyled it, appro|priating it to corporall and &s;en&s;ible things, for the bread which wee eate is leavened, but that which wee u&s;e in the Church mu&s;t not be &s;o, and not without cau&s;e, for unleavened bread will bee kept &s;ix moneths without molding or corrupting; that leavened bread will not keep &s;o many weekes. It is therefore that the Apo&s;tle &s;aid, a little Leaven corrupts the whole Ma&s;&s;e: Becau&s;e that one propriety of the Leaven is to convert into their corruption all that is adjoyning of their nature, as Vinegar doth Wine, and Leaven pure Pa&s;t, al&s;o Rennet which is in the number of Leavens. And when they have no Leaven, they make &s;ome, corrupting the Pa&s;t with Vinegar, Lees of Beere, Egges, and like &s;ub&s;tances, who by their corruption acquire to them|&s;elves the propertie of &s;trange fire which is able to convert into its nature, that where it can bite, as wee may &s;ee in a Feaver again&s;t naturall heate, &s;o that hee turnes it &s;elfe into all things, and all into it &s;elfe, according to <HI>Heraclitus,</HI> who &s;et it downe for the Principall, yet after <HI>Zoroa&s;tres,</HI> who thought all things were begotten of Fire after it was extingui&s;hed, for being living it begets nothing, no more doth Salt, nor the Sea which <HI>Homer</HI> calls <GAP DESC="foreign">, unfruitfull, which doth nothing but con&s;ume and de&s;troy: An immen&s;e and wicked portion of things (&s;aith <HI>Pliny</HI>) and wherein it is doubtfull whether it con&s;ume or bring forth more things. Leaven then is a &s;trange fire, and is indeed cau&s;tique or burning, for applyed to naked fle&s;h, it engenders therein little <HI>cloches,</HI> which &s;hewes its fieryne&s;&s;e, (al&s;o it doth not &s;o without Salt) called for this rea&s;on in Latine <HI>fermentum,</HI>
<PB N="129" REF="68"> Leaven which increa&s;eth by being warme: and in Greek <GAP DESC="foreign"> Leaven from <GAP DESC="foreign"> to boile. The Chymicks call it the interior fire, fire within the ve&s;&s;ell, for wee &s;ee by experience, that bread, if the Pa&s;t be not leavened, what boyling &s;oever you give it, &s;hall never be but of a hard and unea&s;y dige&s;tion, greatly oppre&s;|&s;ing the &s;tomach, if the Leaven which they joyne thereunto make it boyle within; whence then it comes that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;o knowing a man, and &s;o illu&s;trated with the Divine Spirit, &s;o rejecteth a thing &s;o profitable and nece&s;&s;ary, and bani&s;heth &s;o expre&s;ly the Leaven of the Sacrifices, which is &s;o great an aide and &s;uccour in our principall aliment, Bread. <HI>You &s;hall burne no Leaven nor Honey in the Lords Sacrifice, Levit.</HI> 2.11. And <HI>Exod.</HI> 12.15. hee condem|neth to death tho&s;e who in the dayes of unleavened bread &s;hould eate leavened bread, or &s;hould have ever &s;o little in his hou&s;e. Is it not becau&s;e Idolaters u&s;e Leaven? but hee doth not forbid it in all and throughout all; for in the 23. of <HI>Levit.</HI> 17. he commands them to offer two leaven loaves. Moreover Ido|laters imploy al&s;o in their Sacrifices Salt and Incen&s;e, and ma|ny other things that are not forbidden. It mu&s;t then bee that &s;ome my&s;tery lies hidden hereunder. <HI>Origen</HI> in his 5. <HI>Homil.</HI> upon <HI>Levit.</HI> interpreteth Leaven for arrogance, that wee con|ceive of a vaine worldly doctrine, which blowes us up as leaven doth Pa&s;t, and makes us proud, thinking that wee know more then wee doe. So that wee quit the expre&s;&s;e and direct Word of God, to retaine our &s;elves within our phanta&s;tique traditions, as our Saviour reproacheth it to the Phari&s;ees, <HI>Mark.</HI> 7. Truely <HI>E&s;ay</HI> prophecied very well of you Hypocrites, when hee &s;aith, <HI>This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is farre from me, howbeit in vaine doe they wor&s;hip me, teaching for Doctrines the Com|mandements of men, Mark.</HI> 7.6, 7. And therefore admoni&s;heth us to beware of this Leaven. And upon <HI>Numbers,</HI> it is not to be|leeve &s;aid the &s;aid <HI>Origen,</HI> that God would puni&s;h with death tho&s;e who during the &s;olennitie of unleavened bread had eaten leavened bread, or that had leaven found in their hou&s;es, but by leaven is under&s;tood malignitie, envie, rancor, concupi&s;cence, and the like vices that inflame our &s;oules, and make them boile with wicked and pernicious de&s;ires, corrupting, altering, and perverting all that which might bee good, following what the
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<PB N="130" REF="70"> Apo&s;tle &s;aid, <HI>a little Leaven corrupts the whole ma&s;&s;e.</HI> Therefore we may not undervalue any little &s;inne, for after the manner of Leaven it will very &s;oone produce others; undervalue not, &s;aith St. <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> the machinations and ambu&s;hes of a few men; for as a &s;parkle of fire is a &s;mall thing, and which can hardly bee di&s;cerned if it meet with food and nouri&s;hment, it will in a &s;hort time &s;et on fire great Townes and Cities, Forre&s;ts, and whole Countries. Leaven is the &s;ame, for how little &s;oever you put in your Pa&s;t or Dough, it will alter it in &s;hort &s;pace and convert it to its owne nature. Perver&s;e Doctrine is of the very &s;ame, which gaineth Countries by little and little, as a Canker doth in the whole body.</P>
<P>And in his third Book again&s;t <HI>Parmenian</HI> to glorifie him&s;elfe, not in his &s;inn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s, but in tho&s;e of others, as the <HI>Phari&s;ee</HI> &s;aid, <HI>Luk.</HI> 18.11. <HI>I give thee thanks O Lord God, that I am not as other men are, Extortioners, &V;nju&s;t, Adulterers, &amp;c. I fa&s;t twice in the weeke &amp;c.</HI> comparing his owne innocence to the defaults of others, this is but a little leaven, but to boa&s;t him&s;elf in iniquities, and tre&s;pa&s;&s;es, is a great one; Furthermore, Leaven is taken in good part, as well as in bad part, in holy Writ, which relates to the two fires. The fir&s;t hath been touched heretofore for pride, and naughtine&s;&s;e, that corrupts the &s;oule. Touching the good, in the 7. of <HI>Levit.</HI> 12, 13. there are loaves of leavened bread, which they offer for peace offerings, with oblation of thank&s;giving, and in the 23. 17. of every family two loaves of the fir&s;t eares of wheat at Penteco&s;t; and in St. <HI>Matthew,</HI> and the 23 of St. <HI>Luke</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t compared the Kingdome of God to leaven that a woman had put into three mea&s;ures of dough, till it was all lea|vened; for there it is taken for the fervent zeale of ardent faith; and it is the fire wherewith we mu&s;t be &s;alted: for as the fire boyles our meats, and the &s;alt &s;ea&s;ons them, al&s;o leaven is the cau&s;e that the pa&s;t bakes the better, and prepares thereby to make more whole&s;ome, and of lighter dige&s;tion, more &s;avoury, and of better ta&s;t. In which ca&s;e leaven relates to the Evangeli|call Law, as Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith, and old leaven to the Mo&s;ai|call, which the Jewes tooke by the barke, and by the hairs. By rea&s;on whereof the Apo&s;tle admoni&s;heth us, to ca&s;t it farre from us: that is to &s;ay, all &s;uper&s;tition, and malice; <HI>Ca&s;t off the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, for even
<PB N="131" REF="70"> Chri&s;t our Pa&s;&s;eover is &s;acrificed for you.</HI> Therefore let us keep the Fea&s;t not with old leaven, neither with the <HI>leaven of malice and wickedne&s;&s;e,</HI> but with the <HI>unleavened bread of &s;incerity and truth,</HI> which leaven is without doubt this &s;trange fire, that de|voures and con&s;umes us within; that is to &s;ay, our &s;oul, to &s;wal|low us up, and make us goe downe living into Hell. And the Fire of the Altar, the cele&s;tiall fire of charity, faith, hope, it is that which we mu&s;t de&s;ire of God to kindle in our hearts, and to &s;ea&s;on our thoughts and our de&s;ires, that no corruption be be|gotten there; as it doth here below in things corruptible and corporall; the prompt Mini&s;ter, and executor of that, which the divine goodne&s;&s;e will plea&s;e to give of comforts and com|modities in this temporall life. What obligations then do wee owe thee, thou excellent portion of Nature, without which we &s;hould live in &s;o great mi&s;ery? thou doe&s;t lighten in darkne&s;&s;e, thou do&s;t make us rejoyce in ob&s;curity, bringing us another day. Thou doe&s;t cha&s;e away from about us, hurtfull powers, feares, and nocturnall illu&s;ions; thou doe&s;t warm us being cold, thou doe&s;t redry us being wet; thou bake&s;t our viands; thou art the &s;overaigne Artizan of all arts and manufactures which have been revealed unto us, to &s;erve as a rampard again&s;t our na|turall Imbecillities, that make us in regard of our bodies the feeble and infirm animall of all others. All this by rea&s;on of thy Divine beneficence, thou doe&s;t communicate to all mortals. And thou, O cleare luminous Sunne, the vi&s;ible image of the invi&s;ible God, the light whereof, doth rebate it &s;elfe in thee, as within a fair manifold multiplying gla&s;&s;e, rendring thy &s;elfe overflow|ing with all &s;orts of happine&s;&s;es, which afterwards thou com|municate&s;t to all thy &s;en&s;ible Creatures, being &s;o fair and &s;o de|&s;ireable a liberall benefactor, thou ari&s;e&s;t mo&s;t re&s;plendent, with luminous beams, which thou doe&s;t &s;pread abroad into all parts of the world, and by the vertue of thy &s;pirit, and breath, by thy vivifying vigour, thou governe&s;t and maintaine&s;t this little All. Thou the illu&s;trious Torch of Heaven, thou the light of all things; cau&s;e and &s;econdary Author of all that groweth here below, which by the faculty and power, which the Soveraigne di&s;pen&s;ator of all goodne&s;&s;e hath given thee, obligeth all nature to thy &s;elfe; which with an unwearied cour&s;e, doe&s;t dayly run through the foure corners of the Univer&s;e. Thy beauty, thy
<PB N="132" REF="71"> light, thou doe&s;t lend unto our &s;en&s;es by thy unknowne and imperceptible Divinity, and imparte&s;t it with a liberall large&s;&s;e; without any vaile or covverture that come to enterpo&s;e betwixt them to the Church, thy deare &s;pou&s;e, to break open to us here below, the effects illightning by the &s;ame meane of thy inextin|guible and inexhau&s;tible Torch, all the cele&s;tiall fires. Looke upon us then with a benigne and favourable eye, and by the ex|cellent beauty which &s;hewes it &s;elfe in thee, elevate our under|&s;tanding to the contemplation of this other more great, that no mortall eie can behold, nor &s;pirit apprehend, but by a profound and pious thought, for as much as it will plea&s;e him to grati|fie it.</P>
<P>But thou Soveraigne Father of this intellectual fire and light, what can wee bring thee here, but devout &s;upplications and prayers? that it will plea&s;e thee to burne with the fire of thy Holy Spirit, the wills and courages of us thy mo&s;t humble Crea|tures, that wee may &s;erve thee with a cha&s;t body, and to agree with thee by a pure and neat con&s;cience: to the honour and glory of thy holy name, and &s;alvation of our &s;oules: through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, thy deare Sonne, who liveth and raigneth with thee, God coeternall, for ever and ever, AMEN.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="part">
<PB N="133" REF="71">
<HEAD>The &s;econd Part of the Lord <HI>BLAISE</HI> his Treati&s;e touching <HI>FIRE</HI> and <HI>SALT.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>_EVery man &s;hall be &s;alted with Fire and every Sa|crifice &s;hall be &s;alted with Salt, Mark.</HI> 9.49. Wee have already &s;poken of Fire, Salt re|maineth, of which there is no le&s;&s;e to &s;ay. But it is &s;trange that the Ceremonies of <HI>Pagani&s;me,</HI> &s;hould be found in this re&s;pect, and many other in Mo&s;aicall Traditions; Fire &s;hall alwayes burne on the Altar; <HI>Lev.</HI> 6.12, 13, <HI>The Prie&s;t &s;hall burne wood thereon every morning, &amp;c.</HI> And in the 2.13. <HI>Thou &s;halt &s;ea&s;on with &s;alt all the Oblations of thy Sacrifices; and thou &s;halt not forget to put the &s;alt of Gods Covenant under them; with all thy Offerings thou &s;halt offer Salt,</HI> which Salt <HI>Numb.</HI> 18.19. is called the everla&s;ting Co|venant before God to <HI>Aaron</HI> and his &s;onnes. And <HI>Pythagoras</HI> in his Symboles, ordaines not to &s;peak of God without light, and to apply Salt in all Sacrifices and Oblations. And not onely <HI>Pythagoras,</HI> but al&s;o <HI>Numa,</HI> which mo&s;t part of men, hold to have been 100 years before <HI>Pythagoras,</HI> in&s;tituted the &s;ame according to the Doctrine of the Hetrurians. It is not beleeveable that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;o deare and and welbeloved of God, and &s;o illu&s;trated with his in&s;pirations, whence proceeded all the documents that he left, and
<PB N="134" REF="72"> &s;o hot a per&s;ecutor of Idolatries and Ethnique &s;uper&s;titions, that hee would borrow any thing from them. But more likely that the Devils in&s;tigations who makes him&s;elfe alwayes as his Creators ape, to make him&s;elfe to idolize, was willing to divert tho&s;e &s;acred my&s;teries to their abu&s;ive impieties, according to which <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> again&s;t <HI>Appion,</HI> and Saint <HI>Jerome</HI> again&s;t <HI>Vigilan|tius,</HI> doe very well &s;ute: &s;o that as in the Judaicall Law they u&s;ed no Sacrifices and oblations in Pagani&s;me, but they u&s;ed Salt as <HI>Pliny</HI> witne&s;&s;eth in 31. Book 7. Chap. E&s;pecially in holy things the authoritie of Salt is under&s;tood, when none were made without a Salt Mill. <HI>Plato</HI> to <HI>Timaeus,</HI> when in the medly and commixtion of the elements, the compo&s;ed is de&s;titute of much water, and of the more &s;ubtill parts of the earth, water re&s;ting therein comes to bee halfe congealed, &s;altne&s;&s;e is there brought in which hardens it the more, and &s;o there is procreated a body of Salt, communicated to the u&s;e of our life, for as much touch|eth the body and &s;en&s;es, accommodated by the &s;ame meanes ac|cording to the tenor of the Law; on that which depends the &s;ervice of God, as being &s;acred and agreeable to God, where|from hee called it a body beloved of God, for which <HI>Homer</HI> cal|led it Divine, whereof <HI>Plutarque</HI> in his 5. Booke of his <HI>Sympo|&s;iaques</HI> 10. que&s;tion renders many rea&s;ons, and among others, for that it &s;ymbolizeth with the &s;oule that is of Divine nature, and as long as it re&s;ides in the body, keepes it from putrefaction, as Salt doth dead fle&s;h, where it is brought in in &s;tead of a &s;oule that keepeth it from corruption, whence &s;ome of the Stoicks would &s;ay, that Hogs fle&s;h of it &s;elfe was dead, and that a &s;oule which was &s;owed therein in a manner of &s;alt to con&s;erve it lon|ger exempt from putrefaction, to which a &s;oule was given for Salt. Our <HI>Theologians</HI> &s;ay that the ceremony of putting Salt into water when they hallow it, came from that which <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> did, 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 2.22, 23. to &s;weeten the waters of <HI>Jericho,</HI> by ca&s;ting Salt upon the Spring. And that notes the people (which is de|&s;igned by water (many waters are many Nations) were &s;anctifi|ed, mu&s;t teach us by the Word of God, what Salt &s;ignifies, with the bitterne&s;&s;e and repentance that men &s;hould have for offen|ding God, as water al&s;o doth the confe&s;&s;ion as well of faith as of &s;innes. Of the commixtion of the&s;e two, &s;alt and water, pro|ceeds
<PB N="135" REF="72"> a double fruit to &s;eparate from ill doing, and convert to good workes. And for that repentance for &s;inne ought to pre|cede auricular confe&s;&s;ion, which repentance is denoted by the bit|terne&s;&s;e of &s;alt, they ble&s;&s;e it al&s;o before water: It is al&s;o taken for wi&s;edome, <HI>You are the &s;alt of the earth,</HI> and <HI>have &s;alt in your &s;elves.</HI> And becau&s;e that in all their ancient Sacrifices they u&s;ed &s;alt, from thence it came that in Bapti&s;me they put &s;alt in the mouth of the Creature before it is baptized with water, for that it can|not yet actually have the my&s;tery of &s;alt applyed for the pre&s;ent.</P>
<P>On fire then and on &s;alt depend great and &s;ecret my&s;teries, comprized under two principal colours, red and white, for (as <HI>Zohar</HI> hath it) all things are white, and red, but there is a great &s;pace betwixt the one and the other. God dieth our &s;innes which are red, for concupi&s;cence comes from the blood, and from the &s;en&s;ualitie of the fle&s;h be&s;prinkled with blood, and we doe die his whitene&s;&s;e in red or rigour of Ju&s;tice, by the fire which inflameth our carnall de&s;ires, and purcha&s;eth their judge|ment, which is throughout where there is fire, if it bee not mor|tified with &s;aving water. And when the perver&s;e doe prevaile in the world, as ordinarily they doe, redne&s;&s;e and judgement extend them&s;elves therein, and all whitene&s;&s;e covers it &s;elf, which is rather changed into redne&s;&s;e then redne&s;&s;e into whitene&s;&s;e; which if it have domination, all on the contrary growes re|&s;plendent therewith. To the&s;e two colours al&s;o the ancient and the Evangelicall Law, the rigour of ju&s;tice and mercy; the pillar of fire in the nights darkene&s;&s;e, and the white cloud by day, wine and bread, blood and fat, which were not lawfull to eate. <HI>You &s;hall not eate fle&s;h with the blood, Gen.</HI> 9.4. And in <HI>Levit.</HI> 3.16, 17. <HI>All the fat is the Lords, it &s;hall bee a perpetuall Statute for your genera|tions throughout all your dwellings, that yee eate neither fat nor blood;</HI> where it is yet more particularly repeated in the 17. and 14. where the rea&s;on is rendred, for that <HI>the &s;oule,</HI> that is to &s;ay, the life of the fle&s;h, is in <HI>the blood,</HI> which my&s;tically repre&s;ents that of Me&s;&s;iah, wherein con&s;i&s;ted eternall life, &s;o that it was not lawfull to u&s;e any other before his comming. Of the &s;ame fat was re&s;erved for God as well that which the Hebrewes call <HI>cheleb,</HI> that covereth the inwards, and is &s;eparated from the fle&s;h, as the other called <HI>&s;chumen,</HI> which is thereunto annexed; but metaphorically the fat is taken for the mo&s;t exqui&s;ite &s;ub&s;tance,
<PB N="136" REF="73"> as in <HI>Numb.</HI> 18. the tenths the be&s;t of the fruits are called the fat of them, which manner of &s;peech wee al&s;o life when wee &s;ay, make the portion to be very fat of any thing that there is. And in the 81. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 16. <HI>Hee fed them with the fat of Wheate.</HI> It may bee al&s;o that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> well knowing that the&s;e two &s;ub&s;tances, blood and fat, are of ill ta&s;t and nouri&s;hment, and quickly cor|rupted out of their ve&s;&s;ells, hee forebad them the u&s;e thereof. Or if wee would enter into a certaine my&s;tery, for that the vitall &s;pirits con&s;i&s;t in the blood, which are of a fiery nature, and that fat is very &s;u&s;ceptible of flame, and proper to make lights, which are a repre&s;entation of the &s;oule. But Oile is al&s;o for Lamps, which was not forbidden to bee eaten, and wee doe not &s;ee that in Divine &s;ervice wee u&s;e Tallow Candles; yet the&s;e two, fire and &s;alt, doe &s;ignifie Wine and Milke, <HI>I have drunke Wine with my Milke, Cant.</HI> 5.1. By Wine is de&s;igned the tree of know|ledge of good and evill, namely vaine curio&s;ities of worldly things, and by Milke, that of life, whereof <HI>Adam</HI> was deprived, being de&s;irous to ta&s;t of that other, which was humane pru|dence. Before <HI>Adam</HI> had tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed (&s;aid <HI>Zohar</HI>) hee was made participant of the &s;apience of &s;uperiour light, being not yet &s;e|parated from the tree of life, but when hee would di&s;tract him|&s;elfe after the knowledge of ba&s;e things, this curio&s;itie cea&s;ed not till hee had wholly ca&s;t off life to incorporate him&s;elfe to death. <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>E&s;au,</HI> the two principall Potentates on earth which are de&s;cended therefrom, Item the Ro&s;e and the Lilly, who&s;e water extracted mounts by the fires heat that elevates it and becomes white, although the Ro&s;es bee red, as is the fume exhaled from blood and fat which they burne to God, to &s;end it on high as a vapour, to imply (&s;aith the &s;ame <HI>Zohar</HI>) that wee mu&s;t offer him nothing but what is cleane and candid; for red|ne&s;&s;e repre&s;ents &s;inne, and puni&s;hment that followes it; and the white, &s;inceritie, with mercy and the finall recompence that doth accompany it. What is it (&s;aith <HI>Zohar</HI>) which is de&s;igned by the red Ro&s;es, and the white Lillies? It is the odour of the oblation proceeding from red blood, and from fat which is white, which God re&s;erveth for his owne portion, which fat|ne&s;&s;e relates to the &s;acrifice, or animall man, who is nouri&s;hed with this fat, as the vitall &s;pirits with blood; wherefore it is &s;aid, when we fa&s;t to extenuate and macerate the pricks of the
<PB N="137" REF="73"> fle&s;h and concupi&s;cence, that we offer unto God fatne&s;&s;e, who will have from his Creature the &s;oul, which is fire and bloud; and the body, namely fat, wherewith it is nouri&s;hed, but the one and the other incontaminate, pure and neat without corruption, as if they were to pa&s;&s;e through the fire and &s;alted; Therefore he would that they &s;hould be burned to him, that they may a|&s;cend in a white fume and an odour of &s;uavity before him; for fume is more &s;piritual then matter, which the fire by &s;ubtiliation rai&s;eth it, after the manner of Incen&s;e. And indeed all this world here, is but an odour that mounts unto God, &s;ometimes good and agreeable, &s;ometimes wicked and hurtfull. The forme of the thing which con&s;i&s;teth in its colour, and figure, remains incorporeall in the matter, where the eye goes to apprehend it, and a&s;&s;ociates with it. The ta&s;t al&s;o, remains attached to it, as the &s;pittle moi&s;tens it, and communicates it to the ta&s;t: But odor or &s;mell, &s;eparates them, and comes from farre by an un|perceivable vapor, to the &s;en&s;e of the no&s;e and braine. Where|fore the Scripture doth particularize in the ro&s;e and in the lil|lies, the Red and White; who&s;e &s;mell doth not vani&s;h. And yet though the ro&s;es be red, yet the water of them di&s;tilled, and the fume if you burne them, are white, as tho&s;e of incen&s;e, whereof it is &s;poken in <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 41.2. <HI>Let my prayer he directed as incen&s;e, in thy &s;ight:</HI> by prayers are under&s;tood not only prayers, but all our de&s;ires, thoughts and comportmens, and thereupon <HI>Rabbi Eliezer,</HI> &s;onne of <HI>Rabbi Simeon,</HI> the author of <HI>Zohar,</HI> making his prayer, doth thus paraphra&s;e. <HI>This is well knowne, and manife&s;t before thee O Lord my God, God of our prayers, that I have offered unto thee my fat, and my blood: I have offered them in an odor of Suavity, with firme faith and beleefe, macerating, cha&s;ti&s;ing the &s;en&s;uality of my fle&s;h: That it will plea&s;e thee then Lord, that the odor of my prayer, proceeding from my mouth, may be pre&s;ently addre&s;&s;ed before thy face, as an odor of a burnt offering, which they burne unto thee, upon the altar of propitiation, and that thou wilt accept it as agreeable.</HI> He &s;aid that becau&s;e that after the comming of our Saviour, &amp; the de&s;truction of the &s;econd Temple by the <HI>Romans,</HI> the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> &s;acrifices were converted into prayers, the bloudy &s;acrifices &s;ignified by the red ro&s;es, and colour of bloud, and tho&s;e without bloud, as the minchad &amp; other the like, of meal, by the white lillies, following that which was &s;aid <HI>Cant. Chap.</HI> 5. <HI>&amp;</HI> 6. <HI>My beloved is white and ruddy, he feedeth among the lillies.</HI></P>
<PB N="138" REF="74">
<P>Under the&s;e four colours furthermore, which &s;ignifie the four Elements, Black the Earth, White the Water, Blew the Air, and Red the fire, are compri&s;ed the greate&s;t &s;ecrets &amp; my&s;teries. Other|wi&s;e reading in ch. 10. of 35 book <HI>Plinie,</HI> that <HI>Apelles</HI> had painted <HI>Alexander</HI> holding lightning in his hand; fingers &s;eemed to hang out, and lightning to be without the Table; but reading they re|membred that all tho&s;e con&s;i&s;ted of four colours. I cannot well &s;pecifie what tho&s;e four colours were, which mu&s;t be principall in nature, till I had learned out of <HI>Zohar,</HI> to con&s;ider them in the light: where, that is to be noted, that there are two fa&s;tned to the week, namely black, noting the Earth, and red proceeding there from fire; and two to the flame, Blew in the root, over a|gain&s;t the black, and white on the top, oppo&s;ite to red. But let us &s;ee how this doth well &s;uit with Chymicall Theorie, which con&s;titutes of the&s;e four Elements, two &s;olid and fix'd, which pre|pare them&s;elves together, the earth, and the fire, which adhere to the week, and the other two liquid volatills and flitting, water, and air, white and blew, as is the flame which is liquid, and in perpetuall motion: And we mu&s;t not think it &s;trange, that the air, the blew, &s;hould be lower then the water, or the white flame which is aloft, becau&s;e the aereall party which is the oil and fat, &s;eparate more hardly, and more difficultly from the compo&s;ed, then doth the water more oppo&s;ite to fire. But let us look more my&s;tically thereinto, which the <HI>Zohar</HI> hath more abundantly run through. The red light, as well in earth as in heaven, is that which de&s;troyes all, di&s;&s;ipates all; for it is the bark of the tree of death, as we may &s;ee in a lamp, candle, and other light, who&s;e root is in the earth, namely, this corruptible and corrupting blackne&s;&s;e which watereth the week; the branches and the boughes are the flames, blew and white. The week with its black|ne&s;&s;e and redne&s;&s;e is the Elementary world, and the flame the Cele&s;tiall. The red colour commands all that is under it, and devoureth it. And if you &s;ay that it domineers al&s;o in heaven, not as in the inferiour world, wee may an&s;wer. And although there be vertues and powers above that are de&s;tructive, and di&s;&s;i|pate all ba&s;e &s;ubjacent things. All the&s;e &s;uperiors are anchored in this red light, and not the inferiors, for they are thick, gro&s;&s;e, and ob&s;cure; and this red light which is contiguous to that a|bove, gnawes, and devours them; and there ia nothing in the
<PB N="139" REF="74"> low world which &s;hall not be de&s;troyed. It penetrates and en|ters into &s;tones, it pierceth them, and hollowes them, that wa|ters may pa&s;&s;e over them, and drowns all in the depths and hollowes of the earth, where they divide them&s;elves, of the one &s;ide, and on the other, till they come to re&s;emble anew in their <HI>Aby&s;&s;us,</HI> pa&s;&s;ing cro&s;&s;e the darkne&s;&s;es that are confounded with them; which is the cau&s;e that waters ri&s;e and fall, (they mount when they come from the &s;ea under earth to their &s;ources, to glide anew above the earth downwards, returning to the place from which they parted.) So that the waters darkne&s;&s;e and light mingling them&s;elves pellmell, there is made within ano|ther <HI>Chaos,</HI> which nature comes to unmingle (the heat namely which is therein inclo&s;ed) by Ordinance of the Soveraign Di|&s;pen&s;ator that commands it. And there make lights which men cannot &s;ee, becau&s;e they are dark. Every channell (to be brief) mounts upwards with his voices, whence <HI>Aby&s;&s;us</HI> are &s;haken, and cry to their companion, One depth calleth to another, in the voice of their Catarracts. And who is it that cries? Open thee with thy waters, and I will enter into thee. The&s;e are all my|&s;teries unea&s;y to comprehend, which intend nothing, but to de|mon&s;trate the affinity and connexion of the &s;en&s;ible with the in|telligible world, and of the Elementary with the Cele&s;tiall; for, as it is &s;aid in another ca&s;e, the Univer&s;all firmament, called the firmament of heaven, containeth things &s;uperiour and inferiour; although after divers manners. This is wel &s;een in a torch, where blackne&s;&s;e, that is, the Earth, is the ground of three elements and colours, the red being but an inflammation and heat joined to the blackne&s;&s;e, without any flame or light; as are the blew and white, which proceed from one very root, all tend a going to unite with the white flame that is above, and more highly eleva|ted then others. Yet it is not therefore &s;o pure and quit of all filthine&s;&s;e, but that it procreates &s;oot, with black and infected fume, whereof it mu&s;t be depured by fire, till it hath perfected the con&s;umption of its corruption, and made it a perfect white|ne&s;&s;e, which from that time forwards never alters. And this is that which we &s;aid before, that fire leaves two &s;orts of excre|ments, not &s;ufficiently depured for the fir&s;t proof. A&s;hes below, whence by the &s;ame fire is extracted an incorruptible &s;ub&s;tance of &s;alt; and of gla&s;&s;e at the la&s;t, which the <HI>Zohar</HI> was not igno|rant
<PB N="140" REF="75"> of, when he &s;aid upon <HI>Exod.</HI> of the lees of any confected a &s;hes, &s;alt and gla&s;&s;e is drawn. But now for that it was not &s;o &s;aid, it is a thing &s;ufficiently common and manife&s;t to tho&s;e that deal with fire, which Cinerall excrement comes from the adu&s;tion and burning of coals: but the foot which is more &s;pirituall, for that mounts and elevates higher, is born of the flame which hath no lea&s;ure or power to perfect its mundification, &s;o that the pure and impure mount together. And a&s;&s;uredly nothing can better agree with our &s;ouls after their &s;eparation from the body, which carries away with them the imapurities which they have attra|cted from it, during their re&s;idence here below, which they mu&s;t repa&s;s by fire, &amp; be perfected by white throughout. <HI>Every man &s;hal be &s;alted with fire, and every &s;acrifice &s;hall be &s;alted with &s;alt.</HI> The weik and a&s;hes repre&s;enting man, the exterior animal, and his body, and the two flames, blew, and white; the blew the Cele&s;tiall and Ethereall body, and the white, &s;ouls &s;tript of all Corporeity: which in good men &s;hall be burnt with fire that burns alwaies upon the altar, and &s;alted with &s;alt from the Covenant, the pro|mi&s;es namely of his Me&s;&s;iah, into which the Prince of this world, hath but &s;een, as it hath done in the po&s;terity of <HI>Adam,</HI> which is al filled with a&s;hes whereof it was fir&s;t built, &amp; with the &s;oot of originall &s;in, whereunto he fa&s;tned by his di&s;obedience, prevarication: So that we are the night where <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> began to reckon the day, for that we are according to the fle&s;h, before the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> who being come after, is the enlightned day of this clear &s;un of Ju&s;tice, which the Cabballi&s;ts &s;ay is the repre&s;entati|on of <HI>Jehovah,</HI> who&s;e &s;heath (as they call it) is <HI>Adonei,</HI> from whence God mu&s;t be drawn out: for it is hee, that mundifies the righteous, and burneth the wicked with dark and ob&s;cure fire. To which that al&s;o beateth, which is &s;aid of the Thrones Ani|malls, there &s;hall de&s;cend a Lion enflamed, that &s;hall devour the oblations. There are Angells committed upon every member that &s;inneth, of whom they con&s;titute them&s;elves the bringers on: for every man that commits any offence, he &s;uddainly dele|gates to him&s;elf an accu&s;er, which will be no more favourable to him then he mu&s;t be, but will lend him a fire from above, to burn that member that &s;hall have tre&s;pa&s;&s;ed. But <HI>Jehovah</HI> intervene<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> from above, who with his water of mercy, quencheth this fire, af|ter the party Delinquent &s;hall have his &s;pots purged away. And
<PB N="141" REF="75"> there is but he alone, that is the angel of peace, that make the &s;ouls reconcilation with God, to whom &s;he comes by the interce&s;&s;ion of this &s;acred name: there is no other name; all that the <HI>Zohar</HI> &s;ets down, wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ch is as Chri&s;tian-like &s;poken by a Rabbin which was never baptized.</P>
<P>That premi&s;ed for a ground work of what we &s;hall &s;ay here|after, St. <HI>Marks</HI> Greek text carries it, <GAP DESC="foreign">, every &s;acrifice &s;hall be &s;ea&s;oned with &s;alt; where the <HI>Latin</HI> ver&s;ion which the Church holdeth, for <GAP DESC="foreign"> a &s;acrifice, as in truth this Greek word &s;ignifies, all &s;orts of &s;acrifices, <HI>ho&s;tia's, victima's,</HI> and <HI>ceremonies:</HI> But <HI>Porphyrius</HI> in his &s;econd book of &s;acrifices, doth particularize it to herbs that men offered to the Gods, for from the beginning they did not pre&s;ent them: this he &s;pake of Incen&s;e, Myrrhe, Benjamin, Storax, Aloes, Labdanum and other the like odoriferous gums; but only certain green herbs, as certain fir&s;t fruits of &s;eeds that the earth produced; and trees were procreated from the Earth before Animalls, and the earth was clothed with herbs, before it produced trees. By rea&s;on whereof, the gathering certain <HI>pieds</HI> of herbs all entire with their leaves and rootes, and &s;eeds, they burned them, and &s;acrificed the odour and fume that proceeded therefrom to the Immortall Gods: and of this exhalation they ca&s;t, which the Greeks call <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&s;uffitus,</HI> perfumed, whence comes the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>victima</HI> &s;acrifice. Therefore they do not refer them properly to bloody &s;acrifices, for the <HI>Romans</HI> for more then 800 years &s;ince, by <HI>Nu|maes</HI> Ordinance, had no Images of Gods, nor other &s;acrifices, then dough with &s;alt, which were from thence called <GAP DESC="foreign">, that is to &s;ay, without blood. Hitherto <HI>Porphyrie.</HI></P>
<P>It hath been &s;aid heretofore that there was nothing more common, nor le&s;&s;e well known then fire. And as much we may &s;ay of &s;alt: wherefore it is that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> made &s;o great account of it, as to apply it to all &s;acrifices. Calling it the perpetual Co|venant that God made with his people; of which alliance by the <HI>Hebrews</HI> called <HI>Berith,</HI> they found three or four marks in the Scripture; The bow of heaven, <HI>Gen.</HI> 9.9. <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.2. Circumci&s;i|on to <HI>Abraham,</HI> and the univer&s;all paction, <HI>Numb.</HI> 18.19. Fur|ther yet the Paction of the Law received in <HI>Horeb, Deut.</HI> 5.2, &amp; 3. The Lord our God made a Covenant with us in <HI>Horeb;</HI> which hath been time out of mind in &s;ingular and venerable recom|mendation
<PB N="142" REF="76"> towards all &s;orts of people; you ble&s;s your tables by putting on of &s;alt&s;ellers (&s;aith <HI>Arnobius</HI> to the <HI>Gentiles.</HI>) But <HI>Titus Livius</HI> in his 26. that they may have a &s;alt&s;eller &amp; a di&s;h or plat|ter for Gods cau&s;e. And <HI>Fabricius,</HI> that thrice valiant <HI>Roman</HI> Cap|tain, had never gold nor &s;ilver but a little drinking cup, who&s;e foot was of horn, to make his offerings to the Gods, &amp; &s;alt&s;eller to &s;erve for &s;acrifices forbiddding, as <HI>Plinie</HI> hath it, in his 33. book, 12. ch. to have other Silvery then tho&s;e two. It was further|more a marke and &s;ymbole of Amity, as was &s;alt: Wherefore the fir&s;t thing that they &s;erved &s;trangers, comming to them, was Salt, to note a firmity of their contracted Amity. And the great Duke of <HI>Mu&s;covie,</HI> as <HI>Sigi&s;mund</HI> puts it down in his Treati&s;e of the affairs of <HI>Mu&s;covie,</HI> he could not do greater honour to tho&s;e that he favoured then to &s;end them of his &s;alt. <HI>Archilocus</HI> as <HI>Origen</HI> alledgeth again&s;t <HI>Cel&s;us,</HI> among other things, reproacheth <HI>Lycambas</HI> to have violated a very holy and &s;acred My&s;tery, of the amity conceived betwixt them by the &s;alt &amp; the common table. And upon Saint <HI>Matthew</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Judas,</HI> he had not (&s;aith he) any re&s;pect either to the remembrance of their common ta|ble, or to &s;alt or bread which we did at together. And <HI>Lyco|phron</HI> in a poem of <HI>Alexander</HI> called &s;alt <GAP DESC="foreign"> purifying and clean&s;ing; alluding to that of <HI>Euripides,</HI> that the &s;ea wa&s;heth a|way all faults from men, for that the &s;ea which the <HI>Pythagoreans</HI> becau&s;e of its bitterne&s;&s;e and &s;altne&s;&s;e, call it <HI>Saturnes</HI> tears, and a fift Element, and is nothing but &s;alt di&s;&s;olved in water. And certes it is a thing very admirable, the great quantity that there is of &s;alt; &s;ith that we hold it for an infallible maxime, that God &amp; Nature made nothing in vain. For be&s;ides that there is found thereof in the earth, part in liquor which they &s;cum off, part in yee, as at <HI>Halle</HI> in <HI>Saxony,</HI> and at <HI>Borre</HI> in <HI>Provence,</HI> part in hard rocks, as in <HI>Teplaga</HI> a land of Negroes, where they carry it more then two hundred miles off upon their heads, and tran&s;port from hand to hand by relayes, even to the Kingdome of <HI>Tombur,</HI> &s;er|ving for money that pa&s;&s;eth for currant in all tho&s;e quarters, as it doth al&s;o in the Province of <HI>Caindu</HI> in Ea&s;t Tartarie. Accor|ding to <HI>Marc. Pole</HI> in his 2 book, 38 chap. and al&s;o that if they have it not for all purpo&s;es in their mouths, their gums rot, be|cau&s;e of the extream heats that raign there, accompanied with corrupting Moori&s;h moi&s;tures; for which rea&s;on they mu&s;t hold
<PB N="143" REF="76"> thereof continually moi&s;tening it with a thing that doth hin|der putrefaction.</P>
<P>I have many times made triall very exactly, that of Sea-water, men make or draw more then halfe of &s;alt, cau&s;ing the fre&s;h wa|ter that is therein, &s;weetly to evaporate away; what an enormous quantity then would there remaine of &s;alt, if the fre&s;h &s;ub&s;tance of the Sea were there from extracted? There are no &s;ands or de&s;erts, of what long extenditure &s;oever, that can compare there|with, not by the 2. thou&s;and part; for many men would equall, yea preferre the Sea in quantity and greatne&s;&s;e unto the earth. We mu&s;t not here dwell long on particularities that concerne &s;alt. <HI>Plinie</HI> in his 35. Book <HI>Chap.</HI> 7. The greate&s;t part depending upon nothing but heare&s;ay, for all tend to no other thing, but in the fir&s;t place to &s;hew that there are two &s;orts of &s;alt (as tis true) Naturall, and Artificiall. The Naturall growes in flakes, or in a rock by it &s;elfe, within the earth, as is afore&s;aid: the Artifi|ciall is made with &s;ea-water, or with liquor, as a pickle drawne out of &s;alt pits, as they doe in <HI>Lorrain,</HI> and the <HI>French</HI> County of <HI>Burgundie:</HI> which they boyle and congeale upon the fire. He there &s;heweth many examples, and indeed tho&s;e which are more difficult to beleeve: let the faith be on the &s;ayers part, and among others of a certaine lake of <HI>Tarentin</HI> in <HI>Poville,</HI> not deeper then the height of knees where water in &s;ummer time by the Suns heat is all converted into &s;alt. And in the Province of <HI>Babylon,</HI> there growes a liquid <HI>Bitumem,</HI> a little thick, which they u&s;e in Lamps in &s;tead of oile. This inflamable &s;ub&s;tance being &s;tripped therefrom, there remaines &s;alt, there under hidden: as indeed wee &s;ee it by experience that out of every thing that burns there may be &s;alt extracted, but there doth not appear any thing there|in but wateri&s;hne&s;&s;e and inflamable unctuo&s;ity which mu&s;t be taken away by fire, this done &s;alt remains in the a&s;hes. And this &s;alt (&s;aith <HI>Geber</HI>) in his te&s;tament retaines alwayes the nature and property of the thing from which it is extracted, if this be done in a clo&s;e ve&s;&s;ell that the &s;pirits may not vapor away, for there would remaine that which the Go&s;pell cals <HI>&s;al infatuatum,</HI> as we &s;hall &s;ay hereafter.</P>
<P>The be&s;t &s;alt then that may be, and the whole&s;ome&s;t, is that which is made with &s;ea-water in <HI>Bronage.</HI> And after the example thereof, that the trough throughout, where the &s;alt water is
<PB N="144" REF="77"> made of clay or glue, as potters earth: and that whereof tiles is made; furthermore you mu&s;t <HI>courry</HI> this trough by Artifice that it drink not, nor &s;uck up the water which men draw therefrom, which is done by beating it with a great number of Hor&s;es, A&s;&s;es, and Mullets, tied one to another that they may trample thereon, &s;o long that it be firme and &s;olid, as a certain barns flore to thre&s;h wheate. This done, and having hollowed the channels, to put in the water, then we mu&s;t have a care that the &s;alt-pans be &s;omething lower then the Sea (<HI>Plinie</HI> in his 2. Book <HI>Chap.</HI> 106. &s;ets downe that &s;alt cannot be made without fre&s;h water) they &s;et in the fir&s;t place a great receptacle where they draw the wa|ter which is called the<NOTE N="(a)" PLACE="marg">The fir&s;t receptacle or bond of &s;alt water whereof &s;alt is made.</NOTE> <HI>Jard:</HI> and at the end thereof a &s;luce by which having applyed thereunto below a hanch with a &s;topple called the<NOTE N="(b)" PLACE="marg">A trunck or pipe of wood through which &s;ea-water pa&s;|&s;es, one of the la&s;t receptacles whereof &s;alt is made.</NOTE> <HI>Amezau,</HI> they make the water run from the Jard into <HI>Parquets,</HI> which they cal <HI>Couches,</HI> &amp; of the&s;e <HI>Couches</HI> giving thereto a requi&s;ite hanging, by other &s;topples, 2. in number, called the gate of the <HI>Poelles,</HI> which are therein encha&s;ed within o|ther Parquets called &s;oldering or planching with boord, win|dings and means to make the water turne, by divers windings and channels almo&s;t after the manner of a Labyrinth, which it is doth for a great way before it come to render it &s;elf at la&s;t, with|in the <HI>Parquets</HI> and hollowes where the &s;alt mu&s;t be congealed: alwayes dimini&s;hing the quantity of water, that the Sun-beames have therein more action, and that it be better warmed before it enter the floores, where it makes its finall congelation. But to come thereunto by certaine degrees, and proportionate mea|&s;ures, there are throughout the <HI>Palles</HI> which they lift up and downe as tho&s;e of a mill. All the earth that remaineth, which men draw by the <HI>Parquets</HI> and the flores they <HI>Arrange</HI> about them as a <HI>Trench</HI> or rampart,<NOTE PLACE="marg">High grounds or little hils rai&s;ed by mens hands.</NOTE> which is called <HI>Ba&s;&s;is</HI> of the convenient breadth, to pa&s;&s;e two hor&s;es a front; which &s;erves as well to re|taine the water, as to put upon the heaps of &s;alt, made and con|gealed, called <HI>Vaches,</HI> and to come and goe as upon a dike, or cau&s;way from one mari&s;h to another, to lade and carry upon the bea&s;ts of carriage of the ve&s;&s;els which attend there neer to the &s;hore: In the winter they content them&s;elves with bulru&s;hes which they &s;ell afterwards very well for the profit they draw from them: and that for fear of rains and &s;nows, and other aere|all moi&s;ture, that moi&s;ten then anew. And all the ri&s;ings are &s;o
<PB N="145" REF="77"> oblique, and turning, that for a mile travers of right way, wee mu&s;t m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ke 7. or 8. &s;o that being therein once ca&s;t a little on, one may lo&s;e him&s;elfe, which knew not the addre&s;&s;es, or had not a good guide, by rea&s;on of the turnings and bridge-ponts, that men mu&s;t goe to make choice of, to pa&s;&s;e from one place to another. And it would be very hard to make thereof a Chart or de&s;cripti|on, principally in winter, where all is well-nigh covered with water, &amp; yet more to enter in by a &s;trong hand, for con&s;ervation of the&s;e &s;alt pits every year, after the heats are over, the Sun not being able to make it, but in the Months of <HI>May, June, July,</HI> and <HI>Augu&s;t,</HI> the &s;alt makers doe u&s;e to open certaine <HI>Bonds,</HI> to &s;uffer the &s;ea-water to enter till all the formes and <HI>Parquets</HI> be covered, otherwi&s;e the fro&s;ts would de&s;troy them: that if while the &s;alt freezeth or creameth there come any rain, it is &s;o great a retard|men<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> (and for fifteen dayes at the lea&s;t) we mu&s;t empty al the wa|ter out of the <HI>Parquets,</HI> that the rain had altered, and therefore in rainy and cold years, they can very hardly make it.</P>
<P>In this regard, I come to remember an experiment that I have tried more then ones, which gave me to think whether it were <HI>Ari&s;totle,</HI> I tooke eight or ten pound of common gro&s;&s;e &s;alt, which I made to di&s;&s;olve in hot water, &s;cumming the froth which may be there, and being left to &s;ettle, I put the clear by in|clination in a caldron over the fire, where I made all the water evaporate, &s;o that the &s;alt remained in the bottome, white as &s;now; then I endeavoured to dry it in a pot, giving it at la&s;t a goo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> e&s;tret of fire for four or five houres, when it was cold I par|ted it into four platters of <HI>Beuvais</HI> to &s;horten and gain time, in fair weather at a window where the Sunne came not, and did choo&s;e a moi&s;t time to facilitate the di&s;&s;olution, recollecting eve|ry morning that which was re&s;olved in water, &s;o long that at the end of &s;even or eight dayes the &s;alts di&s;&s;olution was perfe|cted, nothing remaining but I know not what thickne&s;&s;e or &s;lime, in a &s;mall quantity which I &s;et apart, I put all my di&s;&s;olu|tions into <HI>Cornues</HI> &amp; di&s;tilled all the water which could mount, being very fre&s;h, for the &s;altne&s;&s;e did not a&s;cend, but remained fixt in the bottome of the ve&s;&s;el, and gave at la&s;t a good e&s;tret of fire, with &s;taves of <HI>Cotteret,</HI> having broken the Cornues: I put the &s;alt that therein remained congealed to di&s;&s;olve in moi&s;ture as before, till there remained nothing but gro&s;&s;ene&s;&s;e and &s;lime as
<PB N="146" REF="78"> in the former I di&s;tilled that which a&s;cended from the water, and reiterated all tho&s;e Regiments till all my &s;alt was re&s;olved and di&s;tilled into &s;alt water, that which came the &s;even or eight time. The &s;lime I wa&s;hed well with water, to extract what might bee the Remainder of &s;altne&s;&s;e; and &s;o recalcined and wa&s;ht them till there re&s;ted nothing but &s;lime or pure earth without ta&s;t. Of this little &s;alt that I had extracted, I did as I had done with others, &s;o that all my &s;alt, without lo&s;ing any of its &s;ub&s;tance, went away in &s;weet water, and in this in&s;en&s;ible &s;lime, which came at la&s;t to one or two ounces. What then became of the &s;altne&s;&s;e of this &s;alt? Certes herein I have lo&s;t all my <HI>Latine,</HI> and know not what to &s;ay thereof, only it is gone in verity as I &s;ay: If any one would untie this knot, would indeed do me a great plea|&s;ure: I will leave it to mix with others, to come to the particu|lar prai&s;es of &s;alt, without which, &s;aith <HI>Plinie,</HI> we could not live civilly. All the grace, gentility, ornament, plea&s;ures and de|lights of humane life, cannot bee better expre&s;&s;ed then by this word; which extends al&s;o to the plea&s;ures of the &s;oul, the &s;weet|ne&s;&s;e and tranquillity of life, and to a Soveraign rejoycing and repo&s;e of all troubles and &s;orrows. It renews the pricks and a|morous de&s;ires &s;o beget its like, and hath obtained this hono|rable quality of Souldiers, and of plea&s;ant and witty words, and joyous meetings, without hurt to any; from whence it &s;hould be called the Graces. According to which St. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith in the 4 to the <HI>Col.</HI> 6. <HI>Let your &s;peech be alwaies with grace, &s;ea&s;oned with &s;alt.</HI> And in the end it is the &s;ea&s;oning of all our viands, which without it would remain un&s;avoury and without ta&s;t. So that it is &s;aid to right &s;en&s;e in the common proverb, there is nothing more profitable then the &s;un and &s;alt. So <HI>Plinie</HI> di&s;|cour&s;eth thereof, in the place alledged, and <HI>Plutarch</HI> in his book and 4 que&s;tion of his Sympofiacques, without &s;alt we can eat nothing agreeable to the ta&s;t, for bread it &s;elf is more &s;avoury if it be mingled therewith: therefore ordinarily in Churches and covering of tables, they couple <HI>Neptune</HI> with <HI>Ceres,</HI> for &s;alt things are as it it were an allurement and a &s;pur to excite appetite: So that before any other nouriture wee take that which is &s;harp and &s;alt, whereas, if they begin with others they would in|continently pro&s;trate them&s;elves. That which hath no ta&s;t can it be eaten without Salt? <HI>Job.</HI> 6.6. Salt al&s;o renders drink more
<PB N="147" REF="78"> delicious, and it is of infinite other u&s;es and commodities of life, that holds more of man; whereas the privation thereof, makes it brutall. It is furthermore a mark and &s;ymbole of Ju&s;tice, becau&s;e it guards and con&s;erves that to which it is intro|duced and fa&s;tened. Of Amity al&s;o, and Gratitude, &s;utable to that in the fir&s;t of <HI>E&s;dr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s</HI> chap. 4. where the Lieutenants of King <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> writ to him in this manner. <HI>We remember the &s;alt thou gave&s;t us in thy Palace, we would not fail to adverti&s;e thee faithfully of what &s;hall come to out knowledg concerning the &s;ervice of they highne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>Salt being there put for one of the greate&s;t obligations that can be had, becau&s;e it is a thing pure, neat, holy and &s;acred, which men fir&s;t &s;et on the table. So that <HI>Ae&s;chines</HI> in his prayer of the ill admini&s;tred Amba&s;&s;ie, makes great account of &s;alt, and a pub|lick table, of one City confederate with another. And indeed there is nothing more permanent nor more fixt in the fire, nor more approaching to its nature, becau&s;e it is mordicant, &s;harp, tart, cutting, &s;ubtill, penetrative, pure and neat, fragrant, in|combu&s;tible and incorruptible. Yea, that which pre&s;erves all things from corruption, &amp; by its preparations makes it &s;elf clear, cry&s;talline, and tran&s;parent as Air; for gla&s;&s;e is nothing el&s;e then a mo&s;t fixt &s;alt that may be extracted from all &s;orts of a&s;hes, and of &s;ome nearer then of others; but it is not &s;o di&s;&s;oluble into moi&s;ture as common &s;alt; nor that which is extracted out of a&s;hes by way of lee, which is liquid with it by &s;trong expre&s;&s;ions of fire, which are notwith&s;tanding two contrary re&s;olutions, and re&s;i&s;ting one the other: chiefly afterward from all liquid humidity, unctuous but incon&s;umptible. It is moreover the fir&s;t originall as well of mineralls as of &s;tones, and pretious &s;tones, yea of all other mineralls. Likewi&s;e of vegetables and of Ani|malls, who&s;e blood and urinall humour, and all other &s;ub&s;tance is &s;alted, to pre&s;erve it from putrefaction: and in generall, from all mixed and compo&s;ed Elements; which is herein verified that they re&s;olve them&s;elves into it, &s;o that it is as the other life of all things; and without it &s;aith the Philo&s;opher <HI>Morien,</HI> nature can no wayes work, nor can any other thing be ingendred, ac|cording to <HI>Raimund Lullus</HI> in his te&s;tament. Whereunto all chy|micall Philo&s;ophers doe adhere; that nothing hath been created here below, in the Elementary part better, nor more pretious then &s;alt.</P>
<PB N="148" REF="79">
<P>There is &s;alt then, in every thing, and nothing can &s;ub&s;i&s;t but for the &s;alt which is therein mixed; which ties the parts toge|ther as a chain, otherwi&s;e they would all go into &s;mall powder, and give them nouri&s;hment; for there are two &s;ub&s;tances in &s;alt, the one vi&s;cous, glui&s;h, and unctuous, of the nature of air, which is &s;weet; and indeed there is nothing that nouri&s;heth but what is &s;weet; the bitter and the &s;alt do not. The other is a du&s;t, &s;harp pricking and biting, of the nature of fire, which is laxative. For all &s;alts are laxative, and nothing doth loo&s;e the body, that par|ticipates not of the nature of &s;alt: Mark then, wherefore is it that tho&s;e that drink &s;alt water die &s;peedily of dy&s;enteries? the &s;alt which is mingled therewith cau&s;ing a gnawing in the bowels; for there is nothing corro&s;ive but &s;alt, or of the nature of &s;alt, fiery of it &s;elf, &s;aith <HI>Plinie, lib.</HI> 31. <HI>ch.</HI> 9. and yet enemy of actuall fire, for it leaps up and down, it danceth to and fro, and crac|kles, corroding al&s;o all to which it is fa&s;tened; and drying it, al|though it be the &s;tronge&s;t and mo&s;t permanent humidity of all others, and it is a moi&s;ture (&s;aith <HI>Geber</HI>) that above all other moi&s;tures expects an encounter with fire.</P>
<P>So wee &s;ee in metals, which are nothing el&s;e but congealed and baked &s;alts, by a long and &s;ucce&s;&s;ive decoction, within the earths entralls, where their humidity is abundantly fixt by the tempe|rate air it meets withall there. And the&s;e &s;alts do participate of &s;ulphur and quick&s;ilver, which joined together make a third name Metalline &s;alt, which hath the &s;ame fa&s;hion and re&s;olution as common &s;alt; which is taken for a &s;ymbole of equity and ju&s;tice; as al&s;o are metals, but for another con&s;ideration. For melt Gold, Silver, Copper, and other metals together, they wil all mingle equally: So that if upon a hundred parts of &s;ilver, yea two hundred you melt one of gold, the lea&s;t part of this &s;ilver, in what regard &s;oever you will take it from the totall ma&s;&s;e, &s;hall in re&s;pect of it &s;elf, take its ju&s;t and equall portion of gold and no more nor le&s;&s;e, wherefore they are taken for di&s;tributive ju&s;tice. But &s;alt is for that throughout, where it attacheth fle&s;h, fi&s;h, vegetables, it keeps them from corruption, and con&s;erves them in their entire, and makes them durable for many ages. Fire on the contrary, is an evill ho&s;t, for it &s;tealeth and de&s;troyeth all that lodgeth near it, never cea&s;ing till it hath converted all into a&s;hes, whence &s;alt was extracted, that was before therein con|tained:
<PB N="139" REF="79"> So that the&s;e two, fire &amp; &s;alt, accord and convene together and al&s;o with the ferments in this, that they convert all that whereupon they can exerci&s;e their action. <HI>Plutarch</HI> in his book and 4 que&s;tion of Sympo&s;iaques, extolling &s;alt, &s;ets down, that all fle&s;h and fi&s;h that was eat is a dead thing, and proceeds from a dead body; but when the faculty of &s;alt comes to be introduced, it is a &s;oul that revivifies and gives them grace and &s;avor. And in the 5 book 10. que&s;t. renders a rea&s;on why <HI>Homer</HI> calls &s;alt divine; he puts that &s;alt is as a temperament and fortification of the viands within the body: and that it gives it an agreement with the appetite. But it is rather for the vertue that it hath to pre&s;erve dead bodies from putrefaction; which is as to re&s;i&s;t death, that which appertains to Divinity. <HI>Thou &s;halt (not &s;uffer thy holy one to &s;ee corruption,</HI>) not permitting that what is deprived of life &s;hould peri&s;h &s;o &s;uddenly in all kinds: but as the &s;oul, that di|vine part within us, keeps the body alive (a &s;oul is given to hogs for their &s;afety,) this <HI>Plinie</HI> &s;ets down after the Stoicks. So &s;alt al&s;o takes into its &s;afeguard dead fle&s;h to keep it from putrefacti|on; whence the fire of lightning is reputed for divine; becau&s;e tho&s;e that have been touched therewith remain a great while without corruption; as &s;alt doth on its part, which hath this property and vertue; which &s;heweth the great affinity and agree|ment which they have together. Wherefore <HI>Evenus</HI> was wont to &s;ay, that fire was the be&s;t &s;auce in the world, and the very &s;ame is al&s;o attributed to &s;alt. All which things here above do con|firme the occa&s;ion for which <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and after him <HI>Pythagoras</HI> made &s;o great e&s;teem of &s;alt, to cover under his Allegorie that which they would give to under&s;tand by it; that our &s;ouls and con&s;ciences &s;ignified by man in St. <HI>Mark,</HI> namely, the internall man, and our body for the &s;acrifice ought to be offered up unto God, pure and not &s;oiled with corruption; <HI>That you offer up your bodies a living &s;acrifice, holy plea&s;ing vnto God, &amp;c.</HI> Therein was there (it may be) another rea&s;on, that moved <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to exalt &s;alt &s;o much, that according as <HI>Rabbi Mo&s;es</HI> the <HI>Aegyptian</HI> di&s;|cour&s;eth at large in his third book of his <HI>More,</HI> 47&punc; ch. where he renders a particular rea&s;on for the mo&s;t part of Mo&s;aical ceremo|monies, his principall aim was to overthrow all Idolatries, even rho&s;e of the <HI>Aegyptians,</HI> where they had a greater vogue then in a|ny other part. He &s;eeing that their Prie&s;ts &s;o greatly dete&s;ted &s;alt,
<PB N="150" REF="80"> that they would not u&s;e it in any &s;ort, for that of the &s;ea from whence it proceeded; in the bitterne&s;&s;e whereof, the &s;weet &s;ub|&s;tance of <HI>Nilus</HI> went to lo&s;e and &s;alt it &s;elf; which they held to be for the radicall moi&s;ture from whence all things here below do &s;prout and nouri&s;h them&s;elves in de&s;pite of them, and contrary to their traditions; he would thereof make a form of alliance &amp; paction from God with the Jewi&s;h people, that all their oblations &s;hould be accompanied with &s;ait: And in the 2 of <HI>Paralip.</HI> 13.5 chap. It is &s;aid, that God gave to <HI>David</HI> and his children the Kingdom of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> by a Covenant of Salt; that is to &s;ay, mo&s;t firm and indi&s;&s;oluble; for that &s;alt hinders corruption. And there|fore the Saviour cho&s;e his Apo&s;tles to be as the &s;alt of men; that is to &s;ay, to deliver the pure and incorruptible doctrine of the Go&s;pel; and to confirm them firm per&s;i&s;tent faith, as wel by words as deeds. The <HI>Caballi&s;ts</HI> penetrating further into the my&s;teries inclo&s;ed therewithin, meditate certain &s;ubtilties by a rule of Ghematrie, called <HI>Ghilcal,</HI> which con&s;i&s;teth in equiva|lencies of Numbers, which the <HI>Hebrewes</HI> a&s;&s;igne unto Letters. Tho&s;e of this word <HI>Malach</HI> which &s;ignifieth &s;alt, mounts in their &s;upputation to 78. for <HI>Mem</HI> valued 40. <HI>Lamed</HI> 30. and <HI>heth</HI> 8. or divided in any &s;ort that you will, alwaies there will re&s;ult a cer|tain number, repre&s;enting a my&s;tery of Divine names; the half which makes 39. mount to as much as the letters of <HI>Chuzu;</HI> the &s;cabbard or covering of this great Name for <HI>caph. val.</HI> 20. <HI>vau</HI> 6. <HI>Z.</HI> 7. and the other <HI>vau</HI> 6, if in 3 parts, each wil mount to 26. which is the number <HI>tetragrammaton Jehovah, vau</HI> making 10. <HI>he</HI> 5. <HI>vau</HI> 6. &amp; <HI>he</HI> 5. In &s;ix parts this will be 13. for each, which are equipol|lent to the number of Piety. In 13. there are 6. which <HI>vau</HI> is va|lued at, a letter repre&s;enting eternall life; be&s;ides that &s;ix is the fir&s;t perfect number, becau&s;e his parts do con&s;titute it, his &s;ixt namely 1. his third 2. and its halfe 3. which perfection hath not any one of the other numbers, and in &s;ix dayes the &s;tructure of the Univer&s;e was perfected.</P>
<P>There are other my&s;teries in the Scripture; in 26. will be the number of the mo&s;t holy &amp; &s;acred Trinitie, for three times 26. makes 78. In 39. twice; which <HI>Beth</HI> &s;tands for a &s;ymbole of a word, where the &s;econd per&s;on, and the hou&s;e of <HI>Idea's</HI> of the <HI>Archetype,</HI> which <HI>Plato</HI> hath well acknowledged, <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> not. And finally 87. denotes as many unities, whereof each repre&s;ents the unity of
<PB N="151" REF="80"> the e&s;&s;ence of one God alone. The &s;ame is in the <HI>Lechem</HI> bread, which is an anagram of the former, and con&s;i&s;teth of the &s;ame let|ters. It was therefore &s;ome cau&s;e of the Proverb, <HI>To eat &s;alt with thy bread. Rabbi Solomon</HI> upon the places afore&s;aid, of Gods alli|ance with his people, de&s;igned by &s;alt, by which is under&s;tood the Eternall paction of the great Prie&s;thood of the Me&s;&s;iah, brings us a form of an Allegory, very &s;trange and phanta&s;tick. That the waters here below do mutiny, that they are &s;eparated from the &s;upercele&s;tiall, having the firmament &s;et betwixt them; by means whereof, God to appea&s;e them, promi&s;ed that they &s;hould be perpetually in his &s;ervice, in all offerings, &s;acrifices, as he did afterwards in the Law, which hee gave to the <HI>Jewes; What&s;oever thou &s;halt offer to the Lord, thou &s;halt &s;ea&s;on it with &s;alt.</HI></P>
<P>Yet there are divers &s;orts of &s;alt, that have different proper|ties and vertues, according to the things from which they are extracted; for &s;alt retaine a propriety of the thing from whence it came, &s;aith <HI>Geber</HI> in his Te&s;tament, yea as many odors, and &s;apors as there are, they all do depend upon &s;alt; for where there is no &s;alt, there is no &s;mell nor ta&s;t; and yet of all the ta&s;ts which <HI>Plutarch</HI> in his Naturall cau&s;es doth limit to eight, <HI>Plinie lib.</HI> 15. <HI>cap.</HI> 27. extends them to 13. there is not one, that is not &s;alt, becau&s;e ta&s;t (as <HI>Plato</HI> will have it) comes from water, which creep athwart the &s;talk of every plant, and keeps the &s;altne&s;s that it cannot pa&s;&s;e as it is more gro&s;&s;e and terre&s;triall, as wee &s;ee in &s;ea-water when it is di&s;tilled; where when they pa&s;&s;e it through &s;and, where it leaves its &s;altne&s;&s;e. But it may be &s;aid to <HI>Plato,</HI> that the ta&s;t doth not only ly in plants, but al&s;o in Animalls and mi|neralls, and all other compounded Elements. It is that which he and <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> and other rationall Philo&s;ophers, are only &s;ati&s;|fied with, that which their arguments and di&s;cour&s;e do imprint in their phanta&s;ies: e&s;teeming that it cannot be otherwi&s;e, then that which their rea&s;ons do demon&s;trate unto them, for the mo&s;t part fal&s;e and erroneous; there were if they would penetrate empirickly by the experiments, they might have been &s;hewed by the finger of the eye, the truth of the thing, they might have been better a&s;certained therein, as the <HI>Arabians</HI> have &s;ince done; and the Chymicall Philo&s;ophers, who will a&s;&s;ure them&s;elves of no|thing, but what they have oftentimes tried without variation
<PB N="152" REF="81"> to the &s;en&s;e. It is a maxime of all Naturali&s;ts, received for Infal|lible, that the tran&s;parence comes from this, when the water in the compo&s;ition and mixtion &s;uperabounds, over the earth, and darkene&s;&s;e on the contrary, when Terre&s;treity predominates the water, and it would be accounted an irremi&s;&s;ible crime <HI>Lae&s;a Ma|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;tatis</HI> to doubt thereof, for who is there that doubteth it, will they &s;ay, that it is not &s;o? I will reply that it is I, to whom ex|perience, &s;hewes the contrary, at lea&s;t for that the cau&s;e of tran&s;|parence, and opacity, doth not proceed from that which they alledge. Take Cry&s;tall and pa&s;&s;e it never &s;o little through hot a&s;hes, &s;o long as one would ro&s;t a che&s;tnut you wil find it all dark, without any more tran&s;parence within or without in the &s;uper|ficies, and that without any lo&s;&s;e of its &s;ub&s;tance, or diminution of its weight. And on the contrary in a &s;trong expre&s;&s;ion of fire blowing upon the lead, then which nothing can be darker, it will convert into a forme of a hyacinth &s;o tran&s;parent, that one may read a &s;mall letter through it: though it were an inch thick, and this hyacinth by the &s;ame fire returne into lead, and lead into an hyacinth.</P>
<P>If then the&s;e profound Contemplators of nature, and her ef|fects, had been willing to accompany their Imaginary di&s;cour&s;es, with experience that reveales infinite &s;ecrets by fire, they could never have fallen into &s;uch ab&s;urdities: and had manife&s;tly &s;een without any vail or ob&s;tacle all full of things whereof they re|maine in irre&s;olution and doubt not having &s;poken therein but as blind men and by gue&s;&s;e, for we cannot di&s;cover the &s;ecrets of things to proceed therein directly, nor come to it by entring on it, after manner of &s;peech, by the foregate: for nature goeth in her workes rarely and in &s;ecret, as by the po&s;terne gate: or by &s;etting ladders again&s;t the windowes: The <HI>Greeks</HI> call that <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;olution: No man can know the compo&s;ition of a thing, &s;aid <HI>Geber</HI> very well, that was ignorant of its de&s;truction. And this is done by fire, which &s;eparates the parts, as hath been &s;aid before. There are then two divers &s;ub&s;tances of &s;alt, therefore it cau&s;eth divers effects, the one is &s;weet, glutinous and inflamable, of the nature of aire, nouri&s;hing, binding. The other &s;harp, mor|dicant and &s;eparative that begets nothing. The Poets in their mythologies have called this the <HI>Ocean,</HI> and the &s;weet where|with the pickle of the Sea is moi&s;tened made liquid <HI>Te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">bys</HI>
<PB N="153" REF="81"> as <HI>Plutarch</HI> hath it in his <HI>O&s;iris</HI> which giveth milk to and nou|ri&s;heth all things. But &s;imple water of it &s;elfe alone would not be &s;ufficient to nouri&s;h, if it were not a&s;&s;i&s;ted with things fa&s;te|ned to the earth, the &s;alt therein inclo&s;ed and therewith mingled, having a &s;weet and glutinous unctuo&s;ity, for as in the Sea-water there are two &s;ub&s;tances, &s;weet and &s;alt, there are &s;ubalternate|ly two in &s;alt: But we cannot &s;ay that they doe nouri&s;h or pro|duce any thing. Therefore is it, that they u&s;e to raze Traiters-hou&s;es, and &s;ow them with &s;alt as reputed unworthy to produce any more. Salt indeed produceth nothing as it is, where its &s;weet &s;ub&s;tance is &s;o drowned with the &s;alt, that it cannot ex|pre&s;&s;e it &s;elfe in action, &s;o as it is, except it be freed out of pri&s;on, for the &s;altne&s;&s;e predominates over it, and covers it. But for re|plication thereunto which was &s;aid before, that fre&s;h water a|lone, doth neither nouri&s;h nor produce any thing: which we &s;ee to the contrary, by experience in many wateri&s;h herbs that grow in the mid&s;t of waters, and in flints that it engenders &s;hells, and fi&s;hes, and wormes: to be &s;hort, that its procreation doth extend to the three compo&s;ed kinds of Minerals, Vegetables, &amp; Animals: And indeed put little pebbles in a phial, and water thereon, e|very day, renewing it daily, at the end of certaine time, you will find them &s;o great, and &s;o bigge, that they cannot come out at the neck by which they were put in. But indeed all this proceeds from the &s;lime, which is mingled with the water, as frogs, and other things, which are procreated in the middle Region of the aire of the &s;lime which the Sun beams hath thence rai&s;ed with the water, for al rains, &s;nowes, and other &s;uch impre&s;&s;ions partici|pate much of the &s;lime; from thence it comes that the &s;now doth &s;moak and fatten the earth, and the water of raine, is more connaturall to trees, herbes, and &s;eeds, chiefly tho&s;e which fall by &s;tormes and thunders, then tho&s;e of wels and rivers: whereof <HI>Plutarch</HI> forceth him&s;elfe to bring forth many rea&s;ons in natu|rall cau&s;es, which have no great apparence: There is yet more to &s;ay, for that they are better baked and accompanied with more &s;ubtle and hot &s;lime, and are of lighter concoction and nouri&s;h|ment then plants; as of meate in the &s;tomach of <HI>Animals,</HI> &s;ome more then others, where the waters here below are more raw and indige&s;ted: we in&s;i&s;t a little in water, becau&s;e &s;alt is nothing el&s;e, but water mingled and &s;etled with dry and burned earth, of
<PB N="154" REF="82"> the nature of fire which makes it bitter and &s;alt. So that before we pa&s;&s;e from this &s;ubject of fre&s;h water, we will here touch upon an experiment of more rare things from whence come many fair &amp; &s;cret con&s;iderations. Sweet water is a body &s;o homogeneal, that it would &s;eem to the &s;ight &s;o cleare, tran&s;parent, and liquid, in all its parts, re&s;embling to it &s;elfe, that there is in it but one only &s;ub&s;tance: &s;ince that by d &s;tillations &s;hee pa&s;&s;eth all. But yet there is another found &s;ub&s;tance, &s;olid, and compact, in the forme of earth, mingled with its liquid homogeneity, which it &s;eparates by Artifice, and it is that which <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> &s;aith in the &s;warme of Philo&s;ophers. The earth is concreat by the gro&s;&s;ene&s;&s;e of the water. And this may be &s;eene with water agitated and beaten and after redi&s;tilled many times, alwayes &s;eparating the fift or &s;ixth part which &s;hall pa&s;&s;e the fir&s;t. You mu&s;t then take a good quantity of wel water, or the &s;ame of fountaine, river or rain wa|ter, and let it &s;ettle twenty or thirty houres untill there be &s;ome ordure or &s;lime, it &s;eparates it &s;elfe.</P>
<P>Take of this water as you may &s;ay forty pintes, and cau&s;e the halfe to vapour away by very ea&s;ie fire, that it boile not, put the&s;e twenty pintes apart, and take new water as above, of which you &s;hall evaporate the moity; and &s;o long continue it, that you may have well a hundred pintes halfe evaporated; from this one hundred, make to evaporate thirty pintes, and of &s;ixty, ten, twenty, of fifty, that &s;hall remain twenty of thirty, ten, and of twenty, ten; and ca&s;t away all the&s;e &s;limes that &s;hall re&s;ide, for they are nothing worth, and are but immundicity and ordure, unto the &s;eaventh or eighth evaporation or di&s;tillation, after which there will appeare in your water infinite little atomes and little bodies; which at la&s;t by little and little will be congealed into one &s;olid &s;ub&s;tance, of a gri&s;ly colour, &s;oft as dough: <HI>Of which I have &s;een &s;uch admirable effects that men would hardly beleeve it;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Abundance of fluxes of blood.</NOTE> <HI>in Cankers, Gangrenes, Hemorrhagies, bloody flux, Women newly laid in bed; and at no&s;e, di&s;ea&s;es in the &s;tomach, and infinite other &s;uch acci|dents that no</HI> terra &s;igillata <HI>nor</HI> Bolarmoniac <HI>could compare with.</HI> You may make your round pills impa&s;ting them with the la&s;t waters that were extracted, which are al&s;o of great vertue, <HI>to wa&s;h wounds, inveterate Maladies of the &s;tomach, and other the like; where|fore you mu&s;t keepe them well.</HI> You may al&s;o calcine it for &s;ix or &s;even houres in a &s;mall pot well luted, and ca&s;ting thereon vine|gar
<PB N="155" REF="82"> di&s;tilled, boiling, di&s;&s;olving one part, nouri&s;hing the re&s;t; calcine it againe, and di&s;&s;olve it till you have all the &s;alt which will be white and of &s;weet ta&s;t, make it di&s;&s;olve to oile, you may draw from thence great effects even upon Gold. But &s;ea-water is yet of more efficacy then that of wels and rivers, &s;weet water (I &s;ay) which &s;hall be &s;eparated from &s;alt by di&s;tillation: which would be ea&s;ie to do near the Sea, having to that end foure or five alembies of leaden earth, and yet more of &s;weet water which is drawne by di&s;tillation of &s;alt re&s;olved in liquor to humidity.</P>
<P>But there is yet another manner of proceeding, in the &s;epara|tion of the &s;ub&s;tances of common water: and more &s;pirituall then the precedent. Take very clean water: out of a well, river or fountain, let it &s;ettle twenty foure houres, and take the pure and the cleare, which you &s;hall put in ve&s;&s;els of <HI>Beauvois</HI> earth: well &s;topped to putrifie in hot dung fourty dayes, renewing it two or three times every week, filter the water, and give only five or &s;ix boylings, &s;cumming off the &s;curfes that ari&s;e thereon with a fea|ther, then put it in <HI>Cornues</HI> of gla&s;&s;e, not putting therein but the third part, or the moity at mo&s;t, of that which they may con|taine and di&s;till of two parts three; then change the Recipient, and accompli&s;h to di&s;till all the water, but with an ea&s;ie fire. Then &s;trengthen the fire, by little and little, till you &s;ee &s;mall fumes a&s;cend, continue this degree of fire, with increa&s;ing untill it mount no more. Let the fire quench of it &s;elfe and recoole the ve&s;&s;ell: then gather the &s;alt which &s;hall be &s;o elevated towards the beck of the <HI>Cornue,</HI> and within the recipient, and keep it in a ve&s;&s;el of earth, very clo&s;e and &s;ealed in a warm and dry place that it melt not, nor di&s;&s;olve. Put the <HI>Cornue</HI> to againe with that which remains in the bottome, and &s;trengthen the fire untill you &s;ee a reddi&s;h oile; end your di&s;tillation, after cea&s;e the fire. Take the black feces, that remain in the bottome, &s;tampe them, and put them in a &s;ublimatory of good earth, of an inch thick, and no more, for &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">x houres, fir&s;t a little fire, then reinforce it for twelve others, till the &s;ublimatory be red, the fire being alwaies in the &s;ame degree: let it coole and gather the &s;alt which will be moun|ted, and keep it as the former. This is the &s;econd <HI>&s;al Armoniac volatill,</HI> which is extracted from the water: and the one, and the other, have great power to the di&s;&s;olution of gold, carrying no danger with then as your common <HI>&s;al Armoniac</HI> may doe; which
<PB N="156" REF="83"> hath bad qualities in it, there, where this is extracted from a &s;ub|&s;tance &s;o familiar to mans body, which is &s;weet water. Now take all the feces &amp; re&s;idences, which remain in the bottome of the ve&s;|&s;ell, brui&s;e them, and make them di&s;&s;olve in the fir&s;t water, which you &s;hall have di&s;tilled, after you have warmed it a little; that it may di&s;&s;olve the &s;alt that may be there. Let them repo&s;e, then eva|cuate, and put them to di&s;till with halfe the water: Then change the Recipient, and with a little &s;tronger fire, di&s;till the Surplu&s;age of the water, and keep them each a part, in a cold place. But doe not perfect to congeal all the &s;alt in the bottome of the ve&s;&s;ell, but leave therein a little moi&s;ture, to create flakes of ice. If it be not white enough, let it calcine for three or foure houres in a pot of earth not leaded, after di&s;&s;olve it in the &s;econd water, filter and congeale it, and keep it in a dry place, for this is &s;alt fix and fu&s;ible. If in drawing the fir&s;t <HI>Salarmoniac, volatill,</HI> the foule oile that is nothing worth mounts with it, you mu&s;t put &s;alt and oile in new water, and depure and putrifie it as before, which was to begin againe, therefore we mu&s;t goe wi&s;ely to worke. There is another manner of proceeding therein, which is &s;hor|ter, for there are more wayes to one intent, and to one end, &s;aith <HI>Geber.</HI> Take raine or fountain water, put it in a <HI>Cornue,</HI> upon the &s;and with a &s;low fire: and di&s;till thereof a fourth part, which is more rare and &s;ubtill. Continue afterwards the di&s;tillati|on even to the feces, which you ca&s;t away. And &s;ee that you have good &s;tore of this meane &s;ub&s;tance, with which, you &s;hall reiterate the di&s;tillation &s;eaven times, being alwayes the fourth part that will fir&s;t i&s;&s;ue out, which is the phlegme, and the feces are the &s;lime. In the fourth, you &s;hall begin to &s;ee the &s;ulphuri|ties of all colours in the forme of <HI>huskes and pieces of gold.</HI> The &s;eaven di&s;tillations being perfected put your meane &s;ub&s;tance in an alembec, to the fire with a &s;oft bath: and draw that which may a&s;cend, which &s;hall be yet of phlegme, then you &s;hall &s;ee created little &s;tones, and pieces of all colours which will goe to the bottome: &s;tay your di&s;tillation, and let them &s;ettle, then eva|cuate that which remains &s;weetly with water: and doe &s;o, with all your mean &s;ub&s;tance, and make there little &s;tones to multi|ply in the bath. When you &s;hall have enough dry them in the Sun, or before an ea&s;ie fire, and put them in a gla&s;&s;e-bottle well &s;ealed, with the fire of a lampe or the like, for three or foure
<PB N="157" REF="83"> months, and your matter will be congealed and fixed except a certaine &s;mall portion thereof, which will ari&s;e along the &s;ides of the ve&s;&s;ell: This here is the mean &s;ub&s;tance, of the fir&s;t matter of all things, which is water. But that we be not deceived or abu|&s;ed, all the&s;e practi&s;es, which are but an image and portrait halfe rudely hewen out of the manner which we mu&s;t hold in the ex|traction of liquors. From whence they re&s;olve of them&s;elves in|to moi&s;ture, all &s;orts of &s;alt, as well common, as <HI>Salalkali, tartar,</HI> and other the like; the &s;weet oleaginous &s;ub&s;tance &s;wimming above the water with the &s;alt and bitter, which there remain|eth di&s;&s;olved, and after the extraction of the water, remaineth a congealed &s;alt in the bottome; that is to &s;ay, to &s;eparate the oile from &s;alts: which cannot be done without great artifice: But it is not rea&s;onable to di&s;cover it, and divulge all openly; but to re&s;erve &s;omething therein, for far of doing wrong to the curi|ous endeavours of &s;ome learned men who have taken &s;o much paines and travail, to come to the knowledge of the&s;e fine &s;ecrets.</P>
<P>It hath plea&s;ed me in &s;ome &s;ort to runne through the fore&s;aid experiments of water as well for the importance and rarity which they have, as for that it depends upon &s;alt whereof water makes the principall part: and likewi&s;e of the &s;ea, from whence &s;epara|ting the &s;weet &s;ub&s;tance the &s;alt remains &s;olid congealed; and of this &s;alt re&s;olved by it &s;elfe, to moi&s;ture, they extract by di&s;tilla|tion the greate&s;t part of &s;weet water; by meanes whereof, with|out departure from this &s;ubject of &s;alt, it will not be ami&s;&s;e, to touch here &s;omething of the Sea, who&s;e water is as a body, the &s;alt enclo&s;ed not perceiveable to the &s;ight, but well to the ta&s;t, are the vitall &s;pirits, and the oleaginous inflamable &s;ub&s;tance enve|lopped within the &s;alt; the &s;oule, and the life of the nature of aire, or of wind; remember becau&s;e wind is my life. There are then two &s;ub&s;tances in the Sea, and by con&s;equent in &s;alt; the one liquid, and volatile, which a&s;cends upward, and is double, water namely and oile; the one and the other &s;weet and fre&s;h: And the other fix, and &s;olid, which is bitter and &s;alt; wherefore it was that <HI>Homer</HI> called the <HI>Ocean</HI> the father of Gods and of men, for by &s;tretching out of all &s;ide cro&s;&s;ewi&s;e, the Conduits and &s;pongio&s;ities of the earth which hee holds encompa&s;&s;ed round about: as a dry hanging on to &s;ome rock there within
<PB N="158" REF="84"> by a providence of nature is made a &s;eparation of &s;ub&s;tances of the fre&s;h, namely, and of the &s;alt: for the Marine water, pa&s;&s;eth through the&s;e Conduits, they un&s;alt it, even as they &s;hould di&s;till it by an <HI>Alembic</HI> of <HI>Cornue,</HI> or as one &s;hould pa&s;&s;e it through &s;and many times, part whereof &s;hould remaine baked in the earth for the production and nouriture of vegetables part pa&s;&s;eth through &s;prings, wells, and fountaines, whence all flouds and rivers are formed, <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 1.7. <HI>All rivers runne into the Sea, yet the Sea is not full, unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they returne a|gaine.</HI> And part elevates it &s;elfe aloft, by meanes of the Sun and &s;tarres, which draw and &s;uck them, as well for their nouriture, as for the formation of raines, &s;nowes, hailes, and other aqueous expre&s;&s;ions in the aire. The &s;alt which is more gro&s;&s;e, heavy and terre&s;triall remains invi&s;qued in the veines, and conduits of the earth, where heat inclo&s;ed bakes it, dige&s;ts, alters, and changes it into another nature for the production of all &s;orts of Minerals, by meanes of the portion of fre&s;h water mingled therewith, which di&s;&s;olves and wa&s;heth off the&s;e &s;alts, &s;o that finally, having been brought to their la&s;t perfection according to natures intention, &s;hee enformes that which &s;hee hath determined. The Sea then is not &s;o barren and unfruitfull as &s;ome poets and Philo&s;ophers have made it; <HI>Plato</HI> him&s;elfe, in his <HI>Phaedon,</HI> where he &s;aith, that nothing could be there procreated worthy of <HI>Jupiter:</HI> becau&s;e all the Animals procreated therein are wild, untameable and in|docill, and in which there is neither amity nor &s;weetne&s;&s;e. But what &s;hall we &s;ay of the <HI>Dolphin</HI> that &s;aved <HI>Arion,</HI> and of many o|thers, alledged by <HI>Plutarch</HI> in his treaty: What animalls are the wi&s;e&s;t, tho&s;e on land, or tho&s;e in the water? of fi&s;hes likewi&s;e wherewith the <HI>Indians</HI> are &s;erved, as with a chained Grayhound? But it is very &s;mal, to take fi&s;h, never letting go what he hath once fa&s;tned on. Truely a Brach nor couching &s;paniell, cannot bee more &s;pirituall, or docible then this fi&s;h, at lea&s;t if it be true what is related to have often times been &s;een by the eye, in the thir|teenth booke of <HI>Gonzalo d'Ovidiedo</HI> of his naturall hi&s;tory of the <HI>Indies. Chap</HI> 10. <HI>And of Peter Martyr, of another &s;ort of fi&s;h called Manati, which being taken at Sea very little, and from thence put into a &s;tanding lake, became tame, and privately would come, and take bread from mens hands: and would not faile to come a good way off, when hee was called, leaving him&s;elfe to be handled at their plea&s;ure, and carried
<PB N="159" REF="84"> them upon his back, as on a bridge cro&s;&s;e the lake, from one &s;ide to the o|ther:</HI> But fre&s;h water fi&s;hes, are they more docile then tho&s;e of the Sea? The <HI>Aegyptian</HI> Prei&s;ts, above all others abhorred the Sea, calling it the finall end, the death, and de&s;truction of all things: be|cau&s;e the water thereof, killeth all Animalls that drink thereof: and is as the &s;epulcher of all rivers, that goe lo&s;e them&s;elves and die therein; and the earth is the &s;ame for all bodies, from whence none are &s;pewed out. <Q>To this purpo&s;e <HI>Chiia</HI> in the <HI>Zohar</HI> deplo|ring the death of <HI>Rabbi Simeon</HI> author thereof, after he had ca&s;t him&s;elfe on the earth and embraced him, u&s;ed &s;uch a language, <HI>O earth, earth, du&s;t, du&s;t,</HI> how hard and unpitifull art thou? For what&s;oever is mo&s;t de&s;ireable to the &s;ight, thou make&s;t old and deformed, thou breake&s;t in peices the &s;hining Columnes of the world. How doe&s;t thou quench the cleare re&s;plendent lights which received theirs from the eternall living &s;pring, where|with the whole world was illu&s;trated! The Princes and Potentates given to the people to governe them, and to admi|ni&s;ter Ju&s;tice unto them, by which they are maintained, and &s;ub|&s;i&s;t, waxe old and end in thee: and thou remaine&s;t alwayes per|&s;i&s;tent in thy &s;elfe, not being able to &s;atisfie or &s;atiate thy &s;elfe with &s;o many bodyes, that returne thither: &s;o that the world is therein confounded and lo&s;t, and afterwards renewes it &s;elf of a &s;uddaine.</Q> But for the regard of the Sea, the <HI>Aegyptian</HI> Prie&s;ts had it in &s;uch dete&s;tation, that they could not endure to &s;ee the very Mariners, nor the I&s;landers as people which on all parts were cut off from humane commerce. And the <HI>Britains,</HI> (&s;epa|rated from the world by an element which they &s;ay is the fifth,) &s;o au&s;tere, outrageous, and unpittiable: and for that cau&s;e they ab&s;tained from &s;alt, becau&s;e that among other things it provoked to la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;&s;e. The occa&s;ion al&s;o for which they &s;o much re|jected the Sea, was &s;omething my&s;ticall and allegoricall: becau&s;e it doth not wa&s;h &s;pots or uncleanne&s;&s;e. So that <HI>Homer</HI> made, and not without rea&s;on, that <HI>Nau&s;icaa Alcinous</HI> daughter, wa&s;hed her linnen and clothes in a fountaine of fre&s;h water on the Sea &s;hore, for the truth is that Sea-water doth not wa&s;h. That which <HI>Ari|&s;totle,</HI> (as <HI>Plutarch</HI> puts it) in the fir&s;t of the <HI>Sympo&s;iaques</HI> 9. que|&s;tion, referre to the pickle wherewith the Sea-water is alwayes filled, &s;o that there being nothing empty therein it could receive no filthine&s;&s;e. And lee, is it not the &s;ame; yea more full of &s;alt;
<PB N="160" REF="85"> yea more unctuous and fat then that of the &s;ea? &s;o that accor|ding to <HI>Ari&s;totles</HI> te&s;timony, men put &s;ea-water in their lamps, to make them &s;hine clearer, and ca&s;t upon the flame, it becomes lighted; in which there may be al&s;o my&s;tery contained, con|cerning fire and &s;alt, and their affinity together.</P>
<P>Join hereunto that wee may &s;ee that &s;alt is an enemy to all filthine&s;&s;e and uncleanne&s;&s;e; and will not thereto adjoin or a&s;&s;ociate; no more then fire, which will nothing but pure things, &s;aid good <HI>Raimund Lullius.</HI> Yet to the afore&s;aid purpo&s;e, <HI>Plutarch</HI> in his naturall cau&s;es, &s;ets down that the &s;ea-water, doth neither nouri&s;h nor feed, trees, or plants: becau&s;e being gro&s;&s;e and hea|vy it cannot mount into their &s;talks, which thickne&s;&s;e and gro&s;|ne&s;&s;e is &s;een, for that carryeth greater burthens then the fre&s;h wa|ter: and this comes from the &s;alt therein di&s;&s;olved, and it is earthly and con&s;equently more unea&s;y to &s;inke. Moreover trees being (according to the opinion of <HI>Plato, Democritus, Anaxagoras,</HI> and others,) a terre&s;triall Animall, it cannot give it nouri&s;hment; for bitter doth not nouri&s;h, but &s;weet only. But what &s;hall wee &s;ay of &s;o many fi&s;hes that are procreated and nouri&s;hed in the &s;ea, of herbs al&s;o, and of trees? <HI>Franci&s;co de Oviedo lib.</HI> 2. <HI>ch.</HI> 5. &s;ets down that in the fir&s;t di&s;coverie of <HI>Chri&s;topher Columbus,</HI> they found as of great green and yellow medowes in the main &s;ea, more then two hundred leagues from land, of certain herbes called <HI>Salgazzi,</HI> which go floting on the top of the waters, as the winds carry them from one &s;ide to another. In the relation of <HI>Francis Vlloa,</HI> he &s;ets down that the root of the herbs, whereof he gives the de&s;cription and figure, do not &s;ink more then 12 or 15 fadome in the water, yellow yet, as wax.</P>
<P>But wee &s;ufficiently &s;ee trees and bu&s;hes growing along the &s;ea-&s;hore, and even in the very &s;ea: yet <HI>Plutarch</HI> in&s;i&s;teth that tho&s;e that grow along the &s;hore of the Red-&s;ea, are there procreated &amp; nouri&s;hed with the &s;lime which the flouds carry thither, and fall therein; which he might have &s;poken more properly of the grea|ter &s;ea, otherwi&s;e called <HI>Pontus Euxinus.</HI> And <HI>Plinie lib.</HI> 18. <HI>cha.</HI> 22. that the herbs which grow within the water are nou|ri&s;hed with rains: but it would follow, that if &s;o, they &s;hould procreate in all other places where it rains indifferently.</P>
<P><HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> with better rea&s;on refers it to the gro&s;&s;e and unctu|ous &s;altne&s;&s;e which is therewith mingled. Salt being fat and
<PB N="161" REF="85" MS="y"> unctuous, which is the cau&s;e that &s;alt water doth not &s;o ea&s;ily quench fire, as fre&s;h water. But this &s;altne&s;&s;e is equall throughout all the &s;ea. <HI>Plinie</HI> him&s;elf <HI>lib.</HI> 19. <HI>ch.</HI> 11. &s;pecifies, Certain herbes which &s;alt waters do much profit. The&s;e are &s;ecrets of Nature to which mans di&s;cour&s;e can hardly arrive. For herbs by a providence thereof may well &s;uck and draw from &s;alt water, a fre&s;h or &s;weet &s;ub&s;tance wherewith they are procreated and nou|ri&s;hed as the fi&s;hes.</P>
<P>But this is not our principall drift: we have here endeavou|red to &s;hew that Salt is not unfruitfull, but the cau&s;e of fertility provoking venereall appetite, whence <HI>Venus</HI> is &s;aid to be begot|ten of the &s;ea; if men give &s;alt unto animalls to heat them the more, and make them eat &s;alt as <HI>Plutarch</HI> puts it in his 3. que&s;ton of Naturall cau&s;es. And wee &s;ee by experience, that in &s;hips laden with &s;alt, rats and mice, are &s;ooner engendred then in others; this which mu&s;t &s;o much the more cry down &s;alt in re|gard of holy things, from whence all mutability and lubricity mu&s;t be banni&s;hed; but &s;alt is in the number of things that are applyed to the good, and to the bad part. Of the good we have heretofore alledged many places. Of the bad for the &s;terility, <HI>Gen.</HI> 14.5. All &s;hall a&s;&s;emble them&s;elves in the wild valley which is now the &s;ea of &s;alt. And in the 19. chap. 26. as al&s;o in the 10. of <HI>Wi&s;dome,</HI> v. 7. of <HI>Lots</HI> wife, who for her incredulity and di&s;o|beying the Angels voice, &s;he was turned into a pillar of &s;alt: And <HI>Judges</HI> 9.45. the habitations of Rebells and Traitors were razed and &s;owed with &s;alt. And in the 2 of <HI>Zephaniah</HI> v. 9. <HI>Moab</HI> &s;hall be as <HI>Sodome,</HI> a de&s;olation of nettles, and thi&s;tles and heaps of &s;alt.</P>
<P>But we &s;ee upon the ebbing and flowing of the &s;alt pits in the Mar&s;hes of <HI>Zai<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tonge,</HI> where they empty the durt, which are as &s;alt as the &s;ea it&s;elf, where it produceth the be&s;t wheat, that po&s;&s;ibly can be, and in great quantity, and very excellent wines al&s;o: But there is another con&s;ideration in that, as in Marle, and in the dry places of <HI>Ardonne,</HI> where they burne the cuttings of trees, of 7 or 8 years, as al&s;o quick chalk which &s;upplies the place of dung in their grounds: for tho&s;e a&s;hes would produce nothing of them&s;elves, no more then Marle or &s;alt, but they are the cau&s;e of production becau&s;e they warm and fatten the land. There is yet another rea&s;on, that <HI>Plutarch</HI> alledgeth, That
<PB N="162" REF="86"> throughout where there is Salt nothing can grow thick, or be clo&s;e together: which con&s;tipation would hinder herbs to thru&s;t out: Moreover many medicaments and remedies do come from &s;alt: whereupon I will not here lo&s;e time, on that which <HI>Plinie, Dio&s;corides,</HI> and others, have &s;et down and treated of cur&s;orily and in ha&s;t, with clo&s;ed eyes one after another, not having made proof thereof; add to this, it is &s;o triviall and beaten as nothing more, but will touch here, in pa&s;&s;ing the Countrey, an experi|ment, whereof I have &s;een very admirable effects in burning feavers and unquietne&s;&s;e, where they could not take re&s;t. It is a frontall made in this manner.</P>
<P>Take the yolk of a fre&s;h Eg, and as much gro&s;&s;e &s;alt, beat them together in &s;hape of an ointment, which you &s;hall apply to your forehead, between two folded linnen clothes: It doth not coole the brain, nor cau&s;e &s;uch accidents; as con&s;erve of Ro|&s;es do, <HI>Oxyrhodinon</HI> likewi&s;e, and brings much more comfort.</P>
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