whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant Mat. 20. 25 c. Mark 10. 43 c. 79. If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be if any man serve me him will my Father honour John 12. 26. 80. And Jesus said unto him Yet a little while is the light with you walk while ye have the light lest darkness come upon you for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth While ye have the light believe in the light that ye may be the Children of light These things spake Jesus and departed and hid himself from them John 12. 35 36. 81. And Jesus answering said unto them Have faith in God For verily I say unto you that whosoever shall say to this mountain be thou â—emoved and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass he shall have whatsoever he saith Therefore I say unto you What things soever ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them Mark 11. 22. 82. They say unto him Caesars Then saith he unto them Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods Mat. 22. 21. Mark 12. 16. Luke 20. 25. 83. Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with thy soul and with all thy mind This is the first and great Commandment Mat. 22. 37 38. Mark 12. 30. 84. And the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self Mat. 22. 39. Mark 12. 31. 85. Saying the Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses's seat All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do but do not ye after their works for they say and do not Mat. 23. 37. 86. And he said unto them in his Doctrine beware of the Scribes which love to go in long cloathing and love salutations in the market place Mat. 23. 4 5. Mark 12. 34. Luke 20. 46. 87. But be not ye called Rabbi for one is your Master even Christ and all ye are brethren And call no man your father upon earth for one is your Father which is in Heaven Neither be ye called master for one is your Master even Christ Mat. 23. 8 9 10. 88. And Jesus answered and said unto them Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my Name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars see that ye be not troubled for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet Mat. 24. 48 c. Mark 13. 28 c. Luke 13. 8 9. 89. But take heed to your selves for they shall deliver you up to councils and in the Synagogues ye shall be beaten and ye shall be brought before Rulers and Kings for my sake for a testimony against them But when they shall lead you and deliver you up take no thought before-hand what ye shall speak neither do ye premeditate but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour that speak ye for it is not ye that speaketh but the Holy Ghost Mat. 24. 10. Mark 13. 9 11. Luke 21. 12 c. 90. In your patience possess ye your souls Luke 21. 19. 91. Wherefore if they shall say unto you Behold he is in the desert go not forth behold he is in the secret chambers believe it not Mat. 24. 26. 92. And take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be over charged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawars Luke 21. 34. 93. Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man Luke 21. 36. 94. If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye also ought to wash one anothers feet For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you John 13. 34 c. 95. A new Commandment I give unto you That ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another Simon Peter said unto him Lord whither goest thou Jesus answeâ—ed him Whither I go thou canst not follow me now but thou shalt follow me afterwards John 13. 34 35. 96. If ye love me keep my Commandments John 14. 15. 97. And as they eating Jesus took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body Mat. 26. 26. Mark 14. 22. Luke 22. 19. 98. And he took the Cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Mat. 26. 27 28. Mark 14. 23 24. Luke 22. 20. 99. Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in me John 15. 4. 100. Go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you to the end of the world Amen Mat. 19. 20. Mark 16. 15. Here follows the Cure of the Crooked and Hunch-back'd Children which was promised in the Second Part and is performed very Naturally and without trouble to the Patient FOrasmuch as it is a thing well known that Women are much more handy about Children than Men I have communicated the same to one Mrs. Sarah Matthews Widdow of Capt. Matthews and to her Daughter dwelling both in Capt. Risbie's Buildings in Limehouse near Ratcliff-Cross London and have directed them how to prepare all things necessary to the said Cure as judging them fit and qualified for the same as well by reason of their great inclination and desire they had to this Undertaking as also because I found in them a skill in Anatomie very necessary to the undertaking of this employment Now in the carrying on of this Cure three things especially are made use of First A Bed whereon the Patient is to lie at Night Secondly A Chair for to sit on in the day-time And then Thirdly A Mathematical Chair whereby the continual decay of Crookedness or of the Bunch may be measured and distinctly discerned First As to what concerns the Bedstead the same must be made of Wood and two foot longer than the Patient and the bottom of it of even and smooth plained boards and the head also of the like boards half a yard high to which must be
evident that as well the spiritual life and the spiritual living operation of the Sun as of the Moon and Stars are in themselves a true spiritual Essence and can by means of an Out-working be reduced to a true essential comprehensible body which then is a true Out-birth of their spiritual contexture joyn'd together in one united Seed Now it is further queried whether the Sun as well as the Moon and Stars do grow less or are diminished by parting with that which they continually give forth from themselves as their Out-working or Out-birth and so finally may be brought to nothing Or whether they receive again what they give out from other Heavens and consequently may continue the same without any change in their own Beings R. Neither of these can be admitted for if the first should be allowed viz. that they should still give forth before they had attained to their due perfection then by means of this their giving forth the heavenly Lights would at last be brought to nothing and this World on the contrary would grow to an immense confused and monstrous bigness which would be contrary to Nature who as was said before conducts all things from an Unity into an innumerable and incomprehensible multiplication or increase and melioration whereas in this case the quite contrary would happen because all particular Out-workings would go to nothing and perish and all of them without the glorification and melioration of all and every natural Essence or being be reduced into an unripe unseasonable and confused Mass like an Abortion And in case we should admit of the other Hypothesis then by reason of this never-ceasing and ever-renewed Influx this World with all its parts and members would never arise to its destinated and appointed age perfection and glorification because still new Essences and Bodies would be produced by which means the bulk or mass of matter would be continually increased and at last mount to such an height that it would reach beyond Sun Moon and Stars and swallow up the same in it self from whence necessarily a total confusion would over-spread Nature 18 Q. Forasmuch then as neither of these Hypotheses can stand as drawing impossibilities after them and that this World and all Beings of the same did receive a beginning from their Creator from a Being that never had a beginning and therefore can have no end who placed and bounded them in a measured and exactly-determined time in which they must work out themselves to their due perfection and glorification in all parts what way or means is then left by which the heavenly Lights may so work out themselves in their several set-times in a right beautiful order and harmony that without losing their own proper Beings and without hindring the due perfection of Nature every one of them according to their measure might work together to the glorification as well of themselves as of this lower World R. This way is no other nor can there be any other than that which is represented by Jacob's Ladder for even as upon the same the Angels of God ascended and descended so likewise the essential living Powers or spiritual Bodies of the heavenly Lights do continually descend from above through the aethereal Air to this lower World as from the head to the feet and afterward when they have finished their Out-working there to their own improvement and melioration they mount upwards again from below to the head for to be united again with the same and by means of the said Union to be more and more advanced bettered and glorified until after the consummation of the destinated and set-time all the particular imperfect parts and beings may gradually be conducted to obtain their perfection And this Ascension and Descension of the heavenly Powers and the continual melioration and glorification of the same which depend thereon and proceed from thence endures and continues still without intermission and must needs do so Now Descension and Ascension is performed with a twofold difference viz. as is fore-mentioned according to Day and Night Sun Moon and Stars or a male and female property and that in all and every Creature after one and the same manner as shall be declared more amply hereafter when we shall come to speak of Man and his Revolution and how the same is likewise done in his body The descension of the Sun as the male is chiefly in the day-time and that of the Moon and Stars as the female-part mostly by night The Sun by his descension or influence generates a fire in the Creatures which in Man is to be likened to his bloud but the influential descent of the Moon and Stars generates a water both of which are driven about with the self-same circulation in Man the Microcosm as they are in the Macrocosm or greater World 19 Q. It is evident then that there must be a never-ceasing Revolution by means of which as well the fiâ—ry and male virtue of the Sun as the cool watry and female influx of the Moon are first darted from above and afterwards must mount up again without ceasing if ever they shall obtain a perfect spiritual body and consequently thereby arrive to their full perfection according to the kind and property of a perfect World And because the Ascendings and Descendings are twofold and of two different kinds and properties as also that the same are become a spiritual body it will follow that there must needs be a third as an Uniter of both the said Essences of which the said spiritual Body or Birth doth consist as before hath been shewed and that the said Uniter must be more subtile than they both and therefore in comparison of them a Spirit or right true spiritual Being much more spiritual than either of them and that to the end it may be able to pierce through them work in them and rule them in a wise order and harmony being united with and dwelling in them that so by means of this Spirit both these may attain to their due melioration and perfection by continually approaching nearer to the same and becoming more like unto it until finally they be perfectly united with the same Now the Question is whether this Spirit be â—he same in all and every Creature or whether it â—t is different in every Creature according to the Creatures particular kind and property And whether it admits of a particular exaltation and melioration in it self R. Many Questions are here joyned together which may be answered in two parts for first as â—o what belongs to the first Question the same brings its answer along with it and as for the other Questions which are Whether the said Spirit be one and the same in all Creatures or different â—s also whether it admitteth of its particular exalâ—ation The Answer to these may be best held forth in this Example A Stone is a part of the Great World as of the whole and is a right true living member in
it is commonly known that water in several places as in Mountains and Rocks is changed into stones so here we find it changed into sand Furthermore Experience teacheth us that in Mountains and Rocks the water which continually mounts upwards from the Quick-sand is still changed into many different sorts of sand and stones The same may also be perceived in Mines when the Miners have gone very deep to search for Metals that though the Rock hath been so hard that it would not suffer it self to be cut with any steel Instrument but the Miners have been forced to break it down or burst it asunder by fire and yet in those very Stones that were thus broke off with Instruments a water hath been found within which went through and through them and was their food and nourishment and could be distilled from them in great quantity Again we find that Firr-trees do grow upon hard high and smooth shining Rocks where they have no Earth at all and yet that they do not die or wither notwithstanding that their root is onely fastened to the stony Rock so as the very ends and extremities of the said roots may be seen as not having the least Earth to cover them From whence we gather that these Trees must draw the moisture which feeds and makes them to grow out of the said stony Rocks This Wood also which grows upon such high Rocks is of great use to many purposes as is well known to the experienced Makers of Musical Instruments that the Firr-wood which comes from the high Mountains of Tyrol is far better to make the belly of their Musical Instruments than other sort of wood for that the Firr-trees and all strait Timber that hath had its growth from out of the mortified Rocks are more airy and partake more of the nature of those Rocks and consequently give a better sound And here by the way it will not be amiss to take notice that the Seed of these Trees is not lost or annihilated by their being burnt down on the ground where they stand but that they are meliorated and increased by means of their being burnt by fire forasmuch as it hath been found by experience that after the burning down of several whole Woods and many high-grown Firr-trees all the said ground which was of a considerable extent hath been afterwards over grown and fill'd with innumerable Burch-trees and all that onely from the ashes of the said Firr-trees which Metamorphosis the Ancients have alluded to and intimated to us by their Fable of the Phaenix This self-same water to return to our former matter mounts up from the Quick-sand through the pores of the Earth to a vast heighth as hath been said just as the sap and moisture of a Tree mounts up from the root to the very top of it spreading it self through the whole body and all the branches and boughs thereof And like as Joyners find by daily experience that wood changeth as it grows and is not the same at the top as it is beneath so Stone-cutters likewise find the same in the stones of the Mountains and Rocks viz. that they have several changes and various differences notwithstanding that it be all but one continued piece Likewise as the Sap or nourishing Juice of a Tree doth change both its nature and taste as it mounts from the root to the top-branches so also it is found in the Mountains for the self-same life and the same regent power is in the Mountains and Rocks which are found to be in Trees which Life for its food and nourishment takes in several sorts or various kinds of moistures or waters and gives them out again that is manifesteth them in their bodies and the parts which they grow into and produce according to the proportion and measure of every part and member of its body Moreover also forasmuch as it may easily be observed how a Tree or Vegetable consists of divers various parts which are not all the same as for example the Roots the Trunks or Bodies the Branches Leaves Flowers Fruits c. yea what more is the same sort of parts as for example the Leaves of one and the same Plant do all of them differ each from other as may be proved by observation of any two Leaves of a Tree or Plant which will be found to have differing Veins or nourishing Vessels which in their texture and distribution are not alike c. Like as Man who in his Body hath divers Members Bones Nerves and Bloud though all his parts be nourished with one and the same Bloud yet we find that the Sweat which comes out through the pores of his Body hath its peculiar distinct smell in every part of the same And in like manner doth the Water of the Earth and Mountains differ also 3 Q. From what hath been already mentioned we may understand and conclude that the Water and Quick-sand are the foundation of the Earth and that the Water as the common Mother of all sublunary Bodies being produced by the Moon and Stars doth bring forth the Quick-sand and maintain the same and afterwards through the Quick-sand which is born of it and together with the same by a continual alteration and multiplication brings forth several sorts of Stones and Rocks So that from hence we may conclude according to what hath already in part been mentioned concerning the Sun Moon and Stars as likewise of the Air that the universal Spirit of the World by means of a continual Revolution and multifarious Glorification doth work out it self to perfection that so in like manner in this Sand and Water there is a continual Revolution in order to melioration and exaltation and that the said Catholick Spirit rules and works as well in this water and sand as above in the celestial Lights and the Air as also that there is a spiritual operative life in both these the sand as well as the water That such a spirit and life is in the water hath been made out before in the discourse about the Nocturnal Luminaries it remains therefore to query how it can be evidenced that this spirit and life is in the sand also R. This appears very clearly of it self for if the Sand had no life in it how could it move it self in and with the water as hath been shewed before that out of this Sand making water sand is produced by distillation and propagates itself in so fruitful a multiplication through stones and other things whose source and original it is forasmuch as the Life doth consist in this motion and out-working as in part hath been already shewed that it doth The same may likewise plainly be seen by spreading some of the said Sands upon a black Table and considering them through a Microscope for so we shall find that every grain of this sand hath a different shape and figure so as not one of them is like another from whence we may undoubtedly conclude that as every one of
it come to perfection Must not we of necessity conclude therefore that from this little Egg the whole form of the Body is produced in the Womb Explication of the Figures FIGURE I. Represents two humane eggs of a different bigness FIGURE II. Represents an Embryo of three or at the most four days after Conception A Represents to the eye the inward part of the Membranes Chorion and Amnion being imperfectly formed and in which there is as yet no appearance of the Hepar uterinum B Represents an Embryo in which may be seen the distinction of the Head from the Body but no delineation of any other parts FIGURE III. Represents an Embryo of fourteen days A The Hepar uterinum with the Veins and Arteries which are dispersed through the substance of it Fig I Fig II Fig III Fig IV Fig V Fig VI BBBB The Membrane-Chorion dissected CCCC The Membrane-Amnion dissected in like manner D The Navel-string E An Embryo of about fourteen days in which the Face now appears more distinctly and the rest of the Members are somewhat formed and distinguished FIGURE IV. Represents to he eye a gristly Scheleton of an Embryo of three weeks FIGURE V. Represents an Embryo of one month A The whole gristly bulk of the Head shewing the gristly points of both the upper and neather Jaw-bone bb The Clavicula now all bone cc The points of the ossification of the Shoulder-blades dd The white strokes designing the ossification of the Shoulder ee The white strokes shewing the ossification of the Arm-bone FF These white points in all the Ribs except the first and last do denote the ossification already begun in them gg The Thigh-bones representing what is bone in them hh The greater and lesser bone of the Leg both clearly represented and already of a bony substance FIGURE VI. Shews an Embryo of six weeks which differs not from that of two months represented in my Osteogenia but onely in bigness and that the lesser bone as we have before hinted is to be seen here which in the other did not yet appear A Doth exhibite the inferiour Jaw-bone distinguished into six little bones 2 Q. Seeing that we read in Scripture that Eve was made out of a Bone or Rib because the Central Spirits have their residence in the Bones they being the first Product or Out-birth of the said Spirits the Query is Whether it will not follow from hence that the Bones are the first material being which we may call female from which the flesh as from a Spring or Fountain doth continually proceed and to which it must by revolution return again in order to perfection 3 Q. It is further queried what the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tzaelà doth properly signifie of which it is said Gen. 2. that the woman was made seeing that it hath several significations as of a Beam Prop or Support a Rib a Side a Fountain a Building c. And in case any one will needs have it to signifie a Rib here we must ask which Rib it was and of which side Or whether the said Rib were taken from both sides at once because the Ribs are fastened to the sides of the Vertebra of the Back-bone and most of them are likewise joyned together by Cartilages to the Sternum or Breast-bone Or forasmuch as the word also signifies a Beam or any thing that is a Support or Prop whether if we take it in this sence it can signifie any thing else but the whole Back-bone of man which bears up the whole Body in like manner as Beams support a Building Moreover whether for to reconcile all these several meanings together we ought not to enquire where the mid-point and very center of the whole Back-bone and the Ribs which are united to it is Forasmuch as this Center is that out of which Eve was made And is not this well worth our consideration for we may easily know that all the rest of the Bones in man proceed from this center of the Back-bone because it is notorious that an Embryo in the Mothers Womb doth first begin to have Arms and Legs fourteen days after conception Whether I say after a due weighing of all this we may not conclude that Eve was made out of the very Center of the whole Body of Man 4 Q. Forasmuch as with all women according to the ordinary course of Nature every month or four weeks is found a menstruous Bloud which â—easeth after that they are with Child because the Embryo in the Womb hath its nourishment in part from thence so that the humane Body is partly made and consists of the said menstruous Bloud Do not we by this means find the number four in man and the harmony which the Body of man hath with the Moon which performs its course or circuit in four weeks or twenty eight days 5 Q. Seeing that we find as is clear from Anatomy that a Child in the Mothers Womb in the first fourteen days after conception hath neither Arms Legs Hands or Feet but onely a meer trunk of the Body which hath two extreme parts viz. the Head and Belly in the midst of which is the Heart which is the Center from whence all Life comes into the Body of man even as all the Life of this sublunary World proceeds from the Coelestial Sun may not we conclude therefore that the number one is that within which God takes up his dwelling-place And do not these three together the Head the lower Belly and the Heart which rules over the other two give rise or original to the number three 6 Q. Forasmuch as we find that a Child in the Mothers Womb within the time of three weeks hath all his Bones Fingers and Toes compleat which Bones as may probably be conjectured are first formed because to them are first fastened the Muscles Sinews c. and that when this number 3 of the 3 weeks is multiplied by 13 the product is 39 weeks in which time the Child is wholly perfect for the birth may not here therefore be matter for our enquiry whether in this case there be not to be found an agreement between the greater and lesser World because we see that a Child is perfected by thirteen Revolutions even as the Sun in thirteen Moons makes a year so as thirteen Revolutions make up a perfect Childâ— year like as thirteen Moons make a compleat Solar year 7 Q. Seeing that in Arithmetical counting we can go no higher than 10 because then we begin again anew which is also evidenced by the 10 Fingers of Man which are the appointed Instruments for him to work out any thing and that the Child lies ten months in the Mothers Womb until it be born according to the testimony of Scripture Wisd. 7. 2. May we not also from hence in a certain manner find out the foundation of the number Ten in man SECT II. Concerning the Senses of Man 8 Q. FOrasmuch as in the Head are five outward and
seeing that the Stomack is a wise and understanding Purveyor for the whole body which must and doth continually renew all and every part of it not one of them excepted by a continual circulation in a two-fold form of Blood and Water may not we for these reasons likewise suppose the Stomach to be the universal Physician that cures all Diseases the rather because we experience that when the Stomach hath lost its strength no Medicine can be helpful to the sick And whether it be not therefore necessary to preserve the same in its strength and vigour to the â—end that the whole body may be kept so likewise For must not the ferment of the Stomach which is its own proper fire do all that is to be done in order to the preserving of the Life of Man and no Strange fire even as it was forbid to bring any strange fire to the Altar at Jerusalem Ought not we therefore in this case to observe to that old Verse Principiis obsta serò Medicina paratur c. And is it not so much the less strange that 〈◊〉 peculiar fire should be found in man forasmuch as the same was very well known amongst the Jews who look'd upon this fire when abundantly perceiv'd in or about any person as a great Omen 〈◊〉 Presage of something very extraordinary according to what is mentioned of Achitophel in Cabale denudatae Tomo secundo in tractatu de Revolutionibus Animarum which Treatise some years since I got translated by a Friend and was not long since printed at Francfort on the Mayn viz. that fire proceeded from his Member And that such a fire as this is contained in mans Urine and is preserved in the water as a close baked and compacted slime may not we plainly perceive this by the Phosphorus which a few years since was found out in Germany which is made in this manner First you evaporate a great quantity of Urine until it become as thick as Honey and then mix the same with three parts of Sand which mixture being put into a coated Retort and a large Recipient joyn'd to it with water in it and the Retort placed in a convenient Furnace and driven with a sufficiently strong fire at last a shining matter comes over which after settles it self into a thick substance and when taken out of the water doth give light and shine in the dark and being rubbed upon Paper doth set it in a light flame It will not be thought unreasonable here for us to enquire whether from what hath been said we may not in some sort understand the Analogy resemblance there is between that glorious fire which in former times came down from Heaven upon the Altar at Jerusalem and the fire which is in Man And might not we likewise find out an agreement between the Stomach of Man the Little World and the Grave which is the Womb of the Woman of the Great World forasmuch as in them both all things must perform their Revolutions in manner as was mentioned before when we treated concerning the Earth 68 Q. Now when all things in the Stomach of man are in good and due order may not we conclude that it must then needs communicate health to the whole body of man especially to the heart and head And like as in the Body the Heart is a more principal part than the Stomach might we not compare the same with the most holy place in the Temple Moreover as the Temple was open above and that the Head of man is placed above and is the upper part of the body might we not compare it to Heaven whither the smell and savour of the Burnt-offerings and Incense mounted continually And when all this is done in its due order will it not again come down from the Head as from Heaven and so perform its Revolution in order to perfection 69 Q. Now for the way and means how this right and due order may be kept and observed in the Body of Man hath not God fully declared this to the People of Israel by Moses and ordered the same to be registred in Scripture as an everlasting Record viz. that they should eat no Creatures preduced by Putrefaction nor such as be of a ravenous nature but onely clean Beasts that divide the Hoof and chew the Cud and revolving so the Meat And doth not God hereby point out to us that such Creatures as these were the next to Man and the fittest to be enobled into his nature And whereas the Beasts amongst the Jews were to be killed without any affrightment as much as possible to this end their slaughtering Knives were most sharp and keen without the least notch in them and that for this end that all cause of pain and fright to the Beasts might be removed whereby otherwise their bloud might be obstructed 70 Q. Forasmuch then as Man ought to be a King and Governour in his Kingdom which is within him in his Heart must he not in order to keep good rule by means of his spiritual upper under Officers each in his own place and order so rule the whole Body that all that is in it may be dispensed and regulated in good order And by consequence must not there be many under Officers all under the command of the Stomach which can and must distinguish what is good or had for man According as we see in some sick persons in whom there is yet some strength of life left that oft-times there ariseth in them an appetite to some strange thing by means of which when they can get it and feed upon it they soon after recover And may not the wonderful healing renewing and out-working power and property which is in these under Officers be further discerned in Women with Child in that those things many time serve to procure their health and recovery which would be the 〈◊〉 of others if they should take them 71 Q. Moreover may not the extraordinary sensibleness of these Spirits be gathered from those who have a natural abhorrence and antipathy against many things as for instance those who cannot endure Cheese c. how ill they grow as soon as the smell of it doth reach their Nostrils so that their Stomach by a peculiar aversion it hath from it is ready to vomit And when at any time we go about to cozen them by mixing Cheese with any of their Meat though so as cannot be perceived by them yet into what disorder doth it cast them Thus we observe likewise that excess in eating or drinking which makes others sick doth not hurt fools notwithstanding that the quantity be very extraordinary but they can eat and drink whatsoever is set before them because they have no apprehension of it May not we likewise observe a further evidence of this in those that cannot endure Cats as having a natural antipathy against them who as soon as they come into a place where a Cat is though hid from their
Is it not therefore more rational for us to conceive that the Soul of a Child prae-exists in its Parents and takes its original from them and they being sinners do intangle their children in their sin by which means they get a share in their guilt and punishment And may not we in this way often be informed of the sin by the punishment and learn the sins of Parents and Forefathers by the punishments inflicted on their Children As if we should suppose a wild Apple-tree that hath two main boughs should have one of them cut off and that a twig taken from the same should be grafted upon the stump from whence the bough was cut off this ingrafted twig now brings forth good fruit and the oftner it is grafted the better because each grafting being a suffering or dying doth advance it to a better Life whereas on the contrary the branches of the other bough continue as they were because being without suffering or dying it cannot be advanced to a new Life And may not we with truth infer that for this very reason that passage of Gods visiting the Parents upon the Children unto the third and fourth generation was inserted into the second Commandment 19 Q. If any one here should object that forasmuch as the punishment of sin continues onely to the third and fourth Generation as in which the utmost farthing is paid of which our Saviour speaks Matth. 5. 26. and Matth. 18. 23 24 c. but the reward of love and obedience to God is promised to thousands there seems to be no equallity or proportion betwen the rewards and punishments of God May we not answer this Objection thus First we ought well to mind that both of them are bounded within a certain number And again that Gods rewards always exceed his punishing to the glory and magnifying of his Mercy and Goodness which by far exceeds his Severity and Vengeance In the third place that sin is a falling off from God downwards which in a short time comes to its end whereas the recovery and bringing again to God doth still mount upwards and ascend higher and higher to Infinity because the Divine Glory hath neither end nor limit and that still nearer and nearer approaches are made to God in all Eternity Lastly for that wickedness must and shall have an end because there can be no Eternal or Infinite Will Wherefore the punishment of wicked men is not to be looked upon as that whereby the Creature should still become worse and worse but as it is in order to the changing of it from Evil to good for that when the evil is transchanged the Good then begins to work upwards by innumerable steps of ascension towards God though it can never reach so high as to reach his Being or Essence forasmuch as it is impossible that a Creature should become God but must therefore continue to mount upwards and continually attain to more and greater degrees of Glory For is not every Creature of God Infinite Or at least Indefinite so as no end or bound can be assigned to the increase and out-working of its power Forasmuch as it is a piece or part of man who is made out of all Creatures and is the end of them Seeing then that man was created in the Image of God and that no end or bound is in God must it not follow that this creature Man and in him all other Creatures must still work upwards and advance in good to the utmost degree of possible perfection without all end or bounds For God works without ceasing in the Creature through Christ as our Saviour witnesseth John 5. 17. My Father worketh hitherto and I work also 20 Q. Notwithstanding that many other places of the Old Testament might be alledged for confirmation of this Doctrine of the Revolution of Humane Souls yet for brevity we shall pass them by and betake our selves to the New Testament but there is yet one remarkable passage Ezek. 16. 55. which we cannot pass by without some observation The Query is then that seeing the Lord there speaks thus When thy Sisters Sodom and her Daughters shall return to their former estate and Samaria and her Daughters shall return to their former estate then thou also and thy Daughters shall return to your former estate The question I say is how it is possible for Sodom Samaria and Jerusalem to return to their former estate without their living again in this world in flesh and body as they did formerly And whether this could be brought about any other way than by being born again the common way into this world 21 Q. We turn now to the New Testament in which we find as clear and express testimonies of the Spirit of God in Christ and his Disciples concerning the Truth and importance of this Doctrine of the Revolution or return of Souls as in the old we shall onely take a short view of some of the said places because in the 200 Queries they have been more largely handled The Question is then how these following Texts of Scripture Matth. 7. 2. Luke 6. 37 38. Mark 4. 24. may be reconciled viz. With what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again And Rev. 13. 10. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity he that killeth with the sword shall be killed with the sword Now how can these words be fulfilled when we see that many of those who have used violence and unrighteousness committed Murther and Mansslaughter led others into captivity and the like do notwithstanding all this die upon their beds or how can the just Vengeance of God be satisfied upon them if they be not to return again into this World there to receive a due reward and punishment for their misdeeds which in a former life or lives they have committed and for which they have not been punished but are yet accountable and therefore must make restoration payment and satisfaction 22 Q. Moreover when our Saviour saith Mat. 23. 35 36. That upon You speaking to the Jews may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar Verily I say unto you that all these shall come upon this Generation How shall we understand this or how can it be supposed that that generation should have killed Abel Zachary and all the Prophets In like manner how shall we clear the 39th v. of the same Chapter viz. that they to whom Christ there speaks should not see him from thenceforth until they should say Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord In case this be not admitted as a necessary consequence from these words that the Souls of the men of that generation had before been in bodies upon the Earth and then committed these Murthers and shed the foresaid righteous blood And likewise that the same persons must appear