must the vse of causticke vesicatory healing fluxing and such like other externall Medicines daily vsed by christian Physicians be reputed for vnlawfull Magicall Diabolicall because they are not registred in Scripture Or is nothing instituted by God but what Scripture maketh mention of how then can that saying of the Apostle be true that God worketh all and in all If all and in all then worketh hee also all Acts and operations as well occult and mysticall as those which are manifest and apparent vnto sense and therefore all Acts are instituted by God Because according to Scripture Quod Deus non vult non facit what he will not he doth not but when he list and according vnto his will hee worketh in Heauen and in Earth As therefore he instituteth nothing but what must bee effected so nothing is in the whole world effected which hee doth not will institute and decree Whereupon the said Apostle concludingly saith Of him by him and in him are all things But I will shew this more at large where I will handle this very Question negatiuely namely where I prooue the weapon-oyntment lawfull and not cacomagicall Vnto your second I say that it is of no more validitie then the first The maine Axiom of the vulgar Philosophers vpon which you ground your proofe for the excluding of this Salue out of the list of nature is this Nullum agens agit ad distans Vpon this you frame out this Argument Whatsoeuer worketh Naturally worketh by corporall or vertuall Contact But this worketh by neither Ergo it worketh not naturally First concerning that Axiome in Philosophy I know and can proue it by experience to bee false For the fire heateth ad distans The lightning out of the cloud blasteth ad distans The Bay tree operateth against the power of thunder and lightning ad distans The force of the canons bullet killeth without touching ad distans The sunne and fire doe act in illuminating ad distans The Loadstone doth operate vpon the Iron ad distans The plague Dysenterie small pocks infect ad distans c. But to make all this good you adde to the Axiome and say agit vel per corporalem vel virtualem contactum instead of Agit ad distans I will answer first that the Maior is vnfirme For I would haue you know that lightning may moue the Aire violently and the Aire mooued by contact of the Agent which is Lightning may stupifie and strike dead so that in this case there is neither vertuall or corporall contact of the Agent but an Accidentall comming betweene the vertuall Agent and the Patient The like is euident in the Canons bullet which flying by a person without any vertuall or corporall contact doth cast the person on the ground for the Agent being the bullet moueth the Medium or the Aire violently and the Aire being so moued casteth downe the person But though I let the Maior passe for currant yet neuerthelesse the Minor is altogether halting For I affirme and it is euident to euery mans capacity that this medicine doth cure by a vertual contact namely by a Simpathetical property which doth operate inter terminum à quo 〈◊〉 ad quem betweene the beginning and end magnetically and occultly or mystically The Minor or Assuâ—…ption is proued thus All Agents working by a vertuall Contact worke within a certaine distance and limited spheare of Actiuity The Loadstone worketh vpon Iron by a vertuall Contact but it workes but at a small distance Fire is the most raging Agent of all but a fire of 10. miles compasse cannot burne heate or warme a man 2. miles distant from it The Planets excell in virtuall operation all sublunarie Agents The Sunnes light goes through the whole world but yet a little cloud obscureth the light and abateth the heate The Earth keepeth the light from the Antipodes The body of the Moone eclipseth the Sunne Now then shall terrestriall Agents by distance or Interposition be totally and celestiall partly hindred and shall this weapon-Salue worke from the weapon to the wound at all distances Shall the interposition of neither aire woods fire water walls houses castells citties mountaines heate cold shall nothing hinder or stay the deriuation of the vertue of it What a doe wee haue about little or nothing to the purpose I thought you would haue proceeded Syllogistically to the period of your proofes as you begunne but I see that you finde such blocks in the way to proue your proposition that like a tired Iade you giue ouer that manner of demonstration in the midway wherefore I must teare this your long reply into textes the more peculiarly to answer by piece-meale euery particular thereof All Agents working by vertuall contact worke within a certaine distance and limited sphaere of Actiuity The Loadstone worketh vpon Iron by a vertuall contact but it worketh but at a small distance Who saith that any vertuall Contact can worke in infinitum when the very world it selfe is limited But by your eaue Sr the self same specifical vertue worketh her operation either further or nearer as it is exalted in her actuall power and essence As for example one kinâ—… of gunne powder carrieth to a further marke then another one lightning from aboue penetrateth deeper then another In so much that it hath beene obserued that by his subtility in pâ—…cing and force in multiplication it hath entred not only deepe into the hard rocke but also strucke through the solidity of the sword in the scabord and melted it whereas other fires or lightnings from aboue haue come short of their vertuall Contact Also we find that one Loadst one is of a greater power and agiâ—…ity in working then an other and therfore it draweth Iron vnto it both at a further distance and with a stronger force Doth not the Scripture teach vs that God hath giuen his gifts to some men more and to some lesse As also some inferiour Creatures he hath made in the very same kind more vertuous in working then another For we ought to obserue euermore because you speake of a spheare of Actiuity that the more vertuous the centrall Agent is in any thing the larger will his semidiameters be and consequently his circumference As for example the more powerful the fire is the further will it cast it's heate Circularly So that the spheare of actiuity of the very same agent in kind will be no way certaine but further or shorter according vnto the power of the same Agent And consequently obserueth no certaine limited spheare of Actiuity To conclude little doth Master Foster know the admirable power of mans vitall spirits being dilated or emitted neither can it any way bee compared with the weake power of common Creatures or the Elementarie fire It is a subtill influence in puritie and penetration as piercing yea and rather more then the influence of any star in Heauen it is not hindered by
else the body and soule would neuer abide together but warre against one another being that they are as contrary in nature as fire and water But vnlesse the spirit of ayre were put betweene these two contrary elements to ioyne them together they would neuer agree nor abide in their spheares no more would the soule and body without a spirituall meane Now as we see that the Heaven of the great World is composed of light and spirit proportioned and as it were glewed together by the eternall Spirit which is the Infuser of life in them both so also is the spirit in man so firmely vnited vnto the soule by the spirituall Word which is the tye or glew of life that it is not possible to be separated the one from the other except it be by that Spirit which did ioyne them together And this may easily be gathered out of these words of the Apostle Viuus est sermo Dei efficax 〈◊〉 omni gladio ancipiti pertingens vsque ad diuisionem animae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Word of God is liuely and effectuall and more piercing then a â—…edged Sword and attaineth euen to the diuision of the soule from the spirit Whereby it argueth that the life consisteth of soule and spirit and that these two are so vnited together by the tye of the Word that nothing but the composer or binder can make any separation of them And for this reason wee may see that there is a strong tye as well betweene the spirit and the soule as betweene the soule and the body And therefore as the soule is more worthy then the spirit so the spirit excelleth in dignity the body and consequently the spirit is by proportion interposed betweene the soule and the body no otherwise then the Ayre betweene the Sunne and Earth Wherefore it is an absurdity in the Peripateticks to deny this tye and vnion and more absurd for Master Foster to make such a poore excuse as to say that the body was generated for the soule and the soule created for the body and therefore that there needeth no bands to faften them A poore conclusion I say of so eminently appearing a Philosopher and Theosopher as who fhould say two extremes could more be ioyned together without a medium or middle tye or intermediate spirit to conioyne and vnite them then the two extremes of a Diameter in a Circle without a middle point or Center And more absurd it is in him to say that there can be a reciprocall desire of two extremes and contrary opposites to come and dwell together at the 〈◊〉 when they are so contrary that the Wise man saith Corpus infestum corruptioni aggrauat animam terrena habitatio deprimit mentem multis curis plenam The body which is subiect to corruption doth ouerburthen and aggrauate the soule and the earthly habitation doth depresse and keepe vnder the minde that is full of cares Is it not strange and vnnaturall that any captiue spirit should not desire his freedome and liberty especially the bright soule which is captiued in her darke bodily prison For this reason therefore Iamblicus saith that Anima dormiat in corpore humano The soule sleepeth in mans body And Porphyrie hath it That it is alwayes 〈◊〉 in the body And Mercurie Trismegistus That the body is vnto the soule a veile of ignorance Whereupon it is certaine that there is a spirit which keepeth it in this his darke prison By this therefore you may see what goodly doctrine this is of Master Fosters But to mend the matter he proceedeth thus And they endeauour after vnion so to keepe together c. It is true if he speaketh in the behalfe of the darke body who is â—…oth to leaue the bright soule which is his treasure But as for the soule we see how many there are that to escape the fetter of this prison doe sluce out their owne blood or destroy themselues and many as well amongst the Elect as by Scriptures we finde it as among the common Worldlings desire earnestly of God as being weary of this World to be dissolued and to passe out of this life Cupio dissolui esse cum Christo saith the one c. Whereby it is apparent that the soule doth not desire to liue in the body or with the body as Master Foster concludeth And when she departeth she cannot leaue her body without the spirit so firme is their vnion as the Apostle sheweth in the text before mentioned neither can the spirit wholly forsake that relation it hath to the body as is said I conclude therefore â—…at against Master Fosters assertion that the soule doth with a strict vnion depend and rely on the spirit and reciprocally the spirits rely on the soule no otherwise then the Agent can not be esteemed as an Agent without the Patient nor the Patient without the Agent And therefore they must both of them be vnited in one And consequently as an essentiall Agent doth act from the Center vnto the Circumference euen so it is to be conceiued that the agile soule is contained in the spirits as the Agent in the Patient or soule in the body or lightning in the cloud And thus farre haue we proceeded to squeese out all Master Fosters Sponges validity touching this matter I come vnto the next CHAP. V. The Authors essentiall Carrier of sympathetical vertue giueth in this Chapter vnto our Sponge-bearer but Iack Drummes entertainment for calling him Tom Long the Carrier Reade and you shall see the manner The naked assertion of D. Fludds Text. VVHereupon it is manifest that 〈◊〉 spirituall Line being inuisibly protracted or extended in the Ayre betweene the places of the wounded person and the Box or Pot of Oyntment doth carry along with it his animal forme the which soule or spirit of life is no lesse to bee diuided from his whole or integrality contained in the body of the â—…unded then the beame of the Sunne is from the Sunne Therefore as the beame of the Sunne swimming in the 〈◊〉 of the world is as it were a Messenger betweene Heauen and Earth euen so this animal beame is the faithfull conductor of the healing nature from the Box of the Balsam vnto the wounded body and this medium or directing and carrying Line namely that which conueyeth the wholesome and salutiferous spirit by meanes of the soule or spirit of life is that spirit which is inuisibly extended or drawne out in the ayre the which vnlesse it had beene in a hidden manner figured and fashioned forth the vertue of the Oyntment would euaporate or sluce out this way or that way and so would bring no benefit vnto the wounded Master Fosters Collection The spirit of the bloodshed is carried by the ayre which is the carrier of the spirit of euery thing vnto his body this spirit going by this ayre in a direct inuisible Line carrieth the sanatiue vertue from the anointed Weapon to the wounded party For the
for that very cause the Text calleth it in one place latibulum Dei in another tigurium Dei and in another vehiculum currus â—…ehoua so that if lebâ—…ua maketh this organicall Tabernacle of ayre to vtter vnto mortall eares his voyce as Scriptures in many places doe testifie it is no sinne to say that his inferiour spirits haue for their externall bodies aëry substances which being granted what should hinder spirits by contraction of this their external substances to appeare when they please visibly and organically to talke with a person as the tempting spirit did to Christ and againe by an immediate dilatation of the same externall aëry spirit to become inuisible no otherwise then a smoake by dilatation vanisheth or a cloud or mist made of a compacted and thickned ayre doth oftentimes without the appearance of any drop of raine passe away inuisibly Was it not strange that Christ himselfe that had flesh and bones should appeare etiam clausis ianâ—…is and then immediately to vanish And yet if we consider that after he was risen he did put on a spirituall body euen that body for that cause could deponere Tabernaculum suum visibile tangibile and become by subtiliation and dilatation as subtile and impalpable as the voluntie of him who hath the spirituall body pleaseth and so can appeare and vanishat an instant It is an admirable speculation to ponder and consider duely how God worketh in this world by contraction and dilatation by priuation and position by darknesse and light by apparition and disparition as we see when his Spirit moueth from the North the common ayre is by the contractiue nature of that spirit turned from inuisibility to visibility from transparency to opacity from ayre to Snow Haile Frost Ice from leuity to ponderosity from agility and mobility to fixation and immobility Contrarywise by his blast from the East or South the said bodies are altered againe into water and water into ayre and ayre into fire by dilatation and in conclusion corporeity terrestriall into corporeity aëriall or celestiall hardnesse into saltnesse grossenesse into subtility opacity into transparency fixation into mobility rest into action darknesse into light And to conclude contraction caused by this Spirit of God into dilatation visibility into inuisibility What shall I say more If Angels of all kindes haue their externall from the aëry spirit of the World and their internall act from this externall viuifying spirit in whom is the property of the foure Windes and therefore the Prophet said Come O Spirit from the foure Windes whereby he did argue that this one Spirit as being the essentiall actor in the foure Windes had the properties of the foure Windes in himselfe by the which he acted all things whereupon the Prophet called it from the foure Windes wee ought not to make any question but that by vertue of that internall act and the substance of that their externall ayre they may contract themselues from a spirituall fiery and aëry inuisibility vnto a nebulous or watery yea and earthly visibility or snowie or Icie nature especially the grosse malignant and darke spirits which by their fall haue indued the grosser ayre as Augustine saith and therefore is Satan called by the Apostle The Prince of the ayre And this is the reason that the Deuill or euill spirits do in their contraction conuert themselues into solid or firme shapes of man or beast and appeare in touch to be so excessue cold according to Master Fosters confession namely because the spirit by which they liue contracting it selfe from the Circumference of dilated ayre into the Center of contracted earth leaueth the externall or aëry compacted composition chill and cold like Ice For it is by his emanation or dilatation from the Center vnto the Circumference that kindleth naturall heate in the externall of euery creature To conclude against those that affirme that spirits haue no corporeity It is most certaine that where there is rarum densum thin and thick there consequently is corporeity either thinne or thicke For whatsoeuer is in his substance transmutable vnto a thinner or thicker body must needs bee bodily though not a visible body So is a Starre of Heauen called Densior pars sui orbis that is The inuisible â—…thereall spirit or thin body of Heauen thickned into the visible body of a Starre So also may fire be condensed into ayre and ayre into water and water into earth And againe that earth may be rarified into water and water into ayre and ayre into fire For such is the naturall rotation of elements Now the externall of Angels must be created of the spirituall substance of the higher world or not at all according vnto Basils tenor and consequently it is bodily though of a thinner or thicker consistence according vnto the dignity of the Angell Doth not also Dauid acknowledge thus much in these words Qui facit Angelos spiritus seu aëra 〈◊〉 Ministros ignem vrentem who maketh his Angels spirits or windie ayre and his Ministers flames of fire And therefore it is a shame that such mysteries as these which are most apparent to the considerant should by the ignorant bee derided and esteemed not workes and operations of the Spirit of God in the common element of the world but of the Deuill and so through their blindnesse mistake euill for good darknesse for light of which sort of people the Prophet meaneth in these words Woe vnto them that speake good of euill and euill of good which put darknesse for light and light for darknesse that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Woe vnto them that are wise in their owne eyes and prudent in their owne sight Thus iudicious and vnpartiall Reader you may perceiue by that which hath bene expressed in this Member how vnable mine Aduersaries Sponge hath beene to wipe away the least tittle of that naturall value and diuine vertue which in my mysticall Anatomy I haue ascribed vnto the Weapon-Salue And therefore for all I can see hee may inuent some more substantiall meanes then is this windie Sponge an expresse argument of a light braine or fantastick wit to subuert a Medicine of so weighty an importance and admirable power in working Hee must haue I say strong Cable-ropes in stead of a light Sponge to remoue the foundation of verity and yet I feare they will cracke too before they will be able to draw wise men to beleeue that the good gifts of healing in this Weapon-Salue should proceed from the Deuill and not from God and his benigne mercies which is the onely giuer of health and goodnesse And now I must remember you by the way of one absurdity in our Sponge-bearing Author For he saith first that this manner of cure is Diabolicall and afterward hee seemeth to attribute the effect of it vnto the vrine of man His words are these Doctor Fludds directions are that the Weapon be left in the Vnguent-pot till the
clouds or stopped by walls or mountaines it is a power essentiall proceeding radically from God who animateth it mouing alwayes in an airey medium Doe not you acknowledge so much when with the Apostle you say In â—…od wee liâ—…e moâ—…e and haue our being But to proceed The fire is the most raging agent of all but a fire of 10. miles compasse cannot burne heate or warme a man at two miles distance Truely Master Foster I can scarce beleeue you For I am sure you would find a larger spheare of Actiuity in such a proportion of fire then your bodie would be able to endure without roasting For if Vis vnita sit fortioâ—…r if I say force added to force produceth a greater force will you haue a fire of ten miles compasse not to heate nay not to scortch burne two miles â—…ff Againe pardon mee Sir for I say your artificiall fire is not the most ragingest Agent of all For the lightning of heauen is more forcible in it's operation then our artificiall fire for though it bee a of lesser compasse then the hundred part of 10 miles yet it so inflameth the aire for many miles compasse that it maketh the Creature to sweat againe with heate Moreouer the Olympicke and starrie fire excelleth this so farre that it pierceth many degrees further then the Elementall fire can doe for though the Elementall fire be full of Actiuity yet it is cloathed with so thicke a spirit in which it is carried that though it be subtile and of the fountaine of celestiall Fire in it selfe yet by reason it cannot mooue but in his medium or thick vehicle namely the artificiall fire beneath without the thick fume or smoake of the thing combustible and naturall elementall without the clouds and aire in which it is carried it is for that cause impedited or hindred for making so great a spheare or Diameter in his Actiuity because the vehicle being thick cannot without some resistance of the Aire penetrate into the same But the celestiall fire which is the fountaine of the fire of life by reason of his subtile spirit which is his Aetheriall vehicle pierceth all things being nothing else but a subtile influence which according to the best Philosophers aduice doth pierce without any resistance thorow rocks and stones euen to the very center of the earth as experience it selfe doth witnesse For else say the Philosophers this Influence could not by little and little produce in the bowels of the earth the formes of metalls and precious stones more or lesse noble according to the worthinesse of that starrie spirit which sent downe that influence and purenesse of that mercuriall vapour which it animateth But yet the life of man I meane that refined spirit by which man liueth is more subtile pure and exalted then it And therefore of a greater Actiuity as shall be manifested hereafter The Starres celestiall excell all sublunarie Agents the Sunns light goeth through the world but yet a little cloud obscureth the light and abateth the heate The earth keepeth the light from the Antipodes The body of the Moone eclipseth the sunne c. If the starres celestiall excell the sublunarie Agents then was Master Foster to blame to say before that the terrestriall fire was the most ragingest and powerfullest Agent of all But in this hee commeth to me for if the celestiall Agents be more potent then the sublunarie it argueth that it hath a greater spheare of Actiuity and can send out his Diametrall beames further then either Loadstone fire or such like sublunarie things in which though the agent celestiall be yet it is so cloied and encombred with a grosse spirit or compacted body that it cannot operat as in the graine of corne it appeareth whose internall and centrall fire except it be set at libertie will not moue from the superficies of the Earth vp toward heauen and multiplie But to the purpose what a story doth our Author tell vs of the Sunne the Sunns light the Eclipse the Interposition of the Earth betwixt the Sunne in our Horizon and the Antipodes the impediting of the Sunns light by the interposition of a cloud Verily it is more to shew his small skill in Astronomy and Philosophie then to touch truely any thing that is material to our argumeÌ„t For I am sure he is not ignorant that there are two things more besides light which are exactly by Philosophers to be considered to wit motion and influence If he will say that influence can be stoped by clouds by interposition of starres by aire by water or by earth he erreth and knoweth no Philosophy motu lumine influentiâ operantur stellae non solo lumine The starres operate by motion light and Influence not by light onely The visible light may bee obscured to vs but the Influence will flow without resistance And to this purpose speake the wisest Philosophers Now then shall terrestriall agents by distance or interposition be totally and celestiall be partly hindered and shall this Weapon-salue worke from the weapon to the wound at all distances Shall the interposition I say neither of ayre woods fire water walls houses castles cities mountaine c hinder the deriuation of the vertue of it First I say that the originall act in this cure issueth from the wounded person to the ointment and not as he saith from the ointment to the wound Next I told this busie Gentleman before that makes so much adoe now about nothing that for asmuch as this spirit proceedeth from a celestiall influence animated by God therefore it hath no such stopps and rubbes neither is this subtill of all subtill creatures any way impedited in his descent to feed nourish that species vnto which from the creation of the species it was ordained but we must know thus much that before it came downe it was Catholicke and generall but after it did penetrate into bodies it endueth a specificall and particular nature and hath an especiall Sympathie with a nature like it selfe and for this reason the wounded mans spirit penetrateth through the vehicle of Aire in which the bloud is conuayed vnto the ointment and naturally affects the oyntment so much the rather because that bloud was ayre and ayre is dilated bloud in his internall and that I can ocularly demonstrate and also the principall ingredient of the oyntment was of the bloud wherefore as we see the Sunne by his beames doth send out his spirit into a graine of corne in the Earth and hath his liuely influence or essentiall beames of Emission continuateÌ„d with his like nay the very same that lurketh in the dead and corrupted graine and so by little and little reuiueth that which was as it were dead and buried in corruption making it to thriue and vegetate with multiplication euen so and no otherwise the Sunne of life in man liuing and mouing yet in man as the Sunne in the great world hath his liuely beame
Spirit of God by whom wee liue moue and exist All this Mercurius Tresmegistus that diuine Philosopher seemeth to confirme in these words Anima hominis in hunc vehitur modum mens in anima anima in spiritu spiritus in corpore Spiritus per venas arteriasque sanguinemque diffusus animal vndique ciet Mans soule is carried in this manner the mentall beame is carried in the soule the soule in the spirit or ayre the spirit in the body The Spirit being dispersed through the veynes and arteryes doth stirre vp and moue the liuing creature in euery part These things being thus euidently proued out of holy writ we will now proceed vnto a greater mystery concerning the double propertie of this Spirit of life in both worlds that thereby we may demonstratiuely come by little and little vnto the very point or perfect resolution of the question in hand That eternall Lord God who is all one and the same Spirit because of an indiuisible Essence is he that viuifieth the Creature and againe taketh away the life of it at his pleasure as hath been prooued already for that he operateth all in all according to the Apostles words and meruaile not though I say hee worketh contrary effects although he be but one indiuisible Essence for these are the words of Salomon Spiritus Disciplinae sanctus est vnicus seu simplex multiplex c. The Spirit of Wisdome is one and simple and yet manifold simple in himselfe but manifold in operation And doth not Dauid acknowledge so much when he saith Deo emittente spiritum suum recreantur Creaturae abscondente faciem suam conturbantur recipiente Spiritum eorum exspiâ—…ant c God sending forth his Spirit recreateth the Creatures but at the hiding of his face they are troubled and when he receiueth or taketh vnto him their spirit they dye c. Touching the first member of this axiom of Dauid he proueth it else-where thus Vita aaesâ—… beneuolentiâ Iehoâ—… Life proceedeth from the benignity of Iehoua Vitae restaurator est Iehoua Iehoua is the Giuer of life Vitae meae Fontes omnes à Deo all the Fountaines of my Life are from God Vitae prolongatio est Benignitasâ—… Iehouae the prolongation of of Life is the Benignitie of Iehoua Whereupon it is euident that the Spirit of God is the immediate Creatour Actor Preseruer and Multiplier of Life As for the second Member thus much Deus malos relinquit abscondit faciem sâ—…am ab iâ—…ys vt obveniant â—…s mala multa angustiae God leaueth the wicked and hideth his face from the impious that euill and necessity may encomber them Sic increpare solet mortales in lectulo thus doth hee chide and punish mortalls in their beds as Iob hath it Thus did hee send his plagues vpon the Egyptians Thus made hee Ieroboams hand to wither Thus did he strike with leprosie Miriam Arons Sister Thus did hee afflict with the Hemorrhoides the Ashdedomans Thus laid he the plague on Ezekias namely by hiding or with-holding his Spirit And againe by emitting his beames of life he recouered him And therefore saith Dauid Vitae hominis spatium est miserum absque benignitate Iehouae The space of a mans life is miserable without the benigne Presence of God For hee that is sicke seemeth to be still dying Now to the last clause of the aforesaid text of Dauid God said when hee perceiued the wickednesse of men Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine in aeternum quia caro est eruntque dies illius centum viginti annorum My Spirit shall not remaine perpetually in man because he is flesh and his dayes shall bee an hundred yeeres and twenty And Iob saith as before Hominem const ituit Deus super terram apponens ad â—…m animam suam si spiritum seu flatum eius ad se reciperet vel traheret deficeret exspiraret omnis Caro simul homo in cinereâ—… reuertetur God made man vpon earth giuing vnto him his soule or life if hee should receiue or draw to himselfe his spirit or breath of life all flesh would faile and dye and man also together with them would returne vnto ashes And againe Spiritus Dei fecit me inspiratio omnipotentis â—…ficauit me The Spirit of God made me and the breath of the omnipotent did viuifie mee For this reason therefore the aforesaid action of Dauid shall be the maine foundation on which I will rely as well in my proofe as also to shew the various properties of this diuine and incorruptible essence in the spirit of both the worlds and I will prooue vnto you euidently that as this spirit worketh in the greater world so also in euery respect it bringeth foorth the like effects in the lesser Wee finde that it is but one spirit in the great world though in a contrary propertie that animateth foueefoldly the foure winds which are sent from the foure corners of the earth to blow and thus I proue it Deus edit glaciem flatu suo flante Deo concrescit gelu seu glacies coarctatur superficies aquarum God by his breath procureth Ice when hee bloweth from the North hee maketh the Ice to congeale and grow together and doth contract or straighten the superficies of the waters into Ice And the Kingly Prophet more pertinently Deo imittente sermonem suum in terram quà m celerimè excurrit verbum qui niues dispergit sicut lanam pruinam quasi cineres deâ—…cit gelu suum tanquam frusta coram frigore eius quis consist at Emittit verbum suum liquefacit ista simul ac 〈◊〉 ventum suum effluuntaquâ—… God sending forth his Word vpon earth it runneth swiftly which spreadeth the snow as wooll vpon the earth and the froâ—…t like ashes and casteth downe the Ice as gobbets who is able to resist his cold hee sendeth forth his Word and melâ—…eth these congealed bodies againe so soone as hee bloweth foorth his Wind the congealed waters moue and flow againe Here it is euident that the diuine Spirit is the essentiall actor in this Northern blast which is an enemy to the act of life For as God did emit and send forth the beames of his light from the infinit fountaine of his being to chase away cold by dilatation of spirits and to breede a hot humidity in the spirit of the world thereby to inact it with life and motion and to make those spirits fluent and actiue which before were congealed with the power of his contracting property that is opposite vnto the other so againe by the priuatiue Agent or his Boreall attribute and property which is cold hee contracts dilated spirits and maketh them of moueable fixe of light transparent dark and opack of liuely spirits substances without life of liquid and fluid vnmoueable and congealed and in conclusion motus is so turned into quies motion I say into rest actus
addition of its power it might with the more speed prosper and recouer It is commonly obserued amongst vs yea and familiar in old wiues practice that if a piece of fresh beefe be rubbed well on warts either in the hand or other member and buried in the ground the warts haue bin accustomed to fade by little and little as the beefe doth rot and putrifie in the ground and that if the party that hath the warts be at a farre distance from the place where the beefe is buried Must this kind of cure also be cacomagicall or diabolicall yea verily as well as the rest if that be true which M. Foster and his associates doe auerre I could remember each reader of many of these vsuall conclusions in naturall Magicke which being well pondered would I imagine proueâ—…farre enough in euery wise mans iudgement from any diabolicall practice or commerce but because I feare I should be in doing more tedious then delectable vnto each curious I will come briefely vnto the two homebred histories which I did promise vnto you before The first of our homebred histories is this There is at this present an honest religious Gentlewoman about London that taketh an herbe called the Rose of the Sunne which hath small husks about it which will open and shut and shee putteth it in plantain-water and it shutteth and closeth vp She therefore when a woman with child beginneth her labour giueth her a little plantain-water and though the labouring woman appeareth to the Midwife neuer so ready to be deliuered yet if the Gentlewoman see the vegetable closed she concludeth that they are deceiued and that there is no such matter and so it proueth indeed Againe when the Midwife doubteth of her deliuery and yet she is indeed neer it The flower will open by little and little as the Matrix doth and then the Gentlewoman bids the Midwife looke to it assuring her that she is ready for it and it proueth so This story was related very lately vnto mee by a Noble man of worth and confirmed by a reuerent Doctor and his Apothecary who â—…erre that certaine Midwiues doe at this day make 〈◊〉 of this naturall conclusion Now I know that M. Foster will say that this also is diabolicall and superstitious Good God what will this man leaue to be ascribed and attributed to the onely actor in all operations as well vulgar as mysticall when there is nothing hidden or rare in this world which this greater agent for the diuell then I am a witch as he termeth me doth not attribute to his Master the diuell so that God forsooth must be granted to act only in vulgar and sensible things but as for all hidden mysteries the actiuity of those must proceed from the diuell and be only attributed vnto him To conclude we see an admirable sympathy betwixt the vegetable minerall and Animall and the parts of mans body as the coultsfoot which is framed like the lungs is good for the lungs herniaria for the rupture liuerwort for the liuer eyebright for the eyes and againe among minerals Gold for the heart and Siluer for the braine brimstone for the lungs yron for the spleene as also the spleenstone cureth the spleene if it be worne on the wrest And why may not the herbe haue the like relation and correspondence in nature with the matrix And that by reason of the vehicle of plantainwater which did communicate the nature of the one with the other the ayre being the common medium The last hom ebred story is this There is a Noble Personage in this kingdome of no meane descent Title and ranke among the English Nobility a most wise graue aged and religious Gentleman I say who hath cured a hundred in his time of the yellow Iaunders the patient being 10. 20. 30. 40. yea as he and others haue reported almost 100. miles off from him and many of them that hee hath so cured haue laine long drooping vnder the burthen of this disease before they came to him in so much that the vse of coÌ„mon receits of physicians could not ouercome it Hee hath both performed it by his seruants at home and hath communicated the secret vnto some of his friends abroad amongst whom he hath bin pleased to rank my selfe The vrin therefore of the patient is sent vnto this great Lord. His maÌ„ner of cure is this he taketh the ashes of a wood coÌ„monly knowne and growing here amongst vs in England hee maketh a past of this wood with the vrin reseruing a little of the vrin a part for another purpose this past so molded made vp with vrin is diuided into 7. or 9 lumps or balls and in the top of each of these he maketh a small hole and putteth in it a litle of the vrin remaining into those parts of vrin hee putteth a blade of saphron And so without further doing hee puts the lumps in a secret place where they must not be stirred left the cure be hindred And experience hath taught the world many a score of icteritiall men or infected with the yellow Iaunders haue by this simple meanes beene cured and this is well knowne vnto a 1000. persons Lord What a diabolicall medicine will this appeare in the chaste eies of Mr. Foster â—…e wil straight way cry out This is abominable and diabolicall witch-craft and they are witches and coniurers that do vse it But beware Mr. Foster of railing or calumniating this personage for he is such a one as will endure no coals but will chastice any of your vnmannerly brauadoes What I say Is the diuell in the sick mans water or is it in the burnt ashes of the wood They say that witches implements being burnt causeth all magicall power to vannish or is it in the poore blades of saphron that are drenched in the vrin No truly but rather in their conceits that dreame so For it is most certaine that the plant and the saphron haue hidden properties in them to cure the Iaunders All the mystery therefore of this cure belongth vnto the respect or relation which is between the blood of the infected and the whay of the blood which carrieth with it partly some of the naturall salt and tincture of the blood and partly some of the relicks of the I cteritious humor which maketh the vrin of so high a yellow The spirit of blood therefore with his agent lurking in the tincture and salt which is in the watery serous or whaiey excrement and being buried in that medicinable earth or ashes in which the salt of the plant dwelleth or stirred vp by the continuation which it hath with that spirit of life which yet dwelleth in the sick mans vaines Therefore the water being inhumed and mingled with that medicinall earth and mixed with saphron the viuifying spirit of the sick tending to the preseruation of life doth ayd the like in the vrin and also exuscitate and reuiue that in the salt of the ashes to act
Confutation of his into two Branches or Members whereof the first shal produce this question namely Whether Blood Flesh Fat Bones haue any naturall Balsam or radicall moisture residing in them sympathising with the Hypostaticall Balsam remaining with the liuing Man The later containeth this Whether a Horse haue a Balsam sympathising with the Balsam of Man The first of these two is flatly held by M. Foster negatiuely and I in a surer confidence doe hold it affirmatiuely and will proue it first by Naturall Reason secondly by the Authority of Holy writ and lastly by Common Experience In the first place therefore I would haue M. Foster to learne what a Balsamicke nature is before hee thus rashly seeketh to censure the creatures to haue it or to bee without it I must therefore let him know that it is nought else but a volatill and essentiall salt that is full of vegetating and multiplying vertue which it receiueth from aboue as a precious soule to viuifie and animate it the which vertue is that Calidum innatum or Naturall heate by whose vertue euery creature doth exist and the volatile vehicle in which it is carried is that Humidum Radicale or Radicall Moisture or Humidity by which and in which the foresaid vertue doth immediately moue and act vnto life vegetation and multiplication By the operation therefore of these essentiall actiue and passiue Vegetables and Animals doe manifestly and Minerals occultly vegetate and multiply and that as well in their forme or naturall fire as in their substance And for this cause the true Alchymists do cal this mystical Salt Sal Sapientûm the Salt of Wise men for as much as in it consisteth the mystery of Nature And others tearme it the true Balsamum Naturae or Balsam of Nature in which all the Mystery of Nature doth consist Whereupon the wise Philosophers affirme Quod sit in sale isto quicquid quaerunt Sapientes That all that Wise men seeke after is in salt Touching the aëriall part it is the volatile salt which is euery where expansed in the open ayre and it is the purest essence of and in the ayre in which the graine of life is and therefore other Wise men say Est in aëre occultus vitae cibus The hidden food of life is in the ayre c. It is not without a very mysticall and secret cause also that our Sauiour Christ tooke an especiall notice of Salt In one place he saith Sal Terrae estis vos Ye are the Salt of the Earth where hee meaneth the spirituall man in which is the breath of life And againe Sal si euaneurit in quo salietur ad nihilum valet vltra nisi vt mittatur for as conculcetur ab hominiâ—…us If the Salt shall vanish away with what shall it bee seasoned It will be of no further value saue onely to bee cast cut of doores and to be troden on by men Whereby it is euident that nothing can exist or be of any reckoning or estimation without this Mysticall Salt or Glew of Life but will be quite dead and corrupt There is Salt in the very dunghill that giueth life and heart vnto the ground whereby it multiplieth the Graine in a greater proportion and sucketh vnto it more plentifully the Celestiall influence of life To conclude the very essence of the Animall creatures blood in generall consisteth in this Balsamicke Salt By it the body is animated by it the flesh through apposition vnion and agglutination of parts is viuified multiplied and successiuely preserued By this in the bread and the flesh of creatures the blood in man is daily increased in this therefore is the incorruptible spirit of life which keepeth man aliue and defendeth him from corruption and vnlesse it acteth his viuifying office man is quickly rotten or corrupted Doe not Scriptures confirme thus much in many placesâ—… namely that Anima ominis est insanguine That the life of man is in his blood and Anima carnis est in sanguine The life of the flesh is in the blood Now it is certaine that this viuifying Spirit which is Donum Dei cuilibet Creaturae The Gift of God vnto euery Creature as is proued before is the true operator in this his Radicall moist Tabernacle to heale mend and agglutinate wounds being assisted with any application made either by a Reall or Virtuall Contact It followes therefore that this Spirit being in the Blood Fat Bones and Flesh of Man for as much as they doe subsist by it and were first animated and engendered and multiplyed by it doe participate of this Spirit which the Scripture saith doth animate and heale all things Spiritus seu Verbum Dei saith SALOMON sanat omnia The Spirit and Word of God healeth all things But M. Foster will say that this Spirit of life is in the Blood Fat and Flesh when it is not separated from the liue Man but after it is separated it hath no more life or being I haue told him and proued the contrary in my Philosophicall Demonstration For without this Salt and liuing Spirit in it neither Blood Fat Bones nor Flesh could subsist but according vnto that of Christ beâ—…ore mentioned it would be of no vse Againe it is intimated in Holy Writ that the Spirit of life is in their centrall or inward parts though it doth not act or operate but quiescere in Centro rest in the Center as I haue before expressed plainely For else why should it be said Thou shalt altogether forbeare to eate the Blood and the Fat And againe Thou shalt not take in thy meate the blood of the creature And againe The blood of the Beast or Foâ—…le killed in hunting must be powred on the ground and the reason is there giuen namely Because the Spirit of life is in the blood And againe it is said The Soule of the flesh is in the blood Now if the Spirit of life did vanish out of the Blood Flesh Fat and Bones immediately after their separation from the liuing creature what needed all these words or strict precepts for the not eating of the Blood and Fat after the death of the creatures Or why should that reason be giuen Because the soule or life is in the blood or the blood is the seeâ—…e of the soule or life The text doth not say The Blood was the seate of the soule or life but It is namely the subsistence of these parts though separated from the liuing body doe yet participate with the Spirit of life therefore beware that you eate it not I will not here remember you of the viuifying vertue remaining with Elias his Bones which made the murthered body that was by the theeues cast into the Graue of the Prophet rise againe nor that the soules of such as were slaine for the Words sake did cry vnto the Lord from vnder the Altar for vengeance nor that the voyce of the murthered Abels blood did cry out to
of this feate of occult curing and not rather such ingredients as are collected out of mans body being that they are neerer and more familiar vnto their kinde and therefore more benigne and affable vnto it then stranger Medicines as are vegetables or such like If the Reader will well ponder this he will perceiue all that our Sponge-carrier speaketh Pag. 8. is but foppery The Deuill saith he maketh the Mediciner beleeue it is spent by a vertue going to the wound whilst hee skilfull by long experience in all Arts and so in the Art of Medicine doth himselfe secretly apply some other vertuall operatiue Medicine to cure the wound to delude his credulous Mountebankes and makes them beleeue that this Salue which dropped out of the Hangmans bouget hath performed it O wonderous miracle and what getteth the Deuill by that namely to cure a man in that sort whose body and soule is in the hands of the Almighty In maâ—… Iehouae saith Iob est anima omnis 〈◊〉 spiritus 〈◊〉 carnis In the hand of God is the soule of euery creature and the spirit of all flesh Thinkes he that God will leese his owne by so weake and poore a sleight Nay more to giue or grant vnto the Deuill his Word which as Salomon saith 〈◊〉 all things to deceiue himselfe of his owne heritage What The Deuill doe good where no profit vnto him is to be expected And why not then by the virtuall contact of this Medicine being of a neerer consanguinity with man and therefore a more easie Curer then any other Medicine that can worke by any virtuall contact A goodly tale As if a man would perswade me that it is not the Load-stone that draweth the Iron but the Deuill vseth some other creature to doe the deed to coozen and deceiue the Philosopher or Mariner These are but fabulae Inuentions I say of a fantastick braine who to perswade vs vnto his imaginary and no way probable will would make vs beleeue that Castles are built in the Ayre and that we are in all our good actions deluded by the Deuill and that flying with the wings of Master Fosters wit we must needs be wafted on the clouds of error and so in a mist of ignorance forget the blessed workes of our good God and Sauiour and by Master Fosters palpable delusions to acknowledge them to be effected craftily by Gods enemy And how in Gods name hapneth it that the Deuill is become so great a Student in Physick and doth proue so expert in the art of curing who hath employed his whole cunning and bestowed the best fruits of his industry to play the Kill-cow and to destroy A very wonderous thing Master Foster said it ergo must we beleeue it No God forbid But blessed be our Lord God who by emitting forth the benignity of his countenance sendeth onely health where how and vnto whom he list But to proceede CHAP. IIII. This Chapter sheweth Master Fosters error in saying that the soule doth not reside after an hidden manner in the spirits The second attempt of the Sponge against the same Text. Fourthly I deny that the soule resideth after any hidden manner in the spirits The Stoicks indeed held that the spirits were vincula animae corporis but the Peripatetick and Diuines deeme this as needlesse seeing the body is generated for the soule and the soule created for the body and both make the totum compositum What needs there any bonds to fasten them together There is a reciprocall desire to come together at the first and an endeauour after the vnion to keepe together The soule cannot in any kinde depend on or reside in the spirits her instruments but the spirits in the soule c. We squeese once againe in this Argument this swelling and full-gorged Sponge after this manner Though in the precedent I answered sufficiently that point yet must I wring this Sponge a little harder or it will keepe some of the iuyce of verity in his porous paunch I said before that animaesedes was in sanguine and her chiefest vehicle was the humidum radicale as we see that the Spirit of life in the great world did place His Tabernacle in the Sunne of Heauen And againe it is said that the incorruptible Spirit is in all things but this is that spirit which viuifyeth all things and therefore it resideth in the blood and consequently in the spirits which are contained therein after a hidden and mysticall manner As touching the Peripateticks and some 〈◊〉 opinion who hold that it is needlesse there should be a tye betweene the soule and body verily that doctrine is most erroneous and false First because the soule and body are so contrary in complexion vnto one another that except an vnion were made betweene the two extremes it were impossible that they should meet together or if they should or could meete yet the pure and heauenly light of the soule would suddenly forsake the impure and earthly darknesse of the body For how can duo contraria conuenire in vnum Doe we not see that all influences from aboue must haue an ayrie Chariot vehicle or medium to conuey them into bodies and to vnite them together Why did God ordaine and place the Ayre betweene the Heauen and Earth but to serue as a vehicle to vnite celestiall things with terrestriall ones quasi amoris vinculo as it were with the band of loue Can we haue a better proofe hereof in this typicall world then that of the Archetypicall Is not the Father vnited to the Sonne by the Holy Spirit which Saint Augustine calleth and many others Diuinum amoris vinculum The Diuine tye or vnion of loue Now after the Archetypicall image were all things effected both in the little and great world For the Prophet saith By the Word of the Lord the Heauens were fashioned and by the Spirit of his mouth all the vertues of them So that the vertuous vnion or linke which is made betweene the effects of the Word in whom is life and the creature to be viuified is the Good and Incorruptible Spirit by which tye God hath his essentiall relation vnto the creature By this Spirit all the discordant elements are tyed in an vnion and louing consent whereupon it is called Peace and Loue and Concord which beareth as the Apostle saith and sustaineth all things by the Word of his vertue By it weight and proportion is assigned vnto the ayre and the clouds are fastened or hung vp in measure and the waters are tyed so fast in the thicke clouds that they cleaue not To conclude in the great World the Earth and the Heauens are established and linked together by the Word of God as the Apostle Peter telleth vs or else the elements would be continually at warre And by the same reason the soule and the body or Heauen and Earth in the little World are linked together by this intermediate eternall tye or
in composition I meane it not as a part compounding but as the sole Compounder in composition Againe if he were absent from composition the word could not be said to be incarnated nor the Incorruptible Spirit to be in all things neither could God by the Apostle be said to be ouer all and in all But leauing this paratticall or parasiticall garb He bringeth the authorities of Scripture And what are they Saint Paul hath this We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spirituall wickednesse or euill spirits in high places And therefore Christ said Handle me and touch me for a spirit hath not flesh nor bones as yee see mee haue But Deuils can not be handled Therefore they haue no bodies Here is a stout Argument because Deuils as they are in their thinne aëriall bodies cannot bee handled Ergo they haue not any corpulency I would faine know of this acute Arguer what organicall body for speech this spirit had when hee in reciprocall words and speech did tempt our Sauiour Doth he thinke that the very ayre which is the externall of the Deuill as shall be proued is not a spirituall body when it may be felt heard or vnderstood though not as flesh and bones Doth not the Apostle make mention of a spirituall or heauenly and thin body and an earthly or grosse and thick body It is most true that there are some of the Fathers and Schoolemen who are of opinion that the Angels are absolutely incorporeal as Damascene Thomas Aquin Denis and so forth But there are as many yea and more of the learneder sort who giue a contrary sentence touching the bodily existence of these spirits and say flatly that an Angel is a corporeal substance and consequently that Angels may without any error be termed bodily creatures and amongst this number of the Fathers are ranked Basil Origen Gregory Augustine Isidorus Peter Lombard and of Philosophers Mercurius Trismegistus with all the Schoole of the Academicks And as for S. Augustine he saith in his Booke vpon Genesis in expresse words quòd Daemones sunt aërea ignea animalia that the Daemons or Angelicall spirits are aëry and fiery Animals and consequently assigneth vnto them aëry bodies Againe he affirmeth in another place that the Angels had in their creation aëry bodies to wit framed and fashioned out of the purer part of the superior ayre made more apt and proper to act then to suffer and hee auerreth that the euill angels were by reason of their fall changed as touching their bodies or externall being into the nature of the grosser ayre that they might be the rather made to suffer the torments of fire And Fetrus Lombardus saith Angeli corpora in quibus hominibus apparent de summo aëre sumunt solidamque speciem ex coelesti elemento induunt vt humanis obtutibus manifestiùs demonstrentur So that it is euident that Augustine and he agree in one Also Basil doth teach vs what manner of bodies the Angels haue when he saith they are thinne aëry and pure Spirits Againe Arteplius that wise man saith in his great Key of wisedome That the externall of the Deuill is ayre but his internall is fire For the which reason he sheweth that it is easie for him namely in regard of his externall or body to insinuate and communicate with the aëry and bloody spirit in man and consequently to engender in him hot and fiery diseases But why should we rely onely as Master Foster doth on bare Authorities I will come vnto plaine Philosophicall proofes to shew and demonstrate that Angels haue soules and bodies or externall and internall First you must know that if they were Identity that is of all one simple formall being they would be all one in essence with God their Creator who is called Identitas or absolute and simple vnity but for as much as they are compounded of two namely of light which is the beame of God which they receiue to informe them and make them creatures and spirit which as polished Looking-glasse receiueth the glory of that diuine light they are called Alteritas or Alterity that is composed of two And this is most liuely expressed by Saint Denis when he termeth them Algamatha that is most cleare Mirrours or Looking-glasses receiuing the light of God And therefore he defineth an Angel to bee the Image of God the shewing forth of bid light a mirrour pure and most bright And Damascen saith That they are intellectuall spirits hauing light as their soules from the first Light And Salomon describing the Prince of all Angels which as Ecclesiasticus saith was ante omnia creatus that it was candor lucis aeternae speculum sine macula Maiâ—…slatis Dei or the brightnesse of eternall light and a glasse without spot of the Maiesty of God Whereby it is euident that the Angels internall and as it were his soule is the brightnesse of Gods emanation his polished or pure aëry internall is his 〈◊〉 body which receiueth this light For we must note That in the beginning Heauen and Earth were made of water and by water consisting by the Word as S. Peter speakes And therefore the whole World was composed of an internall or inuisible which is the soule or spirit animated by Gods Word and an externall and visible earth and water which is the body So euery creature must needs be compounded of an internall or actiue soule and an externall or organicall receptacle of that soule which is the body Is it not apparent That when the Spirit of the Lord did moue vpon the waters the water was the Catholick Patient and the spirit the internall Agent For Saint Augustine super Genesim saith Spiritus ferebatur super aquas igneum â—…s vigorem impertiens The Spirit moued on the waters imparting vnto them a fiery vigor or vertue that is a viuifying nature So that the spirituall created Catholick waters were animated by the spirituall increated Catholick breath and light of life whose Spirit in euery creature is the Spirit of life and therefore their centrall soule and the creature animated is the body Wherefore as the purest and most spirituall part of water or ayre is the externall of the Angell so his internall is the lucid act of Gods Spirit Now I conclude thus If the externall substance of the Angel be ayre for either it must be of spirituall water or else of the substance of God which is meerely formall and not materiall then wee know by the rules of Philosophy that ayre subtiliated is fire and againe ayre inspissated is a vapour a mist a cloud and so by inspissation ayre inuisible becommeth a visible substance yea and a bodily vocall organ too as it appeareth by lightning the which soule of the cloud except it haue his cloudy organ or bodily instrument will not speake in thunder We finde therefore out of Holy Writ that God is said to speake out of his organic all cloud And
reducis manum tuam nihil potest effugere Thou hatst the power of life and death in thine hand thou bringest into the mouth of the graue and deliuerest or bringest backe againe Whereby it is manifest that it is onely God who eyther miraculously or by vertue of his creatures which he hath instituted for this or that wholesome purpose that cureth and againe woundeth by the meanes of his organicall ministers be they angelicall or humane As for example hee causeth his Angell Raphiel to make vse of the fish his Liuer and Gall for the chasing away of the destroying Fiend and to heale the blind Tobias Also the Angel did giue the vertue of healing vnto the Lake Bethesdas And againe the Psalmist saith Plag a non appropinquabit tentorium tuum nam Angelis suis praecipiet de te but that by any authority of Text hee made vse of Satan or any of his darke angels to accomplish any such deed of light or to employ any of Gods creatures as are the Fat Blood or Flesh to cure a wounded or vlcerous creature when I can finde it in Scripture I will in some sort beleeue it but because that will proue too long a search for Master Foster and againe I finde the precedent places of Scripture to be generally against it therefore I conclude that the mysticall curing by the Weapon-Salue is the mercifull gift of God only Wherefore vnto him wholly and vnto no diuell in hell be ascribed all vertue power and glory for his mercies in generall and for this vertue and property of healing by the weapon-salue in particular for euer Amen Blessed I say with the Prophet Dauid be the Lord God of Israel who onely worketh all wonders and therefore effecteth this wonderfull manner of curing which passeth mans vnderstanding To him therefore be ascribed for it all praise and honour for euermore CHAP. III. How by an abstruse inquisition made into the mystery of Sacred Philosophy the question proposed concerning the lawfulnesse or vnlawfulnesse of the Weapon-salues vsage is resolued and Mr. Fosters Sponge well squeesed IN this precedent Chapter I haue proued Thelogically and that by pure examples out of Scripture that the diuell was the spirituall Organ ordained by God in the creation for an vse cleane opposite vnto that of curing and healing and therefore it is vnlikely that now in his latter dayes after so many destructions committed by him in his former age hee can become a sauer and healer of diseases Now wil I proue in a more euident manner and that by Sacred Philosophy that Gods viuifying Spirit mouing in the ayry Organ of the World doth by his vertuous application or aspect to the weapon-salue effect the cure of such as are wounded And I call this manner of prouing Theo-philosophicall or belonging vnto Sacred Philosophy because it respecteth the nature of this manner of curing as it receiueth his essentiall act and being from God mouing and acting in and by his created Spiriâ—…uall Organs in and ouer all Of this manner of Philosophy St. Paul speaketh thus Videte ne quis vos decipiat per philosophiam inanem fallaciam secunduÌ„ traditionem hâ—…minum secundum element a mundi non secundum Christum quia in ipso habitat omnis plenitudo diuinitatis corporaliter estis in illo repleti qui est Caput omnis principatus potestatis Beware lest there be any man that deceiue you through philosophy and vaine deceit according to the traditions of men according to the rudiments of the world and not after Christ for in him dwelleth the fulnesse of the God-head bodily and 〈◊〉 are complete in him who is the head of Principalities and Powers By which words hee seemeth to terme the Ethnick philosophy vaine and deceitfull forasmuch as it is framed out according to the rudiments of this world which doe ordaine many essentiall subalternate Agents acting and operating absolutely and simply of themselues without any consideration had vnto the Catholicke and supreme Power of God the Father of all things from whom radically all essentiall actions proceed which are afteward effected by our Lord Iesus Christ by whom all things haue their being and not from any subalternat agent or efficient creature For though they ferue as organicall ministers yet they are but dead except God apeareth and opperateth in them by his Spirit and therefore is all act and operation attributed vnto God as it is proued before by the Apostle saying One God operateth all in all And againe he saith Though there be that are called Gods in heauen and in earth yet vnto vs there is but one God who is the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and wee by him For this cause is God called Alpha and Omeâ—…a the beginning and the end namely as in himselfe he decreeth all and by his Word he essentially operateth and effecteth all and that immediately Now that his very Spirit is in all things the wise Salomon doth intimate expressely saying that the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord is in all things and that from the Spirit of Gods mouth proceedeth the vertues of all things as the Prophet Dauid telleth vs which being so it must consequently follow that the essentiall forme or life of euery Creature in this world must depend on this Spirit and haue his centrall seate of Actiuity in proportion more or lesse from this Agent of Agents who as it acteth in the Center of all things so is it euen continuat vnto the circumference that is from Alpha or the Center vnto Omega or the Circumference for else would there bee a diuision of the diuine Essence which is impossible And for this cause is God said to fill all and to operate all in all wherefore the Apostle concludeth as before that the Ethnick Philosophy framed out by the tradition and inuention of mans wisdome is false and deceitfull but that which is founded onely vpon Christ is to bee embraced because that in him dwelleth the fullnes of Diuinity which operateth all in all according vnto the will and decree of his Father who is the head of all Potestates and principalities and consequently of all Angels And therefore Angels can effect nothing but as he acteth in them and by them as his spirituall Organs Loe this is therefore that Theosophicall subiect whereby I make my strickt Inquisition into the mystery of this manner of healing by the Weapon-Salue And thus much for a preamble to the discourse Now to the purpose Wee must obserue in the cure done by this Weapon-Salue three principall things namely the partie wounded the Oyntment curing and lastly the occulte actiuity which raigneth in the blood and issueth from the blood vnto the Oyntment The party wounded may rightly be compared to the world and therefore is called a little world he is composed of heauen and earth namely of spirit and body
and as the Creatour did send out his Spirit which moued vpon the waters and did informe animate and viuifie them so that as St. Peter saith of them and by them were the heauens and the earth framed and by this spirituall Word established vnto this day euen so mans heauen and his earth are fashioned out by the same eternall spirit of life on which it relyeth and continueth in his specificall succession euen vnto this very day And therfore is it said Ye are carued out of one and the same Spirituall Rocke and that In him wee line wee moue and haue our Being and that we are the Temples of the Holy Ghost and the Members of Christ and that We are in God the Father and by our Lord Iesus Christ as it is rehearsed before and that Regnum Dei sit intra nos The Kingdome of God is within vs Neither let vs ascribe this Gods goodnesse to our selues alone since that it extendeth it selfe to euery Creature besides though not so abundantly For in Verbo erat vita in the Word was life and Iudith saith in her prayer Seruiat Dcâ—…omnis omnis Creatura quia dixisti factae sunt misisti Spiritum tuum creatae sunt Let euery Creature serâ—…e thee O Lord because thou spakest the Word and they were made thou didst send forth thy spirit and they were created And the Prophet saith Haec dicit Deus creans coelos extendens eos firmans terram quae germinant in ea dans flatum populâ—… qui est supraeam spiritum calcantibus eam Thus saith the Lord who hath created the heauens and extended them and fastned the earth and all things that grow out of it who giueth breath vnto the people that is vpon it and spirit to those Creatures that tread vpon it And King Dauid Deo dante Creaturis colliguâ—… abscondente faciemsuam perturbantur recipiente spiritum eorum exspirant emittente spiritum suum receantur God giuing to the Creatures they receiue it hiding his face from them they are troubled taking back againe from them their spirit they dye and sending forth his spirit they are recreated or reuiued And Iob hominâ—…m constituit Deus super terram apponens ad â—…am animam suam si spiritum seu flatum eius adse reciperet deficeret exspiraret omnis caâ—… simul â—…omo in cinerem reverteretur God made man vpon earth giuing vnto him his soule or life If he should receiue or draw vnto himselfe his spirit or breath of life all flesh would dye and also man would returne to ashes By all these authorities we are taught that the life forme and nature of euery Creature doth essentially spring and proceed from God and therefore what gift of healing is found to proceed either from compounded or simple medicines be they Angelicall Celestiall Elementall or of an Animall Vegetable or minerall composition it proceedeth from their Creatour as being either bestowed vpon them in their Creation for that wholesome purpose or else miraculously and beyond the common course of Nature imparted vnto some Creatures to effect And therefore man ought not rashly to condemne a medicine because it worketh after an other manner then the vulgar doth For God hath allotted vnto some medicines occult hidden properties and therefore worke they not by an externall and euident elementarie qualitie And this occult vertue is called by some wise men Angelicus actus qui est tanquam inter Deum Naturam virtus media à quâ fiunt operationes in rebus quâ—…s natura earum vel non faceret vel sic faceret quas alij dicuut prouenire a proprietate occulta alij quia tales An Angelicall act which is as it were a middle vertue betweene God and nature whereby operations are effected in things which the elementarie Nature of them could not performe or would so bring to passe as they which are said by some to proceed of an occult quality and others quia sunt tales And such was the effect in curing by the water of the poole of Bethesdas not that the manifest elementary quality of the water did it But the Act of the Angell which mooued it In like manner can no man expresse any naturall reason that is manifest for the attraction of the Iron by the Loadstone or of straw by Amber or why the Loadstone looketh towards the North or why the Laurell or Baytree preserueth from the harmes of lightning and thunder and likewise how directly this cure is effected c. The causes of these things are occult and hidden vnto the common philosopher but to come a little neerer to the point It is apparant then that the incorruptible Spirit is in all things but most abundantly next vnto the great world in the little world called man For as in the great world God is said rightly by Ierome his translations leauing the corruption of others to haue put his Tabernacle in the Sunne from whence by a perpetuall and neuer dying motion hee sendeth forth life and multiplication to euery member and creature of the great world and by the agility of his Spirit for Salomon saith It is omni re mobilior the most moueable of all things hee moueth and giueth life vnto the whole Spirit of the world which also the same wise man doth iustifie in these words Sol gyrans à meridie flectitur ad Aquilonem lustrans vniuersain circuitu pergit spiritus The Sunne mouing from the South bendeth toward the North illuminating the whole world the spirit or ayre of it doth moue circularly Whereby hee argueth that the spirit in the Sunne animateth and giueth motion life and spirit vnto the ayrall spirit of the whole world for without his assiduall motion and act as Aristotle and all other Philosophers confesse the ayre would soone be corrupt and be as it were dead and of no validity for the reason heereof the holy Text concludeth that the Holy spirit of discipline filleth the whole world So also and in the very like manner the same incorruptible spirit filleth the little world est enim Templum Spiritus Sancti it is the Temple of the Holy Ghost and hath put his Tabernacle in the heart of man in which it moueth as in this proper macrocosmicall Sunne in Systole and Diastole namely by contraction and dilatation without ceasing and sendeth his beames of life ouer all the whole frame of man to illuminate giue life and circular motion vnto his spirit And thereupon the Apostle reciprocally saith of this little world as in another place of the great one In Deo viuimus mouemur sumus In God we liue moue and haue our being also as this abstruse spirit doth giue heate by his actiuity and essentiall motion vnto the great world the very same it doth effect in the little world and all things else when it doth not quiescere or in se delitescere that is not rest or withdraw