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
facit c. as before God doth his will and pleasure as well with the celestiall vertues powers as with the dwellers on the earth and there is not any that can resist his hand And againe Quodcunque voluit hoc facit what God would haue that doth he And againe as touching his will in the creation as before Consilium meum stabit omnis voluntas mea fiet My Counsell shall stand and my will shall be established And hence it is written in Genesis Voluntati Dci num possumus resistere Can we resist the Will of God And the Apostle hath it Voluntati Dei quis resistat Who can resist the VVill of God Not any creature and a reason is giuen by the wise Salomon because volunt as Domini in aeternum permanebit The will of the Lord shall endure for euer And by whom I pray now doth he operat bring to effect this his Will and decree to goodnesse and healing What by the Deuill Contrarie to his originall ordinance euen by him who is a rebell vnto all goodnesse Is it possible that hee that hath not a lot of goodnesse in him could produce and bring to passe such a gift of goodnesse and charity as is that of healing No this is performed by Iesus the Catholick Sauiour who is the head of potestats and powers who altereth not one Tittle in effecting Gods Will in heauen and in earth as it i said Voluntatem vt faciam eius qui misit me de coelo descendi I came down from heauen to doe his will that sent me It is therefore onely our Spirituall Lord Iesus vnto whom power is giuen from his Father who bringeth all things to that absolute effect which without all contradicton was decreed by the Father And not false gods nor Angels nor Deuils nor men according vnto that before mentioned Though there bee that are called Gods as well in heauen as in earth yet vnto vs there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and one Iesus Christ by whom are all things Whereby it is argued that God the Father decreeth as the father and root of all things in whom complicitly and ideally they were before all beginning but the Sonne essentially effecteth his will and maketh euery Ideal thing to appeare explicitly and really and therefore neyther Angels nor diuels nor starres nor any thing else but onely our Lord Iesus Christ mouing in his Ministers as well spirituall as corporall effecteth both in and after the creation all things that exist and consequently the art of curing And hereupon by Scripture as it is sayd before wee are taught that it is the Word that cureth all those dolorous effects of sickenesse which the diuell brings to passe For first the Psalmist saith Immisit in eos iram indignationis suae iram tribulationem per malos Angelos Hee sent out amongst them the anger of his indignation anger and tribulation by euill angells c. Heere therefore you see the effects of the ministery of Satan and his angels which is to strike and wound with sickenesse And then in another place he sheweth the immediate curer of these diuellish effects in these words Misit verbum sanauitâ—…eos Hee sent his Word and healed them And the Wise man saith Non herba aut malagmate sed verbo tuo quod sanat omnia curasti eos verily I say vnto you also that it is not the herbe or animall or minerall medicine but the gift of healing in the said creatures assigned vnto them in their creation by the word that healeth As for the Minor it is confirmed by the expresse words of the Prophet speaking in the person of God himselfe Ecce ego creaui fabrum sufflantem in igne prunas proferentem vas in opus suum ego creaui interfectorem ad disper dendum Behold I haue created a Smith to blow the coales in the fire and to produce a vessell in his worke and I created the Destroyer to destroy whereby wee may see that the will of God was not that hee should be created or at the least ordayned afâ—…er his fall for a healer preseruer or maker but for a Wounder and Destroyer yea his nature was made so cancrous and malicious that hee doth not only enuy at mans prosperity and therefore cannot against the nature of the office which God assigned to him in his creation or after his fall be his curing angell but also he repineth at the excellency of God his Creator as may appeare by the third of Genesis Whereupon Salomon saith Diaboli inuidia mors introiuit in orbem terrarum Death and destruction entred into the world by the malice of the diuell and therefore hee is farre from doing the office of healing and preseruing It is Christ which hath the office of life preseruation and health who for this cause was sent by his Father to withstand the bad acts of the diuel Diabolum habentem mortis imperium saith S. Paul Christus suâ morte destruxit Christ by his death destroyed the diuell hauing the power of death vnder him It is that salutiferous emanation of God the Father of life which was from all beginnings ordained to quell the diuell aâ—…d his malicious intents or effects Forasmuch as Diabolus aduersarius tanquam Leo rugiens â—…uit quaerens quem deuoret The common aduersary the diuell doth compasse about seeking whom hee may deâ—…oure and now is he become a physician and a turne-coat vnto that office for the which by Gods will hee was created Did hee kill so many when hee was a young physician and hath hee inuented now after his long experience the weapon-salue to cure some A pretty witty conclusion of Master Foster and the Iesuiticall Ioannes Roberti his foster father in this blind conceit But now I will be so bold as to produce an argument for this oyntment not vnlike to that which Master Foster hath framed If there be no diuine institution or authority out of holy writ to warrant any curing effect or Art by the diuell eyther by supernaturall or naturall means then is there no reason to beleeue that the cure done by the weapon-salue is effected by the worke of the diuell But in holy writ there is not found any such warrant for the curing of wounds by the diuell through the helpe eyther of Supernaturall or Naturall meanes Therefore it is not to be credited that the curing by the weapon-salue can be effected by the Art or act of the diuell The Maior is of the selfe-same effect with that of M. Fosters argument where he seemeth to auer that because the vse of this weapon-salue is not effected by diuine institution nor yet hath any testimony or example to confirme it out of holy writ therefore it is prestigious And againe as is said before what God hath originally decreed in the archetypicall Idaea that cannot be altered but the
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
vnto the Diuell Doe I thinke you doe amisse Was it not I pray you for these very words of Paul that in his Sermon at Athens Demetrius and his crafts men were so much offended with him The Lord saith he who hath made heauen and earth dwelleth not in Temples made with hands netther is worshipped with mens hands as though he needed any thing seeing he giueth to all life and breath and all things and hath made of one blood all mankind c For in him we liue and moue and haue our Being for wee are also his generation For as much then as wee are the Generation of God wee ought not to thinke that the Godhead is like vnto gold or siluer or ston◅ grauen by art and the inuention of man c. This angred Demetrius and his company namely to say that the Godhead is not like vnto gold or siluer grauen by art which if they had suffered no body would haue bought the images of Diana framed by them In like manner this Chirurgicall faction decryes the Weapon-Salue fearing that few wounded persons would trouble them for their cure being that frustra fit per plura quod potest fieri per pauciora it would bee but vaine for a wounded man to bee tormented by flashing eating corrosiues incisions and dolorous tentings of Chirurgions besides great bargaines and compacts for the cures and perchance also little attendance when the immediate Act of God doth operate the ◅ure gratis gently without dolorous tents or grieuous incision and that honestly without an ill conscience seeing that it is Gods Spirit which doth operate as well in the blood as salue For I beseech you obserue the words of Saint Paul which if they moue in some degree the Ephesian siluer-smiths they will much more nettle such couetous Chirurgians as would suffocate and smoother this excellent and diuine vertue in the Weapon-Salue whose originall is ofblood The which words that you may with the better solidity conceiue you must gather or collect out of them these three seuerall things First that the Lord of Lords is hee who hath made heauen and earth whereupon wee collect tha the which hath made heauen and earth is the guider and operatour both in the spirit and body of both the great and little world called man and therefore neither Hag nor diuel can work to the health sustentation or preseruation of either as the consequence shall confirme For the Text saith Hee giueth life breath and all things Next hee hath made all mankind of one blood and spirit And therefore he operateth all in all in mans blood in generall as well to life as health And againe the spirit of the dead mans bones and consequently their excrescence which issued originally out of mans blood in the which in part lurketh Gods Spirit of life hath an homogeniall reference vnto the liuely blood of man for as much as the Text saith that all mankind is made of one blood onely and therefore this vnion of symphoniacall or sympatheticall harmony is not easily to bee limited by Master Fosters phantasticall spheare of actiuity For the text following vnto the Athenians is In him wee liue and moue and haue our Being And lastly that wee are the Generation of God and for that cause Christ did not disdaine to call vs his Brethren and the Sonnes of God Neither is it sufficient to say as these precisians doe that this is ment onely of the Beleeuers and not of the Infidels For Saint Paul at that very time when hee preached this doctrine spake vnto the Idolaters and such as worshiped vnknowne gods and he did let them to know th◅s much namely that they liued moued and had their being in the true God and that this Lord of Lords giueth life and breath and being and that they were all of Gods Generation All this hee truely taught that thereby they might leaue their false gods and betake themselues vnto their right Lord only God from whom by whom in whom they exist and persist in their being as hee declareth else-where Let therefore Demetrius his Goddesse Diana be forgotten and let Fosters healing diuell be depriued from all his imaginary power practice in curing of wounds And lastly let all couetuous Chirurgians expectations be thorowly quashed and disanulled by this inuiolable assertion of the Apostle Though there be that are called Gods whether in heauen or in earth as there be many gods and many lords yet vnto vs there is but one God which is that Father of whom are all things and wee in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him but euery man hath not that knowledge Let M. Foster mark this as who shouldsay though the Ephesian Demetrius with his complices did attribute all power vnto the false Goddesse Diana and Foster the secret maruellous power of healing by the weapon-salue vnto the diuell as the prince of this world without any consideration vnto this Text yet it is certaine that it is God the Father of whom are al things and consequētly this act in curing and by our Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and therefore each blessed gift of healing For Salomon auerreth that it is the Word that cureth all things But saith the Text Euery man hath not this knowledge c. Wherefore Mr. Foster is the more to be blamed to professe the name of Gods Minister and to be ignorant in this point Or at the leastwise if he knew it hee is to be blamed both before God and man to speake so bluntly and against his conscience for any pruiuate companies cause or worldly affection yea it may appeare that hee was troubled in his conscience when hee writ so staggeringly and vnaduisedly touching the originall cause of this cure For first of all pag. 8. he saith that it is not the salue that cureth but the diuell by the secret applications of other medicines In another place namely pag. 17. hee acknowledgeth that the act of curing is the salue but concludeth it to be magicall by reason of the superstitious obseruations in the collection or gathering of the ingrediences and in the anoynting of the weapon Then pag. 39. hee seemeth to auerre that it is the bathing of the wound with Vrin and the keeping it cleane which doth effect this cure whereby hee taketh away all vertue from the salue and acting power from the diuell But pag. 7. hee saith that it is onely God that cureth at such a distance for as much as his essence is infinite and is omnia in omnibus and not any Angell The Gentleman you see is in many minds God amend him and make his head-piece more setled and of a more solid consistence and constant nature or wee shall be troubled heereafter with many words but little substance appertaining to the right matter I heare he threatneth me with a volume of some impieties and I know not what which hee hath found in
and fight against the Icteritious humor in the vrin which fading and being by little and little conquered maketh his like in the sicke body to dye and vanish Besides all this the spirit lurking in the salt and exuscitated partly by the excited spirit of the plant and partly by the emanating spirit of the sicke body doth send or carry backe a curatiue property vnto the whole bulke of the blood I leaue this vnto the more serious consideration of the learned who can better iudge of the hidden and abstruse operations of Gods incorruptible spirit closing vp a-l in these very words of the Apostle Deus operatur omnia in omnibus God worketh all in all ex eo per eum in eo sunt omnia of him by him in him are all things Deus viuificat omnia God viuifieth all things And finally Dij sunt qui dicuntur in coelis in terra nobis autem vnus Pater à quo omnia nos in illo vnus Dominus Iesus Christus per quem omnia nos per illum There are in the estimation of some men gods in heauen and in earth but vnto vs there are no more then one God the Father from whom doe proceed all things and we are in him and â—…ne Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him Ergò it is vainely and presumptuously said of Mr. Foster that the cure of the weapon-salue is effected by the diuell the enemy of Iesus Christ and not by Christ himselfe being that Iesus is the only Sauiour and curer or healer both of soule body who as he hath all powers potestates vnder his dominion vseth his good Angels to work his goodnesse and not the bad Angels which hee did ordaine for a cleane contrary office I will not say that this assertion of his is a kinde of blasphemy but it is little better At the leastwise it is the grossest sort of Idolatry to ascribe the good works of God vnto the essentiall act of the worst and most wickedest of all his creatures whom God instituted for a clean contraryvse namely to be his punishing and destroying minister or angel Now I will proceed vnto the particular defence of mine owne doctrine expressed in my mysticall Anatomy Against the which Master Foster doth enueigh so bitterly and with so great a confidence He crowes there like a Cocke on his owne dunghill before hee hath occasion and challengeth gloriously the palme and proclaimeth the trophey of his owne prayses before he hath got the victory The end crownes all for truth is not boulstered vp with high and braging termes It had beene best for Master Foster to haue heard me speake before hee had publikely slandered me and set vp the Titles of his booke on the posts of my doore in my disgrace whether it was discreetly done of him or not I leaue it to the censure of the world and so I moue to the last Member of this Treatise The Third Member Wherein the Author doth disannull all those Arguments and Obiections which M. Foster with such inuincible confidence hath produced for the refelling of his opinion expressed in his mysticall Anatomy where he proueth that the action of curing by the Weapon-Salue is meerely Naturall and no way Magicall or Diabolicall The Prelude to this Member Wherein the Author doth expresse that his Aduersaries slanders of him are grounded on malice and not on any â—…ust desert of his Here also he sheweth the method of his proceeding in this Member with the Reason thereof EAch discreet Reader may discerne by M. Fosters scandalous vehemency against mee for composing in my mysticall Anatomy the subiect of this Member that it is more of enuy and malice then for any desert in me or offence committed by me either against him for as much as I know him not or any other person else For out of doubt he would not else vpon so slight an occasion as was this short chapter expressed in the foresaid place haue so slandered me with the title ofa Magician as he hath and alledged his wise Master the Frier Mersennus his authority for it as profound an Author for rayling and false slander as himselfe But why I beseech you should he induce Mersennus his scandalous words against mee in this his writing when he seeth that the Frier is so taunted by his friend and champion Gassendus for it that in his Reply which he maketh with Gassendus and Lanouius against me after that I had thorowly nettled and gauled him for his follies hee dared not to vtter or repeate one word against me touching the precedent slanders of Magicke which in his Booke on Genesis vpon little or no ground hee laid vnto my charge but grafted all his spight and malice in that Reply vpon certaine Impieties as hee termeth them which hee most weakely layeth vnto my charge Againe whereas this our home-bred Aduersary saith that I haue excused my selfe from Magick in a Booke intituled Sophiae cum Moria certamen and that Lanouius saith Cuius contrarium verum est I must tell him that it doth ill become a man of his Profession to vtter such a falshood For Lanouius though in as malicious a manner as he could doth cleare me of that crime alledging that mine vnskilfulnesse or insufficiency in such things made him to thinke the contrary And therefore I must tell this my English calumniatour that there is a Starre-chamber to punish such abuses and consequently he may perchance heare of mee sooner then he doth expect vnlesse hee bridleth his slanderous tongue the better hereafter It is an Argument of little Philosophie and lesse Diuinity to rayle vnreasonably and scandalize with immorality For Philosophie is Sapientiae amor the loue of Wisedome and the Wise man saith It is the part of a foole to rayle Againe all Diuinity is founded on Loue and Charity and Christ his chiefest preaching wasto loue our Brethren and to affect our Neighbours as our selues and to admonish vs that wee iudge not our Brethren rashly But to come vnto our businesse Hath this Chapter of mine iudicious Reader in which our diligent Inquisitor hath made so strict a search and against which he hath framed so punctuall a confutation any Cacomagicall busines in it that I should so hardly be censured by our quick-witted Confuter at the very entrance into it Doe you discerne in it any thing that should cause our Aduersary to make such a scandalous and vnchristian-like ingression into the inquiry of it that thereby the simpler sort of men may deeme me a Witch or Magician As for such as are of the wiser sort I am sure they laugh at it But is not this an argument of enuy founded on no solid foundation And is not he as well for his vnreasonable spight as some things else of each good Christian to be pittied For what hath he in him should deserue enuy being that he confesseth in his Epistle
Bones Nerues and giueth them Life Action and Motion all which the patient â—…ob expresseth thus Thou hast powred mee out like Milke that is in the forme of sperme thou hast coagulated mee like Cheese thou hast endued me with Skin and Flesh thou hast compacted mee together with Bones and Sinnews thou hast giuen mee life by thy mercy and by thy visitation thou hast preserued my spirit but all this thou hast hidden in thy minde but I know all this to bee from thee Whereupon it is euident that God operateth all beginning radically in the blood and for this reason the Apostle saith rightly In him we liue we moue and haue our being I conclude therefore that here againe is all the Sponges validity so squeesed out as hereafter I hope it shall not be able to digest any great matter nor yet to bite any longer vpon the Marble Rocke of Truth CHAP. III. In the which it is proued contrary vnto our Spongy Authors opinion that spirits doe reside in the separated Blood Doctor Fludds naked Text. In the Blood is the spirit of life and with the bright soule doth abide and operateth after an hidden manner Master Fosters Collection In the Blood reside the vitall spirits in the vitall spirits the soule in an hidden manner The act of his mundifying Sponge Thirdly I deny that any spirits reside in separated Blood and Casman is so confident in this that in parts separated from the body remaine no spirits and saith that the very Deuill cannot beget or conserue any in them The Sponge squeesed Here you see that this fresh-water Souldier hath nothing to maintaine his Tenent but Ipse dixit If that faile farewell all further expectation But I will proue that this his and his Masters assertion is erroneous by three manner of wayes namely first by Philosophicall reason for being that euery amputated creature euen from the liuely stocke of his growth is filled with a Balsamick Salt of the nature of the Tree or Plant from which it sprung by which it doth exist such as indeed it is it is not possible but that it should haue of the spirit of his wonted life in it although it doth not act but rest in its Center Next by Holy Scriptures for as is proued abundantly before the blood spilled and flesh killed is full of liuely spirits though they remaine potentially in them or else why should the Israelites be commanded not to eate the fat and blood For it is said because the blood is the seate of the soule or spirit of life For if that spirit of life were fled from it what sinne had it beene to haue eaten it But the text saith for it is the seate of life and therefore it is commanded that they should powre it out on the Earth Againe let Parson Foster answer this The incorruptible pirit of the Lord is in all things Ergò in the effused blood flesh fat and bones separated from the whole And lastly by common experience for we finde that fat and blood and mummy haue singular properties of healing which they could not haue if all the spirits which they did receiue from the liuing body were exhaled but it is the office onely of the incorruptible Spirit and Word to heale and therefore being these ingredients haue an healing property they must needs in this their existence participate or communicate with this good Spirit whose nature is to expell and take away all corruption and sicknesse and other vnnaturall impediments Verbum tuum saith Salomon curat omnia thy Word cureth all for in it onely is life Ergò the viuifying spirit Moreouer I know and with mine eyes haue seene abundance of spirits which by the aâ—… of the least fire haue beene excited out of the essence of corrupted blood and fat in so much that with the naturall heate of the hand they in forme of little Atomes haue beene obserued to dance and caper in the ayre which is an euident token that there is the spirit of life lurking in the dead blood though it appeares but potentially in the essence of the dead thing in respect of vs. Againe if this were not is it possible that dead blood flesh and fat could nourish the liuing being that like is nourished by his like which could not be if in the blood flesh and fat there did not lurke naturall and viuifying spirits to maintaine their like in the liuing creature and therefore will one kinde of flesh nourish both a Man a Beast a Fish and a Fowle because all those naturall spirits are of one kinde and condition Is it not I pray you apparent to the vulgar that flesh and fat hung vp in the Sunne will bee quickly conuerted into liue Wormes or Magats Which were impossible except the spirit of life did lurke in the flesh and fat after the creature was dead yea I haue seene a whole dead Crow which I hung vp in the Sunne for a certaine purpose to be wholly sauing bones conuerted into verminous animals An euident argument of the viuifying spirits presence in the dead flesh blood and fat Yea verily I haue obserued that the Balsam of Wheate so aboundeth in it that if it bee put into Raine-water in a short space it produceth long Wormes of a white colour The same effect produceth flesh after putrifaction It is most certaine therefore that the spirit oflife is in the dead flesh and fat yea and in the graine which though it operateth not except it be stirred vp by the viuifying spirits acting property working in such an organicall body as is the Sunne the fire the liuing creature and such like yet is it most certaine that it is in the amputed blood fat flesh and bones c. You may discerne by this gentle Reader how Casman and his compleat disciple Foster haue erred But wee must excuse them modestly seeing that Humanum est errare Why I pray you should I esteeme these men more Catholick in knowledge then Bernard But Bernardus non videt omnta And yet blinde Bayard is subiect to iudge and censure any thing though vnto himselfe vnknowne Wherefore let Master Foster put vp his authority in his Pouch for I esteeme it not hauing naturall reason the testimony of Holy Writ and lastly vulgar experience or ocular demonstration to proue the contrary And whereas his Master Casman teacheth him that the very Deuill cannot beget or conserue any spirit in them I wonder how the Deuill then can worke this Weapon-Salue Cure being that the Oyntment hath no spirits of it selfe nor yet the Deuill can beget or conserue any in the ingredients thereof And if he saith that the Deuill is of great experience and doth this with other herbs or simples I would haue him to tell me why should herbs or other simples being also after they are gathered but dâ—…ad as it were and without spirits by Master Fosters owne rule serue as meanes vnto the Deuill for the working
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