of his Pope or the command or instigation of some bloody sottish Belly-God devilish Priest be ready nay zealous to kill burn and destroy the Innocent and lay waste whole Countries all which is contrary to all kinds of Friendliness and Humanity and also to God's Law in Nature and to the Law of God recorded in th Scriptures Which shews that Men are gone from and do trample under their feet the divine friendly Love and Light of God and all natural Affection and Humanity and have immersedtheir Wills and their whole Hearts and Souls and precipitated them into the fiery stern Wrath of God having no humane clemency but acted by the cruel fierce nature of Dogs Lions Swine c And as those savage Beasts do delight to kill hurry oppress tear and eat the Blood of their Fellow Creatures so most men place their chief delight and pleasure in hunting killing oppressing and devouring not only those of their own kind which is contrary to most of the worst of Beasts for few of them will prey upon or worry those of their own Species but all other Creatures None of the Elements are free from his Snares and Cruelties the Earth the Air the Sea cannot preserve their innocent Inhabitants from his pursuits and outrages but he rifles the whole Creation and yet still all is too little to satisfie his insatiate Mind and ungodly devouring Paunch so great a Tyrant and Devil is he become to all the rest of his Fellow-Citizens of the World 'T is this proud and troublesome Thing called Man that fills the Earth with Blood and the Air with mutherous Minerals and Sulphur no wonder then if the very sight of a Man be more dreadful to most Creatures than that of a Bear or Lion and they will flie from him as fast Those Beasts that are called clean are such as do refuse all kind of unclean Food for the predominate Quality in them consists in the friendly Nature or their Properties are nearer the Equality Therefore such Creatures as they are more clean so also are they more gentle and friendly in Inclinations and Dispositions it being contrary to their Natures to worry oppress or seek the Lives of their Fellow-Creatures but are contented with their innocent and natural Food they are the only useful and beneficial Creatures unto Man his perpetual Friends by vertue of their Fruits his Life is sustained but for the multitude of their Benefits he rewards them with Oppression and Death nor will content himself with the good things they produce for his Sustenance as Milk Butter Cheese Eggs c. but must also kill them and eat their Blood and dead Carcasses Now if Man had not suffered the Hellish Devilish Nature to have been awakened in him he then would not have desired nor longed after the Oppressions and Flesh-pots of Egypt but would have rested content with innocent harmless Food of the Land of Canaan but the wrathful Fire being so greatly moved and predominating in the Hearts and Souls of Mankind above and over the divine friendly Love of God no Food will give satisfaction unto nor answer the hunger and desires of that awakened wrathful Property so well as Flesh and Blood because it is the highest Life and hath a nearer Affinity to that predominating Quality that so bears sway in most Men's Hearts I look upon it as a great Mistake for a Man to say and believe That all these good Creatures were made to be killed and eaten and that Men's Lives should be sustain'd thereby The Lord made all Creatures for his honour and glory and for the reasonable service and use of Mankind whom he ordered to have dominion over all Creatures which Man has lost by suffering his Desires to enter into the wrathful fierce bestial nature which the Humanity ought not to have touch'd for Man is higher graduated and ought not to have bowed himself to those inferiour Powers nor suffered their low bestial Spirits to enter him for God made Man in his own Image the Horizon of both Worlds the Epitome of the whole Creation so that he is liable to be wrought upon by all inferiour things If this were not so there would not be any such danger of infecting the humane Nature by Communications oppressing killing and eating the Flesh of the Beasts for where nothing is there nothing can be awakened as our Saviour Christ said If your Children ask you for Bread will you give them a Stone There being no affinity between the Stomach and a Stone but on the contrary there is agreement between Bread and the Stomach Whatsoever Man gives way or joyns himself unto the same through a little custom and practice will have power to impose its own Property and captivate the Soul Hence it comes to pass that Butchers Souldiers and all Men that are of robustick slavish Employments are for the most part cruel inhumane subject to all the savage Bestiality that the wild Beasts and Birds of Prey are and oft-times far worse for Beasts do only live in the wrath of the outward Nature but Man does both partake and live in the operation of the outward and also of the hellish Nature Therefore 't is no fit comparison to liken some sorts of cruel Men to savage Beasts for thereby the poor dumb Creatures are abused They do according to their kind but Man was made for another Life viz. to live in the power and operation of the divine Principle of God's eternal Light and Love but he has degenerated from his first state of Innocency and many Men by giving way to Cruelty and Violence are become so bad that they cannot be compared to any Creature in Nature but merely to Devils O! how abominable and wicked a thing it is in the sight of the Lord and his friendly Love in Iesus Christ for Men to take his holy Name in vain by their Swearing Lying Stealing Cheating Circumventing each other Fighting Killing counting it no Evil to hurry oppress worry both Man and Beast spending their precious time in Wantonness and all kind of Superfluity of Naughtiness and Intemperance making it a Sport and Pastime Good-Fellowship and Civil Neighbourhood to be drunk to eat to Gluttony and to keep Tables filled with Superfluities is counted Hospitality and a Thing of State On the contrary to eat and drik only for ends and necessities of Nature of ready simple harmless Meats and Drinks is held poor base and beggarly and derided by most that have wherewithal to do otherwise making the Creator as it were the cause of their Wantonness saying Has not God given us those Creatures freely for our use May we not do what we will with them Are they not cur own These are the common Excuses of these wretched Belly-Slaves not considering that most or all those good Creatures which they spend on their Lusts and to gratifie their wicked Inclinations are gotten by their oppressing both Man and Beast eating and drinking the Blood of the poor and the
Vine viz. under the Government of the divine Principle of God's Eternal Love Here all Contention ceaseth no hideous Cries nor mournful Groans are heard neither of Man nor Beast no Chanels running with the Blood of slaughter'd Beasts no stinking Shambles nor bloody Butchers no roaring of Canons nor firing of Towns no loathsome stinking Prisons nor Iron Grates to keep Men from enjoying Wife Children and the pleasant Air nor no crying for want of Food and Cloths no Rioting nor wanton Inventions to destroy as much in one day as a Thousand can get by their hard Labour and Travel no swearing nor stabbing Heaven with dreadful Execrations no galloping Horses up Hills without any consideration or fellow-feeling of the Creatures pains and burthens no deflouring of Virgins and then expose both them and their own Seed to all the Miserie 's imaginable nor no Letting Lands and Farms so dear that the Farmer must be forced to oppress himself Servants and Cattle almost to death and all too little to pay his Rent no Disobedience of the Inferiour nor Oppression of the Superiour but the first knows how to obey and the last how to govern neither is there any Want because there is no Superfluity nor Gluttony No Noise nor Cries of wounded Men no need of Chirurgeons to cut Bullets out of their Flesh nor no cutting off Hands broken Legs and Arms no roaring nor crying out with the torturing pains of the Gout nor other painful Diseases as Leporous and Consumptive Distempers except through Age and the Relicks of some Strains they got whilst they lived in intemperate Egypt neither are their Children afflicted with such a great number of Diseases but are as free from Distempers as Lambs Calves or the young ones of any of the Beasts who are preserved sound and healthful because they have not outraged God's Law in Nature the breaking of which is the Foundation of most or all cruel Diseases that afflict Mankind there being nothing that makes the difference between Man and Beasts as to Health but only Superfluity and Intemperance both in Quality and Quantity Man in his first state was made the soundest healthiest of the greatest Spirit and the longest life'd as witness the Antients in the first Ages of the World But when Man enter'd with his Will into Violence Oppression and Cruelty then the Lord said That Man had corrupted the Earth and filled it with Violence that is the Elements and Properties of the Humane Nature was corrupted and become unequal in their Operation every particular Quality did endeavour to get the upper hand Here the Harmony was broken and Discord took place here was the Strife Then the Lord shortned Man's Life but not before he became intemperate and did Violence not only unto himself but to all other Creatures therefore they do groan to be delivered into that first State and glorious Liberty Man was created in which if he had continued in Obedience and lived under the Government of the innocent Principle of God's Light and Love all the inferiour Creatures would have enjoyed all the Privileges and Liberty which were ordained for them according to their Capacity For this Cause whensoever any of the inferiour Creatures are oppressed hurt or killed they do by a natural Disposition and Inclination cry unto the Fountain whence they proceeded and groan for Deliverance which will never be until Men with their Wills and Desires enter into the innocent Principle of God's Love and holy Light whence doth arise no Disposition of Hatred Violence or Oppression it being as contrary to it as Light is to Darkness All Cruelty and Blood-shedding do proceed from another Fountain as different in Nature and Operation as the common consuming Fire doth differ from the Light thereof which is of a most friendly pleasant Quality and benevolent Operation but the Fire is fierce and altogether the contrary yet nevertheless the harsh Fire is the cause of the Light and if there were no Fire there would be no Light The Fire is the Father and the Light is the Son and they are Emblems of the Father and Son or of the internal Fire and Light The Light of this internal Fire is a most pleasant chearing Quality of Life but the Fire in its own Nature is a strong harsh sulphurous Property a devouring lofty proud Spirit who endeavours to consume all things and the internal dark Fire is its Root and the Scripture saith Who can dwell with everlasting Burnings God is a Consuming Fire to all that are not cloathed with the Son's Wedding-Garment of Light Love and Innocency therefore the scrupling Violence and Oppression both to Man and Beast and denying our selves of other Vanities and Superfluities is of great moment and the only Path that leads Men to the holy Land preserving both the Body and Soul in health For this Cause in the Beginning the Lord put Man into a Garden which doth truly signifie Innocency and gave him a great number of fragrant Herbs Seeds Fruits and Grains which are all endued with an innocent Nature and Operation but when he had precipitated his Will and Desires into the Principle of Wrath then presently the Earth was filled with Violence and the Element of his Body and Soul was corrupted then Distemperatures took place in him and his Life was shortned but not before Therefore the Eating of Herbs Seeds Grains and Fruits is of far greater consequence than most imagine and they may justly be esteemed the Food of good Angels for their Innocency excellent Virtues Fragrancies and Odours and therefore they were the Food ordain'd for Man whilst he remained in his Angelical State and if he had continued in Innocency he would never have desired any other Food but when by Desire he awaken'd the fierce Wrath and lived under the Power and Government of its Nature then he could not be satisfied without doing Violence and Killing for innocent Herbs and Fruits had no Simile with that Nature that had gotten the upper Dominion in him for every Property as I have told you before must have its own Food or else it cannot subsist then it was and not before that the Lord permitted Men to kill and eat the Flesh and Blood of Beasts which would never have been had Man continued in Innocency And therefore great are the Benefits and manifold Privileges that now do accompany all those that have attained to that state of Purity and Innocency which our first Parents were cloathed with their Minds being freed from Snares and their Bodies from superfluous Labours therefore can say We have no need of Lawyers Honesty Justice and Prudence makes their Trade nothing worth and but a few Physicians and none of them keep neither Coaches nor Chariots they are not clothed with Gold Silver nor Plush Coats our Temperance keeps them poor The true Knowledge of God and Nature in our selves destroys the Trade of divining for Money Our Superiours are not proud nor ambitious neither do they spend the choicest and
of them are much addicted to Superfluity and Inordinate living by reason of the strength of Nature and their strong Heats which do in many of them increase the desire to eat and drink beyond the power of the digestive faculty of the Stomach For in most People in whom the Fire doth predominate their attractive faculty and desire of eating and drinking is so very strong that it prolongs the pleasure of eating and drinking many degrees beyond the Necessity of the Stomach which does not only cause an heavy drowsy Indisposition to follow but sows Seed for many Diseases Therefore as this sort of People are generally the greatest Eaters by Inclination so ought they as much as in them lies restrain the Extravagancies of their Appetite and eat but sparingly especially of rich hot compounded spicy Food and strong Drinks as Wine Brandy Tobacco c. For they are all Enemies to this Complexion and very dangerous too if Temperance be wanting for every sort of Food hath its operation in the Body and on the Spirits by way of Simile Therefore all such Meats and Drinks in this sort of People if not sparingly taken do too powerfully awaken the Central Heat which ought not to be felt but when it is stirred up does sometimes cause either a Suffocation or Evaporation of the vital Spirits which will make all the external parts of the Body to burn like Fire whilst the Center becomes as it were chill and cold For when the pure Spirits are wounded by any violence done to them the Radical moisture consumed the Oyl of Life set on Fire which are Moderators and Qualifiers of the harsh Fires and Poysons in the Body what can be expected but Destruction For when the pure Spirits of Oyl are any way wounded by Intemperance then presently are awakened the fierce dark Fires in the Body the original of every Life which ought not to have been stirred for this Fire is of a churlish angry consuming Nature whence those terrible Fevers do proceed This Heat when it is kindled which is never done but when some great violence is offered to the pure Spirit and Oyl then the natural Life doth presently burn and is in danger to be destroyed for the heat of this Original Fire is like the heat of Charcoal whose pleasant Water and Moderator is destroyed in the making of it whence that pleasant gleam of Light and refreshing Quality in the Wood doth proceed so that in the Charcoal there does only remain the dark fierce Sulphurous Fire which does when burning send forth pernicious stupifying Fumes and Vapours of an ill scent burdensom to Nature for these Scents or Vapours do powerfully penetrate the Body by way of Simile and search out their likeness and incorporate therewith whence disorders arise especially in People of weak Nature and that have but few Spirits Even so it is in the Body if the pure Spirits and Radical Moisture be through superfluity or any other way disorder'd or weaken'd then presently the dark original Fire is kindled and manifesteth it self in its own form and burns fierce like Charcoal and then the Body falls into Distemperatures Not but this dark fierce Fire that doth so violently burn and discompose the Body and Mind did possess the body before for indeed it is the center of every Life but so long as the pure Spirits and Balsamick Body were strong and the Qualities of Nature had their operation in equality this fierce sulphurous fire lay hid or was captivated in the sweet Embraces of the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits and restrained by their virtue and power even as the pure Oyl and Balsamick Body in Wood doth moderate and qualifie the sulphurous Charcoal-heat so long as the Wood remains intire and no violence done to the sweet Oyl which is the true Life of the Wood but so soon as this sweet Oyl is wounded and becomes suffocated as is done in making of Charcoal then the fieree poysonous dark Fire of Saturn and Mars is awakened being of a furious devilish Nature and Operation The same is to be understood in every Vegetable Mineral and Animal be it what it will If the pure Radical Spirits and Oyl of Life be any ways hurt then the dark Wrath of Nature appears and if it be in the Human Nature then the Body falls into terrible distempers and cannot any way be recovered but by a powerful Medicine able to incorporate it self with the fading Oyl and pure Spirits and so reinforcing them with these foreign Auxiliaries enables them to withstand and qualifie the fierce poysonous operation of the awakened dark Fire and compel it to retreat to it s designed central obscurity This Cholerick Complexion ought in a most special manner to observe the Rules of Equality and Temperance for the Original Fire which we have been speaking of is very strong in them and most apt on any disorders to be kindled whence do proceed so many Violences done by this sort of People Also they generally love Arms and the Field and a little exercise and custom will make fighting and killing of Men as familiar to them as the killing of Sheep or Oxen is to Butchers Therefore they ought to be sober and accustom themselves to a mean in all things as Meats Drinks Exercises and especially in Communication or in their outward Converse in the World All sorts of Food and Drinks that are rather inclined to Coolness than Heat are most profitable to People of this Complexion and as in quality so also ought they to be careful that they do not exceed in quantity which they are apt to do more than any other Complexion as aforesaid Certainly Man being an Image of God and Nature in him containing the true nature of all things which the Ancients significantly called a Microcosm or little World 't is no absurdity to affirm that he hath power to change and alter his natural Complexion if he once come to know the Principles of himself and can but distinguish the Principles of his own Nature then may he preserve the pure essential Spirit from suffering violence and he can also by the same Eye of understanding preserve the essential Vertues of all other things according to that measure of Knowledge he hath of himself Likewise People that are dignified with this Cholerick Complexion are subject to acute Fevers their central Heat being great whence do proceed a powerful Life and abundance of Spirits For in all Creatures that have their central Heat strong the Balsamick Body and Radical Moisture is also powerful therefore such People can indure Labour beyond others The same is to be understood in Vegetables and other things according to their Natures where-ever the central Heat is powerful there also the Radical Moisture and sweet Oyl is strongest wherein the natural Life doth burn and shine An example we have in Wine and in all sweet Fruits especially in Sugar in which things the sweet Balsamick Body and pure Spirits are potent lively and
done by others so that there is no boubt to be made of the matter of fact The very same sympathetical Power have all other things though in some it be more Occult. What man in the World would believe the attractive Inclination which the Loadstone has upon Iron if it did not appear to his sight All or most men of Reason believe that the Constellations Signs and Elements have a particular and also a general Influence on all Inferior Earthly Bodies which is apparent to all our Senses varying Times and Seasons Night and Day making the Earth fruitful and the contrary and do not our Bodies alter as the Elements do And as the Influences of the Sun vary so do all things under Heaven How verdent and sprightly does our Mother Earth appear in fresh and rich Emdroideries and all the Trees in new Perriwigs and Flowers springing and wanton Birds with inimitable Harmony seem to welcom the approach of that great Eye of the World when he begins to renew his Visits to us in the Spring and all Creatures look blyth and jolly and the Blood capers in Youthful Veins and nothing appears in Natures universal Face but Smiles and Gallantry On the contrary when he with draws his vivifying Beams and retreats to the Chambers of the South how dull and dejected does every thing become and Fields and Trees stript of their Ornament and Beauty languish like forsaken Lovers and appear forlorn as hopeless Prisoners and Melancholy as old Age Nay if under the Protection of Truth we might Alarum lazy Tradition with a bold Paradox without dreading Excommunication from the Vertuoso for advancing Heresies in Philosophy I would add that Inferiors counter-act on Superiors as well as Superiors on them that all things in this lower World have the like Influences on the Coelestial Bodies and Elements as the Coelestials have on Sublunaries and Terrestrials and that this mutual Influx they have one upon the other by a certain natural Attraction and sympathetical Inclination Thus the wonderful and wise Creator has endued every thing with an Attractive and Influential Vertue and hence it often comes to pass that the Sons of Men by their Unclean Conversations do awaken and stir up the Wrath of the Coelestial Bodies and by a secret and yet powerful Attraction draws down the malignant Configurations which sometimes cause Epidemical Diseases at other times Wars Famine c. all according to the Nature of the Evils or Property of Nature that was awakened As for Example If the People of any Town or City give way to Uncleannesses in Meats Drinks c. and addicted to the Impurities of Venus as most such places are then by mutual Inclination the like Property in the Coelestial Bodies and Elements are excited and by degrees contaminate the whole Atmosphere or parts of the Air next the Earth with Pestilential Poysons causing Botches Boils Venerial Diseases Fevers and Plagues all according to the degree of the awakened Wrath and the length or shortness of the time of its operation for all Plagues and Pestilential Airs caused by Uncleanness do by degrees corrupt the pure Spirits or venerial Properties in the Body for whensoever this sweet Quality is violated the Distempers thence arising will for the most part manifest themselves in Botches Boils Scabs or Leprosies and Spots in the Flesh often accompanied with general Weakness and a decay of the Radical Moisture But if the Properties of Saturn and Mars be so violently stirred up or awakned and the fierce Storms of Nature do predominate in the Hearts and Souls of Men then follow Tumults Wars Burning of Towns and Cities and such like Calamities and Devastations For Mens evil Words and Works and Unmerciful Cruelties certainly awaken the Wrath of God in the Stars and Elements and hasten on Judgments No Man or Nation can escape the great Law of Retaliation which the Creator ordained in the beginning for Moses's Law was the greatest and most excellent of all Laws because it was built and had its Root in Nature therefore whensoever the Iews observed it they were sure of being blessed for Those that were obedient thereunto did preserve the Camp of the Lord from being defiled The Camp of the Lord is Man and if Man keep himself from being defiled he will not awaken the Wrath of God in the Stars and Elements but as he keeps himself clean and from doing Violence and obeys the Voice of Wisdom and follows the friendly Counsels of the divine Principle of God's eternal Love and Light then 't is most certain that by a secret power he will awaken the benevolent Properties of the Coelestial Bodies and Elements and attract their propitious Influences For the Lord promised to such as were obedient the Dew of Heaven but when they became Rebellious Unclean and Intemperate then the Lord permitted the Evil Configurations and Influences of the Coelestial Bodies to take place and many sore Evils and Calamities they endured This the Scriptures of Truth do testifie and indeed it cannot be otherwise for it is the Eternal Law of God in Nature That whatsoever Property or Principle Men do awaken and enter into with their free-will whether it be good or evil the same grows strong and he is comprehended by it and swallowed up in it and made a subject unto that Kingdom and this both in the particular and in general as Experience teaches for whensoever any particular Man gives way to any particular Evil that is a sin against God and his Law in Nature and shall continue in the same without Repentance 't is certain he will pull down the Judgments upon himself but as Mens Sins and Transgressions are not alike so neither their Rewards or Punishments This is further manifested by Mens Words and Works doth not every word carry the Power of its Principle whence it had its birth For that Property that was predominate in the Word Sound or Tone the same or the like Quality it does stir up and awaken in those to whom the Words or Discourses are directed whether it be good or evil if the Words are formed by the Saturnine Property then they awaken Envy Contention and a Morose Dogged Humour If they proceed from Mars then the fierce wrathful Fires are excited and so of the rest For if it were not so an Angry Word would not have any power to move them to Anger to whom it is directed nor would Loving Speeches beget Love nor a Meek Answer according to Solomons Observation Turn away Wrath But as one Man has power to stir up and awaken Love or Anger in another by his Words and Works the same is to be understood in all other things for there is a proportionate similitude between Men and the Coelestial Bodies and Elements Man being not only an Image and Likeness of God and Nature but the Horizon of both Worlds in which the Superiour and Inferiour Natures are conjoyned and the Son of the Stars and Elements so that there is a power
Blood so let forth was to be buried in the ground or burned and so the bestial Spirits prevented from Evaporations or incorporating themselves with the Air and consequently from entring into and infecting the humane Nature with their wrathful Effluviums and dreadful Species that the Blood of all Creatures are full of when killed in their health and perfect strength The greatest Excellency and common Virtue of men's eating much Flesh and Fish is that it makes them surly robustick sordid and of cruel inhumane Dispositions and Inclinations it being the most proper for Soldiers Hunters Moss-Troopers and all such as would have the bestial savage Nature strengthened and encreased and have a mind to be Lions and Devils not only to their own kind but all other Creatures and so long as People give their Wills up unto the fierce proud wrathful poysonous Nature we may not expect any other Trade to be driven amongst us whence we sind that the meek friendly Principle is trodden under foot Compassion has little or no place in Man farther than it is a Custom and he seems wholly given up to Rapine Oppression and Wickedness Whereas on the contrary Herbs Fruits Grains and many other the like innocent sorts of Food are more pleasant to the Eye of a better Scent and Smell afford a more grateful Taste to the Palate Nourishment finer and of better Substance to the Stomach they are of an easier Concoction breed better Blood are much more readily procured the Creation groans not or sighs there 's no Pain Violence or Cruelty committed in the Use of them they generate purer Spirits and make the Body lightsome and pleasant free the Mind from Dulness Care and Heaviness quicken all the Senses make a good Understanding preserve Innocency increase Compassion Love Humility and Charity give the Spirit of distinction between Good and Evil Clean and Unclean and help us with many opportunities for the study of all true Wisdom both of God Nature and our selves In a word the Virtues both Divine and Natural that follow Abstinence and Cleanness are not to be numbred many of them I know by experience through the mercy and good favour of the Lord It makes a man hate all rude vain talkative Company and the many Inconveniences that attend such a course of Life it also makes the observers thereof capable at all Seasons to speak the Words of Wisdom either divine or humane being but like large Glass-Windows to an House it lets in the pleasant light Air by giving opportunities to all the noble Faculties of man's Soul to exercise their Functions it tunes the Properties of Nature whence proceeds most excellent Harmony and whoever shall try it shall certainly find much more satisfaction and advantages than is here related or indeed than can be expressed in Words 15. It is farther to be noted that all kind of Inventions and Arts that encourage Violence and Oppression have proceeded from the fierce harsh wrath of God and the uneven properties of Saturn and Mars as Gun-powder Guns Drums and all Warlike Instruments of Musick There is nothing that does more manifest this than Gun-powder where the pure spirituous Parts and balsamick Vertues in all the Ingredients are suffocated and destroyed so that it becomes a meer composition of Wrath and Fierceness for every Property of Nature becomes fierce and terrible or strong fulsome and poysonous if the virtue and light thereofbe destroyed or separated from it for every particular Creature or Substance both Vegetable Mineral and Animal does consist of Fire and Light Love and Anger Ioy and Sorrow Good and Evil These are the Radixes of each Subject throughout all the three Kingdoms of Nature and if in any thing you violate the lovely light part then the angry Properties appear in their own Forms an Instance whereof we have before mentioned in Charcoal which is one Ingredient towards Gun-powder and all the rest are alike being of a terrible rending tearing devilish fierce nature and in it is a true Figure of the Wrath of God in the outward nature So likewise the sound of Drums and all Weapons of War and Violence proceed from the same Root of Wrath and accordingly the use of all such things do much encourage and strengthen the wrathful Properties in Mankind who if they had not or did not suffer their Wills and Desires to enter into the Wrath and fierce Properties of Nature in themselves and were not acted and influenced by it there would never have been any of those Hellish Inventions as Swords Guns Powder Drums Bows Arrows and other murthering Engines nor any thoughts of Killing Oppressing and Destroying those of their own Kind nor any other Creatures but Man should have kept that Dominion over the Creatures wherewith the Creator invested him in the beginning and no Creature should have had power to have influenced him or imposed their Properties upon him Hence then touching all Fighting Oppressing and Killing let it be little or much and the pretence what it will we affirm from a true light and ground That the same do arise and proceed from the fierce wrath of God and from that devilish hellish nature in Man which is as contrary to the friendly Love and Light of God in Jesus Christ as the Night is to the Day for if in man or any other Creature the evil Property do predominate and is most manifest there the good Qualities and friendly Light is overcome and so on the contrary For every Property and Principle does manifest and bring forth its own fruit as our Saviour Christ says Every Tree is known by its Fruits a good Tree cannot bring forth evil Fruit nor an evil Tree good Fruit. According to what Property does rule in the Heart of any Man such are his Thoughts Words and Actions where the divine Principle of God's eternal Love and Light doth predominate such Persons bring forth those good and precious Fruits of Love Mercy Compassion courteous Speeches Works of Charity and doing unto all men as they would be done unto but those in whom the hellish Principle bears sway their Fruits are worse than Briars and Thorns such as Back-biting Hatred Oppression Killing not only inferiour Creatures but even those of their own Kind and working all sorts of Impiety with greediness Therefore 't is of unspeakable moment to be able to distinguish in our selves the Two Principles and their respective Fruits and to be careful to deny and root out the Evil and cherish and follow the Counsel of the holy Light which if obeyed is sufficient to destroy all the mischievous Works of Self-hood and the Devil for as the more men habituate themselves to Cruelty Oppression Unmercifulness Killing and the like the stronger the hellish Principle of Wrath does grow and the worse and more cruel they become So in the practice of Vertue every Property and Principle grows strong by Use and Exercise and he that enters into the narrow Path of Regeneration and Self-denial ought always
had then would the wrath have been again awakened and Noah with the Creatures would have been comprehended in the same Judgment with those without the Ark For the Ark does truly signifie the heavenly Principle of God's eternal Love in which he has established his Covenant with Mankind and all Men that safeguard their desires and wills in this holy Ark denying themselves and abandoning all kinds of Violence but taking with them all kinds of Food that do bear a Simile with this friendly Principle shall be preserved from that deluge of Wickedness and Misery wherein the rest of the World is overwhelmed Now after this Deluge the Lord did permit Man to eat Flesh but not without distinction not with the Blood for Man would not be obedient nor keep himself within the Bounds and Limits of the holy Ark of God but turned their Wills into the wild bestial Nature and so longed after the Essences and Qualities of the Beasts whence arises the desire of killing and devouring of Flesh. This the Lord did well know and also his Prophets viz. That if Man did not obey the Voice of Wisdom and abstain front eating of the Fruit that grows in the midst of the Garden viz. in his Heart which is the wrathful violent Spirit of Oppression he should die which Spirit should not have been manifested nor have had any Government in Man As for the Tree that grows in the midst of the Garden 't is called the Tree of Life but not without a great Mystery for the Centre of Life stands in the Wrath's Property or fierce Fire whence proceeds the Sensibility and knowing Part in Man and therefore he was forbidden to eat thereof that is he should not have awakened it by his Imaginations and Desires but have continued in Resignation and Self-denial and then the Evil would not have been manifested in him nor have overcome him but as it came to pass well might the Prophets call it The Tree of Death For when Man did eat of the Fruit thereof be died unto the divine Life and lived in the Power of the fiery Spirit of wrath which has corrupted all Flesh even the very Earth and all things therein 'T was after this was come to pass when Man had by his Longing and Lusts precipitated himself into the fierce Spirit and wild Nature that the Lord permitted him to kill and eat the Flesh of the Beasts but it must be understood that this License or Permission of killing or eating of Flesh proceeded from the wrath of God in Nature as the Scripture saith in another place Such as the People are such is their God For the Lord appears to every one according to what Spirit and Property they live in whether it be in his Love or his Anger If they live in the divine Principle of his eternal Love then he appears to them in the same Principle as a loving Father and the God of all Consolation And on the contrary when men introduce their Wills and Desires into the fierce wrath then the Lord appears to them in the same Spirit dreadful and Terrible As the Scripture saith in another place Unto those that fear my Name and obey my Commandments I will be merciful and gracious but to those that despise my Commandments I will be an angry jealous God and a consuming Fire Or as the Apostle saith To one a savour of Life unto Life to the other of Death unto Death Thus all shall glorifie God either in his Love or Anger and remain Monuments of his Mercy or Trophies of his Justice Thus it happened to the Men of old whom the Lord permitted to kill their fellow-Creatures and eat their Flesh their Cruelties and Oppressions soon awakened the Wrath of the Lord even as the Blood of innocent Abel did therefore the Lord said He would go down and see if it were so Which Expression of God's coming down does intimate the kindling and awakening of his Wrath in the external Element as it came to pass in the ensuing Deluge when the Element of Water was enraged from this very Property of the awakened Wrath did the permission proceed for killing and eating of Flesh as also all the Commands for Fighting and the like for if the Lord's People in former Ages had continued their Obedience and lived in his fear there had never been any cause or foundation for Wars nor Oppression for as our Saviour saith The Tempter cometh but findeth nothing in me that is he findeth no Wrath nor Violence awakened in him and therefore he could have no ground to work on nor matter to entertain him or that would suit his Principle The like is to be understood of all Men that do live in the Power of God's Love and Light for whensoever the Lord suffers any to sight or engage in War with his People the original cause thereof hath been Sin in that they have forsaken the ways of Truth and Righteousness and entred into Oppression Pride and Cruelty which awaken the evil Principle and cry for vengeance and strengthen the common Enemy of Mankind and then the Lord suffers Wrath to take place Now whereas Men say It is lawful in the sight of God to fight kill and destroy one another and oppress and kill all other Creatures 't is true if it be understood as it ought to be viz. in the sight of the Principle of his Wrath as he is a consuming Fire and a jealous God but not as he is a God of everlasting Love and Mercy in Jesus Christ for in that respect all Fighting and other Violences are as contrary to him as Light is to Larkness Therefore in the Revelations to the Souls that were under the Altar crying to God to avenge their Cause being slain for the Testimony of Jesus it is answered Rest for a season which was as much as to say Be still do not awaken the Powers of Wrath for no Man can call for Vengeance but from the Power of that Principle and therefore White Garments were given unto them that is they were more replenished with the blessed Power and Vertue of the Love of God in Jesus Christ. Some may say If we should not fight and be ready to withstand our Enemies and neighbouring Nations we should quickly be brought into subjection This is very true if Men should leave off fighting and yet live such wicked ungodly Lives as they do but if any Nation would repent of the Evil of their Ways and enter with one mind into Unity and live in the power and operation of the Love of God c. they then should have no occasion to fear or dread any outward Enemies having so perfectly subdued those within they should rest secure This the Children of Israel did often witness when they did fear the Lord and refrain from Idols that is when they did not set their Hearts and Affections upon the Creatures nor live in Wantonness c. Then their Enemies were bowed before them and the very
and intimates the strite between the Properties of Nature but as touching the Third Angel the Scripture is silent for Three is an holy Number and signifies the heavenly Seed in which the Lord hath establish'd his Covenant of Grace and Mercy with Mankind It was therefore this holy Number that brought the glad Tidings unto Abraham and his Wife that she should bear a Son in her old age which is as much as to say That the divine Principle viz. The Love and Light should abide and manifest it self in Abraham's Line for the Word Abraham does signifie The original Properties and Strength of God in the Fire and his Wife the Love or Meekness from which Principle should be generated a Son of true Light For Isaac does intimate the divine Principle or Son of God who in the fulness of time was manifested in the humane Nature This holy Number Three or good Angel continued with Abraham that is the divine Principle and holy Power staid and made intercession for the Sodomites for so we find Abraham immediately intreating and petitioning the Lord to save the Cities of the Plain for the sake of such Righteous as might be therein but the Two fiery Angels hasted towards Sodom for the original Fire is fierce and quick in its motion and when any People have by their Transgressions kindled the Wrath of God then there does arise an Instrument out of the same Principle which does destroy and punish that People as is manifested in this outward World which is but a Figure of the inward for when a Prince and his People have by their Sins stirred up the Lord's indignation against them then a neighbouring Prince or Nation is excited to be their Scourge and Punisher though oftentimes the latter is as great an Evil-doer as the former for every Principle and Property both in the divine and humane Nature does always raise up Instruments from it self to perform its own work for look what Property or Principle is most predominant in either a particular Person or Nation good or evil just or unjust such an Angel they have given them or is attracted by Simile If the fierce Wrath bear sway then the evil Angel obtaineth the Government of that Person or People which does inwardly stir up Enmity in the hearts of Men one against another whence does arise all kinds of Oppression and Violence both of Man and Beasts Besides it is to be understood that the Angels both good and evil are prompt and always desirous to obey and attend all such as live in the power of their respective Principle as the Scripture takes notice That the evil Angel was ready and offered his service to be a Lying Spirit in the Mouth of Ahab's Prophets for the evil deeds and perverseness of Mankind to each other and their oppressing the rest of God's Creatures does as naturally awaken the fierce dark Powers and attract them as the Load-stone doth Iron whence doth proceed the Judgments and so many Calamities For no Extreams can continue long without alteration as we see if any particular Person give himself to Vanity and commits Evil with desire and greediness such an one cannot continue long without bringing destruction to Body and Soul For when any Property of Nature is so violently awakened it powerfully draws to it self all things that are capable or have a Simile with it viz. the evil Angels and also the Venom out of all things and so grows a devouring hungry Fire that is never satisfied till it hath consumed all the sweet Oyl and Radical Moisture and then the Body droops and languishes and dies On the contrary Virtue and the Fear of the Lord do with a powerful hand not only withstand and resist the baneful Influences of bad Angels and all other evil things but does also attract the Virtue out of all things to the increasing and strengthening its own Principle and innumerable good Angels are ready at all times to assist and defend the sober and upright in Heart as the Scripture saith He hath made his Angels ministring Spirits to administer to those that serve the Lord and are in necessity In another place the Lord saith Is there any Evil in the City that is in Man and am not I the Lord in the midst of it As much as to say I am in and through all and govern all things in my Love or in mine Anger and Man being his Image doth in his measure the same but the Evil should not have been awakened or manifested in Man therefore he was in the beginning forbidden it but after he had eaten this Fruit the Lord said The Man is become as one of us knowing Good and Evil. Then the Gates of Paradise were shut against him and it is said The Lord drove him out of the Garden into the Earth that is into the wild Nature to labour and dress it and the Lord set two Cherubims on the East-side of the Garden with flaming Swords that did turn every way to keep the Tree of Life lest Man should touch it and live for ever The East here does signifie in the Radix the open Gate or Eye that sees into the great Mysteries and working Powers of the Creator The Tree of Life does intimate the creating Power of God and the original Forms in Nature viz. the three grand Properties Salt Sulphur and Mercury from whence all the variety of Complexions Forms and Qualities do arise the Cherubims and Flaming Sword that defends this Tree of Life do signifie the original Fire and strong Forms of Nature in which the Lord calls himself an angry jealous God and a consuming Fire The Cherubims are the strong fiery Angels and great Powers of God in the working and government of all the Kingdoms of Nature which mighty Operations and my stick creating Powers Man was not fit to know after he had awakened the Wrath and came to know Good and Evil for if Man should once have touched this Tree of Life then would he have been capable to have wrought Wonders in the dark strong fiery original Property viz. the dark Magick and changing of one Form into another and the creating Power of God would have been known unto Man who then would have lived for ever in the hellish Qualities It may be noted That the Lord said nothing in the beginning to Adam of the Tree of Life but only of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil the Fruit of this latter Tree only he should not have eaten for Eating signifies to nourish and strengthen which Adam should not have suffered his Will and Desires to have longed after for if the fiery wrathful Principal had not been awakened in Adam then the Lord would not have drove him out of the Garden that is out of the Government of the divine Principle neither would there have been any danger of his touching of the Tree of Life that is of the original creating strong Powers of the Lord for if he had continued
Fruits Grains or Seeds would answer the ravenous Appetite thereof and therefore it required Blood which is the highest Life in the humane Nature and cannot be procured but by Violence and has the nearest Affinity to the Wrath of any thing in the whole Creation whence it is said Blood requires Blood And this may be illustrated in every particular Man when he does suffer the fierce Wrath and Fire to burn in him he becomes like a raging Bedlam nothing can calm or satisfie him except he doth some Mischief kill and oppress for in such a Fit Blood and Revenge is sweet unto him and assoon as he has glutted himself with Blood that wrathful Property is satisfied And as it is thus in the little World the same is to be understood by way of Analogy in the great For this cause the Lord declared That whoever did kill a Man his Blood he would require at his Hands The Reason and Equity of which Law comprehends all Creatures and therefore it is said That Beast that shall shed Blood or kill any other Beast should be slain So that 't is without doubt the original cause of killing of Beasts and offering them in Sacrifice was to see whether it would have satisfied that fierce poysonous Wrath which Man had so terribly awakened by his Violence and corrupting the whole whence the Deluge proceeded But after the Flood which had so swept away all Mankind except eight Persons to prevent the like dreadful Judgment for the future Sacrifices and the Blood of Beasts was used to assuage the Wrath and to make atonement for the Sins of Men because the Blood of Beasts has both the nearest affinity to the original Properties of Man's Life and also to the awakened Wrath as well within as without him for Men cannot kindle the Wrath within themselves but they must do it without them also But â—â—ill the Scripture saith That the Blood of Bulls and the like would not satisfie the Justice and awakened Wrath of God nor make a perfect Atonement for the Sins of Mankind and therefore besides their daily Sacrifices the High Priest was once every Year to go into the second Tabernacle but not without Blood which he offered for himself and for the People Also it is said that the way into the Holiest Tabernacle of all was not made manifest whilst the first Tabernacle was yet standing whence it appears that all the Sacrifices and other Circumstances of Worship in the time of the Law did proceed from the Wrath especially Sacrifices and Killing which cannot flow from the divine Principle for that holy Principle of Love and Light was not manifest whilst the first Tabernacle did stand that is so long as the first Principle of God's fierce Wrath did predominate But all Sacrifices Violences and Killing do cease in all those whom the Lord doth appear to in the power of his Son Jesus Christ but so long as Men are captivated in the first Tabernacle of Wrath the Holiest of all is not manifest that is the holy and good Love of God in his Son is not known or manifested in them and therefore it is said Sacrifices and Offerings for sin thou didst refuse that is the divine Principle had no pleasure in Violence in the Blood of Beasts and Groanings of the Creation but then steps in the Holy Principle of Love and saith Lo I come to do thy Will O God! That is to destroy the Works of the Devil and establish everlasting Righteousness and he taketh away the first that is the kindled Wrath Violence and Oppression and establisheth the second that is his eternal Light and Love in Jesus Christ in whom alone he is well pleased which brings glad Tidings unto all Mankind and to the whole Creation especially if Men become the Sâ—â—s of God for then all the inferiour Creatures would be delivered into glorious Liberty It does appear by what the Apostle saith That all Sacrifices Killing and Blood of Beasts could not sufficiently appease God's Wrath nor reconcile Man unto God otherwise than as if one Man kill another the Blood of him that is slain doth call for Vengeance on the Slayer but all this while the Principle of God's fierce Wrath is by their violence and oppression increased and strengthened even so it was in all Sacrifices Men by their Violences had corrupted the Earth and awakened God's Wrath which called for Vengeance even as the Blood of a particular Man doth on a Beast for all kind of Violence be it either little or much doth call for vengeance and retaliation if not confessed repented of and by the power of the divine Love of God forsaken which holy Principle of God's eternal Love and Light in his Son was not manifest unto them as the Apostle saith because the first Tabernacle or Principle of God's Wrath had through their Cruelties and Evils gotten the Ascendent over them so that the divine Principle could not have its operation in them so long as they continued in their sins committing those Violences and Oppressions for the first Tabernacle or Wrath in Man must be done away before the second can take place that is before the holy Light of the Son of God can reign and rule in our hearts for nothing can allay overcome or make the stern fierce Wrath of the Father to bow or satiate its fiery hunger in Mankind but only the eternal Fountain of his meek Love in Christ from whom as the Scripture saith there does flow Rivers of living Waters which alone can allay the fiery Wrath and reconcile Men to the God of Peace and bring to nought the lofty proud violent Desires and vain Thoughts and Inclinations in Man and by its operation gives them an Eye of discerning to distinguish of God's Love and Anger in himself and makes the fierce harsh Fire of Wrath to burn more gentle so that instead of its raging Fierceness it becomes a meek and cherishing Fire which is the pleasant motion in every Life that tunes a Man up to an intellectual Harmony causing all the Properties and Qualities to kiss and incorporate with each other whence arises a most pleasant Crasis or Euphony of Temper Thoughts and Operations A Similitude whereof we have in a Musical Instrument that is skilfully tuned and plaid upon where there are various Strings and Notes whence proceed different Sounds but all conspiring to make up most ravishing and delightful Harmony the dull melancholy harsh jarring Notes of Saturn and Mars being made pleasant by the incorporating of the melodious Sounds of Venus Iupiter the Sun and Mercury Do not the Foundations of all Harmony both in Men and all other things arise from the Basis viz. from the first Principle or Tabernacle for if there were no Fire there would be no Light so if there were no Basis there could be no Trebbles or if there were yet there could be no Harmony if one were without the other What Harmony do Men make to themselves or others when
to intreat our Friends to eat or drink beyond what is needful We have not forgot the great Affliction and torturing Distempers we endured whilst we were in Captivity and under the Government of Pharaoh's Task-masters viz. under the unequal Oppressions of the awakened Wrath and divided Forms of Nature where each Property endeavours to get the Mastery and therefore we do continually shun and arm our selves with the Armour of our Lord Jesus Christ viz. by taking up the Cross and denying our selves those Egyptian Vanities and Superfluities which the common Enemy of Mankind doth seek with all cunning Inventions to enslave us again in worldly Lusts that he may separate us from our sovereign Good but the Word of Truth is engraven in our Hearts by whose Power and Virtue we withstood his Temptations and beware of his Snares in time and count it our chief Good that the Lord hath in his Eternal Mercy delivered us out of Captivity therefore it behoveth us to live soberly in this present World We desire always and in all states to submit our selves to the good Pleasure of the Lord for we do not know what is good no farther than we are guided by his Holy Spirit it belongeth to him to determine what is most expedient for us and his own Glory We all hold this Maxim That all that have throughly profited themselves in the School of Christ do daily beat down or keep under the Elemental Body by denying themselves the Worldly Vanities within We do not give Names to our Children nor imitate the Philosophical Ancients like Apes without understanding the true Nature or Genius of the Child as to call them at a venture by such Names as do express a Deity whereas this Nature and Genius of the Child is quite contrary This is not to imitate our first Parents Adam gave Names to every Creature and Thing according to their Natures that is expressing their Natures and Properties He did not give Names to wild savage Beasts that did signifie Cleanness or friendly tractable Dispositions and Natures nor call Sheep Lions nor Lions Sheep The Prophet Isaiah saith Woe unto those that call Evil Good and Good Evil being ignorant of the true Nature of things and divine Mysteries they make no distinctions between Good and Evil. Adam called his First-born Cain Why did not he call him Abel No that would be to call a Devil a Saint and a Saint a Devil Cain doth sound forth and signifie the strong Might and Power of the Wrath and divided Forms of Nature which had Dominion in him and Abel doth as we have told you before signifie the eternal Principle of God's Love viz. Cain imitates the fierce devouring Fire and Abel the Light thereof The very same is to be understood of Ishmael and Isaac and Esau and Iacob the elder doth truly signifie the consuming Fire and the younger the Light thereof the first is the Father and the second is the Son The Ancients did not therefore gather together all the good Names which do express the holy divine Power and eternal Grace and Love of God in his second Principle or eternal Light and call their Children by them at a venture no this would have been great Impiety Would not every sober Man count it sordid and vain to call an Angel a Devil and a Devil by the Name of an Angel as most of the Men of Egypt do at this day They name and call their Children by Names expressing the divine Virtue and Power when as most of them do live under the Government of the evil unclean Nature and the Spirit that doth predominate in them is fierce and wrathful so that they call Good Evil and Evil Good which is far off from imitating the holy Men of the first Ages This doth more clearly appear by Abram which doth signifie the original Wrath and wild Nature of this World Why did not his Parents call him Abraham Emanuel Grace Hope Charity Abel Iacob or Isaac No those Names were too sublime but Abram did truly sound forth and signifie his inward and outward Nature But in process of time when the Light of God's Grace and Eternal Mercy appeared to him and that he believed in God which was accounted to him for Righteousness then the Lord said unto him Thy Name shall no more be called Abram but Abraham which doth truly comprehend and signifie both the first and second Tabernacle The Lord did not destroy or annihilate the Wrath and wild Nature no that must not be if there were no Fire then there would'be no Light as our Saviour Christ saith in another Case He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it The Lord did reinforce Abraham's Soul and replenish it with his holy divine Principle of Love and Light and therefore his Name should no more be called Abram a Thorn or wild Thistle but Abraham the Father of the Faithful The same Order and changing of Names was continued till Christ was manifested in the humane Nature and afterward by all the divine Seers Did not Christ change St. Peter's Name because of his fixed Faith calling him Sephas which signifies a Stone or Rock And was not Saul called Paul after his Conversion The Ancients never changed Names but first their Natures were changed Christ called Herod a Fox which did truly signifie his inward Nature and what Spirit did govern in him The same is to be understood when the wise Ancients gave Names to their Children Places Cities and other things which Names did always truly signifie what Property or Quality did predominate in the Child or Thing so named This Knowledge is Angelical which Man hath lost by suffering his Desire and Will to enter into Vanity and as the Name of each Creature which Adam gave them doth express their Properties and Nature so the Name of each Angel doth express and signifie their Office The understanding each Name and what is signified thereby doth remain as a Mystery unto Mankind which is the original Language or the true Language of Nature the sound of each Word or Name doth declare what Property is predominant in it which original Language of Nature Birds and some other inferiour Creatures do retain to this time because they have not broken the Law of God in Nature but have lived in the Simplicity thereof and though they are not endued with that noble Faculty of Speech nevertheless they can by their general Tone and Cry as intelligibly communicate their Desires and various Passions as Love Hate Hunger Thirst and the like as Men can by their distinct Dialects viz. by altering and varying this one simple Tone or Cry as when they are hungry or want their Fellows or if one particular Bird doth know of some Food that his Fellows are ignorant of then he sends forth such a Tone or Sound as does as intelligibly acquaint all those of their own Kind as Men can by discoursing together for every Tone and Cry according to the various States Wants
temperately which formerly they have spent in superfluity and of late have altogether declined but with Colour of using moderately many are ensnared and by degrees led again into Captivity It being for Example more difficult to drink Wine with a just Moderation than to drink no Wine at all And 't is the part of a wise Man if he sees an hundred things lawful to deny himself of ninety of them being certain of this that every inferior thing a Man toucheth or communicateth with has a special Power and natural Inclination to beget its own property and by degrees enslave the more noble Properties in Man Therefore 't is safer to deny ones self many of those things that are lawful and mean as well as those things that are not because Men has Power either by Sense or Understanding to hinder the Influences and Spiritual Impressions of Nature if he shall joyn himself to any thing whether it be Meats Drinks Imployments or Communications there being no Caviates that can prevent those Inconveniences but only Scruple and Self-denial which has been and alone is the first step and also the last to all Virtue and Wisdom He that can regulate himself and his Imaginations Words Communications Meats Drinks and Imployments may preserve his Spirit pure and potent and make his Soul thereby an unpolluted Temple of God which is the Supream Musick attainable where all the various Forms do incorporate and imbrace each other in an holy Consort of Love and where there is no despising envying or persecuting of one another because they are of different Forms Shapes Figures Complexions Inclinations or Understandings of which Vocal and Instrumental Harmony is a true Similitude Therefore it is much to be pitied that those that are Players on Instruments and skilled in Musick be not more Temperate Sober Grave and Wise for the wicked Wantonness and vain Lives of some of them have brought a Scandal on Musick and most People being ignorant of the Nature and Eccellency of Harmony have charged Musick as tho that had been the chief Cause of those Evils some of them have committed against God Themselves and the Law of Nature But this is a grand Mistake for the Original Cause of all Evil and Sin proceeds from a Man 's own Lusts and Passions and not from any outward thing 'T is true Man hath the two Seeds and Tinctures in himself and as he shall give his Will up unto either Evil or Good so he has power to attract unto himself either Virtue or Vice out of all things and also to use them either to the Praise of his Creator or profit of himself or the contrary as the Apostle saith Unto the Pure all things are Pure but to the perverse the contrary for the Lord appears to every Man either in his Love or Anger according to what Principle he hath suffered his Will to enter into as the Scripture saith That the Lord is an angry jealous God and a consuming Fire And yet again it saith That he is a merciful gracious God full of Love and Pity and will shew Mercy unto the third and fourth Generation of those that fear his Name and live in Unity Therefore Musick is not at all to be contemned or slighted for the badness of some that pretend to its outward Practice for they still are Strangers to its inward Power and Efficacy For Concord and Harmony are the best Accomplishments and sublimest Gifts that can be attained in this World the pleasures of Time and Eternity enduing both Soul and Body with perpetual Health it being that happy state which Man and all other Creatures do travel with great Desires and Groanings to be delivered unto even that holy Unity whence all proceeded But Unity Concord and Intellectual Harmony have hardly any thing in the hearts of Men for if they had then there would be Peace and Love not only amongst Men but to the whole Creation for that Paradisical State in this World which many have hoped to see and do expect shall come viz. that all Mankind shall live in perfect Love Concord and Harmony can never be expected to come to pass except Men do take other Measures than hitherto they have done For before any can attain to such a blessed harmonious Condition he must first live in the Observation of God's Law in the outward Nature for the greater cannot be understood if the lesser be not put into practice Man cannot by his Prayers move the Lord in his holy Fountain of Love except he lives in the Power and Operation of the same Fountain nor can attract the sweet Influences of the Elements and Coelestial Bodies any other way but by living and observing the simple innocent Law of Nature For this cause those that live under the Dominion of the Spirit of Discord Pride Envy and Contention their Devotions cannot move the Lord in this principle of his Love and Mercy but on the contrary moves him in the stern Wrath and therefore is said to be an Abomination unto him For this Reason there ought to be more care in every one to know what Spirit reigns in the hidden Ground of the heart than about outward Forms Every one that feareth God and worketh Righteousness saith the Apostle is accepted of the Lord who makes no difference of Forms for every Form is either Good or Evil as the People are either Virtuous or the contrary Therefore it is highly necessary for every one to study the knowledg of himself that he may understand the differences of Spirits and from what Fountain or Property every Thought Word and Work does proceed and to recommend and promote such Self-study and Heart-knowledg is the scope of this whole Treatise which being once attained unto a Man may be able to correct himself and Tune his own Instrument whence will proceed Concord Love and Harmony without which there is no Satisfaction either in this World or that which is to come For to fear God and keep his Commandments is the true Musick which all Mankind ought to be skill'd in and practise This is both the Glory and the Happiness the Ioy and Solace of created Beeings the celebrated Musick of the Spheres the Eocho of Heaven the Business of Seraphims and the Imployment of Eternity Amon. FINIS A DIALOGUE Between an East-Indian Brackmanny OR Heathen-PHILOSOPHER AND A French-Gentleman Concerning the Present Affairs in EUROPE LONDON Printed for D. Newman and R. Baldwin at the King 's Arms in the Poultrey and near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane 1691. A Dialogue between an East-Indian Brackmanny or Heathen Philosopher and a French Gentleman c. Heathen SIR I will not be so inquisitive as to ask what Accident or Occasion brought you into these Oriental Regions Be it either Curiosity or Business a natural desire of improving your Understanding or intension of Commerce I speak you heartily welcome and shall to my power be ready to serve you esteeming it both my Duty and my Happiness to