boyled 4. Bread and Butter Bread and Cheese 5. Milk and ripe Fruits as Milk and Apples c. 6. Butter and several kinds of Pulses boyled 7. Bread with all sorts of Flesh fit to be eaten 8. Herbs and Flesh. 9. Roots and Flesh. 10. Bread and Eggs but Butter is but an improper Ingredient with Eggs. 11. Bread and Fish 12. Oyl and Fish for Butter is not so good Also Fish is wholsomer boyled in Water than prepared any other way I could nominate many more Mixtures but these are the most natural and agreeable to each other and most of them have mutual and friendly Aspects from their Radixes so that what variation these Ingredients do make 't is for the better they advancing each others Vertues If People could be perswaded to be moderate in Quantity and prefer such simple Viands and proper Mixtures in their food and drink and observe to prepare their Meat according to the Rules before specified most of those cruel Diseases now reigning and raging would be prevented There is abundance more in the observation of these things than the generality of People understand or imagin All that I desire of the Reader is that he would be so friendly to himself to make Tryal for no man can be truly sensible of the Evil of any thing except he separate himself from his Errors and tries the contrary Butchers Tallow-Chandlors Poulterers and many other offensive Trades perceive not those filthy Stinks and Fumes which Slaughter-houses Melting-houses c. send forth except they separate themselves for a while into a more pure and cleaner Air and then they become capable of distinguishing one from the other For the like Reason those that have accustomed themselves to unnatural and improper mixtures of Food or bad Preparations their Pallates and Stomachs are become One with such things and they can as little distinguish the pure natural Taste and Scents of Food from the contrary as the Trades-men afore-said can the noisom fumes of their own Shops and Work-houses There are many Thousands of brave finical Dames in this Nation that are so curious in their Houses and in whitening their Linnen that they themselves can hardly tell what will please them and yet after all they lie on Beds that do really stink worse than Common Houses of Office tho being used to them they do not smell it neither can they so great is the power of the Evil Nature and Custom And in these stinking Dunghills these delicate Madams spend two Thirds of their time and surely then 't is no marvel if they are afflicted with so many Diseases and Weaknesses for if they did commit no other Disorders or Intemperances this alone were sufficient to destroy their Health as I have at large demonstrated in my Discourse of the Generation of that pernicious Vermin called Buggs CHAP. IX The Reasons in Nature why Cities and great Towns are subject to the Pestilence and other Diseases more than Country-Villages The Excellency of Solitude and Advantages of a retir'd Country-Life THe Reasons are 1. That the Air which is the Essential Life of all material Beings is defiled by the Congregating of such Troops of People together whose very Breath is enough to make the Air thick hot and sulpherous 2. The Closeness of the Streets and Houses whereby the pleasant Influences and Salutiferous Breezes of Wind are obstructed which does condense the Air and render it thick and humid 3. The abundance of Smoke that the multitude of Chimnies send forth which is of a keen sharp sulpherous Quality that incorporating it self with the Air encreases its dullness and fills it more full of gross Humidity whence proceeds Stoppages and many Obstructions and Diseases of the Breast and the Blood becomes tainted with a sharp salt Humour that causes the Scurvey and a wearisom Indisposition throughout the whole Body 4. The great Number of Houses of Easement that breath and send forth their putrid Smells and Scents into the Air together with the various Uncleannesses that otherwise proceed from both Healthy and Diseased People together with the Washings and Cleansings of Houses and the fulsom Liquors Flesh and Fish have been boyled in mixed with other loathsom and filthy Excrements all which are continually exposed in the open Air and do wonderfully defile it not forgetting the Smoke Dust and Ashes of Sea-Coal where the same is used which is of a pernicious Nature 5. The vast Number of various sorts of Beasts and other Creatures that are by Droves daily slaughtered and no care taken but their Blood is exposed to the open Air and runs through the Kennels as if it were clean Water and no more notice taken of it whereas the same does not only send forth deadly Smells and pernicious Vapours but fills the Air with Revengeful Spirits which are inhal'd into the Bodies of Men and there stir up Smilies Add to this the great Numbers of stinking Trades which are in such places as Tallow-Chandlers Tanners Dressers of Leather Soap-Boylers c. All these gross Scents Fumes and evil Vapours that Cities are subject to especially great Cities and populous such as Lodon Paris c. their Nature being Saturnine and Martial proceeding from the gross fierce wrathful matter as deriv'd from things wherein the pure Spirituous parts and Balsamick Vertues are destroyed and totally suffocated so that there does remain nothing but the gross phlegmatick Body and poysonous Spirits whose Fumes incorporate themselves with their Similies in the Air and all the Elements and Stars where by a secret and sympathetical power they awaken by degrees the wrathful and poysonous Properties for every particular Quality in Nature has a Key in its self to open the Gates of its own Principle whence proceed Pestilential Airs according to the degree of the awakened Poysons and Wrath there being a certain sympathy between the Terrestrial Bodies and the Coelestial for all things both in Heaven and in Earth have but one only ground and flow from the two grand Principles viz. Good and Evil. For this cause when the original Poysons in Nature and wrathful Spirits are by the occasions before mentioned or any others stirred up that they overcome the pure Vertues they powerfully penetrate all Elements and Bodies and wheresoever they find matter capable or disposed to receive them incorporate themselves and with highest diligence endeavour to destroy the good Vertues and thence arise evil Airs and various Diseases which suddenly seize the Bodies of Men. And this Nature doth not only in the Evil but also in the Good but not in a sensible way but in a Natural by Likenesses where things agree in Number Weight and Measure there they powerfully incorporate and rejoyce and cast out their Contraries A pregnant Example of this we have in Sounds if two Instruments of one sort be turned to an equal pitch strike one of the Strings and the same String on the other Instrument will shake or tremble this I have done my self and also seen it
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
Nature for the Spirits that were weak before by these Intemperances are made weaker Likewise all Women in this time of their Lying-in should be advised not to drink too freely of any sorts of Liquor especially such as are apt to breed much Milk for fear of sore Breasts and Fevers let them beware of strong Drinks because they heat the Blood and Body beyond Mediocrity evaporate the Volatile Spirits and awaken the Central Fires which ought not by any means to be stirred up 11. Cleanness in Women is a most sublime Vertue and to be had in the highest Esteem and Veneration because of the manifold benefits which do thence proceed it preserves mankind in the very Root which the great Prophet Moses well understood whence arose his Laws of Cleanness and Separation Many of the Ancients did not count it lawful to know a Woman after known Conception 1st Because then the End of Nature is answered and also God's Law 2dly Because then the Inclinations to Copulation in all Females ceaseth except in some depraved Natures and through wanton sinful Provocations as is before mentioned Now this being none of the least Intemperances and Uncleannesses ought to be considered by all People the rather for that it strikes at the Root and corrupts mankind in the very Radix But on the contrary there is nothing more preserves the Fruit sound and healthful than Cleanness and Separation Also if Men did separate themselves from Women all those proper times and seasons which Nature forbids them and did sometimes lie alone and keep themselves Chaste it would render them more healthy strong and full of lively Spirits and more Masculine it being an Effeminating thing for Men and Women to lie always together making no distinction of Uncleannesses or of Sickness there being scarce any particular Intemperance or Uncleanness that destroys more Men Women and Children than this besides it enfeebles the Courage and makes Men low Spirited and also lessens their Affections except in some few dulling Natures in a word it debilitates all the parts and brings an infinit number of Diseases How many thousands of poor Children are yearly destroyed by the Effects of the before-mentioned Intemperances some by Leprous Scabby Diseases Boils and running Sores and the Disease vulgarly called The KING 's Evil but to speak Truth it is the Mother and Father's Evil others with weak Ioynts and Ricketty Distempers and many other Calamities as Consumptions Stoppages Convulsions and windy Diseases But here I am apprehensive that I shall offend the Women by telling them the truth and which any of them might know to be truth if they would but look into themselves and examine things It being a gross Error for any to imagin that Man in the beginning was made as to his outward Man more corrupt or subject to Distempers than the Beasts of the Field all sorts of which are now an hundred-fold more Healthy than Mankind yet both they and Man as to the Elements of the Body are compounded of one and the same matter And as the Creator has endued Man with Wisdom Reason and Understanding above and beyond all other Creatures visible so on the other side there is not a Creature under Heaven of a sounder and more healthy Constitution than Man in his Original nay 't is certain Man is naturally the most compleat for the holy Angels have always appeared in Humane shapes Likewise Man according to his bigness is not only strong but of a great Spirit full of Vigour and the soundness of his Primitive Constitution appears by his long Life in the first Ages Therefore it is not through the Imbecillity of his natural Frame and Composition as some would have it that he is afflicted with such a number of Diseases from and by means of his Intemperance and Uncleannesses in which two Evils Men do surpass all other Creatures and consequently are more diseased than any of them But had Man lived in obedience to the divine and natural Law of God he would as much have surpassed the Beasts in Health as now they do him and Children would be as sound and free from Diseases as the young Ones of other Creatures are had not their Parents corrupted themselves by their Intemperances in their Radix and trained their Children up in the like Inconveniences and this is the true cause of Mans Imbecillities whereby he is become inferiour unto the very Beasts as to Health Not that he was made so in his Creation for we do read that the Ancients were sickly and subject to this and the other Disease nor of the immature Death or Sicknesses either of their Women or especially of their Children whence we may conclude that they were sound and not liable to so many burthensom Diseases as we and our Children are subject to and this we may be the rather confirmed in because the Scriptures do testifie That the days of Mankind were shortned because of their Intemperances as Gen. 6. The Violences and Intemperances of Man had corrupted the whole Earth and all things therein which was the grand cause of infinite Distempers and the shortning of Life an example of this we have in many of the Beasts who are exposed to the unmercifulness of Men and more especially in Horses who in their Radixes are one of the most healthy sorts of Creatures of strong hardy hot Constitutions and Natures nevertheless through the hard usage and strain their cruel Drivers force them unto they become the most diseased of all others Moreover these inhumane Outrages Uncleannesses and Intemperances do awaken Gods Wrath in the Constellations and outward Elements and powerfully as by Simile draw down malignant Influences whence proceed particular and universal Calamities Whereas if mankind did live in the observation of Gods Law in Nature and contented himself with what was needful and suitable to his Nature the same would not only lay a sure Foundation for Health both of Body and Mind but Magnetically attract the benevolent Influxes of the Coelestial Bodies and make even this lower Life a kind of Paradise both for Innocency and pure unsullied Pleasures 12. All Women and Nurses ought to be careful that they do not swathe or bind their young Infants too hard which many are guilty of for the delicate tender Nerves and small Bones of Children cannot endure such usage without great Inconveniency by awakning the internal heat which spreads through all the Body and makes the external parts glow with an unnatural heat which makes the Child fret and cry and that spends its strength and puts its whole Body into disorder And after they have thus pinion'd up the poor Infant and wrapt it in so many Coverings they then cover it up again in a Cradle or Bed but the best of the two is a Cradle where for the most part they are kept over-hot and the pleasant Air prevented of having its free Influences upon them whereby their pure Spirits are suffocated and rendred impure the Circulation
Torment to him that doth it and though we are dumb and cannot call to our Creator after the manner of Men with dissembling Hearts and lying Tongues yet we send up our Petitions to him after another Method and in a natural way and are sure to be heard for we move the Principles of Nature by a certain sympathetical Operation which awakens the Wrath and draws down Judgments on the Oppressors For most of the Sons of Men are deceived to think that it is no Evil to abuse and tyrannize over the iâ—feriour Creatures as though we had no sense or feeling of our Pains Are not we the Work of the great Creator's Hand And though we are not so highly graduated in Nature as Man yet we serve him for the most part much more truly and constantly in our station for his Honour and Glory Do we not proceed from the very same Earth Man did Are we not compounded of the seven-fold Nature as well as he Is there any Element wanting in us and do not we contain the true Nature and Property of them all Is it not by the invisible Spirit and wonderful Power of our Creator that we live and move and have our Being Are we not the Sons of the Stars and Elements even as Man himself 'T is true we are not endued with the divine Principle of Light nor have we immortal Souls as Men have therefore our Creator doth not require that of us as he doth of Man who is the compleat Image of God and Nature endued with Gifts divine as well as natural and in every particular fitted to be a Prince and Governour but he has not stood in nor kept to that essential Law but proved disobedient to the Voice of Wisdom and enter'd with his Desires not only into the Nature of the wild savage Beasts of Prey but awakened the fierce Wrath and thereby deprived himself of the divine Understanding and true Method of Governing and would fain be an absolute Monarch or arbitrary Tyrant making nothing at his pleasure to break the Laws of God and invade and destroy all the Rights and Privileges of the inferiour Creatures But our Creator will retalliate all our Wrongs nay the very Arts of Violence used unto us naturally carry with them their own Punishment therefore all those that use us roughly and oppress us and such as are of killing Occupations are generally headstrong violent surly and cruel But though we do undeservedly suffer many Miseries this is our Comfort our Lives are thereby shortned and when Death comes we are totally released from all our Slavery and hard Labours But it is not so with our tyrannick Masters their Works will follow them to Eternity and they cannot escape divine Vengeance if they do not on this side the Grave repent and forsake all their sinful Vanities and Oppressions Therefore O Man consider thy Ways and thy End and what Principle is predominant in thee and if thou expectest to die the Death of the Righteous remember That the righteous Man is merciful to his Beast CHAP. XVI Of Herbs the proper Seasons of gathering them and Ways to preserve them so as they may not lose their Virtues GReat is the Excellency of Herbs Plants and Vegetables both for Food and Physick and almost innumerable their Virtues but two things are especially to be regarded 1. That they be gathered in their proper time And 2. So to preserve them after they be gathered that when you have occasion to use them they may not have lost their Virtue As to the first We read Gen. I. 14. that God said Let there be Lights in the Firmaments of Heaven to divide the Day from the Night and let them be for Signs and for Seasons and for Days and for Years And V. 16. God made two great Lights the greater to rule the Day and the lesser to rule the Night And the wise King witnesseth That there is a proper Time and Season for doing all Things under the Sun As the Creator made all things in a certain Measure of Time so all things both Celestial and Terrestrial do vary and alter according to Time The heavenly Bodies the Planets have their Times of Strength and Weakness sometimes near the Earth sometimes remote sometimes in friendly places of the Heavens and agreeable to their own Natures thence called their Houses their Ioys their Exaltations at other times in Signs of contrary Qualities which are called their Detriment or their Fall sometimes by friendly Aspects they are assisted and fortified at other times by Malevolent Rays they are debilitated and hence they have variously at several Seasons respectively their good and evil Influences and Operations in all inferiour Bodies especially such as are assimulated unto them and thence said to be governed by them Does not the Excellency of Vocal and Instrumental Harmony consist in a proper Measure of Time And are not the Complexions Shapes Forms Inclinations and Dispositions both of Men and Beasts good or evil handsome or the contrary according to the time of Conception and Birth and according as the benevolent or malevolent Configurations of the superiour Constellations are at that time Also the Lord has ordained a certain measure and number of Days for the Females of all sorts of Creatures to go with Young viz. between the Conception and Birth And is there not a certain Time and Season for the Sowing of all Grains and Seeds And as every thing is timed the Effects are better or worse Also there is a proper Time for the cutting of Corn and Grass and gathering of Fruits Every Man and Woman have their Time of Strength and Weakness and all Beasts have the same so have all Herbs Fruits and Grains their Seasons and proper Times when their Virtues are at the highest therefore I have thought it convenient to give some Directions for the gathering of some of the most material Herbs and when those Constellations that govern them are strong and well dignified either by House Exaltation or friendly Configuration with the Fortunes or by being Angular and the like at which times all Vegetations are in their flourishing state and will prove the more effectual in the curing and preventing of Diseases more especially if the subsequent Rules of drying and preserving of them afterwards be observed But this is to be noted that sometimes it happens that some sorts of Herbs cannot be gathered in two or three Years time under good Influences by reason their Significators are debilitated but if Herbs are gathered and preserved as we direct they will keep two or three Years but the first and second Year they are best It is also to be noted that on the friendly Aspects and Conjunctions of the Planets the secret Virtues of Herbs are multiplied and manifested and if the Physician or other User of them knows them and have Judgment to use them they may perform great Cures But if they shall take the gross flegmy Herbs without distinction and administer them
the Uncleannesses of the Multitude and hardly have had once in their whole Lives a serious thought about these sublime Matters or ever applied themselves to the Practice of them 6. By what hath been said it may sufficiently appear That all things are mov'd by Simile and every particular Property of Nature both in the Evil and Good does eagerly hunger after such Food as is proper to maintain and nourish its own Body from which ground it comes to pass that the evil and wicked Bestiality of a Nation or particular Man does sensibly move the Wrath of God in the outward Elements by the same way of Simile and strengthens it powerfully and as it were naturally kindling and drawing down the corrupt Nature in the Stars and Elements whence proceed both publick and private Calamities On the other side Iustice Clemency Ceasing from Violence and Cruelty and walking in the friendly Way of Righteousness Temperance and Purity does awaken and corroborate the benevolent Influences of the Celestial Bodies and attract Blessings and Prosperity As witness the Iews when they lived in the Laws of God and Nature they were blessed with the Dew of Heaven and the Fatness of the Earth and with Health and all other Benefits but when they broke his Commands and ate polluted things then was kindled the Wrath of God and Nature and many Calamities were showered down upon them Hence also the holy Scriptures testifie That the Prayers of the ungodly are an abomination God doth not hear or answer them because they proceed from the wrathful Fountain and have no Sympathy with the Divine Principle But on the contrary the Prayers and Desires of those that live in the fear of the Lord and are guided by that divine Principle of his eternal Love and Light are as sweet Incense in his Nostrils and he will answer them from his Holy Hill for by way of Simile they open the everlasting Doors of the Palace of Glory and draw down and are strengthned with the pleasant Fruits of Paradise Thus every thing moveth towards its own Center and powerfully attracts Matter out of all things to nourish and maintain its own Body and this was the cause why the Ancients made distinctions between clean and unclean Creatures Meats and Communications knowing that all things that a man doth touch have power to make him him either better or worse 7. Our blessed Saviour Iesus Christ saith That Man shall answer for every idle Word Which Saying does contain a great Mystery So likewise we read in the Revelations That Blessed are they that die in the Lord they cease from their Labours and their Works follow them Both these Places are to be understood alike First Every idle Word and also every good Word and Work do respectively proceed from two grand Fountains or Principles in Man Now all idle and evil Thoughts Words Inclinations and Dispositions as Envy Hatred Back-biting Violence Oppression Fighting and Killing one another do all proceed from the wrathful fierce Principle and by it are comprehended and received as similary thereunto On the other side all good Words and Works arise from the Light and Grace of God viz. from the divine Principle which does therefore likewise receive and comprehend them He that calleth his Brother a Fool shall be in danger saith the Scripture of Hell fire The Reason is Because every Word or Work that is framed or created from the Wrath in Man and received by its Likenesses if not repented of does endanger the Soul and is apt to precipitate the Man into the Hellish Nature for every Root will greedily embrace its own Fruits and every Word has a Key in it self to open the Gate of its own Principle and to awaken and strengthen its own Property as is manifest from every Moment's Experience Doth not the angry Words and Looks of one Man awaken the fierce Wrath in others to whom they are directed The very same good Words and Works will do A soft Answer says the Wise-Man pacifies Wrath. Every Word carries the Power of that Property or Principle that was predominant in it or from whence it was generated and therefore wheresoever its Sound or Voice enters and meets its Simile they immediately incorporate and joyn Forces strengthening and increasing the same If this were not so the Apostle Paul would not have said That Evil Communication corrupts good Manners nor David have avouched With the Froward thou shalt learn Frowardness Therefore 't is absolutely necessary for People to know somewhat of themselves else they cannot understand from what Property or Principle each Thought Imagination and Word does proceed and guard themselves accordingly 'T is the true knowledge of God in a Man's self that teaches Wisdom and gives understanding of Good and Evil. 8. But there are many Thousands that hardly ever in their whole Lives do so much as enquire after that true Knowledge which dwells essentially in Man or mind that internal Oracle where in Difficulties they may and ought to enquire as the worthy Prophet David said I will hear what the Lord will say in me Therefore as for those that have hearkned to the Voice of Wisdom in themselves and obtained any true Knowledge of God they contend not about outward Forms and Modes of Religion for they have a more sure word of Prophecy shining as a Light in a dark place to which you do well to give heed being a guide that teacheth all Vertues and condemneth all Vice But on the other side those that never turn their Eyes inward nor regard the Voice of Wisdom that cries in the Gate of their City as the Wise Man loves to speak but look abroad and hearken after other Voices such cannot stand alone they are meer Adjectives in Religion Philosophy and Reason and are forced continually to lean on the Shoulders of others and remain Darkness in themselves as though the Lord had not given them any Salt to savour their Ways there being no end and 't were well there had been no beginning of Man's running after other Gods and of worshipping of Idols but where the true Knowledge of God is not first attained in a Man's self there neither can any man be satisfied with what another Man knows because it cannot be essential to him but may be either true or false because such Ear-Knowledge does not arise from the Light of a Man's Life but is a thing accidental foreign and at a distance This folding up of a Man 's own Gifts and Talents which the Lord hath given every Man to profit himself withal in Napkins of a supine and careless Negligence and hiding them in the Earth has been the chief cause of Men's running to and fro and contending about other Mens God's esteeming and setting up Signs and mere Shadows and neglecting the true Substance what Aristotle held what Galen taught what Hippocrates or St. Augustin or Tho. Aquinas or twenty such noted Men have said of such or such a matter they can tell but
came to destroy For he preached Peace Love and good Will unto all Men and therefore his Doctrine is called The Evangele or Gospel that is to say Ioyful News or Glad Tidings Some there are that do say That if they should not kill and eat the Flesh of the Creatures they could not subsist or live which in a bad sense is true For should they cease from Violence and Killing then that cruel wrathful fierce Life in them could not subsist in such vigour and strength as it does but must of necessity become weak and as it were die that is it would no longer domineer in the Heart over the friendly Principle of God's Love But as to the Health of the Body which is that which I mean Herbs and Fruits will sustain Nature in every respect far beyond the best of Flesh. 16. It is said in Gen. 4. That Adam knew his Wife Eve and she conceived and bore Cain and said I have gotten a Man from the Lord that is from the strong Powers of the Wrath in Nature from whence all Lordliness Pride and Oppression in Government ariseth And she conceived again and bore his Brother Abel and Abel was a Keeper of Sheep that is a Keeper of and Dweller in Innocency But Cain was a Tiller of the harsh Earth which must be broken and torn up by Violence and hard Labour both of Man and Beast which was the Curse that the Lord laid upon Adam And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the Fruits of the Ground an Offering unto the Lord And Abel he also brought of the Firstlings of his Flock and the Lord had respect unto Abel and unto his Offering but unto Cain and his Offering he had no respect And Cain was very wroth and his Countenance fell and the Lord said unto Cain Why art thou wroth If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted and if not Sin lieth at thy Door and unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him that is unto thee Cain shall be the Desire of my Kingdom of Love and Divine Light but if thou wilt not hearken unto its Counsel and be obedient to my Commandments then thou shalt rule over him that is over the Divine Power as it came to pass for Cain talked with Abel that is the Wrath contended with the Love and Divine Power and it came to pass when they were in the Field that is where the wild harsh Nature does predominate that Cain rose up against Abel his Brother and slew him Here the Wrath prevailed over the divine innocent Principle and destroyed it as it does at this day for those two Brothers did rightly and truly signifie the two grand Principles and the two Seeds that of the Woman and that of the Serpent And the Lord said unto Cain Where is thy Brother And he said I know not Am I my Brother's Keeper Here Cain viz. the Property of Wrath denied the Murther and pretended he had done him no Evil or knew nothing of him But the Lord answered and said What hast thou done The Voice of thy Brother's Blood crieth unto me from the ground and therefore the Lord cursed Cain and tells him he shall be a Fugitive and a Vagabond Then Cain bowed himself and said unto the Lord My Punishment is greater than I can bear Behold thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the Earth and from thy face shall I be hid and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall stay me This Confession and Submission did so pacifie the kindled Wrath that the Lord said Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain Vengeance shall be taken on him seven-fold and the Lord set a Mark on Cain lest any finding him should slay him This Mark was the Light of the Lord that enlightens every Man that cometh into the World and which does more or less mollifie and withstand the fierce wrathful Powers in Mankind for if this were not the Wrath of Cain would grow so powerful that the Children of Abel would not have any being in this World Then Cain went out from the Presence of the Lord and dwelt in the Land of Nod on the East-side of Eden that is he went into the outward Principle of this World and dwelt in the Land of Vanity at a distance from the divine Principle which is intimated by Eden in which Cain did not live but on one side of it viz. in the operation of both the good and evil Nature which most Men of this World do live in And it is also said That he built a City that is he became strong and powerful in the Property of this World and therefore Cain was an Oppressor and one that did domineer and Lord it over his Brethren and slay the divine Principle of God's Love and hence all Violences Contentions Killing and Works of Darkness for Cain does truly signifie the Fountain of God's Wrath and the original Properties of the Father's Nature and Abel does represent the eternal Principle of God's Love in the Son's Property Cain intimates the Fire and Abel the Light if the meek Spirit of Abel were not overcome and murthered by the fierce Wrath of Cain there would be Peace on Earth as in Heaven and as when Cain arose and contended with and slew Abel he made no resistance this was a true manifestation that the fierce Wrath had got the Victory but Abel's Blood cried unto the Lord. The very same is to be understood in all kind of Oppression both to Man and Beasts they all by a sweet sympathetical operation call for Vengeance for God is no respecter of Persons or Things but whensoever any Creature is oppressed the same doth from the awakened Wrath curse the Oppressor and send up Cries and terrible Complaints to Heaven which moves the Principle of God's Wrath whence so many Judgments fall upon the People nor is it possible it should be otherwise as long as the Spirit of Cain predominates in their Hearts tearing and destroying the Peace and Well-being of one another and of all the inferiour Creatures far worse than the wild Savages of the Desart for when their Bellies are full they do rest satisfied until they are hungry again but Men are become such Belly-gods and Slaves to their Lusts and Passions that they are never satisfied either full or fasting but always contriving Mischief and how they may betray not only those of their own kind but also all other Creatures insomuch that all the Elements mourn and are filled with the Cries Groans and mournful Complaints of their miserable Inhabitants True Religion doth consist in this as our Lord Jesus Christ taught both by Precept and Example that Mankind do no Violence but live in the power and operation of the Spirit of the humble meek Spirit of Abel for every violent Action and Oppression let it be little or much or offered unto whatsoever Creatures does as naturally and spiritually awaken
Temples in which they say They will worship God but in truth they make the Seats of War Dissention and Controversie but instead thereof Men's Bodies would become living Temples in which his holy Spirit would have the dominion then the dolorous frightful Noise of Guns Drums Swords and the Tumults of Armed Men would not be heard in the Streets no Plotting and Contriving the destruction of each other would be neither would the Prince need to fear his own Warders nor no wounding one another by Back-biting and slanderous Speeches neither would the superiour World and Element be filled with the mournful Tones and doleful Cries of the inferiour Inhabitants nor with the wrathful fierce Species of Man-slaughter which doth render every Man unsafe even from the Prince to the Peasant neither would there be any vain Plays Games nor wanton superfluous Treats to waste precious Time and destroy God's good Creatures then Man would not say what should be done and do it not then the inward savage violent Beasts of Prey would be rooted out of Man's heart and the violent wrathful Spirit must lose its dominion and lay down its wrathful Arms and Weapons of War and become subject to the divine Principle of God's eternal Love neither would Men then count themselves at home in this World but Strangers and Guests that must wander hence then also all outward fighting and slaying one the other for Money and Honour would have no being for having overcome the inward Enemies of their Members they would rest secure there being no Peace so excellent and commendable as that which is made by good living neither in the sight of God nor Man viz. by the Sword of God's Spirit not by the high lofty domineering envious Spirit who by force doth endeavour to subject all unto it self such a Peace cannot long continue unviolated because it proceeds from the poysonous serpentine Root and it hath its motion and operation where the Forms of Nature are divided and at Enmity with each other also here each Property doth with highest diligence endeavour to get the dominion which sometimes one doth and then by and by another so that there is a continual strife and enmity for Superiority or Government which is the foundation of all Controversies Violence Oppression Fighting and Killing and why Men forget God and despise the Dictates of the innocent Principle of his Love which continued Violences and Oppressions do more and more kindle and keep the fierce Wrath in motion and by a sympathetical inclination draw on Man many sore Evils for every Principle or Quality becomes either strong and powerful or weak and impotent according as Man shall joyn himself or live in the power and operation of whether it be in the evil or good therefore it hath always come to pass that those that have given themselves up and immersed their Wills and Desires into the Principle of Wrath have become strong and powerful therein committing Intemperances and outraging God's Law with greediness but on the contrary those that have separated themselves from Violence Intemperance and Uncleanness and followed the Counsel of the Voice of Wisdom they have become strong and powerful in the same Principle whence hath flowed all kinds of Virtue What could hurt Man either externally or internally or destroy his Peace and Well-being if he lived in Innocency The Creator hath not made any visible Prince greater or ordained any to reign over him but only the friendly Light and Love which he hath dispossessed himself of by stepping out of the Law of God in Nature and so hath lost his dominion both external and internal and thereby hath subjected himself under the dominion of the poysonous fierce Wrath where Enmity Strife and Violence take their Birth But this is the happiness still of Mankind that the God of eternal Peace hath in his Mercy given a portion of his friendly Light and Love to every one to profit withal and also Man's Will is free if he do not suffer it to be depraved and captivated under the dominion of the evil Nature for this cause the Scripture of Truth saith That the Lord hath set Life and Death before Man that is in Man as also the Right-hand Way and the Left and bid him chuse The Right-hand-Way is the Principle of his eternal Love and Light in Jesus Christ and the Left is his fierce Wrath and he that chuseth the good part doth not only become a Friend of God's and himself but also to the whole Creation and becomes incorporated into that unspotted Body and holy Fountain of Innocency into which state all the inferiour Creatures as well as Man do travel with pain and groan to be delivered as the worthy Apostle Paul saith The whole Creation groans to be delivered into that glorious liberty of the Sons of God this is the Land that flows with Milk and Honey Here is Peace and Plenty of all things for Unity and Innocency makes the Kingdoms of this World Emblems of Paradise For Temperance Cleanness and Separation from Violence freeth the Body from great Labours and Travels and the Mind from carking Cares Suspicions and Perturbations attracting the benevolent Influences of the Celestials and all the Host of Heaven and Earth blesseth him that lives in Innocency because he oppresseth nor hurteth nothing It is Violence Oppression and Superfluity which have broke the Unity between God and Man and also between all other Creatures and rendered Man the most unhappy of all others his wrathful Mouth is so wide and his Paunch so large that the Spoil and Destruction of all the numerous Inhabitants of the Elements will not content him he contends with all things and therefore all contend with him no place is free from his poisonous Rays and unreconciled Controversies therefore all curse him and he doth the same by them Every Creature feareth Man because he hurts and destroys their Peace and in so doing he doth the same by himself for the Groaning of those Creatures that suffer Pain and Oppression will overtake him that doth it but on the contrary those that have separated themselves from Violence Oppression and Superfluity all things that are necessary for them and for the support of Life are near at hand and may be easily procured without hazarding the Health either of the Body or Mind and without Oppression to any of God's Creatures as the great number of fragrant Herbs Seeds Grains and Fruits which are endued with brave innocent Properties and many excellent Virtues beyond Expression which being well prepared and moderately eaten do not only maintain Health and Strength but they do beget their own Species and innocent Properties both in the Body and Mind as I have before demonstrated And whosoever shall make trial and initiate now this innocent way of Living shall not only make Peace with the whole Creation but shall overcome his inward Lusts and violent Passions which are Man's deadly Enemies and then he may rest secure under his own
for we are not acquainted with the Babylonical Language where one understandeth not another Distances of Places or various Elevations of the Pole do not cause our Speech to differ for we can as familiarly converse with those of our own kind when removed a Thousand Leagues off as if we had still remained on Cotswold Hills or Salisbury Plain for we are not subject to the Tyranny of School-Masters or the Pedantry of Grammar nor troubled to spend seven years under the filthy punishment of the Rod or more cleanly Discipline of the Ferula merely to learn a few Gibberish Words but we bring into the world with us one simple and general Tone or Sound which we can vary and alter according to the degrees of our Spirits Affections and Passions When we call for our stray'd Lambs it is after one manner distinctly understood by those of our Kind and when we miss our Fellows 't is another but still to them intelligible that 't is to such a purpose and so when we call our Fellows into the Corn-fields or when we have need of Pasturage still we send forth peculiar Tones or Bleats Our Food and our Drink is all simple and natural and therefore we are seldom sick and if we are the chief cause thereof is our Shepherds and Guides who for Covetousness of Gain will half starve and founder us one half of the year and then afterwards in the declining part of the year when all Grass grows weak gross and full of Phlegm then they put us into fresh Corn-fields and other Pastures whereupon those Diseases which were contracted for want of proper food and by the unskilful management of our Guides do manifest themselves sometimes by breaking out with the Scab and various other Diseases And also when years happen very wet especially when store of Rain comes in August or September causes Land-floods then if our Guides be not skilful and very careful of us we suffer Epiaemick Diseases for those of our kind are so tender-natur'd and so equally temper'd that we cannot bear any Extreams without manifest prejudice to our Healths more especially excessive Moisture for we are Phlegmatick Sanguino by our Natures and a little inclined to Melancholy for this Reason very wet dripping Seasons especially in the Fall of the year prove dangerous to us and therefore at such times our Owners ought to keep us pretty long in our Folds and to feed us on the highest Grounds that so the sweet Influences of the Sun and Elements may dry and exhale that gross Moisture which the Night produces before we feed thereupon also they should then give us some Hay or Corn in our Folds which would not only dry up those moist Humours but strengthen our Spirits and enable us to withstand those malignant Dews But most of our Keepers are altogether ignorant of our Nature and so not only suffer us to fall but by their ill conduct precipitate us into many Inconveniences which if we were left to the dictates of our own Instinct by Nature we should avoid for we naturally delight on high ground as Mountains Downs and high Corn Fields and there we are very healthy never afflicted with the tortures of the Stone the trembling Palsie the meager Consumption the idle Gout or the lascivious POX we need not your Bagnio's or Hot-Houses we never are troubled with your horrid purging and vomiting Potions nor crammed with Bolus and Turpentine our Food and Drink is truly natural and innocent and suffer all Changes of the Elements and Seasons without complaining Our Love is as it were universal and War and Strife and Contention are strangers to our Folds Our Females are chaste our Males free from Iealousie and our young Ones are at once the Emblems of Innocency and harmless Sport and Recreation Cleanness and Simplicity dwell in the Root of our Lives and the fierce wrathful Nature terrifies and troubles our Spirits for which cause Wolves Dogs Foxes Bears Lions c. all Creatures in whose Radix the Wrath of God and Nature doth predominate are our sworn Enemies We are also very profitable to those that keep us for every Year we bring them a crop of fine soft Wool which covers the Nakedness of our Princes who oft-times become proud by our Spoils 't is from us a most advantageous Staple-Commodity is raised whereby whole Countries support themselves and by which Multitudes of Merchants grow rich nay our very Dung or Excrement is so rich that it causeth the Ground to bring forth abundance of Corn But notwithstanding all these obligations our unreasonable Task-Masters Men are not contented but after they have yearly plundered us both of our native Raiment and the Fruit of our Bodies our sportive young ones and made the most they can of us living assoon as our Females become super-annuated and not able every Spring to furnish their voluptuous Tables with a Lamb they call them Old Crones and esteem them little better than Dogs and Cats but if they imagine they can make Money of us they will for a small time Regale or flatteringly feast us with store of Pasture and when they think we are fat enough to gratifie their extravagant Desires and Appetites then are we sold driven abused and finally have our Throats cut and our Bodies quartered as if we had committed Treason Now tell us seriously Can there be any thing more ungrateful cruel and tyrannical Do such dealings look like Man in his first state Do not our innocent Cries and dying Groans under your merciless hands penetrate the very Heavens and awaken even the centre of Wrath For no Violence can be done but Wrath must have the chief hand in it and 't is also certain if Men did not live in the power of the wrathful Nature there would be no killing for it is contrary both to the humane and divine Nature to destroy and for this cause it is contrary to the Nature not only of our kind but to most other clean Beasts to eat Flesh or kill and prey upon any of their Fellow-Creatures But on the other side those Beasts that are unclean and whose predominant Quality stands in the wrathful Nature are all or the most of them led by a natural instinct and inclination to kill and prey upon some others of the Creation nay upon Man himself if they find him at an advantage because those bloody ravenous Dispositions are planted in the very Centre of their Lives but those of our kind are in their Radix of near affinity to the undepraved humane Nature And therefore we will be bold since we have obtained so much honour and liberty to plead our own innocent Cause and tell our Governours viz. Men this serious Truth That all Violence as beating hurrying hunting hacking baiting killing fighting rage and contention whatsoever be the occasion what it will does arise from the Fountain of Marah the Root of Wrath and Bitterness in Nature And if our Lord Man were so innocent wise and
the Bone or a piece of the Garment of a Man who is himself many Years agone dead and rotten can Cure them of Diseases or preserve them from Dangers But especially when we give them a piece of Bread and tell them 't is Flesh Blood and Bones they think 't is Bread still and are so impudent as to believe their own Eyes before the Dictates of our Priests Heathen Why Do you your selves believe and practice these Absurdities French-man Ye marry and would burn you too if you were in some parts of Christendom and durst say you did not believe them as well as we Heathen Then I bless the good and infinite Being that I have no business in such a Christendom But pray proceed with the Story of your Hugenots French-man We endeavoured to suppress and root them out by severe Laws and open Wars but finding that Course ineffectual we resolved upon a Stratagem to cut them off pretended to be very kind to them and that we desired a perfect Reconciliation and to that purpose made a Match between one of the chief of that Party and a great Lady of ours to solemnize this Wedding the principal Hugonots repaired from all parts of the Kingdom and had the greatest Assurances given them of Friendship But one Night whilst they suspected nothing Souldiers being drawn together at a certain Hour fell upon them in all parts of the City destroying Men Women and Children so that in two or three Hours time there were above Ten thousand of their dead Bodies flung naked into the Streets and the Channels flowed with their Heretical Blood And at that time Messengers were sent to other Cities and Towns to do the like so that in a few days there were above Forty Thousand of them slain Was not this a noble Expression of Zeal for Religion Heathen God keep such bloody Zeal still from our Indian Territories Do your Priests allow of such doings French-man Allow Yes and applaud them too they are the Men that excite us to these gallant Exploits and for a Reward for these Services do forgive us all our Sins and assure us of Heaven Heathen I know not what they may pretend but this I know that God is Love and that such barbarous Cruelties are to him an Abomination And to speak truth so long as men continue Obstinate Revengeful and Contentious and suffer the wild savage Nature and bitter Spirit to reign in their Hearts neither Men nor God can forgive them for Inequality and Discord cannot move Equality such a Spirit is contrary to the Divine Nature and therefore cannot expect Forgiveness till 't is changed and transformed For men cannot draw nigh to the Fountain of Benignity nor be heard of the Sovereign Being but as they become like unto him for every like is moulded by its likeness Blood requires Blood but the Merciful shall find Mercy from the God of Peace and Compassion whose Mercies never fail For this cause we have for many Generations totally abstained from all Violence Oppression and Killing either of Man or Beast for the Groanings and Miseries of those Creatures that suffer Wrong are the beginnings of Trouble and Sorrow to those that do it and do certainly stir up and awaken the fierce Wrath in Nature as the Loadstone attracts Iron French-man These are pretty Nations but methinks impracticable For if we Europians should live the Life you talk of and lay aside Arms and not vindicate our Religion and Liberties by the Sword we should be over-run and be made the greatest of Slaves Have not you heard of the Inroad made at this instant by the Turks into Germany Now would you have us stand with our Arms across and suffer them to over-run all Christendom Heathen I pray what do you account the occasion that moved the Turk to this Expedition French-man Why the Emperor of Germany in certain of his Territories had some of those Hereticks that I described to you but now and he would force them to be of his Religion and to compel them therereunto seized on their Priests and clapt them into Dungeons and Prisons where they were starved and pined away in Want and Misery and others he sold for Slaves and sent Soldiers amongst them to kill and destroy all that would not conform to his Ceremonies Hereupon they took Arms in their own defence and observing their Brethren to live free from such Violences and enjoy their Religion under the Turks paying only such Tribute they desire the Turk to protect them which offends the Emperor and so the Quarrel encreasing the Turks sends an Army against him Heathen This confirms and illustrates what I assert for here you see this Deluge of Calamity had not happened to Germany had they not first stirred up the Wrath and causlesly vexed their Neghbours It appears plainly these Flames arise from Sparks of their own kindling besides Experience shews that none are such Vassals and subject to so many Miseries as those that give themselves to the use of Arms viz. to Guns Swords and the like Weapons of Wrath and most of them perish by the use of them For our own part 't is true we do live in subjection and under the burthen of many great Taxes which are levied on us at the pleasure of the Princes we live under but then they protect us from the Injuries of the Multitude allowing us our free Egress and Regress through their Dominions and unquestioned Liberty for the Exercise of our Religion and manner of living They do not endeavour to peep into our Breasts or examine our Opinions or punish us for not thinking as they do We go freely about our Occasions nor do they permit every Idle Fellow to take away our Goods nor give us abusive Words or hurry us to loathsome Prisons nor are our Sons forced into the Wars They threaten no Punishment to us provided we do not offend the Civil Laws for they matter not what gods we worship nor after what fashion so we are just to men and live peaceably and pay our Tribute If they have our Money they know they cannot want Men that will fight for two Pence a day But we value our Health our Lives Liberties and Religion more than Money We all drink Water and the fragrant Herbs wholsome Seeds Fruits and Grains suffice us abundantly for Food Our Stomachs are clean our Appetites sharp so that we taste the inward Virtue of each thing and sing Songs of Praise to the Creator who affords unto us the plenty of the Earth and the pleasant Dews of Heaven so that as Fish live in the Salt and Brackish Ocean and yet their Flesh is fresh and sweet so we in the midst of a tempestuous troublesome World live Calm and as it were in Paradise French-man I am glad to bear you esteem your selves so happy there are few Mortals that are so content with their Lot but are whining repining complaining and always on the Tenter-hooks of new Hopes and Desires Heathen