Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	appear_v	body_n	life_n	3,755	5	4.6231	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26259	Averroeana being a transcript of several letters from Averroes an Arabian philosopher at Corduba in Spain, to Metrodorus a young Grecian nobleman, student at Athens in the years 1149 and 1150 : also several letters from Pythagoras to the King of India, together with his reception at the Indian court, and an account of his discourse with the King, and his gymnosophists, and his rules and precepts : his account of the power and efficacy of numbers, and magical uses thereof : to which is prefixt, a Latin letter by Monsieur Grinau, one of the Messieurs du Port Royal in France, to the ingenius Monsieur Gramont, merchant at Amsterdam, concerning the subject of these papers, and how they came to his hands : the whole containing matters highly philosophical, physiological, Pythagorical and medicinal, the work having been long conceal'd is now put into English for the benefit of mankind, and the rectification of learned mistakes.; Correspondence. English. Selections	Averroës, 1126-1198.; Pythagoras. Correspondence. English. Selections.	1695 (1695)	Wing A4271; ESTC R1981	54,271	185

Compassion Fellow-feeling or Mercy And if Men Die in this savage brutish state they shall in the Internal World when the Soul shall be reinvested with a new Body we say such polluted Souls will naturally attract such Matter out of all things as the Spirits are capable and have a simile with Bu● on the contrary 〈◊〉 those that in their Lives have observed the Rules of Justice and refrained all Viole●ce Oppression Killing Intemp●●●●ce and Discord and who have introduced their Wills and Desires into Innocency Mercy Compassion and doing unto all Creatures as they would be done unto all such shall not only immediately pas● into the Regions of Peace and 〈…〉 but be cloathed with more perfect ●● beautiful and more glorious human● Shapes and Forms For 't is not to be doubted and our Antient Seers and Philosophers do confirm that in the beginning when the great and most wonderful Creator moved himself and had a desire to manifest the hidden Mysteries of the Internal Worlds he cloathed all the vast numberless variety of Creatures in each Climate and Countrey with Corporeal Bodies according to the Nature and Property of the Spirit for each Spiritual Substance had power to attract out of all things such Corporeal Matter for a Covering or Body as had a simile with its own Nature as appears most manifestly by the Shapes Forms Inclinations and Dispositions of each Creature and as the Internal Property and Disposition of each Creature did vary and where the fierce Wrath did predominate and had the Ascendant in the Spirit there sprang ●● wild savage Beasts and cruel na●●●ed Birds of prey but where the ●●●lities of the Internal Nature were 〈◊〉 equally mixed there were framed more benign and friendly Creatures as Beasts and Birds more humane tame and tractable called clean Beasts and Birds also where the Spirit was more noble and equal so the Bodies and Frames were accordingly And as Man was in his Primitive Properties and Qualities greater and more noble than any other of the Creatures visible so the great Creator gave him a proportionable Body above all the rest of the Lower Creation for all departed Souls who in their Lives keep the holy Laws of Humanity and Innocency have appeared to their 〈…〉 humane Forms and Shapes The 〈…〉 to be understood o● the good Daemons and Heavenly Powers whensoever they have had occasion to cloath themselves with Terrestrial Bodies they have appeare● in humane Figures and Shapes it ●●●ing the Ind●●●●nsible Law of God a●● Nature for every Spirit or 〈…〉 Power to cloath it self with a Bod●●●●table to its own Nature therefore 〈◊〉 Seed as Men sow in this 〈◊〉 Life such a Body they shall be 〈…〉 with in the Internal World 〈…〉 they have introduced their Wills into Wrath Fierceness Oppression and Violence c. such a Body the Soul may greatly be expected to have in the other Life the Truth of this the whole Universe and the numberless number of Creatures both in the ●nimal Vegetable and Mineral Worlds do Testifie and Witness Here Metrodorus you have a tedious yet imperfect account of the Doctrine of the Metempsych●sis first 〈◊〉 as they report by Pythagoras 〈◊〉 hath since been embraced by Men of Eminent Learning and Vertue It seems to be founded on the Notion of Natural Justice the exactest Measure of Retaliation I leave it to your better Judgment to determine the Point but to me the Hypothesis seems probable till a more Certain and Divine Revelation shall be pleased to acquaint us with a better Dated Corduba 1150. The In●●●● King's Letter to Pythago●●● upon his Arrival into that Country Pythag●●●● WE have been informed by our Officers in the Provinces thro● which thou hast Travelled that thou art a very Learned Man which is a Qualification we have always esteem'd and cherisht But it seems to us that thou art not so Wise as thou art reported to be Learned in that thou goest about spreading New Doctrines and Superstitious Observations perswading my People to forbear following the Customs of our Ancestors preaching up an Abstinence from Flesh The Great Creator of all things as he made the World for an Habitation for Men so no doubt the Creatures are subjected to their Dominion and ordain'd for their Use and Convenience Wherefore we Charge you upon Peril of our Royal Displeasure that upon sight of this our Letter you forthwith repair to our Palace Royal that we may hear what Thou hast to alledge in behalf of those New Opinions thou hast vented in several Parts of our Dominions Farewel Pythago●●● 〈◊〉 First Letter to the ●ndian ●●ng Most Renowned King OUR Religion recommends Abstinence from Flesh Your Majestie would in your Letter seem to blame me on that account as if I had taught an unreasonable Doctrine and for this reason that as God had given the World for an Inhabitance so the Creatures for Subsistence I acknowledge not only your Slaves but the Beasts of your Territories are your own and you may use them as you please But as the Notion of Tyranny is unreasonable so the Practice is unfeisable and whoever puts it to the push will quickly find the Effects for all the Philosophers in the World can never perswade us that we are Slaves nor all the Rhetorick in the World convince the Brutes that they are of another Opinion The Gods have made your Majesty a King Soveraign of a Numerous People committed to your care to be Preserved and Maintain'd not to be Pillaged and Destr●●ed So it is with the Universe i● 〈◊〉 ●●eatures are our Subjects they are 〈◊〉 our Slaves Nature hath provided a many ways to continue its Species without being beholden to the Slaughter-house However I shall say no more than what an Epistolary Latitude will allow me and assign my Reasons and make the best of my way to your Court. What I have Preached O King in your Dominions is no Upstart Opinion nor Phantastick Humour but what I am able to abide by and make good For the Antiquity of our Course of Life and the Innocence of our Doctrine may be prov'd of equal date with the Foundation of the World The Jewish Doctors teach That Adam the first Man was placed in a Garden and that Herbs and Fruit were his 〈◊〉 And all Philosophers agree that in the Golden Age the Eating of Flesh was never tolerated It was the Corruption of Mankind introduc'd the Vice Tho' afterwards in the World's Degeneracy the Precept happen'd to be not so inviolably observ'd yet the best Spirits and most virtuous Inclinations tied themselves up to the strictness of our Rules and Discipline It is alledged by your Teachers That we oblige our Followers to the Observation of things frivolous and vain as not to kill any kind of Vermin c. for fear of being guilty of Murder Whereas the reason of this Prohibition in its nicest severity is only to take Men off from their Natural Fierceness and Barbarity lest by accustoming themselves in Cruelty towards

Spirit or Demon comes Love Pity Mercy Compassion c. as also Temperance Chastity Sobriety and Philosophy And from the third proceed mixed Thoughts various and wanton Discourses Laughters and Merriment and all that is called Phantastical They labour hard to make their Children understand the Nature and Operation of each of them that they may be sensible which hath the reigning and predominant power in them They call the second Spirit the good Demon and with great earnestness inculcate to their Children that they should be Governed by its Dictates and observe its Directions They teach them that it was from this good Angel that their Seers and Holy Men received the Law of Innocence They inform them that it is a great Blessing and a Token of being a particular Favourite of Heaven to avoid Violence and Oppression especially towards those Inferiour Creatures that cannot defend or help themselves That the greater part of Mankind are govern'd by the Counsels of the other Demons from whence proceed Wars Murder Destruction and all manner of Mischief From Three Years old to Seven they Instruct them in the Precepts of Moral●●● setting before them the Excellence o●●ertue and the Reason of their Duty Above all things they commend to them a strict and severe Justice which they never depart from for these Instructions are so early graffed in them and so plainly represented to ●●em that they become as it were incorporate and grow up along with them insomuch that they are no longer Moral Precepts but have in them the force of Nature They also very Vehemently and Pathetically set before them the Ugliness of an Idle Life Nay they say Idleness is inconsistent with Life for Life in the very Expression implies Activity and Motion They greatly commend to them moderate Labour and Exercise and frequently put them upon the Practice of the same even in their very tender Age. They are very Exact in teaching them the Art of Numbring and acquaint them with the Method of God's Works 〈…〉 Worlds viz. The Heavens Star● and Elements the Amazing Varieties 〈…〉 Vegetations and Minerals how they were all made and are wonderfully sustained by the Invincible Power of the Omnipotent Creator They teach them the Motions of the Celestial Bodies their Courses and Distances Postures and Configurations and Influences 〈…〉 they keep them continually 〈◊〉 in what either Employs their Understanding or Improves their Manners always accustoming them to the Exercise of Patience and the E●●●rance of Hardship Having therefore such an Early Education and continually before their Eyes the Examples of their Parents and Associates the Notions of these Truths do a● it were enter into their very Natures by repeated habits that nothing can remove them Having been Instructed that every word in their Law proceeds from God and at the same time having imbibed a true Apprehension of the Excellency and Justice of that ●eing they look upon it as his positive ●ommand and dare not disobey Thus a● Esteem of their Law is planted in them that no Avocations of Business nay nothing but invincible Necessity can exempt them from a punctual compliance with the same I shall here insert one passage of their nice exactness to the Rules of their Law It is held Sacred amongst them to keep themselves undefiled from any thing they think unclean and if such an Accident happen they a●● compell'd to repair to a certain pla●● of Purgation where they are to undergo all the Discipline of that Mystery before they must enter on their Bus●●ess Some of that Religion who were Factors came to Surat to Buy up a Commodity to be Transported into Persia The Europeans having notic● thereof and knowing the Obligation these People lay under one of their Merchants came near the Place where they sat and unawares took off one of his 〈◊〉 and touched them Immediately ●● great Cry was heard for the 〈◊〉 ●ound themselves polluted ●nd 〈◊〉 forced to leave their Business 〈…〉 to the Place of Purgation to the designed Satisfaction of the European Merchant If any of their Princes at any time desire their Daughters for Concubines they lo●e their Longing for they will submit to the Severest Tortures rather than break their Vow They are never to be Engaged in the Armies of their Kings for as much as they abominate all manner of Violence c. Nor can they ever be prevail'd with to become Servants being extreamly Jealous of their Original Liberty In all Revolutions of States they are free and enjoy under all Governments an undisturbed Exercise of their Religion on account of their Peaceable Deportment They abhor all strong Liquors their most customary Drink is Water They lye upon hard Quilts oftentimes on the bare Ground They neither Invade nor Covet any Man's Property they are tenacious of the Customs of their Ancestors and remain secure in the Satisfaction of their own Vertue and Integrity Dated Corduba 1150. Metrodorus THere is one thing more that will 〈◊〉 me with Matter for another Letter and that is Their Opinion of the Transmigration of Souls which shall be the last concerning these People that I shall trouble you with hoping that my over-forwardness in this matter shall be understood as an Evidence of my Willingness to embrace any Occasion of signifying the Respect I bear to a Person of your Character and ● Lover of Vertue All our Philosophers and Seers both Indians and others do firmly believe That God hath made Man in his own Image or Likeness which all acknowledge but few have so well considered it as they ought And that Man does contain the Principles and Properties of all things Corporeal and Incorporeal Also 〈◊〉 ●e is endued with an Elementa●● 〈◊〉 ●●pable Body which Body is 〈◊〉 enlivened or informed by an Et●●rial Spirit and so answers to the great Body of this World from whence the same is taken and therefore is an Abridgment or Epitomy thereof And as he does contain all the true Properties of the gross Elements viz. Earth Air and Water that nourish and sustain the Body He has also the Principle of Fire and Light that is an Immortal Soul and Spirit which gives Life and Motion to the Body of Flesh and answers to the Soul of the great World or that mighty Spirit which is the Moving and Vivifying and most wonderfully Creative and Conservative Power in this vast System of Things which we call the World and which does preserve and maintain every part thereof in Beauty Splendor and Harmony Now in this Illustrious Estate Man was Created and in him all Forms Qualities and Powers stood in equal Weight and Measure and if Man had continued in this 〈◊〉 then he would have imitated his 〈◊〉 in all well-doing and Governed all the Host of Heaven in Love and have been a Preserver and Guide to all inferiour Creatures which would have powerfully attracted not only the sweet and benevolent Influences of Heaven but also the Prayers and good Wishes of all the under-graduated

prepared That Wind is an Epidemical Distemper The best way to prevent and rem●●● 〈◊〉 Th● Occasio● of 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 ●hem Of Fasting a●● 〈…〉 the Ind●●● Physici●●● and Brachma●● us● with their 〈◊〉 Of the Ei●●●●●●ter Methods the Brachmans prescribe to be observed by their Women during the time of their Impregnation Lying-in giving Suck c. in respect both to Mind and Body Silence Recommended Chearfulness Commended The Brachmans Opinion of the Power of Musick Their Receipt to Cure Swelled Breasts Sugar a great Balsamick Their manner of the Education of Youth The great Influence and Power of the three grand Spirits of ●●e World Idleness Condemned The Reason why their Children never depart from the Law of their Fathers An Inst●nce thereof produced Of the Ninth Letter The Brachmans Opinion of the Soul of Man The Original of Man's Depravity All Violence and Oppression of Inferior Creatures forbid Their Notion of the proportion of Rewards and Punishments in ●he other Life An Account of their Belief of Transmigration and the Middle State The Power of Sympathetick Prayer Of the Tenth Letter The Indian King's Summons to Pythagoras to appear at Court Of the Eleventh Letter Pythagoras his Answer to the King of India Abstinence from eating Fl●●● proved as Ancient as the World Violence to inferior Creatures forbidden upon account of Moral Justice and Goodness Hunting Condemned The Dignity of the Animal Nature asserted and proved How the Knowledge of Divine Magick ●s attainable Of the Tw●l●th Letter Pythagoras his Account of the Powers Vertues and Efficacy of Numbers The Method of using them in the Cure of Diseases Of the Discourse between Pythagoras and the King of India Prejudice Custom and common Opinion Enemies to Knowledge and Vertue The Original Composition of Man The Occasions of his Degeneracy The true Reason of the Liberty of the Will assigned That a Lawless Liberty to do what we will is a mistaken Notion of the Power of Man Wherein the Dignity ●nd Power of Man does cousist In what ●ence Man is the Image of God and how ●he ought to Govern Inferior Creatures Power to do any thing is no Argument for the Lawfulness of doing it The Mortality of Brutes no Reason for our Abusing them Of the Thirteenth Letter Of the Nature of true Religion That it does not consist in the Observation of external Ceremonies Wherein it does consist That the Imposition of needless Things in Religion gives Birth to most of the Confusions that happen in the World Of the Fourteenth Letter Of the Power Excellencies and Effects of Musick The Subject of the Hymns and Songs of the Pythagoreans the Re●son of their use of them annexed An Extract of Twenty Eight Precepts that Pythagoras left his Disciples Metrodorus the Grecian to Averroes the Arabian sendeth Health Most Learned and Renowned Averroes HAving often read over thy Works and considered with my self the mighty Reputation of thy Learning wherewith the whole Universe is filled I am astonished at the unconceivable Activity of thy Wit which in an imperial and uncontroulable manner extends it self over all the works of Nature searches into her most secret and abstruse Recesses and like an Universal Intelligence seems alone to actuate the whole World of Philosophy How much and upon what accounts Aristotle himself stands Indebted to thee thy very Detractors in spight of all their Envy are forced to acknowledge And for what Advantage I in particular have received by Thy Writings let this plain Confession thereof be accounted by thee for a Testimony of my Gratitude that I owe all the Reputation for Philosophy that I have in these Parts to the sole Influence of thy Spirit and Genius Thou seemest in all thy Discoveries to have some particular Inspirations and Nature appears to have singled thee out as a Subject whereon she would be lavish in the Bounty of her Favours Thou art admitted to a particular Intimacy and hast been able to trace her through all her windings and turnings and discerned her naked in her bare and simple form Proceed therefore most Noble Averroes to imitate that Heaven from whence thou hast derived thy Knowledge in the further communication of the Rays thereof to Mankind And since I have been honoured with some acquaintance of thy Thoughts continue to instruct me yet more fully in the Mysteries of Philosophy I find by the Writings of the Physicians and Philosophers of these times that they make the Menstrum as they call it whereby both Appetite is provoked and Food in the Stomach is digested to be a certain Acid Juice or Humour in the Stomach that by vertue of its Acidity or Acrimonious quality only hath power to separate and concoct the Food which indeed is a Notion I could never digest ● intreat therefore thou wouldest send ●hy Opinion of this Operation of Na●ure in Writing by this Messenger whom I have ordered to stay at Cordu●a till thy leisure shall allow thee op●ortunity of doing it Farewel Dated Athens 1149. Averroes to Metrodorus Worthy Metrodorus I Had been better pleased with your Letter if you had been more sparing of your Complements As to the Opinion the World hath of me I take it in good part though 't is a thing I shall never endeavour after always having in chace a far Nobler and Richer Prize than publick Fame even Truth it self This is the mark I aim at and as oft as I hit the white here I am as proud of the success as he that has Conquered a Kingdom From my Youth my Studies bent that way and the greatest Difficulty I ever met with was to subdue in me those prejudices that I conceived from the Authority of common Consent and Belief I approve your dislike of the Vulgar Notion of the Menstrum well enough only I could wish you had at the same time annexed your Reasons which since you have omitted I will endeavour by what I shall suggest to confirm and settle your Judgment in that Point and if I can possibly assign the true reason of what you enquire after There are somethings unalterably to be believed upon the sole Credit and Authority of their Tradition withal being of such a Nature as no humane Inquisition can arrive at any further knowledge of Such are the Mysteries of our Religion concerning which we will endure no dispute our holy Prophet Mahomet the prime Favourite of Heaven having given his Word for the Truth thereof But in Philosophy we are left to a larger Latitude like those of our Countrymen whom they call wild we are obliged to the Authority of no Person but at Liberty to pick and chuse change and resettle our Opinion as oft as our Reason directs as a Ship that has the Port in view shall notwithstanding by reason of a contrary Wind be forced to tack and shift her Sails a great many times before she reach the Haven Let us therefore Metrodorus launch forth boldly into this part of the Sea of Nature and try

Creatures which was the station he was made and ordained for and to be a Co-worker with his Creator in all Friendliness Love Compassion Mercy and doing unto all as ●●ch would be done unto But Man departing with his Will and Desires out and from this Glorious State of Unity and Concord into all the contrary qualities viz. into inequality discord fierceness and wrath by which he forfeited the Grand Charter or Law of his Creator and so quickly dispossessed himself of all the good Properties and Powers his Creator had endued him with by which he is now become an Enemy not only of himself but also of all ●reated Beings He Curses and Destroys all and all Creature Curse him and the Evil Wishes ●f these Creatures do not proceed fr●m them causlesly and therefore they very often take effect and powerfully draw down the Thunder-bolts of Vengeance on their guilty Heads For that Great and Natural Law of Retaliation will have its Operation and take place either in this World or that which is to come whatever some may vainly fancy to the contrary Therefore they do Command all their Disciples and Followers to forbear all Violence Oppression and Killing for the Infinite Deity delights not in Man-slaughter Strife Wars and Contention enter not into his Tabernacle Our Creator does accept of the Practices of every one that does well and imitates him in well-doing for he is equal in all his Methods and causeth the blessed and glorious Body the Sun to shine on the Just and Unjust and commands the 〈…〉 of the Celestials to 〈◊〉 ●pon all The Blessings of the Four Worlds are equally distri●uted to all Creatures Inferiours have a● equal Privilege ●●th the Superiours he only preserves and ●ustains the Universal System of Nature by the Hand of his 〈◊〉 s●read Providence 〈◊〉 they 〈…〉 all 〈◊〉 in them lies to be like him God will not Oppress nor Kill therefore they will not He gives Life and does also preserve that Life his Love a●d Compassion are by his good Powers 〈◊〉 unto all 〈◊〉 this cause th●● will not strike hurry hunt oppress kill 〈◊〉 violate any of those good Laws God has ordained for th● preservation of his Off-spring firmly believing That if they do by their Practices of Life precipitate themselves into Oppression and Violence that they must undergo the severe Law of Retaliation either in this Life or that which is to come If they do wrong or unlawfully take any thing from their Neighbour they are obliged to return threefold which is a full pardon for the Injury done And the great Law of Nature is thereby fulfilled and consequently the Sin pardoned 〈…〉 hunt oppress or kill any of 〈◊〉 Creatures what Satisfaction can we 〈◊〉 in this World Therefore th●●● great Evils that cannot be recom●en●e● here must of necessity be 〈◊〉 on the Soul and Spirit in the World to come there to be recompence● according to the Merits of the Evil ●nd therefore they believe that all that have unjustly Ruled in this World shall certainly in the Life to come be punished with a Bestial or Servil● state and condition and they that have polluted themselves with the Blood of their own kind their Souls shall enter violent furious Men of untractable Dispositions that shall Live Miserably and Die by the Fury of War and Humour of Princes But such as have by continual Violence Oppressed and Killed the Unrevengeful Animals their Souls and Spirits shall be precipitated and revolved into the most Sava●e ●nd Brutish Bodies All such as 〈…〉 in the Wrathful and Sensual 〈…〉 do in the next World arise wild Beasts all according to the Nature of the 〈…〉 what qualities soever it 〈…〉 such a Body it attracts ●nd cloaths i● self with Therefore none in the Life to come arise Men but only such as have retained Humane Property that have been Merciful and done Justice unto all Creatures such pass immediately into the Regions of Glory and Sing the holy Songs of Peace others who have Lived mixed Lives compounded of good and evil who have been Merciful to Man and Beast and at other times they have committed Evils and Oppressed God's Creatures so that for the good which they have done they enter into middle Regions where they are purged from those Evils they le●t unrepented of in which time they make full Retaliation Such Souls the Prayers and good Wishes of Innocent Men do mightily help and comfort and consequently shorten the time ●● Retaliation For the Prayers of good and 〈◊〉 People have power to break open all Principles and whensoever it find● 〈◊〉 simile it incorporates and the good Powers a●● strengthened thereby For all God's Powers both in the Internal and External Worlds are moved by Sympathy or Likeness for Inequality and Discord cannot move Equality therefore the good Wishes and Prayers of Obstinate Revengeful and Contentious Men do not avail the Deceased Soul who is past into the middle Regions for Purgation and who with great earnestness presseth towards the ●ood and therefore no Prayers nor Wishes can profit such Souls but only such as proceed from Innocent Just ●●en for every Word Wish and Prayer hath power only to penetrate into and open the Gate of its own Fountain that is Evil Mens Wishes and Prayers penetrate and open the Fountain of Wrath and strengthen it and on the co●●rary the good Wishes and Prayers of the 〈◊〉 Innocent Man have 〈…〉 into Heaven and all good o● whatever ●● like it self for the Celestial Powers and Properties of 〈◊〉 Internal Nature are not only moved ●●●ned ●● incorporated by sence and ●●●son as amongst Men no but by Concord Equality and Harmony And for this cause we do so earnestly and with so great pains and diligence press our Children and Disciples to enter with their Wills and Desires into Innocency and Well-doing being confirmed in this great Truth viz. That Men cannot draw nigh nor become one with the Fountain of Benignity nor be heard of the Soveraig●● Being but as we become like unto him for every Like is moulded by its Likeness Blood requires Blood 〈◊〉 the Merciful shall obtain Mercy from the God of Peace and Compassions For these and the like Reasons we have for many Generations totally abstained from all Violence Oppression and Killing either of Men or Beasts for every thing both in the good and also in the evil do as naturally and as pow●●●●lly stir up and strengthen its own ●r●perty as the Loadstone attracts Iron We do likewise firmly believe and it is one of our principal Points of Doctrine which we teach our Disc●●les viz. That if any Man do suffer his Will and Desire to enter into the Practice of Vanity Oppression Violence and Killing both Men and Beasts be it under what pretence it will such do precipitate themselves into the divided Powers of Nature viz. into harshness fierceness wrath and savage bestiality by which they lose Humane Property and grow hard-hearted cruel and sordid having no

humane Number in which wonderful variety consists the highest degrees of unity Therefore Man should not put Locks on the Doors of his Spirit for nothing hurts the holy Powers so much as to fix them in constant methods For this cause Herbs and Medicines have not such efficacy and power to Cure Diseases and Infirmities as some of the Philosophers and Physicians talk of they fixing certain Vertues in them and so they administer them having no regard to the power of the Soul nor to the present Dictates of the good Demon its Son so that the Herb or Medicine is dead and without Life and Spirit But on the other side when he that administers observes the Voice and Dictates of the Spirit or Light of Mens Hearts then the Medicine or Herb becomes full of Life and hath a wonderful Operation and Cures to an high degree This is the method we and our Followers observe in the Practice of Physick always following the Directions of our good Demon which leads us into as great variety as there is of Creatures in the Animal Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms or four Worlds And though we Cure even to a Miracle with Sage or Balm yet for the same or like Distemper we are led or directed to some other Herb or Thing at another time by our good Angel therefore we esteem it a great Sin to observe certain methods and to kill Men by outward Authority No all our Authority and Power is from our Souls and good Angels which Men ought to consult in all difficulties We do also make great use of the Number three as being a holy Number and a Number of Perfection and most powerful not only in Medicine but also in Religion We also prefer the Number Four it being endued with great Power and Vertue being as it were the Foundation and Root of other Numbers as well of Artificial Things as Natural and Divine The Number Five stands us in great stead in all our Magical Operations this Number is as it were the Birth of the Son and Daughter of Light and a Flame of Love and is the wonderful Perfection and Virtue in all Operations and some of our Fathers have entitled it the Number of Wedlock and of Justice This Number does contain many great Mysteries which aptly used are of good success The Number Six is also of great use and is a Number of Perfection in all the Magical and Sympathetical Operations of Nature Also the Number Seven has no less Vertue and Power than the other and of which all our Fathers have made great observation in Sacred Things in which Numbers all Mysteries are most compleat The Number Eight our Fathers have made great use of and they call it the Number of Justice and Fulness Note also that the Number Nine is of great Vertue both in Medicines and Religion and in all Magical Operations There are also many other Numbers that are of great use and benefit to all that live Innocent Lives and observe God's Law in Nature for Man is in Nature and therefore he must work and penetrate into the inward Mysteries of God's Law by the power of his Soul and light thereof This O King is some part of our methods in the Practice of Physick We dare not in this place discourse of our Secret and Divine Magick nor of the wonderful things that are performed by the power of Sympathy and Antipathy the publishing thereof is forbidden us but this is sufficient to the wise and he that understands how to practice and apply these Rules and Methods here set down is not far from the great and most Secret Knowledge distinguishing the good Powers of God the true understanding of which is the highest degree both of Divine and Natural Magick An Extract of some of the Precepts and Rules that Pythagoras Recommended to his Disciples and Followers O Thou doubly compounded Man fram'd of an Earthly Body influenced by an Immortal Soul convert the Eye of thy Understanding inward study thy self and thou shalt know the wonderful Powers and Qualities God has implanted in thee Thou art the Similitude the Resemblance of all Powers Worlds and Elements In thee the true Natures and Properties of all Created Beings are contained Thou art the Son and Off-spring of all Worlds both Material and Immaterial whereby thou Vertually containest and Symbolically representest the Essences and Qualities of them all For the Great Creator has indued every Being with an Influential Vertue and Vice but more especially thee O Man By which means there is a Secret and Sympathetick Operation and Working of one Body on another For which cause we Command and Recommend to our Disciples and Children I. Temperance and an Abstinence from all Hurtful Things in Eating Drinking and Communication That they keep themselves Clean and Unpolluted Besides we have a particular regard to the great Law of Retaliation to which man must submit either in this or the other World This is the Law of Justice by which all must be tried and none can be exempted Which is the Original Ground and Reason of our Prohibition of Killing Living Creatures and Eating Unclean Foods II. The Gods are not only the Creators but the Preservers of all Creatures and none can enter into the Regions of Bliss but such as observe the Rules of Justice and in all Things imitate them For whosoever opposes them must be compelled to undergo the Severity of Retaliation seeing every thing is moved by a Sympathetick Motion and Inclination and not according to Sence as some vainly imagine but according to God's Eternal Law in Nature and her secret Operation III. The Heavens Sun Moon Stars and all the Elements distil their genuine Influences and prolifick Vertues on all Creatures The most inferior have an equal share in the benefit of those Immortal Preserving Powers according to the Capacity of their Nature So that to obtain their Favour we must of necessity be like them in our Works and Communications IV. We likewise forbid all manner of Violence and Murder not only of those of our own Kind and Species but likewise of all inferior Animals For no Man can do the Work of the Spightful Powers but he must at the same time enter with his Will into their Qualities which have an innate power to advance all kind of Cruelty darkening the Soul and rendring it apt and ready to receive and embrace the Suggestions and Impressions of evil Demons making it a Companion of all the Rapacious Beasts of the Wilderness which we call a double and treble falling from the heighth of Good to the fathomless Abyss of Evil cloathing the Soul with a Bestial Body the Essences whereof will stick to it in Eternity For this Practice is contrary to the Laws of Creation and Preservation 't is Man only by a whimsical Conceit that makes the distinction and not the holy Powers for the Imaginary Security of himself and the Maintenance of Society V. Houses and Hospitals sufficiently endowed must be

the Principle of Love and defaced the Image of God wherein he was at first Created following the directions of Evil Spirits turned an exasperated Persecutor of the innocent Inhabitants of the Lower World wild in his Imaginations and untractable in his Dispositions His great Creator had provided plentifully for him without exposing him to offend in such a Rude and Barbarous manner He appointed the Earth to him for an Habitation together with his Fellow Creatures he ordained the Ground to bring forth Fruit Herbs and Corn for their Food and the gentle murmuring Rivers for their drink the Gra●s for their Beds and the Thick spreading Trees to defend them from the scorching heat of the Sun It is likely too he ordained the Beasts of the Field for the Service of Man so far as they might be serviceable without suffering Injustice and being Cruelly dealt with He was on every hand furnished with what might contribute to his Necessity or Delight without being compelled to pollute his Hands in Blood and worrying and tormenting harmless Creatures that bore God's Image and the express Signatures of Divine Wisdom as well as himself It was for other Ends he was sent into the World viz. to Contemplate the Glories thereof and in Reflection thereupon to adore with an holy Heart and unpoluted Hands the Immense Power and Bountiful Wisdom of his Creator He was therefore left at liberty that his Actions might be Humane not that he should become a Lawless Tyrant and an uncontroulable Destroyer 'T is true indeed the poor Brute Animals are constrained to their motions they have the necessity of an unavoidable Law upon them which they cannot transgress neither shall they receive Reward for the observation of it 'T is Man only whose Actions are capable of Reward and Punishment Therefore it is that he was sent into the World with a Law written in his Heart to guide him in the paths of Vertue Goodness and Innocency that keeping up the Divine Life he might preserve the Image and Resemblance of his Maker and not degenerate to so poor an Ambition as of Exercising an Unjust and Tyrannical Barbarity over Innocent Animals that continually acknowledged his Superiority over them by their Natural and Implanted Fear of him Then a certain Gymnosophist of India that stood by said If things are as thou saist Pythagoras these Inferior Creatures are in a happier and more blessed Condition than Man himself For what becomes of all his boasted Authority Where 's the Dominion he pretends to hold by his Creator's Bounty and the peculiar Excellence of his Nature if these Creatures are exempted from his Jurisdiction and not subjected to his Government Thou hast said that Man is the Image of God and the Perfection of his Maker's Works in this Lower World Where 's the Preheminence then if he has nothing to glory in but the liberty of his Will which had better a Thousand times be confined which at one time not only exposes him to inexplicable Perturbations here but thereby Subjects him to his Soveraign's Indignation and to endless Torments hereafter whilst those Creatures enjoy an undisturbed security free from the danger of suffering worse in another place The natural necessity of their Actions makes all their motions easie and delivers them from the fear of Transgression and Punishment Our Doctors have taught us That as God is Soveraign Master of the Upper Worlds and hath all Angels and Spirits subject to his Dominion so as an Image of himself he has planted Man Lord in the Lower World and endued him with Authority to command and controul all inferior Beings That they were not Created as so many Pictures only to gratifie the diversion of his Eyes but were also made for his Use and Service in as many ways as he shall think fit to employ them some to furnish him with Food some with Raiment and others to serve him for Recreation and Diversion Nor in this does it appear that any Violence is exercised upon them for as much as having no Immortal Souls and being but Temporary Beings they have no Charter to plead with Priviledge of Immunity from such Services as the natural and peculiar ends of their Creation seem to design them for For had the Great Creator who is perfectly Good and Gracious and cannot endure to see the meanest of his Creatures abused intended otherwise he would have provided means for their preservation furnished them with ability to avoid or resist impending mischief or restrained this exorbitant Appetite in Man and have turned the stream of his Inclinations another way For as the Fabrication of all things was the Effect of his Power so the particular management and determination of all to their proper and respective ends is guided by the conduct and concurrence of his Providence And as his Wisdom at first ordained these Creatures for such and such Ends so his Spirit inspires Mankind with Power Sagacity and Desire to compel those Creatures to the Accomplishment of those Ends for which his Wisdom had before contrived and appointed them So that Man is but the Manister of God in this matter and in this respect at once pursues the end of his own Being and that of other Beings too After the Philosopher had thus discoursed he retired a little and the King stood up and said What saist thou Pythagoras to these Arguments for to me they seem to have some Face of Reason in them For if there be any Injury done to the Creatures in reducing them to our Service and using them for our Pastime it must proceed either because they have a natural Right of being exempted from our Power or from some mutual Contract and Stipulation agreed to betwixt Man and them If thou canst make either of these out we shall gladly quit the Cause and submit to thy Doctrine For if thou provest the former we must acknowledge our present Practice to be an Invasion if the latter Injustice But if thou canst prove them both we shall readily confess it to be a Complication of Tyranny Cruelty Oppression and Abominable Iniquity Then Pythagoras advanced forward and after having made submissive Reverence answered Most Mighty King It is not only the greatest Honour but the most desireable Happiness and Satisfaction that I have the Liberty to defend the Doctrine I have taught my Disciples before so Discerning and Sagacious a Prince that is willing to submit the Custom of many Ages and the Practice of many Countries to an Unbyassed and Impartial Disquisition This shall Illustrate thy Name more than the Trophies of thy Ancestors or the Success of thy Indisputable Courage and Bravery that has Built so many Obelisqs to thy Fame through all the Territories of thy Enemies Truth is the Brightest Gem in the Regal Diadem and sets it off with a far more shining Lustre than all the Praises of Poets or the extravagant and misapplied Commendations of Dissembling and Hypocritical Parasites I see O King it is the Genius of thy