to the Reader that he is infra inuidiam As for my selfe I must ingenuously concurre with the opinion of all the world and say that I had rather be enuied then pittied But to our purpose The subiect of this Chapter cited by me in my mysticall Anatomy is onely a discourse of the naturall reference and Magnetick or attractiue and sympatheticall relation which is obserued to be betwixt two distinct substances of the like nature but differing in the distance of place as betweene the Loadstone and the Iron betwixt the blood and the salt of the same nature in which the vegetating spirit common vnto them both doth occultly abide And you must note also courteous Reader that in this particular Booke of my mysticall Anatomy I did handle the secret and hidden properties of the spirituall or internall blood in the externall citing therewithall as neere as my small capacity would giue me leaue the harmonicall effects which it worketh as well by contract or immediate touch as at a distance I would faine know now wherein I haue offended in so doing or how I haue deserued M. Fosters slanderous ingression into his examination of this businesse or whether in my naturall discourse vpon this subiect I mention Diabolicall Charmes Circles Witch-craft or vnlawfull and forbidden Characters or such like If you finde nothing appertaining vnto any such deuilish Magick then giue your sentence whether such a Prelude vnto this businesse was honest decent or any thing appertaining vnto the matter in handling As for the vsage of the Weapon-Salue in it selfe I protest before God and man I neuer of my selfe did practise it vnto this very day but in my conscience and by reason of a more strict inquiry which for this cause I haue made into it I finde it so free from any Diabolicall superstition which God is my witnesse I haue euer hated as I doe the Deuill and all his workes and haue heard so much of the vertuous operation thereof that from henceforward malegree the demeure writers or speakers against it I will both practise it and defend the lawfulnesse of it as being more assured now then euer that it is the blessed vertue of God and not any act of the Deuill which operateth in it vnto the health and alledgement of Gods afflicted creatures But to come vnto our matter I will make but few words for I haue already beene too long in my precedent discourse But before I begin I pray you obserue gentle and iudicious Reader how that our Sponge-carrier is very halting and vnperfect in the interpretation of my text straining it much from its true nature to serue his owne sense rather then iustly to expresse mine intention as indeed he ought I will therefore in the fiâ—…st place expresse vnto you in naked English tearmes the full and exact purpose of my Latine text which I call mine Assertion and then in the next place I will expresse his exposition or collection After that I will set downe the vertuous validity of his Sponge in drinking vp deuouring or wiping away the strength of my Assertion and then in the last place I will crush and squeese his Sponge and make it by force to vomit vp againe the truth which it hath deuoâ—…ed or rather couered with his vaile of ignorance And this shall be my manner of proceeding in combate against this Lernian Monster and his Trâ—…th 〈◊〉 Sponge CHAP. I. Heere it is proued against our Aduersaries Assertion First that the Blood Fat Flesh and Bones of a dead Man doe participate with that Balsamicke nature or humidum radicule which is in the liuing Man Secondly that a Horse hath a Balsam sympathising with that of a Man My naked text Englished We see that this Oyntment is compounded of things passing well agreeing vnto mans nature and consequently that it hath a great respect to his health and preseruation for as much as vnto the composition thereof wee haue in the chiefest place or ranke Blood in which the power of life is placed Here I say is the essence of mans Bones growing out of them in forme of Mosse termed Vsnea here is his Flesh in the Mummy which is compounded of Flesh and Balsame here is the Fat of Mans Body which concurreth with the rest vnto the perfection of this Oyntment And with all these as is said the Blood is mingled which was the beginning and food of them all for as much as in it is the spirit of life and with it the bright soule doth abide and operateth after a hidden manner So that the whole perfection of Mans Body doth seeme to concurre vnto the confection of this precious oyntment And this is the reason why there is so great a respect and consent betweene this Oyntment and the Blood of the wounded person For it is most necessary that some of the Blood of the wounded be drawne out from the depth of the â—…und c. This is the exact interpretation of my text Now yee shall see what he maketh of it M. Fosters Collection Scull-mosse or Bones saith Doctor Fludd Mummy and the Fat of Man the especiall ingredience comprehend the corpor all perfection of man and so are apt to heale by reason of a naturall Balsam resting in them sympathising with the hypostaticall Balsam refiding in the liuing Man You see here that first he leaues out the blood which is the prime ingredient and then whereas I speake of that enbalming ingredient which the Nobles of Aegypt were wont to make of the naturall Balsam and such like Bituminous and vnctuous things as were enemies to Corruption he nominates and interprets after his fashion and to serue his turne saying that I speake of the naturall Balsam in Man residing in the Oyntment c. But I will let him haue his scope being it cannot much vary from my purpose M. Fosters Sponge to wipe away this mine Assertion I deny that Scull-mosse or Bones Mummy and Mans Fat haue though they be medicinable any naturall Balsam or radicall humor for so some call naturall Balsam residing in them sympathising with the hypostaticall Balsam remaining in the liuing Man vnlesse a Horse haue a Balsam sympathising with Mans. For saith D. Fludd which I aduise him to remember if a naile which pricketh a Horse be put into the Oyntment-pot the Horse shall be cured I say there is no such sympathy betweene Horse and man and if there be no cause at all to beleâ—…ue the one there is but little to beleâ—…ue the other Here the Sponge is Squeesed Obserue in the first place that our Opposite forgets that Blood is one of the ingrediences And then he disputeth ex non concessis as is before said and yet neuerthelesse I will giue him his way and proue that all which his Spongy tongue hath vttered for the wiping away of that truth which hath bene here expressed by me is of no validity nor yet of any appearance or probability I will therefore diuide this
of this feate of occult curing and not rather such ingredients as are collected out of mans body being that they are neerer and more familiar vnto their kinde and therefore more benigne and affable vnto it then stranger Medicines as are vegetables or such like If the Reader will well ponder this he will perceiue all that our Sponge-carrier speaketh Pag. 8. is but foppery The Deuill saith he maketh the Mediciner beleeue it is spent by a vertue going to the wound whilst hee skilfull by long experience in all Arts and so in the Art of Medicine doth himselfe secretly apply some other vertuall operatiue Medicine to cure the wound to delude his credulous Mountebankes and makes them beleeue that this Salue which dropped out of the Hangmans bouget hath performed it O wonderous miracle and what getteth the Deuill by that namely to cure a man in that sort whose body and soule is in the hands of the Almighty In maâ—… Iehouae saith Iob est anima omnis 〈◊〉 spiritus 〈◊〉 carnis In the hand of God is the soule of euery creature and the spirit of all flesh Thinkes he that God will leese his owne by so weake and poore a sleight Nay more to giue or grant vnto the Deuill his Word which as Salomon saith 〈◊〉 all things to deceiue himselfe of his owne heritage What The Deuill doe good where no profit vnto him is to be expected And why not then by the virtuall contact of this Medicine being of a neerer consanguinity with man and therefore a more easie Curer then any other Medicine that can worke by any virtuall contact A goodly tale As if a man would perswade me that it is not the Load-stone that draweth the Iron but the Deuill vseth some other creature to doe the deed to coozen and deceiue the Philosopher or Mariner These are but fabulae Inuentions I say of a fantastick braine who to perswade vs vnto his imaginary and no way probable will would make vs beleeue that Castles are built in the Ayre and that we are in all our good actions deluded by the Deuill and that flying with the wings of Master Fosters wit we must needs be wafted on the clouds of error and so in a mist of ignorance forget the blessed workes of our good God and Sauiour and by Master Fosters palpable delusions to acknowledge them to be effected craftily by Gods enemy And how in Gods name hapneth it that the Deuill is become so great a Student in Physick and doth proue so expert in the art of curing who hath employed his whole cunning and bestowed the best fruits of his industry to play the Kill-cow and to destroy A very wonderous thing Master Foster said it ergo must we beleeue it No God forbid But blessed be our Lord God who by emitting forth the benignity of his countenance sendeth onely health where how and vnto whom he list But to proceede CHAP. IIII. This Chapter sheweth Master Fosters error in saying that the soule doth not reside after an hidden manner in the spirits The second attempt of the Sponge against the same Text. Fourthly I deny that the soule resideth after any hidden manner in the spirits The Stoicks indeed held that the spirits were vincula animae corporis but the Peripatetick and Diuines deeme this as needlesse seeing the body is generated for the soule and the soule created for the body and both make the totum compositum What needs there any bonds to fasten them together There is a reciprocall desire to come together at the first and an endeauour after the vnion to keepe together The soule cannot in any kinde depend on or reside in the spirits her instruments but the spirits in the soule c. We squeese once againe in this Argument this swelling and full-gorged Sponge after this manner Though in the precedent I answered sufficiently that point yet must I wring this Sponge a little harder or it will keepe some of the iuyce of verity in his porous paunch I said before that animaesedes was in sanguine and her chiefest vehicle was the humidum radicale as we see that the Spirit of life in the great world did place His Tabernacle in the Sunne of Heauen And againe it is said that the incorruptible Spirit is in all things but this is that spirit which viuifyeth all things and therefore it resideth in the blood and consequently in the spirits which are contained therein after a hidden and mysticall manner As touching the Peripateticks and some 〈◊〉 opinion who hold that it is needlesse there should be a tye betweene the soule and body verily that doctrine is most erroneous and false First because the soule and body are so contrary in complexion vnto one another that except an vnion were made betweene the two extremes it were impossible that they should meet together or if they should or could meete yet the pure and heauenly light of the soule would suddenly forsake the impure and earthly darknesse of the body For how can duo contraria conuenire in vnum Doe we not see that all influences from aboue must haue an ayrie Chariot vehicle or medium to conuey them into bodies and to vnite them together Why did God ordaine and place the Ayre betweene the Heauen and Earth but to serue as a vehicle to vnite celestiall things with terrestriall ones quasi amoris vinculo as it were with the band of loue Can we haue a better proofe hereof in this typicall world then that of the Archetypicall Is not the Father vnited to the Sonne by the Holy Spirit which Saint Augustine calleth and many others Diuinum amoris vinculum The Diuine tye or vnion of loue Now after the Archetypicall image were all things effected both in the little and great world For the Prophet saith By the Word of the Lord the Heauens were fashioned and by the Spirit of his mouth all the vertues of them So that the vertuous vnion or linke which is made betweene the effects of the Word in whom is life and the creature to be viuified is the Good and Incorruptible Spirit by which tye God hath his essentiall relation vnto the creature By this Spirit all the discordant elements are tyed in an vnion and louing consent whereupon it is called Peace and Loue and Concord which beareth as the Apostle saith and sustaineth all things by the Word of his vertue By it weight and proportion is assigned vnto the ayre and the clouds are fastened or hung vp in measure and the waters are tyed so fast in the thicke clouds that they cleaue not To conclude in the great World the Earth and the Heauens are established and linked together by the Word of God as the Apostle Peter telleth vs or else the elements would be continually at warre And by the same reason the soule and the body or Heauen and Earth in the little World are linked together by this intermediate eternall tye or
his owne act within it selfe as shall be expressed forthwith This therefore being well considered in the first place we proceed thus As this Principall and centrall mouer in the spirit of each world doth radically and soly act and moue essentially in and ouer all namely from the centre to the circumference his Primum mobile or first moued in the great world is the principall Aetheriall region or spheare by the circumrotation whereof the Sunne which as Dauid saith is a vessell full of the Glory of God is wafted about the earth in 24. houres that thereby the whole spirit of the world may be recreated with life vegetation and multiplication And therefore this Spirits first and most worthy spheare in which it centrally doth moue is the Quintessentiall or Aetheriall spirit of life which by his presence is viuified and animated and this Aetheriall spirit being the immediate vehicle of that incorruptible spirit of life is carryed in the grosser elementary or sublunary ayr by which medium it penetrateth into animall vegetable and minerall bodies by inspiration or exspiration in animals partly occult as by the pores of the body partly manifest as by the lungs in vegetables and minerals occultly and only to be perceiued with intellectuall eyes and so giueth life multiplication to euery thing As this emanation came from God into the world the Prophet said Vestitur lumine quasi vestimento hee is clothed with light as with a garment and so Verbo Domini facti sunt Coeli spiritu ab ore eius omnis virtus eorum by the Word of the Lord the heauens were made and by his spirit all the vertues thereof among the which vertues life forme vegetation and multiplication were the chiefest As hee tooke possession of the Etheriall or starry heauen the same Prophet saith Posuit Tabernaculum suum in Sole hee made the Sunne his Tabernacle Againe as hee endued the grosser vestiment of the ayre so the Prophet saith Densa Nubes tigurium eius qui vehitur super alas venti Hee made the thicke and darke cloud his dwelling place who is carryed on the wings of the wind Againe he spake in thunder and lightning went from his nostrills as hee entred into the little world or man so the Apostle saith Vos estis Templum spiritus sancti Yee are the Temples of the holy Ghost Vos estis membra Christi Yee are the members of Christ. And againe Aperiatur terra pariet Saluatorem Let the earth open and it shall bring forth a Sauiour as hee penetrated into the earth so the Wise man saith Spiritus sapientiae implet orbem terra rum To conclude as to create viuifie and sustaine each creature hee put on all things so hee saith Spiritus incorruptibilis inest â—…nibus and againe Spiritus Dei implet omnia whereby it is euident that this diuine and incorruptible spirit by which wee liue moue and haue our being is in man for without it hee is dead a snuffe a nothing his place therefore or the heauen wherein it moueth is out Aether or heauenly spirit which acteth inuisibly in our ayeriall vehicle the grosser and courser part whereof is blood as well vitall or arteriall as naturall and venall Hence came those especiall ordinances or legall precepts which were giuen by God touching the blood not only of man but also of beast For as much as it was the seat of the spirit oflife Sanguinem saith God sedem vestrarum animarum requiram I will require your blood which is the seat of your liues or soules and againe Sanguinem hominis qui effuderit per hominem sanguis 〈◊〉 effundatur quoniam in imagineÌ„ suam fecit Deus hominem whosoeuer sheddeth the blood of man by man let his blood be shed because God made him after his owne Image whereby is argued that by reason of the diuine spirit which dwelleth in mans blood by the which we are fashioned after the Image of God God himselfe hath giuen an especiall charge to haue a respect vnto the blood For this reason therefore did the 〈◊〉 of the blood of Abel cry out for vengeance against the homicide Cain Yea so precious was the Blood euen of common Animals or vnreasonable Creatures that their blood was prohibited to bee eaten with their Flesh. And againe Hee that eateth the blood of the creature shall die the death And in another place he sheweth the reason Qui comedcrit sanguinem obfirmabo faciem meam aduersus animam illius quia anima carnis in sanguine est ego dedi illam vobis vt super altare in eo expietis pro animabus vestris sâ—…nguis pro animae piaculo sit Whosoeuer shall eate the blood of the Creature I will set my face against his Soule because the life of the flesh is in the blood and I haue giuen it vnto you that by it you may expiat on the Altar for your selues and that the blood may serue for an Oblation for your soules And for that cause man is by God commanded that if he in the chase or otherwise kill a wild beast hee should powre out his blood on the earth And againe Sanguinem omnis Animalis non sumetis in cibo Thou shalt not eate of the blood of any liuing Creature Sanguis cum Carne non edendus The Blood is not to be eaten with the Flesh. Sanguis hominis etiam à bestia requiritur The blood of the man is required of the beast Sanguinem Adipem omnino non comedetis You shall wholly abstaine from eating the Blood and Fat. Sanguinem non comedat omnis anima evobis Let not any man amongst you eate of blood Sanguis animalium pro anima est minime comedendus The blood of all beasts or animalls in Generall are not to be eaten for their soules or liues câ—…se Sanguinem 〈◊〉 Animalis tam â—…ndi quam immundi non comedes sed effundas super terram qâ—…asi aquam Thou shall not eate the blood of any liuing Creature bee it cleane or vncleane but shalt powre it out as water vpon the earth And the reason is because the Blood is the seate of the Soule or vitall Spirit which is inspired by God and therefore it is said Sanguinem Sedem animarum vestrarum requiram I will require of you that shed blood your Blood F r as much as it is the Seate of your Soules or Liues As who should say I haue animated the internall Spirit of your Blood with my Spirit of Life and therefore be carefull of it By all these places therefore we may easily discerne how the vitall spirit of man not onely of manâ—… but of beast also is contained in that ruddie vehicle of the blood as the Etheriall Spirit in the Airy and that the essentiall mouer and guider of the sterne in this Spirituall barke of man is the incorruptible
spirit of the lesser world or man For the selfe-same spirit that viuifieth the ayre in the great world after a foure-fold fashion bringeth forth the very same effects in the lesser which I proue in this manner The Prophet saith A quatuor ventis adueni ô spiritus perflato interfectos istos vt reuiuiscant c. Come O spirit from the foure winds and breath vpon these flaughtered persons that they may liue againe and the breath came into them and they liued and they stood on their feet By which words wee may gather these foure things First that it was one onely Spirit which was indued with the property of the foure winds according to whose variety in properties the foure winds were animated with contrary natures that they might worke after a foure-fold manner in the Catholike element of the world to effect the will of the Creator in any manner whatsoeuer Next that this Spirit which is the essentiall actor and mouer in the winds was that incorruptible spirit of the Lord by the which hee vseth according to that of the Apostle to viuifie all things and vnto that of the Prophet dare â—…atum populo spiritum calcantibus terram to giue breath vnto the people and a spirit to all that trace on the earth or vnto that of Iudith emittere spiritum creare omnes creaturas to send foorth his spirit and to create by it all creatures or according to that of Esdras Spiramine suo facere omnia serutinare â—…mnia in absconditis terrae to make all things by his breath and to search out by it all things that are in the bowells of the earth or according vnto that of Iob Apponere homini animam suum cuilibet creaturae nam fi spirituÌ„ seuflatum suuâ—… ad se reciperet veltraheret omnis caro expirato giue man his spirit of life and to euery creature for if God should receiue or draw vnto himselfe his spirit all flesh would expire And therefore in this place when the dead bodies should arise againe hee commanded the Prophet to say Come spirit from the foure winds as if hee should say Come O thou Catholike and Vniuersall spirit of life of the world and doe thy office in viuifying and making the dead to liue againe Thirdly that this same spirit is it by which the Apostle doth acknowledge that God worketh all in all sometimes giuing life by taking away the killing Northerne cold and dissoluing the deadly or immobil congelation of spirits which did stupifie them as it were with the sleepy and restfull enchantment of Morphaeus by his Southerne or Easternely properties which is to liquifie resolue and giue a new motion and life to spirits congealed and stupified by the Northern property and therefore Dauid saith in the foresaid Text Emittit verbunâ—… liquefacit ista simul ac efflat ventum suuÌ„ effluunt aquae Hee sendeth forth his Word and melteth them as soone as hee bloweth forth his wind the congealed and as it were dead waters â—…oue and flow againe whereby we ought to obserue that it is Gods Word or his incorrupble spirit which animateth the winds Fourthly that the very selfe-same spirit which viuifieht and giueth life and motion vnto the great worlds spirit and at his pleasure by a contrary property killeth stupifieth ceaseth to act by life motion congealing mortally doth performe the very selfe-same office when the will of the Father is in the Catholike spirit of the little world or man yea in euery creature And therefore Iob saith It is God that wounâ—…eth or striketh and it is he that cureth the reason heere hee sheweth in the place before mentiened as also wee may find in Deuteronomy I will kill and I will make aliue againe and Salomon saith Thou hast the power of â—…fe and death in thine hand Thou bringest vnto the graue and bringest backe againe and the Sonne of Syrach Vita mors bonum malum à Deo sunt Life and death good and euill are from God Wherefore as this secret and mysticall spirit hath breathed into the dead a blast of life so that very blast or breath is essentially of the nature property and Will of the Breather which was to make aliue by a quickning and not a stupifying spirit and thereupon created spirits which were before congealed and mortified became now quickned and liuely and were closed in an externall body and in an ayery or bloody vehicle which by vertue of this quickning blast his spirit did moue in the channels or veines and arteries being animated by the vertue of that spirit of life And this is the reason that God did ordaine so strict precepts touching the blood of the creatures as is said before namely that it should not be eaten as is aboue related because in it is the spirit of life or the soule of the creature in which is the spirituall vertue of the foure winds For in this action of life hee exerciseth the very same property in the heart of the creature or little world as hee doth in the heauenly sunne of the great world For as the Sunne is hot operating by rarefaction and exciting vnto motion and therefore reuiuing and multiplying as well in vegetation as in generation graines plants and other animated things of the earth powring downe from aboue the beames of life and light vnto the inferiour creatures euen so this incorruptible spirit or blast of life thus infused into man is the spirituall Sunne of the little world who maketh the heart which represents the body of the celestiall Sunne his Tabernacle from which by the arteries and vaines he sendeth forth his beames and animateth the vniuersall spirit of mans fabrick and maketh the blood agill fluent and liuely euer mouing and operating vnto the nourishment and preseruation of the members as well with naturall as vitall spirits cauâ—…ng both corporall and spirituall vegetation and multiplication of parts in euerie specificall bodie But now that I may in this place touch in few words though somewhat allaterally Master Fosters Aristotelicall limited spheare of Actiuity which the old Schoolemen haue so tumbled and tossed in their externall Phantasies without any centrall regard vnto this true and essentiall viuifying and vegetating spirits dilatiue or contractiue power I would faine know whether any worldly philosophicall Axiome can conclude or limit this princely spirit of the foure Winds which bloweth and breatheth as well in the great world as little when where how farre and at what distance it pleaseth I will first giue an example of his action from each wind in the great world and shew you how it commandeth carrieth and dilateth the spirit of the vegetable Creature Wee can gather and collect the virtuall operation of the vegetable ad distans by no meanes but by the scent as for example Rosemary and Sassaphras c Doe emitt their spirit into the Aire at a proportionated distance more or lesse
Confutation of his into two Branches or Members whereof the first shal produce this question namely Whether Blood Flesh Fat Bones haue any naturall Balsam or radicall moisture residing in them sympathising with the Hypostaticall Balsam remaining with the liuing Man The later containeth this Whether a Horse haue a Balsam sympathising with the Balsam of Man The first of these two is flatly held by M. Foster negatiuely and I in a surer confidence doe hold it affirmatiuely and will proue it first by Naturall Reason secondly by the Authority of Holy writ and lastly by Common Experience In the first place therefore I would haue M. Foster to learne what a Balsamicke nature is before hee thus rashly seeketh to censure the creatures to haue it or to bee without it I must therefore let him know that it is nought else but a volatill and essentiall salt that is full of vegetating and multiplying vertue which it receiueth from aboue as a precious soule to viuifie and animate it the which vertue is that Calidum innatum or Naturall heate by whose vertue euery creature doth exist and the volatile vehicle in which it is carried is that Humidum Radicale or Radicall Moisture or Humidity by which and in which the foresaid vertue doth immediately moue and act vnto life vegetation and multiplication By the operation therefore of these essentiall actiue and passiue Vegetables and Animals doe manifestly and Minerals occultly vegetate and multiply and that as well in their forme or naturall fire as in their substance And for this cause the true Alchymists do cal this mystical Salt Sal Sapientûm the Salt of Wise men for as much as in it consisteth the mystery of Nature And others tearme it the true Balsamum Naturae or Balsam of Nature in which all the Mystery of Nature doth consist Whereupon the wise Philosophers affirme Quod sit in sale isto quicquid quaerunt Sapientes That all that Wise men seeke after is in salt Touching the aëriall part it is the volatile salt which is euery where expansed in the open ayre and it is the purest essence of and in the ayre in which the graine of life is and therefore other Wise men say Est in aëre occultus vitae cibus The hidden food of life is in the ayre c. It is not without a very mysticall and secret cause also that our Sauiour Christ tooke an especiall notice of Salt In one place he saith Sal Terrae estis vos Ye are the Salt of the Earth where hee meaneth the spirituall man in which is the breath of life And againe Sal si euaneurit in quo salietur ad nihilum valet vltra nisi vt mittatur for as conculcetur ab hominiâ—…us If the Salt shall vanish away with what shall it bee seasoned It will be of no further value saue onely to bee cast cut of doores and to be troden on by men Whereby it is euident that nothing can exist or be of any reckoning or estimation without this Mysticall Salt or Glew of Life but will be quite dead and corrupt There is Salt in the very dunghill that giueth life and heart vnto the ground whereby it multiplieth the Graine in a greater proportion and sucketh vnto it more plentifully the Celestiall influence of life To conclude the very essence of the Animall creatures blood in generall consisteth in this Balsamicke Salt By it the body is animated by it the flesh through apposition vnion and agglutination of parts is viuified multiplied and successiuely preserued By this in the bread and the flesh of creatures the blood in man is daily increased in this therefore is the incorruptible spirit of life which keepeth man aliue and defendeth him from corruption and vnlesse it acteth his viuifying office man is quickly rotten or corrupted Doe not Scriptures confirme thus much in many placesâ—… namely that Anima ominis est insanguine That the life of man is in his blood and Anima carnis est in sanguine The life of the flesh is in the blood Now it is certaine that this viuifying Spirit which is Donum Dei cuilibet Creaturae The Gift of God vnto euery Creature as is proued before is the true operator in this his Radicall moist Tabernacle to heale mend and agglutinate wounds being assisted with any application made either by a Reall or Virtuall Contact It followes therefore that this Spirit being in the Blood Fat Bones and Flesh of Man for as much as they doe subsist by it and were first animated and engendered and multiplyed by it doe participate of this Spirit which the Scripture saith doth animate and heale all things Spiritus seu Verbum Dei saith SALOMON sanat omnia The Spirit and Word of God healeth all things But M. Foster will say that this Spirit of life is in the Blood Fat and Flesh when it is not separated from the liue Man but after it is separated it hath no more life or being I haue told him and proued the contrary in my Philosophicall Demonstration For without this Salt and liuing Spirit in it neither Blood Fat Bones nor Flesh could subsist but according vnto that of Christ beâ—…ore mentioned it would be of no vse Againe it is intimated in Holy Writ that the Spirit of life is in their centrall or inward parts though it doth not act or operate but quiescere in Centro rest in the Center as I haue before expressed plainely For else why should it be said Thou shalt altogether forbeare to eate the Blood and the Fat And againe Thou shalt not take in thy meate the blood of the creature And againe The blood of the Beast or Foâ—…le killed in hunting must be powred on the ground and the reason is there giuen namely Because the Spirit of life is in the blood And againe it is said The Soule of the flesh is in the blood Now if the Spirit of life did vanish out of the Blood Flesh Fat and Bones immediately after their separation from the liuing creature what needed all these words or strict precepts for the not eating of the Blood and Fat after the death of the creatures Or why should that reason be giuen Because the soule or life is in the blood or the blood is the seeâ—…e of the soule or life The text doth not say The Blood was the seate of the soule or life but It is namely the subsistence of these parts though separated from the liuing body doe yet participate with the Spirit of life therefore beware that you eate it not I will not here remember you of the viuifying vertue remaining with Elias his Bones which made the murthered body that was by the theeues cast into the Graue of the Prophet rise againe nor that the soules of such as were slaine for the Words sake did cry vnto the Lord from vnder the Altar for vengeance nor that the voyce of the murthered Abels blood did cry out to
a triple consideration this dull Sponge of M. Fosters is squeesed and how vnreasonable and vnprobable is his foresaid proposition I come therefore to the examination of the second question which ariseth from it Touching the second question which is Whether a Horse haue a Balsam sympathising with that of man Master Foster saith There is no such sympathy betweene Horse and Man Hee saith much but proued little or nothing As who should say M. Fosters wil is so and therefore stet pro ratione voluntas his wil must stand for a law He imitateth exactly in this his bragging M. Mersennus But I wil be so bold as to instruct him better in this matter and shew him that the bodily nature of the one doth easily sympathise and communicate with that of the other For the Flesh Fat and Bones of the one and the other are of blood in a naturall generality yea and in speciality of bloods though in number they vary For I beseech you doth not the selfesame Flesh Fat and Blood of the Beast nourish the like in man Is not the one transmuted into the other Nay doth not the Scripture speake this in a generall sense meaning all blood namely that the soule or life of the creature is in the blood and that the life of all flesh is in the blood and that for a diuine respect of that Spirit of life in the blood we are commanded not to eate of the blood of any creature And againe the blood of man in a reciprocall respect is to be demanded of the Beast that shed it All which being rightly considered who of wisedome can make any doubt and not absolutely conclude that the Beasts bodily nature doth sympathise and correspond with the parts of mans body I confesse that the Intellectuall nature of man maketh it to differ from that of a Horse for as much as he is said to be Animal rationale and the Beast Animal irrationale but these properties are onely seene in the specifying spirit and doe neither concerne or touch any action of life or vegetation or multiplication or healing I will therefore discourse in this manner God hath endued man with a double gift whereof the first is the spirit of life which he hath imparted not onely vnto him but also to all other creatures and againe he hath bestowed on him more then on any other liuing creature for he hath giuen him vnderstanding and yet the Giuer of this double gift is but onely one Spirit And thereupon Iob saith Spiritus Deifecit me inspiratio Omnipotentis viuificauit me The Spirit of God made me and the inspiration of the Euerlasting gaue me life Now as I haue said this very same benefit was giuen vnto all other creatures in all one property and office whereby it is said Deus viuificat omnia God viuifieth all things And Iudith Misit Spiritum creauit omnia He sendeth forth his Spirit and createth all things and the Prophet Isaias Deus dat flatum populo spiritum calcantibus terram God giueth breath vnto the people and spirit to euery creature that marcheth on the earth Wherby it is plaine that the same spirit of life is proportionably though diuersly in number measure and proportion powred out on euery specifick Animal and therefore there must be an admirable sympathy of nature betweene the parts of each Animal which are by vegetation and multiplication produced through the operation of the same spirit of life infused into the blood and so by the way of animation vnto the Fat Flesh and Bones And this is the reason and no other that like is conuerted into his like namely blood into blood flesh into blood and flesh and fat into his like and bones and marrow is made of both Is it not most palpable that any flesh or blood or fat of dead Beasts will be conuerted by mutation of concoction into the substance of man which it could neuer doe but that they egregiously doe sympathise in nature together and doe vnite the Balsamick nature or calidum innatum humidum radicale of the one with the other and transmute the substance of the one into that of the other which originally is the blood as well manifest as occult But touching the other extraordinary gift it is said by Iob in another place In homine est spiritus sed inspiratio Omnipotentis facit eum intelligere In man is the spirit of life but the breath of the Omnipotent maketh him to vnderstand Vnderstanding therefore is a gift a part which maketh man to differ from the Beast but not the spirit of life What then resteth more to be done Marry the Doctor must remember c. saith M. Foster And what must he remember For so strict an admonition of a wise man must import some thing of weight Hee must saith he remember his Horse-leechery And what Horse-leechery Namely that a Horse pricked with a nayle may likewise bee cured A wonderous piece of worke And was it for this mighty businesse that the same memoriall should be repeated in this his glorious Spongy piece of seruice to wipe that Assertion away Let vs therefore see the maine subiect of his commenforation which is this For saith the Doctor which I aduised him to remember if the nayle which pricked a Horse be put into the Oyntment-pot the Horse shal be cured I say There is no such sympathy betwixt Horse and Man Ha ha he Risum teneatis amici Because he saith so therefore it is so stat pro ratione voluntas Hee sayes it and though he proueth nothing yet hee must be beleeued But this mans Assertion shall be proued ridiculous as wel by a common and vulgar obseruation as the manifold practicall experience of the Nobleman or Earle which I mentioned in the 6. chapter of the 2. Member of this Treatise Touching the common vulgar obseruation we see that the flesh of all creatures as I said before be they Birds or foure-footed Beasts and therefore of a Horse is easily conuerted after it is digested in mans stomack into his blood flesh fat and bones which is an euident Argument that there is a manifest sympathy betweene a Horse his flesh and blood and that of a man yea and that there resideth in a Horse the like Balsamick nature or Radicall moysture which is in a man and that consequently the same Balsamick nature doth sympathise with the hypostaticall Balsam remaining in man The case is apparent for quod facit tale est magis tale and therefore if the blood or flesh of a Horse were not of such a nature as that of man it would neuer be conuerted and made one in vnion with the blood and flesh of man But that it is so euery Sot doth perceiue practically Whereby it is euident that the Balsamick nature of the one doth most exactly agree with the other or else they would neuer proue so homogeneall as to include one nature Againe if they
Bones Nerues and giueth them Life Action and Motion all which the patient â—…ob expresseth thus Thou hast powred mee out like Milke that is in the forme of sperme thou hast coagulated mee like Cheese thou hast endued me with Skin and Flesh thou hast compacted mee together with Bones and Sinnews thou hast giuen mee life by thy mercy and by thy visitation thou hast preserued my spirit but all this thou hast hidden in thy minde but I know all this to bee from thee Whereupon it is euident that God operateth all beginning radically in the blood and for this reason the Apostle saith rightly In him we liue we moue and haue our being I conclude therefore that here againe is all the Sponges validity so squeesed out as hereafter I hope it shall not be able to digest any great matter nor yet to bite any longer vpon the Marble Rocke of Truth CHAP. III. In the which it is proued contrary vnto our Spongy Authors opinion that spirits doe reside in the separated Blood Doctor Fludds naked Text. In the Blood is the spirit of life and with the bright soule doth abide and operateth after an hidden manner Master Fosters Collection In the Blood reside the vitall spirits in the vitall spirits the soule in an hidden manner The act of his mundifying Sponge Thirdly I deny that any spirits reside in separated Blood and Casman is so confident in this that in parts separated from the body remaine no spirits and saith that the very Deuill cannot beget or conserue any in them The Sponge squeesed Here you see that this fresh-water Souldier hath nothing to maintaine his Tenent but Ipse dixit If that faile farewell all further expectation But I will proue that this his and his Masters assertion is erroneous by three manner of wayes namely first by Philosophicall reason for being that euery amputated creature euen from the liuely stocke of his growth is filled with a Balsamick Salt of the nature of the Tree or Plant from which it sprung by which it doth exist such as indeed it is it is not possible but that it should haue of the spirit of his wonted life in it although it doth not act but rest in its Center Next by Holy Scriptures for as is proued abundantly before the blood spilled and flesh killed is full of liuely spirits though they remaine potentially in them or else why should the Israelites be commanded not to eate the fat and blood For it is said because the blood is the seate of the soule or spirit of life For if that spirit of life were fled from it what sinne had it beene to haue eaten it But the text saith for it is the seate of life and therefore it is commanded that they should powre it out on the Earth Againe let Parson Foster answer this The incorruptible pirit of the Lord is in all things Ergò in the effused blood flesh fat and bones separated from the whole And lastly by common experience for we finde that fat and blood and mummy haue singular properties of healing which they could not haue if all the spirits which they did receiue from the liuing body were exhaled but it is the office onely of the incorruptible Spirit and Word to heale and therefore being these ingredients haue an healing property they must needs in this their existence participate or communicate with this good Spirit whose nature is to expell and take away all corruption and sicknesse and other vnnaturall impediments Verbum tuum saith Salomon curat omnia thy Word cureth all for in it onely is life Ergò the viuifying spirit Moreouer I know and with mine eyes haue seene abundance of spirits which by the aâ—… of the least fire haue beene excited out of the essence of corrupted blood and fat in so much that with the naturall heate of the hand they in forme of little Atomes haue beene obserued to dance and caper in the ayre which is an euident token that there is the spirit of life lurking in the dead blood though it appeares but potentially in the essence of the dead thing in respect of vs. Againe if this were not is it possible that dead blood flesh and fat could nourish the liuing being that like is nourished by his like which could not be if in the blood flesh and fat there did not lurke naturall and viuifying spirits to maintaine their like in the liuing creature and therefore will one kinde of flesh nourish both a Man a Beast a Fish and a Fowle because all those naturall spirits are of one kinde and condition Is it not I pray you apparent to the vulgar that flesh and fat hung vp in the Sunne will bee quickly conuerted into liue Wormes or Magats Which were impossible except the spirit of life did lurke in the flesh and fat after the creature was dead yea I haue seene a whole dead Crow which I hung vp in the Sunne for a certaine purpose to be wholly sauing bones conuerted into verminous animals An euident argument of the viuifying spirits presence in the dead flesh blood and fat Yea verily I haue obserued that the Balsam of Wheate so aboundeth in it that if it bee put into Raine-water in a short space it produceth long Wormes of a white colour The same effect produceth flesh after putrifaction It is most certaine therefore that the spirit oflife is in the dead flesh and fat yea and in the graine which though it operateth not except it be stirred vp by the viuifying spirits acting property working in such an organicall body as is the Sunne the fire the liuing creature and such like yet is it most certaine that it is in the amputed blood fat flesh and bones c. You may discerne by this gentle Reader how Casman and his compleat disciple Foster haue erred But wee must excuse them modestly seeing that Humanum est errare Why I pray you should I esteeme these men more Catholick in knowledge then Bernard But Bernardus non videt omnta And yet blinde Bayard is subiect to iudge and censure any thing though vnto himselfe vnknowne Wherefore let Master Foster put vp his authority in his Pouch for I esteeme it not hauing naturall reason the testimony of Holy Writ and lastly vulgar experience or ocular demonstration to proue the contrary And whereas his Master Casman teacheth him that the very Deuill cannot beget or conserue any spirit in them I wonder how the Deuill then can worke this Weapon-Salue Cure being that the Oyntment hath no spirits of it selfe nor yet the Deuill can beget or conserue any in the ingredients thereof And if he saith that the Deuill is of great experience and doth this with other herbs or simples I would haue him to tell me why should herbs or other simples being also after they are gathered but dâ—…ad as it were and without spirits by Master Fosters owne rule serue as meanes vnto the Deuill for the working
Weapon communicateth it to the blood fixed on it the blood to the spirits the spirits conducted by the ayre communicate it to the body and so the Patient is without application of plaister healed naturally c. It is plainely and euidently here to be discerned how he corrupteth my text to make it serue his owne ends For first I make no mention of a streight or direct Line onely I speake of carrying and direction of the vitall spirits from the body wounded vnto the Box of Oyntment and then of the magneticall attraction of the sanatiue vertue back againe by an inuisible Line protracted in the ayre Then he saith as from my text that the Weapon doth communicate the vertue of the Oyntment vnto the blood fixed on it But I neither said or meant any such matter for there is a neerer consanguinity betwixt the Oyntment and the blood then betweene the Weapon and the Oyntment But I care so little for him and his deuices as that I will let him haue his will The act of his cleansing Sponge vpon this Fiftly â—…deny Master Doctors Carrier viz. his direct inuisible Line carrying the sanatiue vertue so many miles from the Weapon vnto the Wound Surely this is Tom Long the Carrier who will neuer doe his arrant But the Sunne with his beames is a true Messenger betweene Heauen and Earth and so this Salue 〈◊〉 the Weapon and the Wound O incomparable comparison The Sunne is called quasi solus as hauing no pecre no creature working like it But the Doctor like another Archimedes can make one working by sending forth beames like it Though you call this my Messenger Tom Long the Carrier yet shall it doe his aâ—…ant so surely and returne so suddenly vpon you his slanderer being carried on the swift wings of verity that in the conclusion of this text it shall giue you but Iack Drummes entertainment for your reward I doe not say good Sir that as the Sunne-beame is a true Messenger betwixt Heauen and Earth so the Salue is a Messenger betwixt the Weapon and the Wound O admirable capacity of so learned a Gentleman in his owne conceit to imagine things that are not but I say that as the Sunne-beame is a Messenger betwixt Heauen and Earth so is the beame of the viuifying and incorruptible Spirit in the inward man which is his Heauen vnto the blood which lyeth hid in the Oyntment no otherwise then the graine of Corne in a good and fertill earth receiueth the viuifying comfort of the Sunne-beames by which after putrifaction of the graine it doth by a magnetick power draw the little soule now at liberty vpward towards his Fountaine of life from whence it descended the yeere before for the multiplying of the graine But because it is hindred by his elementary body it remaines houering in the ayre and by sucking down from aboue more of his like it multiplyeth from one graine vnto a great many Is it therefore impossible that the like might happen betweene the beame issuing from the body and the corrupted blood in the Oyntment the small Atome of life by 〈◊〉 of the dead blood arising and without impediment of his vnctuous earth sucked by little and little vnto his Fountaine of life But because all this is liuely expressed in mine answer vnto the very selfesame obiection made in the first and second Chapter of the second Member of this Treatise I will refer the Reader vnto those places where he shall finde all the Contents of this his insufficient Confutation answered his Sponge thorowly squeesed and all his rancor and venom pretended against this my Text quite crushed out and annihilated Then he proceedeth thus The Sunne is called quasi solus as bauing no peere no creature working like it but the Doctor like another Archimedes c. Good Master Parson semper excipio Platonem That incorruptible Spirit which as the Sonne of Syrach telleth vs was created before all things must be excepted Doe you marke this Sir For I told you that your Sponge in the inquisition of this text would haue but Iack Drummes entertainment I hope you will not preferre the visible Sunne either in glory or actiuity before this Diuine Spirit which giueth it glory and actiuity What The creature before the Creator The matter before the forme The Patient before the Agent Is this Master Parsons good diuinity Or doth Philosophy teach him thus much Whatsoeuer Tully telleth vs that this is reuer â solus in mundo actor It is certaine that it was this Spirit which put his Tabernacle in the Sunne of Heauen and by it only the Sunne liueth moueth and operateth here below and there aboue and it is one and the same Spirit which imparteth vnto all creatures and consequently vnto vs men the spirit of life by which we liue moue and haue our being It is he that hath reciprocally put his Tabernacle in man as well as in the Sunne and therefore are we termed the Members of Christ and Temples of the Holy Ghost Whereby the wisdome of Master Foster nay of a Christian Diuine may bee well skanned and discerned in saying in his text But D. Fludd like another Archimedes can make one working by sending forth beames like it c. No verily I will not be so bold to ascribe vnto my selfe that which belongeth onely vnto God my Creator howsoeuer Master Foster would ascribe it to the Deuill Concerning the full answer vnto this his Confutation I referre you as is said vnto the second Member of this Treatise I will proceede now vnto the greatest assault wherein his Sponge rubbeth very hard against my Text but preuaileth no more then they which goe about to wash away the colour of a Black-moore It will proue I hope a meere labour in vaine CHAP. VI. How contrary vnto our Spongy Cabalists intention it is proued first that euill spirits may contaminate and alter into their nature the aëry spirit of man as also that Deuils haue aëry bodies allotted vnto them in their creation Lastly the mutability and vnconstancy of the Consutor in his mayne Argument is discouered Doctor Fludds Text. FRom hence therefore ariseth that secret combination and vnion which is made betweene the euill spirit and the Cacomagicians or Witches by the which foolish men 〈◊〉 filthily deceiued by the Deuill whereupon the Deuill or malignant spirit by the alluerment of such a reward doth accomplish the will or desire of the witch And hereupon a compact is made betweene them namely that the spirit in what shape soeuer may sucke daily a portion of blood whereby the spirit lurking in the blood of the Magician may be made of one nature and condition with that of the malignant spirit and so his spirit was conuerted into a 〈◊〉 condition whereby it is impossible for him to depart from the worship of the Deuill Master Fosters Collection from the Text. That there is such a sympathy betwixt the blood in the body and