upon my Words for know that what I have only hinted is far more than what I have discovered And what I have declared to thy first apprehension most openly hath yet its lurking Serpent under the Green Grass I mean some hidden thing which thou oughtest to understand which thou being Cock-sure at first blush will neglect but yet it will bite thee by the Heel when thou approachest to practice and make thee begin again and it may be at last throw away all as a Man desperate For know that this is an Art very Pag. 370. Cabalistical and we do study Expressions such as we know will almost suit with every Man's Fancy in one place or other But be sure to take this Maxim from one who knows best the Sence of what he has written Where we speak most plainly there be most circumspect for we do not go about to betray the Secrets of Nature especially then in those places which seem to give Receipts so plain as you would desire suspect either a Metaphor or else be sure that something or other is supprest which thou wilt hardly without Inspiration ever find of thy self which in tryal will make all thy confident Knowledge vanish yet to a Son of Art we have Written that which never heretofore was by any revealed ☞ And to conclude all take these further Words of my Master Aeyrenaeus Now for a close of this most Secret Gate Rip Rev. pag. 371. Whereat few enter none but they who are By God's Grace favour'd it s not luck ne fate That in disclosing this can claim a share It is a Portion which is very rare Bestow'd on those whom the most High shall chuse To such the Truth I freely shall declare Nor ought through Envy to them shall refuse Nor with unwonted Riddles shall their hopes abuse Of uncouth Subjects now shall be my Song My mind intends high wonders to reveal Which have lain hidden heretofore full long Each Artist striving them how to conceal Lest wretched Caitiffs should their Treasures steal Nor Villains should their Villanies maintain By this rare Art which danger they to heal In horrid Metaphors veild an Art most plain Lest each Fool knowing it should it when known disdain Remember Man how he produced was Pag. 372. How formed from a lump of abject Clay From whence created he each thing doth pass Which next to Angels ever saw the day For God infus'd in him so bright a Ray Of his own Image which the Body joyn d To it ennobled so that both pourtray Their Maker as though Heaven with Earth combin'd A little System of the Universe to find But yet though he of Soul and Body both Was made and of the two the nobler part The Soul by far which for the most part doth The Subject nominate yet that same Art That made so rare a piece doth from the part Less noble name the whole Adam or Dust Wherein a Mystery was couch'd whose Heart Of life the Centre to Earth's bowels must Return the Earth it self for Man's sake being curst Right so our Stone containeth Natures two 373. One hidden subtle Soul Heavens progeny The other gross compact terrene also Earth's product must to Earth by destiny Which when resolv'd is made a feculency To sight but the Coelestial part is still Though over-clouded most pure inwardly And shall at last most Pearly drops distill Which shall the barren Earth with Fruit in plenty fill Thus all our Secrets from the Earth do flow Our Base 'T is Earth which for our Base at first we take Our Water also unto Earth must go And both together must a Limus make Which we with respite by our Art must bake Till all become a Spirit glorify'd Whose firmness wasting time shall never shake By perfect union th' are so surely ty'd Each Element the other three within it self doth hide Take then that thing which Gold we please to call 374. But 't is not Gold yet Gold it is in truth Metalline 't is yet from a Mineral It flows which Art by Natures help renew'th And to a Fool an uggly Face it sheweth Yet to a Son of Art it lovely seems T is stellar White and tender in his Youth And vile appears in many Mens esteems Yea the most part of Men it for a trifle deems From it is made a Subject of great price Shew it the Goldsmith and he 'l swear 't is Gold But look you sell it not if you be wise The Basis 't is of Secrets manifold The Secret This for their Secret main the Sages hold The like is in Gold digged from the Mine But to procure it is scarce to be told That you may understand tho' every line Were plainly wrote yet might your practice oft decline For 't is a Labour hardly to be borne So many tricks and turnings in it be 375. And he that tryeth it is surely for lorne Unless a crafty Master credit me For I have tryed both yet could not see How any in this way can be secure I therefore who have vowed Secrecy Have writ this way which we can scarce endure Authors Vow For knowledge sake to try its ease will none allure Our kingly Road I also hinted have The hint Our way in which a Fool can hardly err Our secret way which much sad toyl will save Which is so easie that I may aver If thou shouldst see it thou would'st it prefer To any earthly Pleasure yet beware That you mistake not for I do aver A mingled Doctrine these lines do declare For both ways in this Book of mine doclaim a share Learn to distinguish every Sentence well And know to what Work it doth appertain 376. This is great Skill which few as I can tell By all their reading yet could ere attain And yet of Theory this is the main Also to know accordingly to give Due Heat which in one way thou must be fain T' increase tenfold thou may'st me well believe For what doth one decoct t'other away will drive Also their Operations different Appear the one thou must sublime and boyl O tedious way in which much time is spent And many errours which the Work will spoyl The other silently doth make no toyl Like the still voice which to Eliah came About which work thou needest not broyl Nor want'st thou fiery Vulcans parching flame A far more gentle heat begins and ends this Game But if thou canst each work perform a part 377. And knowst them afterward to reconcile Then art thou Master of a princely Art The very Success will thy hopes beguile Thou hast all Natures Works rankt on a File And all her Treasures at command dost keep On thee the Fates shall never dare but smile No Mystery is now for thee too deep Th' art Natures Darling whether thou dost wake or sleep Pardon my plainness if the Art thou knowst 'T was the fruit of my untame desire To profit many and without a
c. I doubt me whether W. C. Esq knew the Philosophical Venus and Diana for they are both one as is plain by what follows And yet O strange a Wonder to relate The learned Sophies Feast At this same Spring naked Diana sat c. Aeyrenaeus in his Treatise called Vade Mecum Philosophicum annext to his Opus Tripartitum pag. 218. says That signum Corpus imperfectum Corporis imperfecti praeparati est Candor egregius instar argenti purissimi c. Pag. 219. Qua propter opus hoc regium Rex summus signavit vilis tamen res est etiam pretiosissima c. Mille ei nomina ab Antiquis pariter ac Modernis Sophis imposita leguntur c. Leo. viridis medium aqua maris acetum acerrimum ignis secretus Saturnia herba in monte Luna solis nxor femina Luna Beyaque appellatur Saturni Deastrorum Senioris proles est unde Venus à Venns quibusdam nominatur c. Nemus porro sibi dicatum habet ideoque venatricis Dianae Diana nomen accipit c. Pag. 213. Dico tibi bona fide quod sola nostra Luna quae solis uxor est in opere nomine mutato nos deludat c. Pag. 215. Luna nostra quae faemellae vices habet proles est Saturnia quae cum bellicoso Deo affinitatem conjugii contraxit ideoque Veneris nomine ab invidis Venus vocatur Arsenicum vero dicitur partim quia uti cuprum ab Arsenico dealbatur Arsenicum ita c. Pag. 221. Corpus tamen revera Hermaphroditicum auri respectu argentive mercurins vivus est aqua fugitiva Mercurii vero mineralis collatione terra vera apparet terra tamen Adamica b. e. Chaos sive limbus nominari meretur c. Chaos Well then W.C. knew not the Doves of Diana nor why so called Hermetick Secrets in English p. 172. And though their Writings abound with ambiguous and equivocal Words yet about none do they more contend than in hiding their golden Branch Quem teget omnis Aen. 6. Lucus obscuris claudunt convallibus umbrae Which all the Groves with Shadows overcast and gloomy Vallies hide Nor yieldeth it to any Force but readily and willingly will follow him who Maternas agnoscit aves Et geminae cui forte columbae Ipsa sub ora viri coelo venere volantes Knows Dame Venus Birds And him to whom of Doves a lucky paire Sent from above shall hover 'bout his Eare c. The knowledge of Dianas Doves otherwise Dame Venus Birds is the main Knot then How shall we do to find them There is an ingenious Book Entitled Disceptatio de Lapide Physico that in pag. 88. endeavouring to expound Aeyrenaeus has these words Juvenis alatus est Mercurius Chaos seu Infans Hermophroditus est Regulus Stellatus Canis Corascenus rabidus est sulfur Arsenicale Columbae Dianae sunt salia Aquila evolans est Mercurius purissimus homogenitate unus substanttâ Essentiali duplicatus propter sulphur secum ascendens animatus cum quo c. Columbae Dianae sunt salia c. Well then the Doves of Diana are Salts it seems Salts says he What Salts Nay who can tell He might as well have said nothing of them What shall we do now then Why e'en go to Aeyrenaeus himself and hear what he says of them Ripley Revived pag. 24. In this our Work our Diana is our Body when it is mixed with the Water for then all is called the Moon for Laton is whitened and the Woman bears Rule Our Diana hath a Wood for in the first days of the Stone our Body after it is whitened grows vegetably In this Wood are at the last found two Doves for about the end of three weeks the Soul of the Mercury ascends with the Soul of the dissolved Gold These are infolded in the everlasting Arms of Venus for in this Season the Confections are all tincted with a pure green Colour These Doves are circulated seven times for in seven is Perfection and they are left dead for they then rise and move no more our Body is then Black like to a Crows Bill for in this Operation all is turned to Powder blacker than the blackest Such passages as these c. Gentlemen How do you like this is it not very plain I hope you are now throughly Satisfied but stay methinks you look soomewhat angerier than before all is not well I doubt let us read on then pag. 25. Such passages as these we do oftentimes use when we speak of the preparation of our Mercury and this we do to deceive the Simple and and it is also for no other end that we confound our Operations speaking of one when we ought to speak of another for if this Art were but plainly set down our Operations would be Contemptable even to the Foolish c. Ho ho my Master you intend then to deceive us simple ones do you But hold we will not let you go so because your Work is truly Natural You therefore take the Liberty to Pag. 25. confound the Philosophers Work with that which is purely Natures Work that so ye might keep the simple in Ignorance concerning your true Vinegar which being unknown our labour is wholly lost c. This is very fine indeed To what purpose have I and many more taken so much pains and laid out so much Money to buy your Books and spent so much time in Reading them nay moreover run the hazard of cracking my Brain with thinking upon it and some say I have done it already and if it be so I 'le lay the whole blame upon you and Master Sendivogius c. Nay I will not excuse Prince Geber himself that is so subtile in his Sum of Perfection Aeyren. Be not so Angry young Man nor yet so hasty Have you considered well what the Philosophers write are you so fitly qualified as Sendivogius and the others direct and have you duely observed their Directions Hort. Sir I Humbly beg your Pardon I did not perceive you was so nigh at hand I readily acknowledge that this Art cannot be Fathom'd much less enjoy'd by all men I confess my self not to be so Prepared and Qualified as the matter requires and am altogether unworthy of so great a Gift and therefore I fear must now bid both it and you a long farewel Good Sir Farewel Aeyren. But hold stay a little Did not you say e'en now that I should be unto you as a Master Are you not advised to abide in the simple way of Nature to persist in the Text and to wait with patience c I am not willing you should thus loose your labour as you call it tho' what you have taken therein amounts not to the tenth part which some others far more deserving than your self have done and yet never made such large Exclamations If J. be your Master Let me hear you now repeat the Principles
and Foundation of this Art Hert. Sir I shall do it readily since you are pleased to require it This Art consists in the Metalline Kingdom only in Metals from Metals and by Metals It is built upon four Metalline Principles or Elements Fire Air Earth and Water That the two first joynd are Radix Artis and the true Key That enough of them hath been said already that we are now seeking out the third Principle of Earth the Doves of Diana which reconciles the two first to the last that therefore they must be of a Metalline Nature and make the second Work which may be called Conjunction Triptative c. Aeyren. Now see if in my Writings I have not sufficiently touched this Principle of Earth or the Doves of Diana Hert. Sir I thank you for your seasonable Advice and with your Favour I will make a further search Let me see Vera confectio Lapidis Philoso p. 133. Nunc ad medicianam secundi ordinis transeamus Medecina secundi ordinis quae habet inspirare tingere et fermentare primam compositionem Unde Calidius Philosophus nemo potest vel postea poterit tingere terram albam foliatam nisi cum Auro Seminate aurum vestrum in terra alba foliata seminate hoc est conjungite vel fermentate aurum id est animam vel virtutem tingentem in terra alba foliata hoc est in terra preparatione debita facta alba et munda in qua non sint sordes nam si it a preparata non sit non sit idonea ut possit suam formam vel animam recipere ut conjunctae fiant immortales c. Pag. 155. Atque finalis scopus istius medicinae secundi Ordinis est Reducere lapidem in terram fixam spiritualem et tingentem Pag. 142. Accipe sulphur album et ipsum fige Luper corpus suum album fixum et mundatum id est supra argentum Et sulphur rubeum supra corpus suum rubeum scil supra aurum c. Pag. 150. Praeterea ad hanc medicinam secundi Ordinis spectat illud Hermetis Scitote inquit rumorum inquisitores et sapientiae filii quod Vultur supra montem existens in Cacumine voce magna clamat inquiens protige me et ego protegam te largire mihi jus meum ut te adjuvem Sol enim meus et radii mei sunt in me Luna vero mihi propria est ac lumen meum omne lumen superat et mea bona omnibus bonis sunt sublimiora Me igitur c. Fons Chemicae Philosophiae pag. 93. Sed ut ad aquam revertamur in qua crede mihi totum secretum consistit quae aqua licet sit una non tamen est simplex sed composita nempe ex Vase et igne Philosophorum Vinculum quibus tertium additur nempe vinculum Quum igitur c. Introit Apert p. 4. Est nempe in aqua nostra requisitus primò ignis secundo liquor Saturniae vegetabilis tertiò Mercurii vinculum c. I am not to learn that sometimes and in some respects the first Principle of Fire is called Vinculum Mercurii because it tends to the fixing of it but the Water is tied to the Fire only by the third Principle Ripley Revived pag. 290. The second manner is called Triptative Which is Conjunction of things Three Of Body Soul and Spirit that they not strive Which Trinity thou must bring to Unity For as the Soul to the Spirit the Bond must be Right so the Body the Soul to him must knit Out of thy Mind let not this Lesson flit Pag. 292. Know that the Soul doth not ascend but it carries with it a fermental Odour of the Body by which it doth so effectually affect the Spirit that it begins to think of taking a new Impression and becomes daily by little and little more and more able to suffer Fire and by consequence draws to the nature of a Body observe this c. Pag. 307. The next is to know our Mercury which is not Common but Artificial drawn from three Heads by the mediation of one thing which makes the two which are dry and sulphureous to unite with one which is moist and mercurial Brevis Manuductio ad Rubin Coelestem pag. 69. Causa secunda finalis haec est ut contrarias qualitates conciliaâ—emus Non autem conciliantur qualitates contrariae nisi per medium Pag. 70. Medium Medium ergo erit utriusque Partïceps utrique accommodatum Vertendo itaque compositum in terram jam concordant in hoc tertio frigus calor ut cohabitare possint c. Postea vero in aquam dissolvendo conciliantur c. Also in Rip Rev you speak to this purpose viz. For certainly the ferment Ferment which cometh between the compound Body and the Water causeth a Death and a Regeneration c. Also in another part of it thus Now in the Composition of these three first our common Mercury and the two Common Mercury Principles of our Compound there interceeds the Ferment c. Out of which though it be a Body proceeds yet a specificated Odour c. Now Sir I thank you for your Encouragement since I have cause to rejoyce Aeyren. How come you to lay any stress upon these Words Hort. Because Sir you have expresly said it more than once or twice and a certain honest Author speaks to this purpose That after the joyning of the two first Principles the Mercury of the second may then be said to be dead and never more to be made living but by Argent vive which cannot be done without mixture but that it will not mingle it self with the common Argent vive because of the Sulphur c. therefore there must be a medium that in Medium the medium must be a Specifick seperative Power to coagulate c. for common Mercury has no Specifick therefore take c. This Sir I think agrees exactly with your own words formerly cited Aeyr It does so Name your Author therefore for certainly he is one of the plainest that ever writ concerning this Principle Hor. He is no plainer Sir in this than in the rest but his Book is of small Account and I must beg your Pardon Sir because in your Preface to Ripley Revived after you have told us what light you received from Bernard Trevisan you say next to him or rather before him in some respects is an Author whom you will not name c. So Sir I follow your Example and I know you can easily perceive the words are not of my own invention Aeyr But how then has this your Earth a relation to the Doves of Diana which are spoke in the Plural Hor. Because of the Quantity Sir which is two to one Aeyren. Have you seen any Receipt for it Hort. Yes Sir one of your own it is as follows Arcanum Arsenici Philosophici 1. Accepi Draconis ignei partem unam
from him And concludes thus Let none therefore expect that from me that I own not my self Master of he that doth and fails of his Expectations let him not hereafter blame me but himself c. Thus our Expectation ends in a hush and comes to nothing and thus we see how a Building may soon fall for want of a true Foundation and how greatly many have been deluded by that Subject of common Mercury sometimes wholly approving other times altogether rejecting the same and sometimes allowing it only in part I have seen a little Book called Chymical Medecinal and Chyrurgical Addresses made to Samuel Hartlib Esq 1655. And in it a Treatise named A Caveat for Alchymists the Table of the Book says it is Gabriel Platt's Caveat This Man sets out some of the Cheats of sophistical Multipliers and Imposters And in his first Chap. tells us that he was shortly to demonstrate before the High and Honourable Court of Parliament in England that there is such a thing seasible as the Philosophers Stone or to speak more properly an Art in the Transmutation of Metals c. But in the Discovery of the fourth Cheat he makes a Condition if says he I may have a Laboratory like to that in the City of Venice where they are sure of Secrecy and to be provided for c. And towards the Conclusion he cries out What should I say more Oh if any Man either in England or beyond the Seas shall trouble himself to write to me he shall be sure to have an Answer if he come to me he shall be sure to lose his Labour if he think to win me by Rewards tho never so Great he shall be sure to get nothing but a Jeer c. And professes that he had not only found out the Philosophers Stone but also a true and infallible way to make England Happy by it This Man I say for all his great Boasting and some true philosophical Caveats is mistaken in common Mercury for although he allows that without it this Art could never have been found He notwithstanding adds Not that it can be made the philosophical Dissolvent by any preparation whatsoever but without it the first Dissolvent for there are three cannot be gotten for it only hath the Power to separate this mineral Spirit from a crude Mineral taken from the Mine which the Fire hath not touched and no other thing under Heaven can do it else no more than any Creature besides a Bee can extract Hony out of a Flower By this I easily perceive he spoke only by ghuess and I am affraid England is not one bit the Happier for all his great Cunning. But to return to Aeyrenaeus his Mercury of which he further tells us that this is the only Mercury and there is none in the whole World besides it which can do our Work With this says he Hermes did moisten his Body and made it to rot and putrefie By means of this Water the Body shall be brought to have a vegetative Soul for it will shoot forth as with Sprigs and Leaves and Branches and after it will resolve into Powder like Atoms c. And pag. 240. That it is the Mother of Metals and therefore hath Power to reduce them by dividing their Principles of Sulphur and Mercury he further adds but we count it a loss to imploy our Mercury to such sordid Uses for we spoil the goodness of it thereby Gold only is drown'd in it c. 242. This Water is by the Philosophers Mercury called Venom called their Venom and indeed it is a very strong Poyson to wit to the Body of Sol to which it is mixed But what it is to the Body of Man I never The highest of all Medicines in the World tried my self nor gave it to any other nor do I believe did any of they But as concerning the Medicine that is made by it and out of it it is certain that of all Medicines in the World it is the highest for it is the true Arbor Vitae which doth Answer the universal Desires of them who have it in this kind for besides it's Vertue Curative which it hath in a wonderful miraculous way it can penetrate even to our constitutive Principles which no other mineral Medicine can do c. Of which more hereafter I observed before That this Water is the only Base of the Grand Arcanum of the Philosophers because out of it by digestion they obtain a Sulphur or Gold far more Excellent than any common Gold for their great Work In Sendivog Engl pag. 144. Concerning Sulphur I find these Words viz. For the House of Gold is Mercury and the House of Mercury is Water but Sulphur is that which coagulates Mercury which Sulphur indeed is most difficultly prepared but more difficultly found out For in the Sulphur of the Philosophers this Secret consists which also is contained in the inward Rooms of Mercury of whose Preparation without which it is improfitable we shall Discourse hereafter in the third Principle of Salt seeing here we treat of the Vertue and Original not Praxis of Sulphur c. ☞ I know not what to Answer for this Passage the Translator says he hath done it faithfully from the Latin into the English-Tongue but I find nothing to this purpose in the Latin Printed Genevae MDC XXXVIII However in pag. 161. I find these words Considerando quod c. By considering that the Mercury of the Philosophers hath in it self its own good Sulphur more or less depurated and decocted by Nature thou mayst perfect all things out of Mercury but if thou All out of Mercury shalt know to add thy Weights to the Weights of Nature to double Mercury and triple Sulphur it will quickly be terminated in good than in better until into best of all c. 163. Common Mercury by how much the more it is decocted the more fluxible it is Our Argent Vive by how much more it is decocted the more it is thickned by these Circumstances therefore thou maist consider how the common Mercury differs from the Mercury of the Philosophers If thou dost not yet understand do not expect it no mortal Man will give you clearer things than we have here spoken of But now of the Vertues of it Our Argent Vive is of such Vertue Mercury sufficient of self that it is of its self sufficient for thee and for it self without any addition of any extraneous thing it is dissolved and congealed by a natural Decoction only but Philosophers for But c. brevities sake add to it its own Sulphur well digested and ripened and so they work c. ☞ But not to build upon the Authority of one Philosopher In Theat Chem. Britt 380. I read thus In four Elements is comprehended things three Animalls Vegetabills Mineralls must be Of this our Principle that we make our Stone Quality and quantity is unknown to many one c. Out of one Principle four
will do so after him Let it be said then in honourable Remembrance of him that the World is more obliged to him for Instruction in this Art than to all his Predecessors The Conjunction of these two Principles in the Glass or Egg the Philosophers also call Rebis and Conjunction Diptative that is two things to wit in Number for you may yet separate each from other in its intire Nature See Rip Rev. in the Exposition on the Preface pag. 32. These two being joyn'd do operate so within the Vessel till the Compound become a black Powder which is then called the Ashes of the Platter This Powder relenteth into a black Broth which is called Elixir or Water extracted by elixation which is reiterate liquefaction This Elixir is divided into a more subtle part which is called Azoth and Pag. 33. the grosser part is called Leton which is by Azoth washed and whitened In Rebis the Matters are confused Rebis In Elixir they are divided and Elixir In Azoth they are conjoyn'd with an inseperable Union Azoth These are by Ripley called his three Mercuries For I will truly now thee excite To understand well Mercuries three The Keys which of this Science be Raymund his Menstrues doth them call c. The first is to be prepared and joyn'd as aforesaid and is the Philosophers Key the other two are Natures Keys And pag. 41. This Azoth he says is our Stone for it is inseparately united not in a Diptative Conjunction which is barely a mixture of the Sun with our Mercury or Triptative which is a mixture and union of the Body Soul and Spirit which is before Putrefaction but Tetraptive which is the Anatization of Qualities which is the first degree of the white Stone which will then grow higher and higher till the Moon come up to the full c. ☞ So we see the same Conjunctions and Operations are mentioned by the Philosophers as well in the Great Work as the Less and oftentimes confounded one with the other The joyning of the two first are also said to be the two Sulphurs with two Mercuries joyn'd to them indeed Whereby he doth true Understanders leade To the Knowledge of the Principles which be only true Both Red most pure and White as I have spede Which be neverthelesse founden but of right few See Theat Chem. Britt pag. 111. Rip Revived pag. 22. says The fourth Conclusion makes all perfectly plain which hath been said before namely that these two Sulphurs are the one most pure Red Sulphur of Gold and the other of most pure clean White Mercury These says he are our two Sulphurs the one appears a coagulated Body and yet carries its Mercury in its Belly The other is in all its Proportions true Mercury yet very clean and carries its Sulphur within it self tho' hidden under the form and fluxibility of Mercury So Sendivog tells us Saturn to make the Philosophers Stone took two Mercuries of differing Substance but of one Original and called them Sulphurs of Sulphurs and mixed the fixed with the volatile c. Then they made the Philosophers Stone because of a true matter a true thing must needs be made and this is that Art which he commends so highly You may understand that the Philosophers in their Great VVork observe only three principle Colours as Black Colours VVhite and Red though there be several mean or middle Colours The Black they say with their Sol and Mercury will happen about the end of forty days as appears in Introit Chap. 19. The Moon in its full or the white Stone See Secrets Reveal'd Chap. 19. in five months and the Red in seven or nine or ten at the most The other way with common Sol you may be a year and a half or two years to the perfection of Red which way is also very difficult Mr. Norton in his Ordinal pag. 88. Informs us that his Master told him how that many by teaching and patience attained the White Stone but scarce one in fifteen the Red which words made Norton sad his whole desire being for the Red Medicine but his Master told him he was too Young to know it that at last he obtain'd his Masters Love and the Doctrine of the Red Stone which is not to be sought till the White is perfected and he is much affraid to disclose this Secret But my herte quaketh my hand is trembling Page 89. When I write of this most Selcouth thing Hermes brought forth a true Sentence and blounte When he said Ignis Azot tibi sufficiunt c. Then he tells us That neither Albertus Magnus the Black Freer neither Freer Bacon his Compeer knew the Multiplication of the Red Stone Nor had he himself assay'd it till the time he writ his Book at last it comes out That the Red is hid within the Center of the White as is also affirmed by Aeyrenaeus and others Pandulphus in Turba said Mente secura Page 90. Et ejus umbra in vera tinctura Maria confirm'd it in fide oculata Quod in ipsa albedine est Rubedo occultata The Book Laudible Sanctum made by Hermes Of the Red Worke speaketh of this wise Candida tune Rubeo jacet Uxor nupta marito That is to say If ye take heed thereto Then is the fair white Woman Married to the ruddy Man This Stone he says will be as Red as Perfect Red. Blood and that then the Masculine Seed has wone the Victory and the Stone compleate Whom wise Men said that ye should feed With his own Venome when it is need Then ride or goe where ye delight For all your Costs he woll you quite Thus endeth the Subtil warke with all her store I need not I maie not I wool shew no more He also tells us pag. 72. That it is Dangerous to taste of the Stone till it be perfect Red nor much or oft of that Wherefore it is perill and not good Much or oft to tast of that Foode It comforteth Metals as we well finde But it is Perillous for all Mankind Till perfect Red thereof be made Such as in Fier woll never fade A lewde Man that served this Arte Tasted of our White Stone a parte Trusting thereby to find releefe Of all Sicknes and of all Greefe Whereby the Wretch was sodenly Smitt with a strong Paralisie Whom my Master with great Engine Cured with Bezoars of the Mine c. And Sir George Ripley in his Preface to the Arch Bishop of York avers the same Theat Chem. Brit. 389. And It s Vertue Sendivogus pag. 183. Lat. 133 Eng. Causeth the Vox to answer the Alchymist to the same purpose Alch. Sir the Universal Medicine being had how long may a Man preserve himself from Death Vox Even to the term of Death but this Medicine must be taken cautiously for many wise Men have been destroyed by it before their time Alch And what say you Sir is it Poyson Vox Hast thou