MOSAICAL PHILOSOPHY: Grounded upon the ESSENTIAL TRUTH OR ETERNAL SAPIENCE.  
Written first in Latin, and afterwards thus rendered into English.  
By ROBERT FLUDD, Esq & Doctor of Physic.  
The Lord giveth Wisdom, and out of his Mouth cometh Knowledge and Understanding,  Prov. 2.6. 
The Wisdom of the world is foolishness with God: The Lord knoweth that the thoughts of the wise be vain,  1 Cor. 3.19, 20. Psal. 94.11. 
Beware lest there be any man that spoil you, by Philosophy, or vain fallacy, through the Traditions of men, according unto the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ: For in him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily,  Colos. 2.8, 9 
LONDON, Printed for Humphrey Moseley, at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1659.   

To the Judicious and Discreet READER.  
MY desire is (Judicious and Learned Reader) that it may not prove offensive unto any, if (in the imitation of my Physical and Theo-philosophicall Patron St. Luke) I mention and cite the testimony of Holy-Writ, to prove and maintain the true and essential Philosophy, with the virtuous properties of that eternal Wisdom, which is the Foundation and Cornerstone, whereon it is grounded. Was not this the radical Subject of my foresaid Patron, who was as well a Divine Philosopher, as a Physician? If the office of of Jacob's Ladder, was for Souls and Angels, to ascend from the Earth unto Heaven, and to descend from Heaven unto Earth, and that by many steps or degrees, corresponding-to both the Elementary and ethereal or Heavenly nature: Or (as the Poet, speaking mystically), If the chain of Nature hath its highest and last link, fastened unto the foot of Jupiter's chair in Heaven, as the lower is fixed on Earth: how is it possible for us earthly creatures, or rather divine Images, howsed and obscured in clayie tabernacles, to wade, of ourselves, through the confused Labyrinth of the creature, unto the bright Essence of the Creator; that is, to search out the mysteries of the true Wisdom in this world, and the creatures thereof; but by penetrating with a mental speculation and operative perfection into the earthly Circumference or mansion thereof, and so to dive, or attain by little and little unto the heavenly Palace; I mean, the middle point or Centre thereof, where only her abiding place is to be found, who is the Centre of all things; whose Circumference is no where, rationally, to be imagined or thought of? If God therefore in and by his Eternal Word or Divine Wisdom, hath first made the creatures, and sustained the same unto this present; How can a real Philosopher enucleate the mysteries of the Creator in the creature, or judiciously behold or express the creature in the Creator (for in him are all things); but by such rules or directions as the only store-house of Wisdom, namely the holy Scriptures have registered, and the finger of that sacred Spirit indicted for our instructions? Shall we with the Agarens, and those which were of Theman, forsake the Fountain of Virtue, to search after true Wisdom, where it is not to be found? And yet nevertheless, lest mine intention should by the misprision of any, be ill interpreted or misunderstood, I think it convenient, to certify you, that my p●●●pose, in the progress of this Sacred or Mosaical Philosophy, is far from any presumption, to trench upon, or derogate from the deep and mystical Laws of Theology in her pure and simple essence, or to oppose the current of her Argument against those usual Tenants and Authentic rules in Divinity, which have been long since decreed and ordained by the Ancient Fathers of the Church. But as it is certain, that one and the selfsame place in Scriptures hath a twofold meaning, to wit, an internal or spiritual, and an external or literal; and either of these two senses are true and certain, though they seem to vary or differ by a divers respect: no otherwise than under the name of one and the same man a double nature, namely a spiritual Soul, and a material Body, are really to be understood: So also besides such mystical interpretations, as the Texts of Scripture do internally contain; it may also express and delineate externally such created realities, as belong unto the true Subject of the most essential Philosophy. And again, we ought co consider, that the Subject or method in proceeding or handling of both these progressions, are in some sort different, being that the one (I mean Theology) pointeth directly at the sincere and simple nature, with the virtuous extentions and powerful operations of the Divine Essence, making her demonstration à Priori, as if for the proof of a Circle's existence, one should begin his inquisition from the formal Centre or middle-point, and so proceed unto the Circumference. The other (to wit, Philosophy) moveth by a clean opposite action or method, from the external of the creature, or organ, quasi demonstratione à posteriori, to dive and search into its internal Centre, that it might there find out, or attain unto the knowledge of the eternal Actor; to wit, of that all-working Wisdom, which doth manifestly act or operate in it; being warranted in this her manner of research by the wise Physiologist Solomon, 
Wisd. 13.1.  who teacheth us to search after, and to discover the unknown Workman, by his known or visible works; that is, to apprehend the Divine or eternal cause, by the created or temporal effect. 
Rom. 1.20.  Or (as the sacred Philosopher St. Paul hath it) to see and consider the visible things of God, that is, his eternal Power and Godhead, by his works; No otherwise than the hidden central Monady, or punctual Unity of a Globe is, after diligent inquiry found out by moving first from the Circumference by the semidiameters, and then, attaining by degrees unto the middle and secret point, which serveth as a formal prop or essential Cornerstone, to sustain the whole Spherical Fabric. Which being so, and seeing that the holy Bible doth fully handle and set down the Subject of both these Sciences, by the way of the two foresaid Demonstrations, namely as well after a Physical as Metaphysical manner: My hope is, that this my Philosophical Discourse, will not be therefore sinisterly judged of, by the truly wise and unpartial Reader; because it chiefly relieth on the axioms or testimonies of Scriptures. Now, That the sacred Text doth every where specify the manner of these two proceedings, it is made apparent, in that it doth certify the mystical acts or operations, as well of the aeviall and temporal, as of the eternal world. But it is clear, that the eternal world, which hath neither beginning nor end, being only replenished with the glorious Majesty of God, is the main Foundation on which Theology is grounded; as on the other side, the temporal or lowest world, having both beginning and end, and being divided into a visible heaven and earth, with the creatures thereof, is the main platform of the true Philosophy. As for the aeviall world, which hath a beginning but no end, and was ordained by God, to be a receptacle for the Angelical Spirits and blessed Souls, as it hath its position betwixt both the extreme worlds, namely that of Eternity, and the other of Temporality; for it hath an immediate relation or commerce with them both: For first, it receiveth its immediate light, life, or formal existence, from Eternity; and than it poureth it out, or communicateth it with the temporal or inferior mansion, to create and vivify it with the creatures thereof: insomuch, that as the formal act of the temporal world is Angelical; so the vivifying soul or spirit of the aeviall, is divine or eternal. Wherefore it followeth, that the nature and property of Angels, is neither to be excluded from the Subject of Theology; forasmuch as they participate with the Divine Light or bright presence of Eternity; neither can they be exempted from the body of Philosophy, being that the Angelical light is the soul and life of the Temporal nature, and consequently the true Philosopher must acknowledge his essential science or Philosophical grounds, to proceed radically from the Eternal God by his aeviall or Angelical Spirits, into his temporal creatures, I mean the Stars, Winds, Elements, Meteors, and perfect mixed bodies; and therefore in respect that the Philosophical Subject is animated by Angelical influences, it must needs pierce with a mental regard into the eternal Light, which doth centrally vivify both the aeviall and temporal creatures; beyond the which there is nothing to be found or imagined.  
This therefore is the perfect tri-partite measure of that Ladder which Jacob dreamt of, 
Gen. 28.12.  when he laid his head upon the stone, which in its longitude, latitude, and profundity, contained the images or characters of these three worlds; and for that reason it was termed by the Patriarch himself, Domus Dei, The tabernacle of God: Whereupon, as that stone had his external and internal; so in his divine dream, he observed Angels to ascend by it, namely from earth, which is the Creator's soot-stool, unto the Eternal world, where his Throne is, by the aeviall mansion; and also to descend again, by the same degrees. Thus may the sacred Philosopher, with the Prophet, 
Ezek. 1.16.  not only perceive, by a more external spiritual vision Rotam in Rota, or the aeviall essence in the temporal being; but also by a most internal or mental aspect, he may contemplate Rotam in medio Rotarum, to wit, a central mover and Eternal Spirit in the aeviall, by the which the temporal or corporeal creature, is immediately vivified and agitated: whereby we may boldly infer, with the Scriptures, that, God is essentially one and all. And therefore I may lawfully conclude, with these axioms of the divine Theo-Philosophists, which appertain as well unto the formal act in the Creature, which is the true life of Philosophy, as the essential virtue of Divinity, 
1 Cor. 12.11. 1 Tim. 6.13. Ephes. 4.10. Wisd. 12.1. Joh. 1. Acts 17.25. Ephes. 4.6. Rom. 11.36. Judith 16.17. Isa. 42.5.  that, God operateth all in all. He vivifieth all things. He filleth all things. His incorruptible Spirit is in all things. By the Word all things were made. In the Word was life, and that life was the light of men. He giveth life, and inspiration, and all things. In him we live, move, and have our being. He is the Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all of us. From him, by him, and in him, are all things. He sent his Spirit and created all things. He giveth breath unto the people, and spirit unto the creatures that tread on the earth. 
Psal. 104.25  O Lord, how manifold are thy works; in Wisdom thou hast made them all: the earth is full of thy riches, etc. If thou hidest thy face, the creatures are troubled, if thou takest a way their breath they die, if thou sendest forth thy Spirit they are re-created or revived. 
Colos. 1.16.  By him were all things created, which are in heaven, and which are in earth, things visible and invisible; whether they be Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers; all things were created by him, and for him, and he is before all things, and in him all things consist. Note here, how the Apostle doth livelily set forth in these words, the foresaid three worlds. Again, Christ is all and in all things. 
Colos. 3.11. Heb. 1.3. Colos. 2.3. Job 28.25. Psal. 17 18. Job 38.1. Psal. 147.4.  He sustaineth all things by the word of his Virtue. In him, are all the treasures of Wisom hid. God by his Wisdom giveth or proportioneth a weight unto the air, and hangeth the waters or clouds in measure, and maketh a decree for the rain, and ordereth a way for the lightnings of the Thunders. He speaketh in Thunder, and answereth Job out of a Whirlwind. He by his Word giveth Snow like wool, and scattereth the hoary Frost like ashes; he casteth forth his Ice like morsels: who can resist against his cold? He sendeth out his Word and melteth them; so soon as he sendeth forth his breath, 
Job 37.10.  the waters do flow again. By his breath the Frost is engendered, and the breadth of the waters is made narrow. I could produce an infinity of other places out of Scriptures, to manifest the universal acts and virtuous operations, which are effected in the Elementary creatures, by that most essential and eternal Wisdom, which is the main ground and true Cornerstone, whereon the purest Mosaical Philosophy doth rely; but I esteem it needless, being that they are copiously expressed already by me in this my Philosophical Discourse, and therefore I imagine, that these which are already produced, will be sufficient to content and satisfy all such as are unpartially judicious; unto whose better wisdom and favourable constructions, I recommend these mine endeavours; and finally, both them and myself, unto God's blessed protection.  
Your Friend Robert Fludd.   

MOSAICAL PHILOSOPHY. The First Book. Section 1.  
The Argument of the First Book.  
THis first Book showeth, that, whereas the minds of worldly men, are at this very day, erected and soared up, even unto the highest pitch of infidelity, insomuch as they require and demand after signs, and ocular demonstrations, (as the Jews did, For it is said, The Greeks hunt after wisdom, the Jews demand for signs, etc.) or else they will in no case be drawn to believe; 
1 Cor. 1.22.  our Author did esteem it the greatest means of conquest, in this Herculean-combat, which is to be effected betwixt the two deadly enemies, and strong champions, Truth and Falsehood, (that is to say) the wisdom of God, and that of the World, if he could find out some vulgar, and well known Experiment, or practical Instrument, which might serve our celestial Champion Truth, instead of an Herculean-Club, to tame and exanimate that foul monster, Infidelity, who standeth so stiffly in the maintenance and defence of his Lord and Master, I mean, the Prince of darkness and error, his privileges: being that such persons as will not be conducted, and directed unto the centre of Verity, by real practice, and ocular demonstration, may rightly be adjudged more irregular, and extravagant, from the square and polished rules of reason, than the brute beast, who warned by experience, (which in that respect, may rightly be esteemed for the mistress of fools) doth make his choice of that, which it hath proved good, and escheweth that, which it hath found naught and dissonant to his nature.  
For this cause therefore, and to this effect, he made election of an Invention, or spiritual conclusion, commonly termed by the name of the Wether-, or Calender-glasse, that by the ocular and practical experiments thereof, be might evidently demonstrate unto the world's eye, the falsehood of the transitory● and fading wisdom or Philosophy of the Ethnics; and confirm or maintain the truth of that, which is grounded upon the eternal Spirit of Sapience.  

CHAP. I.  
Here the Author expresseth his Reason, why in the very entrance into this Philosophical Discourse he propoundeth the making, properties, and usage of this Weatherglass, and wherefore he styleth it by name of his Experimental Instrument.  
I Must confess that it is a thing worthy of commendations to prove and maintain a Philosophical Proposition, by such acute and piercing shafts of Auguments, as are selected out of the quiver of natural reason: but because those kind of subtle inquisitions or objections (though they seem at the first sight probable, and may carry with them a show of Truth, and yet nevertheless in the conclusion, may fall out amiss and be found erroneous;) Therefore such as are zealously devoted unto the inviolable Truth of the holy Bible, will be better established in their belief, if that the testimony thereof do concur and agree with the rest. And although these two witnesses may appear unto wisemen to take away all Scruple or doubt from the confirmation of the Truth, yet is the incredulity of this world so exalted and grown up to such a height of obstinacy, and that especially among the common sort of men; yea verily, it hath so subtly crept also into the spirits of some of no small learning, which are guided more by the practice of sense then any spiritual reason, that except, with St. Thomas, they see or feel, or, with the Jews, they may behold a sign, they will in no case be brought to believe. For this reason therefore, since I only am to enter the lists against the Ethnic Philosophers, who by their inventions have framed out the wisdom of this world, it behoveth me to look to myself, and to gird my loins with a belt of courage, and to endorse an Herculean Armour of proof, being that, as the Apostle did fight with beasts at Ephesus, in the likeness of men, so am I sure to have to do, like another Alcides, with a second Lernaean Monster, of many heads, I mean, the Protean Philosophy of men, the doctrine whereof, as the Apostle teacheth us, is founded upon vain fallacy, on the traditions of Ethnics, and according unto the elements of this world, and not according to Christ, in whom is the plenitude of Divinity. Col. 2.8. I purpose therefore with myself, to make and forge me out an Armour, of solid natural reason, and to temper it with the warrant of sacred authority. And lastly, I will make choice of ocular demonstration, to serve me in this combat, instead of an unresistable weapon, or Herculean club, to tame and subdue that unreasonable monster, Incredulity; than which, there is no greater enemy unto mankind. And that I may the better accomplish and bring to pass this design of mine, it is requisite, I should have in a readiness each necessary material, for this conflict; and above all, I ought to have an especial care, to provide me an experimental Instrument, or spiritual weapon, which may carve out a ready way to the truth, by a manifest and infallible demonstration, objected even unto the eyes of such, as are infected with extreme infidelity, that they may thereby turn from their vain and sophisticating Philosophy, with the wisdom of the world, on which it is erected; and become unfeigned and faithful scholars and proficients, in the true and sacred Philosophy, or wisdom of God. I will make therefore election of such demonstrative Machines' for my purpose as is vulgarly known amongst us, whereby my intentions may be more easily understood of every man; and this Instrument is commonly styled by some, the Calendar-Glasse, and by others, the Weatherglass: whose composition or fabric, with the properties and uses thereof, I purpose to express unto you briefly, in the Chapters following.   

CHAP. II.  
How the Instrument commonly termed the Weatherglass, is falsely arrogated by some Men of our age unto themselves, as being averred to be an invention of their own.  
MAn is so greedy of glory, and so desirous of fame and reputation, that if he can acquire or purchase it any way unto himself, be it directly or indirectly, he careth not much: I was the reason that the Ethnic Philosophers did surreptitiously assume and ascribe unto themselves those principles of their Philosophy, which of right did appertain unto the wise and divine Philosopher Moses, and did mask or gild over their theft, with new names or titles, which they imposed on them, the better to make a show, that they were established by their own inventions, and shall be showed hereafter. In like manner, the Instrument, commonly termed the Calendar, or Weatherglass, hath many counterfeit Masters or Patrons, in this our age, who, because that they have a little altered the shape of the model, do vainly glory and give out, that it is a Masterpiece of their own finding out. As for myself, I must acknowledge, and willingly ascribe unto each man his due, and therefore will not blush or be ashamed, to attribute justly my Philosophical principles unto my Master Moses, who also received them, figured or framed out by the finger of God; neither can I rightly arrogate, or assume unto myself, the primary fabric of this Instrument, although I have made use of it in my Natural History of the great World, and elsewhere (but in another form), to demonstrate the verity of my Philosophical Argument; for I confess, that I found it Graphically specified, and Geometrically delineated, in a Manuscript of five hundred years' antiquity at the least. I will therefore set down unto you first, the shape, in which I found it in that ancient Monument, and afterwards made use of it for demonstration's cause: And secondly, I will describe the figure and position of, as it is commonly known and used among us.  
Where you see, that there is no difference betwixt them, but only in their forms or shapes; for the Sunbeams operating by their heat, upon the hollow ball of the head A. maketh the rarified air, included in the said ball, to pass out by the pipe AB. into the pot of water, and so it vanisheth out through the superficies of the water, in the form of bubbles; but when the Sun goeth down, the cold night approaching through the absence of the Sun, doth coagulate, contract, and condense again that included air▪ which was the day before rarified, by the presence and hot action of the Sun. But because there is not air enough in the leaden ball and pipe, to effect this kind of condensation in a due proportion, by reason of a part thereof which was exhaled the day before; therefore to hinder all vacuity in the operation, there is sucked up out of the pot of water C. into the leaden pipe, just as much water as there wanted air, or as did correspond unto the air exhaled. Again, when the Sun riseth the next day, the air in the ball and pipe will be rarified, and then by dilating itself, will repel the water to his former place, the which was mounted into the pipe. And so this alteration in condensation and rarefaction, will ever hold in the same manner, more or less, according as the Sun is nearer or farther off from us; or according unto the coldness or heat of the Wind, that bloweth in the element.  
The self same also will happen to the air, included in the second glass; for the globe or ball in the top of the glass, which is the bowl of the Matras or bolts head, is full of air, and is exactly, in every respect, referred unto the ball of lead, as the straight Pipe which ascendeth out of the water, and is joined to the head, is exactly compared unto the crooked pipe of the first; so that if the leaden ball be erected upwards, and the crooked pipe be made straight, to ascend perpendicularly out of the pot of water, unto the leaden sphere, then will there be no difference betwixt the shape or figure, of the first & second Machine or Instrument; so that each man may discern, that the condition and usage of them both, are all one in effect.   

CHAP. III.  
Here the fabric of this Organ or Instrument, properly termed the Weatherglass, with the preparation of the Matras or Glass, commonly called a Bolts-head, and the adaption of the Orifiace or Nose thereof, into a small vessel of water, is expressed. Where also, their opinions are confuted, which deem and affirm, that the water is sucked up into the neck of the Matras by heat.  
FIrst, we must observe, that this our experimental Instrument is composed of three parts, where of two of them are more essential, and proper unto the nature of the Engine or Machine; namely, the Matras, or Bolts-head, and the small vessel of water, into the which the nose or orifice of the Matras, after it is prepared, aught to enter: and the other is more accidental, as being only ordained to sustain the glass firmly, in his perpendicular position, and to adorn and set forth the Machine. Touching the Matras or Bolts-head, it is a round or oval glass, with a long and narrow neck, whose orifice, or mouth and nose, aught to be proportionable un●o the rest of the neck, and it must be prepared after a twofold manner; for first of all, the long neck of it being put perpendicularly into the small vessel, being full of water, so that it do touch the bottom of the vessel, we ought to measure from the superficies, or top of the water, and begin our division into degrees, still ascending upwards, till we come unto the very ball, be it round or oval. And whereas the common sort of this kind of Weather-glasses, hath his first degree beginning downward, marked with the signe of 1. and so ascendeth upward to the round ball, according unto the natural Arithmetical progression, thus: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15. I for a better method's cause, do alter the order in numeration, and dividing of the neck or pipe of the Matras in the middle, between the head of it, and the superficies of the water. I mark the place of the division with the figure 1. and so count my degrees downward and upward unto 7. after this manner: 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. which I affect, for reasons that I will express unto you hereafter. So that the matter will be ordered thus.  
As for the small vessel of water, you see it here also described, with the proportion of the pipe of the Matras, that descendeth into the bottom of it; which is so far from division as it entereth into the water.  
Now when you have thus divided the neck of your Matras into parts, you must prepare, and order it after this manner to make it magnetical and attractive by cold, and expulsive or dilatative by heat; you must therefore take the orifice of the Bolts head in your hand, and hold forth the head thereof, or the round which is above it against the fire, till it be very hot; for the heat of the fire will rarify and dilate the Air in the glass, and cause by that means a good portion of it to fly out of the glasse's orifice, and so it will remain in that estate, so long as the glass is in the degree of heat: at which time, if you suddenly put the nose of the pipe into the water, you shall perceive that as the bolts head doth keel or wax cold, so also will the water by little and little mount upwards into the neck of the glass: And we must, note the hotter the glass is made, and the colder the external air will be found as that present, the higher and by so many more degrees will the water ascend into the neck. And the reason hereof is, because that as heat doth rarify the air, so the greater the heat is, the more excellent will the degree of rarifaction be. chose, as cold doth condense and thicken, so the greater the cold is, the stronger will the condensation be: and therefore, after that the included air is much rarified, by an intense external heat, It followeth, that as the heat doth by little and little fade, so the cold will by little and little prevail, and have dominion; and consequently, the included rarified air must needs by little & little be condensed; but because there wanteth sufficient matter or corpulency in the air, for the cold to work on, being that a part of it was spent and evaporated by rarifaction, It followeth, that as the succeeding cold doth condense & contract the air, so the air by contraction of itself, must also attract and suck up into it, so much water out of the vessel, as there wanteth air to satisfy the contractive appetite of the cold; for the interposition of the water between the external air, and the internal or included air, will not permit the internal, to suck or draw into it the external to supply her want, for the satisfaction of the external cold's lust, and therefore the water is forced to asscend, in lieu of the external air. And this is the mystery of the Instrument, and the manner of his fabricle, whereby it plainly appeareth, that they have been deceived which have deemed, that the heat was the occasion of the attraction of the water upwards, being that each man may be an eyewitness, that it is heat that driveth it downwards; and chose, that cold is the cause of his mounting.  
And whereas some Sophisticators, to make the matter the more strange, have given out, that it is a secret peculiar included spirit, which worketh the feat; and to make men to give credit to their tales, they have died the common water in the vessel with Vardegrease, or such like stuff; I must give you to understand, that all their prattle is but deceit, and that plain dealing is a jewel.  
As for the accidental part of this Machine, being it is framed and composed in a divers fashion, I will not graphically delineate, or draw it out unto your view, being that the pictures will be chargeable; and the matter being done, will serve you but to little purpose.   

CHAP. IU.  
Wherein are Expressed the sundry properties, with the usage of this demonstrative Instrument.  

I Divide as well the property as the use of this Instrument, into two kinds, whereof I call the one general, and I make the other more peculiar. As for the general property of it, by the one it contracteth and condenseth, namely, when the included air is animated by the external cold; and by the other, it dilateth and rarifieth, to wit, if the included spirit be excited by any external heat. And therefore, through his constrictive nature or action, which is made evident by the contraction of the air; we may easily discern the universal reason, of the inspissation and condensation of things that w●re thin. And again, by his dilatation, we may scan or decipher the cause of rarifaction of such things, as were thick. For by the speculation we shall find, that there is nothing in the whole Empire of Nature, which can be rarified and made subtle, except it be by the action of light or fire, whether it be visible or invisible; and the essential effect of that action is light. And on the contrary part, nothing can be condensed or inspissared, where darkness hath not dominion; forasmuch as darkness is the essential root of cold, which is the immoderate act or in condensation. The particular properties, with the uses thereof, are manifold; for first, The nature of it, is to discover the temper of the external air, or catholic element, in heat and cold; for the higher that the water doth climb in the neck or pipe of the Matras, it argueth, that the firmer & stronger is the dominion of cold in the air; so that by this means we may daily judge, of the increase or decrease of cold in the air; and by consequence, we may guess at the proportion of heat, in the sublunary spirit of the world, by the descent of the water.   

Certain Experiments worthy of observation, and approved by many of this City, touching this Experimental Glass.  
If the water in the pipe of the glass, which before was highly mounted, doth fall on the sudden by some degrees, it will be an undoubted sign that rain will immediately ensue.  
If the water in the space of one night doth descend, it is also a sign that rain will come not long after.  
If the South or East wind do blow, immediately after a North or westerly wind, the water will fall by certain degrees: but if the North wind or cold westerly wind do blow, after a Southern or easterly wind, then will the water be forth with exalted.  
If the water doth attain unto the figure. 1. it argueth that the Air is in a moderation between heat and cold, as when the Sun is in the vernal Equinoctial, or as the natural temper of the Spring useth to be.  
But if the water mount higher, than it argueth that the disposition of the Air is by so many degrees more of Northern or boreal nature, as the water is mounted towards the bolts head; for you must conceive that the degrees from 1. unto the uppermost 7. are belonging unto the winter Hemisphere, and therefore are the degrees which note the augmentation of cold. So that if the water do mount up unto. 2. in the Northern or higher part, it is an argument that cold hath dominion over heat in the external Air only by one degree. If it mount unto the 3. of the same Hemisphere, it doth foretell a slight frost: but if it ascend unto. 4. or. 5. it pretendeth a hard and solid frost: if it come unto 6. and 7. it argueth great ice; but if it mount yet higher, it showeth that a hard Ice is likely to surprise and cover the whole river of Thames.  
On the other side, if the water descend from. 1. unto. 2. of the lower rank of degrees which importeth the Summer or hot Hemisphere, than it argueth heat hath gotten dominion over cold by one degree. But if it descend unto 3. or 4. it importeth a greater distemper of the Air in heat: if it descendeth unto 5. or 6. it demonstrateth the air to be exceeding hot, but if the water be beaten down unto the lower figure of 7. it showeth that extreme and Sultry heat, causing Coruscations and lightnings, hath dominion in the Air.  
So that we may discern how great a reference or relation there is between the external air or universal sublunary Element, and the Air included in the instrument. But I will in better terms express the Consanguinity and Sympathetic relation which is between the one and the other in this subsequent Chapter.    

CHAP. V.  
Here it is proved evidently, notwithstanding any objection which may be made to the contrary, that not only this experimental Organ hath a relation unto the great world, but also the spirit included in this little model doth resemble and imitate the action of that which is included in the great or macrocosmicall Machine.  
BUt before I will proceed in any further comparison, between the spirit contained in the small model, with the properties of the agents and patients in it, and this of the great world; I do think it to be necessary, first, to answer unto a certain doubt or objection that may be made, the which, unless it be resolved and taken away, such a relation or comparison may appear unto the ignorant, either improper, or altogether impossible. I know therefore, that not a few will object and say, that no convenient comparison can be made, between this our small artificial Machine, and that natural fabric or organ of the world; forasmuch as the spirit in our Glass is every where enclosed, and strictly included in his vessel, and therefore may easily be incited by force, to move according unto the regular figure, or fashion of the glass: But the case is far otherwise in the spirit, which is contained in the vast cavity of the world; for in it, the air or spirit doth use at every impulsion, to move freely this way and that way, as we are instructed by daily experience, in the blowing of the winds from each quarter of the world. Unto this I answer, That it is the self same reason of motion and relation, from a thicker or denser nature, unto a thinner; and in like manner, from a thinner or rarer, unto a thicker or denser, in a small subject, that is in a greater; so that the like respects be had, and that by an equal weight, and proportionate measure, in cold and heat. Yea verily, and I aver boldly, that the whole World, or worldly Round, is as well and completely stuffed or filled with spirit or air, as is this our artificial vessel, or experimental Machine; which if it should not be, it would consequently follow, that vacuity would be admitted into the nature of things, the which would be but an absurd thing in a Philosopher to credit. Wherefore we may boldly conclude, that the spirit is in the like quantity, weight, and proportion, in the concavity of this instrument, considering his magnitude, as it is in the great or little world. But experience teacheth us, that the self same nature, be it hot or cold, which useth to reign and have dominion every quarter of the year, in the cosmical or worldly spirit, doth produce the self same effects in rarifaction and condensation of the air, included in our artificial vessel, as it useth to procreate in the air of the world; all which is fully demonstrated before. For by how much the more the state of the air doth abound in heat or cold, by so much will the water contained in the neck of the glass be depressed, by reason of the included air's subtilation. And again, by how much the more the inclemency of cold doth vegetate and abound in the air, by so many degrees higher will the water be exalted. And this is the reason (as it is already told you) that by the observation of this Weatherglass, the temper of the air in the great world is so exactly discovered unto us. And therefore by this it is evident, that the foresaid doubt or scruple is abolished and taken away.  
I would in this regard have each discreet Reader to understand, that, when he beholdeth this Instrument's nature, he contemplateth the action (as it were) of a little world; and that it hath, after the manner of the great world, his Northern and his Southern Hemisphere, plainly to be discerned in it, the which two are divided exactly by an Equinoctial line in effect, which cutteth the Degree, signed with the character 1. Also it hath his two Tropics, with their Poles; only we take the Southern Pole and Hemisphere to be hot, in regard of us, because the breath which cometh from it is from the Sun, which in our respect is Southernly disposed; and therefore we term that Pole, the Summer-Pole or Hemisphere, and the other, the winter-Pole or Hemisphere. And we have demonstrated, that the degree in the neck of the Glass 1. doth correspond exactly unto the place of the Aequator, because that if the Northern or Winter Tropic be imagined to be the Basis of one Triangle, whose Cone shall end in the centre of the Northern Tropic, than it must follow, that where the intersection is made by these two imaginary Triangles, the Aequator must of necessity pass. As for example.  
Vide Med. Cathol. 26.  
And we term the place of the Equinoctial, the Sphere of equality, because when as the Sun is in Aries or Libra, which are the vernal and autumnal intersection of the Equinoctial, the days and nights are equal; so also, the temper of each Hemisphere in heat and cold, is naturally observed to tend unto a mediocrity or equality. Even such also will the temper of the microcosmicall air, or catholic spiritual element, be unto the earth, when the water in the Glass is drawn up half way.  
I have sufficiently described unto you as well the fabric as the nature of this Instrument, and therefore since I have prepared it to serve me for ocular demonstration instead of an Herculean Club, in this combat which I undergo against our insulting Peripatetic Adversary; and that I am provided of sufficient natural reasons instead of a trusty armour; and that this armour is well tempered and made as it were musket-proof, at the least by Authority drawn out of the whole Harmony of the sacred Bible, Why should I fear the number of mine enemies when it is T●u●h's own cause which I undergo? If God be with me I care not who is against me, being that verity, which conquereth all things, will (I am well assured) fight for me, and defend me, though but only one against a multitude. Why should I expect any favour from them, in telling the truth, and condemning their errors, since that they do Satirically censure, and deride my honest endeavours, when I hold my peace, and say nothing unto them? It is an easier matter for malicious carpers and backbiters, like temerarious and rash Cynics, to find fault with a thing; than with moderate and judicious spirits, to judge, amend, and correct it with equity. In the first, namely, to condemn before the case is heard or understood, it is an argument of envy, cloaked with wilful ignorance. In the latter, namely, to teach a man his errors, a token of learned zeal, and Christian charity.    

The Second Book of this Treatise, touching Philosophy in general.  
The Argument of this Second Book of the First Section.  
THis second Book importeth, That the Philosophy of the Ethnics is false and erroneous, 
1 Cor. 3.19.  both in regard it is founded upon the wisdom of this world, which, as St. Paul teacheth us, is but mere foolishness in the eyes of God; and then because it contradicteth the truth, and consequently is not issuing from the Father of Light, which is in Heaven, but from the Prince of darkness, who reigneth beneath. Wherefore this kind of wisdom, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is termed by the Apostle James, 
James 3.15.  Terrence, animal, and diabolical. And for this reason St. Paul, that most excellent and sacred Philosopher, or lover of wisdom, doth warn us, that we be not deceived by this kind of Philosophy, which he termeth, Vainfallacy, built and framed out according unto the traditions of men, 
Colos. 2.8.9.  and after the elements of this world; and not having its foundation upon the true corner stone, Jesus Christ, in whom dwelleth all the plenitude of Divinity corporally.  

BEfore we dive into the bottomless abyss of the essential Philosophy, whose main foundation is the true wisdom, (the which is a thing so difficil to be put in execution, that nothing but the swift and nimble-winged soul, or spirit of man, is able to bring to effect) it will but concur with reason, that we should in the first place consider and observe, the Etymology of the name or word, whose naked essence we hunt after, that thereby we may in the second rank descend more securely, and with a better understanding, unto the definition or description thereof, and so proceed with a surer confidence, unto the division or differences of the main subject we have in hand, to the intent we may directly point at the truth, and distinguish it from falsehood. Seeing therefore that Philosophia or Philosophy, is the main scope or business of this our Treatise, it is meant commonly, and understood in a generality, for Sapientia, or Wisdom; but by a more proper and peculiar signification, it is interpreted Amor, or, Amicus sapientiae, The love, or friend, of wisdom: For the word is composed of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, Amicus, or a Friend; and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, Sapientia, or Wisdom. And it is so termed of the Greeks, because that in the word at large is contained, the love of wisdom; or because that by teaching of wisdom, men are incited or stirred up to love it. In antique Ages it was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or Sapientia only, and at last 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was added unto it by the notable Philosopher Pythagoras, who would rather be called Philosophus, that is, Sapientiae-amator, a lover of wisdom, then arrogantly to assume unto himself the name or title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, sapiens, or a wise man. From the Etymology of this word, Philosophia, or Philosophy, we may derive his definition, and describe it to be, An earnest study of wisdom, or, a fervent application of our minds unto it; being that the word importeth, that it is the affectionate love of sapience. It appeareth therefore, that the main subject of Philosophy is Wisdom, the perfect knowledge whereof is that summum bonum, or highest goodness of this mortal life, which was the mark whereat the wise men of all ages did ever level and aim. But as from all beginnings, there was a distinction, or opposite difference, between light and darkness, good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness; and, to conclude, between the real things of God, and the prestigious and imaginary inventions of man: So also is there a main contrariety to be observed, between the true wisdom which is of God, and that false and onely-seeming one, which is of this world; and consequently, there must be an endless jar and antipathy, betwixt the essential and truebred Philosophy, and that which is bastard and spurious. All which we find to be sufficiently warranted, by the testimony of holy Writ, for the Apostle saith in one place, 
2 Cor. 1.12.  Non in sapientia carnali, sed in gratia Dei versati sumus in hoc mundo; We are conversant in this world, not in carnal wisdom, but in the grace of God. And again, Prudentia carnis mors est, quoniam sapientia carnis est inimica Dei: prudentia Spiritus, 
Rom. 8.6.  est vita & pax: The prudency of the flesh is death, because the wisdom of the flesh is destruction; but the prudency of the Spirit is life and peace. Again, in another place, thus more plainly, Praedicatio mea non est in persuasionibus et humanae sapientiae v●rbis, sed in ostensione spiritus et veritatis. Sapientiam loquimur inter perfectos, sapientiam autem non hujus mundi, 
1 Cor. 2.4.  sed loquimur Dei sapientiam in mysterio, quae abscondita est, quam Deus revelavit electis per Spiritum suum. My preaching (saith he) is not in the persuasions and words of human wisdom, but in the showing forth of the Spirit and verity. We speak and utter forth wisdom among the perfect, not the wisdom of this world, but the wisdom of God in a mystery, which is hidden and secret, the which God hath revealed unto the Elect by his Spirit. In these words we are taught, first, that the smooth persuasions of the wise-appearing Orators, or lip-learned Sophisters, and self-conceited Philosophers of this world, are vain; being they bring along with them nothing else, but an empty wind, without any material or substantial fruit, and are in effect but a mere shadow, in regard of a real matter or subject, forasmuch as they prestigiously appear something, but are indeed nothing; when chose, the words of the true and perfect Philosopher, are essential, and therefore accompanied with virtue and power.  
Secondly, that what the true and powerful Philosopher utters, is the flourishing and fruitful wisdom, even the eternal sapience of the Almighty, and not the sterile wisdom of this world, which when it is brought unto the touchstone, will be found counterfeit, as being unable to endure the trial.  
Thirdly, that this heavenly wisdom is only mystically revealed unto mankind, as being reserved in the power of God, and solely discovered or opened unto the Saints, and elect, and therefore unknown unto the Pagans; or Ethnic wisemen who are the composers of our Christian Philosophers wisdom, and therefore it is a vain fallacy or sophisticate philosophy; forasmuch as it is framed (as the Apostle saith), 
Colos. 2.8.  through the traditions of men; according unto the Elements of this world, and not after Christ, who is the true wisdom, for in him dwelleth all the plenitude of divinity, bodily. And for this reason, the same Apostle saith in another place, Nos non spiritum hujus mundi accepimus sed spiritum qui ex Deo est, et quae à Deo donata sunt nobis loquimur, non in doctis humanae Sapientiae verbis, 
1 Cor. 2.12.  sed in doctrina spiritus, spiritualibus spiritualia comparantes. Animalis enim homo non percipit ea quae sunt spiritus Dei; stultitia enim est illi & non potest intelligere. We have not received the spirit of this world, but the spirit which is of God; and we speak those things which are given us from God, not in the learned words of humane wisdom, but in the doctrine of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. For the animal man doth not perceive the things which are of the spirit of God; unto him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it; 
1 Cor. 3.19.  Again he saith, Sap●entia hujus mund● stuititia est apud Deum, Deus enim novit cogitationes sapienium quod stultae sunt. The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God, for God knoweth that the cogitations of the worldly wise are foolish. Whereby we may also discern that there is a wisdom falsely so called, which is clean contrary in effect, unto the true sapience, and therefore it is termed of the Apostle foolishness, and consequently the conceits of such wisemen as are the Ethnic philosophers and their adherents, (though they think passing well of themselves,) are indeed foolish and sottish before God. 
Isay. 5.20.  Of the which kind of philosophers, the prophet uttereth these words, Woe unto them that speak good of evil and evil of good which put darkness for light and light for darkness, woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Doth not St. James also, and that in open and plain terms, assign a most palpable difference, betwixt these two kinds of wisdoms where he sayeth, Sapientia contradicens veritati non est de sursum descendens à patre luminum, sed terrena, 
James 3.15.  animalis, diabolica: sapientia vero de sursum, est à Deo, That wisdom which contradicteth the truth, is not from above, descending down from the father of lights, but is earthly, animal, diabolical: contrariwise the wisdom which descendeth from above is of God. By this therefore it is made evident that as by the whole harmony of holy Writ, sapience or wisdom is taken after a twofold manner, namely for a worldly and counterfeit one which is earthly, mundane, and humane, that is to say which is of man's invention being framed out after the rudiments or elements of this world, so also there is a true essential, and perfect wisdom which hath his root or beginning in Christ, 
Eccl. 1.5.  who is God according to that of the wiseman, Verbum dei altissimi est sapientiae sons, The word of God most high is the fountain of wisdom. Which being so, we ought not to embrace with such fervency that false and bastard philosophy which hath her original from pagan men's inventions, and neglect that which is true and essential, even that (I say) which is from God the main foundation whereof, is the corner stone Jesus Christ, which, as St. Paul telleth us, doth fill and vivify all things; for in so doing we shall imitate the besotted Israelites, of whom the prophet Baruch saith, 
Baruch. 3.12  Sapientiae fontem Israel reliquit, Israel hath forsaken the fountain of wisdom. And this he said, because they forsook or neglected the true wisdom, and did search after Arts, sciences and understanding in foreign and gentile nations; as did the Agarens, and they that were in Theman▪ which never attained unto the knowledge or perfection of the true wisdom, because they did not acknowledge the fountain or giver thereof, which is God only; Shall we not (I say) in so doing transgress the precept of the wise prophet, 
Jer. 10.2.  who sayeth Vias gentium nolite discere, quia leges populorum vanae sunt, Learn not after the manner of the heathen, for their ways are vain, The Apostle doth in another place sufficiently and that in these few words, signify unto us the variety and dissonancy of these two several sorts of wisdom, and withal seemeth to express a kind of by-forkedness or two fold difference, 
1 Cor. 1.22.  in that which is the worldly branch; Sapientiam Graeci quaerebant, Judaei signa, no● Christum crucifixum praedicamus, The Greeks (saith he) seek wisdom, the Jews desire signs, but we preach Christ crucified, whereby he argueth the humane contemplative philosophy of the Grecians, such as that of the Peripatetics, Stoics, and Epicures were, the practical philosophy and the ocular demonstrations which the Jews did affect: and lastly he seemeth to express the true and essential philosophy or study of wisdom which consisteth in Jesus Christ crucified, which philosophy is only therefore of God, because the essential wisdom thereof did issue from the mouth of the Almighty, being that the fountain thereof is the word of God, Ab ore Altissimi prodii (saith wisdom) I came out of the mouth of the most highest, 
Eccles. 24.5:  and therefore the Apostle showing a difference between the Greekish philosophy, which was spurious, and this which was truly essential, giveth this caveat unto the elect, Ut cons●lentur corda ipsorum, instructi in charitate et in omnes divitias plenitudinis intellectus in a gnition● mysterii dei patris Jesu Christi, in quo sunt omnes The sauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi Hoc dico ut nemo vos decipiat in sublimitate sermonum: 
Coloss. 2.92.  sicut ergo accepistis Jesum Christum dominum nostrum in ipso ambulate, radicati & abundantes in gratiarum actione. Videte ne quis vos decipiat per Philosophiam & inanem fallaciam secundum traditionem hominum, secundum elementa mundi, & non secundum Christum; quia in ipso inhabitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter. Et estis in illo repleti, qui est caput omnis principatûs & potestatis. That their hearts might be comforted, being instructed or guided through charity, into all the riches of fullness of understanding, in the acknowledgement of the mystery of God the Father, and of Jesus Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and science. This I speak unto you, that none may deceive you by subtlety, or persuasive speeches. As therefore you have received our Lord Jesus Christ, so walk in him radicatedly, abounding in thanksgiving. See that no man deceive you by Philosophy; and vain fallacies or sophistications, framed through the tradition of men, according unto the elements of this world, and not by Christ, forasmuch as in him dwells the plenitude or fullness of the Godhead corporally. And ye are full in him, who is the head of all principalities and potestates, etc. Out of which words, there are these notable things to be selected or gathered.  
First, That all the plenitude of understanding, consisteth in the revelation and knowledge of the mystery of God, 
Coloss. 2.3.  and his Son Jesus Christ; because in Christ only, is all the treasure of wisdom and science hid. And therefore it is but a folly to seek true and essential science, understanding, and wisdom, from them who had them not.  
Secondly, That the smooth-tongued Orators, deceitful Sophisters, and vain Philosophers of this world, are to be eschewed, and no way for the most part to be believed; forasmuch as they are but only superficial, and scarce probable, being that, in essence and verity, they are nothing else, in regard of their groundwork, but fiction, or mere imagination.  
Thirdly, That there is a Philosophy, and by consequence a Wisdom, which is derived from the invention and tradition of men, and according unto the elements of this world, and not according unto Christ: which spurious wisdom ought therefore to be forsaken, or at leastwise not so exactly to be observed, by such as are followers of Christ.  

Closs. 2.8.9.  Fourthly, That there is a true Philosophy, and therefore a wisdom, which is according unto Christ, forasmuch as in him one●y consisteth all the treasures of perfect science, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, which is framed out, not according unto the traditions of men, and the elements of this world, which is terrene, animal, diabolical, and contradicteth the verity; 
James 3.15.  but according to that which descendeth from God the Father of lights, as St. James telleth us. Upon the foundation therefore of this human or mundan wisdom, was the Philosophy of the Grecians erected; and it appeareth, first, because that the Apostle denieth it to be the true Philosophy, being that it is not grounded on the cornerstone Jesus Christ, as it appeareth by his behaviour and speech, which he made unto the Philosophers of Athens; for when the sect of the Epicures and Stoics did discourse with him, after that by the reasons of divine Philosophy, he had exhorted them from their idolatry, and worshipping of false and unknown gods, and had preached unto them the true wisdom, which was Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of the dead, and consequently instructed them in the foundation of the true and real Philosophy; Some of them replied, What will this verbal babbler say? 
Acts. 17.18.  and others exclaiming against him, did aver, that he was a proclaimer of new daemons or devils. The said divine Philosopher and holy Apostle, replied thus, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious: for I found an altar, 
Acts. 17.22.  wherein was written, Unto the unknown God; whom ye then ignorantly worship, him show I unto you, etc. Note by the way, that he argueth by this speech, that they knew not the true grounds of Philosophy, being ignorant of the true God, which is the fountain of the essential wisdom. Then he proceedeth thus, God that made the world, 
Acts. 1●. ver. 24.  and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in Temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with men's hands▪ as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things, &c, I would have you to mark the excellency of the true wise man, namely, how he speaketh unto the mundan Philosophers of Athens, the divine wisdom, and therefore the solid and essential Philosophy; for he expresseth in the foresaid Text, that the Spirit of God or Christ, which is God, dwelleth not in artificial Temples, but maketh every natural thing his Sanctuary, and above all creatures, and by super-excellency, he pointeth at Man, (as you shall see hereafter). And therefore he affirmeth, that the same divine spirit of wisdom giveth to every creature (for his words are, He giveth to all) life, breath, and all things; and therefore if to all things, than there is not any thing that is naturated by it, but liveth and breatheth, or hath his existence from, and in, this wisdom; the which is therefore rightly termed the Cornerstone, forasmuch as on him all creatures rely and exist. And therefore it is he only, 
John. 1.2.9.  who is that light of the world, in whom is that life which doth vivify all things, 
1 Tim. 6.13. 1 Cor. 15.28. Coloss. 1.18. 1 Cor. 12.6.  as in another place the Apostle doth teach us; and who is all, and in all, as we have it in another place; where also it is said, that in him is all things, and he in every thing, as well visible as invisible. And in conclusion, He filleth all things, and worketh all, and in all. Doth not Solomon seem to assent unto all this, where he saith, that God's Spirit is in all things. 
Sap. 12.1. Act. 17. ver. 26.  Then the said Apostle proceedeth thus, And he made of one blood all mankind, to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath assigned the seasons which were ordained before, and the bounds of their habitations, that they should seek the Lord, if so be they might have groped after him, and found him, though doubtless he be not far from every one of us; for in him we live, we move, and have our being. For we are also his generation, etc.  
Lo here the infinite and admirable virtue of this divine Cornerstone which is Jesus Christ, who is the essential subject and ground work of the true philosophy I mean, that sacred wisdom which is so extolled and magnified by the old and new Testament. 
Coloss. 2.3.  And therefore the same Apostle said rightly in the foresaid place, In Christo sunt omnes The sauri scientiaeet sapientiae absconditi, In Christ are all the Treasures of Knowledge and Sapience hidden, whereby in the first place it is made evident, that there is no true philosophy which hath not this spiritual foundation, namely Christ Jesus, 
Coloss. 2.9.  in whom is the plenitude of all divinity corporally, and who is the head as well of the Angelical nature, as of all inferior things else of what soever condition, all which being so, we may see how far the Greekish philosophy doth differ from the truth, and therefore me thinks it should not be so seriously followed, being that the Scriptures have delineated unto us a more complete and perfect path way unto wisdom.  
Again it appeareth evidently that the Greekish philosophers and consequently that kind of humane or mundane wisdom whereon it is built or established is-terrene, 
James. 3.15.  animal, and diabolical, because it contradicteth the true wisdom or philosophy, and therefore it is proved to be false, as shall more at large be expressed unto you in the chapters following.   

CHAP. II.  
Wherein the original, or beginning of the true wisdom, and consequently of the essential Philosophy, is opened; and then the nature and power of it, is really described.  
WE purpose now in in the first place, to search out the original fountain of the true wisdom, and therefore of the essential Philosophy. And then in the second rank, I will express the definition of it; after that, I will show you, that it is the foundation, not only of the true external Philosophy, with the sciences which depend thereon, but also the discoverer of all mysteries, and hidden secrets, yea, and the only revealer of things, as well past, as those which are to come.  
Concerning the original or beginning of this sacred wisdom, I will prove by the consent and harmony of the whole Bible, 
Baruck 1. Dan. 2.21.  that it is in God, the Father of light; and therefore it must be clean contrary in nature unto the wisdom of this world, which is terrene and animal, as the Apostle hath it. Sapient●ae daetor & inventor, Deus est: The giver and inventor of wisdom is God, as the Prophets do intimate unto us. Sapientia & fortitudo Domini sint, 
Dan. 2.20.  saith Daniel; Sapience and fortitude be the Lord's. Sapientia in antiquis est & in multo tempore prudentia, 
Job. 12. & 12. Pro. 2.6.  saith Job; Wisdom is of antiquity, and prudency of a long standing. Again, Sapientiam dat Dominus, ex ore ejus prudentia & scientia, saith Solomon; The Lord giveth wisdom, prudency and science issue from his mouth. And again, Sapientiam possidet Deus in principio viarum suarum, antequam quicquam faceret à principio, 
Prov. 8.22.  ab aeterno ordinata est; concepta erat cum nondum erant abyssi. God did possess wisdom in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing, from the beginning, even from eternity was she ordained; 
Eccl. 1.4.  she was conceived when there was no abyss. Sapientia à Deo profecta est & prior omnium creata, saith the son of Syrach, Wisdom came from God, and was the first created of all things. And again, Ex ore Altissimi prodivi primogenita ante omnem creaturam, 
Ecclus 24.5.  saith she in her own person; I came or issued out from the mouth of the most High, 
Wisd. 9.10.  being born before any creature. Sapientia caelitus mittatur de sanctis coelis, ut mecum sit & mecum laboret, saith Solomon in another place: Let wisdom be sent from thy holy heavens to assist me, and to labour with me.  
And again he expresseth the time of her election, the manner of her exaltation and way to separate her truth from falsehood in these few words which are golden ones, 
Sap. 6.24.  Sapientiam dei ab initio nativitatis investigabo & ponam in lucem, nec praeteribo veritatem, I will find out the wisdom of God even from the beginning of her nativity, and I will put her into light, neither will I pass over, or omit the truth. By all these places and many more which I could produce, it is made manifest that this excellent spirit of which we intent to treat in this place is the true wisdom, and withal it must needs follow that the philosophy which dependeth on it, is the essential, perfect and only real one, forasmuch as it is from the father of lights, according unto the Tenent of the forementioned Apostle and divine philosopher. Now we proceed to show you briefly what this wisdom is, and how it was produced, and that according unto the mind of the wise Solomon, 
Wisd. 7.25.26.  Sapientia (saith he) est vapor virtutis Dei & emana●io quaedam claritatis omnipotentis dei sincera, et candor lucis aeternae, et speculum sine macula Dei ma●estatis, et imago bonitatis illius. Wisdom is the vapour of the virtue of God, and a certain sincere emanation of the brightness of the omnipotent God, and the beauty of the eternal light, and the immaculated or unspotted mirror of the majesty of God, 
Hebr. 1.3.  and the image of his goodness. And the Apostle, Christ is the brightness of the glory and the ingraved form of his person which beareth up all things by his mighty word. Whereby it is an easy thing for wisemen to discern, what a main difference there is between the false Ethnic and mundane wisdom which is terrene, and that true and essential one which is from above, and hath his original from the Father of light, forasmuch as the fountain thereof is the Word, or voice of the lord Sapientiae fons (saith the Text) verbum Dei in excelsis, & ingressus illius mandata aeterna: The fountain or beginning of wisdom is the word of God from above, and her entrance the eternal Commandments. 
Eccl. 1.5.  Having then expressed unto you, what this only true wisdom is, I will endeavour to open and discover also her catholic virtues, in the which she acteth and operateth, as well in general, as in particular, over all the world: Nay verily, what can she not do and effect, when she is all in all, and operateth all in everything, as the Apostle teacheth us. For this reason also is Christ, the true wisdom, 
1 Cor. 12.6.  said, in the forementioned Text, to sustain and bear up all things by the word of his virtue. This omnipotent power of hers, in and over all things in this world, 
Heb. 1.3.  is most excellently explained and set down thus, by the divine Philosopher Paul: Christus est imago Dei invisibilis, pr●mogenitus omnis creaturae, quoniam in ipso condita sunt universa in coelis & terra, visibilia & invisibilia, sive thront, sive dominationes, sive principatus, 
Coloss. 1.15.  sive potestates, omnia per ipsum & in ipso create a sunt, & ipse est ante omnes, & omnia in ipso constant. Christ is the image of the invisible God, the first begotten of every creature, because that in him, all things visible and invisible, in the heavens and in the earth, were made, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or potestates, all were created by him and in him; and he is before all creatures, and all things consist in him. This may seem very strange doctrine unto such Academic persons, as are too confident in the Ethnic Philosophy, forasmuch as it doth acknowledge no such wisdom from above, no such a Christ, or sacred Word, which was the Creator of heaven and earth, and who made the Angelical Intelligences, and in whom, and by whom, all things were, and do yet exist. But it telleth us of subalternat efficient natures, namely, of Intelligences, of Stars, of Elements, and such like things, which operate or effect, of themselves, all things above and beneath, and will have the world to be eternal, and without all beginning; when chose this true Philosophy telleth us, that God created all things in and by his word and wisdom; that he operateth all in all, and, that he is all, and in all. For the plain words of the precedent Text is, Omnia in ipso constant, All consist in him. But to the purpose. The foresaid Text seemeth to confirm this of the wise Solomon: Sapientiam possidebat in principio viae suae: ante opera sua, ante ullum tempus, ante seculum, cum nullae essent abyssi, edita erat ipsa, cum nulli essent fontes abundantes aquis, ante montes fundati essent, 
Prov. 8.22.  cum nondum fecerat terram, cum aptaret coelos ibi erat, cum slatueret ambitum in superficie abyssi, cum fortificaret superiores nubes superne, quando roborabat fontes abyssi, quando ponebat mari statutum suum, cum statueret fundamenta terrae, erat sapientia apud ipsum cuncta componens. Jehovah did possess wisdom in the beginning of his ways, before any of his works, and before there was any time, before the world was made; she was brought forth before there was any abyss, and before there was any fountains that did abound with water, before the mountains had their foundations, when as yet he had made no earth. When he did adapt and make fit the heavens, she was there; when he did ordain a compass, or appoint margins for the surface of the abyss. When he did fortify the highest clouds above, when he did corroborate the fountains of the deep, when he did set bounds unto the sea, when he did establish the foundations of the earth, than was wisdom with him, composing or making all things. Whereby he argueth, first, the antiquity of the eternal wisdom; and then he proveth, that she was the composer and maker of Heaven and Earth, and consequently of every thing, as well invisible, as visible therein. And this agreeth in all things with that of our sacred and essential Philosopher Moses, where he acknowledgeth first an abyss without form; then that the informed matter of the abyss was by the presence of Gods emanating Spirit, universally informed and called waters. Then how by the acting of the divine or essential voice or word, 
Gen. 1.  Fiat, which was uttered by the mouth of the Omnipotent, the light or created form was produced in the waters, and afterwards by the will of the Creator, the word was pronounced the second time, and the waters above were divided from the waters beneath by the firmament, and so the heavens were made by the second fiat; as by the third, the division of the lower waters into elements, was effected by the assistance of this one and the selfsame word, or the Spagericks operation of this divine and catholic Spirit, Elohim, but in a various property. 
Psal. 32.6.  Doth not David in few words affirm so much, saying, Verbo Domini firmati sunt coeli & Spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, 
Psal. 103.24.  and by the spirit of his mouth each virtue thereof. Again, In sapientia omnia secisti; Thou hast created all things in wisdom. And St. Peter, Coeli erant prius & terra de aqua, 
2 Pet. 3.5.  & per aquam existentes verbo Dei: The heavens were first, and the earth of water, 
John. 1.  and by water, consisting by the word of God. And doth not St. John say, By it all things were made, and without it nothing was made. The world was fashioned by this word or essential spirit, 
Prov. 3.19.  which was pure light, but the world did not know it. And Solomon, Sapientia Deus fundavit coelos, stabilivit terram in prudentia: By wisdom God made the heavens, and by his prudency he laid the foundations of the earth. In conclusion, the whole harmony of holy Writ, which is too long for me punctually in this place to rehearse, doth testify thus much, that all things, of what nature or condition soever, were made, disposed, and effected, in, by, and through this divine virtue or emanation, which is God himself, forasmuch as it is the divine act, whose root is the word. Ex ipso (saith St. Paul) per ipsum, & in ipso sunt omnia: Of him, by him, and in him, are all things. But because some of the learned of this world may reply, that though it is true, that God by his divine Spirit or Word, did create all things; yet it followeth not, that he doth act immediately, and exist essentially in every thing. But after that this eternal Spirit of wisdom, had bestowed on each creature a peculiar virtue in its creation, than the creature can act of itself by a freewill, which is absolutely; and distinguished, and divided from the immediate act of God. I answer, that by our founded rules in Divinity, the true essence of the Deity is individual, and therefore God doth impart no essential act or virtue unto any creature which can be discontinued or separated from Himself. And for this reason, Christ who is the eternal spirit of wisdom is said to fill all, I marry (will our learned say) that is virtually, but not substantially or essentially. I would fain know (laying all such school distinctions apart, 
1 Tim. 6.4.  of which St. Paul biddeth Timothy to beware) if the virtue of God be not his essence, or whether the one can be divided from the other? If they reply and say, that this virtue of God is no essence but an accident: Verily they must needs err in saying so, being that it is most certainly known unto the very Jews and Gentiles themselves that God hath not any accidents in him, seeing that he is absolutely essential, and real of himself, for where his divine act is, there is also his virtue, and, where his virtue is, there is he truly said to be essential: for else the word or divine act which doth vivify and quicken every creature, should seem to be but an Accident, and that divided from the divine essence: which, how absurd it is, the immortality and root of it doth argue: For David in his forsaid text sayeth, spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum, from the spirit of his mouth doth issue every virtue of the heavens. 
Psal. 32.6.  I imagine that there is no man of an upright sense that will esteem this virtue to be an Accident; which being so, then must it needs be essential, and consequently in God, and of God, and therefore not divisible from his spirit: But what needs more words when Scriptures do confirm this every where? 
Colos. 1.16.  St. Paul sayeth, in the text before mentioned, Quoniam in ipso cond●ta sunt universa in coelis et in terra tam visibilia quam invisibilia, omnia in ipso et per ipsum creata sunt; et omnia in ipso constant. Because all things in heaven and earth are made in him, as well visible as invisible, all things are created in him and by him all consist in him; 
John. 1.4.  Ergo, nothing without him. Again, St. John saith, In verbo erat vita; Life was in the Word. And therefore the creature is annexed unto him by a continuated tie of one and the selfsame spirit of life which is in the creature, without the which it cannot exist one minute. 
Psal. 104.24.  And for this cause the Psalmist saith, O Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom thou hast made them all. The earth is full of thy riches; 
& 29.30.31.  so is the wide sea, and the innumerable creeping things therein both great and small. Thou givest unto them, and they gather it, thou openest thine hand and they are filled with good things, but if thou hide thy face, they are troubled, if thou takest away their breath they die, and return unto dust. Again, if thou sendest out thy Spirit, they are re-created and revive, and thou renewest the face of the earth. Whereby we see, that it is the immediate act of the Spirit of wisdom, that worketh these things, by which God is said to vivify all things, and that by him we breathe, and live, and have our being. And not only we, but also all other flesh whatsoever, as it appeareth by the foresaid Text; 
Job. 34.14.  as also by this testimony of Job, Si Deus apponens ad hominem animum suum, spiritum seu flatum ejus ad se reciperet, deficeret & exspiraret omnis caro simul, & homo in c●nerem reverteretur: If God setting his heart or mind upon man, should receive or draw unto himself his spirit or breath of life, all flesh would die together, and man would return unto dust. 
Isay. 42.5.  And the Prophet, Deus dat flatum populo qui est super terram & spiritum calcantibus eam. God giveth breath unto the people which is on the earth, and a spirit unto the creatures which tread on it. Now I beseech you, How is it possible, that this spirit of life should be present with, and in, all things, and therefore essentially in every thing, and yet it should cease to act immediately, that is, in persona sua, when it is the most swift and mobil' in his active nature and agility, of all things, as the wise man telleth us. That he is present in all things, it is apparent, because all things do act and live in him, and by him; for St. Paul's Text before mentioned saith, Omnia in ipso constant, All consist in him. And again, Ipse operatur omnia in omnibus, 
2 Peter. 3.5.  He worketh all in all. And St. Peter, The heavens and the earth which were of water, 
Wisd. 12.1. Wisd. 1.7. Psal. 139.7.8.9.10.11.12.  exist by the word. And Solomon, Incorruptibilis Dei spiritus inest omni rei, The incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things. And again, Spiritus disciplinae sanctus implet orbem terrarum, The spirit of wisdom filleth the earth. And the Prophet David, Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I lie down in hell, thou art there. Let me take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, yet thither shall thine hand lead me, and thy right hand hold me. If I say, yet the darkness shall hide me, even the night shall be light about me, yea the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day, the darkness and night are both alike. Therefore it is his real Spirit that filleth all things, and not any accidental virtue, as is falsely imagined by some. 
Isay. 66.1.  And the Prophet Isaias, Coelum est sedes mea, & terra scabellum pedum meorum, saith the Lord, The heavens are my seat, and the earth my foot stool. And Jeremy, Coelum & terram nunquid impleo, 
Jerem. 23.24.  Do not I fill the heaven and the earth? Now that you may know more particularly how this is done, harken unto David, In sapientia (saith he) omnia fecisti, 
Psal. 104.24.  repleta est terra possessione tua; Thou madest all things in wisdom, and the earth is full of thy possession or riches; he meaneth with his Spirit, which replenisheth, inacteth, and informeth all things. And therefore saith the son of Syrach, 
Eccl. 1.10.  Sapientiam effudit Deus super omnia opera sua, & super omnem carnem secundum datum suum: God poured out his wisdom upon all his creatures, and upon all flesh, according unto the measure that he bestoweth it: That is to say, The Spirit of wisdom is more or less in all things, according as it pleased God to impart it unto this or that creature. 
Wisd. 8.5.  And for this reason, Solomon in another place. Sapientia operatur omnia, Wisdom worketh or acteth all things. Which agreeth with this Text of the Apostle, Deus operatur omnia in omnibus. 
● Corinth. 12.6.  Why should we not infer then, that this spirit is essentially, and presentially in every thing? To conclude therefore this general discourse of the true Philosophy, Moses teacheth us, that after the foundation of the Heavens and Elements, every creature that was framed or composed of them, and lived and moved in them, did exist and was preserved by the selfsame spirit; namely, the Sun, Moon, and other Stars in heaven, the seeds, trees, herbs, and such like vegetables, and the creeping and fourfooted beasts of the earth, and fishes of the seas. And lastly, Man was created, by one and the selfsame spirit; but God imparted unto him a greater proportion of his Spirit▪ that thereby he might excel in perfection all other creatures. It were too infinite to express and set down the main scope of this business in writing, as Scriptures do at large recite it; for look into the works of Moses, the books of Joshua and Judges, the history of Kings or Chronicles, the reports of Job, the Psalms of David, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Cantiques, and Wisdom of Solomon, the monuments of the Prophets, the subject of Ecclesiasticus and Maccabees; and lastly, the relations or stories of Christ and his Apostles, and we shall find, that this sacred wisdom, with her essential virtues and acts, in the vast cavity of this world, both above and beneath, is the ground and firm foundation of all their doctrine and science, as well concerning natural, as supernatural businesses; or rather touching the acts of God in his natural Tabernacles, or watery and humid mantles, which he assumeth or putteth off at his pleasure, as Scriptures do testify. And yet I would have no man so far to mistake me, as not to think, that as God is not excluded from the creatures, so he is not included by any of them. I will now descend unto particularities, and show you how this eternal wisdom is the fountain or cornerstone, first, of the higher Arts, namely, of Theology, Physic, or the art of Curing, Astronomy, Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, Rhetoric; and after that, how the Meteorological Science only dependeth on his act; then how true Moral learning, and Politic government is derived from the instructions and directions of this only wise Spirit. And lastly, how all mystical and miraculous Arts and discoveries, are effected and brought to light by it, confirming that place in Scripture, where it is said, Caeterae sunt ancillae hujus, All sciences are but the handmaids unto this wisdom. Of each of these therefore, in order.   

CHAP. III.  
In this Chapter it is proved, that the true Sophia or wisdom, is the ground of all Arts: and therefore it being revealed or discovered unto man, he may be taught and instructed by it, as by the only wise and essential School-mistress, in all science and knowledge.  
IN Christo (saith the Apostle) sunt omnes the sauri sapientiae & scientiae absconditi, 
Colos. 2.3. Prov. 2.6.  All the treasures of wisdom and science are hid in Christ. And Solomon, Sapientiam dat Dominus, ex ore ejus prudentia & scientia: The Lord giveth wisdom, and from his mouth is prudency and knowledge. 
Ecclus. 4.21.  And Ecclesiasticus, Thesaurabit super virum scientiam & intellectum justitiae: Wisdom will treasure up in man science, and the understanding of justice. 
Ecclus. 24.46.  And again, Ego doctrinam quasi prophetiam effundam & relinquam illam quaerentibus sapientiam: I will pour forth doctrine or learning as prophesy, and I will leave it upon such as seek wisdom. And the incarnated Word, or Christ Jesus, said, Spiritus sanctus vos docebit omnia; 
Jo. 14.26 John. 16.13.  The holy Spirit will teach you all things. And again, Cum venerit ille Spiritus veritatis docebit vos omnem veritatem: When that Spirit of truth shall come, it will teach you all truth. Esdras tasted of that material wisdom, in the form of a fiery drink; 
4 Esdr. 14.39.  and he was so full of sapience, that he indicted books of science and wisdom, for the space of forty days together, which his Scribes did register, as he uttered it by word of mouth. 
Wisd. 7.7.  And Solomon saith, Sapientiam optavi, & data est mihi, invocavi & venit in me spiritus sapientis: I wished for wisdom, and understanding was given me; I invocated, and the spirit of wisdom came into me. But lest the captious of this world should say, that these words of Solomon were meant in another sense, than in the conceiving of such sciences, as are comprehended under Philosophy, called Natural; I wish them for their better direction, to listen unto Solomon, who doth in this case sufficiently interpret himself, and that to the simplest man's capacity in this sense; Spiritus sapientis mihi datus est, ut cognoscerem constitutionem mundi & vim elementorum, 
Wisd. 7.17.  principium, finem, mediumque temporum, solstitiorum mutationes, & varietates temporum seu tempestaium, anni circuitus, & stellarum situs, naturas animantium, & animos seu iras bestiarum, ventorum seu spirituum vim, & cogitationes hominum, differentias plantarum & radicum facultates, etiam cognovi quaecunque sunt occulta & manifesta; omnium enim artifex me docuit Sapientia: By the spirit of wisdom I came to know certainly, how the world was made, and the power of the elements, and the beginning, end, and middle of times, the changing of the Solstices, the variety of times and tempests, the compass or revolution of the year, the situation of the Stars, the natures of living creatures, the dispositions and angry conditions of beasts the strength of the winds or spirits, the cogitations of men, the differences of plants, and the faculties of roots. Also I knew both what was hid and manifest, for wisdom, the work-mistresse of all things, did teach me. Out of which words we gather, that by the revelation of this divine spirit, he attained to the knowledge of all things. For since wisdom is the centre, root, or cornerstone of all things, how should the centre be known, and not the circumference? being the circumference of all things is nothing else, but what it pleaseth the centre to make it. And for this reason, this divine spirit is termed rightly of the wise Philosopher Hermes, The centre of every thing, whose circumference is no where, but yet it comprehendeth all circumferences that are. We may therefore collect out of the foresaid speech of Solomon, that wisdom discovered unto him; First, all the abstruse mysteries, which do concern the making of the world, as she did unto Moses. Secondly, the nature and power of the Elements, with the hidden act, and miraculous generation of the Meteors, framed out of an elementary stuff, and of their wondrous properties. Thirdly, the reason and manner how the winds are produced, with the Astronomical division of the year, the situation of the stars in heaven, and their Astrological natures. Fourthly, the necessaries belonging unto the art of Physic; for he saith, that wisdom taught him the nature of all living creatures, the conditions of beasts, the differences of plants, and the faculties of roots, etc. Fifthly, the secrets of all things occult, and therefore of the Angels, yea, and of God himself, by consequence; and in this is the mystery of Theology comprehended. 
Touching the deity or eternal world. or Theology.  But I will prove this progression more particularly, beginning with Theology.  
Touching Theology, which is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Deus, or God; and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, sermo, or speech; quasi sermo de Deo, the speech or teaching of God: Solomon saith, that Spiritus sapientiae transsert se ipsum in animas sanctas, 
Wisd. 7.27.  & amicos Dei, & prophetas constituit. Neminem enim diligit Deus nisi eum qui cum sapientia habitat: The spirit of wisdom doth transfer itself into holy men's spirits, and maketh them friends of God, and prophets. For God loveth no man that dwells not with wisdom. And again, Sapientiam suis emittit Deus è sanctis coe●is, 
Wisd. 9.10.  à throno (inquam) gloriae suae mittit illam homini, ut praesens versetur secum in labour ut cognoscat quid gratum sit apud ipsum; illa enim novit omnia. G●d sendeth wisdom out of his holy heavens, from the throne (I say) of his glory doth he send her unto man, that it may be conversant and present with him in his labour, that he may know what is acceptable unto him; for she understandeth all things. And in another place, 
Wisd. 9.17.  Except God had given wisdom, and had sent his holy Spirit from the highest places, what man could have known the counsel of God? After this manner were the ways of such as lived on the earth corrected, and men were taught the things which were pleasing unto God. For this reason therefore Wisdom saith, Ego illuminabo omnes sperantes in Domino, 
Eccl. 24.45.  I will illuminate all that trust in the Lord. Ego sum liber vitae, testamentum alt●ssimi, & agnitio veritatis: I am the book of life, the testament of the most high, and the acknowledgement of the truth. 
Eccles. 24.32. Wisd. 6.21. Wisd. 8.4.  And Solomon, Sapientiae concupiscentia conducit ad regnum perpetuum: The desire of wisdom doth conduct unto the eternal Kingdom. And again, Sapientia doctrix est disciplinae Dei, & electrix operum illius: Wisdom is the misiress of the discipline of God, and she that maketh choice of his works. And in another place he saith, 
Wisd. 8.13.  Per sapientiam habebo immortalitatem, I shall obtain immortality by wisdom. It would be tedious to reckon up the confirmation of the Theological doctrine, which is declared and made manifest by this Spirit; for verily, it was this very Spirit in the fleshly Christ and his Apostles, which made their corporal or bodily organs, I mean their tongues, to speak, and their hands and pens to indite, all that Theological wisdom and doctrine which the new Testment hath registered. And it was this Spirit that spoke in the old Testament, by the mouths of the Patriarches and Prophets, the essential marrow of Divinity; and therefore let us look back upon them, as being the literal fountain of Theology, under whose typical or graphical instruction, the hidden spirit doth lurk, and may by the mystical Theology easily be extracted. I will proceed unto the next, which belongeth unto the Aeviall world.  

The Angelical or Eviall world  In ipso (saith the forementioned place of St. Paul) condita sunt universa in coelis, sive Throni, sive Dominationes, sive principatus, sive potestates: In him are all things in heaven made, whether they be Thrones, Dominations, or Principalities, or Potestates. And again elsewhere, 
Colos. 1.16. Coll. 2.9.  In Christo inhabitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter, qui est caput omnis Principatus & Potestatis: In Christ doth inhabit all the plenitude of the divinity corporally, who is the head of all Principalities and Potestates, and in another place, Ch●istus constituitur ad dextram Dei in coelestibus & supra omnem Principatum & Potestatem & Virtutem & Dominationem, 
Eph. 1.20.  etc. Christ is placed at the right hand of God, in heaven; above all Principality, Potestates, Virtues, and Dominations, etc. By which places, and many other authorities out of holy Writ, (which for brevity sake we omit at this time,) it is proved that there is no secret mystery comprehended among the Society of Angels, either touching their creation, essence, properties or denominations, but will be lively expressed by this superexcellent Spirit, which only is able to disclose all in all, because he is all in all, and that in every thing, I descend unto the next Step, which is Astronomy.  
Touching the essential nature of Astronomy, 

In the temporal starry world.  
Astronomy.   it seemeth to consist on the Basis or Foundation of this eternal Spirit, and therefore the wise son of Syrach said: Sapientia in coelis fecit ut oriretur lumen indeficiens; 
Eccles. 24.6.  Wisdom made a never-failing light to arise in the heavens: And it should appear, according unto this Kingly Prophet's phrase, that this Spirit did put his Tabernacle in the Sun: howsoever some men are pleased by the corruption of the Text, to interpret that place in another sense, and that little to the purpose; for the said Spirit speaking in her own person saith: Ego sapientia gyrum coeli circuivi sola: 
Eccles. 24.8. Psal. 147.4.  I wisdom did compass about the heavens alone, that is, in her sunny-Tabernacle; and again David saith, God in his wisdom doth number and count the stars, and calleth them by their names, whose wisdom is innumerable. Whereby it is apparent, that if in his wisdom or by this Spirit, the stars were numbered and had their proper names: it followeth that their virtues, courses and properties, must be best known unto him, who hath created, ordained and doth maintain them in the estate they are in: For David affirmeth, that every virtue of heaven doth proceed from the Spirit of the Lord: 
Psal. 32.6.  and Esdras, Stellae fundatae sunt in Verbo Dei, 
4 Esd. 16.57. Baruch 3.34.  qui & novit numerum stellarum: The stars have their foundation in the Word of God, who knoweth the number of them: In this respect also, the Prophet Baruch hath it, Stellae dederunt lumen in custodiis suis, & laetatae sunt ad jussum Dei: The stars gave light in their watches, and d●d rejoice at the Commandment of God: 
Jos. 10.13. Matth. 27.45. Jud. 5.20.  Hereupon it came to pass, that when this Spirit did fight for Josuah, he made the Sun stand still at his pleasure: He turned the Sun from light unto darkness at the passion of Christ: By it the stars in troops were stirred up to fight in their order by the●r influences against Sisera: So that it is easy to discern, that as the heavens and stars were first framed, and animated by this Spirit to serve as Organs, to administer unto the natural Fabric of this world, so also beyond the common course of the macrocosmicall nature, they may by the selfsame Spirit that commandeth them, and acteth in them as the soul doth within the body, operate, what, when, and how it lists; and be diverted from the usual order to effect his will, as well by altering the motion of his body, as action of his light and influential Spirit. Again touching the fixed stars, 
Job 38.31.  Job speaketh thus in the person of this Spirit, Canst thou restrain the sweet influences of the Pleyades, or lose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazaroth in their time? Canst thou guide Arcturus with his Sons? Knowest thou the course of the heavens, or canst thou set the rule thereof upon the Earth? etc. As who should say, that no man is able to know the courses of the stars, or to discern the powers or virtue of their influences, save only this divine Spirit, and that man unto whom it shall reveal the true Art and rules of Astronomy or Astrology: And therefore Solomon doth glory, in that he knew the course of the year, and dispositions of the stars, 
Wisd. 7.19.  and the change of the Solstices by wisdom. Per Sapientiam, (saith he) novi Solstitiorum mutationes, & anni cursum, & dispositiones stellarum, etc. If therefore the Astronomer wanteth this true Astrological foundation, all will be faulty and fabulous, as by the vulgar Astronomy, which is for the most part erroneous and uncertain it appeareth: I proceed now downwards unto the Meteorological region, to see how this Omnipotent Spirit worketh in the catholic sublunary Element, for the producing of Meteors in divers shapes and natures.  
As for the Act of this Eternal Actor or Operator in the air, 

In the temporal Elementary world.  
Meteorology.   water, and earth, for the production of Meteors, it is most evidently expressed in plain terms by holy Writ. Saith Job: Deus sapientia sua aptat pondus aëri & appendit aquas in mensura, facit pluviae statuta, 
Job. 28.25.  & viam fulgetro tonitruum: God by his Wisdom doth adapt a weight or pondero sity unto the air, and hangeth up the waters in measure, and giveth bounds or maketh a Law for the rain, and prepareth a way for the lightings of the Thunders: In which words, he showeth that this one Spirit of Wisdom, in whom is the power as well of contraction or condensation, as of dilatation or ratifaction, can, at his pleasure, make the air more thick and ponderous, by condensation, and so reduce it into a cloud; or by rarifying it into a more thin and subtle consistence, render it in the form of lightning; and evermore the air so altered, receiveth his shape or figure from the Alterer, according to the will of him who ordaineth all things. And thus the clouds, the lightnings, the thunder, the comets, the frost, hail, snow, and ice are created daily by this operating Spirit: But we have all this confirmed and acknowledged by many places of Scriptures: 
Prov. 3.20.  Sapientiâ Dei eruperunt abyssi & nubes rore concrescunt, saith Solomon: By the Wisdom of God, the Abyss was broke open, and the clouds were turned into dew or rain: Again, Ego sapientia sicut nebula texi omnem terram: 
Eccles. 24.6.  I Wisdom like a mist did cover the whose earth, saith the son of Syrach, in the person of this Spirit, And again: Ego in altissimis habitavi & Thronus meus est columna nubis: 
Eccles. 24.7.  I (saith Wisdom) did dwell in the highest places, and my throne was a pillar of clouds. Deus nubes effecit sapientia, saith Job: 
Job 28.25.  God made the clouds by his Wisdom. This Spirit maketh the clouds to asscend, it causeth the lightnings with the ra●n, and it bringeth forth the wind out of his Treasury, 
Psal. 135.7.  saith David: And again: Verbo suo quam celerrimè excurrente, & sermone suo in terra emisso, edit Deus nivem sicut lanam, & pruinam sicut cineres dispergit: coram frigore ejus quis consistat? 
Psal. 147.15.  God by his Word passing most swiftly, and by his Voice, being sent out upon the Earth, doth bring forth snow like wool, and spreadeth abroad the frost like ashes: Who is able to consist before his cold? There are many thousands of other places, which I can produce out of the book of Verity, to prove that all Meteorology is founded on this Spirit. But because I will speak of this point more at large in my last Book of this present Treatise, where I do express the true History of the Meteors, and open the errors and falsities of the Aristotelian Meteorology, I will only conclude with this confession, of the wisest Philosopher Solomon: Novi (saith he) virtutes elementorum, & varietates temporum sive tempestatum, & ventorum, seu spirituum vires, nam omnium artifex me docuit sapientia. I know the power of the Elements, 
Wisd. 7.17. & 20.  and the varieties of times and tempests, and strength of the winds, for Wisdom the work-mistress, of all things taught them me. Whereby it is evident, that she who was the maker of the Meteors, and was by Consequence the most skilful and best acquainted with their natures, did instruct him in them. I will now speak a word or two of Physic.  

Physic  Concerning the excellent Art of Physic, or Medicine, the Wiseman saith: A Deo est omnis medela, From God cometh every kind of healing or curing, which being so, 
Eccles. 38.2.  it is certain that the only Actor in healing and curing, is immediately from this all-working Spirit, 
Psal. 107.20.  and therefore the Kingly Prophet hath it, He sendeth his Word and healeth them, and delivereth them from their graves. And Solomon: But the teeth of the venomous dragons could not overcome thy children, 
Wisd. 16.10.  for thy Word came to help them, and healed them, even thy Word, O Lord, which healeth all things: for thou hast the power of life and death, etc. Mark well, Even thy Word (saith the Text) which healeth all things: Now this divine Word, is the root and fountain of this eternal Spirit of Wisdom: and therefore the Basis or foundation of healing is in him, and consequently from him all the mystery of healing doth proceed, which also agreeth with this of the Apostle, 
1 Cor. 12.4.9.  There are divers gifts, but one and the same Spirit; there are divers operations, but God is the same, which worketh all in all: but unto one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom, and unto an other the gift of healing: Now that this Omnipotent and all-operating Spirit is that Wisdom which giveth life and health to every creature, it is made manifest by many places of the book of Verity, 
Prov. 2.7.  saith the Wiseman: Sapientia custodiet salutem: Wisdom will preserve health: In Sapientiae dextra est longitudo dierum: In the right-hand of wisdom is the length of days: 
Prov. 3.16.18. Prov. 9.35.  Est lignum vitae omnibus qui apprehenderunt eam: She is the tree of Life, unto all them which can possess● her: where it is meant as well of body as of soul, as it did appear, by those cures which Christ and the Apostles did effect, by the means of this Spirit, upon the earth: Sapientiam qui invenerit, inveniet vitam & hauriet salutem à D●mino: 
Wisd. 10.9.  He that hath found wisdom, shall find life, and shall draw or attract health from the Lord. 
Wisd. 9.19.  And in another place, Ipsa hos qui se observant a doloribus liberavit: wisdom preserved such from dolours as observed her. And again, Sapientia sanati sunt quicunque placuerint tibi, o Domine, à principio: They were healed, O Lord whosoever have pleased thee, from the beginning: Yea verily, each prudent Reader ought seriously to understand that there is not an animal, vegetable, or mineral, but hath and receiveth immediately his curative act from this Spirit. And therefore the foresaid Son Syrach saith: 
Eccles. 38.4.  Altissimus de terra creavit medecinam, & vir prudens non abhorrebit illam: The most high hath created medicine of the earth, and the W●se man will not despise it; whereby we may discern, first that the trees, herbs, roots and minerals, being of springs of the earth, were ordained by God to be the means of curing and healing of men, and then that the gift or act which is imparted unto them, is from this Spirit of wisdom, forasmuch as it is said, to be in all things, and to operate all in all in them, though after a divers manner, as the Apostle doth affirm, confirming in this the Wiseman's saying, before recited: Verbum tuum sanans omnia: 
Wisd. 16.12.  Thy word which healeth all things: And therefore he inferred, Non herba nec ma●egma●e, sed verbo tuo sanante omnia: not by herb or plaster, but by thy word which healeth all things: If the Word therefore heal all things than nothing can cure but the Word or the spirit of wisdom, whose Fountain is the Word, 
Wisd. 12.1. Wisd. 7.24.  as is proved before: But seeing this incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things, and since it is the most active and movable thing in this world, and since by his purity he penetrateth through all, and acteth in all, What should hinder me or any good Christian else to say, that he acteth all in all, in and by this word of himself, and by himself, and that immediately; and therefore not any Creature of itself, or by itself, as the Peripatetic doctrine doth most erroneously, and, to the seducing of true Christian hearts from their Creator, publish unto the World, alluring them thereby to derogate from God who is all in all, by arrogating absolute authority unto the Creature, in making and ordaining so many essential distinct subalternate agents, which must (forsooth) operate per se: as the Sun, the Stars, the winds, the Elements, and the compounded creatures, as well imperfectly as perfectly mixed? Verily in so doing, they make the world believe, that the Organ doth act per se, essentially, and not this hidden and central word, or incorruptible Spirit, existing in every thing, which is the fountain or foundation of the true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or wisdom, and the main mark or Summum bonum, which the true Philosopher or Lover of wisdom doth aim at: Therefore doth Solomon, the Prophets and Christ, with his sanctified followers, exhort all men to be Amatores verae Sapientiae, Lovers of this wisdom; in whom is all Act, as well intellectual condescending unto the sublimation of man's knowledge, as more material, namely operating to vivification, vegetation, and multiplication. But of this more at large in another place. I will return unto my purpose, and conclude this brief discourse upon the true Physic, with Salomon's confession, who sayeth: Per sapientiam novi na turas animalium, 
Wisd. 7.20.  & was bestiarum, & differentias virgultorum, & virtutesradicum; imò quae sunt occulta et manifesta, mihi patefecit omnium artifex Sapientia: By wisdom I knew the natures of living creatures, the raging conditions of Beasts, the differences of plants, and the virtues of roots; yea, all the mysteries of creatures, as well occult as manifest, were revealed unto me by wisdom, which is the worker of all things: Whereby he argueth that wisdom, even that heavenly Spirit, which did bestow on herbs, animals, and minerals, their virtues as well hidden and secret, as apparent and evident, even that eternal Word which is all in all, and operateth or acteth all in all, and therefore can only teach and instruct by an external revelation, what he internally doth, and by what virtue he operateth in each creature; and although Ethnic Philosophers and Physicians, have by practical effects, or sensual observations, and demonstrations à posteriori, found out the occult properties in plants, as for example, of the Peony to cure the falling-sickness, of Herniaria to respect the rupture, of Tussilago to be proper for the Lungs, of Euphragia to be good for the eyesight, of Thecilea and Viscus quercinus to prevail against the falling-sickness, etc. In animals, of the Toad to staunch blood; of the Alsaeus hoof, and also the Frog, to cure the falling-sickness; of the Scorpion, chiefly to cure the bitings of the Scorpion, etc. yet because they are ignorant of the central grounds of Sympathy and Antipathy, which consisteth in the Volunty or Nolunty of one and the same Spirit, they can give no other reason for such hidden things, but only that they are ab occulta proprietate, of a hidden property. And in fine, can say no more but that they are talia, quia talia: and so we receive from these learned Doctors, nothing else but Ignotum per ignotius, A thing unknown by a more unknown: To conclude, it is certain that Solomon learned so much of the nature of Planets and other creatures, by the discovery of this Spirit, that it was said of him, that he was instructed by this his Schoolmistriss, in the virtues of all vegetables▪ beginning even from the lowly Hyssop, and so mounting unto the lofty Cedars of Libanus. Having then in few words expressed unto you the power of this Spirit, in her documents of Physic or Medicine, and proved that she is the Basis or ground of every sanative property in the world, I will show you in the next rank, her act and virtue in the essential Music.  
Touching the harmony of this world, 
Music.  and how every sublunary element, and superlunary sphere, are disposed by an essential kind of symphoniacall accord, the whole file of Scripture doth confirm, that it is effected by this wisdom. Again, the wiseman expresseth the wondrous effects of this Spirit, in these words, In se elementa dum convertuntur, 
Wisd. 19.17.  sicut in organo qualitatis sonus immutatur & omnia suum sonum custodiunt, etc. Whilst the elements are converted in themselves, as the sound is converted in an Organ of quality, and all do keep and observe their proper sound, etc. But the Apostle doth more excellently express this, 
Colos. 1.17.18.19.20.  in these words, In Christo condita sunt universa in coelis & in terra, & omnia visibilia & invisibilia per ipsum & in ipso creata sunt. Ipse est ante omnes & omnia in ipso constant. In ipso complacuit omnem plenitudinem divinitatis inhabitare, & per eum reconciliare omnia in ipso, pacificans per san guinem crucis ejus sive quae in coelis sive quae in terris sunt: All things are made in Christ, in heaven and in earth, and all are created by him, and in him, as well visible as invisible, he is before all, and all ●o consist in him, and it pleased all the plenitude of divinity to dwell in him, and to reconcile by him in himself, pacifying by the blood of his cross, all things both in heaven and earth. Lo here the perfect and catholic fountain of all harmony, the taker away of discord both from heaven and earth, and the pure essential, and formal love and sympathy of this world; and therefore by the wisest and most mystical Philosophers he is said to be, Vinculum seu ligamentum elementorum, the band or tie, whereby the discording elements are compelled unto an harmonious accord: After the imitation of whose melodious tunes and concord's, all the accords of our external music, as well vocal, as instrumental, are typically framed, which are in respect of the true and essential symphony of this spirit, even as a shadow is unto a true subject, or an image unto a reality. I come now unto Arithmetic and Geometry.  
As for these two Arts, the wiseman doth include them in these few words, Omnia mensura numeroque & pondere disposuisti seu temperasti; 
Arithmetic. Geometry.  Thou hast disposed or proportioned all things in measure, number, and weight. In which words, by measure is meant, the progress into longitude, latitude, and profundity, which this Spirit made in his emanation, from the point unto the line, and from the line or root unto the square, and from the square unto the cube. By number is meant, those Arithmetical dimensions in progression, whereby this Spirit issued out of unity into multitude, as from 1 unto 10, and from 10 unto a 100, and from a hundred unto a 1000; namely, from God, who is the eternal point or unity, unto the first articulated number, which is 10, and it represents the aeviall or angelical world, which is the first degree of composition▪ and from 10 unto a 100, which argueth the composition of the temporal world; and from a 100 to a 1000, which pointeth at the compound creature of the Elements. So that hereby each Christian may see, how God is all, and in all, and yet without all; and, as the Text hath it, in heaven, in the seas, in the abyss, and in hell. And for this reason, the Pythagoreans did include all things under these three principles, 1, 2, 3. whereby they attributed 1 unto God, in his abstruse being; 2 unto matter; and 3 unto form, under which, all are contained.  
But of this I will declare my mind more copiously, when I speak of the essential principles, of Sympathy and Antipathy; namely, in the first Book of the second Section of this present Treatise. And therefore the patient man, in the person of JEHOVAH, 
Job. 38.4.  saith thus, Ubinam eras quando fundebam terram? A●nuntia, si nosti intelligentiam. Quis disposuit mensuras ejus, aut quis extendit super eam lineam? super quo bases ejus defixae sunt? aut quis jecit lapidem ejus angularem: Where wast thou when I did lay the foundations of the earth? tell me, if thou hast understanding, Who disposed of the measures thereof? or who did stretch forth upon it a line? upon what were her foundations fastened? or who laid her cornerstone? Whereby he argueth, that by this Spirit, which is the cornerstone, or foundation of everything, (for without it, nothing is made, or can exist, as St. John doth testify) not only the earth had his Geometrical dimension, 
Joh. 1.2.  situation, and position; but also the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and each thing else, both in heaven and in earth, have assigned them their weight, proportion, magnitude, and limited seat in the world: Yea verily, by it, the air, by proportion and weight, is carried and framed out into the shapes of Meteors; for the sacred Text hath it, Deus sapientia aptat pondus aeri & appendit aquas in mensura: God by his wisdom doth adapt a weight unto the air, and imparts a mensurable proportion unto the waters or clouds. 
Job. 28.25.  I will show now her power in the science of Rhetoric and Oratory, and prove in few words, how she is also the exactest Mistress in those Arts, as also the only essential mover in the spirits of men, to make them truly eloquent and persuasive; and withal, she is the essential Magnet in the Orators voice, which can draw and attract the auditor's minds to listen and affect the organ, by whom she is intended to plead by.  

Exod. 4.10. 〈◊〉.  Saith Moses in his conference with this divine Spirit, Non sum vir facundus, neque unquam anteafui, ne quidem ex quo locutus es cum servo tuo; sed impedito ore, & impeditâ linguâ sum. Tunc dixit Jehovah ad illum, Quis statuit os hominum, aut qui● statuere potest surdum aut mutum? Nun Ego qui sum Jehovah? Nunc itaque ito & ego adero ori ●uo & docebo te quae te loqui convenit. I am not an eloquent man, neither have ever been so, no verily, not from the time that thou hast spoke with thy servant: But I have an impediment in my mouth, and am defective in my tongue. Then said Jehovah unto him, Who hath made the mouth of man? or who can make deaf or dumb? Is it not I who am Jehovah? Now therefore go thy way, and I will be with thy mouth, and I will teach thee what is fit for thee to say, etc. In which file of speech, God teacheth us, that eloquence, and apt disposition of words, sentences, and speech, both in the Rhetorician and Orator are from God; who can give it or take it away at his pleasure. And therefore the Evangelist sayeth in another place, 
John 6.45.  Erunt omnes docibiles Dei; or docti à Deo; 
Isai. 54.13.  All shall be taught of God. And the Prophet hath it Universi filii tui sunt docti à Jehovah; All thy sons are instructed by Jehovah. But Christ expresseth this in fuller terms thus; 
John. 14.26.  Spiritus sanctus quem mittet Pater, ille vos docebit omnia & suggeret vobis omnia quaecunque dixero vobis: The holy Spirit which my Father sendeth, even he shall teach you all things, whatsoever I shall say unto you. Now that this spirit is that eternal wisdom which effecteth and exciteth this Rhetorical and oratorical function, 
Wisd. 10.21.  the scriptures testify in other places, Sapientia (saith Solomon) aperuit os mutorum, & linguas infantum fecit diserias; Wisdom hath opened the mouth of the dumb, and hath made the tongues of children eloquent: And the Son of Syrach, 
Eccl. 39.7.  Sapiens aperiet os suum in oratione, The wiseman will open his mouth in an oration, And again, Tanquam imbres mittet eloquia Sapientia Sapientis, et in oratione confitebitur Domino. The wisdom of the wiseman will send forth her eloquence like a shower, and in his oration or speech will confess to the Lord. I could express many other examples out of holy Writ, to confirm this more amply; namely that all Rhetorical eloquence is from this good spirit of wisdom: but for brevity's cause I will pass them over that I may proceed unto the Mechanic Arts, and prove unto you that their inventions did originally proceed from the doctrine of this good Spirit, though foully commaculated by the succession of time through the scars of Envy and Ignorance.  
As concerning Mechanic arts, 
Mechanic Arts.  we find that the invention and shaping forth or making of Garments was derived from the instruction of this spirit. Loquêris cunctis Sapientibus cord (saith Jehovah to Moses) quos replevi spiritu Sapientiae: 
Exod. 28.3.  ut faciant vestes Aaron, in quibus Sanctificatus ministret mihi, Thou shalt speak unto all the wise in heart, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, to make habilements for Aaron, in the which he being sanctified may minister unto me: Also all the inventions of Goldsmith's works, and of the Jeweller's artifice, and Carpenters with the Sculpters of wood, did proceed from this fountain of knowledge; and therefore Jehova saith unto Moses, Ecce vocavi Beseleel & implevi eum cum spiritu Dei, sapientia, intelligentia et Scientia in omni opere, 
Exod. 31.1.  ad excogitandum quicquid fabrefieri potest ex auro & argento & aere, marmore et Gemmis & diversitate Lignorum: Dedique e● socium Ooliab & in cord omnis eruditi posui Sapientiam ut faciant cuncta quae praecepi tibi. Behold I have called Beseleel, and I have filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom understanding and Science in every work, to invent and find out every thing that may be fashioned out of Gold, Silver, and Brass, of Marble, precious stones, and variety of woods, and I have given him for a companion Ooliab: and in the heart of every wiseman, I have infused wisdom, that they may effect, what I have commanded them. By which words it is evident that the beginning of every true Mechanic Art, is this spirit of God, in whose only power it is to teach a man all things: but this is confirmed else where more plainly. Moses said unto the children of Israel, Ecce vocaverit dominus Beseleel, implevitque eum spiritu Dei, Sapientia, et intelligentia, et Scientia, et omni Doctrina, ad excogitandum & faciendum opus in auro & argento, 
Exod. 35.  & aere, & ferro, sculpendisque lapidibus & opere carpentario: Quicquid fabrè adinveniri potest, dedit in cord ejus; Ooliab quoque Ambos erudivit sapientia ut facian opera Abietarii Polymitarii, ac Plumarii de hyacintho & purpura, coccoque bis tincto & bysso & texant omnia, etc. Behold the Lord hath called Beseleel, and hath filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, and with science or knowledge, and with all manner of doctrine or skill, to invent and make work in gold, in silver, in brass, and iron, and in graving of stones, and in the carpenters work of carving. Whatsoever can be invented in workmanship, hath he put into his heart, and into that of Ooliab his companion. He hath instructed both of them by wisdom, to do the works belonging unto the Carpent●●s art, and unto embroidery, and weaving, and needlework in blue silk and in purple, and in scarlet, and in fine linnex, even to do all manner of works, and subtle inventions, etc. Moreover by wisdom Noa fuit in Arcae structura instructus: Noah was instructed in the building of the Ark: And therefore the text hath it: 
Wisd. 10.4.  Sanavit Sapientia terram, per contemptibile lignum justum gubernans: Wisdom restored the earth, guiding the just man by a contemptible piece of word. By it the Art of Music was revealed unto Juball: For the words are, Jubal fuit Pater Canentium Citharâ & Organo. 
Gen. 21.  He was the Father or beginner of playing on the Harp, and Organ: And Jubal-Cain was the Inventor of iron and brass works: For it is said, Ipse fuit malleator & faber, in cuncta opera aeris & ferri: He was a Smith or hammerman, being cunning in all works of brass and Iron. Again, Ada Jubal was Father of them who dwelled in Tents, and Prince of Shepherds. To conclude, there is no true Mechanic work, but had its original from this Spirit, in whom only, and in nothing else, is the gift of teaching all things. I come now to the moral and politic Arts, which do arise from this radical Spirit.  

Moral Philosophy.  All Moral Discipline also, hath her root and beginning from this holy Spirit of Discipline, as by the whole file of Scriptures we are taught. And it was the essential voice of this Spirit, which did teach the Christian world, by the mouth of Christ Jesus, to embrace and follow goodness, and to eschew evil. I will not say much therefore touching this point, but will only in few words speak unto our purpose, 
Prov. 2.7.  with the Wiseman's mouth: Sapientiâ servat semitas justitiae, vias sanctorum custodiens: Wisdom doth observe the paths of Justice; keeping the ways of the Saints. 
Prov. 2.9.  Per eam intelliges justitiam, & judicium, aequitatem, & omnem semitam bonam; si intraverit cor tuum, consilium custodiet te, Prudentia servabit te. Per eam eruêris à viamala: Te custodiet à muliere ex tranea. By wisdom (Saith Solomon,) thou shalt understand justice and judgement, 
Prov. 7.5.  equity, and every good and strait way. If she shall enter into thy heart, she will save and preserve thee with prudency: By her thou shalt be drawn from the evil way, she will preserve thee from the strange woman. Also, Sapientiae docet temperantiam, prudentiam, justitiam, & fortitudinem, quibus utilius nihil in vita hominibus: 
Wisd. 8.7.  Wisdom teacheth temperance, prudence, justice, fortitude, than the which nothing is more profitable unto the life of man. In another place, Sapientiae est, 
Prov. 8.14.  consilium, aequitas, prudentia, & fortitudo: Counsel, justice, prudence, and fortidtue, is of wisdom. Where is expressed the four Cardinall-vertues, which are the pillars of Moral Philosophy; For in Counsel, Temperance is considered, and then there is Justice, Wisdom, and Fortitude. Again, the Son of Syrach: In Sapientiâ, 
Ecclus. 6.31.  est Decor vitae, & qui operantur in ea non peccabunt: In wisdom is the comeliness of life, and who so operateth in her, will not sin. Now you know that sin is the breach of the Law, and the Mosaical Law is grounded as well upon the Moral rules of behaviour, between man and man, as in man's duty unto God. And Solomon, 
Wisd. 7.11.  in another place, Cum Sapientia venerunt mihi omnia bona, & innumerabilis honestas per manus illius: With wisdom came unto me all good things, and innumerable honesty from her hands. To conclude, this is expressed unto us more really and to the quick, in the Text above mentioned, Sapientiae labores magnas habent virtutes; 
Wisd. 8.7.  sobrietatem enim & sapientiam, justitiam & virtutem docet, quibus in vita hominibus nihil est utilius: The labours or works of wisdom have great virtues: For she teacheth sobriety and wisdom, justice and virtue, than the which there is nothing more profitable or commodious in this life. By which places, and many more, which I could produce, it is plain, that the Instructrix and foundation of all Moral or ethical doctrine, is the Spirit of true wisdom, which descendeth from the Father of Light.  

Policy.  As for the true and sincere Politic Government, which belongeth unto Kings, Princes, and Magistrates of this earth, we find it warranted by Scriptures, that wisdom is the root from whence it springeth, if it be good: For we find in one place, 
2 Chron. 1.10.  that Sapientia facit Regem, ut digne regnet in populum: Wisdom maketh a King to govern or reign over his people worthily. And Solomon, Sapienti● Reges regnant & Legum-conditores justa decernunt: 
Prov. 8.15.  By wisdom Kings do reign, and the Lawmakers do discern just things. Again, Sapienti● Principes imperant, & Potentes decernunt justitiam: By wisdom Princes do govern or command, and powerful men do decern justice. 
Ecclus. 9.18. Ecclus. 4.16.  And elsewhere, Sapientia melior est quam arma bellica: Wisdom is better than armour of war. And Ecclesiasticus: Sapientiam qui audit, judicabit Gentes: He which beareth wisdom hall judge Nations. Sapientia ministrabit in medio magnatorum & in conspectu Praesudis apparebit: Wisdom shall administer in the middle of the Nobility, 
Wisd. 8.10.  and shall appear in the sight of the Precedent or Judge. And Solomon, after the manner of a confession, saith: Ob Sapientiam habebam claritatem apud turbas, & honorem apud seniores: juvenis acutus inveniar judicio, in conspectu potentium admirabilis ero. For my wisdom I did shine among the people, and was honoured among the Elders, being but a young man I shall be found sharp in judgement, and in the eyes of the potent I shall appear admirable. 
Wisd. 8.14. Wisd. 8.15. Wisd. 9.12.  Again, Per sapientiam disponam populus, & nationes mihi erunt subditae: By wisdom I will order the people, and nations will be subject unto me. Sapientem timebunt audientes reges horrendi. Ob sapientiam multitudini videbitur bonus, & in bello fortis: sapientia deducit me ut disponam populum tuum justè. Fearful and dreadful potentates hearing a wise man, will be afraid. He will appear, by reason of his wisdom, good in the eyes of the multitude, and valiant in war. Wisdom directeth me to dispose of the people justly, etc. By which, and many other places, it appeareth, that the divine wisdom is the only guide of true government in every Commonwealth; and where her rules are not respected or followed, that government must needs proceed of worldly wisdom, which is terrene, animal, and diabolical.  
Lastly, 
Miraculous or supernatural effects.  I will conclude and finish this Chapter, with the miraculous and supernatural effects it produceth, and the admirable acts which it bringeth to pass, beyond the capacity of man's imagination; so that the man which is partaker of this divine Agent, and can firmly unite it unto his own spirit, may do wonders: Sapientia intravit in animam servi Dei Mosis; 
Wisd. 10.16.  & stetit coram reges horrendos in portentis & signis: Transtulit Israelem per mare rubrum & inimicos dimersit. Wisdom entered into the soul of Moses, the servant of God; and he stood before mighty Kings in prodigies and signs. He carried Israel through the red sea, and drowned their enemies. Sapientia mu●tiplicem experientiam docet, 
Wisd. 8.8.  nam scit illa praeterita, de futuris aestimat, scit versutias sermonum, & solutiones aenigmatum, signa & monstra antequam fiant praesagit, evenius quoque temporum & seculorum. Wisdom teacheth manifold experience, she is acquainted with things that are past, and judgeth of things that are to come. She understandeth the wiliness of speech, the solutions of aenigmas or riddles, and knoweth signs and prodigies before they appea●e, 
1 Cor. 2.10.  she is also familiar with the Events of times and ages; And the Apostle, Spiritus omnia scrutatur, etiam profunda Dei: The spirit searcheth out all things, even the profund & inscrutable things of God; 
John. 2.8.9. Jo. 6.10. Math. 14.25. John. 9.1. John. 11.43. John. 20.19. Joh. 21.9. Luc. 8.24. Luc. 8.27. Rom. 15.18.19. Wisd. 10.2. Wisd. 7.20.  It was that by the power of which, wine was made of water, five thousand persons were sustained by five ●oaves of bread, by it Chr●st did wa●k safely upon the waters, did cure one that was blind from his nativity: did raise Lazarus from the dead, did enter into the Chamber where his disciples were (etiam clausis januis,) he doors being shut; did cause an infinity of fishes to be taken; compelled the wind and storm at sea to cease, and be obedient unto his command, did cast out devils from such as we●e possessed, So also it was said, signa & prodigia in virtute spiritus sancti effecit Christus per Paulum, Christ did effect signs and prodigies by the virtue of the holy spirit by Paul. By this Spirit, Adam had virtutem continendi omnia, the virtue to comprehend all things: And Solomon did by it understand the thoughts of men, and knew all things which were occult and hidden. To conclude, Moses, Joshuah, Gideon, Samuel, Daniel, Elias, Eli●ha, with the other Prophets; Judas Maccabaeus, Chri●t and his Apostles, which were all the observant disciples unto the true wisdom, did by her secret art and operation, bring to pass all those miracles, which are mentioned in the holy Testament, both New and Old, as each man may find to be true, if he will be pleased to make a due enquiry into that holy story. 
Dan. 2.22.  But all this is most aptly expressed by the Prophet Daniel, in these words; Ipse revelat profun●a & abscondita, & novit in tenebris constituta, & lux cum eo est: He is the revealer of things that are profound and hidden, an understandeth the things which lurk in darkness, for light dwelleth with him. All which being so, it is most apparent, that there is no art or science, whether it be abstruse and mystical, or manifestly known, be it speculative or practical, but had his root and beginning from this true wisdom, without the act and virtue whereof, no true and essential learning and knowledge can be gotten in this world, but all will prove bastardly or spuriously begotten, having their foundation not upon Christ, the true ground, firm rock, and stable cornerstone, on which all verity is erected, forasmuch as only in him is the plenitude of divinity; but placing the basis or foundation of their knowledge, upon the prestigious sands of imagination; namely, after the inventions or traditions of men, and according unto the elements of this world, from whence they gather the fruits of their worldly or human wisdom, that is quite opposite in effect unto the true wisdom; namely, the eternal one, which hath his root and original from God, and not from man. And therefore touching this kind of worldly wise men, or Ethnic Philosophers, 
Rom. 1.21.  we may say with the Apostle, Evanuerunt in imaginationibus suis, They vanished and came to nought in their imaginations.   

CHAP. IU.  
Of the false wisdom, spurious Philosophy and Philisopher; with their marks or characters.  
NOw that I have sufficiently expressed and discovered unto you, the nature and essence of the true wisdom, and consequently of the essential Philosophy, and Philosopher: it will be most convenient and necessary, that I describe unto you the false wisdom of this world, with the frail Philosophy which is grounded upon it; and withal I will delineate the characters and marks, not only of this kind of wisdom, but also of the Philosopher, which is hatched and nourished from that spurious brood, or misbegotten offspring. The Apostle St. James saith That as the true wisdom which is from above, is first pu●e, then peaceful, gentle, swasible, full of mercy and good fruit, 
James. 3.17.  not judging, and without emulation or hypocrisy: So chose, That wisdom which is not from above, 
Jam. 3.14.15.  is earthly, animal, or sensual, diabolical, and contrad●cteth the truth, and consequently is litigious, immodest, unswasible, void of fruit, full of emulation and dispute. Now as the foundation of the first is Jesus Christ, forasmuch as he is the true wisdom; so that of the other, the traditions or inventions of man, animated and introduced by the devil, which made the divine Philosopher say, in putting a difference between these two opposites, In Christo sunt omnes thesau●i sapientiae & scientiae absconditi. 
Colos. 2.7.8.  Hoc dico, ut nemo vos decipiat in subtititate seu suasibil●tate se●monum etc. Videte ne quis vos decipiat per Philosophiam & inanem fallaciam secundum traditionem hominum secundum elementa mundi, & non secundum Christum, q●ia in ipso habitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis c●rporaliter. All the treasures of wisdom and science are hid in Christ. This I say unto you, that no man deceive you by philosophy, and vain sophistication or fallacy, after the traditions of men, according unto the elements of this world, and not according unto Christ, because that in him dwelleth the plenitude of the Divinity corporally. In which speech, he seemeth to justify, that all wisdom and knowledge, and consequently the true Philosophy, and all the sciences comprehended under it, do abide and are to be sought for in Christ, that eternal wisdom, and only angular stone, which filleth, informeth, and animateth all things; and are no way to be found in the false Philosophy, which is full of sophistication, and beareth scarcely a face or shape of probability with it, seeing that it is masked over with worldly human inventions, framed out according unto the rules and orders, of this obscure and erroneous world, and not according unto the precepts of Christ, the eternal wisdom, who (as the Scriptures do tell us) is, omnium mirabilium operator, the worker of all marvellous conclusions, as well natural as supernatural. And for this cause, the Apostle condemneth Philosophy in general terms, not but that the love of the true wisdom is good, and consequently the lover of it is no less to be honoured and esteemed; but he meaneth, the love of the worldly and human wisdom is vain: and he termeth it so, because that the Ethnic Philosophers added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto their false 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; so that the word Philosophy being a term after the Ethnics invention, is, in regard of the erroneous and jarring rules thereof, to be rejected, being that it is only framed and made after pagan men's traditions; forasmuch as it leadeth even Christians themselves, much more the Gentiles, rather to errors, and seduceth them more from the knowledge of God, than it doth induce or direct them, into the true path of finding him out; and for that reason, it became the occasion of a manifold idolatry in this world, in that it persuaded the ignorant worldling unto the worshipping of the creatures, instead of the Creator. For this cause therefore (I say) it was forbidden to be embraced of Christians, and hereupon the Apostle admonisheth us, to beware of philosophy, and vain fallacy, etc. Of such kind of Philosophers therefore, which do not build upon the truth, he speaketh elsewhere thus, Revelatur it a Dei de coelo super omnem impietatem & injustitiam homin●m eorum qui veritatem Dei in injustitia detinent, 
Rom. 1.18.  quia quod notum est Dei manifestum est in illis; Deus enim illis revelavit. Invisibilia enim ipsius à creatura mundi per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta, conspiciuntur. Sempiterna quoque ejus veritas & divinitas, ita ut sint inexcusabiles. Quia cum cognovissent Deum, non sicut Deum glorificaverunt aut gratias egerunt, sed evanuerunt in cogitationibus suis, & obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum: dicentes enim se esse sapientes, stu●ti facti sunt; & mutaverunt glo●iam incorruptibilis Dei, in similitudinem corruptibilis hominis, & volucrum, & quadrupedum, & serpentum, etc. The anger of God is revealed from heaven, upon all the impiety and unjustness of those men, which do detain the verity of God in unrighteousness, because that what is known of God, is made manifest unto them, for God hath revealed it unto them. For the invisible things of him, and also his everlasting virtue and divinity, being understood by such creatures as were made from the world's creation, are beheld or made manifest. So that they are inexcusable, because that when they knew God, they did not glorify him, or give him thanks, but did fade away, or vanish in their own imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. And therefore in saying that they were wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into the similitude of corruptible man, and of birds, and fourfooted beasts, and of serpents, etc. Again, Solomon speaketh unto the selfsame sense, in these words: 
Wisd. 13.1.  Vani sunt homines omnes natura, in quibus inest ignorantia Dei, & qui ex i●s, quae spectantur, bonis, eum, qui est, intelligere non potuerunt, neque ex operibus consideratis, ipsum opificem agnoverunt: All men are vain by nature, who are ignorant of God, and cannot understand him, that truly is, by such good creatures of his which they behold, nor yet can acknowledge the workman by the consideration of his works. It well behoveth therefore each Christian, to be wary in his reading the Ethnic Philosophy, and to consider seriously before he wade too far in it, or give too much credit unto it, the sayings of the two foresaid Sacred Philosophers, which followed the rules of the true Wisdom. And again, let him call to mind the precepts, which the first of them (I mean St. Paul) did impart unto the worldy Philosophers of Athens, when he espied that they did adore and worship strange and unknown Gods, and how he taught them a new Philosophy, and new Wisdom, namely Jesus Christ, which was strange doctrine unto them. And therefore they said, Let us hear what this babbler will say, that bringeth in this strange doctrine of Christ. Whereby it appeareth that the true Wisdom never sounded into their ears, or dived into their hearts: Let him (I say) observe that it was at this kind of bastard Philosophers, with their Philosophy, that the Apostle pointeth, where he saith in the place above cited: Let no man deceive you in subtlety and swasibility of speech: Beware of Philosophy and vain Fallacy, which are according unto the traditions of men, and according unto the Elements or rudiments of this world, and not after Christ, etc. In which words he distinguisheth the false Philosophy or wisdom, from the true Sapience, and he seemeth to intimate that the false Philosophy is but vain Fallacy, framed after the manner of men of this world, namely as at Athens it was taught; that is to say, with vain Fallacy, subtleties and seeming more in appearance and probability, than it was indeed. And for that reason it filled men fuller of doubts, by inquiries made through misty and foggy passages, then if they had gone the plain and simple way of teaching, to wit, after the true image of the real and essential Philosophy or rather Sophia or Wisdom, which as the Wiseman telleth us, is, Spiritus intelligentiae Sanctus, unicus, simplex, modestus, d●sertus, suavis, perspicuus, amans bonum, humanus, benignus, stabilis, certus, omnem habens virtutem, amicos Dei constituens, & in animas sanctas se transferens: The holy spirit of Wisdom, is unique and simple in his essence, modest, eloquent, sweet, 
Wisd. 7.22.  plain, and open without ambiguity: Loving that which is good, humane, benign, stable, sure, comprehending in itself all virtue, and an introductor of man unto the friendship of God, by transferring itself into the souls of pious and godly men. Lo here we see, that, in condition, this description of the good and true Wisdom, doth exactly agree with that Wisdom, whose character is described by St. James, as is said before: For he termeth it, modest, benign, peaceful, 
James 3.  suasible, without envy, or emulation. Again, (as St. James saith,) that it is from above, 
Wisd. 7.25.  namely, from the Father of Light. So also doth Solomon express her pedigree thus, Sapientia (saith he) est vapor virtutis Dei & emanatio quaedam seu fluxus claritatis omnipotentis Dei sinceri, & candour seu splendor lucis aeternae, & speculum sine macula Majestatis Dei, & imago bonitatis illius: Wisdom is the vapour of the virtue of God, and a certain emanation, or flux of the sincere shining forth of the Omnipotent God, and the brightness of the eternal light, and a mirror without spot of the Majesty of God, and the image of his goodness, By the which definition it is evidently discerned: First, that it is that Wisdom which is from above; next that it is not the vain wisdom of this world, which is nothing else but a plain fiction or empty shadow, in regard of this which is only truth: lastly, this wisdom bringeth good fruit with it; for it imparteth unto men, essential virtue and power, to act as well naturally as miraculously: and therefore the Apostle saith, Signa Apostolatûs mei facta sunt super vos in omni potentia, in signis prodigiis & virtutibus: 
2 Cor. 12.12.  The signs of mine Apostleship are upon you in all patience, in signs, prodigies, and virtues. And again, Qui tribuit vobis Spiritum & operatur virtutes, 
Galat. 3.5.  seu miracula, in vobis: Who bestoweth upon you the Spirit, who worketh also virtues, or miracles among you. Lo here our Christian Philosophers may see, how this Wisdom bringeth forth power and virtue, which St. James, in the before-cited place doth call good fruits: for he saith, that Wisdom which is from above, is full of good fruits: But Paul seemeth to call the Ethnic Philosophy vain fallacy, and therefore if it be vain, than it is void of good fruit, and consequently there is no true fructifying Philosophy, nor truly fructifyed Philosopher, but that which is grounded on that true and eternal Wisdom, Jesus. Besides all this, the true Wisdom is peaceable, not ambiguous, nor apt to be cavilled with, or contentiously to be disputed of, neither needeth it an infinity of distinctions and quiddities, framed out of man's brain, which rather leadeth the disciple by the multiplicity thereof into ignorance, than it doth elucidate the brightness of naked truth: But the false Philosophy, is so full of distinctions, subtle and sophistical evasions, so subject to cavils and disputations, and so contentiously composed, and, in fine, so difficile, and in effect so fruitless, that, instead of the true and essential grain, we find but chaff; instead of truth, we gather but words; instead of essential reality, we collect scarce a type or shadow of Verity; in lieu of sincerity we find but vanity; and, in conclusion, is more in appearance overmasked over, for the most part, with a seeming probability, than indeed really to be discerned; 
1 Cor. 2.4.  and for this cause, the Apostle saith, Praedicatio mea non est in persuasivis humanae sapientiae verbis, sed in ostensione spiritus & virtutis: My preaching is not in the persuasive words of humane wisdom, but by the manifestation of the Spirit and of power. For this reason therefore we find, in the one of the two kinds of wisdom, the fruits of power, virtue, and miracles, such as the true and divine Philosophers did produce by the Omnipotent Cornerstone, (I mean the true Wisdom) in times past, and made them manifest unto the world: Whereas the other can do nothing indeed, but produce cavillings, dispute, contentions, and fallacies, the fruits whereof, in the conclusion, is naught else but vanity: It is not I, but the Spirit of truth, that assureth you thus much. And yet now, even in this later age of the world, in which Satan, the prince of this world which is darkness, hath the upper hand; this terrene wisdom or vain Philosophy, which is daubed over with dark ignorance, hath the dominion or upper hand, and so by that means Christ, which is the true Wisdom, is daily crucified among some Christian Philosophers, and buried in darkness, through the misty and ambiguous clouds of that cavilling, brabbling, heathenish Philosophy, which they so adore and follow, with their Master Aristotle, as if he were another Jesus reigned down from heaven, to open unto mankind the treasures of the true wisdom: But ma●k a while (I beseech you) how the Apostle doth describe these wrangling Philosophers, with their Sophistical Philosophy, and with what characters and colours he doth justly describe them: Si quis aliter docet, & non acquiescit sanis sermonibus Domini nostri Jesus Christi (saith he) & ei quae secundum pietatem est Doctrinae, superbus est, nihil sciens, sed languens circa quaestiones, & pugnas verborum; ex quibus oriuntur iuvidiae, contentiones, blasphemiae, suspiciones mala, conflictationes hominum ment corruptorum, 
1 Tim. 6.3.  & qui veritate privati sunt, existimantium quaestum esse pietatem: If any man teach otherwise, and consenteth not unto the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and unto the doctrine which is according unto Godliness, he is puffed up and knoweth nothing, but doteth about questions, and contention of words; whereof cometh envy, strife, railing, evil surmises, froward disputations of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, which think that gain is Godliness: From such, (saith St. Paul unto Timothy) Separate thyself. I could heartily wish, that each Christian Peripatetic, who spendeth his time in disputes and cavils, after the Aristotelian manner, and attempteth to draw out the endless bottom of truth, or dive into the bowels or labyrinths of verity, by subtle evasions, I mean by an infinity of distinctions, which do rather distract then attract man unto the true wisdom, (which is but plain and simple unity); I could wish them (I say) to ponder this with patience, and seriously to call to mind, that in the Church of God, and habitations or kingdoms of the true Sophia, or, if they please, 
1 Cor. 2.  Philosophia, there is no such custom as the Apostle teacheth us: for this mixtion of multiform humane wisdom, with the wisdom of God, hath been the occasion of so many dissensions and discords, as have sprung up among the Philosophers of this world, whereupon every kind of this false Philosophy, hath, by stiff cavillations, and disputations, maintained her Sect. This also hath been the occasion of errors in the Church of God, as well among Christians, as Turks, and Jews: For amongst us Christians it hath been the root of many Schisms and Heresies, which have risen up in the re-search of one only true God, which is the eternal Unity. And hereupon, Convenientibus vobis in Ecclesia, 
1 Cor. 11.16.  (saith St. Paul) si quis videtur esse contentiosus, nos talem consuetudinem in Ecclesia non habemus: If any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom in the Church of God. To conclude, there are so many ways of deception in this our Christian world, by reason of these aristotelical evasions, and Protean Peripatetical distinctions, and sophistications, that the selfsame thing, may by them, like a nose of wax, be turned, and changed, or altered, in outward appearance, which way a man list; and so plain simple truth is abused, and the silly man seduced. The Apostle doth notably decipher or paint forth, this kind of Enigmatical Philosophers of our Age, (which, like glorious Thrasoes, are puffed up in their own conceits, and think very well of themselves, though they approach not near the mark or Summum bonum, which wise men do aim at) in these colours, In novissinis diebus (saith he) instabunt tempora periculosa, 
2 Tim. 3.1.  etc. Erunt homines seipsos amantes, cupidi, elati, superb●, etc. Semper descents & nunquam ad scientiam veritatis pervenientes, quemadmodum autem Jamnes, & Mambres restiterunt Moysi, ita & high resistuunt veritati, homines corrupti ment, & reprobi circa fidem, & ultra non proficient; insipientia enim eorum erit manifesta omnibus, sicut & illorum fuit. Tu autem assequuntus es meam Doctrinam. In the last days, shall come perilous times: for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, highminded, and proud, etc. always learning, and never attaining unto the knowledge of the truth. And as Jamnes and Mambres did resist Moses, so do these withstand the truth, being men corrupt in mind, and reprobate concerning the faith. But these shall prevail no longer, for their foolishness shall be made manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, etc.  
Now his doctrine was concerning the true Philosophy, whose foundation was Jesus Christ, or the true wisdom and cornerstone, which sustaineth all, and is all in all, and filleth all, and acteth or operateth all in all; which is contrary unto the tenor of the Ethnic doctrine, seeing that it maketh an infinity of essential Agents in this world, as Daemons, Stars, Elements, Meteors, Fire, Water, Cold, Heat, Man, Beast, Plant, Mineral, and such like; the which they will have as subalternate essential Agents, to act and operate of themselves, not understanding, that there is but one catholic and indivisible Agent in many mansions, which doth operate by, and in, an infinity of organical vehicles, all in all, and over all. And this doctrine of theirs hath so infected our Christian Philosophers, which are of their sect, that they distinguish of Gods Being, saying, That he is present vertualiter, and not substantialiter, or essentialiter. As who should say, that God's virtue can be without his essence, or divided from his divinity, which is indivisible; and so they dream of some accidents to be in God, which are distinguished from his essence. Or else they distinguish and say, that he operateth all principaliter and mediate, as he is the first cause. But, say they, there are an infinity of secundary causes, which act and operate of themselves. But I wonder, if that were true, how God can be said to fill all things, and operate all in all; if he be only the first efficient cause, and not the general cause of all action in this world, by his blessed Spirit, which he sent out into the world, to do the will of him that sent it, as well in heaven as in earth. What needs more words, when the Apostle in plain terms decideth this controversy in the Text before mentioned? Etsi sunt (saith he) qui dicuntur Dij sive in coelo, sive in terra, 
1 Cor. 8.5.  (siquidem sunt dij multi & domini multi) nobis tamen est unus Deus Pater, ex quo omnia, & nos in ●llo; & unus Dominus Jesus Christus, per quem omnia, & nos per ipsum. Sed non in omnibus est haec scientia. Though there be that are called Gods, as well in heaven as on earth, (as there are many gods, and many lords) yet unto us there is but one God, which is the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. But every man hath not that knowledge. By which words each Christian may discern, how adverse the divine Philosopher Paul is, unto the imaginary virtue, and immediate act, of either the Peripateticks Daemons and Intelligences, or of the starry bodies and influences, or of the quali●ies of his four Elements, or of the Winds and other Meteors, mentioned by their Master Aristotle.  
And although they appear in outward show, that they act or work of themselves in this world; yet our true Philosopher Paul teacheth us, that by his Philosophy, (whose basis or ground is the true wisdom Jesus Christ) he can discern no other Agent but one primary, of whom are all things; and the other secundary, by whom are all things, both which he acknowledgeth to be but one in essence; for the one being an emanation out of the other, doth only, and of himself operate all in all. This is the perfect tenant of the essential Philosophy: And therefore whatsoever the mundan and Ethnic Philosophy doth tell, and by insinuating subtlety persuade us unto, which is apparently contrary unto the true Philosophy, we ought not in any case to believe. And unto this, the said divine Philosopher seemeth to consent, 
Gala. 1.8.  in these words, Though an angel from heaven doth preach unto you otherwise then that wh●ch we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. If any man preach otherwise then that ye have received, let him be accursed. And therefore seeing that the Aristotelian learning, is contradictory in divers main points, unto the positions of the essential wisdom or philosophy, a true Christian ought not in the main points to believe it, seeing that as St. James hath it) the grounds and tenor of it are opposite unto the holy Bible, which is the only cabinet of truth; and therefore is pronounced by him to be terrene, animal, and diabolical. Hereupon St. Paul writeth unto his scholar Timothy, in this style, Timothy, keep that which is committed unto thee, 
1 Tim. 6.20.  and avoid profane and vain babble, and oppositions of sciences falsely so called, which while some profess, they have erred concerning the faith. In which words, he seemeth to forewarn his Disciples, that they be not entangled with the sophistical allurements of the worldly Philosophy, which contradicteth the truth, and is not pacific, but troublesome, and full of vain disputes and opposition, pronouncing such kind of Philosophy, to be not truly but falsely called a science; as also all those sciences which depend on it: And moreover insinuates unto his disciples, that such Christians as profess it, with too too vehement a devotion and confidence have by the means of it been subtly induced into errors concerning the faith, which is grounded upon the Anchor-hold of this invisible wisdom, which is the spiritual Christ Jesus; Again, in this sense he giveth this Caveat before specified unto his Colossian disciples. Beware that no man do deceive you by Philosophy and vain fallacy according unto their addition of men, 
Colos. 2.8.  according unto the Elements of this world, and not according to Christ, etc. Whereby he admonisheth us christian's, to eschew the false philosophy of the Ethnics, and to stick firmly unto the rules and doctrine of the true wisdom, and therefore he saith in the same Text, In Christo ambulate radicati et aedificati in ipso etc. walk ye firmly rooted in Christ, etc. whereby he intendeth that Christ is the only cornerstone and ground work of the true Philosophy, being that all creatures, yea and the whole world is founded on it; and consequently that the foundation of Paganish philosophy is sandy and of no validity; whereupon the Apostle saith, Fundamentum aliud nemo potest ponere praeter id quod positum est, quod est Christus Jesus, 
1 Corin. 3.10.  No man can lay any other true foundation, but that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now that this is clean contrary unto the false grounds of the Ethnics, the said Apostle seemeth to intimate in these words, 
Ephes. 4.17.18.  Hoc dico ut non ambuletis, sicut et gentes ambulant in vanitate sensus sui, tenebris obscuratum habentes intellectum, alienati in vita Dei per ignorantiam quae est in illis propter caecitatem cordis eorum etc. I say this, that you should not walk as the gentiles do, in the vanity of their senses, having their understandings obscured with darkness, being alienated from the life of God by ignorance which is in them by reason of their blindness of heart. I must now come to particularise upon the erroneous and false doctrine of the Peripatetic or Aristotelian philosophy, that thereby I may the better lay it open unto the world, by comparing the vanity thereof with the goodness and perfection of the divine and sacred Sophia or wisdom.   

CHAP. V.  
Here the erroneous doctrine of the Gentiles Philosophy is set down, being proved for certain reasons herein expressed to be founded upon the wisdom of this world, and not upon that which descendeth from God.  
NOw me thinks, I hear some sharpwitted Aristotelian reply and say, How can he prove that the peripatetic Philosophy is not descended from above? And why should not the foundation thereof be the true wisdom, which came from God?  
But before I come to the answering of this objection, I beseech thee (gentle Reader) give me liberty, first to apologise a little for myself; Be thou therefore pleased in the first place to understand from my just and upright spirit, that I acknowledge and confess this Prince of the Peripatetic Philosophy to be a personage of a profound speculation; and that he had as deep an insight into the light of nature as any of the common rank of Philosophers in his time: Yea verily, he had so sharp an ingeny, and so subtle and refined a spirit, that he not only alured by his worldly craft and humane invention, the Gentilish Greeks (whereupon he was termed by them, Cacodaemon, or a deceitful spirit, or seducing from the truth,) but also Christians themselves of every sect, even unto this present: Insomuch that they are so wedded unto his worldly wisdom, that they admire each new proficient in Philosophy, of their Universities to maintain his actions, and not to decline from his doctrine. As for myself, though I may be ranked in that number, yet now I have collected my spirits, and have by God's grace attained unto that light of holy Scriptures, whereby I am made able to distinguish and discern their essential colours, from this praestigious one of Pagans; I must say with Cicero, that Quaedam promissa sunt servanda nimirùm licita, and on the other side, Quaedam promissa non sunt servanda, nempe quae sunt illicita; Lawful promises are to be observed, but such as are unconscionable are to be violated: Now God forbid, good Christians should imagine that any oath which is made to derogate from the verity of the holy Bible, should be perpetually confirmed; for that were to rebel against the truth. Wherefore my essential Motto, in this my old age (notwithstanding any allegiance which I have by a ceremonial rite vowed unto Aristotle in my youth) shallbe, Amicus Plato, amicus Aristoteles, sed magis amica veritas; though Plato, and Aristotle, be my friends; yet truth is more my friend, and therefore ought most to prevail with me.  
And now to answer directly unto the foresaid objection, we must compare together, the two wisdoms propounded by the foresaid Apostles, 
1 Cor. 1.20.  First St. Paul saith, that God hath made the wisdom of this world foolishness: And again, Sapientia hujus mundi stuliitia est apud Deum, 
1 Cor. 3.19.  Deus en●m novit cogitationes sapientum quod stultae sunt. The wisdom of this world is foolishness before God, for God knoweth that the cogitations of the wisemen or Philosophers of this world are foolish: And for this cause, the same Apostle in another place, Nos non spiritum hujus mundi accepimus, sed spiritum qui ex Deo est, 
1 Cor. 2.12.  & quae à Deo donata sunt nobis loquimur, non in doctis humanae sapientiae verbis sed in doctrina Spiritus, spiritualia spiritualibus comparantes: Animalis enim homo non percipitea quae sunt spiritus Dei, stultitia enim est illi & non potest intelligere. We have not received the spirit of this world but the spirit which is from God, and we speak those things which are given unto us of God, not in the learned words of humane wisdom, but in the doctrine of the spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things: For the Animal man perceiveth not the things which are of the Spirit of God, for it is foolishness unto him, and he cannot understand i●. By which words we ought first to examine, whether A●istotle were an Animal man or no; if so, then what should we expect from him, but mundan wisdom and Philosophy, which St. James termeth animal and terrene, which indeed is nothing in itself but meet foolishness, as St. Paul telleth us, being that the animal man perceiveth not the things which are of God, because he esteemeth them foolishness. Of this kind of philosophy and wisdom, the same Apostle biddeth us to beware, 
Colos. 2.8 9  being (saith he) it is grounded upon the traditions of men, and the elements of the world, and not upon Christ. But he pointeth at this Graecanicall wisdom more directly in these words, in which he distinguisheth both it and the Jewish wisdom, from that of God, whose foundation is Jesus Christ; Sapientiam Graeciquaerunt, Judaei signa, nos Christum crucifixum praedicamus: The Greeks seek wisdom, 
1 Cor. 1.22.  the Jews signs, we preach Christ Crucified, arguing by these words that the Greeks search after the wisdom of the world, which consisteth chiefly in speculation or contemplation, as the wisdom of the Jews is more conversant in signs and ocular demonstrations; for without it they will not believe. Lastly, the third wisdom which is that true sapience, which both the Greeks and Jews did reject and scoff at, 
Colos. 2 9  was Jesus Ch●ist, in whom was the plenitude of divinity Corporally: and this is that real and essential wisdom which Christians ought to search after, and whereon they ought to ground their Philosophy which is divine and not humane. But if they reply that perchance Aristotle had an insight into the Christian doctrine, or did apprehend Christ in some manner, or at least had an eye into the wisdom of Moses and the Prophets. First, I answer, That as Aristotle was before the incarnated Word, so also is it evident, that he knew little of the Mosaic learning, which consisteth upon the Creation, effected by the spagericks act of the divine Word, when he would have the world to be eternal. I confess, that his Master Plato was more essentially grounded on the true wisdom; but Aristotle being puffed up with self-conceit, would, in derogation from the Stoical doctrine of his Master, arrogate all wisdom unto himself, by framing out or fashioning a new worldly wisdom or philosophy, which was afterward termed Peripatetical; and so by his vain glory, he added unto some truths many of his own inventions, making as it were a Gallimofry of good and bad, of true and false, of wisdom and folly together, which is far from the nature of the perfect Christian wisdom, which must needs be therefore wholly truth itself, because it is described by the Spirit of God, in the which there is nothing but truth. Again, if the Peripatetic, Stoic, or Epicureall doctrine, had been perfect, and according unto the true wisdom Jesus Christ, why should the Athenian Philosophers so persecute the right and exact Philosopher Paul, for reaching the true wisdom Jesus Christ, in whom only is the plenitude of divinity, as the same Apostle teacheth in divers places? By this therefore we may perceive most plainly, what the wisdom is, on which Aristotle hath built his Philosophy. But I will come a little nearer unto the point, or main mark, and compare the double wisdom expressed by St. James, an other true Christian Philosopher, or Apostle of Christ, 
James 3.15.  who telleth us in the place above mentioned, that the wisdom which contrad●cteth the truth is not f●om above, that is to say, from the father of light, neither is it pacifica●l and modest, but terrene, animal, and diabolical. Now that this philosophy or wisdom of the Peripatetics is such, it appeareth, first, because it is litigious, full of disputes, fallacies, brabbles, and controversies, which is contrary unto the rules of the true Wisdom, and therefore the Apostle Paul adviseth Timothy, to separate himself from such as teach other doctrine, 
1 Tim. 6.4.  than that of the true Wisdom, saying, that they which do so are puffed up and know nothing, but dote about questions and strife of words, that is to say, about verbal distinctions, wresting each word unto a multiplicity of senses, whereof cometh envy, strife, and railing, evil surmizes, from disputations of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth. And again, 
2 Tim. 2.23.  Stu●tas & sine disciplina quaestiones devi●a (saith he); sciens quia generant lights: Eschew questions that are foolish and without discipline, for as much as they beget strife, And such is the Philosophy of our Christian Aristotelians; Forasmuch as their order and fashion is, to be ever conversant about questions and cavilling disputations in their Schools, and that is the occasion of equivocations, and of the infinity of distinctions, which give way unto the maintenance of falsehood as well as of truth, and is the foundation of so many opposite Sects as well in the common Philosophy as religion, whereupon ariseth disputations, strife, contention, and malice, not only in the Schools, between contrary factions, but also among the common sort of people, that are of sundry religions; whereas if their Philosophy or wisdom were founded on the true Sophia, which is Christ Jesus (which as he is all in all, so is he but one simple essence) they would all agree in the unity of him, who is but one and the same in us all; for in him and by him, we are all made brethren, and coheirs with him, of eternity. And again, 
Acts 17.  seeing that in him we live, move, and have our being, (as Paul saith) we should by consequence, (and that without all question, dispute, or brabling-quarrels,) know, and understand in ourselves, that summum bonum, which truly-wise men seek after, and, with Tantalus his appetite, do so fervently affect. Doth not the Philosophy of Christ teach us, that Regnum Dei sit intra nos: The Kingdom of God is within us. 
Luc. 17.21. 1 Cor. 6.19. 1 Cor. 6.15.  Et quod sit in nobis omnium mirab●lium operator: And that the worker of all marvails is within us. Et quod sumus Temp●a Dei, & Spiritùs Sancti: And that we are the Temples of God and the Holy Ghost, and that we are the members of Christ, etc. Which being so, why should we be at strife, disputes, and brabbles, about difficulties, or ambiguities of questions? or, why should our riper senses be battered in pieces by foolish distinctions in which are the inventions of humane or diabolical wisdom, on set purpose to immerge and drown us deeper in the abyss of multitude, or profundity of ignorance, when the only endeavour of truth is, to conduct us through those clouds of errors, (in which the foolish wisdom of this world, hath involved our understandings) unto the fountain of Unity and Concord, which is the eternal Wisdom, the spiritual, Christ Jesus? Thus we see how contrary the Greekish wisdom is, unto that of the Apostles; for as much as the Greekish Philosophy is contentious, litigious, full of disputes, brabbles, and emulations; for which reason it is pronounced by St. James, to be terrene, animal, diabolical, 
James 5.  and not from above; whereas contrariwise, that Philosophy which is grounded on the true wisdom, which is from above, must be first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without judging, envy or hypocrisy. For this cause therefore, our Christian Philosopher Paul, admonisheth his Scholar Timothy to eschew all profane, 
1 Tim. 6.20.  and vain babbling, and opposition of Sciences, falsely so called, which whilst some profess, they have erred concerning the Faith. All such Christians, as have their Anchor-hold too firmly fastened on Aristotle's Philosophy, should seriously ponder this, that our eminent Master St. Paul seemeth to advertise them with such fervency, that the observation of this Ethnic Philosophy, which consisteth in contentions, questions, vain babble, and opposition of Sciences, which seem such, but are not so indeed, though they are called so falsely, is the occasion, that well-intending Christians have been deceived, and have erred concerning the Faith in the true Wisdom, and only verity Jesus Christ. Again, saith the Apostle James, The wisdom which contradicteth the Truth, 
James 3.  is not from above, but terrene, animal, diabolical. Now I am assured, that all good Christians will maintain, that the fountain of Truth, and Verity, is the holy Bible. What will our Christian followers of Aristotle say, if I will prove evidently, that Aristotle's doctrine doth err from the main grounds of holy Writ, which is the treasure of Verity, and consequently from that wisdom which is the Father of Light? It is a common phrase among our lip-learned Sophisters, to say, when any contradiction is found between some axioms of Greekish Philosophy, and the sacred Assertion, Oh, this is true in Philosophy, but in Scripture it is found otherwise: I say, to these, that if there be found any contradiction between the points of the one, and that of the other, there is a foul error, and falsehood, or contradiction in the one or other, and therefore the one of the two, must needs issue from a terrene, and diabolical, or mundan and human wisdom. Now judge, each good Christian, whether we should rather stick unto God's Word, which is the only Truth, or the affirmation of Aristotle, which deriveth his wisdom, from the father of lies, I mean the mundan wisdom, which is for that reason termed of the Apostle diabolical or devilish. Others say, that men are so deeply conversant in the secrets of nature, or natural Philolosophy, that they are become Atheists, and will acknowledge no God: They must needs understand of the Ethnic Philosophy, and not point at that of Jesus Christ; for that leadeth and directeth the understanding spirit of man, even unto the Throne and Majesty of the true God: and persuades him to forsake the multitude of this naughty world, to betake and contract itself unto that blessed union, from whence his bright Spirit was originally derived. A third sort of men seem to repine and storm, that any man should presume to mingle natural Philosophy with Divinity, or should dare or attempt to draw any axioms or Authorities out of Scriptures, to prove or maintain the Principles or causes of Philosophy: averring boldly but erroneously, that the Bible doth only teach unto man, what belongeth unto Salvation, that is to say, how we should fear God, and behave ourselves unto our neighbours: As who should say, that the holy Scriptures had indicted any thing in vain. 
Colos. 2. John 14.26.  And yet it is plainly found in them, that all the treasure of wisdom and science doth lie hid in Christ. And it is said in another place, A me discetis omnia: Ye shall learn all things of me. And again, Spiritus Sanctus vos docebit omnia: 
Wisd. 13.1.  The holy Spirit will teach you all things. Are we not likewise taught, 
Rom. 1.  that all men are vain, that do not know the Creator by the creatures which he hath made: and the invisible God by the visible things, which he hath created. Besides all this, man shall find therein most lively described, the three principles whereby God made all things, namely the dark Abyss or Chaos, which they call first-matter, the second matter which they term water, and the first Act or light which they call their form: Also the true manner of generation of Meteors, of condensation and rarefaction, of generation and corruption, of action and passion, and of all things else, which can be imagined in that kind of learning, which the Aristotelians call natural, is rightly, and not Sophistically, expressed in this true Philosophy: as also every other kind either Moral or Politic, with all other Sciences, both liberal and Mechanic, as is already proved: What? was all this (I say) vainly set down, and expressed by the Saints of God, which were, in their inditings or writings, guided by the Holy Spirit of Truth? No verily, but rather we may excuse these zealous accusers without true understanding, and say, that they meant of intermingling the false Aristotelian wisdom, with that of the Spirit of God, which is only truth; for, would these persons but rightly understand, that Philosophia, in his original sense, importeth sophiam, or wisdom, they would acknowledge and confess, that the true and essential philosophy, or sophia, is nothing else, but the sacred wisdom, or holy spirit of discipline, which is the ground of not only that, which animal men of this world term Natural Philosophy: but also of the whole subject of Theology. So that if we consider the case rightly, we shall plainly perceive, that sacred Philosophy is nothing else, but the groundwork of Divinity, or an expression of God and his acts in his creatures; or, if you will have it so, in things as well supernatural, as natural. Neither can any man find, that God was ever mentioned or specified in Scriptures, but as he was considered in this world which he framed, and the creatures thereof: So is he said, 
Psal. 103.2. Deut. 9.3. Heb. 12.22. Isay. 66.1. Eph. 4.8. Psal. 18.5. Job. 22.15. Psal. 103.7. 2 Reg. 22.8. Job. 28. Job. 38.1. Psal. 147.16. Psal. 139.7. Act. 2.3. Sap. 1.7. 1 Cor. 3.16. Sap. 12.1. Rom. 1.  to be endued with light as with a vestment. To be a consuming fire. To fill the heavens, and to make the earth his footstool. To put his tabernacle in the sun. To make the dark clouds his dwelling or tabernacle. To speak in thunder from heaven. To parley with Job out of the whirlwind. To blow out of the north and south. To be everywhere. Also his Spirit is said to descend from heaven like a dove, and in the form of cloven tongues of fire, and to fill the earth, and to make man his temple, and to be in all things. To conclude, all Scriptures are full of nothing else, but of his essential operation in all created things, by his infinite organs. Wherefore I may justly say, that true Philosophy, (forasmuch as the foundation thereof is the Spirit of wisdom, which descendeth from the Father of light) is nothing else in effect but Theology; only we may for fashions-sake make this distinction, that essential Philosophy passeth or maketh his enquiry after the summum bonum, moving from the creatures circumference or external, unto his centre or internal, for the finding out or describing of that eternal essence, who is only good, and is the sole actor in all things, and so proceedeth (as it were) demonstra●●●ne a posteriori, that is, from the visible creature unto the invisible Creator, according unto St. Paul's rules, and Solomon's precepts, in the places above cited. 
Wisd. 13.1.  And the Theologian or Divine, seemeth to move another way, to wit, from the radical centre, or invisibility of God, and so proceedeth quasi demonstratione a priori, that is, moving from the divine internal act, or centre unto the visible circumference, or external creature: whereby we may perceive, in the conclusion, that both Sciences do attain unto one point in the end, that is to say, unto one and the selfsame thing, or highest goodness in effect. And yet it so falleth out, that many an Academist in this world, is so extracted beyond the limits of the creature in their researches, that they, forsooth, seek him out beyond the Moon, nay, beyond the margins of the vaulted world, and so divide him absolutely from his creatures; in which proceedings, they do but attempt or presume to clamber up a ladder, without steps or degrees. They will (I say) soar up unto the highest pitch, without any consideration had unto the lower degrees, in that they attempt to find out God, without any respect had unto his creatures, when as the Scriptures warrant us, that he is not far off from any of us. And therefore it will be but needless to seek or expect him, 
Act. 17.  beyond the sphere of the fire, or above the starry heavens, when he is nearer unto us, than we are aware of.  
But it is no marvel; for some of them, being altogether addicted, for the first seven years, unto the Peripatetic philosophy, are so corrupted thereby, and understand by that doctrine so little news of Gods being in his creatures, that when they come unto their higher function, they are flat enemies to such as shall tell them any such thing; and though they find Scriptures in plain terms to verify, that the Word and Spirit is in all, and over all, yet by those sophistical School-distinctions, which they have learned, or gathered out of their Ethnick-master's documents, or his obsequious Commentators, they do so involve and bewrap the plainly-meaning places of Scriptures, in the equivocating clouds of obscurity, that they make them ambiguous, or of little or no effect: As when it is said, and by the whole harmony of the sacred Text affirmed that God is in all, and over all, and that the holy Spirit is in all things, they streightways distinguish and say, It is true, that he is virtualiter, or virtually; but not substantialiter, or essentially over all; as who should say, his virtue can be divided or separated from his essence. And again, when the Text saith, that God operateth all in all: Verum est (say they) quatenus est causa principalis, as he is the prime or principal cause; but there are many secondary, or subalternate Agents, say they, which do act in Nature by themselves, as the Intelligences, the Stars, the Elements, the Meteors, the compounded creatures, as well animal, as vegetable, and mineral; and so they would by these aristotelical sophistications, disgrace the truth of him, who saith in plain terms, Deus operatur omnia in omnibus, God worketh all ●n all. For if we look rightly into the matter, we shall find, that as God filleth all by his essential Spirit of wisdom, so that Spirit worketh all in every thing which it filleth, and that without any helper: For how can the created organ, by any act of his own, 
Isay. 44.24. 1 Cor. 15.25.  help the Creator, which filleth it, to operate? when, what it hath, it receiveth from that eternal Act which bestoweth it: Ego (saith Jehovah) sum Dominus faciens omnia solus, & nullus mecum. I am the Lord who make and do all things alone, and not any one with me. Neither should it seem strange, being that the Scriptures do verify, 
Wisd. 12.1.  that he is all in all. And again, The incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things. And again, the Apostle, as is said before, In Christo omnia sunt condita, 
Colos. 1.16.  per Christum & in Christo omnia sunt creata, omnia in ipso constant, ipse est in omnibus primatum tenens. In Christ all things are made, by Christ and in Christ all things are created, all things consist in him, and he is in all things, bearing in them the principality. Which being so, it followeth, that the distinction must needs be false, which is, that Deus doth agere mediate, and not immediate; and consequently that the creature can act per se sine actu immediato De●. As who should say, that the divine essence or virtue is divisible, or that God's essence must therefore be partible or separable, because it is in divers organs.  
I may therefore boldly conclude and say, that if Christian Scholars would bestow that seven years, which they employ in their Aristotelian study, in the true, essential, and sacred Philosophy, they would not so err after the manner of the Gentiles, but embrace without any rebellion or contradiction, the precepts of the true wisdom, so firmly, that they would at the end of the said time, be complete in that essential doctrine, and made fit members to proceed in the straight way of enquiry into, and acquiry of, the mystical wisdom, which God hath ordained to be revealed unto his Elect: and so after the example of the Apostles, they might as well become potent in virtue and power, as they appear now only puissant in words, being hindered from the good fruit which accompanieth true wisdom, by the erroneous doctrine of their seducing Master. I know, that this good persuasion of mine, will make the followers of worldly wisdom to storm, and to say of me, as the Stoical and Epicureall Philosophers did to Paul in Athens, What will this babbler have, or what doth he tell us of a new way of learning? I answer, That it is not I, but the word which they follow, that teacheth them, if they will be pleased to mark it well, and sequester themselves, in the mean time, from the rules or documents of their Ethnic Master..  
But I will come unto my nearer proofs, whereby I will most evidently show, that the doctrine of Aristotle is a manifest enemy, and opposite or contradictory unto the truth; which being so, it is by the Apostle James condemned, for a branch of that wisdom or philosophy, 
James. 3.  which is terrene, animal, and diabolical.  
It appeareth, and shall be hereafter proved out of the Book of verity, that the virtue whereby God doth manifestly operate in this world, is expressed either by attraction, from the circumference unto the centre; or expulsion, from the centre unto the circumference; namely, Contraction, or Dilatation. For after this manner is produced Condensation and Ratification, whereby the heavens, and the earth, and elements, with compound creatures, as well Meteorological, or unperfectly mixed, as such as are complete in their composition, were created and made. And again, by it he operateth in this world, either sympathetically, that is, by a concupiscible attraction, or antipathetically, that is, by an audible expulsion. Since therefore that all things are effected in this world, by attraction or expulsion, let us see what is Aristotle's opinion touching the cause of attraction, and then afterward examine, whether it acordeth with the tenor of truth.  
The Petipatericks being persuaded thereunto by their Master Aristotle, do accord in this, namely, That the Winds, the Thunder, the Comets, the Clouds, and other such like Meteors, are made and caused by the attractive heat of the Sun, and other Stars, which draw up vapours and exhalation out of the water and earth, and elevateth them into the regions of the air. And therefore, Prout (saith Velcury, according unto the mind of Aristotle) magis minusve calidi sunt vapores, ita altius, aut humilius elevantur sursum à solis calore aliorumque astrorum: 
Velcur. come. Phys. 3. lib. C. 5.  sicut videmus in sole b●bente & attrahente aquam. As vapours are more or less hot, so are they elevated higher or lower by the heat of the Sun, and other Stars: as we see that the Sun doth drink up, and attract water unto it. Hence therefore hath that palpable error been introduced into this world, namely, that fire and heat do suck and draw unto it vapours and fumes, when it may be made most palpable and evident unto the simplest, so that he have but human sense about him, that the heat of the Sun and fire doth rather discuss and expel from it, by dilatation, than allure unto it by the way of attraction: As for example, if the fire did draw vapours unto it, than would it not permit any smoke to go from it, but the contrary is seen, viz. that it discusseth by dissolution, and expelleth and separateth by rarefaction the subtle from the gross, not with a desire to draw or attract the vapours, made by rarefaction unto it; but to expel and disjoint it from the whole gross body it worketh upon, for which cause we see the fumes and smokes to fly away, and to be enforced to avoid the action of the fire, without any inclination of the fire to retain them; also if we apply a wet handkerchief unto the fire, we shall see that the watery substance in it will be subtiliated by the heat into a reaking vapour: but as for the fire it is so far from attracting of it, that the reaking smoke will be seen to rise up in the house at random without any evident attraction of the fire. In like case it happeneth with the Sun's operative faculty, for it subtiliates or ratifieth the water or humid substances by his heat, and consequently it draweth nothing at all unto it: but discusseth rather that which was thick, into thinner portions. Now the reason that water or gross humid substances, being rarified, do ascend upward, is not any attractive faculty in the Sun or Stars, but a natural inclination in the thing itself: for it is a common axiom that omne leve et subtle, doth by a natural sympathy or appetite, tendere sursum; and therefore it is, of his own inclination, being so subtiliated, that it soareth upward toward his natural and destinated region, or place, as we see in Fumes, Smokes, and such like: chose, omne grave, doth in like manner, tendere deorsum, all that is ponderous doth descend by a natural desire towards the Centre. But that I may more exactly and assuredly display this error of the peripatetical attraction, of exhalations and vapours by the Sun, Starrs, and fire; I pray you that you will but observe our Weatherglass, or experimental Machine, and we shall there find by practice, that all attraction from the circumference unto the centre, is caused of cold, and not of heat; for by cold, the water is drawn or attracted up into the neck of the Glass, and that is effected by the inspissation of the air, and reduction of it into a straighter room: when chose we note, that if the Sun do heat the head or boul of the Mattras, or if the warmth of the hand do but touch it, the included air dilateth itself, and forthwith flieth away from the heat, and is so far from being attracted by it, that it precipitateth and depresseth the water downwards. Which being thus, as ocular experience, the mother of fools, hath taught us, let our Christian Peripatetics but duly observe, the subtle wisdom of their Master, whom they have hitherto followed, and let them see and consider how grossly he hath erred, in the main argument, pillar, or prop of his Meteorology; which being so, what can be more expected, then that the whole fabric of the same should fall before the eyes of each wise contemplator. To be brief, these & such like errors of his, have forced divers of his discreetest disciples & naturalists, to descent and start from his doctrine, as well touching his opinion of the Winds and the Thunder, as of the original of Fountains, being persuaded and alured unto this their relinquency by a t●uer spirit: For Johannes Fregi●s, a very learned Naturalist, and a man who hath taken great pains in searching out the truth of natural mysteries, 
Freg. Lib. 25. In causa ventorum.  according unto the documents of Aristotle, (as it well appeareth by that his large volume, entitled, Quaest ones Physicae) hath this, Qua●quam tota d●sputatio de Ventis sicut de aliis me coris, plena est admi ab●●●m operum Dei, quorum mille firmae & sufficientes in natura causae proferri p●ssi●t, tamen prodest videre quousque humanaratio progredi posset. Sacrae quidem literae dicut Deum ventos producere de thesauris suis, un●● ipsorum ●latus and 〈◊〉, sed unde ven●um aut quo vadunt nescimus: Although the whole disputation concerning the Winds, as also touching the other 〈◊〉, be full of the marvels of God, of the cause whereof there can be rendered no sufficient reason in nature; yet it will be necessary to inquire into the cause of them, so far as 〈◊〉 reason wil● permit. The holy Scriptures say, that God doth produce the winds out of his treasury, from whence we hear the noise of their breath, but a●e ignorant of the place from whence they come, and whither they will. Again, on the other side, Margarita Philosophia, (a work, I say, that hath been highly esteemed of the Peripatetics themselves, 
 by reason of the aristotelical suck or sap that it containeth, besides an epitome of many other Arts) after a strict search made into the nature of Thunder, in the Physics of her Master Aristotle, and being put as it were to a nonplus, through the want of skill which it observed in her Master, to reveal such a secret, which none is able really to effect but by the true wisdom, 
Wisd. 7. Job. 28.  (for by it Solomon confessed, That he knew the force or power of the winds, and mutations of the elements. And Job, That it is the divine wisdom which giveth weight unto the air, and ordaineth statutes unto the rain, and maketh way unto the lightnings of the thunders. That Philosophy (I say) so much respected of the Peripatetics, is found in conclusion to utter these words, 
Marg. Phil. Lib. 9 cap. 20. de Fulmine.  Quidam philosophorum (saith it) considerantes mirabilem fulminis operationem, ipsum non opus naturae, sed sum▪ Dei effectum immediatum arbitrati sunt: Some of the philosophers considering the marvellous operation of the lightning and thunder, did imagine it to be no work of nature, but the immediate effect of the highest God. Again, touching the beginning and original of Fountains, Johannes Velcurius, who hath spent much time and labour in the Peripatetic doctrine, and writ a Commentary upon Aristotle's physics, groweth somewhat cold in his confidence, which he had in his Master's doctrine, concerning the true cause of fountains which issue out of the earth, 
Com. Phys. Lib. 3. cap. 6.  Non consentiunt plane (saith he) Sacrae literae cum Physicis de ortu fontium et fluminum quae ex mari per varios alveos meatusque fluere, ac ad suos fontes restuere, Ecclesiastes, 1. testatu●, dicens, Omnia flumina intrant in mare & mare non redundat, ad locum unde exeunt flumina revertuntur, ut iterum fluant. Coeterum Aristoteles et Physici Peripatetici dicunt materiam istorum esse pariter vaporem resolutum in aquam & liquefactum à frigore & calore simul, intra terram: The holy scriptures do not consent with the Naturalists, concerning the original of fountains and rivers which do come out of the Sea, through divers Channels or passages, and flow or run again into their fountains as Ecclesiastes, 1. d●th testify, saying, all Rivers do go into the Sea, and the Sea is not the fuller: And they return again unto the place from whence they came, that they might flow from thence again. But Aristotle and his Peripatetic Scholars affirm, that the matter or substance of them is a vapour, resolved into water, and melted or liquified by cold and heat together, within the earth.  
Thus (judicious Reader) you may discern, out of the confession of Aristotle's own pupils, how contradictory and opposite is the mind of their Master, in his philosophy, unto the wisdom of holy Writ; and therefore mark the sentence that the Apostle pronounceth against it, 
Jam. 3. Gal. 1.9.  The wisdom (saith he) which contrad●cteth the truth is not from above, namely, from the Father of light, but terrene, animal, and diabolical. And the other Apostle speaketh thus, If any man preach otherwise then that ye have received, let him be accursed. Now that this Prince of Peripatetics is most erroneous and averse unto the opinion of the holy Scriptures, touching the generation, or primary cause of Meteors, I will most lively and at large demonstrate unto you, in the last Book of this present Treatise, where I will prove him a deceiver of the Christian world, by such prestigious things as seem probable, but in verity, and by effect, will prove nothing else, in respect of the fruits which the true wisdom doth bring forth, but deceit, vain fallacy, and an apparent kind of juggling, which being rightly pondered, it may seem very strange to such judicious persons as are unpartial, that the Christian world should be deluded thus long, yea, and in these latter days, with such Peripatetical figments and fables, and be so addicted unto Aristotle's idle shadows, since that in conclusion they appear without true substance and reality. Nay, it may seem strange indeed, unto every wise or understanding man, that such as are devoted unto Christian zeal, should all this while forsake the main fountain of wisdom and verity, to seek of Pagans and Gentiles, 
Baruch. 3.  arts, science, and understanding, as did the Agarens, (of whom the Prophet maketh mention) and those which were in Theman, who for that error of theirs, never attained unto the knowledge of true wisdom. Of this main folly of Christians in future ages, and of these our latter ages, methinks the Apostle doth seem to prophecy, 
2 Tim. 4.3.  in these words, Erit tempus cum sanam doctrinam non sustinebunt, sed ad sua desideria coacervaebunt sibi magistros, prurientes auribus, & à veritate quidem auditum averient, ad fabulas autem convertentur. The time will come, that they will not endure wholesome doctrine, but having their ears itching after their own lusts, get them a company of teachers or masters, and shall turn their ears from the truth, and shall be given unto fables. Where he understandeth by a company of masters, all erroneous teachers, and especially the sputious Philosophers, namely, of the Epicureall, Stoical, and Peripatetical doctrine, which as they are framed out after the imaginations, traditions, and inventions of men, and according unto the elements of this world, and not after the true wisdom, which is Christ Jesus, are esteemed as foolishness, vanity, and fabulous before God and his Saints: And therefore the Apostle in the foresaid speech, doth point at such Christians in future ages, as will leave the true wisdom or doctrine of Christ, the Prophets, and the Apostles, and betake themselves to false Masters, and such Philosophy which contradicteth the truth.  
Again, the said excellent and sacred Philosopher foretelleth, that there will be many in future ages so puffed up in their own conceits, that they will contemn and scorn all counsel, be it never so good, if it be any way dissonant from their grounded opinion. His words are these, In nov●ssimis diebus (saith he) instabunt tempora periculosa, & erunt homines seipsos amantes, cupidi, elati, superbi, etc. semper discentes & nunquam ad verita●em pervenientes. Quemadmodum autem Jamnes & Mambres restiterunt M●y●●, 
2 Tim. 3.1.  ita & high resistunt veritati; homines corrupti ment & reprobi circa fidem, & ultrà non proficient. In the last days shall come perilous times, for men will be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, etc. ever learning, and never attaining unto the truth. And as IJamnes and Mamb●es withstood Moses, so do these resist the verity, men of a corrupt mind, and reprobates concerning the faith. Out of which words we gather, first, That some men in these latter days will be so wedded unto their own learning, and conceited in the worldly philosophy or science which they have been brought up in, that whatsoever tru●h itself shall proffer unto them, that is opposite unto their intentions, it will be scornfully rejected. Secondly, he seemeth to express the insufficiency of that learning or philosophy, which they embrace, in saying, that they are semper discente●, sed nunquam ad veritatem vel perfectionem pervenientes; Ever learning, but never attaining unto that high virtue and power, at which the truly wise have aimed, by Ethnic philosophy. Thirdly, it appeareth, that he meaneth the mundane philosophists, by the example which he maketh of Jamnes and Mambres, who being worldly Sages, or bred up in the human wisdom, did resist that truth which Moses, being instructed in the divine Philosophy, did so stoutly maintain. And lastly, he seemeth to intimate, that such as adhere so much unto the spurious wisdom, are thereby corrupted in their imaginations, and alured to err concerning the faith, and profit nothing. And therefore it will be no marvel, though I shall find this mine admonition rejected, and repined at by many, though perchance more acceptable unto such as are virtuously inclined unto the truth, and are apt, yea, and sufficient in their purer discretions, to distinguish and separate the errors of Aristotle, from the infallible verity of sacred Writ, and to carry their judgements so justly and sincerely, that the All-hallowed honour of the one do not suffer any detriment or indignity, by the paganish and unsanctified axioms or assertions of the other.   

CHAP. VI  
Here, One great God JEHOVAH seemeth to call the false wisdom, or Wisemen and Philosophers of this world unto an Account for their erroneous Doctrine, touching the causes and manner of the Creation of the world, and the Generation of the Meteors thereof.  
I Have expressed unto you in the precedent Chapter, that the great Master of the Peripatetic doctrine, is not for nought termed by the Greeks themselves Cacodaemon, or an evil spirit, being that by his inventions he hath deceived the world, and seduced it from the right path of Wisdom, and directed it unto that way which leadeth and guideth unto assured error and ignorance, and that by the painted mask of sophisticated reasons, besmeared over with a false and outward show of probability only, feigning those things to be accidental, and caused at hap-hazzard, which in verity are from above, that is to say, essentially produced by the increated Spirit's power, which operateth all in all: For according unto his doctrine, the Earth, the Stats, the Elements were eternal and not created: and he covereth this his false assertion, with appearing natural inventions, framed out of his own brain, saying, ex 〈◊〉, nihil fit: Of nothing, nothing is made. He giveth also a humane reason of life, motion, and limits or borders the Seas; and feigneth causes after his fancy of the generation and corruption of things: And speaketh of a first matter, and a form, after his manner; though he knoweth not essentially what they are: He telleth us unreasonably the reason of the snow, frost, and ice, hail, rain, clouds, and mists saying that they are adventitiously caused of vapours which are drawn up by the heat of the Sun and Stars, out of the earth and waters, into the middle region of the Air, and are there condensed into those substances, by the accidental coldness of the place. He inventeth and bringeth forth some sleight proofs to maintain his imaginations, averring, that the wind is made or caused by chance, namely through the exalting or subliming of hot and dry exhalations out of the earth, by virtue of the forementioned Agents; the which exhalations, after they approach the middle region of the Air, are repercussed and beaten down again. And then in their motions downward, they meeting with other exhalations which ascend, are forced to move collaterally. He presumeth to know the hidden causes of the Lightnings and Thunders, making them to proceed also accidentally, namely from a concourse of vapours mixed with exhalations; and an infinite of such like frivolous inventions he hath erected. All which he hath vailed over with his smooth words and subtle shows, of external or superficial probabilities only, instead of the real and central visage of Truth. But the God of Heaven and Earth, which is the Author of all these things, and doth mystically fashion them by his eternal power, and calleth them out of his Treasury, when and where he list, seemeth to deride this inventor of lies, with his obsequious followers in these very words, 
Job 38.2.3.  which he spoke unto Job. Who is this (saith JEHOVA out of the whirlwind, unto this bold abuser of his Works) that darkneth the counsel of my Words without knowledge, Gird up now thy loins like a man, I will demand of thee, 
4.5.6.  and declare thou unto me: Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth? declare if thou hast understanding: Who hath laid the measures thereof, or who hath stretched the line over it, whereupon are the foundations of them set, or who laid the cornerstone thereof? (What? were they eternal and without all beginning as thou vainly surmisest? 
8.17. ) Who shut up the Sea with doors, when it issued and came forth as out of a womb? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? And hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death? (that thou assignest a reason so confidently of corruption and generation, according unto thine imagination:) Hast thou entered into the Treasury of the Snow? 
22.  or hast thou seen the Treasuries of the Hail which I have hid against the time of trouble? (that thou after thy fancy darest to forge, fain, or assign unto them such accidental principles?) By what way is the Light parted, 
24.  which scattereth the East wind upon the Earth? (what? is it by a hot and dry exhalation attracted on high by the Son and Stars, and afterward repelled downward laterally, 
25.28.  as thou hast published?) Who hath divided the spouts of the rain? or the way for the lightnings of the Thunders? And who is the father of the rain? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? (must the created Sun and Stars be the Actors and Authors in this business, as thou dost erroneously imagine?) Out of whose womb came the Ice? 
29.  who hath engendered the frost of the heaven? (Is it the coldness of the middle region of the Air, as thou seemest to aver?) Canst thou restrain the sweet influences of the Pleyades, 
31.32.33.  or lose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his time, canst thou also guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the course of heaven? or canst thou set the rule thereof upon the earth? (And why not,? For thou professest by thy Peripatetic Philosophy to understand the causes of everything: and he that truly knoweth the mysteries of things can do wonders: For by that means my servant Josuah made the Sun to stand still. 
Josua 10.12. Isai. 38.8 Joh. 38.34.35.  And for the religious Hezekias his sake, my Spirit did cause the Sun to move backward. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that the abundance of water may cover thee? Canst thou send the Lightnings, that they may walk and say unto thee, Lo here we are? If the grounds and principles which thou hast invented be essential and substantial, all this and more mayst thou effect: For such of the Elect, into whom my Spirit of Wisdom (who hath assigned true principles unto the essentially wise) hath inspired this knowledge, 
Exod. 9. 2t. 2 King. 18.45.  are able to effect all these things: as my servant Elias, after a long drought, caused the clouds to moisten the dry earth: and my Prophets, Moses and Samuel, d●d, by the power which I did assign them, produce Thunder and Lightnings, unto the terror of their enemies. 
Job 38.36.  Dost thou know who hath put wisdom in the reins? or who hath given the heart understanding? And darest thou, being led by the frivolous effects of thy inventions, which are grounded on the Elements of this world, and not upon my Spirit, which is the true Wisdom, ascribe my works, who am the sole Creator of all things, 
Job 39.35.  unto the creatures? Is this to learn? to strive with the Almighty: he that reproveth God, let him answer unto it. Thus seemeth our great God to speak unto Aristotle, and such like Philosophers of this world, who being too much elated in their own conceits, presume thus overboldly on their terrene and animal wisdom, and would check and contradict the virtuous actions of God by their fantastical surmises. I could wish therefore, that these mundane Philosophers would turn from this their worldly wisdom, and humiliate themselves before the only Creator of heaven and earth, 
Job. 39.37. & 42.  and answer with the patient Job in this manner, Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. 
2.3.5.6.  I know that thou canst do all things. I have spoken the things I understood not, even things too wonderful for me. I have heard of thee by report, but now mine eyes behold thee in thy creatures. And for this cause I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes, acknowledging that there is no true wisdom, but that which is from thee, who art the Father of light, 
2 Cor. 3.19.  by the virtue whereof, thou workest all these wonders. And therefore we confess, that the wisdom of this world is mere foolishness, and such as wholly addict themselves unto it are deceived, forasmuch as they do neglect the divine wisdom Christ Jesus, 
Colos. 2.3.  in whom all the treasures of science and sapience are hid. Thus have you briefly understood the duplicity of wisdom, and by consequence, the bi-forked, or contrary nature of philosophy, that is in this world; and how all good Christians (contrary unto the custom of this our age) ought to leave and forsake the one, and with fervency and zeal, to love and embrace the other. And now in this Book following, I purpose to set down those Mosaical principles, on which our sacred Philosophy hath erected the whole bulk or substance of her fabric.    

The third Book of the first Section, touching the essential Principles of the Mosaical Philosophy.  
The Argument of this third Book.  
IN this present Book, the Author teacheth in a generality, the true and essential principles of the divine Philosophy: and in particular he expresseth, how various and differing the Ethnic Philosophers have been in their opinions, concerning the beginnings of all things; where he proveth, that the wisest amongst those Pagan Naturalists, did steal and derive their main grounds or principles, from the true and sacred Philosopher Moses, whose Philosophy was originally delineated by the finger of God, forasmuch as the fiery characters thereof, were stamped out or engraven in the dark Hyle, by the eternal Wisdom, or divine Word. And showeth, that although the foresaid pagan philosophers, did usurp the Mosaical principles un●o themselves, and, the better to mask their theft, did assign unto them new Titles; yet because they were not able to dive into the central understanding of them, nor conceive or apprehend rightly, the mystery of the everlasting Word, they erected upon their principles or foundations but a vain and worldly wisdom, carved out, not from the essential Rock of truth, nor relying on Christ, the only cornerstone, but framed after a human invention, and shaped out according unto the elements of this world; much like a Castle of straw or stubble, which though it be planted on a Rock, yet it is subject to mutation, and is easily shaken, and tottered at every blast of wind. In conclusion, here our Author doth set down, what the true Mosaical principles are, namely, Darkness, Water, and Light: Then, that all plenitude and vacuity in the world, doth consist in the presence or absence of the formal principle, which is Light. And lastly, he showeth how the two apparent active properties, namely, Cold and Heat, do issue from the two foresaid fountains of Darkness and Light, as the two passive natures, Moisture and Drought, do challenge their original from the said active.  

CHAP. I.  
Wherein is set down the uncertainty of the ancient Grecian and Arabian Philosophers, in their opinions, touching the principles or beginnings of all things.  
IT is an evident Argument that the Ethnic philosophers were not well settled upon the grounds of their philosophy but did waver in their imaginations touching the true principles of nature, being that among each sect of them there was maintained and upheld a variety, yea and sometimes a plain contrariety, of opinions concerning them: as for example, Thales Milesius, who was inrowled amongst the number of the wise men of Greece, had his opinion that Water was the beginning of all things. But Anaximenes and his disciples affirmed, that an infinite air was the first cause or original of every existence. And for this reason also, Anaximander did esteem this catholic air to be God. Again, on the other side, Zoroaster will have all things to take their beginning from Fire and light; as also the Pythagoreans say, that there is one universal Fire in and over all things in this world. And verily, each of these opinions, if they be duly considered, will be found to approach, and have a near relation unto the Mosaical truth; for a divine fire or light issuing forth of darkness, or the dark abyss, did suddenly by its bright presence reveal and make manifest, the hidden and invisible waters, the subtler part whereof is the vast spirit of the air; and for this reason, both Thales and Anaximenes, do seem in some sort to agree in one subject: And yet, if we penetrate more profoundly into the business, we shall perceive, that these two did insist but upon the material or passive principle, forasmuch as from it, the substance of heaven and earth, and every thing therein, hath his existence or material being. On the other side, Zoroaster did not without reason make choice of fire, for the primary beginning of all things, in that it did proceed and appear in act, before the waters or humid nature were made manifest, no otherwise then action goeth before passion, or the cause precedeth the effect. And yet nevertheless, he erred in this his assertion, because the active principle can in no wise rightly be considered, but as it hath his relation unto a passive original. The Stoic Zeno, therefore, being more wary than the rest, establisheth his opinion concerning the first Principle, by a firmer tye or obligation, saying, That the substance of the fire being by the air converted into water, is the beginning of all things. But Empedoc●es would be sure to lay his grounds more surely (as he vainly imagined) than Zeno; and for that cause did ordain the four Elements, to be the radical principles of all things, whereof two of them are agents, and two patients.  
Now the main error of these philosophers in their judgements concerning the principles, was, that they did not mark or consider, that the divine puissance or sacred word, was more ancient, and of a greater Antiquity, than were any of their foresaid principles; the which, if by a riper contemplation they had understood they would have confessed, being instructed and directed by reasons produced from the eternal unity, or essential point and beginning of all things, that the divine light, or sacred emanation (which Scriptures entitle by the name of the holy Spirit of wisdom) was the actual beginning of all things, as nevertheless before it, there was another property in one and the same sacred essence, which was termed the divine puissance, or potentia divina, which did precede his act or emanation, no otherwise than the Father in time, order, and being, is justly said to exist before the Son, 
Ecclesiasticus 1.4.  or the Creator before the creature: And thereupon the wise man hath it, Omnium prior creata est sapientia, Wisdom was created before all things. And yet it is most apparent, that some of the Greekish and Egyptian Philosophers, namely, Plato, Pythagoras, Socrates, Hermes, etc. did so instruct their understandings, partly by the observation of their predecessors doctrine, and partly through the experience, which in their long travails and peregrinations they had gathered, among the Aethiopians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Armenians, Arabians, Babylonians, and Indians, (for, over all or most of these Countries did Plato, Pythagoras, Hypocrates, and others of them travel, for the augmentation and increase of their knowledge, as Historiographers, that are worthy of credit, have related) that without doubt they did discern, though afar oft, and as it were in a cloud, the true light in the humid nature. And among the rest it is reported, as also it appeareth by his works, that Plato had the knowledge of the Word, and had read the Books of Moses; and for that reason he was called, Divinus Plato, the divine Plato. In like manner, the excellent Philosopher Hermes, otherwise termed Mercurius Trismegistus, expresseth plainly, that he was not only acquainted with Moses his books, but also was made partaker of his mystical and secret practice, as by his Sermons, which he calleth Pymander, a man may plainly discern, where he doth mention the three Persons in Trinity, and showeth the manner of the world's creation, with the elements thereof, by the Word. And therefore of all other ancient Philosophers, I may justly ascribe divinity unto these two: But in this I cannot much commend them, viz. in that they having had a view of Moses his labours, which were indicted by the Spirit of God, did gather out, and confess the truth of his doctrine, touching the principles of all things, and yet would not in open terms acknowledge their Master, but altered the names of them; but as Plato served his Master Moses, even so was he dealt with by his scholar Aristotle, who knowing that his Masters three Mosaical Principles of all things, masked under strange titles, were but truth, would nevertheless arrogate his doctrine unto himself, and for that cause did alter the assumed names of Plato's principles, gild them over with new denominations, and did afterward rear up upon them, a spurious philosophical structure, carved and framed out after his own inventions, which may be therefore rightly compared unto a house of straw or stubble, which though it be erected upon a firm rock or foundation, yet because their stuff is heterogenial unto the truth, and evilly compacted, it will not endure a storm, no, not the least blast of truth, but will easily be destroyed and cast down. Thus may every good Christian discern, how each of the Ethnic Philosophers have stolen their principles from Moses his grounds, stolen I say, because they express them under covert names, without any acknowledgement of their Master, which did arrogate his doctrine and learning unto the Spirit of God which did teach him it, and did practically express the grounds thereof, in the apparition which God made upon the Mount Sina: For upon the grounds of these three Principles, the true mystical Philosophers or Theosophers did pronounce, that as well the external Law of Moses, as the internal of Jesus Christ was erected; which was not discovered or discerned by Aristotle, how cunning soever he maketh himself, which if it had been so, he would not (without all doubt) have founded or built, upon the true Cornerstone, I mean the eternal Wisdom, a bastard Philosophy which did differ in shape and essence from the true Foundation. And although he was taught in some sort by his diviner Master, yet was he, as it doth, appear, all together ignorant of the central truth thereof: wherefore it was but a folly in him, who is so vainly magnified for the Prince of Philosophers, to make a privation where there was no precedent position, or information, being there was a Chaos before any thing else was created. But it was no marvel, being that he surmised, the world, and all things or Species thereof, to be eternal that is to say, without beginning and end; which if it had been true indeed, he then had said but rightly, that the dark Abyss or Chaos, in respect of its being without form, was a Privation of some Act or form in an actual pre-existent matter. But that this is false, the whole concurrent of the Scriptures do confirm, 
Wisd. 11.18.  being that it is said, that God created the world of matter without form, and that the heavens and the earth were first of waters, and by waters, 
2 Pet. 3.5.  and consisting by the word of God. And that the Original or primary womb, from whence the waters were extracted (which were the material stuff, whereof all things were framed) was this dark and deformed Abyss or Chaos, 
Gen. 1  and therefore had the beginning of their formal being, from the Father of all-informing and vivifying light and essence. But that we may directly show unto you the egregious theft of the foresaid Philosophers from Moses his Principles; That Principle which Moses termed darkness, the dark Abyss or potential Principle, Aristotle doth call his Materia prima, or first matter, which he averreth to be something in puissance or potentially only, because it is not as yet reduced into act. Again, he seemeth to term it privation, but falsely, being that no position did precede it. On the other side Plato calleth it Hyle, which is esteemed to be nothing, forasmuch as it is invisible and without form. Also he compareth it to a dark body, in respect of the soul and spirit. As for Hermes, he intitleth it by the name of umbra horrenda, or fearful shadow. Pythagoras maketh it his Symbolical Unity: From in this its estate, it hath relation unto nothing else but itself, which is mere Unity, and consequently it acquireth not so much as the name of a Father, because it doth not by an emanation respect or attempt the production of a Son. Hypocrates will have it named a deformed Chaos, or an universally troubled mass, without form or shape. Again, as touching the first enacted passive Principle, or the primary passive matter, out of which all things were carved. That which Moses called waters, Aristotle doth entitle by the name of Second matter; forasmuch as it was begotten and derived out of the bowels of the first-matter, or Chaos, or dark abyss: which also Plato termeth the Spirit, and Hermes the humid nature. Hypocrates with Anaximenes the vast and universal air of this world. Pythagoras pointeth at it Symbolically, by the number of duality, which is the mark of imperfection; for it argueth thereby, the imperfect estate of matter being destitute of the formal character of Unity, which maketh three, and therefore the ternary number is esteemed amongst the wisest Philosophers, for the root of all perfect numbers. To conclude; that vivifying and animating Principle, which Moses called light, proceeding from the Spirit of the Lord, Aristotle maketh his formal beginning; Plato, the act or soul of the world; Pythagoras delineates it by the number of three, and Hypocrates calleth it that immortal heat, the which when all things were troubled in the beginning by contention, did sore up unto that upper region, which the Ancients do call the Aether or Heaven. Is not this therefore a notable kind of Robbery amongst the choicest Ethnic Philophers, thus falsely to ascribe and attribute the Principles and Doctrine unto themselves, which were revealed by God's Spirit, unto the wise Prophet Moses, and that of purpose to make themselves great and eminent, not only in the eyes of the Gentiles, but also by subtle allurements, or false and fading suggestions, laid on those foundations, to distract Christian men from the Truth? And yet as for Plato and Hermes, I must excuse them, being that they do both of them acknowledge in express terms with Moses, that the matter or substance whereof the heavens and the earth were made, was a humid nature, and the internal form or act, which did dispose of it into diversity of figures or forms, was the divine Word, as you may find most plainly expressed in Plato's works, and in the Pimander of Hermes or Mercurius Trismegistus. 
Piman. 1.3.  But amongst all the rest, Aristotle hath sored highest upon the wings of his own conceited imaginations, and built the structure of his worldly wisdom upon the typical form of the Mosaical grounds, thinking thereby to assume and purchase unto himself, in the regard of this world, the name of an absolutely wiseman, though in the conclusion he appeareth far otherwise in the eyes of God, for as much as he doth assign particular essential actions, which appertain really unto God, unto the creatures, with more obstinacy than the rest, affirming that they operate essentially of and by themselves, when in Verity it is only God that operateth all and in all, and that immediately, (as the Apostle Paul doth intimate unto us) And this is the reason that they give not unto God the only Creator, the glory of every action in this world, (as they ought to do) but rather to a created nature, and unto Angels, and Stars, and Elements, and compounded creatures, which were made, and are still sustained and maintained by the all-creating Spirit or word of the Almighty. And this is the original occasion of the multiplicity of Idolatry, which hath and doth hitherto reign in this world, namely, of the worshipping of the Sun, Moon and stars, of sacrifices offered unto Idols or false Gods, and deceiving Devils, of the Veneration of Isis and Osiris, of the adoration of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury, of the immolations or offerings unto Caelum, Vesta, Ceres, Proserpina, Vulcan, Pluto, and Neptune, with many other errors and absurdities, whereby ignorant men are rather seduced from the knowledge of the true God, than any way induced unto the understanding of him rightly. And this very same Doctrine relying on the invention of man, hath been the occasion that the world hath erred concerning the divine Word, and through blindness have not perceived the operations and properties of the holy Spirit, in the creatures; yea verily, it hath been the occasion, why some of our Christian Philosophers themselves, have neglected the research of God's Actions in his creatures, as well visible as invisible: they are (I say) so wedded unto the Aristotelian Philosophy, that they do voluntarily avert their eyes from the true and certain Science of the Meteorological Science, revealed by the Scriptures, which are the fountains of Wisdom; to follow the uncertain, and scarce-probable doctrine of their Ethnick-Master, touching that admirable subject. And this is the reason that they will not acknowledge any true Meteorological Philosophy to be taught by the Spirit of Wisdom, in the said holy Book, but only matters belonging to the health and salvation of man, when indeed it is most evident, that whole pages or leaves as well of the books of Moses, Job, Psalms, and the Prophets, as many places of the New Testament, are full of that subject. All which is expressed in the book of the true Wisdom, that thereby we may admire the wondrous works which the Creator hath from the beginning effected, and daily doth produce in this lower world, to witness his eternal power in his creatures. But leaving all allaterall discourses, I will proceed now unto our main Subject, which concerneth the true Mosaical Principles, with their effect.   

CHAP. II.  
What were the Mosaical Principles or beginnings in general: How they were produced and extracted out of Nothing. Then what is meant by that word Nothing. And lastly, the first Principle, which is the dark Abyss or Chaos without form, is particulaerly described.  
THe Mosaical Principles are very plain and evident, unto all such as do wisely contemplate, and observe the words of the most excellent Philosopher Moses, in his first Chapter of Genesis: For before there is made any mention of that spagirical separation, which by the Word of God, or divine Spirit Elohim was effected in the six day's work of the Creation, mentioned and expressed there, It is said that darkness was upon the face of the Abyss; 
Gen. 1.  and that Terra erat inanis & vacua: the Earth was without shape and form. Where it appears, that the Heavens and the Earth, were not as yet enacted or informed, but were one deformed, rude, and indigested mass, and consequently all were complicitly comprehended in one dark Abyss, but explicitly they were as yet nothing: as for example, we see that a great tree, with his body, branches, bark, leaves, and fruit, is complicitly comprehended, in a grain or kernel; but explicitly it is no such thing, but only somewhat in imaginatione. St. Augustin compareth this Nothing unto Speech, which whilst it is in the mind of the speaker, is as nothing unto him that it is spoken unto, that is to say, somewhat in puissance, and nothing in essence; but when it is uttered or spoken, then is that which was before complicitly, in animo loquentis, now explicitly apprehended by the hearer. Plato compareth it in this estate of its Nullity, unto a vision in a dream, which when a man awaketh. proveth nothing saving a mere imagination: But because this speech, to wit (God created all things of nothing) hath puzzled the minds of many understanding persons, being it could not be perceived really, what should be intended, by this word Nihil, I purpose in few words to discourse upon it, and to express mine opinion, what is meant thereby.  
Saith the Prince of Peripatetics, Ex Nihilo nihil fit: A learned Sentence, and infallible axiom, of so learned a Personage, if the sense of the word were always to be construed one and the same way: But I say, being founded on good grounds, that if there be any, who either upon presumption, or through ignorance, are of an opinion, that in these words (God created all things Ex nihilo, Of nothing,) this word Nihilum or nothing, ought not to be taken or interpreted for Nihilum negativum, or such a negative nothing, which falleth not under the capacity or understanding of man's reason or intellect: Such a kind of Nihilum or Nothing was never meant or taken for the first-matter of the Creation: For it appeareth as well by the infallible sense of holy Scriptures, as the sacred Light in nature: that the first essence and matter of all things was from all eternity in God, and with God, one and the same thing; and this we prove out of Scriptures, after this manner. 
Gen. 1.1.  Saith Moses: In Principio creavit Deus coelum & terram: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In which speech, this word Principium is not to be taken for a negative nothing: For the Scripture telleth us, in plain terms, 
Rom. 11.36.  that ex ipso, & per ipsum, & in ipso sunt omnia: Of him, by him, and in him are all things. And therefore if all things proceed from God the Creator, who is the highest of Entities, it followeth, that it proceedeth not from a negative nothing. And again, Scriptures say, Omnipotens Dom●ne, manus tua creavit orbem te●rarum saith, 
Wisd. 11.18  St. Jerom: or mundum, according unto Tremellius, ex mateteria invisa, as St. Jerom interpreteth it, but Tremellius hath it, Ex materia informi, Almighty Lord, thine hand hath created the earth or world, of an invisible or informed matter. And therefore, if of an invisible matter or substance, without shape; it followeth, that it is not of a negative or absolute Nothing. Also the Scriptures say in another place, Fide intelligimus aptata esse secula verbo Dei, ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent; 
Heb. 11.3.  We understand by faith, that the world was so made or adapted by the word of God, that of invisible things, such things as are visible were made; and consequently not of an absolute or negative Nothing. Moreover, if God had not produced and created all things essentially out of himself, but of a vain negative nothing, than creation would not appertain unto God, neither could it rightly be referred unto him, that is to say, if all things were not essentially of him, nor did take their beginning from him; then verily it must needs follow, that all were not made by him, but would have their existence from Nothing; neither would they consist in him, but in Nothing. But it is evident, that the case is otherwise; for the Creation is the work of God, and not the work and subject of Nothing; he is the entity of all entities, the life of all the living, the beginning of all beginnings, and the fountain of all waters, of which heaven and earth were framed. To conclude, nothing ever came into being, or had its existence from any other, but only from him, and by him, neither can any thing exist but only in him. And therefore we may conclude, that God did beget, produce, make, and create nothing, but that which was eternally in himself; which also the Apostle seemeth to verify in these words, In Christo sunt omnia condita sive visibilia sive invisibilia, 
Colos. 1.15.  ipse ante omnes & omnia in ipso constant, angeli, throni, potestates, dominationes, per eum & in eo sunt creata qui est principium. In Christ are all things made and created. He is before all, and all, as well visible as invisible, consist in him. The angels, thrones, potestates, dominations, were by him and in him created, who is the beginning. But because this is more fully discussed in the first Book of my sympathetic and antipathetical History, I will say no more of it in this place, but proceed directly unto my purpose. As therefore darkness is rightly termed potentia divina, so also is light called actus divinus, which the Cabalists express by Alephtenebrosum, and lucidum, as elsewhere it is declared. And therefore the Scriptures aver in another place, 
1 Cor. 15.28. Colos. 3.11.  that God is omnia in omnibus, God is all in all. And again, Christus est omnia in omnibus, Christ is all in all, etc.  
I say therefore, that the very same which is meant by Moses his dark abyss, and terra inanis, Job termeth umbra lethalis, because it is void of form and life; and for that cause he saith also, Aquilonem extendit Deus supra inane & vacuum. & suspendit terram supra nihilum: 
Job. 26.7.  God spread or extended the north upon the void or inanity, and did hang the earth upon nothing. Whereby also it appeareth, that it was not the negative Nihil, but a matter that was in potentia ad actum, in the way to be inactuated, being destitute nevertheless as yet, both of any form or act. But, Forma dat nomen & esse, Form doth give unto each thing its name and being. And therefore it consequently followeth, that because this first matter was without form, it was justly termed Nothing, as having neither name or essential being, seeing it was only something in puissance, 
Pimander. 3.  and nothing in act. Therefore Hermes termeth it, potentia divina, the divine puissance. And again he saith, that in the instance of the apparition of light, it seemed unto him to be a fearful shadow, saying, Umbra horrenda obliqua revolutione subterlabebatur; 
Pim. 1.  A horrible or fearful shadow did glide downwards, by an oblique revolution, 
Pim. 3.  etc. Again, in another place, as Moses said, Darkness was upon the face of the abyss, Hermes hath it, Infinita in abysso, aqua in super & spiritus tenuis intellectualis per divinam potentiam in chaos inerant; There was (saith he) an infinite shadow upon the abyss, also water, and a thin intellectual spirit were in the chaos by the divine puissance. In which words he exactly agreeth with Moses, who said, that darkness was upon the face of the abyss. Now that there was contained water and a fiery spirit complicitely, within the dark chaos or abyss, it appeareth by the revolution of the waters, upon the which Elohim, or the Spirit of the Lord was carried, as shall be showed you hereafter. So that by these authorities you may discern, 
Gen. 1.2.  what the first principle, or potential being or beginning was, namely, the dark abyss, 
Job. 12.22. Wisd. 11.18.  or terra vacua▪ & inanis of Moses; the nihilum, inane, vacuum, & umbra lethalis, of Job; the materia informis, or invisa, of Solomon; the potentia divina (of Esdras) ante omnia creata quae erat fons & initium omnium, the divine puissance which was created before all things; 
4 Esdr. 6.  for such was the eternal wisdom, before it did act in this world. The umbra horrenda, & infinita in abysso, & potentia divina, in the chaos of He●mes. 
Piman. 3.  And to conclude, it was the mystical and complicite number, which is said to be principal in animo conditoris condendorum exemplar, 
Odo abbess, come. Lib. de Christo. 3.  the principal pattern in the mind of the builder or creator of things, which were to be created. So that all things were complicitely in the divine puissance, before that by the emission of his enacting Spirit, they were reduced into an explicit Being. And for this reason, Hermes most properly saith in another place, 
P●m. 5.  Cantabóne laudes tuas in iis quae in lucem è tenebris eru isti; an in iis quae latent adhuc arcano sinu recondita? Shall I sing thy praises in those things which thou hast made to appear out of darkness; or in those things which do lie hid as yet in thy secret bosom? Whereby he argueth, that as well the things that are hid in darkness, and appear not, as those which are made manifest, are all one, in the sight of the abstruse unity, who is the God as well of those things which are not, in respect of our capacity, as of those which are or appear unto our sense: And therefore the kingly Prophet saith, Tenebrae sunt ei sicut ipsa lux, Darkness is to God as light; as if he had said, All things are but one thing before God, who is one and the same, 
Psal. 138.11.  in whom are all things, arcano quasi sinu recondita, as Hermes saith in the Text before mentioned▪ which is also most excellently described thus by him in another place, Ex uno princip●o cuncta dependent, principium ex uno solo. Et principium movetur ut rursus extet principium, 
Pim. 10.  ipsum tamen unum praestat, nec recedit ab imitate. Of one beginning all things do depend, this principle or beginning is from only one. And again, this principle is moved, that it may again become a principle; and notwithstanding only one doth perform this, and yet it recedeth not from the nature of an unity. I will say no more touching this principle, because I have uttered my mind more fully concerning it, in the first Book of my sympathetic Treatise or History: I will now therefore proceed unto the description of the second, namely, unto the revealed matter which is mentioned and expressed by the Prophet Moses, and the Apostle Peter, to be the subject or material mass, out of which the heavens and the earth, and consequently the whole world, was framed or made.   

CHAP. III.  
Of the material fruit or principle, which issued and was revealed by the Spirit of God out of the dark Abyss, and how the substantial Machine of the world was framed of it.  
ALL things were complicitely contained or comprehended in the divine puissances, (as is already showed) which, in the regard of human capacity, was without form, forasmuch as it was contained within one deformed or invisible water, which was therefore called, the Mother of the Elements, and Seed of all things; for as the whole plant or tree is contained in a small kernel, or little misshapen seed, and is no way subject unto man's apprehension, before it sprouteth forth, even so all things were in the beginning in the water potentially, as also the water was an invisible thing, without form or shape, vailed over with deformity; for darkness was upon the face of the abyss, which was termed the first matter, that had no formal act that man could imagine, and therefore was said to be only in puissance. A wise Philosopher therefore, and deeply seen in the mystical works of the Creation, speaketh in this manner: The first matter out of which the water did issue, was nihil, or nothing, and out of it was created the matter of the waters; and this ought not to be understood after an human manner, namely, that God did create the waters of Nothing; and yet it was spoken rightly, because that in the beginning, nothing was visible. But if wise men would elevate their thoughts above the vulgar capacities, to find out by speculation the original of the waters, than would they not deny, but that before the creation of the waters, there was a certain matter in the highest mystery, that is to say, in the divine puissance, or dark and informed abyss, which was the catholic treasury or store-house, as we may say, out of which the waters did flow in the creation: and this is partly confirmed by Scripture in divers places, for the Apostle Paul teacheth us in the place before mentioned, 
Heb. 11.3.  saying, Fide intelligimus aptata esse secula verbo Dei, ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent; We understand by faith, that the world was made or ordained by the word, so that things which are visible were made of things which were invisible. Whereby it is evident, that the things which fall under man's sense and kenning, were not at the first subject unto man's sense, and therefore were esteemed as if they were not. 
1 Cor. 28.  St. Paul also in like manner saith, Deus eligit ea quae non sunt, ut ea quae sunt destrueret; God maketh election of the things which are not, 〈◊〉 destroy the things which are extant. For this reason also, Renclin speaketh of the beginning, by the mouth of the mystical and learned Rabbis, in these words; It is written in the book of tahir, Nihil est principium nisi sapientia; & haec est infinitudo ipsa trium summarum cabalisticae arboris numerationum, 
Reuclin. lib. 3. de Art. Cab.  quas vos tres in divinis personas appellare consuevistis quae est absolutissima essentia, quae cum sit in abysso tenebrarum retracta & immanens, ociosaque, vel, ut aiunt, ad nihil respiciens, idcirco dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, id est, Nihil, sive non ens, ac non finis, quia nos tam tenui erga res divinas ingenii paupertate mulctati, de iis quae non apparent haud secus atque de iis quae non sunt, judicamus. At ubi se ita ostenderit ut sit aliquid & reverá subsistat, tum Aleph tenebrosum in Aleph lucidum convertitur: scriptum enim est, Sicut tenebrae ejus, ita & lux ejus. Nothing is the beginning but wisdom or sapience, and it is the infinity of the three highest numerations of the Cabalistical tree, which ye are accustomed to call the three persons in divinity, the which is an absolute essence, which whilst it is retracted in the abyss of darkness, and resteth still and quiet, or, as they say, having respect unto nothing, is for that cause termed of the Hebrews, Ain, that is to say, Nihi●, or nothing, or no entity: Because that we being affected with extreme shallowness or poverty of wit and capacity in the conception or apprehension of divine things, do judge of those things which do not appear, as we are accustomed to do of such things, as are not at all. But when it hath showed forth itself to be somewhat indeed, and that it doth really in human apprehension exist somewhat, then is dark Aleph converted into light Aleph: 
Psal. 139.12.  for it is written, As his darkness, such is his light, or the express words of the Prophet are, Tenebrae sunt ei sicut ipsa lux, darkness is unto him as Light. Whereby it is Evident, that though darkness or invisibility, do appear unto our sense to be nothing in regard of that which is made manifest in light, yet in verity all are real and essential before God, and therefore that nothing, or deformity in regard of our weak capacity, (out of which the waters, which is the material principle of all things, were originally extracted) seem unto him, in whose divine puissance they remain, a material existence. For as much as nothing is in God, but what is essential reality, or a something in being, but of him, by him, and in him are all things, 
Rom. 11.22.  as we are taught by holy-Text: wherefore as well the dark matrix or womb of the waters, as the watery infant or humid nature which sprung out of the belly of the gloomy abyss or Chaos; were really in God, before they appeared to sight, that is to say, they remained in the Almighty's puissance or volunty, and were to be disposed of by him as he pleased, no otherwise then the number of things to be builded, was first in the mind of the builder: But that this is so, namely that the world was framed and made of such a matter which was said therefore to be without form, because it was invisible; we find it proved and maintained by this Authority of Scripture before mentioned, 
Wisd. 11.18▪  which Tremellius interpreteth thus, Omnipotens, manus tua creav●t mundum ex informi materia, which Jerome translateth, ex invisa materia: o Omnipotent, thy hand hath Created the world of a matter without form, or as Jerome speaketh, of an invisible matter: Now that this general matter was waters which the presence of the all-informing spirit of the Lord did vigorate and enact in a generality, and termed them by the name Shamaim, and that the waters were the first material principle, of which the world was made, no otherwise then out of a rude mass of Clay a great palace is fashioned or framed, the Text of Moses doth seem evidently to confirm: first for that it doth mention the waters on which the spirit of the Lord was carried, and that immediately after he had nominated the confused Chaos, under the Title of the dark abyss, and Terra inanis & vacua, or the void and deformed earth, and that immediately, before the first day's separation. Whereby it is plainly argued that waters were the material principle being created or enacted by the spirit of the Lord, or Elohim Ruach: Forasmuch as they were nominated before the first day's work. Secondly, that it was the said eternal wisdom, or spirit Elohim, who acting as it were the part of a midwife, did deliver, and bring forth this birth; and gave it act and form. Again we may learn out of the same Chapter of Moses, that the waters were the Subject of that separation, which was effected by the Spagirick or fiery-vertue of the said Spirit, or divine word. Thirdly that the heavens above were made of the purer brighter and more worthy waters; and the Elementary world beneath, of the grosser darker and viler sort of waters, 
Gen. 1.  and that there was a middle kind of them, which participating of both extremes was termed the firmament, whose main office was to divide and separate the water from the waters. Then out of the lower waters by the same word or spirit, were the Elements proportioned and placed, their several regions, namely the Air, the Seas, and the dry Land. So that we see how the spirit of the Lord did fabric the whole world, and every member thereof, out of this humid spirit or aquatic nature, which also is most plainly verified by this Text of the Apostle Peter, 
2 Pet. 3.5.  Coeli (saith he) erant prius et terra, de aqua, et per aquam existens verbo Dei, The heavens were First and the earth, of waters, and by waters existing in and by the word of God. But the world is composed only of heaven and earth, and therefore it followeth that the whole world is made and existeth of the waters, and by the waters, consisting by the word of God; Now therefore since the Stars of heaven are esteemed nothing else but the thicker portion of their Orbs, and again every Creature which is below, is said to be compacted of the Elements, it must also follow that both the Stars in the higher heaven and the compound-Creatures, beneath in the Elementary world; be they meteorological, or of a more perfect mixtion, namely Animal vegetable or mineral, must in respect of their material part or existence proceed from waters, the which, as they were brought unto light by the divine word; So also do they eternally consist, and are in their being sustained in and by the same Spirit, as shall be plainly manifested unto you in this Chapter following.  
Thus therefore I have sufficiently expressed unto you, and evidently proved by holy Authority, that the original Catholic matter of all things was Water: I come now unto my description of that universal principle, which giveth life and being unto all the waters and every thing which is framed of the waters and consequently of the whole world.   

CHAP. IU.  
How the catholic formal Principle, by which the waters in general, and consequently the heavens and elements, and every thing else in particular, were fashioned, informed, and reduced into a specific act, or essential being, and are hitherto preserved in that estate, did proceed, and was immediately derived from God.  
I Told you, that, according unto the Rabbis, or Cabalistical Doctor's opinion, the eternal Sapience, which is the radical beginning, or unity of all things, (when it remained, as it were, quiet and at rest, as being retracted in the dark abyss) was in regard of our weak capacities esteemed as Ain, that is to say, nihi●, or nothing, or non ens & non finis; and yet out of this nihil was revealed unto us infinity; forasmuch as the emanation which issued from it, is all in all, and yet without all, as it is that fountain out of which the universal waters are drawn, which is the existence of all things, (as I said before) and that catholic and bright-shining-forth, or fiery and formal virtue, is sent out, which doth impart an essence unto every thing; and, in conclusion, both the external, or passive, and internal, or active, of all creatures in the world, do issue out of this eternal, which is nihil in regard of us, but omnia in omnibus, & extra omnia, in respect of itself, in whose eyes darkness and light, invisibility and visibility, and therefore all potential Nothing, or first matter, and actual Something, are one and the same thing in essence, without any difference. For this cause, this eternal infinitude, this all in all, and without all, is rightly described, first by the Apostle, and then by the divine Philosopher Hermes, 
Eph. 4.6.  after this manner; Unus Deus Pater omnium (saith Paul) qui super omnes & per omnia, & in omnibus; One God is the Father of all, who is above all, and over all, and in all. 
Rom. 11.36.  Ex ipso, per ipsum, & in ipso, sunt omnia; Of him, by him, and in him are all things. And Hermes, Deus est circulus intellectualis, cujus centrum est omne illud quod est, circumferentia verò extra omnia; God is an intellectual circle, whose centre is all that which existeth, 
Asclep. 7.  and whose circumference is without and beyond all things. Hereupon in another place he calleth him, Locum in quo mundus continetur, The place in which the world is contained; inferring thereby, according unto that of the Scriptures, that he filleth all the world, and yet remains in himself without all, in the very selfsame nature of a unity as he was. For as he seemed in the eyes of man's weak and fragil capacity to be Ain or Nihil, before he would create any thing, yet was he both unity and infinity unto himself, and therefore was complicite all in all in himself, namely, as he to our blinded fancy appeareth, Aleph tenebrosum, or dark and deformed Aleph. Also, though he shined forth of darkness, and by the revelation of his hidden wisdom or essence, made all things, as well visible as invisible, to exist formally, and so made dark Aleph to be changed into light Aleph; yet nevertheless, he remaineth all one in himself, and passeth not beyond the limits of his uniformity: for, (as it is already said) His darkness unto him is as his light: Even no otherwise, than we see in the mind or divine mental beam of man, that it is all one without alteration, when it willeth, and when it nilleth, namely, when it granteth or giveth, and when it denyeth. In like manner, whether the divine infinity doth shine forth from its centre towards its circumference, or centrally contracteth his acting beams within itself, yet it is all one and the same in its self, without any alteration of the essential identity. I come to the purpose. The Apostle, speaking of the eternal Christ, 
1 Cor. 1.24. Sap. 7.25.  saith, Christus est Dei virtus, & sapientia Dei; Christ is the virtue of God, and the wisdom of God. Now I will tell you here, as I have done before by the mouth of Solomon, what this divine wisdom is: Sapientia (saith Solomon) est spiritus intelligentiae sanctus, qui est vapor vi●tutis seu potentiae Dei, & fluxus seu emanatio quaedam claritatis omnipotentis Dei sincera, candour seu splendor lucis aeternae & speculum sive macula Dei majestatis & imago bonitatis illius. Wisdom is the holy spirit of discipline, which is the vapour of the virtue or power of God, and a certain flowing forth or emanation of the brightness of the Almighty, the beauty or clearness of his eternal light, and an immaculate mirror of the majesty of God. So that we may discern by this description of the wiseman, what is the spiritual Christ, who is the wisdom, virtue, and word of God, and how by his apparition out of darkness, that is, by the mutation or change of the first principle, (which was in darkness, quasi ●●rbum in principio) from dark Aleph to light Aleph, the waters which were contained in the profound bowels of the abyss were revealed, and were animated, that is to say, by the emanation or emission of this selfsame spirit of eternal fire or light, and afterward by his admirable activity, and restless motion and penetration, (for by Solomon it is said to be, 
Sap. 7.24.  omnibus mobilibus mobilior, & attingere ubique propter suam munditiam: The swiftest and most agile of all movable things, and to attain and pierce every where, by reason of its pureness and subtlety) it first distinguisheth and separateth the darkness from the light, the obscure and gross waters from the subtle or pure, and then it disposeth the heavens into spheres; lastly, it divideth the grosser waters into sublunary elements, as by the words of the first Chapter of Genesis, each man may plainly discern. But that I may particularise more at large on this point, to express unto you the glorious and immortal works, which this spirit did first by creation, 
Sap. 11.18. Dan. 2.22. Job. 12.22. Job. 26.7. Eccl. 24.5. Psal. 104.25. Pro. 8.27. Pro. 3.19. Job. 28.25. Isai. 42.5. Pro. 3.19. Eccles. 24.6. Sap. 7.19. Baruch. 3.33. Eccles. 1.10. Wisd. 8.5. 1 Cor. 12.6. 1 Tim. 6.13. Psal. 104.25.  and still doth by preservation, effect and operate in this world; Mark well these places in Scriptures: Mundum ex materia informi creavit. Revelat fundamenta & abscondita novit in tenebris constituta, & lux est cum eo. Revelavit fundamenta è tenebris & educit in lucem umbram lethal●m. Aquilonem extendit super inane & vacuum, & suspendit terram super Nihilum: nam sapientia ab ore ejus prodeunte rotunditatem caelorum circumeunte so●a, & in profundo abyssi ambulante, omnia fec●t Deus. Aderat ipsa quando praeparavit coelum, quando certa lege & gyro velavit abyssos, quando aethera firmabat sursum, erat ipsa cum eo cuncta componens: Ipsa fundavit terram, stabilivit coelos, erupit abyssos, nubes rore concrescere facit. Aptat pondus aeri, appendit aquas in mensura, facit pluviae statuta & viam fulgetro tonitruum: Coelos creabat & extendebat eos, firmabat terram & quae germinant ex ea: sapientia creavit Deus terram, & stabilivit coelos prudentia, facit ut oriatur lumen in coelis indeficiens, & sicut nebula tegit omnem terram. Facit anni cursus & constituit dispositiones stellarum, fecit Arcturum & O●ionem. Convertit in mane tenebras, diem in noctem mutat, vocat aquas maris, & effundit eas super faciem terrae. Praeparavit terram in aeterno tempore, & replevit eam biped●bus & quadrupedibus: ipsam effudit Deus super omnia opera ejus, & super omnem carnem secundum datum. Ipsa denique operatur omnia, & Deus per ipsam operatur omnia in omnibus, & ipse vivificat & animat omnia, ut Apostolus. Quare Propheta recte; In sapientia omnia fecisti, repleta est terra possessione tua, etc. Wisdom created the world of a matter without form. She revealeth the foundations of the deep, and discovereth the things that are hid in darkness, and light is with her. She maketh the foundations appear out of darkness, and converteth the deadly shadow into light. She spreadeth forth the North upon the void or empty face of the abyss, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. For God made all things by the wisdom which came out of his mouth, and compassed about the circuit of the heavens, and walked in the profundity of the abyss. She was present when he prepared the heavens, when he covered, by a certain law or compass, the abyss. When he established the heavens, or etherial region above, then was she with him as the composer of all those things. She laid the foundations of the earth, and fastened the heavens, and broke up the Abyss, and made the clouds to gather in a dew. She giveth weight unto the Air. She hangeth or ballanceth the waters or clouds by measure. She giveth unto the rain its laws, and ordaineth a way unto the Lightning of the Thunder. She created the heavens, and did spread them abroad. She fastened the earth, and made the things which grow upon it. God created the earth by her, and established the heavens by his Providence, and she causeth an indeficient Light to rise and appear in the heavens, and she covereth as it were with a cloud the whole earth. She maketh the courses of the year, and instituteth the dispositions or natures of the Stars. She made the Polestar and Orion, and turned the darkness into the morning, and changed the day into night. She calleth the waters of the Sea, and poureth them upon the face of the Earth. She hath prepared the Earth from eterni●y, and filled it with two-footed and fourfooted Creatures: God effused or poured her forth upon all his Works, and upon all flesh in a divers measure. To conclude, ●●e operateth all things, as Solomon saith, and therefore God by her doth operate all and in all things. And again, she vivifieth, and animateth all things, as the Apostle telleth us: whereupon the Royal Prophet David doth rightly conclude in these words, 
Psal. 140.25.  Oh Lord how glorious are thy works, in Wisdom thou hast made them all, the Earth is full of thy riches: So is the wide Seas, and innumerable creeping things therein, both great and small. Thou givest unto them, and they gather it, thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good things: But if thou hide thy face they are troubled, if thou dost take away their breath they die, and return unto dust. A●ain, if thou dost send out thy Spirit, they are re-created or re-vive, and thou renewest the face of the Earth, etc. In which Speech the Prophet confirmeth, that it is the Spirit of the Lord, who by his presence reviveth; that it createth and generateth, and by his absence or vacancy mortifieth or corrupteth it. And lastly, by his returning, or restoring of it again, causeth both revivification and resurrection from the dead. The which three mystical operations of one Spirit in this world, the whole Scriptures do handle at full, and therefore we will conclude the last Chapter of this Book, namely, that which succeedeth, with this very Subject: which shall truly correspond unto that defective treatise, which Aristotle maketh of generation and corruption. But before we come to speak of it, we must proceed a little further, in the opening of this present Principle. By this therefore that is already said, we may easily perceive, that the Catholic Act, or formal Principle, with his infinity of dilatations, or emanations, are in the hands and volunty of the Creator; who for that cause is said to operate by his Wisdom all in all, as is already declared. And therefore the School distinction, the operatione mediata, & immediata; principali seu primaria, & minus principali seu secundaria, with many other such like evasions, forged out by the Ethnic Philosophers (being necessary instruments of the Prince of this world, forasmuch as they by their worldly discipline, do distract even Christians themselves, from Truth and Unity, by a multiplicity of confused distinctions) ought to be quite abolished, being that the only act and Catholic agent in all things is immediately from God, and is all one in essence with God, and is essentially in all things: 
Eccles. 1.10. Wisd. 12.1. Wisd. 1.7. Wisd. 7.24.  For the text saith that God hath poured out his Spirit on all his works, and the incorruptible Spirit of God is in a●l things, and the heavens and earth are full of it. Again, this Spirit is the most active and mobil of all things) which being so, what (I beseech you) should hinder it to work immediately and absolutely in all things? Being that it is the immediate virtue and vivifying emanation from God, and consequently there can be no difference between the immediate act of God and the act of this Spirit, which must needs be immediate in the creature, because, as it is present in it, so also it is most mobil and all-sufficient in itself to operate. Now therefore seeing it is evident, that this Spirit is God, and that the essence divine is indivisible, it must needs follow, that where it acteth immediately, there God also must act and operate immediately, and therefore all distinctions framed out after the inventions of men being laid aside, these words of the Apostle and Solomon, God worketh all in all, doth generally hold over all, and every particular, and consequently we ought to acknowledge no subalternate acting or efficient cause in this world, but only one identity or divine essence, and that is he who worketh all in all, and vivifieth, informeth, and animateth, immediately, all things alone, without any assistance, as Scripture tells us in divers places, Ego JEHOVAH (saith the Text) faciens omnia solus, 
Isai. 44.24.  & nullus mecum, I am JEHOVAH, who work all things alone, and have none to help or aid me. Ego Sapientiaci●cumivi rotundita●em coelorum sola: 
Ecclus. 24.8.  I wisdom compassed the heaven alone, etc. For this cause St. Paul saith, in excluding all other essential acts or operations out of this world, saving only this which is from God. Dii sunt qui dicuntur in coelo & in terra, nos tamen agnoscimus unum Deum Patrem, a quo omnia; & unum Dom●num Jesum Christum per quem omn●a: Though there are which are termed Gods in heaven and earth, yet we acknowledge but one God the Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things. As if he had said, however the world speaketh of the actions of the Angels, Stars, Elements, Winds, Meteors, Waters, Animals, Vegetables or Minerals, we do not acknowledge them to act essentially and by themselves, but by the Spirit of God, who only acteth and operateth in the creatures, and by the creatures what he pleaseth▪ To conclude, of this spiritual Cornerstone, or sacred Wisdom and Virtue of God, as is said before, the Scripture speaketh thus, 
Ephes. 4.10. Colos. 1.16. Heb. 1.10. John 1. 2 Pet. 3. Heb. 1.3.  Christus implet omnia: Christ filleth all things. In ipso condita sunt universa in coelis & in terra, visibilia & invisib●lia, omnia in ipso & per ipsum sunt creata, Ipse est ante omnes, & omnia in ipso constant, Ipse in omnibus primatum tenens, nam in ●pso omnis plenitudo divinitatis inhabitat: In principio terram fundavit, & opera manuum ejus sunt coeli: Nam ipse est verbum: De aqua, & per aquam, mediante hoc verbo coe●i e●ant prius & terra creata: Denique est splen●or g●oriae, & figura substantiae Dei portans omnia verbo virtutis suae: In Christ all things in heaven and earth are mad●, as well visible as invisible: By him and in him are all things created. He is before all, and a●l consist in him: He holdeth the Principality in a●l things; for in him all the plenitude of divinity dwells: In the beginning he established the earth, and the heavens were the works of his hands, for he is the word: But the heavens were made first, and the earth of the waters, and by the waters, by the activity of the Word. To conclude, this divine Spirit is the splendour of God's glory, and the figure of his substance, which beareth up, and sustaineth all th●ngs by the word of his virtue. By which it appeareth, that it is this Spirit of Wisdom which operateth, works, guideth, informeth, vi●●teth, maintaineth, sustaineth, feedeth and illuminateth all things with life and being. And again, by his absence darkneth, depriveth, and causeth death and corruption to all things in this world, as shall be delivered more at large in the sixth Chapter of the Book which followeth.   

CHAP. V.  
Of Plenitude and Vacuity, and what true fullness and voidness or inanity is.  
NOw that we have in few lines discussed, and set down the nature both of the two constituting or composing Principles, and also of the privative, and decomposing nature, It is necessary for us to know the property and sense of Plenitude and Vacuiy, according unto the true Wisdom or Christian Philosophy. And first, I will speak a word or two of that Vacuity or Emptiness, which is so detestable and odious in the works which the Creator hath made: As well the Fathers of the Philosophers, as such as have been expert in Theology, have termed it by the name of Nihil or Nothing: Moses doth call it a deformed darkness, or a dark abyss. Hermes, a fearful or horrible shadow, void of shape or form. The Cabalists, a potential being, which is as yet nothing in act. Plato maketh it a thing scarcely credible, and therefore hardly to be imagined, and likneth it to a mere dream, which when a man is awake, proveth nothing. St. Augustin saith, Cum aliquid inform concip●o, prius nihil intelligo quam intelligebam, quemadmodum n●hil videndo videntur teneb●ae, nihil audiendo auditur silentium: When I conceive any deformed thing, I do first understand nothing else, than I understood before, as, when I behold nothing Darkness is seen, when I hear nothing Silence is heard. Whereby it appeareth that he compareth this Nothing unto darkness and silence▪ Job therefore saith: Aquilonem Deus extendit super mane & vacuum, & suspendit terram super Nihilum: God did extend the North upon Inanity and Vacuity, and he hanged the Earth upon Nothing. 
Job. 26.7.  And again, elsewhere, Revelat fundamenta●e tenebris, & educit in lucem umbram L●thalem: 
Job. 12.22.  God revealeth the Foundations out of Darkness, and maketh the deadly shadow to appear into Light. By all which, he argueth that Vacuity, Inanity, Nothing, and Darkness, are one and the same thing: to wit, Vanity, Inanity, or Voidness, because that all fullness and plenitude is from God in his actual property. But God did not as yet shine forth unto the world, and therefore as the first deformed matter of the world was void and destitute of all enacting grace, and formal goodness, it was said to be Vain, Empty, and Darkness: For this reason Moses said, before the act of Creation, Terra erat inanis & vacua: The earth was void and empty, because it was not as yet endued with the beams of Light, Life, and Form. Tenebrae fuerunt super faciem Abyssi: Darkness was upon the face of the Abyss, before the all-informing, and creating Spirit of the Lord was carried on the waters: but after the Spirits apparition, it is said that God calleth that which appeared dry out of the water, Earth; and God saw that it was good, and it produced the tender herbs, and seeds of every kind, etc. Wherefore the Earth that was before the revelation of God's Spirit inane and void, is now become full of divine Light, and multiplying Grace. Whereupon it was no more void and empty, that is to say, destitute of essential being, but became fertile and fruitful, being now replenished with divine fire, and the incorruptible Spirit of God, according unto that of Solomon, Spiritus Disciplinae sanctus implet orbem terrarum: The spirit of Wisdom filleth the Earth. And again, Incorruptibilis Spiritus inest omni rei: 
Wisd. 1.  The incorruptible Spirit of God is in every thing. Per hanc lucem (saith St. John) mundus est factus: 
Wisd. 12.1. John 1. Ephes. 4.10.  By this light the world was made. And the Apostle, Christus implet omnia: Christ filleth all things. Whereby we may perceive, that all plenitude is from the divine Act, as chose Vacuity is, when that formal life is absent from the waters, and this is the reason that Vacuum or Inane is held so horrible a thing in Nature: Forasmuch as the utter absence of the eternal emanation, is intolerable to the creature, because that every thing desireth fervently to be informed, and that by a natural appetite, and affection, and therefore it is abominable unto each natural thing, to be utterly deprived of being: For this reason it followeth, that unless God had filled all things in this world with his Spirit, Vacuity and empty deformity would have possessed the world, but because he by his presence did create all things of Nought, through the illuminating presence of his ematating Spirit, and by this his Spiritual Word he doth maintain, and sustain them all. Therefore it followeth, that there is nothing in this world which is Inane, in vain, or void and empty. This is maintained by this assertion of the Wiseman mentioned before: 
Wisd. 11.18.  Manus Omnipotentis (saith he) mundum ex informi materia creavit: The hand of the Almighty created the world of a matter without form: that is of an inane and void matter, and consequently of Nothing or Nihil: Forasmuch as it had no denomination, being it is form that giveth the name and essence. By this therefore it may appear, how vain the Vacuum or Vacuity of the Peripatetic is, in regard of that which by the true Wiseman, is held Inane and Vacuum: For they esteem their Vacuum to be a mere imaginary place in the air, not filled by any bodily existence, no not by air itself. But although it be apt to receive some watery existence, namely air, water, or earth in it. And so they dream of an imaginary Chimaera, which in verity is of itself absolute Nothing, being that it is impossible that any place should be form in the Universe, which can be after that manner void, and consequently not worth the dreaming after. But our Vacuum and Inane, is a potential matter, or earth, or Abyss without form, namely that which is only in potentia ad actum; In puissance to be reduced into Act, by the presence of Divine Light. It is no marvel though Aristotle did not think of this kind of Inanity, and Plenitude, being that in one place he saith, Ex nihilo nihil fit: Of nothing nothing is made, and in another place he affirmeth Light to be an Accident, and therefore it appeared not unto his sense, that such an accident could take away Inanity or Vacuity, and fill all things essentially by his presence: But I will combat our Christian Peripatetics at their own weapons, who hold it for a Maxim, that accidentis esse sit inesse. I will therefore assail them with this Syllogism. If Light be an Accident, than the existence of it is to adhere, or to be in some Subject; but the existence of true Light is to exist without any adhesion unto matter or Subject, therefore it is no accident. The Major is proved by Aristotle's own Axiom: which is, Accidentis esse est inesse, aut adhaerere subjecto alicui: The existence of an Accident is to be in, or to adhere unto, some material Subject, or else it cannot be. The Minor is maintained by the words of Moses: Light was created the first day before any creature, and therefore it had not any precedent actual matter or Subject, to be in or adhere unto: Besides it is beyond imagination that God should create Accidents before any Essential or Substantial creature. Again, God who is the Fountain of Light, is said to be Light in whom is no darkness. 
1 Joh. 1.5. Joh. 1. Wisd. 7.  And again, the word is defined in another place to be Light, and the Spirit of Wisdom is said to be the bright splendour and shining forth of the Almighty: And therefore it was most absurd in Aristotle, yea and in some of his disciples, as Damascen, and others, to conclude that eternal light to be an accident, which did emane from the essential fountain of light, to vivify and illuminate the whole water. Wherefore it is evident, that the true mystery of plenitude and vacuity, was utterly unknown unto the sect of the Peripatetics, because they were altogether ignorant of the true wisdom, which did (as the Apostle James saith) descend from the Father of light; and this doth evidently appear, when he will have the essential light, and formal act and splendour of all things, to be an Accidental quality.   

CHAP. VI  
How first the two essential, but opposite, active properties, and afterward so many passive natures, did spring and issue from the foresaid principles, by the virtue whereof, all mutations and alterations were, and are effected in this sublunary world.  

I Will in this place relate unto you the births and beginnings, first, of the two opposite active natures, or essential virtues, which proceed from the two radical or main principles aforesaid; and then I will express unto you the conditions of those two passive ones, which are derived from the effects of those two mutual actions. You must know therefore, that as the potential or dark principle, is contrary and opposite in his essential property, unto the actual emanation of light beginning, so also have each of them manifested, or brought forth into this world, two offsprings, or essential properties, which are oppugnant in condition, and flat adversaries in their nature unto one another; and these two active virtues are Cold and Heat: Of the manner of production, and the several conditions of each, I purpose to speak in this present Chapter; and first touching the Cold.  
It is evident by that which is already said, and shall be more amply expressed in the first Book of my sympathetic History, that darkness is the immediate effect of the divine Nolunty, or latent Divinity, and consequently of God's privative property, or the divine puissance, and by consequence it is the mother of privation, death, vacuity, inanity, deformation, and so forth. For the property of the dark Nothing, or deformed abyss, is naturally to rest, and not to act or operate; and the reason is, because that all its appetite is to be conversant in, and about the centre, beyond the which there is no motion or action, and not to dilate itself towards the circumference, as the Spirit of light, or God in his volunty, or patent nature, is accustomed to do. For this reason, the dark principle doth challenge unto itself, by a natural instinct, rest and quietness; and this property begetteth or produceth one essential virtue of its own condition, namely, Cold, the which, as it is elected for a champion to resist the assaults of her opposite, namely, of Heat, whose companions are motion or action, (for the restless antagonist and provoker of Cold is Heat); So unless it be roused or stirred up by the assaults of Heat, it moveth not, but seemeth to wait upon its drowsy mother, Darkness and privation, whose children are fixation and rest, which sleep in, and cleave fast unto, the centre, and therefore are unwilling to look forth towards the circumference. And in verity, cold is an essential act, p●oceeding from, and attending on the divine puissance, which in this property doth contract its beams from the circumference into its self, 
Pim.  according unto that of the Philosopher Hermes, Monas general monadem & in se reflexit ardorem, One begetteth one, and reflected his beam or heat into it s●lf; that is to say, It would not shine forth, but retained its activity centrally in itself, and so did seem to rest in itself; which was all one with that of the Cabalist Bahir, Sapeut●acum esset in abysso tenebrarum retracta, 
Revel. lib. 3. De art. Cab.  immanens ociosaque & ad nihil respiciens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. Nihil, dicitur; in quo statu Aleph tenebrosum dictitatur: When the divine sapience was retracted in the abyss of darkness, resting still and quiet, and respecting nothing, it was esteemed as nothing, and in that estate it was called dark Aleph. In this contracted, or rather sequestered or private estate therefore of the divine unity, it operateth according unto this its negative property or condition, by his essential agent Cold, which is proved therefore not to be an accident, as the vain doctrine of the Peripatetics would persuade us, being it is apparent unto each wiseman, that no accidental qualities are in or can be from God, being that the divine Nature is merely a simple, essential, and formal purity, existing in himself, and of himself, and therefore he being but one essence, is able to produce out of himself what essential property he pleaseth. And for this reason, the divine wisdom is said to be, 
Wisd. 7.22.  spiritus unicus multiplex, one simple spirit in essence, but manifold in respect of his essential properties. Now that this essential property, or nature of Cold, is the formal instrument, or instrumental virtue, whereby God doth operate in his hidden and potential estate, for the resistance of heat, and action or motion, and for the deformity and destroying of that, which he in his patent nature did effect by his Heat or active property, it is made evident by effect; for what the spirit of wisdom in its patent nature did operate, by its hot spirit or blast from the south or easterly wind, (namely, in subtiliating and ra●ifying of the waters into thin air, making that which was gross, subtle; and making that which was opake and dark, diaphan and invisible) the selfsame spirit again enduing his latent and cold property, doth deform and undo. For in blowing or breathing from the North, the same thin and ratified air is made thick, dense, and visible, which was through rarifaction made invisible, and that which by dissipating of parts was made transparent light and diaphan, is now by the Northern properties contractive virtue, reduced into an opake or dark substance, and no way perspicuous. That which was active, movable, and lively, by an addition of heat, is now become stupid, still, and deadly, by the invasion of cold. That which was light, and of no sensible weight, is framed into an heavy and ponderous body or consistence, as we see, when the air by the northern blast is turned into snow, hail, ice, frost, etc. Now that it is but one and the same spirit in essence, which bloweth from the four winds, 
Ezek. 37.9.  the Prophet Ezekiel doth testify, when he said, Veni spiritus à quatuor veniis & insuffla interfectos istos; Come, O Spirit, from the four winds, and breathe upon these slain persons, etc. Whereby he argueth, that it is but one spirit, though it endueth at his pleasure a fourfold property. And now to confirm all this which is said to be true, 
Psal. 147.4.  do but mark the words of the royal Psalmist, Jehovah emittit nives sicut lanam, pruinam sicut cineres dispergit, de●icit gelu tanquam frusta; coram frigore ejus quis con●istat? Emittens verbum liquefacit ista, simul ac efflat ventum suum, effluunt aquae. God sendeth forth the snow as wool, and scattereth the frost like ashes, casteth out the ice like as gobbets; who is able to withstand his cold? He sending forth his word liquefieth all these northern effects. So soon as he bloweth or breatheth forth his wind, the waters do flow again; that is, the snow, frost, and ice do melt, and are turned into water. Out of which words we may observe many notable things, namely, first, that God in his hidden or latent property, doth by his essential action of cold, contract unto the centre those things, which were before dilated towards the circumference. Secondly, that the property of cold is attributed or ascribed unto God, in his northern action, and therefore it is said, Who is able to resist his cold? For which reason it is evident, that it is an essential virtue in the divine puissance. Thirdly, That it must be the act of unity in his dark, hidden, and privative property, both because it darkeneth things that are diaphan, transparent, and light; and then because it depriveth of life and motion, that which did act, move, and live, through essential heat. And lastly, because it is an utter enemy unto the action of heat, which at tendeth on the revealed, emanating, and vivifying divinity. Fourthly, that the effects of cold are undone by the act of the revealed nature of God, which is the word; for the Text saith, He sendeth out his word, and resolveth or melteth all these, namely, the snow frost, and ice. Fifthly, that all this is effected by one and the same spirit in essence, but of divers and opposite conditions, to perform the will of the Father which sendeth it forth. Again, that the cold property of the wind, is the essential depriving virtue, or stupifying and contracting act of God, it appeareth by this of Job. 
Job. 37.9 10.  Deus fortis edit glac●em flatu suo, flante Deo concrescit gelu: The strong God bringeth forth the ice by his breath; God blowing, the ice is engendered. I conclude therefore, that cold is the essential act of the divine puissance, or eternal sapience, shrouding itself in its mantle of darkness, and therefore doth manifest the divine volunty in that estate of his, by the effects, namely, in that it draweth from the circumference unto the centre, and therefore is the occasion of congregating of things, as well hetero-as homogeniall, and by consequence, the only essential agent or efficient cause of inspissation, contraction, constriction, fixation, immobility, ponderosity, rest, obteneration or darkness, of mortification, privation, stupefaction, and such like.  
In the contrary divine property, namely, in this spirit's patent, manifest, and positive nature, or, as he is termed, light Aleph, wherein he moveth or sendeth out his emanation from the centre towards the circumference, and revealing himself upon the dark face of the Abyss, maketh the invisible non Ens or potential Nihil, to appear in Act, being first animated by his bright presence in the form of waters. He is said by the Wiseman to be omnibus mobilibus mobilior, ubique penetrans seu attingens propter munditiam ejus: The most agile and movable of all movable things, 
Sap. 7.24.  piercing through all things, by reason of his purity. So that as the other privative or Northern property, did produce rest and vacancy from operation, by attraction or contraction from the circumference unto the centre; so in this his positive or Southern and Orient property, by dilating himself▪ or sending out his active beam, brightness or emanation, from the centre towards the circumference, he doth beget and procreate motion, being accompanied by the essential Act of Heat or calidity, which operateth continually upon the effects of cold, in resisting, dissolving, and destroying of them. So that this formal Champion of Light, namely Heat, warreth perpetually against the cold guardian of Darkness: For the one can have no dominion in the Air, until the other by little and little be exiled. And therefore as the Light principle, with all his branches, is said to be the Father of position, act, information, plenitude, motion, life, health, and Heat: So also doth Heat operate according unto the nature of his restless and ever operating Father, which is Light, to destroy the effects of darkness and cold, as we see in the nature of the hot winds, namely that of the South, and East or Orient: For as the Northern cold wind doth congregate, contract, harden, thicken or condense, make ponderous, fix, immovable and opake, the air; changing it by inspissation into the nature of more ponderous Elements: So chose, the said hot winds or spirits, do dissipate, dilate, mollify, rarify, and make thin and light, volatile, movable, and transparent, what the cold winds did so change and alter, and all this is effected by the Act spagericks or separative Act of God's Spirit or Word. And therefore the Prophet said in the Text, mentioned before: Emittens verbum suum liquefacit ista, 
Psal. 147.4.  simul ac effla● ventum suum effluunt aquae: God sending forth his Word, that is, causing his bright virtue to shine forth, he did undo or melt the Snow, Frost, and Ice, which God in his hidden or contractive property had caused, and that under the form of an Angelical wind: And therefore it is said, So soon as he bloweth forth his breath or wind, the waters flow: that is to say, the Snow is melted, and of a fix and opake substance, becometh movable, lively, fluent and diaphan or transparent. So also the heat of the Easterly wind destroyeth and dissipateth the watery effects of the Westerly wind, and therefore the Prophet saith, Postquam veniente Euro, 
Host 13.15.  vento JEHOVAE è deserto, exaruerit scaturigo ejus & siccatus fuerit fons ejus: Afterwards by the Easterly wind of the Lord, coming from the desert, his spring withered, and his Fountain was dried up. As if he had said, the water was changed by the heat of that wind into Air by rarefaction or subtiliation. Thus have you understood how these two opposite Virtues, namely Cold and Heat do spring from one and the same Spirit in radical essence, by which it operateth actually and essentially by a double property: Forasmuch as they produce in the Catholic Element of the sublunary world, opposite effects, to effect the will of the Creator in the Air, and upon the Earth and Seas. Now I will speak a word or two of the Procreation or Generation of such passive Natures, as are brought forth by the mutual action and opposition of the two foresaid essential Virtues, which do spring and have their root or beginning, either in the Divine Nature's Nolunty and privative existence, or Volunty and positive emanation.  
These passive qualities do essentially depend upon the former, and do no otherwise belong unto them, than the female or passive do unto the male or active. And first I will tell you my mind touching the birth of Humidity, and afterward I will come to speak of Siccity. We must imagine, that when there was no formal Light to enact the deformed Abyss or Chaos, and consequently no Heat to act and make a division of Light from Darkness; then all the dark Chaos was inclining unto drought and wet, congealed with cold: For cold hath an infinite power and dominion, where Heat is absent, as we see about the Northern Pole, all the waters are frozen into a dry and cold clod or heap, by reason of the absence of the Sun's heat. In like manner where the Sun, or burning Easterly wind, doth send forth directly their spiracles of Heat, there Cold is banished, and the Earth is turned into a dry, thirsty, and spongy mass. Even so and after the like pattern, are those; or rather these after those patterns: For the Chaos was a confused, a cold and a dry heap, until the Light did appear, and began to operate. Also the Light of itself, as it was considered without any action upon the passive mass, was of a fiery condition, that is to say, heat and drought did only appear in it: it followeth therefore; that, as cold in effect is nothing else but the act of the divine puissance made potent and evident by the absence of Heat: So also is drought or dryness nothing else but an apparent passive nature, evermore accompanying the two foresaid active powers in their absolute intention, where moisture is totally absent. Now moisture is as it were a mongrel, begotten between the two opposite actives, which is proved thus. The North wind by his dominion turneth the Air into Snow, Hail, Ice or Frost, that is, into a cold and dry Substance. But when the Southerly or Easterly wind, doth begin to have dominion, than their blasts do penetrate, by little and little, the said dry masses or substances, and undoeth them, and coverteth them into a moist or humid nature, according unto the tenor of those forementioned words of David: So soon (saith he) as he bloweth forth his wind, the waters flow. So soon as he sendeth forth his Word, they are liquefied. So that moisture is nothing else but a mixtion of heat and cold, in one solid Substance, which is fluxible in potentia, and then by little and little doth the cold and drought depart, and become faint, according as the power of the wind is more or less vigorous in Heat. For thus much we must observe, that as cold doth make immobil and fix; So it is an evident sign, that the Southern or Eastern Heat hath taken possession of the Mass, when by their action it beginneth to moisten, to revive and move again: forasmuch as nothing doth effect that function but Heat. In the very same manner also, the increated and all-creating Spirit of Light, moving upon the face of the dark abyss, did operate in it, and made the congealed Mass to relent, and then it was called by Moses, waters; and by Hermes, humida natura, or the humid nature. And so they continue unto this day, being altered from one nature unto another, according unto the will of God, which he effecteth by his Ministers, the Angelical winds, causing the Spiritual waters to change, and wheel about from one nature into another. And we must observe in these changes, that even the visible waters, were first made and derived from the invisible waters, according unto St. Paul's doctrine before mentioned: For Heaven was before the Sea and Earth, which were as it were the feces, dregs, or grosser part of the catholic Sublunary Element.   

An ocular Demonstration, confirming the Divine properties or Virtue's abovementioned.  
Before we proceed unto our ocular demonstration, which shall be made in and by our Experimental instrument, we must consider in the first place, that the Catholic Air or Sublunary Heaven, is the subtler and more spiritual portion of those waters, which are under the Firmament, of which division Moses maketh mention, and therefore every particular thereof doth correspond unto the whole, and consequently the air included in the glass of the Instrument, is of the same nature, as is that of the whole Catholic Air; and therefore by reason of their continuity, as the excluded whole fareth, so also doth the included part. Again, as the Spirit which walked upon the waters did animate, vivify, inform, and dilate them giving them motion: So also by his absence, or by hiding its act or contracting its emanating beams into itself, the waters are also contracted, condensed and darkened, as it appeareth by the Northern wind's property, which proceedeth from the privative or contractive action of this Spirit. But as the waters do by their existence fill the vaulted cavity of the world: So also doth the all-informing Spirit fill every corner of them, insomuch as being it operateth all in all, but in a diversity of property, (and therefore it is termed multiformis Sapientia); so sometimes it operateth in its privative property in these lower waters, as is already told you, namely when it bloweth from the North and West, and sometimes in his positive nature; as when it breatheth from the South or East. In the first, by his cold action he contracteth from the circumference unto the centre, as is said; by the last, namely by his hot property, he dilateth from the centre to the circumference. Seeing then that it is water, that is the Catholic passive, out of the which, as being the common Subject of all things, the shape of the whole world, and every thing therein, was and is carved out and fashioned, as St. Peter telleth us and that the eternal creating and all-inacting Spirit of the Lord, is the universal acto●, which moveth all in all, in the waters, as Moses doth intimate unto us, and that in and by an infinity of Organs, as Angels, Sun, Moon, Starrs, Winds, fire, etc. as in many places of Scripture we find it, it must needs follow, that he is the agent, as well in the contraction and dilatation generally, without the Glass, as particularly within the Glass. Wherefore as the Sun, the hot winds, the fire, or natural heat of man's body, have their dilative property from his emanating and enacting virtue, and do alter by it the cold air, the winds, and water from his privative disposition: So it followeth, that as well the dilatation of the air in the Glass, as contraction, is the immediate act of this Spirit's positive or privative property; for when this Spirit bloweth from the North or West, the air is contracted more or less into a narrower room within the Glass, and that is proved thus, namely, because the water is drawn up higher into the neck of the Glass, lest a corporal vacuity should be admitted in nature. And again, it is most apparent, that the air in the Glass is by so much the more contracted, by how much the Northern cold hath dominion in the outward air, because it is gathered into a more straight place o● passage, than it was before the water was elevated up. On the other side, if the hot winds, or Summer Sun, do inflame the external air, than the included air will also dilate itself, and in its dilation require a larger space. That the air is so dilated by heat, it is plainly demonstrated, in that the water is struck down by so many degrees lower than it was. Again, if one put his hand on the top of the ball of the Glass, the water will sink, for the air will forthwith be dilated. Now that the spirit of life, which giveth this heat unto Man or Beast, is from this eternal Spirit, which (as the Apostle saith) doth vivify all things, Scriptures do in many places, above and hereafter mentioned, confirm. Again, the Prophet calleth this one Spirit from the four winds, to breathe into the dead carcases that they might live again. 
Ezek. 37.9.  Thus you see it evidently confirmed by an ocular demonstration, that cold doth contract, inspissate, and make gross the included air, which is argued by the drawing up of the water, and straightening the air. And again, that heat doth dilate and dissipate, by the enlargement of the air in hot weather, or by laying of the hand on the bolts head, which is made evident by the beating down of the waters.  
Note (I beseech you), ye that will not be over-partiall on the Peripatetics behalves, the two notable errors of the Aristotelians: whereof the first is manifested, in that they hold for a Maxim, that calidum doth congregare homogenea, heat doth congregate and gather together things of one nature. Now you see it here ocularly demonstrated, that heat doth operate the contrary; for it dissipateth and disperseth the air, which is of homogeneal parts, and therefore it doth not congregate it: But it is cold that doth congregate, compact, and gather homogeneal things together, as well as heterogeneal. For you see, in our Instrument, that it contracts and gathers together the air, yea, and water, in a straighter and narrower place. And therefore their assertion also is not ●ound, when they say, that frigidum doth only congregare heterogenea.  
The other of their palpable errors is also described by this ocular experiment, for whereas they say, that the Sun, stars, and Fire, yea, and all heat whatsoever, doth attract and draw unto it the vapours and humidity of the earth, waters, etc. we find the contrary by this our experimental Glass; for in only laying the warm hand upon the Glass, the air dilates itself immediately, and is so far from being attracted by the heat, that chose it flieth away from the hand: And that this is so, it appeareth by the striking down or precipitation of the water, as is said. Thus have we sufficiently mentioned, in this present Book, the estate of the first and second Principles of all things, and that but in brief terms; because my purpose is, to touch them with a more large and copious style, in the first Book of my Sympathetic and Antipathetical History.  
I will now proceed unto the next Book, wherein I purpose to handle the mystery of Rarefaction and Condensation, with the manner of the variety in the heavenly Fabric, and the rotation of one catholic sublunary Element into a fourfold nature or existence. And in the last place, I will conclude with the radical efficient cause of Creation, Generation, Corruption, and Resurrection.     

The fourth BOOK.  
The Argument of this Book.  
Herein is expressed the universal mystery of Rarefaction and Condensation; where also it is proved, that by them the World was made, the Heavens established in due order, and the catholic Element altered and changed after a quadruple manner and condition.  

CHAP. I.  
Herein first, the common or catholic subject of Condensation and Rarefaction is once again recited or repeated, as also the two essential opposite properties or virtues, which are derived from the eternal Principle, in his privative and positive nature, are proved to be the immediate causes of both those alterations, in the general Element of Waters.  
I Have made it (as I imagine) most plain and evident unto your understandings, as well by the testimony of the antique Philosophy, and infallible wisdom of holy Writ, as by ocular demonstration, that the common, or universal matter and subject of all things, was the Waters, which were enacted and created by the bright Spirit of the Lord, before all things: Which being so, and for that all Condensation and Rarefaction do regard a subject or material substance, wherein it should be performed or effected, it followeth therefore, that the only matter which doth endure or suffer the act of either of them, must be water, or a humid and moist nature, being it is the only substantial stuff, which filleth all the vast cavity of the world, and consequently the material existence, of which both Heaven and Earth, and all things therein, are framed, and were originally shaped out. This is therefore that main subject of Condensation and Rarefaction, by the means whereof, all things in this world are made to differ from one another, and are disposed and ordered by God, according to weight, number, and measure, in their proper ranks and places; that is, they are placed in a higher or lower region, according unto that dignity, which the catholic or eternal Actor hath bestowed upon them in their creation. The common matter therefore of incrassation and subtiliation being thus made manifest, we are to find out the universal actor or operator in this work. And I did signify unto you before, that it was the sacred emanation of that divine splendour, which did operate from all beginnings, and doth at this present operate, and shall hereafter work all that which hereafter shall be effected, in the heavens above, and the earth beneath; which assertion of mine acordeth well with this axiom of the Apostle, oftentimes, and that not without a just occasion, 
1 Cor. 12.6. Psal. 104.25. Wisd. 8.5. Heb. 1.3. 2 Pet. 3.5. Ephes. 4.10. Col. 3.11. Wisd. 7.24.  repeated by me, Deus operatur omnia in omnibus, God worketh all in all. And David, In sapientia omnia fecisti, Thou hast made all things in thy wisdom. And Solomon, Sapientia operatur omnia, Wisdom worketh all things. And the Apostle in another place, Christus portat omnia verbo virtutis suae, Christ beareth all things by the word of his virtue. And St. Peter, The heavens were of old, and the earth of waters and by waters, consisting by the word. Again, St. Paul saith, that Christ is in all, and filleth all. And in another place, Christus omnia est, & in omnibus; Christ is all, and in all. Now this holy spirit of wisdom is said to be, omnibus mobilibus mobilior, more swift and movable than any movable thing. And therefore he must needs act all in all, according unto his will and pleasure. Again, when he is pleased to withdraw his actual beams within himself, he seems to rest, and the act of the creature doth cease, and then death doth ensue, namely, cessation from the activity of life. Now being he is the most agile and moovable of all things, the virtue of heat doth evermore accompany the motions of his light, yea, and are essentially united unto the actor: even as we see in the Sun, (which Sydrach the wiseman compareth with Divinity, saying, that the body is likened unto the Father, the the beams or emanation unto the Sun, and the active heat which issueth from them both unto the Spirit) that the beam is continuate unto the body of the Sun, as the emanation from the divine fountain, is one individual essence with the fountain of eternal light; and the virtue issuing from the Sun and his beams, is in like manner unseparable in essence from the other two; even as we find, that the holy Spirit which is emitted from Father and Son, is one in essence with them both. For this reason therefore, the divine Philosopher Hermes saith, Mens ab essentia Dei nequaquam divisa, 
Pim. 12.  sed illi potius eo modo connexa, quo solis corpori lumen; The mental beam is not at all divided from the essence of God, but rather joined and knit unto him after the same manner, that the light is continuated unto the Sun. Whereupon it is evident, that the virtue of heat is essential unto light, as the act of motion is never absent from the emanating brightness. I conclude therefore, that Rarefaction is nothing else, but the dilating of water by heat, which was first contracted by cold; and Condensation, on the other side, is a contraction, or sucking and drawing together of those watery parts, which were dilated or dispersed by heat: So that the subject of both these actions is water, and the fountain, as well of the privative as positive agent, is the Nolunty or Volunty, that is to say, the negative or affirmative will of that one eternal Unity, who is that all-informing and operating Spirit, which acteth and accomplisheth his pleasure in all and over all, by his divers organs, as well angelical as celestial and elementary: which, according unto their diversity in disposition, are moved by this internal act, to operate in this world the will of the Creator, both positively and privatively, as shall be told you in the Chapter following.   

CHAP. II.  
How this Divine spirit or Ruach Elohim being but one in Essence, worketh both by his Angelical, and astral organs in this sublunary world, after a fourfold manner.  
THe Eternal spirit of wisdom, who is the initial principle of all things; and in whom and by whom, 
Colos. 1.16.  (as the Apostle teacheth us) the Angels, Thrones, potestates and dominations were Created, doth operate by his Angelical Organs of a contrary fortitude, in the Catholic Element of the lower waters; both the effect of Condensation, and that of Rarefaction. And to verify this out of the holy Bible's, testimony, we read first, that this one spirit is the arch- Lord and Prince of the 4. winds, or else the Prophet by the commandment of God would not have said; Come O spirit from the 4. winds and make these dead Carcases to live again. 
Ezek. 37.9.  Now that this one spirit worketh in, and by spiritual and Angelical Organs, in the execution which is effected by the property of the 4. winds, it is proved out of the Apocalypse, where we find these words: I saw 4. Angels stand on the 4. Corners of the Earth holding the 4. winds of the Earth, 
Apoc. 7.1.  that they should not blow on the Earth neither on the Sea, etc. By which it is evident that these Angelical Precedents over the 4. winds were the Ministers and Organs by and in the which the spirits or blasts of the winds were emitted or retained according unto the will of that eternal spirit, which guideth them when and where he list: But we find by daily observation that the essential virtue in the Northern spirit is cold, and therefore contractive or attractive from the circumference unto the centre, and by consequence a causer of congelation and condensation. By this kind of Angelical virtue, the divine spirit doth work his privative effects, and acts of Inspissation and fixation in the sublunary Element, causing terrestrial and earthly effects. But chose, we find that by and in the Southern and Easterly Angelical spirits, the all-Creating and operating power doth cause Rarefaction and Subtiliation in the said inferior waters, through their essential action which is heat. And for this cause the said hot winds do undo by rarefaction all that which the cold Northern winds did effect by congelation. Hence therefore it cometh, that of this potent Angel (who is said by the wise Cabalists to be the Precedent and Governor of the Celestial Sun, which some term Michael quasi Quis sicut Deus, of whom we will speak hereafter, also touching his Angelical organs in the 4. Corners of the earth, 
Mat. 24.  by which he useth to do his will) it is said, The son of man will send out his Angels from the four winds of heaven: and moreover, we shall find in the place before mentioned, that this imperial Angel did rise from the Easterly angle of the world, and did command the foresaid fowr Angels which had dominion over the four winds, as vassals unto his will. For the Text hath it; 
Apoc. 7.2.  And I saw another Angel come up from the East, and cried with a loud voice unto the 4. Angels unto whom power was given, etc. Hurt not the earth, neither the seas, nor the trees till I have sealed, etc. Whereby it is apparent that the 4. Governors of the winds are subject unto that great Angel, who is the powerful and potent Intelligence which moveth and ruleth not only the Sun but sustaineth all things by virtue of this word; and this Almighty Angel is esteemed by some to be the same mentioned in the first Chapter of the Apocal. Who said, I am Alpha and Omega. 
Apoc. 1.  Now that the Sun by virtue of this omnipotent Spirit, whose immediate angelical organ or instrument the Angel Michael is, doth govern the airy spirit, both of the lower and upper world, the wise Solomon doth seem to acknowledge, where he saith, 
Ecclus. 1.3.  Sol lustrans cuncta, in circuitu pergit spiritus; The sun illustrating all things, the air or spirit moveth about. For this reason also, the Philosophers have called the winds Titanei filii, the sons of Titan, or of the celestial Sun. It appeareth therefore, that the increated spirit, which supereminently moveth in the angelical creature, Michael, (and therefore El, or Deus fortis is annexed unto it) is that selfsame Princely Spirit specified by the Prophet Ezekiel, (as is already proved) who dwelleth in the great Angel, who rising up from the East, commanded the 4. governor's of the winds, with their legions: whereby it is manifest, that they have all their act and power from it, and are ordained to be employed only at his will, either to effect privation or position, and consequently to produce condensation or rarefaction in the world, at his pleasure; namely, position and information by his light; and heat, and privation or deformation by his dark and cold property. And hereupon the kingly Prophet speaketh thus, 
Psal. 103.20.  Angeli Dei validissimi robore, efficientes verbum ejus, auscultantes voci ejus, ministri ejus facientes placitum. The strong Angels of God which do execute his word, and hearken unto his voice, are his minister's to perform his will. And again, Qui facis angelos tuos ventos, et ministros tuos ignem urentem; Who makest thy angel's winds or spirits, (for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ruach signifieth, Ventus, Spiritus, Flatus) and thy ministers flames of fire. Whereby it is evident, that the eternal Breath is that which animateth the Angels; the Angels give life and vigour, first, unto the stars, and then unto the winds; the winds first inform the elements, or rather alter the catholic sublunary element into divers natures, which are termed Elements; and then by the mixtion of divers windy forms in that one element, they do produce meteorological compositions, of divers natures, according unto the diversity of the windy forms which alter it. But that I may the more pertinently discourse upon these businesses, and withal discuss many difficulties and scruples, which have not a little troubled the Philosophers and Theosophers of our age, touching the principle tabernacle of this all-acting and creating Spirit in the world; Before I pass any further in this my story of Condensation and Rarefaction, I will express mine opinion touching that point at large: because the enucleation of it will be very pertinent and necessary, for the opening of this main business, forasmuch as in it, not only the world's creation, but also the imperial government of the world's Spirit, and the formal manner of production of Meteors, doth consist.   

CHAP. III.  
What the cavils of this our age hath been, touching the seat of the all-creating and universal enacting Spirit in this world. And herein also it is proved, that Jerom's translation upon this Text of David, [Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole, God put his tabernacle in the sun] is according unto the true sense of Scriptures. And lastly, the reason of the error in our latter Translations, is herein, according unto the Author's capacity, expressed.  
I Confess, there hath been a great controversy, whether Jerom, or Tremellius, or Pagn●ne, and some others, have erred in their translation of the forementioned Hebrew Text; for Jerom being of greater antiquity, howsoever he found the nature of the Hebrew which he translated, 
Psal. 18.5.  interpreteth the first verse of the nineteenth Psalm of David, Posuit Deus tabernaculum suum in sole, God hath put his tabernacle in the sun; Pagnine making use of the same Text, but perchance corrupted and altered from the Original copy, and therefore construeth the Hebrew thus: In coelis posuit Soli tabernaculum: He made for the Sun a tabernacle in the heavens. And Tremellius expounds it: Soli disposuit tentorium in iis: He made the heavens a pavilion for the Sun. Verily if we consider all things rightly, we must imagine that either the Text must be altered and corrupted from that Original copy, which St. Jerom had, or else the reverend Jerom's worth must of necessity be called into question, for so gross a mistaking. Touching the person; surely the whole Christian Church in his days, would not have made election of a man of mean skill in the Hebrew language, to undergo a task of such importance, being for the main good of the whole Christian Church, as was the translation of the Bible out of Hebrew into Latin. It would not (I say) have relied upon a man of small cunning, either in the Hebrew language or mysteries of divinity, to judge of the likelihood or coherence of the Scripture's Harmony; and therefore the ability of the person, unto whose charge so great a business was committed, and consequently the fruits of his labours could no way be undervalved, being compared unto either Pagnine or Tremellius. Again, that he was held for a person of holy conversation, the title of Saint, which is attributed unto him, doth confirm and argue. Besides all this, that he had by many degrees a deeper insight into the mystery of the Bible, and a profounder reach into the nature of the divine wisdom, than any Interpreter of the Bible, which ever was, and much more than those of later days; John Reucline, in his third Book of the Cabalistcall Art seemeth to verify in these words, Cum Hieronymias librum Jetzira multum, 
Reucl. lib. 3. de Arte Cabal.  & saepe, nocturna versaret manu atque diurna, venisse ad eum filia vocis dicitur, qua juberet illum tribus annis volumini eidem insudare, etc. Quo facto, se ab ipso Deo virtutes & potestates Alphabetorum et Elementariarum commutationum asserebat reperisse: Nam dispositionem conjugationis de libro creationis ante noverat. Ind ad posteros Alphabeticaria haec cabula, id est receptio, transmigravit, per quam Arcana divinorum maxima panduntur: When Jerom had often turned over the Book of Jetzira or of the Creation with a nocturnal and diurnal hand; It is reported that the daughter of the voice came unto him, which commanded him to take pains in the said Volume for three years' space; which when he had effected, he said that he was taught by God, the virtues and powers of the Alphabets, and Elementary commutations: For he had known the disposition of the conjugation out of the book of Creation before. And hereupon did this Alphabetary cabal or reception spring, by the which he did bewray or disclose the great mystery of divine things, etc. Which if he meant of this Jerom, as by many of the learned it is imagined; you will not deny but he was deeply seen in the profound and arcane meaning of the Scriptures, and therefore he was a man who should not lightly be so deceived or deluded in his Interpretation. Again, no man can deny but that the Pope and whole Christian Clergy did assist him in this business, with all the antique books or manuscripts, which might direct him into the true way or sense of interpretation; so that he wanted not the consent of antique Authority, but could discern between the true and corrupt Text in his interpretation, and therefore that we may neither accuse the later interpreters for their exposition, nor derogate from St. Jerom's labours, which deserve an everlasting monument, we must rather impute the error unto the corruption or alteration of the Hebrew Text, being that the whole harmony of the Scriptures, and main subject of the Psalm in which it is recited, do tend and incline rather unto the construction of St. Jerom, as I will particularly prove and express unto you by these Arguments following. Whereof the first is taken from the main Subject of the Chapter, wherein these words Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole are mentioned, as also from other Testimonies of holy Scriptures. Next from the mystical and cabalistical exposition of the Hebrew word of the Sun. Then from the resolution of the ancient Theologians with other circumstances belonging unto them. Fourthly, from an Astonomicall observation, and the dignity and excellency of the solar creature. Fifthly, from an Arithmetical consideration. Sixtly, from the point and circle in Geometry. Seventhly, from the consonant of the greatest perfection in Music or harmony. Eighthly from a Physical or natural regard. And lastly, by the asseverations of the wisest and divinest Philosophers, which accord exactly with the Symphony of Scriptures. Of each of those therefore in their order.  
As for the first Argument, it is evident that the main Subject of this Psalm, doth touch the revelation of Divinity or God in his celestial creatures, and therefore it must as well be in this Psalm intended, that the divine Spirit doth plentifully, and that essentially inhabit this illustrious palace of the heavenly Sun, as there it is related that the heavens are full of his presence. But the same Psalm beginneth thus, 
Psal. 19.1.  The heavens declare the glory of God, and the Firmament the works of his hands, etc. Where he expresseth that the glory of the Creator which is in the creature doth reveal the Creator in the creature; but where the glory is present, the essence is not absent: And thereupon it followeth justly, that this Creator which hath filled the Sun of Heaven, with his glory and beauteous influence of essential virtue and light, hath revealed himself unto all the world, out of his Sunny tabernacle egregiously and perspicuously, as by the Physical and natural effects it shall be declared hereafter in the eighth rank. Again, the Son of Syrach confirms this more plainly where he saith: 
Ecclus. 42.16.  Sol illuminans per omnia respexit; & gloria Domini plenum est opus ejus: The Sun shining forth looketh over all, and it is a work that is full of the glory of the Lord: that is to say, of essential Divinity, not that it is included in it, but that also it is exclusively in and over all, no otherwise then the Spirit of man's blood is said to have his principal tabernacle in the Heart, and yet is in all and every part of the Spirit and body. Again, it appeareth by these words, that the Eternal Spirit of Wisdom did elect the celestial Sun, as a pure vessel or Subject, to operate and act in, for the vivification and animation of every creature. 
Ecclus. 24.5.  And therefore she, in her own person, saith, Ex ore Altissimi prodii primogenita; in coelis feci ut oriretur lumen indeficiens: I came out of the mouth of the Almighty, being the first begotten; I made or caused a never-fading light to rise in the heavens. Whereby this catholic Agent doth show that the Sun doth move in and by it, 
Ecclus. 43.5.  The great Lord (saith the text in another place) made the Sun, and by his Commandments he causeth it to run hastily, etc. As if he had said by the Divine Word the Sun did move. But this will be better proved hereafter.  
Touching the second, which dependeth on the cabalistical enucleation of the Hebrew word, for the Latin word Sol or the Sun in English, is written thus in Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where we have two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Shins, which the Cabalists do make the Symbolical character of fire and light, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Man in the middle, which importeth a watery corpulency, for Man is the Symbolical expression of the waters; as if we should say, that the humid nature of the heavens being contracted in their centre, is illuminated with a double proportion of the divine emanation streaming down, or flowing from the Sephiroth or Cabalistical numeration, called Tiphereth or pulchritude and beauty. Whereby it is argued, that this heavenly mass is made a Tabernacle for the Spiritual Sun or beauteous and divine Spirit of Light, not that it includeth it, as is said before, but, as the Scriptures say, that the holy Spirit was in the carnal Christ abundantly, and yet it was not denied for all that to fill the earth and heavens.  

Sap. 1. Resol. Theolog. Tract. 2. Pars 2. Port. 2. q.  Concerning the third: The Theologians do affirm, that the Light which was expansed over all the heavens, and did operate in place of the Sun, for the first three day's space, was at the fourth day congregated into the body of the Sun. But this Light which was so dispersed, was the immediate act of that Eternal Spirit which was carried on the waters; and therefore that Light which is in the Sun, doth participate with divinity, as shall be more evidently expressed in the eighth and last Argument.  
By the fourth, which is proved out of the Celestial or Astronomical dignity (which the Sun representeth) it is most evident that it comprehendeth in his mansion divinity, being that by how much the more perfection any thing hath in itself, and excelleth the rest in glory, by so much the more it approacheth unto divinity. For as much as Hermes doth rightly tell us, (not disagreeing in that from our Saviour Christ his doctrine) that Bonum and perfectum is only God. Now the Macrocosmicall Sun's dignity and perfection is easily to be discerned, in that this Royal Phoebus doth sit in his chariot, even in the centre or middle of the heavens, glittering with his golden hair, as the sole visible Emperor, holding the royal Sceptre and government of the world, in whom all the virtue of the celestial bodies do consist, as Jamblicus, and many other learned personages have confirmed. And Proclus averreth, that all the powers of the stars are congregated and collected into one at the aspect of the Sun, the which are afterward disseminated by the fiery spiracle of the said Sun upon the Earth. Doth not the Wiseman also by reason of the glory of this heavenly vessel or organ, compare the brightness of the in-created Spirit or fiery emanation of divinity with it, by reason of his excellency in brightness? 
Wisd. 7.24. Ecclus. 42.16.  And again, is it not proved before, by the Son of Syrach, that the Fabric of the Sun is full of the glory of the Lord? But I will say more unto this point, in the eighth and last Argument.  
The fifth showeth, how by an Arithmetical regard, Divinity must needs dwell in the Sun; namely, as it is only one unity, from which all the multitude of the stars in heaven do derive and draw their formal essence, no otherwise than from the Arithmetical unity, all numbers whatsoever are produced; for the number two hath but the form of one and the same unity, twice conceived, and then one unity more maketh three, and so in infinitum. In the very like manner as one candle lighteth another, and a third, and so proceedeth in infinitum. Even so, this one heavenly Candle informeth with light and beauty, all the starry candles in heaven, and yet it reserveth still, without any detriment, his wont unity in perfection, power, and glory.  
By the sixth Argument (which is Geometrical) in regard that the Sun is a most bright circular body, it must needs be, that it hath a central point unto his circumference, in the which all his illuminating power doth consist, being that the circumference is nothing else, but a semi-diametrall dilatation of a punctual and essential virtue, from the centre unto the circumference. And this is the meaning of that Axiom in Philosophy, In medio consistit virtus & veritas. Now if that wonderful beauty, and clear brightness which is in the Sun, were not extended from the centre, it would not proceed à principio interno, and then it must, like as the Moon doth, require some other external corporal illuminator; but that is proved to be otherwise, being that there is not any body found in the world, that is equal in brightness unto it. And this is an argument, that it hath a central divinity, or divine virtue in it, which like unto the soul in the centre of the creature, vivifieth or acteth from the centre unto the circumference thereof, and so making the superficies of the body a fiery and bright coloratum, causeth it, according unto the infinity of its central agent, to extend his beamy emanation to all the limits of the vast world. Hence is it, that God is said to be the centre of all, whose circumference is no where; that is to say, in and over all, and beyond or without all. Neither let it seem strange unto any, that I say, the in-created light is visible, in regard of his tabernacle which it endueth, being that Scriptures do testify, that he is a consuming fire. And again, that the spirit of wisdom excelleth the sun and stars in brightness. And again it is said, He is attired with light as with a vestment. To conclude, he is fons & pater luminis, and therefore there can be no light, either visible or invisible in this world, which is not from it. Doth not St. Paul seem to aver, that all visible things were first from things that were not visible; whereby is argued, that all visible light was first from the invisible, whose fountain is God, the which invisible light is continued in essence unto his like in the creatures, as shall be showed anon.  
The seventh is confirmed by an observation in Music, namely, that the divine Spirit hath elected the Sun for his tabernacle, to wit, by reason of his position in heaven. For if we consider, that God, as he is said to exist in himself, is reputed by Scripture to be seated in the heaven of heavens; and in another place, in the highest heavens, and yet he respecteth and looketh down unto the earth; In that regard we may compare him (si sacra cum mundanis componere fas sit) unto an unison in Harmony; for if a string of a musical Instrument be struck open, it soundeth a unity from the bridge of the Instrument unto the nut or head: So we imagine, that a chord may be extended from the world's circumference, or highest heavens, unto the centre or earth. Again, if we press the chord of the Instrument just in the middle, than each half chord being struck, will sound in a diapason unto the whole, and will prove the centre or perfection unto each end of the chord, which will then point out, as it were, the circumference.  
Now the consonant diapason is the most perfect accord of all others, and therefore noteth, that the middle betwixt the light or heaven, and the earth, is the seat of the greatest perfection, which doth correspond unto the unison as 1 doth to 2, which is in proportione dupla, in a double proportion. It followeth therefore, and by effect it appeareth, that the Sun is placed in this central seat, which correspondeth unto the whole, as 2 doth unto 1. because it is the opinion of all Astronomers, that the Sun is placed in the middle, or centre of the heaven. Now how this perfect accord was mystically shaped out of the divine and radical unity, or unison, which said, Fiat, and it was done, I beseech you observe: Unity said, Fiat, and so this unison caused a divine emanation, which made 2. and had the selfsame regard unto unity, as the diapason or perfection hath unto an unison. Now this bright emanation, by the which all things were created and framed in true harmony, elected in this world the perfect seat of its royal regard unto all creatures, in the point of diapason, which is ever in the middle of the unison, and therefore in the centre of the heavens. But it appeareth unto the eyes, that the Sun is ranked in the middle of the seven Planets; and again, it appeareth by the divine glory which shineth from it, that it is a seat of divine perfection: and therefore the Platonists have imagined, that the Solar orb or sphere is the seat of their anima mundi, or soul of the world. Now as this royal and most consonant Diapason, doth comprehend in his capacity the other two inferior accords in Music, namely, Diapente, and Diatessaron, (for of these two united is the Diapason composed) it is likely, that the whole harmony of the heavens, and consequently of the world, are put in practice in this created organ, the actor or player whereon is the eternal Spirit, which soundeth out every minute from this his glorious Instrument, strains of life, vivification, multiplication, pacification or preservation, unto the creatures; for this is the office of the eternal Christ in this world, I mean, the divine Word, in the which, as the Evangelist John testifieth, is life. But of this, in the next.  
Eightly, it is proved by a physical or natural regard: For we observe, and not we only, but the beasts themselves; nay, the very herbs and vegetable plants of the earth, do feel, and as it were confess, that the Sun is the chiefest treasury of vivification and multiplication in this world. Whereupon it is apparent, that when the Sun approacheth near us, the herbs and trees which seemed as dead before, do now revive, put on their green coats, and flourish with their blossoms and flowers: But chose, when it departs on the other side of the Equinoctial, they put off their flowers and green apparel, and begin to mourn, as it were, for his departure. But, saith St. Paul, Deus vivificat omnia, God doth vivify all things. And therefore if the Sun by his presence bringeth unto the world the virtue of vivification, it is apparent, that it hath this gift from the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of life, and being abundantly poured on it by God into this heavenly vessel, it doth effect these vivifying acts in the world, no otherwise, than the same spirit being affluently infused on Christ, Moses, Elijah, and other Saints upon earth, did effect wonders upon the earth, in healing, reviving from death, etc. Doth not the sacred Text also aver, that Sapientiam Deus effudit supra omnia opera sua secundum datum suum, 
Eccles. 1.  God hath poured out his spirit upon all his works, more or less. Why then should any man make any scruple or question, touching the Spirit's habitation in the Sun in abundance. This therefore is the chief subject of this Psalm of David, to express, that the glory of God doth palpably appear, out of the creatures of heaven, yea, out of every creature the eternal Spirit doth shine, or express his glory more or less, and is, according to the gift which is given unto him, to be discerned out of it: And thereupon Job saith, Coelos ornavit Deus Spiritu suo, 
Job. 26.13.  God hath adorned or beautified the heavens with his Spirit. By which words it is manifest that it is the essential spirit of God, which giveth by the abundance of his presence the lustre and glory unto the Sun, which for that reason is termed, and that not erroneously, by the Platonists, (who therein have imitated the divine Poet Orpheus,) Oculus mundi, because that in and by it as in a certain clear and smooth looking glass or mirror, all things are seen and discovered: And again the philosopher Heraclitus, Si solemn è mundo sustuleris, quid est nostrum Corpusculum, s● desit anima? Nulla ibi contractatur vena pulsatilis, sentiendum nullum inest judiciuns, Nullus in eo vitalis halitus aut respiratio: If thou takest away the Son out of the world, what is our little body, if the soul be wanting; There is no beating vein or pulse to be discerned in it, there is no judgement to be perceived in it, there is neither breath nor respiration in it. For this reason also it is termed, Co● caeli, the heart of heaven, because that as in the heart doth exist the lively fountain of blood which doth water and humect the other members of the body. So also it appeareth by effect that the virtue, vegetation, and conservation of all things both inferior and superior, doth issue and spring from the Sun, forasmuch as it imparteth and inspireth by his light, life, and heat unto inferior things and bestoweth formal light unto the superior. Now this light is a certain simple act, which converteth unto itself all things, by a vivifical or lively heat, which penetrateth all things, 
Joh. 1.4. 1 Tim. 6.13. Act 17.25. Judeth. 16.17. Sap. 7.22. 1 Cor. 12. Sap. 7.24.  and conducteth their virtues over all, and withal disperseth and expelleth away all darkness and obscurity. Whereby it is apparent, that if the life in general be in the word, as St. John saith; and if this catholic spirit of life vivifieth all things, as St. Paul and Judith affirm; and if the spirit of wisdom be brighter than the sun, and a simple and pure spirit, which is more movable and active than all things, and therefore operateth all in all; and if it penetrateth all things by reason of his purity, as Solomon saith, and all these properties are found in the solar virtue; What should dissuade man from thinking, that the Hebrew Text was not rightly understood of Jerom, when he interpreted it, Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole, He put his tabernacle in the sun? Verily this was necessary for man to understand, being that unto this very hour, there are but few that will acknowledge, that the Spirit of God doth immediately operate and work in his organ the Sun, and by the Sun; but being rather seduced by the Ethnic learning, they will admit many subalternate agents, or efficient causes, per se, that is, of themselves, distinguished from the essential act of God, which is the reason of Idolatry, and worshipping of the creature for the Creator, and neglect or ignorance of the Creator in the creature. For although it be said by Solomon, 
Wisd. 16.28.  Quod solem praevenire oportet ad benedictionem Dei, We ought to prevent the sunrising to give thanks unto thee. And again we read, that when we pray, we should conver our faces unto the east, or rising sun. Yet ought we to imagine, that he teacheth this doctrine for the Creator's cause, which dwelleth in that bright tabernacle, and not for the tabernacle's or creatures' sake. For it was into this error that the Egyptians fell, who adoring this illuminated creature in lieu of the Illuminator, 
Isai. 19.18.  did build a temple and city in the honour of the Sun. Wherefore the chariot and horses of the sun, which the ignorant Jews had set up before th●● gate of God's temple, were justly pu●led down, which distinguished not the Creator from the creature. This error, which to this hour cleaveth itself unto the Aristotelically learned of this world, is delineated in its true characters by that Evangelist, who did assure us, 
Joh. 1.4. ver. 10.  that all life is in the Word. This word or light, saith he, is in the world, and the world was made by it, and the world did not know him. But as many as did receive or acknowledge him (namely, that he made all, and was all, and in all) were numbered among the children of God. Wherefore all true Christians ought to understand, that he filleth all, vivifieth all, sustaineth all, operateth all in all; for without it, they cannot be esteemed the legitimate children of God; they ought not to be so ignorant of the Creator in the creature, being that his glory shineth forth of them, and may be perceived by them more of less, thinking that he is absent even from the most beautiful creature of the world, who is present with all; for it is said, 
Ephes. 4.10.  that he filleth all, and that not virtually or accidentally, as some worldly wisemen, by their Ethnic distinction, (distorting by that means the truth of the Scripture) will have it but in essence, being in plain terms it is said in one place, Christ is in all, 
Colos. 1.3. Wisd. 7.25. Wisd. 12.1.  and over all; in him are all things: But Christ, which is the true wisdom, is the virtuous, or essential emanation from the Father, and therefore no accident. In another place, The incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things; but that Spirit which hath no corruption in it, and preserveth from corruption, and giveth really life, 
Rom. 11.36.  is no accident, but a perfect essence. In another place, Of him, by him, and in him are all things; therefore this is meant essentially, and not accidentally. In another place, 
1 Cor. 8.3.  God is all in all. And again the Apostle, Of God the Father are all things by our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things. All which cannot be meant otherwise, than by God's essence, which is in and over all, because that in himself he is only essential, and therefore no accidents can be attributed unto him: and consequently we may conclude, that God's Spirit is essentially in the creatures, and for that reason we ought simply to consider him, and acknowledge him in his works. For that person which professeth himself a Christian, and doth not know this, is but a Christian in name, and consequently vain and miserable. And this is partly confirmed by the words of St. Paul, and partly out of those of Solomon before mentioned: The anger of God (saith St. Paul) is revealed from heaven, upon the impiety and injustice of those men, which do detain the verity of God in unrighteousness; because what is known of God is made manifest unto them, 
Rom. 11.16.  for God hath revealed it unto them. For the invisible things of him are discerned of the creature of this world, by those things which are understood by creation, as also his everlasting virtue and divinity. So that they are inexcusable, because that when they knew God, they did not glorify him, or give him thanks, but did fade away or vanish in their own imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; and therefore in saying that they were wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into the similitude of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of fourfooted beasts, and of serpents, etc. Whereby he argueth, first, that God ought to be pondered and known in his creatures, and that we ought to acknowledge and ascribe all the glory and virtue of them unto his Spirit, or divinity in them, and not to mistake the Creator for the creature. For he seemeth expressly to argue and signify, that his everlasting virtue and divinity is in the creatures, and that it appeareth out of them. For his words import that the invisible things of him, are discerned by the things that are created, as also his everlasting virtue and divinity. And why not? being that in the Word is and was from the beginning life, or the vivifying Spirit, but life is in the creatures, Ergo the Word, and by consequence the incorruptible Spirit. But Solomon confirmeth the above mentioned place in this: 
Wisd. 13.1.  All men are vain by nature who are ignorant of God, and cannot understand him that truly is, by such good creatures of his which they behold, nor acknowledge the workman by the consideration of his works. Whereby he argueth, that divinity in the creature may be perceived, in and by the aspect of the creature. Wherefore it is evident that the Prophet said rightly, when he did affirm that the heavens did declare the Glory and Majesty of God, by the beauteous apparition of that glorious Spirit, which did enact them, and adorn their beauteous Eye, I mean the Sun, with such divine vivifying and illuminating virtue, which in abundance doth possess and inhabit it. And therefore I conclude, that the Prophet said rightly, and instructingly unto the ignorant world; that the bright Spirit of God did dwell in the Sun of heaven, as in a Tabernacle, and did impart and distribute his gifts of form, life, vegetation, and multiplication, unto every creature out of it. And yet I will not acknowledge with Aristotle that Sol & homo generant hominem: That the Sun and man do bege●● man: but rather that the vivifying Spirit, which is potent in the Sun, and not weak in every specific creature is only he that vivifieth all things, sending his spiracle of natural Heat and life, by an ordinary course out of the Sun, to help and assist the creatures to live and multiply, and yet he is not inclusively in the Sun, but worketh also all in all, as well within as without it, being that it filleth all things. And this is good doctrine which arrogateth all vivifying actions, as well immediate as mediate solely unto him, who wholly acteth, and effecteth all things, and consequently not unto the created organ, in which and by which he operateth: for in doing the contrary we shall derogate from the Creator, to ascribe that which indeed is not unto the creature. As for the later interpretation which saith: Soli posuit tentorium in coelis: He made the Sun a pavilion or tabernacle in the heavens. What profit (I beseech you) can that doctrine bring unto man? The first Interpretation teacheth man, that the Spirit of God is in this bright creature of heaven, and therefore teacheth us to adore the Lord, and not the palace, being that the ignorance of the divine Spirit's being, in the beauteous creatures, hath been the occasion of infinite errors in the world. And therefore it is an interpretation of especial moment and instruction.  
The Second is a thing so trivial, that it needed no such curiosity of expression to signify that the Sun hath his seat or place in heaven. Alas, what child knoweth not this by an ocular direction, without any such precept of the Prophet? And what is this pertinent unto the Text going before, The heavens declare the glory of God, etc. Why should he mention the Sun immediately afterward? What? To tell us that the Sun was in heaven? A thing known unto every man. No, but that the heaven's beauty was derived from that glorious Spirit of God which had chiefly his abiding or dwelling in the sunny Tabernacle, that thereby blind worldly men, might discern that it was God, in that beauteous creature, and not the creature, which sent down so affluently those virtuous influences and lights, which were effused out of the vessel of the Sun; being that by the mistaking of that knowledge, so many of God's creatures, which he framed out after his own Image, have been seduced into error, and alured ignorantly to adore the Sun, and other Stars, for Gods. Which in verity are nothing of themselves. Spiritu suo ornavit coelos (saith Job), He doth not say Sole, but Spiritu suo, which made the Sun its Tabernacle. And now to our last Argument, 
Jo●. 26.13.  wherein I will show you, how by the assertion of certain wise Philosophers, that exposition of Jerom seemeth to be confirmed. Saith one, (unto whose opinion also St. Austin doth adhere,) Quaelibet res tantum sibi Dei vindicat, quantum capax est luminis: Every thing doth challenge unto itself so much of divinity as it is capable of Light. But the Sun is the brightest creature in the world: Ergo, it possesseth abundantly the Spirit of divinity. Many Philosophers therefore consent in this, not erring from the tenant of Scriptures, namely that In lumine numen, in numine lumen: In Light is divinity, and in divinity is Light. 
1 Joh. 1●. Psal. 103.2. Deut. 9.3.  And Plato: Ne loquaris de Deo sine Lumine: Speak not of God without Light, Doth not Scriptures confirm all this, in saying that God is Light, and that vestitur seu ●mi●tu● est Lumine quasi vestimento: He is clothed with Light as with a garment. Yea verily, he is said to be a consuming fire. I conclude therefore, that Jerom hath translated that place according unto the true sense, and consequently we may gather the reason of Rarefaction and Condensation from the presence or absence of the the Sun, and confess, after the due examination of the case, that the only Agent of these two operations in the waters or catholic Element, is the Eternal Spirit's presence, action and emanation, or his absence and rest. And this is easily demonstrated by our experimental glass: for the nearer the Sun is unto us, and the deeper we are in Summer, the more will the air in the glass be dilated, which is manifested therefore, because that in summertime the water is beaten down, and precipitated lowest. Again, the further the Sun is from us, and the deeper we are in winter, the more is the air condensed in the glass; and that is made evident by the elevation or exaltation of water in the neck of the mattrass or glass. Neither do we say that the whole reason of Condensation and Rarefaction doth proceed from the Spirit in the Sun only, being that the same Spirit is as well present in this Elementary region as aethereal, and hath the power and life of the winds in his rule, by which both in the winter and summer, he exalteth or depresseth the waters in the glass, and consequently causeth Condensation and Rarefaction of the air, as well included in the Instrument as excluded; and by that means causeth a diuturnal change in the general Sublunary Waters, or catholic Element of air, after a fourfold nature, from one condition unto another. Which mutation or alteration of the inferior humid nature, out of one form into an other, is commonly called Elements, as shall be expressed hereafter. But first we will come unto the Fabric of the heavens, and show how they were framed out by Condensation and Rarefaction: Effected by this one Eternal Ruach Elohim, or Spirit of God.   

CHAP. IU.  
After what manner this Eternal Spirit or Ruach Elohim did frame out the Heavens, and shaped or made the Stars thereof, by his Act of Condensation and Rarefaction.  
IT is the Apostle Peter's assertion that the Heavens and the Earth were of the Wate● and by the Waters, 
2 Pet. 3.4.  by the Word of God. So that the Word, we see, is the Agent as w●ll in the Condensation of the invisible waters, into waters that are visible, and then of these visible waters into a visible earth. Thus was the world in general distinguished into thicker and thinner regions, by that divine Spirit Ruach Elohim, which was carried on the waters. And this is well argued by Hermes, in these words, 
Rimand. 3.  Distinctis libratisque rebus, quae igneo Spiritu vehebantur, emicuit coelum, septem in circulos: Things being distinguished and balanced, the which were sustained by a fiery Spirit, the heaven did shine forth into seven circles. Where he signifieth that it was a fiery Spirit, and a little before he calleth it Splendorem Sanctum, the holy Splendour, 
Sap. 11.20.  which sustained and bore up every circle or Sphere of the heavens in his due place. And hereupon the Wiseman: Omnia mensura, numeroque, & pondere, disposuisti seu temperâsti: Thou hast disposed all things in measure, and number, and weight, that is to say, in a distinct measure and proportion, in ponderosity and levity, and in a due and convenient number, namely into seven distinct Spheres, and an infinity of condensed bodies: For although all the heavens be composed of air and fire, and therefore it is called Aether quasigneus aer; yet by the rule of St. Paul, 
Heb. 11.3.  who teacheth us, that things visible were first of things invisible, we are instructed that both the visible bodies in heaven, and also all visible lights were first of invisible waters, and invisible formal Light, which hath its root in God, the bright eternal Unity of all created numbers; and therefore, as Aristotle saith, that Stellae are densiores partes sui orbis. So I say, that as the Substance of the heavens is invisible by reason of its rarity; in like manner are the stars visible by reason of their density: For it was Condensation that caused visibility; and Rarefafaction, which is the occasion of invisibility. And yet for all this, it is not concluded with Aristotle, that the stars are the denser parts of their orbs, but rather Lights which were included in the spirit of the dark shadow of the abyss; which spirit in separating of Light from Darkness, sored upward by virtue of the included Light, and so according unto the proportion of that eternal formal fire, which it retaineth unto this day, as his cornerstone; it is sustained and elevated in its proper place, no otherwise then we see that the artificial squib according unto the proportion of its artificial and fading fire, with the ponderosity of its body, is, during the time of the gunpowders force, raised in the air to a certain height, moving neither lower nor higher, than the form all vigour affordeth it virtue, and there remaineth until the force of the corruptible and wasting fire be spent; and than it falleth down again: But the Light of the star carrieth and raiseth up the spiritual body, according unto the proportion of the mounting Light, which soreth as high as its power and the ponderosity of the body will permit, and so it hangeth perpetually at a certain distance from the centre; because the fire is of an eternal and incorruptible nature, and will not fade as that artificial fire of the squib doth. Now as all the illuminating vigours, and animating forces or flames that are imparted unto the universal waters, was bestowed on them by that b●ight catholic Spirit or emanation, which was sent forth by God to be carried on the waters, 
Wi●d. 7.  which (as Scripture doth aver) is brighter than the Sun or Starrs. So there is none of all those Lights which are separated or divided in essence from that glorious and glittering Spirit, whose beams were dispersed over all the waters in the abyss, in giving of them life and being. For this reason therefore (because each Light had a diversity in proportion of formal brightness and measure of corpulency) it is, that one celestial body doth vary in his manner of virtue, motion, and influence from another; but because the extracted quintessence or purer material essence of all the Chaos, with the purity of Light, that issued from the creating Spirit, were united into an Angelical alterity, both of those natures in the figure of one mass, sored up out of the dark abyss into the heaven's centre, where they challenged the Royal Phoebaean Throne, and that Spherical mass is to this hour termed the Sun of Heaven, which as from the created Fountain of Light inflameth and formally enlighteneth all the rest of the Stars in the heavens above, and the Element and elementated creatures below. So that after the universal contracted Light was effected the fourth day of the Creation, it was ordained to be that capital Organ of life and vegetation in the starry world, which did send and shower down his influences and fiery spiracles of life, conservation, vegetation, and multiplication upon the sublunary earth and waters.  
Thus therefore in few words, you have the reason of that Condensation and Rarefaction, whereby both the invisible heavenly Substance, and visible celestial bodies were made. And it seemeth not to disagree from the opinions of the learned Theologians, Basil and Damascene, touching the causes of the divine Spirit's action in Condensation and Rarefaction, before the apparition of the Sun in the heavens: Forasmuch as they will have the daie's Rarefaction, or clear heaven to be occasioned by an emission of Light, ordained by the divine will or act of this Omnipotent Spirit: But they think that the night's Condensation, and the opake or condensed body in the heavens are effected by a contraction of Light, which was also caused by the sacred Spirit's volunty. Thus therefore we see out of the confession of certain of the prime Fathers of the Church, 
Resol. Theolog. Tract. 2. Part. 2. Port. 2. q. de oper. primi. Diei.  what was the cause of the cold condensing Night, and the hot rarifying Day, before the Spirit was congregated into the Tabernacle or quintessential substance of the Sun, which was extracted by the Spage●ick or separative action of the divine Spirit, out of the huge deformed waters of the abyss. And therefore this also must be the reason of Condensation and Rarefaction unto this day: For as the Spirit in the Sun being far from us, and as it were contracting his beams in regard of us, unto himself, or absenting himself from our Hemisphere, so that the cold waters do incline unto the nature of their mother Chaos, by reason whereof the night and darkness are long, and the light and day but short and faint in heat: So also in that season the common sublunary Element is subject to Condensation and Incrassation, and therefore is constrained or contracted, into the consistence of Frosts, Snows, Hail, Ice, and Cold showers, etc. Again, when it is near unto us, it dilateth itself, and by his heat and presence, the cold waters become hot, and the days are augmented and fortified or made strong in heat; and then the common sublunary Element is apt for dilatation and subtiliation, being easy to be inflamed and set on fire with Lightnings, coruscations, and such like. But I leave the history of the Condensation and Subtiliation of the aethereal Spirit, to descend unto the like acts or conditions in the sublunary Element.   

CHAP. V.  
How the lower waters, or catholic sublunary element, were distinguished, ordered, and shaped out into sundry distinct spheres, which are called particular Elements, and that by the foresaid all-working Spirit, or d●vine Word.  

SInce that it is most certainly proved already, 
Look Pim. 3. pro Natura humida ex qu● elementa, etc.  that the universal substance of the world's machine, was made but of one only thing, namely, of a matter that was produced out of the potential bowels of the dark chaos or abyss, by the spagericks virtue of the divine Word; the which matter Moses termed Waters, and Hermes the humid nature, 
Pim. 1. Gen. 1. 2 Pet. 3.6.  of the which in general (as both Moses and St. Peter aver) the heavens and the earth were made of old, it must needs follow, that out of this catholic mass of waters, the universal sublunary element was derived, which is commonly termed by the name of Aer, as all that humid substance in the celestial orb is called Aether. Now this general element is by the breath of the divine Spirit R●ach Elohim, altered and changed from one shape unto another; for that which is the visible waters, was made first of the air, which is an invisible water, as again the visible water by condensation is made earth. And this is proved, first, by the words of St. Paul, 
Heb. 11.3.  who saith, Per fidem agnovimus quod semper ita actum sit cum mundo per Verbum, ut ex iis quae videri non poterant fierent ea quae possunt videri: We know by faith, that it hath been ever acted with the world by the word, that those things which can be seen, were effected or made of those things which could not be seen. And again, Solomon saith, 
Wisd. 11.18.  that the world was made of a matter that was not seen. But besides these proofs, we are taught by chemical experience, that earth is nothing else but coagulated water; nor visible water any thing else, but invisible air, reduced by condensation to a visibility; nor fire any thing else, but ratified air. And, in conclusion, all the sublunary waters were in the beginning, but an invisible, humid, or watery spirit, which we call by a common name, Air; and consequently the catholic sublunary element was in its original, nothing else but one air, being that heaven was made before the seas or the earth, as Moses teacheth us. And therefore by faith we must believe, according unto St. Paul's doctrine, that all visible things, and therefore the seas and the earth, were first made or produced out of things not visible; that is to say, aerial or heavenly: For it is one universal air, that filleth the vast cavity or vault of the world, which by reason of its levity, tenuity, or invisibility, is called Heaven; as chose the earth and seas are so termed, because of their gravity, density, and visibility. Since therefore it is evident, that the catholic sublunary air, is the main material ground and substance of that, which the world calleth elements; and that it is altered and changed from one estate into another, by the Word or divine Spirit Ruach Elohim, I mean, by the eternal wisdom; let us consider with ourselves, how this potent Spirit doth effect in that one and the same homogeneal invisible, thin water or air, such Protean transmutations, whereby there is an evident rotation made in it, out of one nature into another, which are therefore termed distinct elements. We must therefore consider in the first place, that this was that vivifying Spirit, which the Prophet called from the four winds, 
Ezek. 37.9.  saying, Veni, Spiritus, a quatuor ventis & insuffla interfectos istos ut reviviscant. And therefore this one Spirit, Ruach Elohim, was the royal commander of the four winds, and by consequence, could contract the air by his windy organs, and again dilate it at his pleasure; and therefore it was he, and no other, that doth animate the four winds, and agitate the Angels, that are his under-governours' of them, to alter and change the invisible air into visible shapes, when and how be listeth: 
Jerem. 51.16. Job. 37.21. Job. 26.8. Job. 28.25.  And first touching his general act, in ordering the air into divers shapes; it is said, Deus ventos depromite thesauris. And again, Aer subito cogetur in nubes & ventus transiens fugavit eos. Sapientia aptat pondus aeri, appendit aquas in mensura, ligat densas nubes ut non findantur, facit pluviae statuta, & viam fulge●ro tonitruum. God draweth the winds out of his treasury. The air is thickened into clouds, and the wind that passeth-by doth drive them. By wisdom he giveth weight unto the air, hangeth or ballaenceth the waters in it by proportion and measure, bindeth fast the thick clouds, so that they cleave not, giveth laws unto the rain, and maketh a way unto the lightnings of the thunders. By which words we may conceive, that the invisible air is the main subject on which the all-operating Spirit of God worketh, and bringeth forth the forenamed visible effects, and that only by Condensation or Rarefaction, which is insinuated, by giving weight unto the air. For by Condensation, he converteth the invisible air into visible clouds, and then by a profounder degree of thickening, those vaporous clouds are condensed into rain, and the thicker and more unctuous part of the cloud is concreted into a hard stone or earth: So that out of the invisible air, we see evidently by condensation produced three degrees of visible substance, namely, a vaporous air, a thick visible water, which is rain, and a dense and ponderous earth, which is the stone called Lapis cerauneus, or Thunderbolt, engendered by the Spirit of God in that fight which is made in the conflict, between the liquifying nature of the fire, and congealing disposition of the cold water. Again, on the other side, by rarefaction, the air is converted into fire, namely, into lightning; and all these receive their several forms and changes, from the catholic nature of the invisible air, into those shapes, in which after the alteration they abide. So that you may by this perceive, that all that which the antique Philosophers have termed Elements, are nothing else but a fourfold changing, and mutation of one and the same catholic element, or humid nature, unto the which, according as they in their changes do appear various, have divers and sundry names, namely, of fire, water, and earth, imposed upon them. Now the principal organs, by the which, and in the which, this Spirit moveth and acteth, by a diversity of property, in turning and changing this catholic aerial subject into a fourfold nature, that is to say, out of one thing into another, are the angelical winds, which he hath ordained to blow from the four quatrers or angles of the earth, in a divers property: For as before I told you out of Solomon's doctrine, 
Wisd. 7.  that this wise spirit was one simple thing in essence, but man fold in property or operation; so doth he, being but one Spirit (for it is said, Veni spiritus à quatuor venus) act after a fourfold manner by his fourfold angelical winds, 
Ezek. 37.9.  in the catholic element of air; for when he bloweth or breatheth from the North, he contracteth the common element into an earthly body, namely, into frost, snow, 
Psal. 147.4.  hail, and ice: And therefore David saith, Deo emittente sermonem suum in terram, quam celerr●mè excurrit verbum ejus qui edit nivem sicut lanam, pruinam sicut cineres dispergit; dejicit gelu suum tanquam frusta; coram frigore eius quis consistat? Emittens verbum suum liquefacit ista, simulac efflat ventum s●um, effluunt aquae. God sending forth his word upon the earth, it runneth swiftly; who bringeth forth the snow like wool, and disperseth the frost like ashes, and casteth down his ice like lumps; who is able to resist against his cold? Sending forth his word, he liquefieth or melteth all these, so soon as he bloweth forth his wind, the waters do flow forth, etc. Out of which speech we may gather, first, that it is but one word or Spirit of God, which both by a northern contraction doth change the sublunary element into an earthly condition, and hard and visible consistence, namely, when he bloweth from the North, (and therefore saith Ab Arcturo egreditur frigus, 
Job. 37 9  flatu suo edit Deus fortis glaciem, & latitudinem aquarum coarctat. From the North cometh the cold, the mighty God doth bring forth ice by his breath, and coarcteth or straightneth the latitude of the waters) and also by a southern blast, doth melt and undo those terrestrial effects, which by his northern spirit it did produce and cause.  
Secondly, that the subject in which, and on the which it did operate, was the air, which it did metamorphose and change from a soft, tender, light, volatile, transparent, thin, and invisible substance, into a hard, rough, heavy, fix, opake, thick, and visible mass.  
Thirdly, that the word there is taken for the essential spirit of the wind in general, and therefore it is used as well to contract the air into snow ice, or frost, as to dilate it. Again, the Psalmist saith, Angeli Dei faciunt verbum, etc. Again, when he breatheth from the south, than this general element becometh vaporous, airy, humid, and hot, and will easily by the concourse of the northern fortitude, though in never so small a measure, be changed into clouds; for the southern blast is ever apt to undo the effects of the north, and so by their mutual action, a middle nature of a westerly condition will be produced, namely, water, which is between air and earth, as the western position is betwixt the south and north. But the southern blast of its own nature is hot and moist, as is the disposition of the catholic element of air, or else the word being sent from that qua●ter, would not have melted and undone the cold and dry effects of the north, as is said. Again, that the breath of the Lord which cometh out of the South, affecteth the catholic element of air diversely, 
Abakkuk. 3.3.  but spiritually, this Text of Abakkuk doth testify; God coming from the south, his glory covered the heavens, and the pestilence went before his face, etc. whereby he argueth the invisible effects, namely, the corruption and infection of the air, which this divine Spirit in his displeasure breatheth forth from the southern quarter of the world.  
But when he worketh or operateth in his windy organs of the East, than they imprint upon the general element a fiery character, and dilateth his substance into the nature and disposition of the fire, and then may it pass under the title of the Element of fire; as we have it confirmed out of many places of the holy Text, Praecepit Dominus (saith Jerom) vento calido & urenti; or, as Tremellius hath it, 
Ionas. 4.8.  Paravit Eurum silentem ut percuteret sol caput Jonae, adeò ut aestuaret, & petiit animae suae ut moreretur. The Lord commanded a hot and burning wind, or a still easterly wind, to go out, that the sun might strike upon Ionas his head, that he might be inflamed with heat, insomuch as he did desire in his heart to die. And again, Ventus urens seu Eurus desiccabit fructus ejus, 
Ezek. 16. Gen. 41. Amos. 4.9.  & rami ejus erant marcore contracti. A burning or Easterly wind shall dry up his fruits, and his boughs shall be consumed and wasted. And again, Ventus Eurus aduret spicas. And JEHOVAH saith in his anger, Percussi vos in vento urenti & in aurigine multitudinem hortorum vestrorum. Misi in vos pestem pro ratione Aegypti. I have struck you with a burning wind, and have blasted the multitude of your gardens. 
Host 2.18.  I have sent among you the pestilence, after the manner of that of Egypt. Again, Postquam veniente Euro, vento JEHOV A à deserto ascendente exaruerit scaturigo ejus, & siccatus fuerit fons ejus. After that by Eurus, the wind of JEHOVAH coming and arising out of the desert, his spring and fountain was dried up. 
Haga. 2.18.  And Haggaj, Percussi vos vento urente & grandine, omniae opera manuum vestrarum. I have struck you with a burning wind, & with hail, even all the works of your hands, etc. Whereby it appeareth, that at the blast of these easterly winds, the air or catholic element becometh burning and fiery, so that it heateth and inflameth the bodies of the creatures. On the other side, the occidental winds are found by experience to be opposite in nature and condition unto these; for they convert the hot air or general element into cold and natural visible water, being that they are the procurers of cold reins: So that we may see by this, that the formal act in each Angel of the four corners of the earth, 
Apoc. 7.1.  (of which the Apocalypse doth make mention) hath an essential virtue imparted unto it from God, according unto his volunty, at the instant of the Angel's information; and therefore in that very property, doth the angelical creature act in the common element, or lower waters, in the which the creating Spirit properly was, when he made it, so that the common element is daily informed anew, and altered, by the formal or essential act of the angelical wind, which bloweth with dominion; insomuch as if the easterly angelical wind informeth it, than it becometh a fiery element, for it heateth and drieth by super-excellency: If a southerly, it is changed into that element's nature, which is called air; and if a westerly spirit hath dominion, it is converted into the temper and proportion of water: Lastly, the Northern blast transmuteth it unto the consistence and disposition of earth.  
By this therefore that main doubt, which hath so long troubled the Peripatetics and hammered in their brains, and yet hath never been rightly resolved by them unto this day, may easily be undone and taken away; namely to find out the essential form of the Elements. For by this true Philosophy we find it to be an Angelical Spiracle, or essential blast of wind infused by the Spirit of God diversely, into the airy or spiritual vessel, to alter and change, according unto his will, the humid passive nature out of one condition into an other: Moreover the Catholic air being diversely so animated, bringeth forth and informeth a new, after the condition of his variety of animations, a multiplicity, and multiformity of Meteors: As for example the Easterly element brings forth children like itself. As are the fiery, and light Meteors, namely Coruscations, Lightnings, Comets, and such like, according unto the nature of such Seminary influences, as shall descend from heaven at that instant. The Southerly, Vapours, Clouds, Lightning, with Thunders, The Westerly, Cold reins, and as it were Snowy resolutions. The Northenly, Frost, Snow, Ice, & Hail.  
But I know that this will be objected against me, What then will you make of the Earth, and Seas? Are not these distinct Elements which have been from the beginning? I answer, that if they listen unto St Peter's doctrine, he teacheth that the Earth was of waters, and therefore the waters were before the Earth; and again the heavens were made before the Earth, as Moses showeth, and therefore the Earth appeareth to be the Feceses or the grosser part of the lower waters, and the visible water the grosser part of the Air. For doth not the Apostle Paul tell us in the Text before mentioned, 
Heb. 11.  that things visible were first of things invisible? The change therefore of all things visible or invisible, are effected by the Condensing or contracting faculty, and property in the all-acting spirit: And the reducing of them again from a visible estate unto an invisible, is caused by the Rarifying or dilating act of the self same Spirit in essence, but differing in property: And therefore as air was changed into water, and water into Earth, by the degrees of Cold; so also is Earth changed insensibly into water, and water into Air, by the several degrees of heat: for if this were not, how is it possible that so many waters falling from the Clouds, should not more and more augment the Seas, and diminish the Air? or why should so much Earthen Coals, and whole mountains of wood, that are burnt not make the earth less in Consistence, if there were not an hourly supply, and transmutation of Air into water, and from water into Earth; which though this divine nature doth effect, secretly and insensibly, yet by effect it is proved true. For when the the wood and Coal is consumed, we shall find that their terrestrial Corpulency or bodily mass, is almost resolved by fire and heat; into watery smoke and fumish air. But the Philosophical axiom is, that every thing is resolved into his first matter or principle; therefore it is apparent that both the water and airy smoke, which make up the Earthly bulk of a great Oak, or mountain of pit-Coal, was first of the invisible Air: Again, if these were not so, the brimstone, Stones, and dust, which, authority of the Bible and common experience teacheth to descend from heaven, being that they fall in one place or another daily, would increase the Earth more and more. But leaving these speculative proofs, I will descend unto such ocular demonstrations, as I have learned out of mine Experimental glass.   

The Demonstration.  
We find, that from the lower region of the Calendar- or Weatherglass, unto the summity or top of the head, there is nothing but a portion of the common invisible element, namely, the Air within it: But we shall find even in this little model of air, strange mutations or alterations effected, by virtue of the four winds which blow in the open element; for when the hot Easterly wind doth blow, it dilateth and extendeth itself all along the neck of the Glass, and beateth down the water unto the lowest degree, by reason of its extension, so that it approacheth unto the nature of fire; for fire is said to be nothing else, but air extremely dilated, though indeed it is the abundant presence of the bright form which dilateth it so; but if the Southwind bloweth, than it will not be so extremely dilated, but it will endue the mean nature of air, and therefore it will draw up the water by certain degrees. But if it happen, that the westerly wind have the sole domininion in the sublunary element, then will the air in the Glass grow thicker, and for that reason it draweth or attracteth the water higher. For cold hath a great power in the said air, whose nature is to condense and thicken.  
Lastly, if the cold northern winds do govern or dispose of this universal sublunary element, then will the included air be contracted or coarct into a very straight room, which is argued in this, namely, because the colder the wind is, the higher will the water be elevated in the Glass; and therefore it is made manifest, that by how much the more the air is contracted, by so much the more it is thickened, and consequently it must be made ponderous, considering the proportion of place in which it is; for all the air which weighed thus much in half a yard of Place, doth weigh at the least even so much in 2 inches of Space, after Contraction.  
Thus you see, that in verity there is radically but one catholic sublunary Element, though by the angelical spirit that bloweth from the four corners of the heavens, it is fourfoldly informed and altered, which made the Ancients to imagine in their fantasies, four distinct elements of an equal birth and being from all beginnings. But you see apparently by this that is said, that this position of the Peripatetics, and other sects, is false, though that it hath gotten an universal name and dominion in this world, among men as well of learning, as of the ignorant, who ground their sayings on the doctrine of the learned of this world, who are corrupted and seduced from the truth, by the Ethnic discipline. I will now express unto you in the last place of this book, how all generation and corruption in this world is made; and that the lowest profundity, or terminus ad quem, the motion of corruption tendeth, is but unto the simple element of nature; and then beginneth a new generation from that principle, being fourfoldly altered, according unto the nature of the four winds, and therefore when the dead carcases should live again, 
Ezek. 37.9.  the Prophet said, Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and blow on these dead bones, that is inform and vivify their Spirit with thy breath: for bones were made after a hard Northern and fixed manner, the humours after their proportion; the Westerly and Southerly property, namely phlegm and blood; and lastly, the Spirit of life came from that all-vivifying fire, which Hermes calleth Splendorem Sanctum: The holy Splendour.  
To conclude, I will demonstrate the mystery of the world's Creation, by way of an Arithmetical progression, after this manner.  
Here we have the progression in the world's Creation: where 1. signifieth the Unity which was before all things, which whilst it was in itself, and did not shine forth, contained its enacting property within its potential Nolunty or Darkness, and therefore was esteemed as nothing, in regard of man's weak capacity, although that in itself, it is all in all. Then the rank 2. showeth the actual emanation of the in-created Light, out of the potential Unity, at the presence whereof the humid nature did appear out of the dark abyss 1. 0. in the shape of waters, so that the light and waters as active and passive, are ranked next after Unity thus, 

0. Light.  
0. Water.  
2.   then by the fiery Spirit of eternal love and union, those two opposite natures, are joined together, into the nature of heaven, by a spiritual union, or composition: the which is termed by the Platonics, the soul of the world, which the Philosophers have styled by the name of Quinta essentia, the quintessence. For we must understand, that as the 4. Elements were made after the Heavens, so also are the Heavens said to animate the Elements, no otherwise then the soul doth the body: So that this degree of Progression in the Creation standeth thus, 

0. Light.  
0. Aire.  
0. Water.  
3.   The last scale in the Progression of the world's Creation is thus, 

0. Fire.  
0. Aire.  
0. Water.  
0. Earth.   which importeth the fourfold alteration of the catholic Element by the four Winds, which was and is effected by the Word the third day of the Creation, and this was nothing else but the general sublunary or lower waters.  
This therefore was the estate of the world in the Creation, and in this very state doth continue hitherto, and will do till it be refined by the fiery Trial. All this the wise Hermes, hath, according unto the Tenor of Moses, described unto us exactly in these words: 
Piman. 3.  Erat umbra infinita in abysso, aqua insuper & spiritus tenuis intellectualis per divinam potentiam in chaos inerant: floruit autem splendor sanctus, qui sub arena & humidanatur a elementa deduxit; cumque indistincta fuissent, levia postmodum in excelsam regionem provolarunt, gravia sub arena humida resederunt: distinctis libratisque rebus, quae igneo Spiritu vehebantur, emicuit coelum septem in circulos, etc. An infinite shadow or darkness was in the abyss, moreover water and a subtle intellectual spirit, was by the divine puissance in the Chaos: And a holy brightness or splendour did flourish, the which did reduce the Elements under the heaven, and humid nature, and as they were undistinguished, afterward that portion which was light, did fly and sore up unto the highest region; the weightier part did reside and take its place under the moist heaven. These things being thus distinguished and balanced, which were sustained by a fiery spirit, the heavens did shine forth in seven circles, etc. This I say, is the manner of the world's Fabric, as also of the rotation of one Elementary nature into another; caused partly, by the absence or presence of the Spirit, riding in his chariot or Tabernacle, which is the Sun. Hence therefore proceedeth that alteration by Condensation or Rarefaction, which is observed annually in the world, but especially by the four windy Organs, or Angelical instruments of this aerial region, and is effected assidually by changes all the year long, as is justified by the weather-glasse's observation. And we must with diligence-observe, that these members of the world's Fabric do endure with incorruptibility always, and shall never alter until the last PEREAT. But the creatures which are compounded of this general Element, and are diversely altered or informed, shall pass or begin their generation from the simple Elementary estate, which is in four, quasi à Termino à quo, unto the compliment of generation, or complete composition, namely 8. tanquam ad Terminum ad quem. And again, the corruption or resolution of that generated compound shall have its Terminum à quo, or beginning from the degree of complete composition 8. and his Terminus ad quem; that is, the compliment of resolution shall be in the common or catholic Element, which is air, fourfoldly altered in his simple nature, as shall appear in this which followeth.    

CHAP. VI  
The true Mystery of Generation and Corruption (also a touch of Re-generation or Resurrection) is, afer the doctrine of holy Scripture, herein Expressed.  

AS we have plainly, though in few words, expressed unto you a dark privative Principle, namely that which seemed before all beginnings to be without form, and therefore mortifieth and depriveth of life, and is as it were out of all existence, in regard of our capacity; by reason that the active vivifying light doth not shine forth, but is hidden in the centre. So also have we manifested unto you another Spiritual Principle, which is Light, now shining forth of Darkness, and this is that only which informeth, vivifieth and animateth all things with life. I told you that all was but one essential Unity: For the three Divine Person was but one and the same in essence, and therefore that Light was unto him as Darkness, and consequently that he was the beginning of all beginnings; that is to say, he is as well the principle of Privation and Corruption, as of Position and Generation, whereof the one is the Act unto life, namely the in-created Light; and the other is the passive of life or death, and that is the waters; forasmuch as they were derived out of Darkness, and therefore by reason of their Darkness they participate in their passion, as well of the privative, as of the positive principle; and for that reason the Actor in both extremes is God, which is Unity, who by the withdrawing of his vivifying Spirit from the creature causeth death and privation, and consequently leaveth nothing in it but the characters of corruption and ruin: chose by continuing his incorruptible Spirit in the creature, it remaineth by the presence thereof without corruption. Also after that God doth withdraw his Spirit from the creature, than the creature dieth; if he sendeth again his Spirit of life into the creature, it reviveth and riseth again. This was the reason in one sense of the Resurrection of our Saviour, who for that cause was termed Primaevus resurrectionis à mortuis: The first that risse again from death unto eternal life. And in another sense it was the cause, that Elias raised from the dead the child of the widow; and that the bones of Elizeus caused the murdered Amalikite to rise again; as also that Christ caused Lazarus to revive when he was dead, as shall be showed hereafter. I will therefore express unto you out of Scriptures, first that God (to whom the act of privation is as familiar as that of position, if we only consider the watery or passive composition, forasmuch as it participateth of both extremes) is the only Actor as well unto death and corruption, as to life and generation. And then secondly, I will briefly prove unto you, the manner how the selfsame Unity in essence operateth thus contrarily in the watery or bodily Subject of all things.  

Job 5.18. Deut. 32.39. Sap. 16.13. Eccl. 11.14.  Touching the first: Scriptures say, It is God that woundeth and striketh, and it is he that cureth. And again, they say in the Person of God, I kill and I make alive again. In another place, Thou hast power of life and death in thine hand. Thou bringest unto the grave, and reducest back again. And the Son of Syrath, Vita & Mors, bonum & malum à Deo sunt, Life and death, good and evils, a e from God. Now for the second, namely, to show how the Lord operateth by one and the same Spirit, to life, death, and resurrection, we may easily gather it, if we will consider with ourselves, that it was the all-ina●ting Spirit of wisdom, which first did inform the world with life and being, and did give life unto each creature, and doth preserve it from death and corruption, so long as it abideth and operateth vivifyingly in the said creatures: 
Judeth 16.17  And therefore it is said, Deo serviat omnis creatura, quia d●xisti & ja●●ae sunt, m●●sti spiritum & creatae sunt: Let every creature serve God, for thou spakest and they were made, thou didst send thy Spirit, and they were created. Again, Deus non a●quo indigens that ●mnibus vi●am & inspirationem & omnia: 
Acts. 7.25.  God, not wanting the aid of any, giveth or bestoweth on all creatures, life, and inspiration or breath, and all things. 
Isai. 42.5. Psal. 30.6. Psal. 41.3. Psal. 87.7. Psal. 90.17.  In another place, Deus dat flatum populo q●i est super terram, & spiritum calcan●bus eam. And it was for this reason that the Psalmist saith, Vita adest benevolenti JEHOVAE, Life is present through the benignity of God. Vitae restaurator est JEHOVA, God is the restorer of life. Vitae meae fontes omnes à Deo, All the fountains of my life are from God. Vitae pro●ongat●o est benignitas JEHOVAE, The prolonging of life's through the benignity of JEHOVA. Whereupon it is apparent, that the presence of the vivifying Spirit of God, is the cause of life multiplication, and preservation. 
Job. 10.12.  And therefore Job said, Vi●tatio tua conserva● spiritum meum, ●hy visitation preserveth my spirit. As chose, the absence of the same spirit less or more, is the occasion of sickness, death, destruction or corruption: And therefore it is said, 
Deut. 31.17.  De●s malos reli●quit, & abscondit faciem suam ab impiis, ut obveniant iis mala mu●●● & angustiae: God for saketh the wicked, and hideth his face from such as are impious, tha● evil and necessity may encumber them. But the special causes of life, death, and resurrection are expressed in these words of the Prophet David before mentioned, O Lord, how glorious are thy works? in wisdom thou hast made them all, the earth is full of thy riches; 
Psal. 104.20.  so is the wide sea, and innumerable creeping things therein. Thou giv●st unto them and they gather it, thou openest thine hand, and they are filled with good things; but if thou hide thy face they are troubled, if thou takest away their breath they die, and return unto dust. Again, if thou sendest out thy Spirit they are re-created, and revive, and thou renewest the face of the earth, etc. Psa. 104.20. Lo here the essential reason and central manner of Generation and Corruption, is exactly described and set forth by the Psalmise, namely, that by the presence and benign action of the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord, life is continued; and chose, by the absence, or departing, or by taking of it away from the creature, it dieth and corrupteth; for so long as the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord acteth and worketh in the creature, it is not possible it should die or corrupt; but when it departeth, death and corruption must needs follow: also when it abideth in the body, but resteth from his action, or, as it were, withdraweth his active beams from the circumference unto the centre, (which the Prophet termeth, The hiding of God's face) then is the creature troubled, which is as much to say, as it is sick; but if it be totally taken away, than the creature is forced for want of it to expire and die. To conclude, if it return and shineth forth again unto the creature, than it reviveth again, as it did unto Lazar●s, and unto the Widow's child which the Prophet raised. Whereby it is apparent, how death is nothing else, but the absence of the essential form; and consequently it is made evident, that the vivificating form is immediately from God, and not that imaginary one which the Peripatetics have groped after; and I prove it evidently out of these places, though the precedent Text doth express it plainly enough, 
Gen. 6.3.  Non permanebit (saith the Lord) Spiritus meus in homine in aeternum quia caro est, eruntque Dies ejus centum viginti annorum: My Spirit shall not remain perpetually in man, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred years and twenty: Whereby is argued, that it is the Spirit of God which maketh man to live, and that by the absence thereof death must needs ensue. But because the curious will scarce approve of this translation of Jerom, saying, that the nature of the Hebrew Text is otherwise taken, I will maintain and confirm it by the like, and of the same condition in Job, 
Job. 24.3.  Si Deus apponens ad hominem animam suam, Spiritum aut flatum ejus ad se reciperet vel traheret, deficeret & expiraret omnis care, simul & homo in cinerem r●verteretur: If God, setting his mind upon man, should receive or draw unto himself his spirit or breath of lif●, all flesh would fail and die, and man also together with him would return unto ashes. So that we see, it is the Spirit of God which giveth life, not only unto man, but also to every other creature: And that it is meant by the real vivifying Spirit of God, which giveth life unto man expressly, we have it confirmed thus by Job in another place. 
Job. 33.4.  Spiritus Dei (saith Job) fecit me & inspiratio Omnipotentis vivificavit me; The Spirit of God made me, and the inspiration of the Almighty hath vivified me, or given me life. And therefore it followeth, that if the presence of this Spirit doth cause generation, life, and preservation, of necessity the absence of it must cause corruption, death, and destruction; for when the Spirit of the Lord is removed from the bodily mass of the creature, it leaveth it deformed, and, as it were, another chaos, or terra inanis & vacua, being that it is destitute of the Spirit of life, which did make it to act and exist in its specific nature. And forasmuch as this incorruptible Spirit doth preserve the corporeal mass from corruption, by his incorruptible virtue and power, it followeth therefore, that when the Spirit is departed, or absolutely contracted in itself, without any external act, the mass must of necessity forthwith die, and return unto a privative nothing.  
Now the difference between the resurrection from death, or rather deadly sleep, unto a temporal life, (for the words of Christ were touching Lazarus, that he was not dead but slept) and that which is an eternal life, is this; for as there is nothing that hindereth death more, than the presence of the incorruptible Spirit, so also is there nothing which hindereth the perpetuity of living more, than a corruptible body, or a body subject unto death or corruption; and therefore that body must die, that it may put off corruption, and endue incorruption, namely, by purification and separation of the corruptible additaments, 
1 Cor. 15.36.  which is effected by a loosning of the tie of the alterable elements, and a freeing of the spiritual part of the corporal composition from its long captivity, that it may become pure and clean; which being done, then by the union of the incorruptible Spirit with it, all will be made spiritual; so that according unto the doctrine of St. Paul, That which is sowed, 
1 Cor. 15.37.38.39.  will not be quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest is not the body that shall be, but God giveth it a body at his pleasure. And therefore as the body is sown in corruption, so it riseth in incorruption; as it is sown a natural or elementary body, so it is raised a heavenly and spiritual body. So that the body must die, that it may put off corruption, that is, the corruptible portion of the impure element, that it being made spiritual, may abide with the Spirit of life for evermore. For this reason he affirmeth, 
1 Cor. 15.50.  that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, because in their elementary nature they are subject unto corruption, and therefore cannot inherit the land of incorruption; but it is the pure spirit of the blood and flesh which rise (after they have deposed their gross tabernacle) unto incorruption, being animated by the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord, which only causeth a temporal life in the natural or compacted elementary mass, and an eternal one unto the spiritual and refined body, which is contrary in condition unto the natural body, as the Apostle doth justify; 
1 Cor. 15.44.  for by purification, it is changed from an elementary body unto a heavenly and spiritual one. Do we not see after the same example, how the very grain of wheat is so exalted in virtue, after it hath endured corruption, and hath been freed from the gross elementary tie, that it would mount and soar upward towards the heaven, were it not that the spirit so set at liberty is detained by the elementary stuff, which hinders it in its ascent; and yet nevertheless it is so dignified after its corruption, that its virtue is augmented by many degrees, as it appeareth in the abundant multiplication which its dilated spirit doth produce, through the abundance of that incorruptible spirit which it endueth.  
As touching the other resurrection, which is unto a temporal life, it is by reason that the body is not corrupted, neither is there a loosning of elementary ligaments by dissolution, whereby the spiritual body may be purified, and clean separated from, and have no commerce with, the elementary dregs, which do issue out of the lower waters; so that the occult spiritual body, cannot be at liberty to embrace the spirit of life with eternal ties. Of this kind of resurrection was that which Christ effected on the widow's son, which was carried to be buried, when he said, 
Luke. 7.14.  Young man, I say to thee, Arise; and he that was dead sat up. Also he caused resurrection in the like manner, to the dead daughter of one of the Rulers of the Synagogues, crying and saying, Maid, arise; and her spirit came again, and she rose up straightway. Unto such a temporal life also, Lazarus was raised up. Again, by the prayer of Elijah, the widow's son was raised again: for the Text saith, that at the voice of Elijah, 
1 Kings. 17.22.  the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. Whereby we ought to note two things, first, that these bodies were not wholly corrupted, I mean the Elements of the composition, were not divided by resolution, and therefore though the Spirit returned into them, yet it brought their bodies but to a temporal life. And although it might be alleged, that Christ's body was not corrupted, and yet it had Resurrection from death unto eternal life. I answer, that the Text saith, that he would not suffer his Holy one to see corruption, and by that reason he had Resurrection the third day after he died, 
Psal. 16.10.  being that his body was without sin, and therefore void of corruption. But I leave this mystical doctrine to the research of the learned Theosophists. Secondly, we are to note that it is the presence of the vivifying Spirit of God, which causeth Generation and Resurrection from the death. And again, it is the absence thereof which induceth death and corruption: For the Scriptures say, that it was the soul of the child which came again into the child, to make it alive again. And the other Text saith, her spirit came again, and she revived. 
Job 24.3. Psal. 104.29.  And therefore Job said, in the place above mentioned: If God should draw his Spirit or Spiracle of life from the creature, all flesh would expire. And David: If thou takest away their breath, they die: If thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they revive or are re-created.  
Now if we shall compare this our principle of Generation and Corruption, with that of the Peripatetics, we shall find as great a confusion in the one, as there is a plain explication of the other: for they define Generation, to be mutatio materiae à forma substantiali pristina in aliam formam substantialem: A change or mutation of matter from its wont substantial form into another form. Also they will have Corruption to be, 
1. Velcur. lib. 2. c. 13 Com. Phys. 1. Velcur. lib. 3. c 4. Com. Phys.  mutatio & amissio formae substantialis quae prius inerat materiae, sed nunc non inest eidem: The mutation or loss of a substantial form which was first in the matter, but now hath forsaken it. Thus you see how they nominate a substantial form but what it is, and how it cometh into the body to cause Generation, or after what manner it departeth from it again, to cause death and corruption they relate not, and therefore we have ignotum per ignotius: when in verity it is the Spirit of God, which informeth and vivifieth all things, causing by its presence as well Generation (which Aristotle observed) and Resurrection (which he never knew or could discern by his worldly Philosophy,) as corruption, privation, and death, by its absence. So that in this change or passage of the creature from one estate unto another, we shall find that as it was made, and all things else out of one dark and deformed potential principle, by the shining forth of actual Light, which informed, and by information created all things of Nothing, making them to live and exist, so also by the absence of that all-informing Light, each thing becometh dark, dead, and destitute of their essential form, until a new Light do manifest itself after a manner, which doth alienate the watery Subject from the form and shape it had at the first. So the body or carcase of a dead man, is in the state of a deformed chaos, in regard it hath lost its wont human substantial form or act; no otherwise then if the Lord did take away his Spirit from the world, all things would return again to Nothing, or a deformed chaos or dark abyss, as it was at first: But when the effectual act of a new form doth break forth out of the dead carcase, causing the whole Mass thereof to become verminous, or full of worms, then may we say that the Corruption of the one is the Generation of the other, which evermore holdeth good, when the Elementary stuff is still present. So that Privation is the mean between them both, and as it were a vacuity, a Nih●l or non entity, between two formalities. But I will demonstrate the mystery of Generation and Corruption after this Manner.  
Now therefore that the progression or ranks of the world's Creation, and his simple Members is showed you, which consisteth of four ranks, in which estate the world must (as I said) endure till it be refined with fire, I will make my progression from these simple members of the world's existence, and proceed unto the order of degrees in composition, which have their beginning and foundation from them, namely from the first degree or rank in Generation or Composition, unto the Compliment thereof. And as between the beginning of mixtion▪ and the perfection thereof, there must intercede a medium or mean, which must be imperfectè mixtum, or an imperfect mixtion: so betwixt a simple Element and a perfect body, an imperfect composition must needs intercede, namely such a one as is that of a Meteorologick nature. As for example, in the generation of a man, the beginning, which is founded on the catholic watery Element, and taketh his place in the first rank, is Sperm; for it is a watery or fluid Substance, but little altered: and as in the water the whole Fabric of the world, and seeds of all things was complicitly contained, and yet nothing did appear externally but water. So in the seed or Sperm, though nothing do appear in the first degree explicitly but Sperm, yet the whole man, namely the bones, flesh, blood, sinews, and such like, are complicitly contained, and will by degrees appear out explicitly, namely in the sixth rank: for it will be altered from humour to solidity, with a certain distinction of the three principal Members: in the seventh, to an Embrionall shape: and in the eighth which will make up a cube unto the material root 2. or the Square 4. (which is characterized in the catholic Element by the impressions of the four winds) into a perfect creature. In like manner, in the great world we see that the simple Element, namely the general air, appeareth externally plain simplicity, and an invisible Nothing explicitly, and yet it containeth complicitly, a cloud, water, or rain, Fire or Lightning, and a ponderous stone, with Salt and such like: which by degrees do explicitly appear through the virtue of the four Winds. So that a vapour possesseth the first rank, the cloud the sixth, the Lightning and cloud the seventh, and the earthly Stone argueth an exact rotation of all the four ventous forms into one mixtion, which represents the eighth's place in Composition or Generation. But when the man cometh to Corruption, than his parts proceed in resolution backwards, namely from 8. to 7. from 7. to 6. and from 6. to 5. until it return unto the point of the simple Spermatick Element from whence it began, and there it beginneth a new Generation in another form: For the all-acting nature is never idle. So also the Stone is resolved into water, and water into a vaporous cloud, and the cloud into air from when●e it came, which is the simple catholic Element, which admitteth no farther or propounder resolution by corruption.  
Now the only Operator in both these works is the Spirit of God: for in Generation it shineth forth of the catholic Elements centre or SpermS internal unto perfection and persevereth in his action, till a perfect man be produced, which Job confirmeth thus, 
Job 10.10.  Nun sicut Lac fudistime? & sicut caseum coag●●asti me? cute & carne texisti me, ossibusque & nervis induisti me: cum vita benignitatem exercuisti erga me. Et visitatio tua conservavit spiritum meum: Didst thou not po●●e me forth like milk, and like cheese didst crudle me? Didst thou not cover me with sk●n a●● flesh? Thou didst endue me with bones and sinews, thou didst show forth unto me thy benignity in my life, and thy visitation doth preserve my spirit. chose, when the Spirit of God, withdraweth his beams from the circumference of Generation and Composition unto the centre of simplicity, he leaveth to visit the Spirit of the creature, and so it must fade, ad decayingly return unto the principle from whence it came; and from thence again, if the same spirit is pleased to shine forth, a new Generation beginneth, where the Corruption or Resolution ended.   

The Demonstration is such.  
The Simple Square of the world's Composition, where 2. (that is to say) Light and Water, is the root.  
The progression from the said Elementary Square unto the cube of Composition.  
The root of Generation which is from the 4. Elements or the catholic Element fourfoldly altered.  
Where the four elements remain in their simplicity, as they were created complicitely in one watery nature, or rather catholic element, called Aire, which is the root from whence generation ariseth unto the period of perfect composition, by four degrees or steps of alteration, namely, from the 4 to the 8. and whither tendeth retrogradely corruption, namely, from 8 to 4.    

CHAP. VII.  
That God (contrary unto Aristotle's assertion, with the opinion of divers other Ethnic Philosophers) doth not operate of necessity, for the creation and continuation of his creatures; but of his proper will, and benign inclination.  
WE term that properly Necessary, 
I. Velcur. lib. 1. c. 5. Com. Phys.  that can be no otherwise: again, we esteem that as well voluntary as fortuit, or happening by chance, which may be otherwise. Now there hath risen and sprung up a great dispute among the Ethnic Philosophers, whether God operateth in this world voluntarily, or of necessity, or as it were by compulsion: the greater part therefore of them are flatly of an opinion, that God acteth in this world, as well in the generation and conservation of things, as corruption of them, by necessity, and not by any voluntary motion; whereby it must follow, that he was enforced to do or effect what he doth from all eternity, by some other nature, which was either coeternal with him, or pre-existent; or else that he was excited or pushed forward against his will, to effect this or that, by some creature which he did make. All which, how erroneous and extravagant it is from the rules and centre of truth, I will in few words express unto you: For first of all, What (I beseech you) is of greater antiquity than God, being that he was before any thing? What is in Geometry before, or in measure less than a point? or which among all the numbers of Arithmetic is of so ancient a standing as is the unity? Wherefore it must needs follow, that God is free and voluntary in his actions, being that he was of himself, and did exist without any respect had unto any other, either precedent or coeternal principle from all beginning, and therefore was sufficient in himself, and of himself, to work and operate by himself from all eternity.  
But the principal reasons of the foresaid Ethnic opinion, are twofold; first, because God doth act and operate by his proper essence, and not by any acquired virtue; then, forasmuch as the effects in the world seem to be necessary, and hereupon they conclude, that they cannot come or proceed from any contingent, that is to say, fortuit or voluntary occasion of another. Unto the first, methinks they seem to argue against themselves; for as he acteth by his proper essence or substance, it is evident, that he is moved of his own accord, and consequently not by any external compulsion, or internal necessity. Moreover, in the latitude of unity, there can be no compulsion or coaction, because that Unity cannot suffer. Again, it is not possible that he should be urged to work by any external or alien efficient cause, because that he remaining primarily fixed, and steadfast in himself, and of himself, worketh as the original fountain of all things by himself, emitting his formal and vivifying beams of life at his pleasure, and withdrawing them again when and where he pleaseth. Unto the second I say, that necessary effects do no way include any necessity in the first efficient cause, because that secundary causes (which Plato and other wisemen called Handmaids or She-slaves) do act at the command and inciting of him, which is the unity of all multitude, and therefore all in all, or by a necessary order; so that a necessity in worldly created things, dependeth upon the volunty and command of him who made them, the which order he accomplisheth and finisheth at his pleasure: And therefore we find this written by the wiseman, 
Wisd. 16.22.  Ignem mitescit nè combureret, modò ignem ille facit ardere inter aquas, etc. He maketh the fire mild and gentle, lest it should burn; and now again he maketh it to burn between the waters, yea, and in the clouds of hail and snow, without melting of them. Again, He maketh the fire to forget his destroying property, that the righteous may be nourished by it. It was also an evident argument, that God worketh not of necessity in or upon this creature of fire, when the three servants of the living Lord were untouched by the fire of the Chaldean furnace, although it was heated three times. This also is confirmed by that History, where it is said, that in the time of Joshua the Sun stood still for a whole day's space; as also that in the days of Hezekiah, the Sun was made to go backward fifteen degrees, in the Horologe or Dial, without any evident reason in nature. Moreover it is proved and verified in that wonderful Eclipse of the Sun, which happened at the death and passion of our Saviour, wherein the Sun of heaven was totally obscured, which also chanced beyond the expectation or capacity of the Astrologians & Naturalists of this world; forasmuch as at the instant of that Eclipse or passion of the Sun, the Moon was neither in the head or tail of the Dragon, as Firmicus, that great artist in Astronomy, doth witness; and therefore it was effected against the common course of nature: all which events could never have fallen out, if God had acted of necessity in this world. It followeth therefore plainly, that God doth operate in this world of his own free will, not of necessity, to effect the ordinary or annual course of things, according to the laws and necessities of nature, all which also he effecteth voluntarily, and of his own freewill, namely, as well for their creation and preservation, as final corruption.  
But come hither and hearken, O ye vain Philosophers, who would have God, which is the actor and ordinator of all things, to be bound up by the laws of necessity; What honour and glory can any man justly attribute to God, for his wisdom justice, and clemency, if he were constrained of necessity, not only to create all things after this or that manner, but also to nourish and sustain them, and afterward to bring them to corruption? What thanks, or service, or adoration should we owe him, if what he did for us were of necessity? Wherefore, O Aristotle, is it according unto thine assertion, that we should offer sacrifice unto the roots of nature? or what availed it for us mortal men, to pray and pour forth our supplications unto God, (the which duty nevertheless Plato, Porphyry, Jambl●cus, and Proclus do teach us to be most necessary) if that he could not be propitiated or appeased by praying, since that he worketh of necessity? Or wherefore did Socrates and Pythagoras (the which, by the testimony of the Oracle, were esteemed the most sage persons of their time) use accustomarily to pour out their prayers unto God, if God were only constrained to act and operate whatsoever he did in the world? Or why doth the Prophet proclaim it, Quod Deus sit solus inclamandus & deprecandus, 
Psal. 30.8.  That God was only to be called upon, and prayed unto, if there were any necessity in God to act in the generation and conservation of things? Yea verily, it is evidently to be demonstrated by this which is already said, that God, by the means of prayer, is accustomarily inclined to misericord and pity, and that it is in his freewill to deal either in severity or clemency with the world, and the creatures thereof, and consequently that he is not urged of necessity, to operate or bring forth effects, as certain vain Ethnic Philosophers have averred; amongst the which, I must nominate a remarkable personage, and a follower of Aristotle's doctrine, namely, Ga●en, that Prince of the Ethnic Physicians, who speaketh Atheistically in these words, Moses arbitratur omnia Deum posse facere, etiamsi ex cineribus equum aut bovem facere velit. 
De usu partium. Lib. 2. c. 14.  Nos autem non ità sentimus, sed confirmamus quaedam naturam facere non posse, eaque Deum nè aggredi omnino; sed ex his quae facere potest, quod melius est eligere. Jam vero cum pilos in palpebris satius esset equales semper esse ma●nitudine & unme o, non ipsum quidem hoc voluisse affirmamus, illos mox factos fuisse, neque enim id facere potuisset, affirmamusque si eos etiam millies volu●sset, nunquam tamen tales future's, si ex cute molli producti fuissent: Moses did imagine, that God can do all things, yea, although he would make a Horse or an Ox of ashes. But I am of another opinion: For I say, that Nature cannot do some things, and that God doth not attempt those things at all, but doth elect and make choice of the best of such things as he is able to effect. Now since that it would be better, that the hair in the eyebrows should be always equal in magnitude and numbers I affirm that it is not he that would have it so, and they were forthwith made, neither could he do it; and I say, that if he would a thousand times have them so, yet would they never be such, if they had been produced out of the soft skin. Lo how Atheistically he speaketh, and how he would restrain the Omnipotency of God, and limit his actions with the main clog of necessity, yea, and impotency in Power!  
But there are certain other Philosophers, which do behave themselves more modestly in the beforesaid doubt. For Avicenna affirmeth, that these actions are neither of necessity, nor violent, but do consist in a mediocrity betwixt them both, and thereupon he concludeth, that it is in the volunty or will of the Agent. In the which resolution he seemeth not much to vary from Scriptures, which say, Deus castigavit nos propter iniquitates nostras, 
Tob. 13.5.  ipse salvabit nos propter misericordiam suam. God hath chastised us for our iniquities, he will save us for his mercy's sake. By which, this elected vessel doth intimate, that there is a free volunty in God to punish and to have mercy. But this is expressed in plain words, after this manner, Deus juxta voluntatem suam facit, tam in coeli virtutibus, quam in habitatoribus terrae: God operateth according to his Will, 
Dan. 4.  as well with the virtues of heaven, as with the Inhabitants of the earth. In which words, the Prophet doth evidently show, that every operation in this world is effected by the Will, and in or by the Word or Spirit of the Almighty, and therefore not of Necessity, as Aristotle, Galen, and many other of the Ethnic Philosophers have averred, to the derogation from God, and blemishing of his Omnipotency. But that there is an undoubted necessity in the Organical causes, and in the effects which issue from God's Acts in them, it appeareth most evidently: Wherefore the Prophet Baruch saith, Deo obediunt per omnia, Sol, Luna, Sydera, Fulgur, Ventus, Nubes, etc. The Sun, Moon, Starrs, Lightnings, Winds, Clouds, etc. do obey the Will and Command of God, that is, they are incited by his Word, and of necessity provoked to effect his pleasure: It followeth not therefore, that he that commandeth, must be constrained to do or act in that imperious manner, being that he doth it as a first mover, who hath not any other actor before it, or coeternal with it, and consequently doth operate of a free will, which is radically grounded in himself. And hereupon the Apostle: 
Rom. 9  Voluntati Dei quis resistat? Who is able to resist the will of God? And the Prophet: 
Isai. 16.10.  Consilium meum stabit, & omnis voluntas mea fiet: My counsel sha●l stand, and my will shall be accomplished, And Job: Deus quodcunque voluit hoc facit: 
Job 23.  What God would have done, that he effecteth. And therefore he doth not act involuntarily or of necessity, but voluntarily, and according unto his free Will.  
We conclude therefore, that seeing what is Necessarium or necessary, is that which cannot happen otherwise, but must of necessity be so. So that which is contingent, may happen or be effected otherwise, as is that thing which is either fortuit or voluntary. Now that the Acts of God in this world are voluntary, and therefore cannot be tied up with the bands of Necessity, it is proved in this, namely because it may happen otherwise, than it is accustomed to be by the laws or rules of nature. As when the will of God was that the Sun should stand still, or move retrogradingly, or that it should be eclipsed, when the Moon was in none of the points of the animal intersection; that is, neither in the head or tail of the Dragon, etc.    

The fifth BOOK of this present Section.  
The Argument of this Book.  
AFter that the Author had expressed the Original nature of the two essential properties, namely of Heat and Cold, and had proved the main effects thereof to be Rarefaction and Condensation, whereby the Heavens and Elements were framed: He proceedeth now in this Book unto the mystery of Meteorological impressions, being the first degree of Composition, showing that their Fabric is the act of the Divine Spirit, effected in the catholic Element of the world's lower region, and consequently do not proceed from such accidental and external grounds or beginnings, as the Peripatetics do falsely surmise. For this reason therefore he hath compared the Meteorological doctrine of Aristotle, with that of the holy Scripture. And finally by producing the Pagan Philosophy touching these airy impressions unto the Lydian trial, or touchstone of Truth, he findeth them to prove false spurious metal, yea and mere dross, in respect of the golden Truth.  

CHAP. I.  
Herein you shall find, in few words, a Repetition of the precedent Discourse: Also an Exposition upon the word Meteoron or Meteor. And lastly the Method, which the Author intendeth to observe in this Book, is expressed.  
IN my precedent discourse, I have briefly pointed at, first the Principles of things, namely the Root of every thing that was, viz. the Dark or potential unity, from which sprung forth the Light or actual unity. And I told you, that both of them were but one thing in essence, forasmuch as Light was unto the eternal unity all one with darkness, though unto our weak capacities they are opposite in property. Then I signified, that out of the first obscure unity, by his other manifest property waters did appear, arguing thereby that of or from this unity, by this unity, and in this unity, are all things. After that, I showed how waters were the material or passive Principle of all things, as the illuminating and formal Spirit, was the actual and informing beginning of every being; both which issued, (as I said before) out of one Root, which for that cause is rightly said to be all in all. Then I expressed unto you how that Cold was an essential adherent unto privative rest, and the stout offspring and Champion unto darkness. As chose, Heat was the immediate issue and companion, unto essential action or motion, and the inseparable Champion or Assistant of Light. And then I told you how Humidity and Siccity, had their Original from the mutual presence or absence of the foresaid two active virtues or essential properties, Cold and Heat. Lastly, I declared unto you the reason and manner of Condensation and Rarefaction, and that the main matter or Subject thereof, was the waters, but the catholic Actor was and is the Word or Spirit of God, who acteth first in his Angelical Organs, by the Stars, and especially the Sun in Heaven above, and winds beneath, upon the general sublunary Waters or Elements, according unto his volunty, altering of it after a fourfold manner, through the formal properties of the four Winds, and that either by Condensation or Subtiliation, into divers shapes and dispositions. Now in this Book I will open unto you, after a true and infallible manner, (forasmuch as it shall in all points agree with the contents of the holy History:) how the blessed Word or sacred Spirit of the Lord doth by Condensation and Rarefaction produce and bring forth, in this our catholic sublunary Element, all Meteorological bodies. But before I enter into this my discourse, it is fit for me to tell you what the Ancients do mean by this word Meteor. Those Apparitions which are seen in the air, are by the Greeks called Meteora, not in regard of their natural essences, but by reason of their sublimity in position. Others term them more naturally, Impressions; forasmuch as they are shaped and imprinted above in the catholic element, called Air.  
But in respect of their essential consistence, they are properly called Corpora imperfectè mixta aut composita, Bodies that are imperfectly mixed or compounded; and that either because of their unexpected generation, being that they are procreated and appear suddenly, and at a short warning, or else because their composition appeareth not to be according unto the mutation or change of substance, or alteration of quality; or else in regard they are not so exactly composed, as other animated bodies which are perfectly mixed. Or lastly, these impressions are so called, forasmuch as they have not attained unto any perfect form; neither seems there to be in this kind of composition any great alteration of parts; seeing that the members of the element so altered, are confused with one another. Howsoever, it appeareth, that such names are assigned unto this kind of impression, after the fancy or conceit of this or that Philosopher, when in verity they are magnalia Dei; a mystical body, I say, framed and fashioned by the finger of God, out of the bowels of the catholic sublunary element, to effect his will upon the earth, either to judgement or mercy, as shall be more at large expressed hereafter. So that in this sense they may rightly be termed, the characters or signs of God's benignity and misericord, or vengeance and severity upon the earth. My purpose therefore in this Meteorological relation, is, to direct you into the path of true wisdom, for the better scanning and decyphring-out of so great a mystery, as is the meteorological act of the Spirit of God, and to lead you by that means out of the mire and puddle of Ethnic or pagan Philosophy, in which we Christians, even unto our immortal shame, do stick fast, and like brutish swine do willingly wallow. The which that I may the better effect, I will compare the absurdities of the false Peripatetical Philosophy, with the infallible verity of the holy Text, that thereby each Christian, pondering in the balance of justice, the contradiction which shall be expressed between the one and the other, may open his intellectual eyes, and follow sincerely that which is good, and forsake the bad, betaking himself unto the truth, and flying from that which is prestigious and false, and may by that means at the last discern with open eyes, that main difference which is between the wisdom and Philosophy of this world, which in verity (for the Spirit of God hath pronounced it so) is mere foolishness, and that of God, which is the real and essential truth. Thus therefore you may discern, and that in few words, the manner or order of my method in this Book, not determining with myself to be over-tedious unto you in it, but to finish briefly that Meteorological wisdom, which in regard of its own worth, deserveth to be enroled in the everlasting monument of a far greater volume; and to be polished or burnished over with the lustre of a more elegant style, and refined manner of speech.   

CHAP. II.  
In this Chapter the true mystery of the Winds is discovered and set down, according unto the intention of the divine Spirit's testimony; and withal, the false and prestigious spirit of Aristotle, and his Peripatetical adherents, touching that subject, is unmasked and made manifest.  
THat I may the better express that difference, which is between the false wisdom and philosophy of this world, and that which, because it is of God, must be true indeed, nay, verity and truth itself, my mind and purpose is in the first place, to set down the opinion of the Peripatetical faction, and then afterward to compare and examine it with the touchstone of the divine Word or Scripture, thereby to make a trial, whether it be right and sound or not; that is, whether it will bear water, or shrink in the wetting. Now because (as I said) the four cardinal and collateral winds of the heavens, with their angelical Precedents, are the actors in the transformation of the catholic Mercurial element, or Protean sublunary waters, from one shape into another, I think it most necessary to begin this my story or discourse with the profound mystery of the winds in general, forasmuch as they are noted to be the principles of all the other Meteors. And first I will express what the pagan Peripatetics, and their Christian followers, have and do determine concerning them.  
The Peripatetical Philosophers are of opinion, that the wind is a hot and dry exhalation, being difficultly inflamed, which ariseth out of the earth, and soareth up unto the middle region of the air, from whence it being forthwith repelled downwards, by reason of the coldness of that region; and again it re-indeavouring upwards, doth partly in regard of its levity, and partly by other ascending exhalations, which it meeteth in his violent and coacted descent; move laterally in the lower region of the air, the which air it doth ventilate and agitate, lest that for want of motion or stirring, it should putrify. This is the sum of their opinion concerning the generation of the winds. I will therefore insist upon this Peripatetical or Aristotelian definition, or rather description of the winds.  
First, because that the spurious Christian Philosophers, as if they were incited thereunto by a kind of unbridled madness, do not stick to defend, and by their best endeavours uphold this his opinion, as well in their public Schools, and private negotiations or studies, as by their writings; and that with such an assured obstinacy, as if it had been divinely published unto worldlings, or uttered and pronounced by the sacred Oracle of truth itself.  
Secondly, because the place wherein this imaginary exhalation is said to be engendered, and from whence it is derived, is by it esteemed to be the earth; and the seat unto which it coveteth to ascend, is (according unto their doctrine) the middle region of the air, into the which, by reason of the cold temper thereof, it is not permitted to enter or penetrate, but the medium or mean (forsooth) in the which it moveth naturally upward, and by compulsion, or against nature, downwards; and lastly, by justling or struggling together, of other ascending exhalations, and the forcible descending fumes laterally, that is to say, towards the right or left hand, is the lower region of the air.  
Thirdly, for that they seem to aver, as it appeareth by this definition, that the agent, mover, or efficient causer of this exhalation, as well downwards as laterally, is double or twofold, namely, the cold of the middle region of the air, which forceth and presseth downward towards the earth, that scarce imaginable fume, and the other is the troop of other ascending exhalations, or subtle smokes, which successiuly do rise out of the earth, which in their motion upwards, meeting with that fume which is forced to descend, do strive, and, as it were, wrestle with it, and consequently by that means do make a noise in the air, which is called the Wind.  
And this is the Peripatetical Philosopher's windy fiction, which in the conclusion, after a due examination, will prove to be but a bubble, or vain puff of wind; that is to say, merely words, without any substance. Now the final end or cause why their nature hath ordained these windy motions in the air, is, (as their definition doth testify) that by this manner of ventilation, the air may be preserved, cleared, and purged from all putrefaction, and corrupt disposition. But whosoever will give credit unto this Ethnic definition, especially if he be a true lover of wisdom, I counsel him, first, to examine every particular member of it, and having made a diligent enquiry therein, let him see and discern, whether they agree with the laws of true reason and wisdom.  
In the first rank and order therefore, let us mark or observe, whether in the former member of his description, there be any probability of verity to be found: By it we are told and taught, that the material substance of the wind is a hot and dry exhalation, arising and surging out of the earth: But by holy Scripture (which all true Christians ought to credit before all things) we are taught, that the wind hath his original or beginning from the Spirit or breath of JEHOVAH: A flatu narium tuorum (saith Moses) coacervatae sunt aquae, 
Exod. 15.8.  flavisti vento tuo & operuit eos mare: By the breath of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together; thou didst blow with thy wind, and the sea covered them. And Job, Glaciem edit Deus vento suo, flante Deo concrescit gelu: 
Job. 27.9.28.25.  God doth bring forth the ice with his breath; when he doth blow, the frost and ice ice is engendered. Deus facit pondus vento, God giveth proportion unto the air or wind. 
Psal. 104.4.  And the Prophet David, Qui facit angelos ventos, & min●stros suos ignem uren●em: Who maketh his angel's winds, and his ministers flames of fire. And hereupon such learned personages and Doctors, as are profoundly seen and dived into the mysteries of the true nature, do aver, that the external of the Angels is air, or the subtle humid nature of the world; and that their internal or formal portion, is a hidden divine fire. And for this cause, St. Denis doth term the Angels, Algamatha, that is to say, clear Mirrors, or looking-Glasses, which do receive the splendour or light of God, and do represent his image. And therefore the Prophet, in the place above mentioned, doth describe both the hidden and invisible wind, and that which is fiery, and doth manifestly appear in the form of lightning, to be an angelical spirit, animated by the divine fire, or bright emanation from God. All which being rightly considered, we must either confess, that the Spirit of the nostrils or mouth of JEHOVA, is a hot and dry exhalation, subject unto preternatural passions, and arising out of the earth, (which would appear too profanely uttered out of a Christian's mouth) or that this member of the Peripatetical definition is most false and erroneous. But this shall be discovered more plainly in my enquiry, and laying open of the other members.  
The second member of this definition doth intimate unto us, that the place wherein that exhalation, which is the material cause of the wind, is engendered, and from the which it is derived, is the earth; but the place or seat unto the which it tendeth (saith it) is the middle region of the air; and the medium and space in which that moveth, as well upward and downward, as laterally, is the lower region of the air. In the which assertion of this Ethnic Philosopher, I will make plain, and prove evidently, that there will be found divers gross errors, and palpable absurdities. But that we may the better effect our enquiry, and hunt after the truth of the business, that is to say, for the exacter examinations cause, it will be necessary for us, to divide this member or clause into three parts; in the first whereof we ought seriously to consider, whether the matter of the winds be extracted out of the earth or no. In the second, if that substance do only soar up, and make his way unto the concave superficies of the middle region of the air only. In the third, whether the place in which the wind moveth, be only the lower region of the air. To the former question or doubt we say, That either the sacred Bible (which is the fountain of truth) is false, or this particle of the second member must be most erroneous; 
John 3.8.  for, saith St. John, Spiritus ubi vult spirat, & vocem ejus audis, sed nescis unde veniat, aut quò vadat: The wind or spirit bloweth where it will, and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not from whence it cometh, or whither it goeth. Which being rightly pondered by wisemen, they must conclude, that either Aristotle saw further into the mysteries of God and nature, than the Evangelist, who was a true and sincere Christian Philosopher and Theosopher, and then St. John must be proved a liar in his doctrine, which were a great impiety in any Christian to imagine; or else the assertion of Aristotle must clearly be found false, and in all things contradictory unto the truth. Aristotle saith, that the matter of the wind doth move from the earth, and ascendeth into the middle region of the air, and from thence is repelled downward. But St. John saith, that the wind moveth not constrainedly, that is to say, by coaction, nor any accidental compulsion, but voluntarily, and according unto its own pleasure and appetite; for his words are, Spiritus spirat ubi vult, It bloweth where it will; and that although the voice and noise of it be familiar unto the ears, yet nevertheless it is not known from whence it cometh, or whither it will. This doctrine of the Evangelist, which so mainly differeth from that of Aristotle, is maintained out of divers places of holy Writ: for the royal Psalmist, with the Prophet Jeremy, saith, Depromit ventos è the sauris suis, 
Psal. 135.7. Jerem. 51.15.  He draweth forth the winds out of his treasuries. But the Scriptures prove, that the earth is not the seat or place of God's treasure, where it speaketh thus, Aperiet tibi IEHOVAH thesaurum suum optimum, coelos, dando pluviam terrae suo tempore: 
Deut. 28.32.  JEHOVA will open unto thee his best treasure, the heavens, giving rain unto the earth in his due time. He doth not say the earth, but the heavens; so that between these two there is a great difference, as between night and day. Wherefore it is evident, that the heaven or catholic element of air, is the secret cabinet of these meteorologica Dei magnalia, or meteorologick wonders. Hereupon it is said in another place, Januas coelorum aperuit pluens Manna, etc. He opened the gates of heaven, 
Psal. 78.25.  raining down Manna. Again, it is so hard a thing for a mortal man, that is not illuminated with the spirit of wisdom, to find out or discover this arcane treasury of God, that JEHOVAH himself speaketh unto Job, though he were a just man, and one that seated God, much more he pointeth at the wiseman or Philosopher of this world, who never was acquainted with the divine Word, in this manner, 
Job. 38.22.  Pervenisti nè in the sauros nivis, et in the sauros grandinis inspectionem habes? Camest thou ever into the treasury of the snow, or hast thou any insight into the treasury of the hail? Arguing, that without his Spirit had showed or revealed his treasury, it was impossible to know it. And for this cause Solomon saith, Corpus infectum corruptione aggravat animam, & vix conjicimus ea quae in terra sunt: quae autem in coelis sunt quis investigavit, 
Wisd. 9.15.  nisi tu dederis sapientiam? The body which is subject unto corruption, doth aggravate and depress the soul; and we scarcely conjecture or guess at those things which are upon the earth: 
Wisd. 7.17.  Who hath found out or discovered the things which are in heaven, unless thou give and bestow upon him wisdom? Now So●omon confesseth, that he knew the force of the elements, and power of the winds, and consequently of their real original or beginning; for, Sapientia (saith he) omnium artifex me docuit, Wisdom the worker of all things taught him. Now Aristotle's false Philosophy, and his Ethnic and worldly wisdom showeth, that he never attained unto the wisdom which descendeth from above, even from the Father of light. But to proceed unto the doubt, which is, Whether according unto Aristotle's intention, the original matter of the wind be of the earth, and his first motion from the earth into heaven? A man more learned and wise by far in the mysteries of nature, than Aristotle ever was, 
Eccl. 11.5.  answereth in this manner, Venti viam (saith he) ignorat homo, ignorat homo opus ipsius Dei, qua via faciat haec omnia: Man knoweth not the way or path of the winds, man knoweth not the work of God, namely, by what means he effecteth these things. But Aristotle was a man, yea, and an Ethnic man, and therefore could so much the less judge rightly of such abstruse things, as are these; wherefore JEHOVAH seeming to deride the boldness of such a worldling, and as it were in reprehending of him, 
Job 38.24.  speaketh in these words, Nosti nè ubinam sit via, in qua dividitur exhalatio quae spargit ventum super terram? Knowest thou where is the way wherein the exhalation is divided, which spreadeth the wind upon the earth? Arguing hereupon, the impossibility for a worldly man's capacity, to conceive or understand these things, unless he be taught and instructed by the Spirit of wisdom, who teacheth all things; the which Spirit is bestowed by God on whom he pleaseth. And yet Aristot●e seemeth impudently to answer God, and say, I know it well, for the way of this exhalation is from the earth upward, unto the middle region of the air, where partly by an Antiperistasis caused of cold, driving it downward again, and partly by other exhalations, which are successiuly ascending, the exhalation is compelled to move laterally upon the face of the earth, etc. But I will show the impossibility of this reason, by that which followeth immediately hereafter.  
To the second and third part of this clause, I say, that the medium by the which the winds are carried or moved, is, by far, more vast and large, then that which Aristotle assigns unto it; for the wind doth not blow and act only in the lower; but also in the middle, yea, and in the upper region of the air. If therefore the wind do blow in the middle region of the air, then will the vigour of Aristotle's definition be taken away, forasmuch as the efficacy thereof doth chiefly consist in this, namely, that such a hot and dry exhalation, as is the cause of the wind, is not permitted to penetrate the middle region of the air, but is reverberated, precipitated, and beaten down again, by the virtue of the middle region's cold, which resisteth the heat of the sublimed exhalation. Now if there be any wind in the middle region of the air, this cause of the wind will be taken away, forasmuch as then the exhalation will not be repelled downwards into the lower region, where it should meet other ascending exhalations to make a noise, and to be dispersed laterally on the earth; for the exhalation which causeth a wind in the middle region, will not be driven down by the cold, but is observed to blow, and to move the clouds and thunders in the middle of that sphere; yea, it is made manifest by daily experience, that as well the upper or higher clouds, which are white and yellow, and therefore more light and subtle, by reason of their fiery brightness, as the lower, which are grosser and more obscure, are driven and pushed by the winds, from any quarter of the world unto the opposite; for except the winds were also present in that region, they could never move as on the wings of the winds in that manner. Do we not also observe, that the southwind bloweth from the southern horizon, and another from the next, which is northern, so that both winds have dominion in either of the horizons, at all one and the same time, whereupon it often happeneth, that great and dark clouds, moving from each opposite quarter, by four of those contrary angelical spirits, do meet in the point of each Horizon, and cause one mass or huge sea of clouds, serving as a Tabernacle unto the great spirit of wonders, which worketh or causeth these things: whereupon there followeth great lightnings and thunders, by the concourse of opposite angelical natures, being the messengers, ministers, and voice of the Almighty, which never could have been effected, unless the winds by the will of the Almighty, had moved impetuously the one against the other in the middle-region of the air. And this we have also confirmed out of Scripture, where it is said: Ascendit fumus e naribus JEHOVAE, carbones accensi sunt ab eo, inclinavit coelos, & descendit, & caligo sub pedibus ejus, 
2. Reg. 22.8.  & ascendit super Cherubin, & volavit & lapsus est super pennas venti, Posuit tenebras in circuitu suo latibulum, cribrans aquas de nubibus coelorum; prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes succensae sunt, tonabat de coelo Dominus, etc. Smoak ascended out of the nostrils of JEHOVA, coals are kindled by him. He inclined or bowed down the heavens and descended, and darkness was under his feet, and he ascended upon the Cherubin, and did fly, and glide upon the wings of the wind. He put the darkness round about him, to serve for to hide him, sisting out waters from the clouds of heaven, before his face; for at his presence the clouds were set on fire, and the Lord did thunder from heaven, etc. Out of which speech we gather, that not only the Clouds, and Thunder, and Lightnings, are moved by the windy ministers or Angels of the Lord: but also that Divinity itself, being compassed about with dark clouds in the middle region of the air, is carried upon the airy Cherubin, and useth the wings of the winds as organs to move on: Whereby each wise man may easily perceive, that the worldly wisdom or Peripatetical Philosophy is plain foolishness: being that it would falsely persuade the world, that such essential Acts, as are the Angelical winds, (whose inward essence is the bright Spirit of the Lord) are caused accidentally, and are moved and stirred up by external violence: when by the doctrine of the true wisdom, it is evident that they are endued with most essential internal Agents, and therefore do move where and when they list, according unto that beforementioned of St. John: For (saith he) Spiritus spirat ubi vult: The Spirit bloweth where it lists. Which being so, as is apparent, that the wind hath actum, formam, & principium internum: An essential and inward act, form, and Principle, at the motion whereof it is moved or caused which way the invard mover pleaseth, and therefore the Text saith, Spirat ubi vult: It bloweth where it will, and consequently it is endued with a volunty or will: whereby each man may see how extravagant from the Truth is the Peripatetics reason touching this point, who admit no essential and internal form unto the Winds, but make it a thing merely accidental: As for example, the Stars by their heat stir or draw up a smoke out of the Earth, this smoke soaring on high, is by the coldness of the place pushed down again, then by other ascending fumes it is forced to move side-long. I beseech you (that are wise and unpartial) teach me which of all these external accidents in the procreation of the winds, can be esteemed for that internal or essential principle, which can cause a volunty or voluntary motion in the winds, or can produce any Angelical act in the air? For the Text saith, Spiritus spirat ubi vult. If there be no such essential volunty, or internal or central agent to be found or really imagined in Aristotle's fiction or feigned wind; then let his breath that teacheth unto Christians such falsehood, be as vainly esteemed, as his Doctrine is prestigious in itself. Was not the unlikelyhood of Aristoteticall assertion, the reason that hath made some of the wisest of his Physical disciples to start and doubt, yea, and plainly to avert their opinions from this vain doctrine of their Master, touching the winds? Among the which John Freg●us, a man well seen in the Philosophy of Aristotle, after he had made mention of the causes of the Meteors, doth forthwith start from the mind of his Master, touching the winds, and breaketh forth into these terms: Quanquam tota disputatio de ventis, sicut de aliis Meteoris plena sit admirabilium operum Dei, quorum nullae firmae & sufficientes in nature causae proferri possunt, tamen prodest videre quousque humana ratio pro gredi possit. Sacr● quidem literae dicunt Deum ventos producere. de the sauris suis unde ipsius flatus audimus, sed unde veniant aut quò vadant nescimus. Haec Freg. lib. 25. in causa Ventorum: Although the whole dispute of the winds, as also of the rest of the Meteors, be full of the admirable works of God, of the which there can be produced no firm, or certain causes in nature: yet it is commodious and fit to try and look into this mystery, as far as man's reason is able to see or penetrate. The holy Scripture doth say, that God produceth the winds out of his treasury, whereupon we hear their blasts, but know not from whence they come or whither they will. Thus far Fregius, in his 25. Book, upon the cause of the Winds.  
But I will proceed a little further in this my inquiry. Aristotle and his Peripatetical Disciples aver, that the stormy and tempestuous wind, called Ecnephia, as also the Whirlwind, are certain repentine or sudden winds, which are forcibly expelled out of the clouds, and yet forsooth he will not admit, that a hot and dry exhalation can penetrate into the middle region, by reason of the coldness thereof: but that we may dive a little deeper into the abyss of his absurdities, he confesseth that the cause of all fiery Meteors and Comets, is a hot and dry exhalation, which is terrestrial, crass, fat, and unctuous, and therefore apt to be inflamed or set on fire: now he assigneth the place of Generation of comets, to be the higher region of the air, and yet he denieth passage unto the exhalation, which causeth the winds, into the middle region, which is not inflammable, but thin and light. Can any man be so ignorant in natural effects, as not to judge and imagine that cold will more suddenly resist, and withstand that which is inflammable and of an actual fiery nature, as is the exhalation, which causeth the Comets, then that which is neither actually inflammable or fiery of itself, namely the fumes, which is said to be the Original of the winds? Again, it appeareth by his description of Comets, that their material substance is heavier, more terrestrial, crass, thick or compacted, then that of the winds, and therefore it must needs be less apt to ascend and penetrate (for as much as all ponderous things, by a natural inclination, tend downward); then that of the winds, which is more light, subtle and thin, and consequently more apt to climb upward: wherefore it were impossible that the grosser fumes, which cause the Comets should ascend and penetrate into the upper region, as well by reason of their inflammable heat, as compact and ponderous nature, and yet the fumes of the winds, whose heat is not actually inflammable but light and penetrative, by reason of their subtlety, should be debarred from passing higher.  
But I come unto the examination of the third member, and although I have already spoken somewhat concerning it, yet it is fit, that touching this point I utter my mind a little more at large in this place, because it is most pertinent unto our detection of this worldly wisdome's folly and error. He describeth therefore in this member a double act of the wind, both which he but maketh accidents, as if a man should say, that they do not move from an internal and essential principle, but rather by external accidents, namely by the heat of the Sun or Stars, by the cold of the middle region of the air, and the justling or encounter of other ascendent fumes: whereby he concludeth, that it moveth the air allaterally and by consequence it happeneth by chance, and through external means. What a glittering and golden lie is this, much like one of those fabulous figments of the ancient Poets: a thing, I say, which maketh a fair show, but is, in verity, without substance: For by this assertion he maketh the winds nothing else but quid per accidens, when contrarily the mouth of Truth flatly contradicteth such a falsehood, affirming that the wind proceedeth primordially, from the Divine Spirit or breath of God: yea, and it is termed by it an Angel, which is dilated and sent forth every where to effect the will of him that animateth it. Qui facit Angelos ventos: saith David, 
Psal. 104.4.  Who maketh his Angel's winds; that is, he animateth them essentially with his breath, and sendeth them forth as his messengers to do his will. And therefore the same Prophet saith in another place: 
Baruch 5.60.  Angeli Dei efficiunt verbum ejus: The Angels of God effect his word. 
Psal. 103.  And the Prophet Baruch: Ventus facit mandatum Dei: The wind accomplisheth the Commandment of God. And in another, Ventus procellosus efficie●s verbum Dei: 
In Cantic.  The stormy or Tempestuous wind doth effect the Word of God. And the three Children in the fiery furnace: O venti benedicite Domino & exaltate eum super omnia in per petuum: O ye winds bless the Lord and exalt him above all things everlastingly. What say our Christian Peripatetics unto this? What? do they think that if the winds were such accidental things, as their great Master doth make them, that God would employ them to effect his words, or if they had no internal principle in them could they laud the Lord, or move at pleasure to perform the will of him that sendeth them out? Nay verily, we will prove that the internal mover in the winds, is the essential inspiration or breath proceeding immediately from God: 
Exod. 15.  Afflatu narium tuarum coacervatae sunt aquae, flavisti vento tuo, & operuit eos mare. The waters were gathered together in a heap by the breath of thy nostrils. Thou didst blow with thy wind, and the Sea did cover them. And Job, Flante Deo concrescit gelu: 
Job. Apoc. 7. Ez●k. 3.  When God bloweth from the North the ice is made. Also that the winds are Divinely animated with a perfect life and intelligence, it is made evident by the four Angels, which are precedent over the four winds, and that universal Spirit which was called from the four winds, to breathe life into the dead carcases, of which we will speak forthwith. And yet for all this the Ethnic Prince of our Philosophers will not blush (forsooth) to say, that the wind is a something merely accidental, and that it hath his motion only from external principles, and not from that central and internal agent, which is the actor and operator of, and in all things, and consequently it could not blow or breathe where it listeth, nor yet to hear the voice of the Lord, when it was commanded to come from the four winds. He, according unto his fancy, saith, that this his figment is extracted out of the earth, when Scriptures say, that it is the most lively and agile creature of God, which he bringeth out of the heavens, (that are his treasure-house) for in this, both the Prophets, Jeremy and David, do consent. But in this member of his definition, he concludeth, that the lateral motion of the wind is caused through that resistance and impediment, which is made by such exhalations as ascend. O poor argument of so mighty a Philosopher! as if such a ventall motion as that is, from the north unto the south, and so forth, could be so certain and direct in his course, being guided by so uncertain an agent, as is an accidental striving and contention made between ascending and descending fumes?  
I beseech you tell me (my acquaint Peripatetics) what manner of exhalation did rise out of the earth, and shoulder or shove and resist one another, in that emission of Spirit, which happened when the Prophet said, A quatuor ventis adveni, Spiritus, Come from the four winds, 
Ezek. 37.  O spirit, methinks that I see the Christian pages or disciples of Aristotle, to be clean mute, and destitute of tongues to answer; and if they should say, that it was a miraculous wind, and not a natural, I answer, that I know no more efficient causes in nature, or out of nature, but only one; and therefore it is said in the production of Meteors, namely, in the common course of this world nature, God bloweth from the north. God produceth by his breath frost, snow, ice. God thundereth from heaven. God melteth the thick clouds into rain. God sends lightning from his throne, and coals of fire out of his mouth. God maketh the dark clouds his hiding place. God cometh from the south in thunder. The voice of the Lord maketh the cedars of mount Libanus to stoop, and the hinds to miscarry of their young ones. God is a consuming fire. Who can stand or resist the cold of God? and so forth, in many places more, as well of the new as old Testament. And, to conclude, that God operateth all in all, and that he vivifieth all, etc. But our Peripatetical Philosophers come with their School-tricks, and idle distinctions, and say, 'Tis true indeed, that he is causa efficiens principals; but there are many secondary and subalternate causes in nature, which do act of themselves. I say, Plain dealing is a jewel, and truth being one simple essence, hateth double dealing; let us imitate her in plainness and simplicity in understanding; which we cannot attain unto, unless we abstract our minds from the subtle multiplicity of worldly Philosophy, and vain fallacy, (of which St. Paul biddeth us to beware) for in multitude lurketh an infinity of errors, but in unity consisteth that unique verity, which is true wisdom. Why then should we distract men's thoughts from the simple sense of Scripture, by a multiplicity of distinctions, which seem to wrest it, like a nose of wax, a hundred ways. Scriptures say, Of him, by him, and in him are all things. The holy spirit of wisdom filleth the world. 
Rom. 11. Wisd. 1. Wisd. 12.1. Eph. 4. 1 Tim. 6. 1 Cor. 12. Acts 17. 1 Cor. 8. Col. 1.13. Heb. 1. Eph. 4.  The incorruptible Spirit is in all things. Christ filleth every thing. He vivifieth all things. He operateth all in all. He giveth life and inspiration, and all things. All things are from the Father by our Lord Jesus Christ. All things are in Christ, and by Christ, as well visible as invisible, and he in all things. He beareth and sustaineth all things by the word of his virtue. God is the Father of all, who is above all, and in all. And an infinite of other testimonies of Scriptures, which confirm the divine essence to be all in all, and to act all things universally without exception. And yet our Peripatetics will persuade us, that the creatures actions are divided from the act of God, so that they do and can act of themselves, through an active virtue given unto them by God, but not now of God; which assertion of theirs, were it true indeed, I will show you how great an absurdity will follow, namely, that there must consequently be a division made in the divine essence, which axiom, true divinity will never admit, for Athanasius his Creed doth teach us, that it is sancta & individua Trinitas, the holy and undivided Trinity; and therefore what act the creature hath received, is not divided from the Giver, neither is there any such need, being the Giver of that formal virtue is by reason of that gift ever present, and not divided from the gift, and consequently acteth all in all, and that immediately. And for that cause it is rightly said by the divine Philosopher Hermes, to be the centre of all things, whose circumference is every where; so that it is in all, but not as a part of any thing, but as a composer of all parts, and a container of them. Wherefore let it suffice our Peripatetics, that the creatures are only organical causes, in which one only catholic Spirit worketh and operateth, according unto the variety of his property, which is annexed unto his will; and therefore he only worketh in them, and by them, according unto his will, and that immediately and absolutely; and this is that which the Apostle intendeth, when he saith, Deus operatur omnia in omnibus, God worketh all in all. But to return unto my purpose. How deaf and furred had this invocation of the wise Solomon been, if the essence and life of the winds had been no other, then that which is set forth by Aristotle: Evigila (saith he) Aquilo, & veni Auster, & perflahortum meum; Awake northwind, and come thou, O southwind, and blow upon my garden. To conclude, if the winds had been procreated after Aristotle's invention or imagination, whence cometh it, that each wind is endued with a various and divers condition or property, insomuch as the one is hot and moist, the other cold and dry, the third hot and dry, and the last cold and moist? It were impossible that this difference and variety should happen, if all winds were framed and fashioned only after one fashion, that is, if they did move laterally by compulsion, as Aristotle telleth the tale.  
I come now unto the last clause or member of the Peripatetical definition, which doth touch the final end or reason of the production or creation of the winds. His opinion is, that his nature doth produce this manner of ventilation, for the purging and purifying of the air, and for the preservation thereof. But we are taught by experience, that this is not true, being that we with Galen and Hypocrates do discern, that the southerly winds are contagious and pestiferous, forasmuch as they render the air thick, and make it putrid and rotten by their malignant heat, and lax humidity: And this also we have confirmed by the sacred Text, Ne timeto (saith David) à lieu seu daemonio vast ante in meridie, 
Psal. 91.  Fear not the pestilence o● corrupt daemon which cometh from the south. 
Abak. 3.  And Habacuck, Deo à meridio veniente praecessit (vel ante-ivit) eum pestis & antrax ad pedes ipsius. God coming from the south, the pestilence went before him, and at his feet went the boch or carbuncle. Yea verily, and all winds in a generality, as also the other meteors of heaven, are ordained by the Creator, as well for a whip and scourge, as to assist, preserve and save the creature, as by many places of Scripture we are certified, and Job in express terms hath taught us. 
Job 37.14.  And therefore Aristotle hath erred in his judgement, concerning the final cause of the winds, as well as in the rest.  
We may justly hereupon conclude, that this definition of our pagan Peripatetic, whom we Christians do adore, and follow with such devotion and reverence, is altogether false and of no validity, because the winds are creatures of a nature more essentially eminent and divine, than either Aristotle, or any of his factious sect did ever understand; forasmuch as they are not things without internal lights and essences, and do not consist only of external and adventitious motions, that is to say, are not made of fumes or exhalations, arising by accident or chance out of the earth. 
Zach. 6.1.  But, as Zacharias doth teach us, they are created and animated by an angelical spirit, and stand before the Lord of all the earth, and are hid in the power or treasury of their Lord, out of the which he calleth them at his pleasure, to do and accomplish his will and pleasure upon the earth, and upon the seas, either ad vin●ictam seu punitionem, to revenge and punish: or else, ad misericordiam & benignitatem creaturis praebendam, to show unto the creatures his mercy and benignity.   

CHAP. III.  
The true and essential definition of the wind is divers ways, and that according unto the sense and assertion of the holy Scriptures, expressed in this Chapter.  
NOw methinks I hear some of the Peripatetical faction to murmur against me, and reply, If this definition of Aristotle be not good, as by your proof it appeareth, assign us a better if you can. Tell us therefore essentially what is the wind, or how you define or describe it rightly, by the warrant of holy Writ? To this I answer, that it may be effected many ways, under one and the selfsame essence: And first of all we may describe it, and that not impertinently, after this manner:  
The wind is an airy spirit, of a mean consistence, inspired and animated by the breath or inspiration of JEHOVA, the which he draweth forth of his treasury, to execute his will and pleasure, either by the way of malediction and vengeance, or of benediction and misericord.  
Every particle of this definition is proved out of convenient places of holy Scriptures; and first, that his external is air, of a mean consistence, it is made manifest, in that the words [air, wind, and spirit] are expressed in many places of Scriptures, by all one Hebrew word, namely, by Ruach. Again, that his internal or moving soul, and central act, is the divine Spirit or inspiration, it is proved and confirmed by the places which are cited before: A flatu narium tuarum (saith Moses) coacervatae sunt aquae, 
Exod. 15.8.  flavisti vento tuo, & operuit eos mare: By the breath of thy nostrils the waters were gathered in a heap, thou didst blow with thy wind, and the sea did cover them. And again, Glaciem Deus fortis edit flatu suo, The mighty God bringeth forth ice with his breath, etc. as if they had said, God inspired the air with his Spirit. 
Job.  So that there appeareth no difference between an angelical creature, and the air, so divinely inspired; for the air is said to be the external, or manifest of an Angel, as well good as bad, animated by God, for the effecting of his will, either to punish, or to extend and show forth his benign mercy or clemency; as his internal and occult portion is the immediate breath of God; and therefore (as I said before) they are by St. Denis termed Algamatha, that is to say, clear mirrors or looking-glasses, which receive the light of God. Is it not in plain words expressed by David, Quod angelos suos fecerit ventos, that he made his angels winds? where by his angels is meant, the emissions from his throne, and they being incorporated with the air, are termed angelical natures. Again, JEHOVA said of the Angel that went before the Israelites, to conduct them in the wilderness, Nolite exacerbare eum, 
Exod.  nam non feret defectiones vestras, quoniam nom●n meum est in eo: Do not anger him, for he will not bear your errors, because that my name is in him: that is to say, The bright impression of my word. For the son of Syrach said, that wisdom went before them in a pillar of cloud, 
Eccles. 9  and was a light unto them in the night, and a shadow or cloud in the day, to keep them from the extreme heat. For this reason therefore, the same Angel is called in many places of that book, sometimes Jehovah, in regard of his inward and increated essential act; and sometimes Angelus, in regard of his alterity, or composition of two, or as he was a creature; and therefore as God is identity, namely, an absolute, simple, pure, and increated essence, so an Angel is by the wiser Rabbis termed Alteritas, to wit, as he is compacted of the uniform inspiration of God, and the humid or airy nature of the world, that is, of a created spirit, or a created air, which made the Psalmist say, that which is above cited, Qui facit angelos ventos, 
Psal. 104.  & ministros suos ignem urentem. For in this saying, he seemeth to include both the occult and manifest nature.  
As concerning the next clause of this definition, which is, that God doth draw or call his angelical winds out of his treasury, to effect his will, we have it confirmed from the pens of the Prophets, 
Psa. 135. Jerem. 51.  David and Jeremy; Depromit (say they) ventos è the sauris suis.  
Lastly, touching the use of the winds, or the final cause why they were created, or sent forth, 
Baruch 5.60. Psa. 148.8. Psa. 103. Psal. 104. Job. 38.35.  Scriptures do largely inform us: Ventus facit mandatum Dei, saith Baruch, The wind doth the commandment of God. And the Psalmist, Spiritus procellarum facit verbum ejus, The spirit of the storms effect his word. And again, Angeli Dei valid ssimi robore efficientes verbum & placitum suum; The angels of the Lord which are strong in power, do effect his word and will. And again, He maketh the angel's lightnings, or coruscations his ministers. And Job saith, Fulgura nunquid mittes & ibunt & revertentia tibi dicent, Adsumus. Wilt thou not send forth thy lightnings, and they will go their ways, and returning back again they will say, We are here. Where he meaneth of those Angels, which reveal their occult beauty; for in this regard, God is also termed a consuming fire. Moreover, he affirmeth in another place, that the wind, the whirlwind, 
Job 38.8.  the ice, frost, clouds, and the lightnings, are ready at his command, whatsoever the will of the Creator is that they shall do, they are prepared to perform, either upon the superficies of the earth, or for to punish and afflict the wicked, or to show mercy unto the righteous.  
To conclude, I have expressed in the precedent definition, first, what is the material cause of the wind: namely, an airy substance of a mean consistency. Then I told you, that the eternal form, or essential act thereof, was the bright aspiration or spiracle of the Almighty, which did by his presence animate, agitate, and move the material air. Thirdly, that the place wherein the winds are kept and reserved until it pleaseth the Creator of them to employ and make use of them, was the heavens or air, which is the cabinet of his treasures. And lastly, that the use and end of them was to accomplish the will of their Creator, when he did command them: and that either in their outward and airly estate, without revealing their central and formal fire, namely when the winds do blow, but are invisible; or else by emitting of their internal and essential light, as when they appear and move in the form of Lightnings or coruscations: and this is proved evidently by the abovementioned place, of the royal David.  
For these reasons therefore, and upon these grounds, we have framed out these Definitions of the wind which follow.  
The Wind is an invisible air or spirit, which is vivified and animated by the divine Light, which issueth from the face of JEHOVA, as a breath out of his nostrils, to perform and accomplish his will and pleasure as well in Heaven above, as on the earth and waters beneath.  
Or after this manner,  
The Wind is a certain Angelical Spirit, or subtle air, which is inspired or animated by the fiery Spirit of JEHOVA, appearing sometimes visibly in the form of Lightning, and sometimes being invisible and occult, as when it is only heard and not seen, and is ordained and sent forth by him from some corner of the earth, to effect and accomplish his will, either in his positive and benign property, or privative and destructive disposition.  
Or thus,  
The Wind is an invisible or occult Spirit, endued with a fiery soul or form from above, and inspired by God in an Angelical manner, the which is carried this way and that way, according unto the pleasure of him which inspired it, being moved or wafted on invisible wings, and carrying sometime their Creator on their airy plumes, to effect his will and pleasure.  

2 King. 22.8.  For it is said, JEHOVA ascendit super Cherubin & volavit seu lapsus est super pennas venti: God ascended upon the Cherubin, and did fly or glide upon the wings of the wind. Now the Cherubin is an airy Angel, as the Seraphin is a fiery Spirit or Intelligence.  
Or else in this form,  
The Wind is a certain Angelical creature, being made and produced by JEHOVA, of air, as being his matter agitated, and Light being his internal and essential form, the which being derived or extracted out of his heavenly Treasury, is sent out this way or that way, either to plague and punish, or to solace and recreate the creature.  
Or thus,  
The Wind is an Angelical Spirit clothed with air, which moveth occultly, and invisibly this way and that way, according unto the secret will of him that created it, whose voice although it be heard, yet is the place from whence it came, or the mark whither it tendeth, unknown of mortal men.  

John 3.8.  Spiritus (saith St. John) ubi vult spirat, & vocemejus audit homo; sed nescit unde veniat aut quo vadat: The Spirit or wind bloweth where it will, and man heareth the voice of it, but knoweth not from whence it cometh or whither it will. Again, Scriptures do affirm elsewhere that the way of God, and the place whither he intendeth, is unknown unto mortal men.  
Or after this manner more briefly, and that according unto the mind of our Saviour.  
The Wind is a Spirit that bloweth where it will, whose voice although it be heard, yet is the mark at which it aimeth unknown, and the place uncertain from whence it cometh.  
Or thus, according unto the words of David above mentioned, the Angelical winds as well apparent as occult, are described after this manner.  
The Winds are the Angels of the Lord, strong in power, which effect the Word of God, and listen unto his voice, and his flaming Ministers which accomplish his pleasure.  
Angeli Dei validissimi robore (saith David) efficientes Verbum ejus, auscul●antes vociejus, 
Psal. 103.20.  efficientes placitum ejus: The Angels of the Lord, strong in power, effecting his word; listening unto his voice; accomplishing of his pleasure. And in the Psalm following: 
Psal. 104.5.  Qui facis Angelos tuos ventos, & ministros tuos flammam uren●em: Who dost make thy Angels winds, and thy Ministers flaming fires.  
By this therefore, each wise man may observe, how opposite the false Ethnic Philosophy and doctrine, which is grounded upon the wisdom of this world, is unto this true Philosophy or wisdom which is extracted out from the Fountain of Truth. Hereupon therefore it may appear unto wise men, how impossible it is for a Christian Philosopher, who doth firmly adhere unto Aristotle's documents to be radically conversant in the true Catholic Faith: ye cannot (saith our Saviviour) faithfully serve two Masters. And for this reason, St. Paul, (as is showed before) doth admonish us to beware of Philosophy and vain Fallacy, which is grounded upon the traditions of men, and Elements of this world, and not upon Christ, in whom is all the plenitude of Divinity corporally, who is the head of dominations and potestates, and consequently the life and animator of all Angelical Spirits.  
Wherefore we may conclude, that this false Aristoteticall Philosophy, is the chiefest organ of the Devil, to distract worldly men from the true knowledge of God: Forasmuch as partly by the sophisticated craft thereof, and partly by other vain temptations, he seeketh to withdraw the good intentions of Christian men, from the true Symphony and Sympathy, which ought to be between God and his creatures, and to allure him unto his own false, discordant, and antipathetical Harmony. For it is proved, that this Spurious and mundane Philosophy, is opposite and contradictory in all things unto the true wisdom, which descendeth from the Father of Light, (as St. James teacheth us) and therefore it is terrene, animal, and diabolical: For which cause it should be eschewed rather of all wise Christians, than any way followed and observed with such fervency, and superstitious devotion: Being it is the main cause, that men even of this our Age, howsoever partakers of the divine mental beam, being altogether forgetful of his excellent and thrice noble beginning and divine race, (forasmuch as they are masked or guilded over with the prestigiously appearing light of privative ignorance,) become so rude and unskilful, not only in the true Arts, but also lame in the Rudiments of Theosophy; insomuch that they neither understand God truly, by and in his Works, as he ought to be known, nor yet can conceive rightly the mystery of his creatures, whose Cornerstone is the brightness of the all-animating and informing Word.  
But I will make use of my Experimental instrument, to prove a great deal of this which I have uttered by an ocular demonstration or eye-witness.   

CHAP. IU.  
Here the Author doth ocularly demonstrate the reason of the Animal South wind's beginning.  

NOw because all this which is said, may by some seeming Aristotelian Christians appear fabulous, (as either not believing, or else imagining, that things are not understood rightly, which are spoken in Scriptures, for some such there are, (and that learned appearing Christians of this Nation) I thing it necessary to prove all this which is related unto you, by an ocular demonstration, produced from our Experimental Instrument, commonly termed the Wether or Calender-Glass. Into the which practical discourse, before we enter, I would wish each Reader to remember diligently, what hath hitherto been said, and to give an attentive ear unto this Preamble which I will set before it.  
You ought seriously to remember, and consider, that the catholic informing Light, by which the Spirit of the Lord, that was carried upon the universal waters imparting unto them the Spirit of life, did inform, illuminate, and animate the catholic matter of the world, was by the consent of most of the ancient Fathers, in Theology, said to be, the fourth day, contracted into the body of the Sun, 
Ecclus. 42.  and for that reason it is said, Gloriae Domini plenum est opus Solis omnia illustrantis: The work of the Sun which inlightneth all things is full of the glory of the Lord. Hereupon also it may be understood: quod Deus induitur lumine quasi vestimento: God is clothed with Light as with a vestiment. And in another place (the which interpretation we have maintained to be good, in the precedent Book of this discourse) Posuit Deus tabernaculum suum in sole, 
Psal. 19  He put his tabernacle in the sun: Whereby it is evident, that it was the pleasure of God, the Creator of all things, that this vessel should be rich and abundant in his Spirit, that from it, being placed in the centre, heart, diapason, or perfect point of the world, it might by its virtuous harmony and life, order and govern the animal course, and temporal disposition, of generable and corruptible things on the earth, in the seas, and catholic sublunary element, namely, the universal air, which as it is the vehicle of life in every sublunary thing, so also it is necessary to consider, that the air is animated and inspired by it, as the higher angelical natures receive their light and being from the Creator, before whose face they are always present. I do not say, that the Sun giveth life, but the increated virtue in the Sun, which hath elected the palace of the Sun for his treasure-house, or cabinet of his virtue. And therefore it is said, that Sol est gloriae Domini, seu virtutis & essentiae divinae, plenus; The sun is full of the glory, and divine virtue of the Lord. And again it is termed, Vas admirabile, 
Eccles. 43.  opus Exce●si, An admirable vessel, the work of the most High. Now that this divine virtue in the Sun doth guide the air, and make it a general angelical spirit, or wind, that is an air animated by divinity, which is apt to move according to the motion of the mover, 
Eccles. 6.  we are taught by these words of Solomon, Sol lustrans universa in ci●cuitu, pergit Spiritus & in circulos su●s revertitur: The Sun illuminating all the world, the spirit or air wheeleth about with it, and returneth his circuit. Arguing thereby, that the Sun by his presence, doth animate, make mobil and agile by subtiliation and quickening of spirits, that air which was quiet and still. Now I would not that any man should mistake me, and think that I mean, that the whole Spirit of the Lord is included in the Sun; for, as I said, Christ was by Scripture reported to be rich and full of the Spirit. So God imparted unto the Sun abundance of his illuminating, positive, generative, and vivifying virtue; and yet nevertheless he filleth all things, but not after one manner, neither in one and the same property or proportion; for according unto that common course which he hath ordained, for the disposition or ordering of the annual or yearly temper, where the Sun or his actual tabernacle is more or less absent or far removed; there is the potentia divina, or the cold privative Spirit of God, more or less in operation, for there it acteth universally. As for example, When the Sun is absent, and under the earth, it causeth darkness, coldness, dulness of air, and a gross spissitude to be present. As for example, When the Sun is beyond the Equinoctial, in moving toward the Tropic of Capr●corn, cold, frost, snow, ice, short days, thick, cloudy, and rainy air is present, and southerly winds are most frequent; for then the privative property of God hath dominion over the northern hemisphere; whereupon the plants, herbs, and trees are naked, and having their spirits and humours congealed, appear as dead, the earth forsaketh his viridity, and like a sterile and barren widow beginneth to mourn. But as soon as the sunny Chariot, with his Princely Lord, doth approach unto our hemisphere, and enter into this northern world, by the fiery and iron or martial gate of Aries, which is in the Springtime, than these almost dead creatures, being before, as it were, mortified, by the cruel cold of northern privation, begin to revive, the nights grow short, the cold diminisheth, the congealed and fixed spirits in the plants, relent, liquifie, and become animated and fluent; the birds rejoice and are quickened, and the dull and senseless air is by little and little refreshed, and taketh flight into the southern regions, for reasons I will show you in my demonstrative positions, immediately following. And yet for all the absence of the bright and enacting Spirit in the Sun, it followeth, but that one and the selfsame Spirit which filleth all, may alter his privative property when and where he list; for we see oftentimes, quite contrary unto the common constitution of the year, that by it, thunders and lightnings are effected in the midst and hardest of the winters; and the winds which are most active, namely, the east and south, blow beyond expectation; all which is effected by him at his pleasure, who operateth all in all, how, and by what means, and where and when he list. This therefore being well pondered, I enter into the state of this my demonstration.   

The demonstration or proof, how the annual winds are moved, by the vivifying spirit which is in the Sun.  
I have told you, that the whole effect of the divine action in the humid nature of this inferior world, did consist in Congelation and Rarefaction, and that the first was caused by the privative and northern act of God's Spirit, which doth operate by cold; and the other by his positive operation, which is guided by heat. Now as these two have their dominion or depression by the presence or absence of the Sun, so also is the universal air more cold, spisse, opake, and sluggish or stupid, when the Sun is farthest off; and again, more hot, subtle, bright, transparent, agile, and active, when the Sun is nearest. Mark therefore the properties of the air included in the glazen vessel of the Calender-Instrument, and remember, that it is but one and the same Spirit in essence, that worketh as well privatiuly as positiuly; for it was one and the same Spirit which was called by the Prophet from the north and south, for the Text saith, Veni spiritus à quatuor ventis, etc. wherefore this Spirit is it, that governeth the universal sublunary air, as well privatively as positively. And although this Spirit be most plentifully in the Sun, yet it being nevertheless every where, is able at all times, and in every place, to express himself in both properties. I come therefore unto the point or mark.  
In the first Chapter of the first Book of this present Section, I have most clearly demonstrated unto you, that the air included in the Weatherglass, hath in every respect a relation unto the air, or catholic element of the great world; where also it is proved, that the aerial humid nature doth as exactly fill every place of the vaulted world, where the earth or water are not, lest any vacuity should be found in the cavity thereof, no otherwise than the dilated air in the head and neck of the Weatherglass doth fill the cavity thereof; and therefore as the air included in the glass doth work by dilatation at the presence of the Sun, namely, in the Summer-season, when the external air is hea●ed; so also, and after the selfsame manner, will the air of this northern hemisphere be dilated, when the Sun is present, yea, and the nearer the Sun is, and the more perpendicular his beams are, the greater will the general air's rarefaction be, and consequently of that particular air which is in the glass. On the other side, when the Sun is absent from the boreal hemisphere, namely, when it moveth beyond the Equinoctial, then will the common air in that hemisphere wax cold, and be contracted and condensed, and consequently the particular air in the glass will be contracted after the same proportion, which may easily be measured or conceived, by the degrees of ascent of the water in the glass, as the rarefaction may be collected by the descent thereof. This therefore being well conceived or understood, and that the cause of this rarefaction is the presence of this divine act, in the sunny tabernacle, and that the reason of the condensation, is the absence or remoteness of the said act, or operating and emanating Spirit, and consequently the presence of the divine puissance, which is darkness; for (as we said) the absence of heat is the presence of cold, which is the essential worker in the divine puissance; and again, the presence of heat is the absence of cold. So also the absence of positive light conceiveth privative darkness, and the absence of privative darkness imparteth the presence of positive light.  
We may easily hereupon collect the reason of the annual winds, and perceive what their external is; and how that air is animated by the vivifying Spirit, which is sent out from the Sun. Consider therefore, that when the Sun is present with us, the Summer is created by his presence, the air is calefacted by the bright beams of his Spirit, and by calefaction is rarified, and by reason of rarefaction of parts, requireth a larger place for his existency. As for example, We put two pound of Vitreol into a Retort, and fasten the nose thereof unto a huge Recipient or Receiver, stopping the joints fast, that the spirits do no way expire. We force out the Spirit from the Retort into the Receiver, and we find it tried by experience, that part of the Vitreol being dilated into spirits, those spirits finding the ample Receiver not sufficient to contain them, do violently break the Receiver into an infinity of pieces. Whereby it is made plain, that a thing which is condensed, will occupy but a small place: but when it is dilated, it will require a very large continent for his existence. All this is argued plainly by our experimental Instrument; for when the Sun is present, the air included is forthwith dilated more or less, according unto the vigour of the solar spirits, and winds that blow; but when it is dilated, it requireth by so much the more a larger place to be contained in, by how much the more it is dilated or rarified; and that is proved thus, namely, because the water is thrust down by so many degrees lower, by how many the air excelleth in rarity. So that it is evident, that the only reason why the water is precipitated more and more downwards, is, because being by degrees subtiliated, it maketh itself a larger room to abide in.  
Now that I have showed you thus much, mark, that when the Sun cometh newly into an hemisphere, where winter did reign, or had dominion, and therefore the cold did incrass and thicken the air, as for example, when it passeth from us into the southern hemisphere, to convert the winter estate of that part into summer; it doth forthwith begin to attenuate the air of that part of the world, and that air so rarified being animated, and, as it were, revived, by the operating beams of the Sun's bright spirit, becometh light-winged or feathered, wherefore it flieth away from the south, and seeketh a larger place for his abode or entertainment, being that the austral hemisphere is not sufficient to receive his dilated body: For this reason, it is forced to pass a-traverse the Equinoctial, and to visit by a successive motion the northern hemisphere, and at its entrance therein, to make a windy noise, by reason of the thickness and coldness of the air, which resisteth the hot vaporous, and lately dissolved or rarified air, which is animated with the southern light, from whence it receiveth his agility. And this air thus animated and forced by the divine act, in the Sunny tabernacle, to fly from the south unto the north, is that which we call the southern wind, which for this reason happeneth so frequently among us in the beginning of winter, namely, immediately after the Sun hath passed the Equinoctial, that is to say, through Libra into Scorpio: This is the reason, that the southern winds (I say) are so plentiful among us in October, November, and December; and consequently, that we are saluted with such southern showers, by reason that the northern coldness doth condense the fugitive southern air into clouds, as shall be told you in the description of the clouds.  
All this is demonstrated out of the Weatherglass; for at the heat of only a man's hand, being placed on the head of the Weatherglass, the included air is rarified, and so dilateth itself, and flieth to an opposite Pole, namely, unto the heat of the cold water, the which it beareth down before it.  
On the other side, the northern winds, and the ice and snow which are more frequent in winter, are caused by that breath or spirit, which is sent forth from God in his potential and privative nature, the which he doth exercise or put in execution in this world, when the treasure house of his actual power is farthest; and therefore he hath ordained the Magazine or store-house of his cold, in the poles of the world, being farthest off from the Equinoctial. For this reason, it is said in Scriptures, 
Job 37.  that cold cometh from the north, and that before the cola of God who can consist? and that the breath of God maketh ice and frost. And again, Hast thou come into the treasure-house of the snows, 
Job 38.  or hast thou any knowledge in the treasury of the hail? Neither is God's actual light severed or distinguished from him, though he breathe at his pleasure from the north, in his potential or privative property; for darkness unto him is as light. And for this reason also when he is displeased, he breatheth from the north as well in lightning and thunder, 
Ezek. 1.  as in snow and hail. Whereupon Ezekiel said, Behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, and a great cloud involved with fire, etc. And yet both the cold, snow, hail, and frost, and the lightnings and melting heats, proceed but from one and the same spirit, though divers in properties, 
Ezek. 36.  which (as I said) was by the same Prophet called from the four winds, that is to say, one and the same word in essence, but multi-form in property; Of which the Psalmist, God sending forth his word upon the earth, by it he poureth down snow on the earth like wool, and disperseth the frost like ashes, who can resist against his cold? So soon as he sendeth out his word, it doth liquifie them; so soon as he bloweth forth his wind, 
Psal. 147.  the waters begin to flow, and the snow, frost, and ice to melt. Whereby it is evident, that God is ever one in himself, wheresoever he be, namely, be he in the north, where he operateth privation; or in the Sun, in which he doth express his actual glory. Yet doth his Volunty as well as his Nolunty, that is, his positive property as well as his privative, accompany the unity of his essence. As for example, His negative property in his positive was discerned, when he made the Sun to stand still at Joshuah's prayer, and to go backwards, or become retrograde, for the confirmation of Hezekia's belief. And his absolute privative; when at the death of our Saviour he contracted his manifested bright glory into the centre: So that the Sun became as black as pitch. I conclude therefore, that when this potential property of the Divine Spirit doth move or act in the air, the air is sucked towards the pole or centre, and so is made Frost, Snow, etc. In which space our experimental Instrument showeth a nature qui●e contrary from the precedent: For after the imitation of the air in the great world, it is contracted and sucked up into the bolts-head, as to the cold pole, and this than demonstrateth, that the catholic external air, doth also work after the same fashion. It appeareth therefore, that the reason of this emitted Spirit is occult, and not known unto any of us that are drowned in the abyss of Ignorance, but only is made known unto him, who hath been so happy as to be instructed by the true Wisdom of God, which Solomon confesseth to be the worker of all things, and therefore the most faithful Schoole-mistress to teach all mysteries.  
But I will proceed further in the search and inquiry of this Ethnic Peripatetic man's skill in the Science and knowledge of Meteorology. And first, I will see what he can say, touching the Generation of the clouds and the rain.    

CHAP. V.  
How Aristotle's Doctrine touching the Generation of the Clouds, and production of the Drops of Rain, is found to be altogether contradictory unto the true Wisdome's Institutions.  
WE will now come unto our inquiry and examination of Aristotle's skill, in the watery Meteors: and because that the causes of mists, called Nebulae, and thinner clouds termed Nubeculae, are comprehended under the title of Nubes or Clouds, I will only insist upon the Mystery of the cloudy impression: For I purpose not to make any great Volume of words, to weary your eyes with reading them over, but only to touch with brevity such kinds of principal Meteors, as may in their generality include by their descriptions, every speciality that may be comprehended under them. I will therefore briefly begin with Aristotle's opinion, and then compare it with the Testimony of holy Writ, that thereby the essence of it may be examined with the fire of verity, to see whether it will endure the Test, or withstand the trials of Truth's touchstone or no.  
His opinion therefore with that of his Christian followers, 
Aristotle 's Definition of a Cloud.  is, that, A cloud is produced of a vapour, which is elevated from the earth and water, into the middle region of the air, by the attractive power of the Sun or Stars, where it is contracted, and as it were congealed into the consistence of a visible cloud, by virtue of the extreme coldness of the place; the which cloud is afterwards partly by the heat of the Sun, and partly by the force of the winds, carried or forced this way and that way, through the middle region of the air. Lo this is the Substance of the Peripatetical definition of a cloud!  
Now that we may the better gather and understand the truth of this business, and find out whether Aristotle be a true or a false Prophet in this his description; Let us here consider, what the Book or Bible of verity shall teach us concerning the Generation of a cloud, and how the members or clauses of this our definition do agree with the intention of it: which that we may more distinctly, and with the exacter method effect, we purpose in this place to compare their minds and senses together, that each person, though but meanly literated, may easily judge and determine of the case, as truly it standeth.  
In the precedent Definition, he maketh the efficient and procreating cause, the heat or act of the Sun, saying, that by the attractive virtue thereof, the vapour which is the matter or substance of the cloud, is drawn out of the earth and water, and sublimed into the middle region of the air; averring also, that partly by the motion of the Sun, and partly by the winds it is moved this way and that way. Again, he surmiseth that the cause of the contraction, or condensation of the vapour into the consistence of a cloud, is the coldness of the middle region of the air. So that unto the consistence of the cloud, he feigneth that two Agents quite contrary in nature and condition unto one another, do concur and meet together, namely the heat of the Sun, and coldness of the middle region of the air: but he assigneth no internal cause of motion unto the cloud, esteeming it as a thing dead, and without an active spirit.  
For this cause therefore, there do offer themselves unto each wise-man's consideration, sundry doubts in this Definition to be throughly resolved and determined of, before he will be able rightly to judge the verity thereof, namely, first whether the heat of the Sun do draw and attract vapours out of the earth and waters, into the middle region of the air, for the composing and shaping out of a cloudy Meteor. Secondly, whether the coldness of the middle region of the air, be the occasion of the condensation, or thickening of a thin vaporous substance, into the consistence of a well compacted cloud. Thirdly, whether the clouds be only moved by external efficient Agents, namely by the winds and Sun, as being destitute of any internal active principle or central Agent, or else if it be moved and animated by an internal Spirit. Unto either of these three questions or doubts, I purpose here to answer, in order as they are proposed.  
Unto the first Objection therefore I say: That it is a most false and erroneous Tenent of the Peripatetics, that the Sun, Starrs, or fire, do draw unto them any vapours or exhalations: For it is proved by experience, that they rather expel and dissipate from them such things as are rarified by them, than draw and allure them unto them: neither is it true as most men falsely dream and surmise, that the Sun draweth fumes upward, or that the fire sucketh the vaporous substance of the attenuated water unto it; but their office is to rarify and subtiliate the waters and to reduce the moister part of the earth into vapour: And then it is naturally incident unto those light Substances, of their own inclinations, to ascend and mount upwards, without any other external agent. But all this we have plainly demonstrated by our experimental Instrument: For if you set your hand upon the bolts head or round glass, on the top the air will dilate itself, and presently fly away from the rarifying agent that dilateth it, and therefore much less will that agent suck or draw it unto itself. By which it is evident, that whereas it seemed in the eyes of worldly wisemen, that because a vapour or fume ascendeth upwards, therefore that motion from the Earth must needs proceed from the attractive virtue of the Summer heat; now in the conclusion, it is proved to be stark false and erroneous, being that the nature of Heat and Light are clean contrary unto the attraction: forasmuch as they expel by dilatation, and do dissipate, and enlarge, which is contrary unto the condition of attraction, gathering together, and condensation, which are the properties of cold, as is mainfested by our experimental Machine.  
But now to prove that Aristotle's grounds are most extravagant unto the Truth, who affirmeth that the clouds are made of a vapour drawn or elevated up into the middle region of the air, we must understand, that the Opinion of the holy Scriptures is flatly adverse and contrary unto this clause or member of his definition, or description, being that first it is easily to be gathered by this Text of St. Paul, That we ought to believe by Faith, that things visible were first made of such things which were not seen: 
Heb. 1.  and therefore it is neither the visible earth nor water, that can be the Original of the clouds, but rather the invisible air. And this is also maintained by divers plain Testimonies of Scriptures: 
Job 28.24. Job 26.9.  Deus sapienti● su● aptat pondus aëri, & appendit aquas in mensura: Ligat eas in densis nubibus, facit pluviae statuta, & viam fulgetro tonitruum: God by his Spirit of Wisdom, doth give a weight and proportion unto the air; and hangeth or ballanceth the waters by measure; tieth them in the thick clouds; giveth laws unto the rain, and assigneth a way unto the Lightning of the Thunder. In which speech the wise and patient Job doth seem to confirm. First, that God is the Father and Head, from whence this work, and all other, doth radically proceed; and the eternal efficient instrument, by which he acteth, is his Spirit of Wisdom: which also acordeth with this of the Apostle: Nobis est unus Deus Pater à quo omnia, 
1 Cor. 8.  & unus Dominus Jesus Christus per quem omnia: To us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things; and one only Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things. Secondly, That the air is the main Subject as well of the watery as fiery Meteors, for by thickening or condensing of it, it giveth a consistence unto the clouds, and suchlike Meteors, which are easily afterward resolved into water and rain, and then by attenuating it extremely, it becometh lightning: Not that I say, that the act of Lightning is of the Substance of the air, but is rather an admirable Light, clothed with the air as with a vestiment. And in the very same sense the Text saith, Indutus lumine quasi vestimento: He is endued with light as with a vestiment. And again, the wise Philosopher, In lumine numen, in numine lumen. So that the thinner the air is, the hotter it is, and consequently the richer in celestial fire, whose central act is divinity. Now that the air is the substance or material subject of the watery Meteors, the precedent Text beareth it in these words, God by his Wisdom assigneth, or setteth by proportion, a weight unto the air; that is, he thickeneth it into clouds, for the words following importeth so much, which are, Appendit aquas seu nubes in mensura, He hangeth or ballanceth the waters or clouds by measure, or attenuateth it into lightnings, as the words following do witness. So that he seemeth to aver, that the invisible air is altered according to weight and measure, into the bodies or substances of the visible clouds, which afterwards are resolved into rain, and fiery lightnings, which by compression do appear. Again, that it is neither the earth nor waters from which the existence or substance of a cloud is made, but only the air, we plainly do gather out of these words in Deuteronomy, 
Deut. 28.11.  Aperiet tibi JEHOVA the saurum suum optimum, ●oelos, dando pluviam terrae tuae suo tempore: JEHOVA will open his best treasury, the heavens, giving rain unto thy earth in due season. Out of which words observe, first, that by the heavens is meant the Air, for in the air the clouds are procreated; and again, the air is called heaven in many places of Scripture, as volatilia coeli, the fouls or birds of heaven. And therefore this is the sacrarium divinum, the divine treasury or treasure-house, out of the which God at his pleasure produceth and fashioneth the clouds. Secondly, that the air is called his best treasury, and therefore it is out of it, that not only he doth extract his meteorological creatures, but also that wisemen do inquire after their mystical summum bonum, and Christian Philosophers that are well grounded, the character of the divine wisdom. Again, 
Eccles. 43.17.  it is said in another place, Propterea aperti sunt thesauri, & evolarunt nubes & nebulae, sicut aves: Therefore his treasuries are opened, and the clouds did fly out like birds. 
Job 37.21.  But this is made yet more evident, by these plain words of Job, Subitò aer condensabitur in nubes, & ventus transiens fugabit eas: The air will suddenly be condensed or thickened into clouds, and the moving wind will drive them before it. By which words it is apparent, that the air is the subject out of the which the clouds are compacted and framed, and that the heavens are the only treasury, out of the which they are collected, and therefore neither the earth nor the water, as Aristotle would have it; which if it were true indeed, mark what an absurd impossibility must follow. For then whereas the Sun doth attenuate the air in the summer-season, it would contrary unto reason condense it, by the continual raising of vapours; and then a greater absurdity would follow on the neck of this, to destroy Aristotle's tenant, touching the generation of the clouds, for than we should have more clouds and rain in the summer, than winter, being that there are made more vapours at that season, by the Sun's heat and emptying of ponds and rivers, then in the winter, which experience proveth false. And lastly, it is neither the heat of the Sun nor Stars, but the eternal Spirit of JEHOVA, whose dominion is over the angelical winds, by which he moveth and operateth all these alterations in the air, and by the air, as shall be told you hereafter. And therefore it was said, By his wisdom he giveth weight unto the air, and hangeth the clouds in measure, and assigneth rules unto the rain, and proportioneth a way or passage unto the lightnings and thunders, etc. But I come unto the second Doubt.  
To the resolution of the second doubt, I say, that there is another manner of reason, for the incrassation and condensation of an invisible vapour, or the air, into a cloud, than that which Aristotle and his followers have assigned, and set down; for whereas he saith, that this feat is performed, by the contractive cold of the middle region of the air, it may be wondered at, why this effect is not wrought as well at other times, as when the winds do blow from their certain quarters of the earth; for when the southerly winds have dominion, then do we see clouds to multiply, and the rain to pour down in the greatest abundance. I would fain know of these Peripatetics, why the vapours should be raised so thick, just at that time when the wind bloweth from the south, to make a greater abundance of clouds in the air, then at another season, namely, when they have no dominion? Or why should the cold of the middle region of the air, be apt to coagulate or curdle vapours at that time, than at other times, being that the warm clouds, or dense air, which is driven from the Equinoctial, do moderate the middle region's cold, through which they glide by reason of their hot temper? Verily I know, that they are ignorant what to answer touching this point, and therefore I will press them no further. But I will tell you of an experiment of mine own, whereby I was induced unto the truth, concerning the generation of the mists and clouds: When in my travels I went or journeyed from Venice unto Augusta, or Ausburg, in Germany, as I traveled between the high mountains and rocks of the Alps, upon a certain day when the heavens were passing clear, and without any cloud to be seen in the Horizon, the Sun also (as in these times it must needs) being passing bright; I espied on the top of a steepy mountain, on the which the Sunbeams did strongly beat, a certain fog or mist by little and little to arise, and ever it thickened more and more, until it grew from a sleight vapour unto a mist, and from a foggy mist at the last unto a thick cloud, and all this while the air was every where clear, except only on that side the hill, from the top unto the bottom, which we beheld. It made me a little to marvel, and therefore alighting from our Coach, I took some grass and flung it into the air, to try which way the wind did blow, and I found it to be full upon or against that eminent hlll, which was advanced towards the heavens above his fellows. Whereupon I did straightway gather, that the degrees of progression from a vapour unto a mist, and from a mist unto a fog, and so forward unto the consistence of a cloud, was by compression of the common air, which was chased before the wind by little and little, against the lofty rock or mountain, which hindering of it in its passage or flight, was the cause that the consequent-aire was added unto the precedent, and so by adding and compressing of parts of the air unto other parts, a perfect cloud, only conformable unto that part of the mountain, was made, which forthwith, when it became ponderous, and apt to endure the reflection of the Sun, did resolve itself for four miles' space on this side the rock into rain, all the rest of the air remaining still clear, and without any cloud. Whereby I did forthwith conceive, that clouds were not engendered after the manner described by the Peripatetics, that is, by the vapours rising out of the earth and waters, but by the inspissation or incrassation of the thin and invisible air, into a thick, dense, and visible cloud, according unto the beforementioned place of Job, Subitò aer condensabitur in nubes & transiens ventus fugabit eas. But then I was a little troubled, when I remembered, that mountains and high rocks cannot by their resistance, and stopping of the fugitive air, be always the cause of the clouds; being that we find, that clouds do every where appear, yea, in the plain deserts, and open seas, where no hills are. Whereupon after that I had a little while considered, and well pondered this objection with myself, I did quickly conceive an infallible answer and resolution of this doubt, considering, that there is not a wind that bloweth in the heavens with dominion, but hath some opposite or transversal wind which bloweth with it, though it be not discerned by reason that the mightier wind doth darken or obscure the action of the weaker, even as in the open Sun a candle is scarcely to be discerned. Now that at one and the same time two or more winds do blow, I will prove it by common experience; for being often on the seas, I have observed, that when the predominant wind hath fallen a little in his force by fits, and hath urged the sail of the Ship but weakly, an opposite wind hath immediately bewrayed itself, and moved the sail the contrary way, until the other rising again, did replenish and fill up the sail towards our determined mark, which made for our purpose. But we have also Scriptures to testify, that opposite winds do often blow at one and the same instant, for first, the self same Spirit was evoked from the quarters of the four winds, 
Ezekiel 37. Dan 7.  by Ezekiel and Daniel, Ecce quatuor venti caeli pugnabant in mari magno, Behold, the four winds did fight together in a great sea. And Zacharias, Isti quatuor equi sunt quatuor venti coeli qui egrediuntur & stant coram Dominatore omnis carnis: 
Zach. 6.1  These four horses are the four winds of the heaven, which go forth and stand before the Lord of all flesh. Whereby it is evident, that not one or two winds, but many winds may blow in the heavens at once; for by their opposite blasts, clouds, whirlwinds, tempests, lightning, and thunders, are commonly effected. All which the profound Poet Homer seemeth to include in a few Verses, translated thus into Latin:  
Tantus coelesti rumor percrebuit Aulà,  
Cum saeva alterni ruerent in praelia Divi  
Neptunum contra bellabat Phoebus Apollo,  
Adversus Martem certabat Pallas Athenae.  
Great noise was raised in the Elysian hall,  
When gods with gods did enter cruel wars:  
Phoebus Apollo there with Neptune jars,  
Pallas of Athens foul with Mars doth fall.  
Where he understandeth by the gods the opposite angelical spirits, which issue from the winds, who at their meeting in the open aerial sea, do fight, and tempestuously strive with one another, according unto the sense of the precedent text of Daniel: For by Neptune he meaneth, the precedent of the occidental winds, which are cold, moist, and waterish; and by Phoebus he intendeth the oriental precedent, whose blasts are hot, dry, and fiery; but by Mars is signified the thunder and lightning. Also Ovid doth most notably express the combat which is effected amongst the winds, in these verses, speaking in the person of Boreas, or the northwind.  

Idem ego quum fratres coelo sum nactus aperto  
Nam mihi campus is est, tanto molimine luctor  
Ut medius nostris concussibus insonet Aether  
Exiliantque cavis elisi nubibus ignes.   

When as I meet my brethren in the air,  
(Which is my field) I wrestle with such ire,  
That middle heavens do Echo at our fare,  
And hollow clouds do vent forth flashing fire.   
Where by Fratres, Boreas, or the Northwind, understandeth the Southern blast, and the other cardinal winds, the which when Boreas meeteth in the air, do produce by their contentious struggle and wrestlings, thunder, whirlwinds, and such like tempestuous storms. And therefore we ought not to make any doubt, but that two or more winds do blow at one and the same time, either oppositely, or transversally in the open air, whereby the intermediate invisible air is by compression thickened, or condensed from the existence of a mean air, into a scarce visible vaporous substance, and so unto a more visible misty corpulency; and lastly, into a most apparent and visible cloud, the which cloud nevertheless is pushed and driven forward by that wind in the heaven, which hath the greatest dominion and denomination; for his power confirming in every point that which is spoken by Job, 
Job 37.21.  and cited before, Subito aer condensabitur in nubes & ventus transiens fugabit eas: The air will suddenly be thickened into clouds, and the wind which moveth in the air will drive them before it. So that it is easily to be gathered, that a cloud is framed of the air after this fashion; The air filling the whole vaulty heaven, and therefore the sublunary world is violently forced to move before the breath of one wind, and being encountered in its flight by an opposite wind unto the first, though of a weaker force, it resists the chased air in its motion, and by that resistance, air being joined unto air, doth thicken by degrees, even as I told you the steep mountain or rock denying passage unto the air, which flyed and eschewed the persecuting wind, was the cause of his condensation.  
This therefore being rightly considered, it is apparent, that the Peripatetical assertion is unjust and erroneous, forasmuch as it averreth, that a vapour raised out out of the earth and water, up to the middle region of the air, is by the coldness of the place metamorphosed or changed into the form and substance of a cloud; the which also (as is already proved) is most improbable, because the southerly winds, which are the chiefest parents of the clouds, and rain in abundance, seeing that they are hot, by reason of the places temper from whence they are sent, would rather qualify (as is already said) by their warmth, the coldness of the region, through which they march or pass, and therefore would either disannul the effect of that property of cold, or else so weaken and dull the power of it, that if it produced any clouds, they would prove more thin and small ones, than any other of the cold winds; as also the wind Eurus would effect the same, by reason of his great heat. And yet we find all this quite contrary by experience, for the southerly winds do incrassate and produce clouds, that are in general more moist and thick, than any of the other are accustomed to do; yea verily, the south wind doth so condense the air by his presence, that (as Isidorus doth affirm) it maketh objects appear greater unto the sight then indeed they are. I come now unto the Resolution of the third Doubt.  
Touching the third and last doubt, which is, Whether the clouds be only Superficially moved by external winds, and the heat of the Sun, as Aristotle's imagination is, and not by any central agent, which ruleth it, as it pleaseth, and at whose Command the winds themselves are obedient. Verily I answer, that, contrary unto the intention of the Peripatetics, the clouds have their inward agen●, the which calleth the winds to effect his will, and push and move forward hi● cloudy vehicle or Chariot, when, where, and which way he pleaseth: For as this Agent is catholic, so is he not absent from the Spirit of the winds, though centrally present in the cloud: For he being present with, and in the spirit of, the winds, doth in and by the Angelical Spirits of the winds, operate centrally in the air, and by the contracting act in himself, gathering the air together into a cloud, which he maketh his vehicle or Chariot. Therefore it is said in one place: Nubibus densis obtegit Deus coelos, 
Psa. 147.8.  quae comparent terrae pluviam; qui facit ut proferant montes foenum, & dent jumentis cibum: God filleth the heavens with clouds, that they might bring forth rain unto the earth, that thereby hay or grass may spring forth, for the nourishment of Cattle. Out of which speech we may gather: First, that God by his windy Ministers doth condense and shape out the air into clouds (For the stormy winds are said to effect the Will and Word of God). 
Psal. 148.  Then, that this was no miraculous work, but a common work in nature, being that it is daily effected to produce grass, herbs, and plants, for the sustenance of living creatures. And Job: Densae nubes tugurium ejus: 
Job 22.15.  The thick clouds are his dwelling place. And David: Nubem expandit Deus pro tegumento: God spreadeth abroad the cloud for a covering. And Moses: 
Psal. 105.39.  Descendit Dominus in nube, & locutus est ad eum: The Lord descended in a cloud and spoke unto him. But all this which is said touching this point, is notably expressed in these words of Samuel: 
Numb. 11.35.  Inclinavit IEHOVA coelos & descendit, & caligo sub pedibus ejus, & ascendit super Cherubin, & volavit, & lapsus est super pennes venti: Posuit tenebras in circuitu suo la●ibulum, cribrans aquas de nubibus coelorum, prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes accensae sunt: JEHOVA did bow down or incline the heavens and ascended, 
2 King. 21.8.  and darkness was under his feet, and he ascended upon a Cherubin, and did fly and glide upon the wings of the wind: He made darkness his hiding place, sifting out waters from the clouds of heaven, and the clouds are set on fire at the sight of him, etc. In which relation of holy Writ, what I have spoken before is notably set forth. For first it is said, that God ascended or mounted on the Cherubin, which is an airy Angel; then that he did glide upon the wings of the wind: arguing thereby that the air being animated by the Angelical Spirit was made a wind, in the which the Word or Spirit of God did move: and then after this, he in and by the wind did shape out his dark Tabernacle: For it is said: He made darkness his hiding place; that is, he made the dark clouds his Chariot: For David hath it thus, 
Psal. 104.3.  Nubes densae vehiculum, seu currus Dei, qui itat super alas venti: The thick clouds are a vehicle or Chariot of God, 
Psal. 67.17.  who rideth or walketh upon the wings of the winds. In another place it is called Mons Dei coagulatus, in quo bene placitum est Deo inhabitare: The condensed, curdled, or coagulated Mountain of God, in which it is pleasing unto him to dwell. So that it is evident, that the Spirit of God moveth the Angelical Spirit, the Angelical Spirit exciteth and informeth the air with a windy nature: Forasmuch as by his moving in it, the air is made a windy spirit, and therefore the Prophet said, Qui facis Angelos ventos; then, that animated air by opposite Angelical Spirits, incited by one and the same Divinity, doth reduce the common air into clouds, which are the Chariots of him, who essentially doth act and operate all these things, by divers Organs one within another, which vary in dignity from one another: For by how much the more internal a thing is, the more worthy, and noble, or veruous it is esteemed, because they approach nearest unto that essence in Divinity, which acteth and operateth centrally all in all. That God doth move in the Thunders, speaketh out of the whirlwind and clouds, and is at his pleasure a consuming fire; and that he operateth centrally in the winds, clouds, Snow, and Tempests, and that all these are effected by his Spirit of Wisdom; the Scriptures do here and there in most places express. And therefore it is vainly said that the clouds only move by the Sunbeams, or the external pushing winds, caused of so vain impossible Principles as Aristotle telleth us, when it is the Tabernacle in which that Eternal Spirit is pleased to abide, or a Chariot in which he is delighted to ride, whose horses (as Zachary saith) are the winds, or rather the Cherubinicall Spirits, which he doth animate. So that the volunty or central principle of the motion is in the cloud, but the Angels and winds are the Ministers or organical Agents, which move according unto the willer, wherefore though we proved before that the air was thickened into clouds, and that the following wind did drive them before it, yet the willer and commander of this Generation of clouds by the winds, was the only and essential internal principle or central mover in the clouds, which by his will made his Ministers to move him, 
Prov. 30.20.  where or to what purpose he pleased. And, therefore Solomon: Sapientia ejus abyssi ruperunt seize, & coeli distillant rorem: By his Wisdom the abyss broke forth, 
Job 37. Job 28.  and did rain down the dew. And, Flante Deo concrescit gelu: God blowing, the Ice is gathered together. Again, Sapientia aptat pondus ae●i, & appendit aquas in mensura: Wisdom doth proportion the weight of the air, and hangeth the waters in measure, etc.  
We may therefore boldy conclude against both Aristotle, and all other doctrine of the Ethnics, that neither the earth nor the water are the immediate fountains of the clouds, but the heavens or air which is the Treasure-house of God; neither is it the cold of the middle region of the air, which condenseth any imaginary surging or ascending vapours arising from beneath; but that central animating Spirit born or gliding on the wings of the wind, residing but not inclusively in the cloud, who according unto his pleasure, by the means of his organical Ministers, the Angelical winds, fashioneth forth the clouds, to serve as a cover or tabernacle unto it. And therefore the cloud acteth not by the heat of the Sun, but by the Divine Light that is centrally in it, which, as an Emperor, sitteth upon the Cherubins, which are airy and windy Angels, as the Seraphins are fiery Spirits, and so moveth upon the wings of the wind or air, which his Angelical Cherubin doth animate. So that in and by the windy Organ, he is said to blow when and where he list. 
Wisd. 7.  It is (I say) the Eternal Spirit of Wisdom, which is in brightness and virtue more noble than the Sun of Heaven, as Solomon testifieth: For as much as it also giveth life and splendour unto the Sun. And therefore it is said to excel the Sun in brightness, which is the only efficient cause, or formal and essential Agent in this business, and consequently neither the Sun, or any other of the created host of Heaven. It is (I say again) the all-creating Spirit, and not the created, which is the general act, and only formal mover in the Meteors, whom his Angelical Ministers (which do ever stand before this Lord of all the earth, that I may speak with the Prophet Zachary) are ready to assist as Organs or instrumental causes to execute his will. It is (I say) the essential wind or Spirit, which bloweth from the centre of the cloud, and moveth or inciteth his spiritual created Organs, according unto his will: For by it his Spirit also moveth in the Angels and winds, causing them to effect his Command; according unto David's assertion: Wherefore we may see by this which is said, how incongruous is this opinion of the Ethnic Peripatetic, unto the Truth, and how far it derogateth from the right of God's Word, and consequently what an error it is in our Christian Philosophers, to follow and imitate his learning, with such a devotion and fervency, as if they were Theodidacti, taught by God himself: when in verity his doctrine doth rather dissuade Christians from the knowledge of him in his works, then instruct them therein, being it persuadeth them, that things are effected both in heaven above, and in the earth, and in the waters beneath, by vain ways and accidentally; that is to say, merely by natural causes only, and so would blemish the honour and reputation of Him, who in verity is all in all, and operateth all in all; and that not by constraint, as the vain Peripatetic imagineth, but according unto his Will, as it is proved before.   

CHAP. VI  
The true and essential Definition, or rather description of a Cloud is set forth in this Chapter.  
WEll then, will they reply, Let us understand how you can better define, or describe the nature of a cloud, according unto that holy Philosophy, and true Wisdom which you seem to profess. To the which I answer: that I am willing, and that after a divers manner, though agreeing in one unity of Essence.  
A cloud is the revealing and making manifest of the invisible mundan spirit, which is hidden in the treasury of God, namely, the heavens, by the central operation of the divine wisdom, and his windy ministers, being incited thereunto by the will of God, into a vaporous heap or cloudy substance, which the said spirit of wisdom erecteth for his secret place or vehicle, to move in; and for the effecting of his will, as well in heaven above, as in the earth and waters beneath.  
Or, after this manner;  
A cloud is the reducing of the invisible air, into a visible, thick, and gloomy consistence, which is by the will of God effected, through the concurrence or meeting together of opposite or transversal winds, for the accomplishment of his secret will and pleasure.  
Or else, thus;  
A cloud is a certain visible condensed heap of air, the which the Spirit of wisdom being expansed every whe●e, doth make and compose as it were of nothing, that is to say, of an airy invisible somewhat, which it extracteth out of his mystical treasury, to do and effect the will of God, as well in heaven as in earth.  
In which definitions, or rather descriptions, the material substance seemeth to be a coagulated mist, or condensed mass or heap of air, the formal cause is set out in the shape and form of the cloud; the efficient cause, or central agent, is the essential act of the divine wisdom, who employeth and exciteth his windy ministers, to work externally by the way of compression. We have also the magazine or treasury, out of which the substance of the winds is produced, namely, the heavens or air, which is termed, Arca Dei thesauraria, The chest or cabinet of God's treasures. To conclude, the final cause is manifested in this, that the cloud is ordained to bring forth the effects, as well of God's clemency and benignity, as of his severity and anger.  
Now for the defence of the first part of these descriptions, we find it thus written, Deus sapientia suâ apt at pondus aeri & appendit aquas in mensura, facit pluviae statuta & viam fulgetro tonitruum, etc. God doth by his wisdom proportionate the weight of the air, 
Job 28.25.  and hangeth the waters or clouds in measure, assigneth laws unto the rain, and maketh a way unto the lightnings of the thunder. That is to say, according unto the will and ordination of the divine Spirit, the air or substance of heaven is changed from a lighter or thinner estate or weight, unto a heavier or thicker, the degrees of which mutation are expressed in the words following; for first it was air, than clouds, than rain, or vulgar water. Also the Text doth seem to make the lightnings internal or formal light of the cloud, which is not revealed, but by the violation or ruption of the compound, and ablation of darkness. Again, it is said by Job, (as is already related) Aer condensabitur in nubes, 
Ecclus. 43.  & ventus transiens fugabit eas; The air will be thickened into clouds. And touching the clouds of snow, Congregatio spiritus aspergit nivem, The air being gathered together, doth scatter the snow on the earth.  
Touching the efficient cause, it appeareth to be God, or the eternal Wisdom; and therefore in the precedent Text it is said, Deus sapientia sua aptat pondus aeri, & appendit aquas vel nubes in mensura: God by his wisdom hangeth or ballanceth the waters or clouds in measure. And again, Nubibus densis obtegit Deus coelos, God covereth the heavens with thick clouds. 
Psal. 147.8.  But all this is sufficiently expressed before. As for the final cause, set down in the foresaid definitions, it is confirmed by Scriptures in this fashion, Pro irrigatione fatigat Deus den same nubem, & dispergit lucem nubis suae, 
Job 37.40.  quodcunque praecipit illis faciendum in terra sive ad flagellum, sive ad faciendam beneficentiam efficiet ut presiò sit. God wearieth the thick cloud for the watering of the earth, and he disperseth every where the light of his cloud, whatsoever he commandeth them to be done upon the earth, whether it be for a scourge, or else in favour and benignity, 
Baruch 6.60.  he maketh them to be ready to accomplish it. And Baruch saith, When God commandeth the clouds that they pass over the whole earth, they perform what is commanded them. So that we see, these creatures are drawn out of their secret dwellings, to do the will of him that created them.   

CHAP. VII.  
How by our experimental Instrument, the reas●n of the composition of clouds is ocularly demonstrated. A so in this, the Snow is defined falsely and truly.  
NOw I think it most fit to demonstrate unto you, how the clouds are procreated, by the opposite blast of two winds of a contrary nature, namely, of the Southerly wind in eminency and dominion, and a Northerly spirit which also bloweth, but insensibly. I told you in the Chapter, where I did demonstrate by our experimental Instrument, the reason of the Southerly winds which happen in winter, that as the air included in the Weatherglass, did by the only touch of a warm hand dilate itself, and in dilatation fly from the hand of the toucher, unto the cold region of the water, which was evidently proved and maintained, because the water did suddenly thereupon move downward: So also the gross winter air in the southern hemisphere, did at the approach of the Sun unto the parts beyond the Line, dilate itself, by virtue of that ever-acting and subtiliating spirit, which put his tabernacle in the Sun; so that the southern dilated air posted apace, or flew hastily away, to seek a larger place; but coming into the northern hemisphere, (which by reason of the Sun's absence, became brumal or wintry) the constant air of that region being now contracted by the northern cold, and the northwind, by reason of the colds dominion, blowing more or less, though insensibly, it meeting with the warm southerly spirit, condenseth it with the rest into clouds; and this is the reason, that always almost, (and that is, where no northern blasts are discerned) that the southerly winds do bring abundance of clouds and rain with them, for that the hot southerly virtue of the divine agent, doth more and more subtiliate and rarify the winter air which it found there, till it had by rarefaction purified it, and reduced it unto the nature of a true Summer air; so that the superfluous parts of the air after rarefaction, were chased away (as is said) into the northern region, where it is condensed again, partly by the privative act of the divine puissance, and partly by the spissitude of the northern air, which denyeth it free passage into the form of clouds: For the cold spisse air of the northern hemisphere, agitated and animated by the northern blast or property, resisteth the hot vaporous air, and so it condenseth by little and little.  
To conclude, I could here set down the Aristotelian definitions of the snow, frost, hail, ice, and such like other meteors; and then check and contradict them mainly, by other true descriptions of them, proved by the testimony of holy writ. As for example, Aristotle seemeth to aver, that the snow is a cloud, congealed by the great cold, which before it be perfectly dissolved into water by a vaporous disposition, it is changed into a snowy substance. In which definition, because he is ignorant, as hath been proved already, in the fabric of a cloud, we ought in no case believe him. Again, he digresseth from the tenor of Scriptures, according unto the mind whereof, we have defined the snow thus.  
The Snow is a meteor which God draweth forth of his hidden treasury, in the form of wool, to effect his will upon the earth, either by way of punishment or clemency.  
Or thus.  
The Snow is a creature produced out of the air, or heavenly treasury of God, by the cold breath or blast of the divine spirit, in the form of wool, to perform his will on the earth.  
Where the fountain of his original substance is made the air, or the matter of the heavens; and therefore the Text hath it, Congregatio speritus aspergit nivem, The gathering together or condensation of the spirit, 
●●clus. 43.  engendereth and sprinkleth the snow upon the earth. 
Job 38. Psal. 143.16.  And Job, Pervenistine in the sauris nivis? Camest thou into the treasury of the snow? Also the form and efficient cause is expressed thus, Deus verbo suo nives emittit sicut lanam, coram frigore ejus quis consistat? God by his word sendeth out the snow like wool, who is able to resist his cold? So that God by his Word, which doth operate in his privative property by his cold, is the essential, efficient, and omnipotent actor, in the production of the snow.  
I could (I say) effect all this at large, but because my mind is not to dwell upon on these particulars, forasmuch as in the description of the cloud, I have sufficiently pointed at the rest, I will proceed unto my enquiry touching Aristotle's opinion, concerning the beginning of fountains, that we may perceive thereby, whether he have erred as far in that mystery, as he hath done in the rest.   

CHAP. VIII.  
What Aristotle's opinion is, touching the generation of Fountains and Rivers, and whether he in his opinion doth jump with the verity of the true wisdom.  
SInce therefore it is apparent, that Aristotle's doctrine is erroneous and deceitful, touching the generation and essence of the winds and clouds, we purpose in the third place to bring his judgement and opinion, concerning the beginning and original of fountains and rivers, unto the touchstone of truth, that thereby we may perceive, whether it will endure the trial, and not shrink (as the proverb is) in the wetting.  
The Peripatetics, as well Christians as Gentiles, are as much deceived in their meteorological grounds, concerning the generation of fountains and rivers, as in the rest, of which we have spoken before; and therefore their Master Aristotle (all things being well pondered in the balance of justice) ought to be accounted of all true Christians, for a seducer and deceiver of the world; and consequently his doctrine touching this point, aught of right to be repudiated and rejected.  
Aristotle, with his peripatetical sect or faction, are of opinion, that being the belly or bowels of the earth is full of cavities, and hollow passages; vapours, to avoid vacuity, must needs ascend from the centre or bottom of it, the which cleaving in their ascent unto the sides of the hollow vaults, and straighter passages or veins of the earth, do resolve into water, which distilling down by drops, do engender fountains and rivers.  
In the which opinion of theirs they conclude, that the matter of fountains is nothing else, but a vapour arising from the bottom of the earth, and resolved, liquefied, or condensed into water, through cold and heat together within the earth; no otherwise then after their saying, the cloud, rain, snow, and hail do arise, and are generated in the air of a vapour, first condensed, and afterwards liquefied.  
But if we shall duly examine every member of this their description, we shall perceive, that they require as well a double matter, as formal agent in this generation of fountains; for they feign, that the remote matter is a vapour, and then the near and immediate matter they imagine to be drops of water, which are caused by the concretion or condensation of that vapour. Also they make their two efficient causes, cold and heat; for, say they, it is the office of cold to condense and congeal the included vapour into water, and that it is the heat and cold together, which maketh the water fluxible and moovable. Let it therefore be lawful for me (judicious Reader) to answer these Peripatetic Philosophers, with an overworn axiom of their own, and consequently to fight with them at their own weapons. Their axiom is, Erustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora. That is vainly done or effected by many, which may be effected by less. Now if that this original work in the producing of fountains, may be performed most conveniently by one and the selfsame subject of water, without the altering of it, first, into vapour by subtiliation, and afterward by condensing again that subtle vapour into water; Then I make no doubt but you will conclude with me, that this Peripatetic definition is vain, imaginary, and sophistical, by their own rules. But I will make it apparent hereafter, by an ocular demonstration, that it is possible by a course in nature only, that water without any alteration of his consistence, may by the secret veins, and close passages or conduits of the earth, be drawn or sucked up out of the huge seas, unto the top or summity of the mountains, after by his soaking through the sands, and pory substance of the earth, it hath left his salt nature behind it; which appearing evidently to every man's sense, the vanity of Aristotle's invention will soon be discovered unto wise men. Besides all this, the sterility of his reason or invention, which would feign, that these vapours cleaving unto the sides of the caverns or hollow places, and that there (forsooth) they must be converted into drops of water, which from thence must issue forth into rivers, will be palpable and manifest, if we consider, that these drops so made, are apt to circulate, and readier to fall down again into the bowels of the earth, from whence they came, by those selfsame vaulty passages or hollow veins, through which they ascended, than to issue forth of the ground allaterally, because that every heavy thing is more prone to descend, then to move sidelong. And therefore it is likely, that either all the waters so made, or the greater part must needs return downward by the way it came or ascended in the form of vapour. But omitting these reasons for a while, we must see if the Text, which is contained in the Book of Verity, do consent in this Opinion with Aristotle and his faction, yea or no.  
We find in the first place, that it is not an accidental and imaginary heat or cold, that acteth in this Meteor's Generation, but God who operateth by his Angelical Spirits, and solar act in the accomplishment of this business. And although that in his action, as well privative as positive, cold and heat do express themselves as his Ministers: For the Text saith, Coram frigore ejus quis consistat: Who can stand against his cold? Yet it is his catholic positive act, which he extendeth out of his sunny Tabernacle, and hotter winds, and privative virtue, which he manifesteth in the longinquity and absence of his bright Tabernacle, from the region pointed at, and the propinquity of the polar seat of the colder winds, to alter annually the created Element. And therefore it is God which by his Spiritual Organs, as well in Heaven above, as Earth and Water beneath, that operateth all things, and amongst the rest, produceth the Fountains of which the rivers are made. 
Wisd. 1.  And consequently we ought to esteem it the Act of God's Spirit which filleth the earth, (as Solomon saith) and operateth all the natural effects therein. 
Psal. 104.10.  Which also David doth testify in these words: Qui emittis fontes per valles, ut inter montes ambulent & potum praebeant omnibus animantibus agri, frangant onagri sitim suam: Qui irrig at montes è caenaculis suis, faciens ut germinet foenum adjumenti, & herbam ad hominis usum: Who sendeth forth the fountains through the valleys, that they may run between the mountains, and give drink unto every living creature of the field, that the Ass may quench his thirst, and that they may water the mountains from their cells, causing the grass to grow for the use of the Ox, and the herb for the benefit of man, etc. So that here we have the sole catholic Agent, and therefore the Operator of fountains as is proved by this Text. Again, here we have the final cause set down, for the which they were created and continued in succession by God, namely to water the earth; for the giving drink unto all cattle, and living creatures, and for the multiplying of grass, herbs, trees, and fruit, for the use as well of man as beast. But will our Peripatetics say, we hear no news out of Scripture, for the contradicting of our matter assigned for the composition, or consistence of Fountains, which we say to be a vapour, and not water, in its natural substance: Nevertheless, to qualify this their imagination, and to make them behold the Truth without Spectacles, I counsel them to give ear unto this assertion of Solomon: Omnia flumina (saith he) intrant in mare, & mare non redundat, ad locum unde exeunt revertuntur ut iterum fluant: All rivers enter into the Sea, and it is never the bigger, they return unto the place from whence they came, 
Eccles. 1.  that they might flow again. By the which Speech of the wiseman, expressing the material cause of Fountains, the foresaid definition of Aristotle is utterly othrown, for this doth evidently prove, that it is one and the selfsame water, and that in the plain form of water, without any transmutation of it out of water into vapour, and then from vapour into water again, as he doth erroneously allege, which moveth from the Sea unto the Mountains, and from the Mountains unto the Sea again: Insomuch that for this only error, some of his earnest disciples have become Apostates, or renegadoes unto his doctrine: For Joannes Velcurius, (a learned man in the worldly Philosophy, and one who hath sweat and taken great pains in the Aristotelian doctrine: insomuch that he wrote a Comment on his Physics) when he cometh to speak of the Generation of Fountains, 
Lib. 3. Com. Phys. cap. 6.  he seemeth to confess and publish his Master's folly in these words: Non conveniunt plane Sacrae Scripturae cum Physicis de ortu fluminum & fontium; quae ex mari per varios alveos meatusque fluere ac ad suos fontes refluere (Eccles. 1.) testatur dicens. Omnia flumina intrant in mare, & mare non redundat; a● locum unde exeunt flumina reve●tuntur ut iterum fluant. Caeterum Physici dicunt materiam esse vaporem resolutum in aquam, & liquefactum à frigore et calore simul intra terram: The holy Scriptures do not agree with the Naturalists, concerning the Original of Rivers and Fountains, which (Ecclesiastes 1.) saith to flow by divers channels or passages out of the Sea, and to flow again unto their Fountains, saying, All rivers enter into the Sea, and the Sea is not the greater, they return again unto the place from whence they came, etc. Whereby it is plain, that he must accuse his Master of false doctrine, or else he must condemn Solomon in his Judgement. For if the one be contradictory unto the other, it ought of all wisemen to be chased away, or expelled from Christian men's remembrance: Now it were a foolish thing for any religious person to say, that the divinely-wise Solomon lied, to save the reputation of the Ethnic of diabolically wise Aristotle. But if they would, yet will I teach them in the next Chapter, by an evident ocular demonstration, that Solomon's assertion is most true, and that of Aristotle's most erroneous and fantastical.  
I conclude therefore, that I gather out of the aforesaid places of the Bible, that this following Definition doth best agree with the nature of a Fountain.  A Fountain is a continuated Flux of water, issuing from the Sea, as from his beginning, and flowing into bowels of the earth▪ and after that from the bowels of the earth, as from the mean by which it passeth, unto the upper or higher Superficies of it, by virtue of the divine act, in the mundan Spirit, as well positive or dilative, as privative and contractive; for the benefit and sustenance both of man and beast. 
In which definition, plain water without any alteration of his shape, is expressed for the material cause, and is said to have its beginning from the Sea, from whence it moveth unto the Mountain's tops. The efficient cause of this work, we find to be the act of the Divine Word, in a double property, as shall be more at large demonstrated in the next Chapter. And, hereupon Solomon said, Sapientia erat apu● JEHOVAM in principio viae suae cuncta componens, qua●do roborabat fontes abyssi, & ponebat mari statum: Wisdom was with JEHOVAH in the beginning of his ways, as a composer of all things, when he did establish the Fountains of the abyss, and set the Sea within his limits or bounds. And lastly, The final cause is to give drink and food unto both man and beast, as we may gather out of the forementioned Text of the royal Prophet. We come now unto the demonstration.   

CHAP. IX.  
Wherein Solomon's assertion touching the Fountains and Rivers, is maintained; partly by an ocular demonstration, and partly by true Philosophical reasons, which are founded thereon.  
I Did advertise you (Learned Reader) in my precedent discourse, that God's Spirit doth operate annually in the common Element of the Sublunary world, by a double virtue, whereof the one is dilative, which is effected in his positive, and manifest property, namely in his light, active, and warm disposition, the principal Treasury and store-house whereof he hath made the Sun: Forasmuch as his bright emanating Spirit of Wisdom, did elect that pure vessel for his Tabernacle. The other is contractive, which is effected in his privative, and secret condition, namely in his dark fixing and cooling disposition, whose principal treasury is about the poles: Forasmuch as it being contrary in effect with the first, is seated in the farthest quarters or points of the world from the Sun. So that as the vivifying Spirit which is seated in the Sun, doth by his presence, operate only by dilatation in the common sublunary Element, in banishing of the Northern cold, and undoing the actions thereof, by the way of Rarefaction: In like manner by the absence of the Sun, the spirits of the Polar property, doth take possession of that portion of the Element, and undoeth by the way of congelation, all the subtle actions of the Spiritual and active solar virtue. As for example; all that in the winter time among the nations of the Southern world, that is to say, beyond the line, the Sun being then in the Northern Hemisphere, causing by his virtuous Spirit our Summer season, the Antarctic pole's cold property doth effect, namely in thickening the air; raising the Fountains or Springs, and multiplying the waters, producing the Snows, Frost, Ice, and Hail: mortifying the herbs, fruits, and plants, and such like, the Sun at his next visitation of those quarters, which will be in our Northern winter, by the virtue of that dilating and vivifying Spirit, from the Fountain and Father of Light, which aboundeth in it, will undo; converting the thick air to thin, striking down the Fountains more towards the bowels of the Earth, which were raised in the winter: dissolving the Snow, Frost, ice, and hail, and of fix and opake bodies, making them movable and transparent waters, reviving the spirit of the trees, plants, and herbs, which were almost liveless through congelation, and renewing their mourning bodies with new green garments, blossoms, and flowers, and lastly, with wholesome fruit. To conclude, there is nothing that the polar cold prevaileth over in the one hemisphere, but the solar heat operateth contrarily by the same proportion in the opposite region of the world; for else the world must endure an augmentation, or a diminution in its substance, that is, sometimes it would be bigger, and sometimes lesser: But, as S●lomon averred, that the seas, for all the coming in of rivers, are never the greater, so also, though fountains rise in one part of the world, and sink in another; and although also the air by attenuation, made by the active spirit of the Lord, moveth from the warm or summer hemisphere, unto the cold and winter hemisphere, yet is the world no bigger or lesser in its existency, for all that. What therefore the winter properly doth operate in one hemisphere of the world, the summer-hemisphear must needs act in the same proportion in the contrary; for if beyond the Line are made great reins in their winter, we must needs have great drought in the summer on this side the Line. When it is hottest with us, it will be coldest with them; if it prove temperate with us, it will be so with them; as the Sun being in the Equinoctial, maketh days and nights equally long, and the season temperate to both hemispheres. These things therefore being considered maturely in the first place, I proceed unto my practical conclusion: and my natural observation thereupon is, that the air included in the Weatherglass is made Hybernall, or of the nature of winter, by the dominion of cold; for as soon as the head of it feeleth the external cold, the contained air will immediately shrink up, and contract itself into a little space, and consequently the air is made more dense and thick: and that this is so, it appeareth by the mounting or attracting up of the water, for there is such a natural tye betwixt the one and the other, that if the one contracteth itself in a narrower place, namely the air, than the water will immediately mount up with it, and to it, because it is contiguous unto the air. By this therefore it is apparent, that the contracting and attracting virtue of the northern spirit, or rather divine puissance, which is made manifest in cold, doth first attract, contract, and condense the dilated air, and then the air so contracted by the northern spirit, doth draw or attract the water from beneath upwards, and that without altering of that water which was beneath, in any thing from that which is above; so that in conclusion, it is but one and the selfsame water. Lo here therefore it is by this demonstration proved feazible and possible, that water may be sucked and drawn from the caverns of the earth, which is fostered and maintained by the sea, even unto the top of the high mountains, and that by a natural means or operation, without any necessity of altering the form of the water into vapour, as Aristotle doth vainly surmise, and that contrary unto his axiom, Frustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora, That is vainly done by many, which may be effected by a fewer. chose we see and observe in the Weatherglass, that if the dilative virtue of the present Sun or hot winds, doth heat the head of the Weatherglass, or inflame the outward air, than the air within the glass will also dilate itself, and by its dilatation will strike down or precipitate the water, that the air contracted by cold had sucked or drawn up; and again, the visible sinking of the water doth point at, and prove, the invisible dilatation of the air.   

CHAP. X.  
That the actions of contraction and dilatation, and consequently of attraction and expulsion of air in the Weatherglass, with the effects of the elevation and depression of the water which are caused thereby, are most conveniently applied unto the air and water in the world.  
WE must consider, (as I have said before) that the catholic air and water in the world, filleth the whole vaulty cavity thereof no otherwise, than the air in the Weatherglass filleth the hollowness thereof; so that the fountains of all the world issuing from one sea, do seem to penetrate into the bowels of the earth, and fill the general veins thereof, being sucked and drawn up unto them by that selfsame reason, by the which the water is exalted into the uppermost part of the neck of the glass; and by this reason there is an evident relation between the fountains of the northern hemisphere, and those of the southern, forasmuch as it is expressed before, that the southerly air, which is on that side the Equinoctial line, is continued in his homogeneal nature with that on this side the line: So that the flying dilated air passeth from the south, and is condensed into clouds in the north. Wherefore it is apparent, that the matter which feedeth the fountains in the north, are more or less continuated unto those of the south, as the waters that are raised up into the highest degree of the glass are continued with them in the lower all which is fed and maintained with the pot of water, which we compare unto the sea.  
In which figure, EFG is the northern hemisphere, where the Sun is absent, and therefore winter inhabiteth there, and cold hath his dominion. EHG is the southern hemisphere, where the Sun is present, and therefore summer dwelleth there▪ and heat hath dominion. EGLANTINE is the Equinoctial line, which is as it were the bar, that divideth the northern region from the southern. A and B is the hollow vein in the earth, which continueth from the northern region to the southern, that there might be a relation between, or continuation in some measure, of the northern and southern waters, as well as of the northern and southern air of heaven; for being the wide sea D. which stretcheth from north to south, is the head, from whence all springs and rivers do originally arise, I see no reason that it should seem strange to any man, that I say, the northern fountains have relation by a continuity of substance unto the southern, and therefore the southern unto the northern. Wherefore I conclude, that when the catholic northern air of the hemisphere EFG is cold, it sucketh or contracteth unto it the air in the vein of the earth A, the which air being contracted, elevateth of the water out of the wide sea D, as is evidently demonstrated by the Weatherglass; for when the cold external air hath contracted by congelation the air in the head and neck of the glass, (which head and neck I compare unto the vein in the earth; for the vein of the earth is close, and expireth no way) than the water is drawn up by the contraction of the air, out of the vast water in the pot or basin, which I compare unto the sea. On the other side, in the summer or southern hemisphere EHG, where the Sun is present, the catholic air is subtiliated or rarified; and dilating of the air about the fountain▪ and in the cavity of the vein, beateth down and abaseth the water in the southern mouth of the vein in the earth B, towards C: so that oftimes in the summer, the springs are found either dried altogether, or at the leastwise much depressed. Now therefore I say, that by reason of the depression of the waters in the summerly south, by way of subtiliation of the air, and exhausting or drawing them up in the winterly north by the cold, the water is the apt to be raised in the cold north. Again, the elevation of the waters in the north, which were the summer before depressed, is effected by the empty air's contraction, which possesseth the place in the summer time in the vein of earth where the water was, as we see in the Weatherglass, and by the dilation of the air in the south, the water is easily there hid in the earth. So that it appeareth, that it is partly driven and pressed down in the south by heat, and consequently with the greater ease drawn up at the north, and partly elevated in the north by the cold winter: as if a chord were put into a hole of a great piece of timber, downward at one end, and did ascend upward at the other, thus:  
The selfsame will happen, but in contrary order, when the Sun, and consequently summer is in the northern hemisphere EFG, for then the springs will be there depressed, and in the southerly parts exalted. The seas draining or soaking into the bowels of the earth D, being the common medium, or cistern of both extremes, as well to receive the water pressed down, and distributing upward of that superfluity unto the surging, increasing, or winter fountains.  
Thus therefore do you see evidently, 
Eccles. 1.  how Solomon's saying is proved true, All rivers run into the sea, and the sea is not the greater; they return into the place from whence they came, that they may run or flow again.  
But let us examine Aristotle's opinion a little better, that we may the more plainly express the absurdity thereof: If that it were a vapour which was sent up out of the bowels of the earth, it must proceed from some mighty heat which must alter that great mass of cold water, which is in the bowels of the earth, into that vapour; but admit that this were so, then mark what absurdities would follow: First, he confesseth, that the fountains are colder in the summer than in the winter, because the external heat doth per Antony's peristasin, or by a contrary act preserve and keep in, and therefore multiply the inward cold of the earth; which being so, as it appeareth by the coldness of fountains in the summer, then by that selfsame reason, this fortified cold of the earth in the summer season, must needs also keep in, preserve, and fortify in the centre of the earth, that inward heat which causeth those vapours, which are the original of fountains. Mark the conclusion, for if that be so, namely, that the central heat in the summer should be greater, than would the vapours be in greater abundance in summer, for the greater the fire is, the more will be the smoke. And again, by reason of the great cold in the caverns of the earth, those vapours would be more suddenly condensed into watery drops, and consequently by that means, we should have higher Fountains, greater Floods, and more swelling Rivers in the Summer time then in the Winter; all which experience teacheth us to be erroneous; and, to conclude, Aristotle's assertion in this must needs be false. But it will be (I know) objected, that it is manifested unto the eye, that standing ponds, and such like humid places, are dried by the Summer heat, and how can that be, but because the Sun doth attract the moisture and consumeth it by converting it into vapours? I answer: For the first, that the Sun doth not draw but only rarify, and then the thing rarified doth tend upward. But that the Sun should spend all those moistures of Lakes and Ponds that way, namely by converting in into air; If that were possible, I will tell you what absurdity would follow, namely that the Sun by reducing all the waters into vapours, should thicken the air, when chose our Weatherglass teacheth us by that model of air, which is contained in it, that it doth attenuate and rarify the air and not thicken it. Again, a greater error would fall foul on the neck of Aristotle's Doctrine concerning the Generation of clouds, if this were so. For whereas his Opinion is, that a cloud is generated from vapours extracted out of the earth and water, by the attractive force of the Sun and Stars; it would follow then, that in the Summertime we should have more clouds and more rain than in the winter: But this is as false as the rest. But I say rather, that because the air is more rare and thin in the Summer, by reason of the presence of the divine act in the Sun, which rarifieth and attenuateth the air by his assidual action, and therefore we have fewer clouds in the Summer▪ For (as I proved before) the clouds are made by the compression of air, and the air again is by a circular course renewed, by the resolution of those Meteors it produced into their first invisible matter which was but air. I must confess that some part of the waters are subtiliated and by dilatation thrust into the winter Hemisphere, but the greatest part doth sink down by the insensible pores of the dry and thirsty earth, which drinketh it up, and keepeth it in her bowels, till it be sucked out by the contraction of the air, which filleth the pores and cracks thereof: which contraction happeneth by the cold of the winter following. For we see that if there be but a Hogshead full of water, it will endure a long time before the hot Sun will exhale it by subtiliation. Moreover, it is certain that what the Sun doth rarify in the day time, so that it riseth in a vaporous form upon the earth; in the night time, it falleth commonly again in foggy mists and dew. So that it is removed out of a contracted place, and dilated and besprinkled in mist and dew over the wide and spacious fields. Now that this is so, it is made evident, because we shall ever observe, that the Summer mists and dew is most frequent about Lakes and Rivers. I will for a conclusion of this Book and whole Section, only examine our princely Peripatetics Opinion, touching the Lightnings and the Thunders, that we may perceive therein also the validity of his Physical Doctrine.   

CHAP. XI.  
The Lightnings and Thunders are described in this Chapter, according unto Aristotle's Sentence: which is afterwards confuted by Testimony of Holy-Writ.  
HAving thus made a general inquiry into the Philosophy of Aristotle, touching the Original of the Winds, the Clouds, and Fountains, I cannot now but enter into his thoughts, concerning the wonderful beginning or primary causes and admirable effects of the Lightnings and Thunders, being in verity they are Meteors of so great marvel, that they require the profoundest speculation to consider them justly and as they ought to be, and therefore I doubt not but that if a due examination be made of Aristotle's validity concerning the research and discovery of so great a mystey, it will be more faulty than all the rest. Let us then observe in the first place, what his mind is touching the essence of the Lightnings. Aristotle's Opinion is, that the material cause of the Lightning, is, a hot and dry exhalation, drawn out of the earth, and elevated into the middle region of the air, by the virtue of the Stars: where partly by reason of a strong collision or concussion of clouds, and partly because of that antiperistasis which is had between the heat of the exhalation and coldness of the region, that inflammable matter so coarct into the belly of the cloud is set on fire, and breaking out of his prison doth tend downward, by reason of his terrestrial and compacted disposition: and he concludeth that the violence of this eruption, 
Lib. 2. Meteo.  is, that noise which men do commonly call by the name of Thunder. This I say, is the summary of Aristotle's mind touching the Lightning. And verily, Aristotle seemeth in some sort to be excused, if he err in this inquiry, being that it is a doubt not easily to be resolved, and therefore not only he, but also all other Philosophers almost have been inconstant in their resolutions, touching this point: Forasmuch as therein they have so staggered, and varied in this research, and have groped as it were by dark, for the finding out of the true light thereof. For Empedocles judged the Lightning to be caused by the interception, or stopping of the descent of the Sunbeams. But Anaxagoras would have it to be a portion of the aethereal or heavenly fire, which descended from above, into the concavity of the cloud, within the which afterward it was enclosed; and saith, that this light skipping and gliding out of the clouds, is called the Lightning, the effect of whose breaking forth, is, the Thunder. Others will have these flashes of fire to proceed from the dry winds; which being compassed about, compressed or coarctated within the clouds, these clouds are by them are set on fire, & thereupon cometh that noise which followeth, that turmoil in the clouds. And again, many others have otherwise determined of it. So that we may justly say, touching this point, and that rightly: Quot homines, tot sententiae. And now concerning the Opinion of Aristotle, it is in itself so contrary and contradictory unto the authority of the true Wisdom, that some of his learned Christian Disciples, have in the plain field of the Peripatetical Combat against the Truth turned tail (as the comm●n phrase is) and become Apostats or Renegadoes or relinquishers of their Faith, which they had in their Master's sincerity, touching this Doctrine. For we find it thus written by Margarita Philosophiae (as is before said) Queen damn Philosophorum considerantes mirabilem fulminis operationem, 
Murg. Phil. in cap. de fulmine.  ipsum non opus Naturae sed summi Dei effectum immediatum arbitrati sunt: Some of the Philosophers considering the admirable operation of the Lightnings, have assuredly held or thought it, not to be a work of nature, but the immediate effect of the most high God.  
But to ●ome unto the particulars of his Definition: He saith, that the material cause of the Lightning is taken from the Earth; the Agent in ●he elevation is the astral virtue, the external, accidental, or adventitious efficient is the collision, concussion or knocking together of opposite clouds, by reason of the antiperistasis that is made between the heat of the Exhalation, and the cold of the air's middle region; whereby the accension, or setting on fire the Exhalation, is made▪ And last, He showeth the reason, that the Lightning moveth downwards, namely because the Substance or matter thereof, is terrestrial and of an earthly compaction. I will therefore confute every one of these particles in order, and that first by Philosophical or natural reasons, and lastly, by the Authority of the holy Scripture.  
As concerning the material Substance of the Lightnings, which he saith is a hot and dry exhalation, and terrestially-compacted Substance, which is derived from the earth: First, it seemeth to be but a figment, because it is proved, that the Stars have no attractive virtue or force, as is proved before. Then, for that if the windy exhalation, which is light and more apt to arise and penetrate, by reason of its subtlety, be denied passage into the middle region of the air, much more must this kind of exhalation have his passage barred or hindered into that cold place, being it is (as he confesseth) grosser, more terrestrial and apt to be inflamed: But this impossibility will also be demonstrated by the authority of holy Writ, 
Apoc. 4. Job 36. Psal. 17.9.  Fulgura procedunt à Throno: Lightning p●oceedeth from the Throne of God. Again, he is said Fulgur are lumine suo desuper, cardinesque maris operire: To enlighten with his light from above, and to cover with it the compass of the Sea. And again, ignis ab ore ejus evolavit: Fire came from his mouth. And again, Flamma ex ore ejus prodiit: A flame came f●om his mouth. 
Job 41.18. Psal. 17.  Again, Illuxerunt coruscationes tuae orbi terrae: Thy coruscations or Lightnings did shine over the earth. Again, Fumus in ira ejus, & ignis à facie ejus exarsit: Smoak issued from him in his anger, and fire did flame forth from his face. What? Shall we imagine that this flaming matter was, as Aristotle feigneth, drawn or elected from the earth by the Stars, which God so familiarly sendeth forth? or dare any true Christian imagine, that so base and trivial an excrement of the earth would by the Patriarches, Prophets, and Apostles, with such a boldness, be ascribed unto God's essential power, and to be derived from his presence? Nay, had it not been an impudence in them to say, in regard of the divineness of the thing, that God is a consuming fire, as we find it written both in the old and new Testament? or would the Prophet testify, that he made his angels winds, and his ministers flaming fires? How basely might a true speculator into the divine mysteries judge, of the beginning of the Angels and spiritual lights, if their material substance were accidental exhalation? Again, we are taught, that the heaven or air is the treasure-house, from out whose bowels the winds, the clouds, the snow, the hail, and lightnings, and rainbow is extracted, and proportioned by the Spirit of God to do his will. And therefore, as before, Deus sapientia sua aptat pondus aeri, & appendit nubes in mensura, 
Job 28.25.  facit pluviae statuta & viam fulgetro tonitruum: God by his wisdom doth proportionate the weight of the air, and hangeth the clouds or waters in measure, maketh laws unto the rain, and a way unto the lightnings of the thunders. So that it is evident, that the matter of all meteors, be they watery or fiery, is hewn by the word or wisdom of God out of the catholic air, & consequently not out of the earth, neither is there any such need of the star's attraction or elevation in the business, being the pure matter of the lightnings is evermore in the divine puissance, and reserved in his secret treasure-house, to be called or chosen out at his will, who hath created all things to work how and which way he pleaseth; for were it not (I beseech you) a wondrous thing, that at an instant so great a quantity of exhalations could be drawn out of the earth, and elevated by the stars, as did suddenly and unlooked for, rain down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah? But our Aristotelians will say, according unto custom, that it was miraculous. I answer, that for all that, the meteor was material, for it was fire and brimstone. Now I would fain know of them, out of what magazine or store-house it came, and whether the stars drew it up from the earth, and whether God did not collect it immediately out of his own airy or invisible treasury or store-house? For St. Paul saith, that all visible things were first of things that were not seen. Secondly, touching the agent, he is more deceived in it then in the matter; for first, he maketh the agent which draweth up the exhalation, the attractive virtue of the stars; then he surmiseth, that the efficient cause which enlighteneth it, must be partly the dashing together of two clouds, and partly the contrariety which is between the heat of the exhalation, and coldness of the place, which meeting together, do cause the accension of the exhalation. Good God, what a Gallimofry he would make, and what a confusion of external actions, or efficient causes doth he fain? when there is but only one indeed, which is most internal or essential, that moveth which way it lift, and operateth all in all. Are these superficial, accidental, and external formal agents, the primary movers and animators of the bright lightnings? And yet it is said, that God doth animate and vivify them with his presence. What can we Christians imagine of the Aristotelian doctrine, when it would feign the immediate act of God in his prime angelical creatures, to be so poor and mean, as are the adventitious elevations of fumes by the starry creature, and the concussion of clouds happening by chance, and a conflict betwixt heat and cold? Verily it was no marvel, if when his invention did fail in the research of so high a mystery, he was put to such weak shifts, as in the eyes of wise men are scarce probable: For when we behold the admirable effects of the lightning, how it pierceth the scabbard without any hurt unto it, and melteth the sword, entereth the purse, and liquifieth the money, nay, pierceth the barrel or hogshead, and drinketh or consumeth the wine, the vessel not altered; yea, and what is more, that it hath understanding and reason to punish wicked contemners of this wondrous work of God, as having an angelical reason to correct the presumptuous; We cannot but say of Aristotle, that he is only embued with the wisdom of this world, and not with that which is from God, seeing that he doth foolishly imagine, that the lightnings have not an internal principle, and most essential agent, which maketh them to work and move at will where they please, even as the wind is said, spirare ubi vult, to blow where it list. The lightnings, I say) are agitated and carried when they will, and have consequently a volunty, being that their internal and central agent is that eternal Spirit of wisdom, which, as Solomon saith est omnibus rebus mobilior & sole atque stellis praestantior, 
〈◊〉. 7.  atque omni re penetrabilior; More movable than all things in this world, and more worthy in light than the sun and stars, and more piercing than any thing. 
Psal.  And therefore it was rightly said, Amictus lumine quasi vestimento, He is attired with light as with a garment. And, In lumine numen, in Numine lumen; In light is divinity, and in divinity is light. And this is the reason of the brightness in the Lightning, and of his infinite swiftness, and subtle penetration. And therefore it was but foolishly done of Aristotle, to assign unto the composition and animation of the lightnings, only external and adventitious efficient causes, and no internal and essential causes. But I will tell you two famous stories of certain cases, which happened in our time, to manifest unto you, that there is a divine volunty in the lightnings.  
In Ireland, there were two wenches which came from the market, whereof the one had bought her a pair of new shoes; these two travelling on foot homeward, and passing through a field not far from a wood, it chanced in the mean time that they were overtaken by a tempest of thunder and lightning; The one of the wenches seeing the thunder to approach, ran fast and called to the other wench, to hasten and shelter herself under the trees. But she laughed at her, lagged behind, and scorning, like a gallant, the thunder, said, Let the thunder kiss my backside (clapping her buttock with her hand); so as it hurt not my new shoes, I care not. Which when she had uttered, the lightning struck off only her posterior parts, and spared her shoes, which were not touched; and so the contemner of God's wondrous and fearful works died (according as she had said) miserably. Lo here, you Christian Peripatetics, and see, whether there be not an intellectual mover, and divine volunty, in the lightnings, clean of another nature than your master Aristotle hath taught you. There was also a young towardly scholar, a great follower of Aristotle, and a disputer in the Schools, a man (as it should seem) more confident in Aristotle's doctrine, than in the documents of holy Writ: This man being born at Salisbury, and having been commended for his industry and learning, was elected Master of the free-School there. Upon a time he having been at the Act at Oxford, did return homeward in the company of some Merchants, or other travellers, being on horseback. It happened, that as they traveled over Salisbury-plain, a great tempest of thunder and lightning did arise; and whereas the company which were with this scholar was very much dismayed, he encouraged them, bidding them not to fear; For, said he, it is nothing but a natural thing, caused of a hot and dry exhalation, which being drawn up by the Sun, and being included in the cold cloud, is there kindled, and so breaketh forth, and this is the cause of the noise you hear. Which when he had said, he only of all the company was by the lightning struck dead, and some of the rest somewhat astonished. Lo here, the loss of a miserable man, through his so confident an observation of the Heathenish doctrine! For if he had rejected that kind of learning, which is founded on the terrene and diabolical wisdom, and harkened unto the instruction of the true sapience, he would, in lieu of that profane speech, have worshipped him that speaks in thunder, and joined with his companions in prayer, beseeching him to divert his wrath from them, and to hinder his fiery ministers from harming them, and then no doubt, both he and they had passed free from damage: Then would he, by rejecting the forgery of Aristotle, have known the power of God, by these authorities of holy Writ: Nubes spargunt lumen suum quae cuncta lustrant per circuitum, 
Job 28.25.  quocunque eas movet voluntas Creantis, agit omne quod praeceperat illi super faciem terrae, sive sit ad flagellum, sive in beneficentiam: The clouds do spread abroad their light, which enlighten all peripherically, or circularly, whither soever the volunty of the Creator moveth; it performeth whatsoever the Creator commandeth, be it to punish, or to affect with goodness. And again, 
Job 36.  Fulgura nunquid mittis, & revertentia dicent tibi, Adsumus: Dost thou not send out the lightnings? and when they return, they will say, Lo we are here. Again, Ibunt directè emissiones fulgurum & tanquam a bene curvato arcu ad metam: 
Wisd. 3.22.  The lightnings being emitted, will go directly unto the mark, as if they were shot out of a well-b●nt bow. But, 
Leu. 10.2.  to come nearer, it is said in another place, Ignis exiens à conspectu JEHOVAE exanimavit filios Aaronis: Fire or lightning issuing from the aspect or face of JEHOVA did kill the sons of Aaron. 
Numb. 16.3.  And again, Ignis egressus à IEHOVA consumebat centum quinquaginta qui admoverunt thus: Fire or lightning proceeding from the face of JEHOVA did consume the hundred and fifty men which did offer francincense. And (as before), 
Apoc. 4.  Fulgura procedebant à throno, Lightnings did go out from the throne. But in another place, 
Psal. 17.9.  all this is more lively expressed thus: Ascendit fumus in ira ejus, & ignis à facie ejus exarsit, carbones accensi sunt abeo, etc. Prae fulgore in conspectu ejus, nubes transierunt, grando & carbones ignis, & intonuit de coelo Dominus & altissimus dedit vocem suam. A smoke did ascend in his anger, and fire did flame out from his face, coals of fire were kindled by him, etc. By the Lightning in his sight the clouds did move, hail and coals of fire, the Lord did thunder from heaven, the most High did utter forth his voice. By the which speech it appeareth evidently, that it is only God, which doth essentially effect all these things, and although we say in our common phrase of speech, that the Lightnings do cause the Thunder, or, in speaking more mystically, that the Angels inflame the air by their fiery presence, yet, in verity, it is God in his fiery Angels or flaming Ministers, as also in the thick clouds, and watery spirits, who produceth all these things to accomplish his will and pleasure. And therefore the Apostle: Deus operatur omnia in omnibus, God operateth all in all. And elsewhere: 
1 Cor. 12. 1 Cor. 8. Rom. 11.  Deus omnium Pater, à quo omnia: God is the Father of all, from whom are all things. And again, Ex eo, per eum, & in eo sunt omnia: Of him, by him, and in him are all things. But all this in our Meteorological business is more plainly expressed in the precedent words continued thus at large, in another place: Ascendit fumus de naribus JEHOVAE, 
2 King. 22.8.  & ignis de ore ejus v●ravit, carbones s●ccensi sunt ab eo, & inclinavit coelos & descendit, & caligo sub pedibus ejus, & ascendit super Cherubin, & volavit seu lapsus est super alas venti, posuit tenebras in ci●cu●tu suo latibulum cribrans aquas de nubibus coelorum: prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes succensi sunt, carbones ignis volabant, tonabat de coelo Dominus, & excelsus dabat vocem suam, misit sagittas suas, & disparuit eos fulgur: Smoak ascended out of the nostrils of JEHOVA, and fire flew out of his mouth, coals of fire were kindled from him, and he inclined or bowed down the heavens and did descend, and darkness was under his feet, and he mounted upon a Cherubin, and flew or glided upon the wings of the wind, made darkness round about him his hiding place, sifting forth rain from the clouds of heaven. The clouds were kindled at the brightness of his face, coals of fire did fly, the Lord did thunder from heaven, and the most high did utter forth his voice, he sent forth his arrows, and the Lightning did disperse them. By all which it is made evident, that there is no essential efficient cause which is natural, but only God in nature and beyond nature operateth all in all. For in the precedent description it is not said, that the clouds or winds sent out coruscations, or that fire came from the Sun, or other heavenly bodies, but smoke went out of the nostrils of JEHOVA, and fire out of his mouth; neither that vapours and Exhalations did gather clouds in the middle region of the air, but JEHOVA bowed down the heavens or air, and collected them at his pleasure; neither the coldness of the middle region did accumulate them into a dark mass or heap by condensation: But JEHOVA collected and gathered together by his privative and condensing property, that dark chaos or confused abyss; neither was it any Angelical efficient, but JEHOVA mounting upon the Cherubin, did animate it to move according to his pleasure. Nor was it the winds, that moved of themselves, but the spiritual Cherubin being first animated by JEHOVA, did excite the winds to move: neither was that exceeding darkness made for a secret Tabernacle unto JEHOVA, merely by the act of the Angelical wind: But JEHOVA moving on the Cherubin, incited the Cherubin to cause the winds to collect, and gather together the clouds; neither was it the resolutive faculty of the Sun, that melted the clouds into rain but JEHOVA that did sift or cribrate forth water or rain out of them; neither was it the collision or dashing together of the clouds, or antiperistasis, which was between the hot exhalation and the coldness of the place, which caused the actual Lightnings or inflammation of the clouds, but the brightness and inexplicable light of his presence did set the clouds on fire; neither was it the contentious strive which was made between the fire and water, in the cleaving of the cloud, which maketh the fearful sound from heaven, but it was JEHOVA that did thunder from heaven; it was the most high (I say) that did utter his voice from heaven, and sent forth his Lightning as arrows to destroy the wicked. Which being so, what have we Christians to do to look after any natural efficient cause, with the acute eyes of Aristotle, which (forsooth) must act and operate per se of themselves, without any consideration; when by the precedent Text it appeareth that St. Paul was no liar, when he said that God operateth all in all. And as for that Peripatetical distinction of causa principalis and secundaria, or subalterna, you see here that it is utterly disannulled by the Text before mentioned: For the only efficient cause as well in the first, second, third, and fourth Organ or Instrument, was God: For it was he that inspired the Cherubin; it was he in and upon the Cherubin, which did animate the winds; it was he in and upon the Cherubin by the winds, that gathered the clouds together; it was he that in and upon the Cherubin, by the winds, did sift out water and rain out of the clouds, and did set them on fire, by sending forth Lightnings from his Throne. And, in conclusion, though he use many Organs, yet the essential act which operateth in and by them all, doth issue forth from one simple and sincere identity, which comprehendeth no otherwise all things in himself, than unity in Arithmetic is assuredly reckoned for the father of multitude. Thus we see that the foresaid youngman was lost, by his too too much presuming on the vain and prestigious doctrine of his Peripatetical Master: For whereas he taught unto the honest Christians which were his Companions, the false doctrine of his Ethnic Master, in their greatest need, namely when the angry hand of the Almighty was in the heavens ready to menace them, if they called not out for grace, from him who spoke out of the clouds in time, and did wish them to abolish all fear, making them believe that the Lightnings were contingent things in nature, and made as it were by haphazard, and not endued with sense or reason, as being framed and shaped out, yea, and informed by external and superficial Principles; he with his companions should have remembered that saying, so often repeated by the Wiseman, Timor Domini est principium Sapientiae: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. If then both he and they had acknowledged that it was God that spoke in Thunder, being environed about with his potent Angels, they would then not have been so careless, but have prayed unto him heartily, have utterly forgotten this absolute acting-nature of Aristotle, considering that God is the only Naturating Nature of Natures. I could tell you of many other wonderful stories to my knowledge, but I will only insist upon these two. About some five or six years since, there was one Piper's daughter of Colebrook, who being a gleaning of Corn after the harvest was carried, in the company of her mother, and another young woman newly married unto a Glover in Colebrook who had been my servant: and also there was another daughter of the said goodwife Piper. The tempest approached when they were in the field, the elder daughter who had been, by their report, very disobedient unto her Parents, and would fearfully curse her mother ofttimes, seeing the Lightning to flash about her, cried out, Fie upon these Lightnings, I cannot endure them, I will go home: and when she was wished by the company to call on God, she would not; but they hastened unto an high Oak, which stood not far from a Park-pale, against the body whereof she placed her back, and laughing she said, she feared not now: For (said she) I am as safe as in my mother's parlour. The new married wife that had been my maid, leaned her elbow upon her knee, being also sat down, and the sister sat a little nearer the Park-pale, the mother stood under another tree hard by, and, in a dry ditch under the Oak, another wench did shelter herself: But ●o for all their imaginary safety, they could not fly the wrath of God: For the Lightning fell on the very top of that Oak, and the bolt ploughed or made a furrow all along down the Oak, continually without intermission, and came directly upon the eldest daughter, that thought herself so sure, and struck her stark dead; and took away, for a time, the use of the new married wive's arm, that leaned on her knee that was slain, the wench in the ditch was struck in an amazement as if she were dead, the sister that sat more near the pale saw a globe of fire as it did descend the tree, and found herself so hot as if she had been in a furnace, but had no other harm; the mother under the next tree, having her foot set out towards the tree, where her daughter sat, was struck lame on that foot; the new married wife was struck in such sort, that in a kind of distraction she ran up the lane, crying out still as she ran, Lord open thy holy heavens, Lord open thy holy heavens: At last they were all conveyed with the dead maid in a cart from the Village unto the Town of Colebrook, where the rest did recover within a few days. I saw the place immediately upon this, and spoke unto the new married wife, that was my servant, and had all these things confirmed unto me at her own house, where also her husband did relate unto me a wondrous case befell him in the interim: For being very careful of his new married wife, he perceiving the Tempest, did put on his new cloak, and took his old under his arm, and so went out into the tempest to meet his wife, and as he went through a field, great flakes of fire passed by him, whose foreparts were blunt, & their hinder-parts shaped like fire-drakes, and on the sudden, as if it were by a great gust of wind, they blow off his hat from his head; which when he followed and stooped to reach up, he found a piece of his new cloak which he wore, so artificially cut out, and in so neat a Triangular form, that he did admire at it; and there he showed me the place of his cloak, out of which it was cut, which was so neatly done, as if it had, after an exact geometrical triangular form, been cut out by a pair of shee●s.  
The second story is this. In the great sickness time, I came out of Wa●es, and remaining for a while with my noble friend, the Lord Bishop of Worcester at Ha●tlebury-Castle, there I was advertised of a strange mischance which happened by lightning and thunder, about five weeks before my coming thither, some three or four miles from the Castle. I would needs go see the place, and in the company of my worthy friends Mr. Finch, and Sr. Thomas Thornborow; I took a view of the place, which was under a tall and well-spread Elm, upon a little hill, where it was related by the inhabitants which dwelled close by it, that two yeoman's sons of good wealth, passed along with a load of hay, drawn with four oxen and two horses, which one of their father's servants did drive: The tempest of thunder overtaking them, he drew up the hill, and placed his load and cattle under the Elm, and himself stooped under his load of hay, and the two youths got upon a bench or seat of ●urf made round about the tree: at last there came a fearful stroke of thunder, at which the husbandman, who stooped under the cart, said, Good Lord, what a crack was that! At which words, the boys laughed out aloud, and mocking of him, said, A crack! But immediately a noise was heard on the upper boughs of the tree, and a solid matter all on fire came down directly between the boys, and struck the hair of one of them into the tree, and set the other so on fire, that the man under the cart, with others, were forced to run down the hill to fetch water to quench it; and when it was quenched, his skin was as hard as roasted pork. Thus they paid full dearly for their scoffs, and contempt of God's judgements, when as indeed they ought to have prayed God, to have preserved them from the ministers of his wrath. It is a dangerous thing to sport with, and laugh at the Saints. There is the thunderer from above, who hath messengers, able to revenge his cause, if he but nod unto them, in the twinkling of an eye.  
I know that some Peripatetic will reply, that it is but metaphorically meant, when Scriptures say, that God speaketh in thunder, and not really to be understood as it is spoken; which if it were true, then is the plainest phrase in Scripture to be so also understood, namely, clouds, snow, hail, etc. so that either it was a real speech, or not real; and if not real, it would rather draw me to error than truth. But Scripture is full of this kind of speech, and therefore the whole harmony of holy Writ doth take and construe it for real. Again, others do acknowledge the speech to be real but, say they, where God speaketh in thunder, that act is miraculous, and not natural. To which I answer with the mouth of the patient Job, saying, Pro irrigatione fatigat Deus densam nubem, & dispergit lucem nubis suae; God doth weary the thick clouds, 
Job 37.40.  and disperseth abroad the light of his clouds, for the watering of the earth. Whereby it appeareth, that God doth ordinarily gather together the clouds, and maketh them his organical instruments, to utter his voice unto mortal men, for the prospering of the annual fruits upon the earth. And therefore thus in another place, 
Job 36.  Si consideraret homo extensiones densarum nubium, fragores in tugurio illius exte●d●t super illud lucem suam, cum his judicaturus est populum & daturus cibum abunde. Also in another place all this is more plainly expressed, where it is said, Vide arcum & benedic eum qui fecit illum, valde specio sus est in splendore suo; gyravit coelum in circui●u gloriae ejus, 
Ecclus. 43.14.  manus Excelsi aptaverunt illum: imperio suo accelerat nivem & accelerate coruscationes emittere judicii sui. Propterea aperti sunt thesauri & evolarunt nebulae sicut aves, in magnitudine sua posuit nubes, & confracti sunt lapides grandinis, in conspectu ejus movebantur montes & in voluntate sua spiravit Notus. Vox tonitruum ejus reverberavit terram, tempestas Aquilonis & congregatio spiritus aspergit nivem, etc. Behold the rainbow, and bless him that made it; it is wondrous beautiful in his brightness, it did compass the heaven in the circle of his glory, the hands of him that is on high made it. By his command he hastens the snow, and maketh speed to send fo●th the lightnings of his judgement. Therefore are the treasuries opened, and the clouds fly forth like birds. He placed the clouds in his greatness, and the stones of the hail are broken. In his sight the mountains did move, and according to his will the south-wind hath blown, and the voice of his thunder have reverberated the earth. The tempest of the north, and the congregation of spirits, doth spread abroad, or besprinkle the snow, etc.  
In this speech of the son of Syrach, the Lord of lords is proved to be the sole essential and efficient cause of all meteors, namely, of the rainbow, the snow, the lightnings, the clouds, the hail, the thunder, the winds and tempests; as also it showeth, that the matter of them is the air. Wherefore he saith in the conclusion, The congregation of spirit doth spread abroad the snow. Lastly, it telleth us, that the hands or Spirit of God are not idle, in the effecting of such works, as Aristotle termeth natural, and therefore operateth not only primarily, but also secundarily, yea, and catholically, in and over all things, as well in their generation, as preservation and corruption.  
To the last clause of his definition, wherein he seemeth to aver, that the lightnings move downward, because the stuff of it is of a terrestrial compacted nature. I answer, that this reason is over weak, considering the Gigantean author that alleged it; for it may in the selfsame manner be inferred, that the Gunpowder, which is of a far grosser stuff than is that of the lightnings, must therefore strike downwards; and yet we see by experience, it riseth in spite of a mean resistance, by its natural inclination upward, as we may perceive by places that are undermined, and squibs, which are violently carried upward. I come therefore unto such true definitions of lightning and thunder, as are maintained and allowed by the Book of Verity.   

CHAP. XII.  
How the lightning and the thunder oughtrightly to be described by the true Philosopher, and that seriously, according unto the tenor of holy Writ.  
SInce therefore it hath been made manifest in the precedent Chapter, that Aristotle hath utterly erred in his conceit, touching as well the material, as essential and formal cause of the lightnings, let me gather, as near as my weak capacity will give me leave, what should be the true nature, and original essential cause of the lightnings, according unto the harmonical consent of holy Scriptures.  
Lightning is a certain fiery air or spirit, animated by the brightness of JEHOVA, and extracted out of his treasury, which is the heavens, or catholic air, to do and execute his will, for the good or detriment of the creature.  
Or else in this manner.  
Lightning is a shining brightness, proceeding out of the clouds, being the pavilion of JEHOVA, and is sent from the throne of God, even down unto the earth, covering the surface of the seas.  
But if we would describe the lightning with all his accidents, and consequently express the whole essence of the thunder, which is a mixed nature, we may effect it thus, out of the testimony of the holy Bible.  
Lightning is a fire burning from the face or presence of JEHOVA, at the sight or contact of whose brightness the clouds do pass away, and the Almighty doth thunder and utter his voice from heaven, and sendeth forth his arrows for the destruction of the wicked.  
Or thus.  
Lightning is a fire proceeding from JEHOVA, being sent out of his dark tabernacle from above, at the sight whereof, the waters or clouds, as being terrified, and the abyss as it were troubled, do haste away; in which turmoil, the voice of his thunder moveth circularly, and the fiery or kindled coals are sent forth, as arrows sent out from a well bend bow, to effect his will, as well for benediction, as for vengeance, both in heaven and earth.  
Or in this sort.  
Lightning or coruscation is a clear and pure light in the clouds above, the which the wind that passeth by doth purify, etc.  
By the first of these descriptions, the manifest material cause of the lightning is expressed to be a fiery air; the place out of which it is drawn is the treasure-house of God, or the heavens. Also the formal cause is expressed, in that it is set down to be a fiery spirit or air; the efficient cause (I said) according unto the truth's testimony, to be the will or word of God, on which dependeth that spirit of wisdom, by which God operateth all things. Lastly, the final cause is also noted, forasmuch as it is said, That it was created to do the will of him that ordained it, either for the pain or pleasure of mortal men. All which is evidently confirmed out of the places of Scripture mentioned before.  
The second definition is confirmed out of the Revelation, 
Apoc. 4.  which saith, Fulgura procedunt à throno: 
Job 36.  Lightnings proceed from the throne. Again, he is said Fulgurare lumine suo desuper, card●n●sque ma●is operire: To lighten with his brightness from above, and to cover with it the corners of the Sea. 
Psal. 17.9.  And again, prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes transierunt: The clouds did move by reason of the Lightning, and brightness which was in his sight or presence. 
Job 41.18.  And again, ignis ab ore ejus evolavit: Fire flew out of his mouth. And again, Ab ore ejus velut taedae praeeuntes, & quasi halitus ejus carbones accenderent, 
Psal. 76.17.  & flamma ●x ore ejus prodicret: From his mouth passed as it were torches, and as it were his breath did kindle coals, 
Job 36.  and flame came out of his mouth. Also the effect of this description is verified by these words, Illuxerunt coruscationes tuae orbi terrae: Thy Lightning shined over the earth. Again, Exten●it nubes quasi tentorium suum ut fulguret lumine suo desuper.  
The members of the third description (out of the which also the whole nature of the Thunders is enucleated) are confirmed by the page of verity. For first, the material cause of the Thunder is pointed out in these words: That it is a burning fire or fiery air: also in the description of it, his formal cause is selected: the efficient cause is noted to be JEHOVA in his wrath; the immediate effect thereof is the exagitation of the clouds, and the loud noise or voice of the thunders. Lastly, it concludeth, that the end or final cause, is to exercise God's vengeance on the wicked.  
The fourth and fifth description, in this: Jam non respiciunt homines lucem, cum nitida est in superioribus nub●bus, quas ventus transiens purgavit: Now men do not respect the Light, when it is pure and neat in the higher clouds, the which the wind that passeth by doth depurate.  
As for the Thunder, I gather out of the Holy Scriptures; that it is to be defined thus;  
The Thunder is a noise, which is made in the cloudy tent or pavilion of JEHOVA, over the which extending the beams of his Light, he covereth the superficies of the Sea, and illuminateth the earth, that thereby he may judge the people thereof, and give them meat abundantly.  
To prove this by sacred authority: job saith, Si consideraret homo extensiones densarum nubium, 
Job. 36.  fragores in tugurio illius, extendit super illud lucem suam, cum his judicaturus est populum, & da●urus cibum abunde: If man doth consider the extension of the thick cloud, the noise and Thunders in his tent or pavilion, he extendeth his light upon it; with these he doth judge the people, and give them meat in abundance. In which words it is apparent, that fragor, or the noise and bruit is the formal cause, and the light from JEHOVA the efficient: The Organs of the voice are the thick clouds, which are called the cottage or dwelling place of JEHOVA: and therefore in another place: 
Psal. 17.  Posu●t tenebras latibulum suum in circuitu: Prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes transierunt, & intonuit de coelo D●minus: He put darkness about his secret place: The clouds did pass away at the sight of his brightness, and the Lord did thunder from heaven. To conclude, the final cause of the Thunder and Lightning is explained in this, namely that it is as well to judge the people, as to give them meat in abundance. And therefore it is manifest by this, that God appeareth in Thunder, as well to the effecting of things which are natural and necessary, both for the punishment and nourishment of his creatures, as miraculously.  
Or else it may be defined thus;  
Thunder is the vioce of the most High, which is uttered out of a cloud, and accompanied with flame and Lightning, being ordained by God for the affliction of the wicked.  
In the which definition, the material is the Organical cloud, the formal cause is the voice with Lightning, the efficient is JEHOVA, and the final, that it is effected for the punishment or scourge of the wicked. All which is confirmed out of the precedent Texts: 
Psal. 17.  Intonuit (saith David) Dominus de coelo, alt●ssimus d●dit vocem suam, grandinem & carbones ignis, & misit sagittas suas & dispa●uit eos, fulgura multiplicavit & conturbavit eos: The Lord thundered from heaven, the most High did utter forth his voice, hail and coals of fire, and he sent his arrows and did sever or disperse them; he multiplied his Lightnings and troubled them.  
Or after this manner;  
Thunder is a voice or sound▪ proceeding from the Lightning, which issueth from the Throne of God, and is sent by the divine power out of the cavity of the clouds into the open air, to execute his will, either to the creatures good or harm.  
Where, the material or Organical cause of the voice is the cloud, the formal is the voice and sound; the efficient is the Lightning from God, and the final is either for benediction or malediction. 
Apoc. 4.  And this is confirmed out of St. John: De Throno procedunt fu gura: The Lightnings proceed from the Throne. And Job: Numquid mittis fulgura, 
Job 38. Psal. 17.  & ibunt, & revertentia dicent, Adsumus? Dost thou not send forth the Lightnings, and they go forth, and returning again they will say, We are present. And the Psalmist: Ascendit fumus in ira ejus, & ignis a fancy ejus exarsit: A smoke ascended in his wrath, and fire did flame forth from his face. Again, Nubes & caligo in circuitu ejus, 
Psal. 97.2.  ignis ante ipsum procedit, & inflammabit in circuitu ejus, illuxerunt fulgura ejus orbi terrae, Clouds and darkness were about him; fire goeth out before him, 
Psal. 76.  and will burn round about him: his Lightnings gave light unto the earth. Again, Vocem dederunt nubes, etenim sagittae tuae transierunt: The clouds made a noise, for thine arrows went out, etc. Where by arrows is meant the Lightnings, as if he had said, because thy Lightnings broke out of the clouds, therefore they made a noise, or uttered a loud voice. 
Wisd. 5.22.  And Solomon: Ibunt directe emissiones fulgurum, & taxquam à bene curvato arcu nubium: Thy emissions or sending forth of Lightnings will go directly to the mark, as if they were sent out of a well bend bow. Whereby he seemeth to argue, that the clouds do utter their voice, by reason that the Lightnings do pierce them.  
Or in this sort;  
Thunder is the voice of God, compassed about by the waters or clouds, before whom the fire goeth forth, and doth inflame and set them on fire circularly round about him.  
Hereupon Job: 
Job 38.34.  Numquid elevabis in nube vocem tuam, & impetus aquarum operiet te? Wilt not thou elevate thy voice in the cloud, and the abyss or power of the waters will cover thee? 
Psal. 97.2.  And again, as before: Nubes & caligo ejus in circuitu ejus, ignis ante ipsum procedit, & inflammabit in circu●tu ejus: Clouds and darkness are about him, fire goeth before him, and will inflame or burn circularly round about him.  
Or thus;  
Thunder is the the voice of God, at the noise whereof he causeth a multitude of waters in the heavens or air, and effecteth Lightnings and rain.  
For Jeremy saith, 
Jerem. 10.13.  Ad vocem suam dat multitudinem aquarum in coelo, & elevat nebulas ab extremitate terrae, fulgura in pluviam facit, educit ventum e thesauris suis: At his voice he causeth a multitude of waters in heaven, and doth elevate clouds from the extremity of the earth, and turneth his Lightnings into rain, and bringeth the wind out of his Treasury.  
Or in this manner;  
Thunder is the multitude of the sound of waters, or the voice of the clouds, being effected by the coruscations and Lightnings of the Almighty.  
Or thus;  
Thunder is a sound of the multitude of waters being troubled, fearing and b●aying at the bright aspect or presence of JEHOVA.  
In which description the material Organ of the voice is the clouds or waters, being as it were afraid and troubled at the emission of the Lightnings, whereupon they give a loud voice or sound, by reason of that penetrative power, which the bright and shining, or fiery presence of JEHOVAH, (who is the worker of wonders) doth effect: Whereupon the royal David (as is said) prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes transierunt, 
Psal. 17.  grando & carbones ignis, intonuit de coelo Dominus: At the brightness of his presence, the clouds did move or pass their way; hail and coals of fire; the Lord did thunder from heaven. 
Psal. 96.17.  And again, Viderunt te aquae, Deus, & timu●runt, & turbatae sunt abyssi, multitudo sonitus aquarum, vocem dede●unt nubes, vix tonitrui tui in rota: The waters have seen thee, O God, and were afraid, and the abyss was troubled, a multitude of the sound of the waters, the clouds echoed forth a voice, the noise of the thunders wheeled about, etc. Also the formal cause is explicated in that it was made by a great noise and Lightnings. The efficient cause seemeth to be the Lightnings from God, or rather the fiery aspect of God, animating the Lightnings, and directing them unto a determinated mark. So that it appeareth, that the Lightnings are as it were the Instruments of God in his Wrath; no otherwise then a sword is the instrument of the man that striketh; when we say that it is this or that man which did strike and not the sword: And for this cause, I say with the Apostle, that as it is only God who is the sole Actor in things; So also is he the Father of the Thunders, who sendeth out his Lightnings as arrows from his throne. Lastly, I say, that the final cause expressed in them is, to accomplish the divine will of the Creator.  
To conclude, it may be defined thus:  
Thunder is the voice, speech, or eloquence of the Almighty, or a sound going out of the mouth of JEHOVA, which is directed under the whole heavens, with light, dispersed over the face of the earth; after the which, there followeth a loud noise or rumbling, or God thundereth with the voice of his excellency; the which when it is heard, is not found.  

Job 37.  Audite (saith Job) cum tremore vocem seu loquelam, vel eloq ●um abore ejus egrediens, quod sub ●oto-coelo dirigit & lucem super terminos vel ora● terrae. Post eum rugit sonitus, tonat voce excellentiae suae, & non investigatur cum audita fuerit vox ejus. Hear with trembling; he directeth the voice, speech, or eloquence, proceeding from his mouth, under the whole heavens, and his light over the ends of the earth. After him roareth a sound, he thundereth with the voice of his excellency, the which when it is heard is not found.  
To conclude, it is most apparent by this which is already said, that the opinion of the Peripatetics, as well Christian as Ethnic, is most inconsiderate and erroneous, in averring, that the lightnings are hot and dry exhalations, extracted out of the earth, and elevated on high, even unto the middle region of the air, by the attractive virtue of the Sun, and that they being included into a cloud, and kindled, partly by the collision or knocking together of other clouds, and partly by the coldness of the place, do by the eruption of their flames cause the thunders. I would have every wise Christian to observe duly, by what hath already been said, whether the mystery of a tempest and whirlwind do consist and stand upon a thing of so small moment, and poor esteem, as Aristotle would make us believe; or if it arise not out of a far more profound and inscrutable abyss or profundity, seeing that the lightnings are reported by truth itself, to be such fiery lights of God, as issue or proceed from his throne, and the thunders are justly termed, the voice, word, and eloquence of JEHOVA. And for this reason, JEHOVA reprehending the boldness of these kind of worldly Philosophers which presume so far to censure his inscrutable actions, or to dive into the depth of his mysteries, touching the essential causes of these meteors, without the warrant and assistance of God's Spirit, and falsely to make the world believe, that his hidden and abstruse secrets are effected after their vain imaginations, (which vanish in the conclusion, and become as nothing, because indeed they are grounded on nothing else, but foolish and self-conceited fantasies and vanities) seemeth to utter unto them these speeches: Auribus percipite, & considerate mirabilia Dei fortis. Nosti cum disponat Deus de illis, 
Job 38.  cum splendeat lux nubis suae? Nosti-ne de libramentis densae nubis mirabilia Dei perfecti scientiis? Quaenam est via, qua in parts dissilit lux? Cujus utero egressa est glacies? Aut pruinam coeli quis genuit? Quanam via itur ubi habitat lux, & tenebrarum ubi est locus? Perceive with your ears, and consider the marvellous works of the strong God. Dost thou know when God disposeth of them, when the light of his cloud doth shine forth? Dost thou understand the marvails of God, who is perfect in sciences, touching the balancing and pondering of the thick clouds? Which is the way in which the lightnings do skip forth, being divided into parts? Out of whose womb doth the ice proceed, or who hath begotten the frost of heaven? Which is the way that directeth o● leadeth unto the habitation of l●ght, and which is the seat of darkness? This saith JEHOVA, (I say) the strong God, in checking of the vainglorious wisemen of this world, for their presumption; and especially he pointeth at the bold Peripatetics, who presumptuously profess, that they of themselves (without the teaching of the true wisdom) do know all these things: And yet the wisest amongst men speaketh thus, Animadverti totum opus Dei, non posse hominem ass qui illud opus quod sit sub sole, quam laboriose homo quaerat, 
Ecclus 9 ●2.  non tamen assecutum esse; quinetiam si cogitet sapientissimus cognoscere, non tamen posse ass●qui. I observed every work of God, that man is not able to attain unto that work which is under the sun, how laboriously soever he seeketh. Yea verily, if the wisest man thinketh to know it, he will not be able to attain unto it. By which words, Solomon pointeth at the insufficiency of man in himself, that is to say, without the conduct of the spirit of wisdom, to attain unto the knowledge of God's mysteries, which also he doth seem to intimate in these words; Quis hominum cognoscit consilium Dei? 
Wisd. 9  nam ratiocinationes mortalium sunt timidae, & instabiles cogitationes eorum. Infestum enim corruptioni corpus aggravat animam, & deprimit terrena habitatio mentem plenam curis multis; & vix conjicimus ea quae in terra sunt; quae autem in coelis sunt quis investigavit? & consilium tuum quis noverit, nisi tu dederis sapientiam, & miseris sanctum Spiritum tuum è locis altissimis, sie enim correctae sunt eorum quae in terris sunt semitae; itaque sapientiâ fuerint salvati. What man doth know the counsel of God, for the reasonings of mortal men are doubtful, and unstable are their cogitations. For the body being subject unto corruption, doth aggravate the soul, and an earthly habitation doth depress the mind, which is full of cares. And we do scarcely guess at the things which are upon the earth, who is then able to find out the things which are in heaven? Or who can know thy counsel unless thou shalt give wisdom, and send thy holy Spirit from above; for by that means were the ways of such men as were upon the earth corrected and amended, and therefore were they saved or preserved by wisdom, etc. Out of which golden words, I gather, first, That the heathen men were ignorant in the mysteries and abstruse operations of God, because they wanted the true spirit of wisdom, which God revealeth unto his Elect, by the virtuous infusion and influxion. of his holy Spirit. Next, that for this reason, the subject of true Philosophy is not to be found in Aristotle's works, but in the Book of truth and wisdom, forasmuch as it is a copy of the revealed Word. Thirdly, that it is a great folly for Christians to seek for the truth, where it is not to be found; I mean, in the works of the pagan Philosophers, and that is made manifest, forasmuch as it contradicteth altogether the verity of Scriptures; and therefore it is pronounced by St. James, to be terrene, animal, and diabolical. Verbum saepienti.   

CHAP. XIII.  
A conclusion of this work, including an admonition unto all good Christians, to beware of the Ethnic Philosophy, and to stick and cleave fast unto that which is taught us by the Scriptures, and that for reasons herein set down.  
LEt it now be lawful for me, in the concluding of this Section, (O ye Europaeans, who seem so seriously and zealously to spend your days in the Christian Religion) to turn the sharp edge of my pen, and the rougher file of my speech unto you, who being too too much seduced by the falls doctrine of Aristotle, do think and imagine the meteors, but especially lightning and thunder, to be a common natural thing, of little or no estimation at all, as being only produced of nature, by reason of a hot distemper of the air. I would request you, as a true Christian ought unto his brethren, to observe well, and attend with diligence, this admonition which I will for a Farewell bestow upon you, beseeching you not to scorn or reject my precedent assertion, which hath told and sufficiently proved unto you, that the lightnings and thunders, yea, and all other meteors, are the immediate works of God's hand, being that by this endeavour of mine, you may not only bring a comfort and consolation unto your souls, when you hear the terrible voice of the Lord, and make you to call to mind your passed sins and iniquities, and to pray him heartily to pardon you, 
Job 37.  and not to call your offences unto an account in his anger; but also give the honour and glory unto him, who thundering from above, worketh marvellously.  
I would have you therefore to know, that the worldly wisemen of this our Christian world, who are, as it were, pages or followers of the Ethnic Philosophers, have hitherto blindly, or after the manner of lunatic persons, erred in their imaginations, forasmuch as they being instructed in the blind wisdom of this world, by their Ethnic tutors and doctors, will not be brought to believe, that God doth work immediately all things in heaven and in earth, only by his word; but mediately, namely, by other necessary natural or supernatural means, as essential efficient causes; when as the holy Text doth in plain terms instruct us, that it is one & the selfsame essence, which doth act and operate all in all by his word, using each creature only as his organ or instrument, wherein and by the which he moveth, and worketh his will. Is not this their tenet or assertion (I beseech you) altogether opposite and contradictory unto the divine authority, which saith, Though there be that are called gods, 
1 Cor. 8.5.  whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be many gods and many lords) yet unto us there is but one God, which is that Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. But every man hath not that knowledge, & c? Out of which words we may gather, that though we worldlings attribute this or that work unto angels, or stars, or winds, or a created nature, according unto the doctrine of the Ethnic wisdom; yet such true Christian Philosophers as St. Paul was, d●d acknowledge but one God, of whom proceed all actions in this world; and one Word, by which only, and not by any creature in the world, each thing is immediately effected in this world. All which, although unto real Christians it seemeth verity and truth, yet unto the Philosophers and wise men of this world, this kind of doctrine, issuing from the heavenly wisdom, is rejected and derided; And why? Forsooth because (as the Text doth teach us) every man hath not this knowledge; and the reason is, because they respect more the wisdom of this world, which is terrene and animal, and, as St. Paul saith, mere foolishness before God, then that which is from above, namely, from the Father of light, Et sic evanuerunt in imaginationibus suis, And so they did vanish in their imaginations. I heartily wish you therefore, which are brought up and made familiar in the holy Bible, and nourished spiritually, and guided by the law of our Lord Jesus Christ, to conceive seriously, and perpetually to revolve with yourselves, that God created the first consistence of things, namely, the humid and fluid waters, by his word, and they remain in the word, and by the word, in the selfsame humid or moist estate as they did, even unto this very day. Also he framed out of this catholic water the heaven and the earth by his word, (as St. Peter saith). Again, he did produce by his said word the light in heaven, 
2 Pet. 3.  the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the day, the night, and all other creatures, and did ordain them to serve for divers Organs, by the which he might variously act or operate his volunty, as well in heaven above, as in the earth and waters beneath. All which do move and work in and by the Word. And, in conclusion, God by his Word doth exactly and solely operate all in all, as the Apostle saith: which being so, I would fain know where is this Physical nature of the Peripatetics, unto the which they assign an essential form of action of itself and by itself? Verily, it is most apparent, that there is no such catholic actor, 
Joh. 1. Ephes. Wisd. 1. Wisd. 12.1.  as the Peripatetics do fain: But it is one only Word of God; one catholic Christ, which filleth all things; one eternal Sapience which replenisheth the world; one incorruptible Wisdom which is in all things, that only worketh and effecteth immediately all in all. And therefore it is apparent, that without it nothing can exist and act.  
Forasmuch therefore as the air is a part of the celestial consistence, it followeth that it was made by the Word, and that it doth as it were swim in the Word: Forasmuch as it comprehendeth all things (as in many places of Scripture it is expressly set down,) and it is moved and guided by the Word; yea verily, and in the air, (being it is the universal Treasury of God) there are many peculiar cabinets, out of the which, by his Word, (which is effected by his strong and powerful Angels, as David telleth us) he doth produce divers kinds of Meteors, (as is proved before,) which are committed unto the government and presidentship of divers Angels or Spirits, the which also are created of air, and exist in the air, by the Word, and therefore move and act in the Word, or in and by one and the same divine Spirit, 
Ezek. 37.  which the Prophet Ezekiel called from the four winds, to make the dead to live again) by whose administration (the Word moving them, and operating in them) all Meteorologick species or kinds are brought forth and procreated in the air; yea, and all those wonderful tempests, which happen in the world are effected or produced. And hereupon it is said, that he made his Angel's winds, and his Ministers flames of fire. Again. Dei curruum duae sunt myriades, multa millia Angelorum, 
Psal. 68.19  Dominus cum illis est, Dominus Sinai in Sanctuario habitans: There are two myrad●, even many thousands of Angels, the Lord is with them, the Lord of Sinai inhabiting in his Sanctuary. Where he meaneth in his apparition in a tempest, as he did upon the Mount Sinai. These spirits therefore (which in regard of their external were made or created of air, and with the air) do exercise their office or Ministry in the air, and are by God's Ordination conversant about the directions of Tempests, Clouds, Rain, Snow, Hail, Frost, Lightning, Thunder, Comets, Chasmus, Floods, or Inundations, Heat, Cold, Moisture, Drowth, and all other Accidents which do appear in the air. And hereupon it is insisted by the Revelatour, 
Apoc. 7.  that by the Ordination of God, four Angels were appointed as Precedents over the four winds, of the four corners of the earth, unto whom it was assigned to hurt the earth and waters, and trees, and fruits. But there it is said; that they had not any power to execute their harmful or tempestuous violence, on the earth and waters, till the imperious Angel had excited or moved them unto it. But as all th●s was unknown unto the Ethnic Philosophers, so hath it been altogether neglected, or rather rejected by their Christian disciples, because that in their mouths and writings, the lying and false spirit of Aristotle, hath taken too deep a root or possession, and challenged unto itself the prime and superior place. Although therefore that this my admonition, may seem unto such as are wedded unto their will, and hood-winked with Aristotle's subtle documents, to be but wild, ridiculous, and of little or no esteem: yet I would have them know that it is a thing of great importance and high consequence, being that it concerneth and toucheth the honour of God: For by it true Christians may fundamentally know, and understand the real and essential causes of tempests, and other acts and operations, which do thereunto belong, and thereby perceive that they happen not by case fortuit, neither operate by any act of their own, as the fantastic Ethnics have devised or feigned in their writings, but are traduced out of the holy Treasuries by the Divine Providence, and are sent down here below, by the operation of the Word, and execution of his Angelical Ministers; either to afflict and scourge the wicked for their offences, or by putting them in remembrance of their sins, that they may, by the fear thereof, be driven to repent: So that when they unto their terror, shall hear the voice of the Lord in Thunder from above, and behold the fiery flashes of his wrath and indignation, or shall see the dreadful inundations caused by abundance of Snow or Rain, they might be induced to repentance, and be humbled, and incited to invoke their Creator unto their aid, and to pray him heartily to avert all dangers from them, and to mitigate his Tempests, and to pacify the fury of his fiery or watery Ministers, and to grant them them milder and more benign weather, with gentle and fertile rains, and to bless and save the fruit of their lands, and to preserve their cattle, which feed upon them; as also their houses, and other such like necessary additaments, from the violence of his tempestuous Angels or Spiritual instruments: chose, who neglecteth this doctrine, which is founded on the true Wisdom, and wallowing as it were with the Sow in the mire, betaketh himself unto the rules of that Wisdom, which is but mere foolishness before God, and consequently will imagine all these Meteorological marvels, to proceed by chance, and accidentally, and without the act of any internal principle, and for that cause will neglect them, as esteeming them only things natural; and therefore will neither dread them, as indeed they ought to do, nor yet acknowledge him, who is the true Author of them, and immediate Actor in them; is justly to be numbered among those men, at which the Wiseman aimeth in this speech, 
Wisd. 15.  All men (saith Solomon) are vain by nature, in whom is the ignorance of God, and who cannot understand him who is by such things as are made, nor yet conceive the workman by the consideration of his works.    

The Epilogue unto this Section.  
THus (Judicious and Christian Reader) have you understood the main difference that is between the wisdom of this world, which the Apostle affirmeth to be but mere foolishness before God, and that which descendeth from above, and issueth from the Father of Light, which is the essential and true Spirit of Sapience or Discipline: And consequently, you may easily discern, how the Ethnic Philosophy, that is grounded upon the worldly wisdom, forasmuch as it relieth only on the Traditions of men, and Elements of this world, is but a vain fallacy, or Prestigious Figment; and therefore only that of the Patriarcks, Prophets, and Apostles, which is founded upon the Catholic Christ, or Eternal Spirit of God, in whom is the plenitude of Divinity, is only true, real, and essential. And therefore I may boldly conclude, and speak unto you, with other Christians, in Moses his language, saying, Contestor hodie contra vos Coelum & Terram, 
Deut. 30.19.  me vitam & mortem, bonum & malum, benedictionem & maledictionem, praepossuisse tibi. Quare elige vitam, ut tu cum semine tuo vivas. I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, good and evil, benediction and malediction. Therefore choose life, that you with your seed may live, and increase in the knowledge and understanding of God, being that in the true Wisdom consisteth all true Philosophy, certain Science, and complete Discipline.  
FINIS.   

THE SECOND SECTION OF THIS TREATISE WHEREIN The real History and fundamental grounds of Sympathy, or concupiscible Attraction and Coition, and consequently of all Magnetical sorts of curing: As also of Antipathy or audible expulsion, and therefore of each malady or annoyance, are proved by infallible reasons, maintained by the assertions of the wisest Philosophers and Cabalists, justified by the inviolable Testimonies of Holy Scriptures.  
And lastly, verified and confirmed by sundry Magnetical Experiments.  
Gemina fecit Deus omnia, quorum alterum contrarium est alteri; nec quicquam factum est quod mancum est,  Syrach. 42.25. 
Omnia duplicia, unum contra unum, & non fecit quicquam deesse,  Eccles. 42. vers. 25. 
LONDON, Printed for Humphrey Moseley, at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1659.   

The Second Section of this TREATISE. The First Book.  
The Argument of the First Book.  
AFter that the Author had by diligent enquiry understood, that all Sympathy and Antipathy did spring immediately from certain different passions of the Soul, or vivifying Spirit, whereof the one is Concupiscible, and the other is Irascible; and yet perceived them by effect to be in Creatures, as well Vegetable and Mineral, as Animal; he was surprised with an especial desire, to find out the radical occasion or beginning thereof. And when he had well pondered and considered that eternal Unity, (which is the head and root of all things) in its simple and absolute nature, he could discern no such diversity in its essence, seeing that it existeth for evermore, but only one and the same Identity. For, according unto holy Writ, Sicut tenebrae ejus, 
Psal. 138.11.  ita & lux ejus; As his darkness, so is his light. Wherefore he gathered, that a twofold aeviall effect or principle, clean opposite unto one another in condition and disposition, must needs spring and arise from these two several properties, in that one entire essence; namely, Nolunty and Volunty, whereof the first was expressed by darkness, and the other by light: For when this mental Eternity, and infinite Light, in whom in verity there is no darkness, wills not, it reserveth itself within itself, that is, it reflecteth his beams into itself, and so informeth nothing by his presence, but leaveth the universal Abyss or Chaos (which is said in this estate to dwell and exist in the divine puissance) dark, deformed, quite void, and destitute of its vivifying act, or resplendent brightness; and this his negative action is the perfect character of his Nolunty, the general effects whereof are darkness and privation. But when this abstruse unity doth send out the benign and salutary brightness of its essence, (which is the expression of his Volunty or will) into the deformed Chaos, than deformity, or darkness and privation, are forced to give place unto their opposite corrivals, Conformity, or Light and Position, which are the affirmative acts of life and essential existence. By this object therefore of his contemplation, he did gather, that the act of Volunty, and that of Nolunty, were in one essential Unity, which was all goodness, and consequently that Nolunty in it, is nothing else but its Volunty, being that as it is one and all, so also is its Volunty but one Identity in it, and yet all and over all with it, for thereby it acteth or worketh its pleasure, 
Dan. 4.  both privatiuly and positiuly, as well in the heavenly vertu●s, as the inhabitants of the earth. And therefore darkness and light are all one in this Archetypicall Unity, because that all in it is good, forasmuch as if is only and absolutely good indeed in itself. As for the contrary effects, namely, the deformed and privative darkness of the rude chaos, or undigested abyss, and the informing act or positive emanation of light, they indeed appear such unto the creatures, and seem to produce unto this world an infinity of contrarieties, which are esteemed by mortals to be either good or evil, according as by effect they find them. Howsoever, it seemeth most apparent unto the Author, that these two contrary effluxions, or extensions, proceeding in effect from one essential eternity, were the principles of all things, being that the dark Chaos did afford and produce out of her womb the waters, which was the only matter whereof the world, 
2 Pet. 3.  and consequently the heavens and earth were made. And the vivifying emanation or irraciation of the eternal light, did bestow on it form, shape, virtue and motion. All which, when the Author had discovered, and seriously pondered with himself, his reason did clearly thereupon inform him, that the world was compacted and framed of contrary stuff; for how is it possible, but that opposite and discordant parents, should bring forth children disagreeing in condition from their kind? And yet such was the will of the Creator, that these two dissonant accords should, in the beginning and shaping forth of an Image like unto himself, be united into one Unison or unity, by the inviolable tye of his never-dying Spirit of love and concord, that thereby the matter (which is the substance of the dark waters) might serve as a female unto the formal and masculine eradiation, or illuminating spirit, which issued from him, and so make of that duality, or confusion of unities, a typical Trinity in Unity, figured after the similitude of the Archetype, which being merely spiritual, was the eternal life and formal being of the world, (it self remaining without any beginning) and for that cause, the world being its image, must also have a catholic life or soul, by which it may act and live, according unto the pattern from whence, as well the form of its essence, as the matter of its existence, did flow, and must for that reason be endued with the opposite properties of willing and nilling, or Volunty and Nolunty, and, by consequence, of amiable attraction, or audible expulsion. Hereupon therefore he did observe, that both the internal and external type, or typical world, must needs be subject to contrary passions and alterations, proceeding from the like properties, namely, being sometimes apt to incline unto the disposition of darkness, following therein by a natural instinct, the condition and inclination of matter or water, which was the offspring of the dark Abyss or Chaos, over which the divine puissance hath dominion; and therefore in this condition, it endueth the character of unitie's Nolunty, and sometimes affecting and imitating the action and property of light, which floweth from the eternal and all-acting fountain of unity. And this is the virtuous effect of the sacred Volunty. For it seemed unto the Author, that by reason that the whole world was composed of these two contrary properties, namely, of formal light, and the humid dark matter, it must needs follow, that the catholic soul, or general vivifying spirit thereof, and consequently every particular essence, or formal existence, which is derived from that catholic soul, no otherwise than beams from the Sun, must be obnoxious, subject unto opposite passions and alterations. From hence therefore springeth that original love or hatred, which is known to be between the good Angels, and the evil Spirits; from hence do issue all those assidual mutations and alterations, which happen in the etherial & sublunary heavens, namely, by reason of the cross variety of the starry influence. From hence proceed those oppositions, and contrary effects, which are expired, or breathed forth from the winds: From hence are derived the discord and concord of the Elements, with the diversity of natures in the meteorological Impressions: From hence do flow the multiplicity of affections, the opposition of dispositions, the passion of spirits; and, in a word, the sympathy and antipathy which is observed to be between all creatures, as well simple as compound, be they animal, vegetable, or mineral.  
The Author therefore concludeth upon these grounds, that it is but just and reasonable, to consent unto the opinions of the two notable and famous Philosophers, Heraclitus and Empedocles, touching this point, whereof the first hath exposed it as an infallible Maxim, Quod omnia fiant per litem & amicitiam; That all things are made and composed of strife and friendship, that is to say, Of hatred and love. The last hath pronounced it for an oracle of truth, Quod ex quatuor elementis, 
Ecclus. 42.25.  & ex amicitia & lite composita sit anima; That the soul is composed of four elements, and of peace or concord, and contention or discord, signifying thereby, that contrary disposition which is between the watery spirit, and the bright mental beam, in regard of their original: For by litem, or strife, he argueth as well the spiritual contention as the corporal, in respect of that contrary puissance and hability, which is between the formal light and dark matter, both in regard of the body, in the act of corruption, when the soul would part from it; and in the antipathetical or irascible passion, in respect of the soul, in which the spirit laboureth and suffereth unnaturally. In these opinions of the foresaid Philosophers, they seem not to vary from that of the son of Syrach, speaking thus; Gemina sunt omnia, quorum alterum est contrarium alteri, nec quicquam factum est quod mancum sit: All things are of a double nature, the one of them contrary to the other, and yet there is nothing made which is defective.  

CHAP. I.  
In this Chapter it is demonstrated, that God is that pure and catholic Unity, the which includeth and comprehendeth in itself all multiplicity.  
AS there is no man, be he never so highly exalted in the sphere of Mathematical perfection, or profoundly dived into the mystical bowels of the abstrusest Arithmetic, that can with the quick eyesight of his ripest understanding, observe or descry any thing, either by order or antiquity, to challenge justly unto its self a place or rank before Unity, (and for this reason, the wisest Philosophers do ingenuously confess, that it is the only principle or root of all number and multitude) so also ought each person of judgement to acknowledge, that this radical Identity, as it is considered in its pure and absolute nature and condition, cannot be limited by any quantitative dimension, nor yet included or comprehended by any member, nor divided into distinct portions, nor yet defined by any substantial quiddity or entity. And hereupon it hath been judiciously concluded by wise men, that Unity is the most antique and radical principle of all others, forasmuch as it comprehendeth in itself all substances, quantities, and qualities, no otherwise than the Geometrical prick or point, being considered in its naked simplicity, is observed to be indivisible, and scarcely to be perceived; yea verily, and as it were nothing to be determined: and yet nevertheless, the prick or point is evidently known to be the infallible beginning not only of every Geometrical line, but also of all other continuated Mathematical dimensions whatsoever, seeing that it comprehendeth all magnitudes, and is not comprehended of any.  
These two principles of all dimensions whatsoever, since that they in order, rank, and antiquity, do precede and excel all others, did the expert Mathematicians invent, after the typical imitation or image of the most internal, central, and abstruse point of Divinity, or divinest and brightest Unity, remaining in that very estate in which it stood before the creation of the world, namely, when it reserved itself within itself, and remained occult and hidden from all potential creatures, which it was pleased afterward, by the revealing of itself, or emission of its vivifying light, to enact and make manifest for its abode in its simple and absolute nature of unity, without having any respect or consideration to things which it would create: So that in this manner of this Unitie's being and existence, it could not be esteemed for God: forasmuch as hitherto it had not produced any creature, by the which it might be adored or acknowledged for God; neither could it rightly be styled or termed a Father: For it did not appear to have thought on any Son or issue, either Archetypicall and ideal, or typical and mundane; neither could it be reputed for the Summum bonum, or highest goodness; being that the deformed matter or dark Chaos, or rather Hyle did not as yet taste of that his bright and all-inacting blessing, which was concealed and hidden in its potential darkness and obscurity, which was therefore void of all form; neither could it be entitled fair, forasmuch as it did not hitherto impart his beauty, for the decoration or enacting of any creature; no● could it rightly be said to be eternity, being that in this manner of his occultation within its self, it seemed unto humane capacity not to exist at all, and consequently not to have any reference or commerce with either eternity, or aeviality, or temporality: moreover it could not assume or challenge unto itself the name of principle, because it had no relation as yet unto any thing that did spring or issue from any beginning. To conclude, the nature of this simple Monadicall existence, was before all created, so occult and obscure, unto mortals apprehension, & in its order and antiquity so unknown; yea and so inscrutable, and incomprehensible in its essence, that it could not any way be concluded to be either substance, or quantity, or quality, but rather was conceived to be a certain transcendent entity or existence, reserved only in its self, and consisting of itself; not having any principle root or beginning to spring from, and exist by, but only from, and of itself, in whose Divine Puissance as in a place without end or limits, all things which are now explicitly apparent, were then complicitly contained, although in regard of our capacity, they were esteemed nothing. And for this cause, such persons as were conversant in the Laws of the true Wisdom, have enacted in their never dying Registers, that this mystical infinity, when it was thus bewrapped in the gloomy clew, or profound abyss of darkness, and remained as it were vacant, or resting in its self, without any action, or (as they say) having regard or respect unto nothing, was therefore termed in Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: that is to say, 
Roulkin. lib. 3. de Art. Cab.  Nihil, Non finis, Non Ens, and, in plain English, Nothing at all in our imagination, because the tenuity and poverty of man's capacity and ingeny in the regard of Divine things is such, that it is accustomed to judge and imagine that not to be or exist at all, which appeareth not manifestly unto the sight: For this reason therefore the wisest persons in the abstruse and hidden Cabal, have termed this original Unity in his secret disposition Aleph tenebrosum, or the obscure and dark Aleph, the which Hebrew letter is received among the Jews and Cabalistical Rabbis for the figure of one in Arithmetic, and by consequence it is Hieroglyphically taken for God, as he is understood to be that absolute Monady or Unity, which only was in itself, and did abide and rest in itself, without any action of emanation, which afterward he did use when he was pleased to operate in Creation; and therefore the wise Philosopher Hermes (not disagreeing in this from the Holy Scripture) saith, Monas ante mundi exordium sibi ipsi & non aliis reluxit. Unity or Identity d●d shine only to itself, 
Pimand. 12. Pimand. 3.  and in itself, and not to any thing else. And in another place: Erat umbra infinita in abysso, agua insuper, & Spiritus tenuis intellectualis per divinam potentiam in Chaos inerant: There was an infinite shadow upon the face of the abyss, and moreover, water and a thin intellectual spirit were in the Chaos through the divine puissance. And Moses to confirm this saying of that wise Philosopher: T●nebrae erant super faciem abyssi. By this therefore may wise men discern and contemplate, 
1 Joh. 1.  though a far off, what the Potentia, or puissance div●ne was, before any creature did explicitly appear out of darkness; as also they may easily gather, what is the true principle and foundation of Darkness, namely the enclosing or retaining of the actual beams or light of immortal life, and being in this bright fundamental unity, in the which is no darkness; so that the Original darkness can be reputed for nothing else, but the absence of the radical Unitie's bright emanation, which is the fountain of all action; neither can that Divine vivifying and creating Light be present, 
Gene●. 1.  when the will of that simple and absolute essence in Unity is not minded to send forth unto deformity, the treasure of its informing beams. And hereupon it followeth of necessity, that darkness was upon the face of the abyss, and that the earth was void and without form, before the Divine Essence did shine forth; and that darkness was made the tabernacle of rest, and repose, because where the Divine act or sacred emanation is absent, all things are only potential, and consequently without actual verity, being as it were stark dead, and without life or motion; and that the property of coldness and stupidity had dominion during that privative estate, because that heat is engendered by motion only, and motion hath its beginning from Light, and all brightness doth flow from this Unity, which is termed the Father and Fountain of all Light: wherefore it followeth, that if this Divine Essence retain itself in itself, than the dark Chaos reserved only in the Divine Puissance, or Potentia Divina, must be deprived of motion: and that it is inclined to inspissation and condensation, by reason of his congealing and cold property, which doth thicken and make gross, by contraction: and that it is the fountain of all privation, and an enemy unto the creatures life and being, because it is contrary to act, motion, and heat, which are the handmaids of the Divine emanation, and consequently it is the fountain of death, deformity, and nonentity. To conclude, as Light is the original of life, position, act, motion, and, in a word, of the Volunty of God in his revealed Nature: so also is this primordial darkness, the head and wellspring of death, privation, rest, or vacancy; and in brief, of the Divine essence's Nolunty. And hereupon the Scriptures do justify, that when God doth send forth his salutiferous beams, and manifest unto his creatures the light of his countenance, they are refreshed with goodness and life; 
Psal. 104.29.  when he in part doth hide his face, and withdraweth his lively and vivifying beams from them, they grow sick and their spirits are troubled: but if he totally withdraw his aspect of life from them, they do immediately expire and breathe their last. Whereupon also Moses: Deus malos relinquit, & abscondit faciem suam ab iis ut obveniant iis mala multa: 
Deut. 31.17.  God forsaketh the wicked, an ●hideth his face from them that much mischief may befall them. 
Psal. 13.1.  And David, Quousque abscondis vultum tuum a me? Exhilara me vultu tuo: visitatio tua conservat Spiritum meum: How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? make me glad with thy countenance: thy visitation doth conserve my spirit, etc. Whereby it appeareth that this Divine Essence, observeth as well after his creation of the world, as before it, both the action of his Nolunty, and his Volunty: in the first whereof, he withdraweth or withholdeth that virtue of life from the creature, which is the act of privation, in the last he giveth life and preservation to it: For by this his dilatative property he created the world, and all things therein.   

CHAP. II.  
Wherein it is proved, that all things were complicitly and ideally in God, and of God, before they were made.  
THus have I expressed and made manifest, according unto the small validity of mine understanding, the estate and being of this radical and eternal Unity, before any thing was by it created, with the effects that it did produce in the potential and deformed Mass, or material subject of all things, which was complicitly or hiddenly detained and comprehended, in that Omnipotent and incomprehensible point of Divine perfection, in which increated condition it remained as Nothing, quoad nos; forasmuch as it was without form, unto the which it appertaineth only to give a name and essence, and therefore in the estate of its non-actuall being, 
Rom. 11.36. 1 Cor. 11.12. Ephes. 4.6. Colos. 1.14. Colos. 3.11.  wise men have termed it, Poten●iam Divinam, or the Divine Puissance. To confirm and verify all this, we find these axioms of the Scriptures: Ex ipso, per ipsum, & in ipso sunt omnia: Of him, by him, and in him are all things. Omnia sunt ex Deo: All things are of God. Uuns Pater omnium, qui super omnes, & per omnia, & in omnibus nobis: There is one Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all of us. Omniaper ipsum & in ipso creata sunt, & ipse est anteom●es, & omnia in ipso constant: All things are created by him and in him, and he is before all, and all consist in him. Ipse est omnia in omnibus: He is all and in all things. And the Son of Syrach: Diximus multa nec tamenea assequu●i sumus: Summa dictorum est, Ipsum esse omnia: We have said many things, without attaining unto them: the Sum of all our words is, that he is all things. By the which axioms we may easily gather, that God did beget, bring forth, make, and create nothing, which was not eternally of himself and in himself; so that from him all things did flow and spring, namely out of a secret and hidden nature to a revealed and manifest condition, from an unknown estate unto an evident and known existence; from a pure Archetypicall simplicity into a real type or similittude; from a radical fountain into a Sea, and from a mere point into a circle or circumference; verifying that saying of the wise Philosopher: 
Mercurius ad Asclep.  God is the centre of every thing, whose circumference is no where to be found; that is, in all and beyond all. To confirm all this, we may boldly and without offence infer thus much, namely that every thing that is begotten, principiated, created, produced, or separated, doth radically proceed from one that is unbegotten, infinite, not made or created, no● separated, but only one Unity, individual in his essence: For it is an easy matter to consider, that every inferior thing doth issue from a superior; every corporal thing from a spiritual; every visible thing from an invisible; every temporal thing, namely which hath both a beginning and an end, from a thing that is aeviall, that is to say, which hath a beginning but no end; and every aeviall thing from an eternal thing, to wit, that which hath neither beginning nor end, and therefore that eternal point or brightest Unity which hath no beginning, and consequently no end, is the fountain from the which all aeviall and temporal things do essentially proceed, no otherwise then all numbers do flow from Unity, and are comprehended in Unity: For how far soever the number doth extend itself, evermore it hath an unity to begin it, and an unity to conclude it, and in verity it hath nothing bends an unity to create and compose it within. But for your better instruction, you may observe by a diligent insight into the cossicall numbers, how the Divine and Centrally formal Unity doth comprehend all creatures, as well before they were made, as since their creation in its self: For we must note, that there is nothing in the world, but it is either a root, or a square, or a cube, or some other such like figure, which is framed and composed of these. The root doth represent the beginning of all cossicall proportions or magnitudes: the Square doth decipher the simple and spiritual principiated figure, which is created or made by the multiplication of that root: the cube is composed through the augmenting of that square or principiated shape in its root; so that we may discern that the whole cubick body, and consequently the square is contained in the root, and in conclusion, is nothing else then the root multiplied in itself or from itself. But that my demonstrations may yet approach a little nearer unto our purpose, let us I pray you with diligence consider the nature and property of this Divine Monady or Unity, as it is in its simple and sincere existence, and then we shall find it, and that without any egression from his own punctual or central profundity, to comprehend complicitly within itself the three foresaid cossicall Dimensions, and consequently all other things which it hath now by Creation explicitly made evident, in this typical world, and that is proved easily by this Arithmetical demonstration: For if we shall multiply an unity as a root, in itself, it will produce but itself, namely an unity for a square, the which being again remultiplicated in its self, will bring forth a cube, which is all one with the root or square; to wit, a simple unity: Whereby it is evident, that though we have here three various branches, which seem to differ in their formal progression, I mean a Root, a Square, and Cube, yet in the essential verity and reality, there is but this one Unity or Identity, in the which all things remain potentially, and that after a most abstruse manner. And for this reason the Wiseman saith: Deo omnia sunt cogni●a antequam crearentur: All things were known unto God, 
Ecclus. 23.  before they were created. And Esdr●s: Dei potentia, ante omnia creata, finis & initium omnium est: The Puissance of God which was before all creatures, was the beginning and end of all things. 
Esdras 4.6.  And unto this purpose Herm●s saith, Ex uno principio cun●ta dependent, principium ex uno solo, & principium movetur ut rursus extet principium, 
Pimand. 10.  ipsum tamen unum pr●stat, nec recedit ab unitate: All things depend of one principle or beginning, that is on one sole Unity, and this principle or beginning is moved, that it may again become a principle, and yet nevertheless it is but one thing only, that doth effect it, not departing from the nature of Unity. And to this sense saith St. John: In principio ●rat verbum: In the beginning was the word: The which word affirmeth thus much: 
Joh. 13.10.  Ego & Pater unum sumus, Pater in me & ego in Patre, & Pater in me man●us, ipse facit omnia: I and my Father am one, my Father in me and I in my Father; and my Father in me, is he that maketh all things. Even unto this very purpose seemeth the wise Hermes to concur with the Scriptures, in the shaping out of the Archetypicall world, after whose Image this our typical world is created (and therefore he termeth it elsewhere, the visible Son of God:) Monas (saith he) generat Monadem, 
Pimand.  & in seipsum reflexit ardorem: One begat one, and reflected the Ardour and virtue of his emanation into itself; that is, it shined into itself, to the shaping out of an Ideal world, and was not as yet conversant about the framing out of any typical one. Whereby it is evident, that nothing is really figured in this world, which was not ideally fashioned out in the archetype or eternal one. But lest some captious person should except against these places in Scripture, and elsewhere cited by me, touching this very point, and allege, (as some of them have already done) that these mine opinions are flatly dissonant unto that of the ancient Fathers, and School men, I will in few words express some of their minds touching this point. 
lib. octoginta quoq 40.  St. Austin's opinion is, Quod ideae sunt formae aeternae & incommutabi●es in men●e divina; That the ideas of things are eternal forms, and incommutable shapes in God. And Sonus will have them to be, Res ob octivae, c●gnitae ab intellectu divino, 
lib. 1. dict. 3.  Certain objects, which are known unto the divine intellect. But there is nothing in God but that which is God, because the Godhead is one and the same Spirit: Whereupon it followeth, that the Ideas in God, although they be many, (for man was made after one fashion, and a horse after another, etc.) yet all are one in God, as St. Austin seemeth to prove and confirm elsewhere, in these words, Primus & summus intellectus est ars quaedam omnipotentis atque sapientis Dei, 
de Trinitat. lib. 6. cap. ult.  plena omnium rationum viventium incommutabilium; & omnes unum inea, sicut ipsa unum de uno cum quo unum. The supreme and highest intellect is a certain act of the omnipotent and wise God, full of all the unchangeable reasons of living things, and all of them are one in it, as it is one of one with whom is one. And in another place he saith, Tu es Deus meus, 
Soliloquiorum c. 31.  & Dominus omnium quae creasti; & apud te omnium stabilium sunt causae, & omnium mutabilium, apud te, immutabiles manent origines, & omnium rationabilium & irrationabilium atque temporalium semper vivunt rationes. Thou art my God, and the Lord of all that thou hast created; with thee all originals remain immutable, and the reasons or causes of all reasonable, 
lib. 3. the consul. Mat. 9  and unreasonable, and temporal things, do always live. And Boetius hath it thus.  
Tu cuncta superno  
Ducis ab exemplo, pulchrum pulcherrimus ipse  
Mundum merte gerens, similique in imagine formas.  
Thou framest all things after a high and supercelestial example, and being most beautiful, bearing the fair world in thy mind, dost fashion it according unto the like image. To conclude, Anselm doth learnedly express the manner and progression of every exemplary thing, from the ideal fountain of all verity, thus, Forma rei (saith he) arteficis est archetypa & veritas, 
Anselm.  & dum à potentia in actum ducitur motus est; in ma●eria vero jam producta, est similitudo & imago: The form of a thing is the archetype and verify of the workman; and whilst it is produced from puissance into act, it is motion; 
In tract. de Num. ternar.  being specified in matter, it is a similitude or image. And for this reason Odo, that learned Abbot, averreth, Quod numerus ternarius sit principale in animo conditoris exemp●um condendorum; That the ternary number (meaning the divine and formal kind of numeration) is the principal image in the Creator's mind, of such things as are created. 
Pim. 12.  In the very selfsame sense speaketh the divine Philosopher He●mes, in the place before mentioned, saying, Quod m●na● generat monadem & in se ●psum reflexit ardorem; That one bega● one, and did reflect his beams into itself. Whereby he argueth, that unity in the framing of the Ideal or Archetypicall world, did emit or send forth his word, as an essence begot of itself; and afterward did reflect that spirit of wisdom, which issued from them both into itself. For the son of Syrach saith, Fons sapientiae verbum Dei in excelsis, 
Ecclus. 1.5.  & ingressus illius mandata aeterna; The fountain of wisdom is the word of God most high, and the everlasting commandments are the entrance unto her. Thus therefore was the Archetypicall world framed, in, and of all one unity, but in a threefold or triple manner, namely, by the egression of one out of one, and by the regression of that one unity so emitted, by emanation into itself; whereby the three divine properties in one infinite essence, may easily be scanned. We conclude therefore, that according to this ideal Image, in triplicity of variety, this our world was afterwards fashioned and proportioned, as a true type and example of the divine Pattern, after the which it was drawn; (for out of unity in his abstruse existence, namely, as it was hid in the dark chaos, or potential mass, the bright flame of all formal being, did shine forth, and the spirit of wisdom proceeding from them both, did conjoin the formal emanation with the potential matter, so that by the union of these two, namely, of the divine emanation of light, and of the substantial matter of darkness▪ which was water, the heavens were made of old, and the earth, and consequently the whole world, as it shall hereafter be evidently demonstrated in our Divine Philosophy, and is well proved by the warrant of the Apostle Peter. 
2 Pet. 3.  We may therefore boldly conclude, that if the unities or members of the ideal world, be all extracted out of one radical unity, as children out of one father, and are included by the selfsame unity, which is in●●ni●e in itself, it must then follow of necessity, that the triple member of this created world, must also be from, and in that selfsame unity, being that the whole typical world with his parts, are shaped after the image or representation of the Archetype, which is that eternal monady or unity in which are all things; and therefore he is rightly termed of the Apostle, to b● all, and in all. And again, 
Col. 3.11. Col. 1.16. etc. Rom. 11.  All things are created by him, and in him, and he is before all, and al● consist in him. And in another place, Of him, by him, and in him, are all things, etc. And hereupon it is rightly termed of the Philosopher Hermes, The centre of all things, whose circumference is no where; that is to say, including all, not being included by any. And Rabbi Z●ar, All things are one in respect of God, but many in regard of us. And Plato, Not only all things are in God, but also all things that exist, forasmuch as they are in God, and do proceed from him, they are b●t one Entity. Moreover Hermes in his Smaragdine Table, As all things were by the mediation of one, so also are all things sprung from this one thing by adaptation. And Proclus, in his Theological Problems, As all things are sprung from one only, in like manner do they hasten by a continual course to return unto that unity, with whom the greater the concord is, by the which they meet together, by so much the more th●y participate of him. Again Plato, All things part from the high God, and do strive to return unto him again, forasmuch as in h●m c●nsisteth their small repose, and the sustenance of their existence. For this cause therefore did the Philosopher Leucippus, make this essential unity the summum bonum, or the sovereign good and felicity. Thus therefore you see, that the antique Philosophy doth not jar or descent in this, from the foresaid harmony of holy Writ. There are some well seen in this mystical kind of progression, which do express it in this manner: In D●o omn●o eran● nihil nisi mere De●s. Ex Deo omnia veniebant in principium, 
In Veteri manuscripto.  & tum omnia nihil erant nisi mere principium, man●●te tamen Deo. Ex principio omni procedebant in verbum, & tum omnia nihil erant nisi mere Verbum, manente tamen principio. Ex verbo omnia procedebant in spiritum D●mini, & tum nihil erant nisi Spiritus Domini, manente tamen verbo. Ex spiritu Domini omnia procedebant in aquas scilicet s●periores, & tum omnia nihil erant nisi mere aquae superiores, manente tamen Spiritu Domini. Ex aquis superioribus omnia descenderunt in aquas inferiores, & tum omnia nihil erant nisi mere aquae inferiores, manentibus tamen superioribus. Ex aquis inferioribus, hoc est, ex elementis & astris invisibilibus omnia proced●bant in corpora visibilia, & tunc omnia erant nihil nisi mere corpora visibilia, manentibus tamen elementis & astris invisibi●ibus, etc. In God all things were nothing but merely God. Of God all things were made a beginning, and then all things were n●thing else but a m●●r beginning, God remaining nevertheless in his entire existence. Of the beginning all became the Word, and then were all things nothing else but the word merely, and that not without the permanency of the beginning. From the word all did proceed into the Spirit of the Lord, and then they were nothing but the Spirit of the Lord, and that without any diminution of the Words existence. From the Spirit of the Lord all became wa●ers, namely, the upper waters, and then all things were nothing else but the upper waters merely, and that without any diminution of the Spirit of the Lords existence. From the upper waters all did descend into the lower waters, or elementary region, and then all were nothing else but merely the lower waters, and yet the upper waters lost not their permanency. Of the lower waters, that is, of the elements, and invisible stars, or starry influences, all became visible bodies, and then all things were nothing else but visible bodies, without any derogation nevertheless unto any existency of the elements, and starry influences, etc. All which I could also prove to be true, as well by the Scriptures, as expert Cabalists, and divinest Philosophers assertions: 
Isa. 45.6.  For by Scriptures we are taught, That God, the fountain of all being, did first create darkness; and that this darkness was that deformed principle, 
Sap. 11.8. Joh. 1.1. Genes. 1.  or primary matter, without shape, which did complicitely contain all things. And that the Word was in that beginning or principle. And again, that this word issued out of darkness. And that the spirit was carried on these waters, which appeared out of the bowels of the dark abyss. And that all were waters at the first, the bright Spirit of the Lord being not in any thing extinguished. And that these waters were divided ●nto the higher and lower, namely, heaven and earth. As also St. Peter teacheth us, 
2 Pet. 3. Gen. 1. Job 23.25.  that of the lower waters the elements were framed by the distinguishing Spirit of the Lord. Which Job saith, doth aptare pondus aeri, & appendere aquas in mensura, facere pluviae statuta & viam fulgetro tonitruum; that is, giveth a portion unto the weight of ●he air, and hangeth the waters or clouds in measure, and maketh statutes, or giveth laws unto the rain, and a passage unto the lightning of the thunder, etc. And Racanat, that excellent Master in Cabal, upon the beginning of Genesis, saith, as is already told you, 
Reuel●n.  Et ●orte quaeres, Cum sap entia sit numeratio secunda, q●are dicatur principium? Scriptum est in libro Bahir, Nihil est princ●pium nisi sapientia. Cui equidem ●ecte mihi videar respondere, quod infinitudo ipsa trium sammarum Cabalisticae arboris numerationum (quas vos ●res in divi●●s perso●as appellare consuevistis, absol●t●ssima essent●a) quum sit in aby●sso ten●brarum retracta & immane●s ociosa, vel (ut a●unt) ad nihil respiciens, idcirco dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. N●hil sive non-ens ac non-sints, qu●a nos tam tenui erga res div●nas ingen●i paupertate 〈◊〉 de ●is quae non apparent haud secus atque de iis quae non sunt judicamus. At ubi se ostend●rit ut sit a iquid & revera subsistat, tunc Aleph tenebrosum in Aleph lucidum convertitur. Scriptum est enim, Sicut tenebrae ejus ita & lux ejus: & appella●ur 〈◊〉 Aleph magnum quando exire cupit & apparere omnium rerum causa per Beth proxime sequentem literam, nominaturque 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. pater omnis gene●ationis & p●oductionis, fac●t enim res omnes, etc. And per chance you will demand, Since sapience is the second Cabalistical numeration, wherefore it is called Principium, or the beginning? It is written in the book of Bahir, that nothing is principium, or the beginning, but Wisdom. Unto whom, methinks, I may rightly answer, That the infinity itself of the three highest numerations of the Cabalistical tree, (which ye are accustomed to call the three Persons in Divinity, of one absolute essence) when it is retracted in the abyss of darkness, and remaining idle or vacant, and, as it were, having respect unto nothing, is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is to say, Nothing, or nonentity; because that we being endued with such poverty of understanding in divine matters, do ●udge of such things which appear not, no otherwise than of those which are not at all; but when it doth so reveal itself, that it existeth in our senses somewhat indeed, then is dark Aleph converted into light Aleph. For it is writ, As his darkness is, so is his light, namely, when it desireth to issue out of darkness, and to appear to be the cause of all things, by Beth, which is the next ensuing letter; and it is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ab, that is to say, the father of all generation and production of things; for it effecteth all things. Moreover, Mercury Trismegist, whom others term Hermes, doth more expressly seem to mention this progression, from unity in darkness, down to the creation of the elements, in this very form of speech, Pimander mens divinae potentiae mutavi● formam & universa sub●to revelavit; cernebam enim omnia in ●umen conversa, 
Pimand 1.  suave nimium atque jucundum, quod intuentem me mirifice ob●ectabat. Paulo post, umbra quaedam horrenda obliqua revolutione subterlabebatur, in hum damque naturam migrabat, ineffabili tum vu tu exagitabam, inde fumus magnus in sonitum erumpebat, ex sonitu vox eg●ed●ebatur, quam ego luminis vocem existimabam, ex luminis voce verbum factum prodiit; verum hoc naturae humidae astans, eam fovebat, ex hum●dae autem naturae viscer●bus sincerus ac levis ignis protinus evolans, alta petit, Aer quoque levis spiritu parens mediam regionem inter ignem & aquam sortiebatur, ●erra vero & aqua s●c invicem commixta ●acebant ut terrae facies aquis obrut● nusquam pateret. Tunc Pimander ait, Lumen illud ego sum, mens Deus tuus, antiqu●or quan● humida natura quae ex umbra effulsit: mentis vero ge●men lucens, Dei F●lius, etc. Pimander being the mental excellency of the divine puissance, did change his form or shape, and on the sudden revealed the universe; for I did discern, that all things were converted into a pleasant and delectable light, which did rejoice me to behold. A little after, a fearful shadow or darkness did glide downwards by an oblique revolution, and was converted into a humid or moist nature, which was exagitated or stirred up by an unspeakable aspect; thereupon a great fume or smoke made a noise, out ●f that no●se proceeded a voice, which I did imagine to be the voice of the light, out of this voice of the light the word which was made was uttered; but this word joining itself with the humid na●u●e, did nourish and animate it. Out of the bowels of this humid nature, the light element of fire doth f●y, and soareth on high, also the thin air possesseth the middle region, between the fire and water; b●t the earth and the water were intermingled after such a fashion, that the face of the earth was no where over-flowed by the waters. Then Pimander said, I am that light, the mental spirit, that is thy God, of a greater antiquity than is the humid nature, which did shine out of the dark shadow: but the brightsome germ of the mental spirit is the Son of God, etc. Whereby it is evident, that by the mental unity is meant the absolute divine Monady in itself, without any respect had unto creation. By the Divine Puissance, is understood the dark principle, beginning, or Chaos, out of the which light or the divine emanation did spring. At the issuing of Light, the word was made manifest out of the dark and deformed Chaos; from which also the humid nature or the Abyss of waters did spring, or proceed into action by the creating emanation: this humid Mass was nourished and vivified by the word, and framed in the Elements, as is said before. And therefore it is apparent, that the darkness, the light, the word, the waters, and Elements were complicitly contained all in the mental puissance and abstruse reservation of the sincere Identity of Pimander, or God in himself, before they were created. But I will yet pass a little further, and confirm all this more rationally and demonstratively, by the authority of Holy-Writ: Job saith: Revelat Deus fundamenta è tenebris, & educit in lucem umbram lethalem: God revealeth the foundations of the world out of darkness, and he discovereth or bringeth forth into light the deadly shadow, etc. Where, by the foundations he understandeth the waters, which were secretly contained in the dark and misshapen abyss, of the which afterward the heavens, and the earth, and consequently the whole world was framed by the Word, according unto the Archetypicall pattern: So that we here perceive, that two principles of a clean contrary nature, do issue or proceed from, and out of one and the same Identity or Unity in Essence, namely a deadly darkness, and as it were the shadow of death, and an admirable vivifying light, whereof the one was the matrix or receptacle of form: And the deformed bowels of the other, contained that matter without form, whereof afterward the world was framed, and therefore the wiseman saith: Manus omnipotentis mundum ex informi materia effecit: The hand of the Almighty hath made the world of a matter without form. And according unto this tenant also, Job in an other place: Aquilonem extendit Deus super inane & vacuum, & suspendit terram super nihilum: 
Sap. 11.18. Job 26.7.  God stretcheth forth or spreadeth the North upon emtpyness, and inanity; that is to say, on a thing that was void and destitute of shape, and hanged the earth upon nothing. In which speech by inane or vacuum and nihilum, he meaneth misshapen darkness, and deadly shadow, of which he spoke in the before-specified place, or that matter without form, mentioned by Solomon: the which whilst it was in Potemia D●vina, 
Job 12.  or the Divine Puissance, was merely nothing in man's weak capacity, being that it was not as yet actually created or informed; for it is form only that giveth name and essence, as all Philosophers do confess.  
By this therefore we may discern, how all things are essentially comprehended in this eternal and radical Unity: Forasmuch as being one, he is infinite, and being infinite as well in his dimension and essence as power; he must of necessity comprehend in himself all finite things whatsoever. He is in all and filleth all, and yet he is beyond all, as he that surpassing and compassing all, is only in himself, and yet neither absent from his creatures which he hath framed out by his Word, according to his Will. For first, from his Volunty did proceed his Word, Fiat, and it was done. Now that we have the privative principle, namely deadly darkness and deformity, drawn from the infinite centre of all things; whose circumference is no where to be found; We will dive into the nature of that formal and lively Light, which did also issue from the selfsame Original Root and most antique beginning of all things, that thereby we may with the best colours of our understanding, paint out and describe that excellent formal Essence which redeemed the humid matter, or watery substance out of the captivity of the deadly and misshapen darkness or shadow of death (that I may speak in Job's language) by which all things have their being, and beauteous existence.   

CHAP. III.  
How that amiable and bright emanation of vivifying Love, shone forth from the Fountain of all goodness, and displaced Litigious and odious darkness from the Throne of the obscure Chaos or dark Abyss: that thereby a World might be made of nothing that was actual, and beautified by the formal presence thereof.  
IT is a wondrous thing, and passing all humane understanding, that out of one Unity in essence and nature, two branches of such an opposite nature should arise and sprout forth, as are Darkness (which is the seat of error, deformity, contention, privation, or death) and Light, which is the vehicle of truth, beauty, love, position, and life. It is not for nought, that the Sect of the Manichaeans did so stiffly hold that there were two coeternal principles; whereof they made one to be God whom they termed the Prince of Light, and the beginner and Author of life, health, and all goodness: the other they attributed unto the Devil, whom thy entitled the Prince of Darkness, and the original and principle of opposition, death, sickness, and all evil. And they esteemed the Devil or Prince of Darkness therefore coeternal in being with God, because there can be no goodness which hath not relation unto his contrary, namely badness: For this reason they will have, forsooth, the God of evil and naughtiness, to be of a coeternal existence with the God of goodness. By which means they would not only exclude the Devil out of the list of creatures, but also banish Unity out of the bounds of nature and justle Diady or duality (which in verity is nothing else but a confusion of Unities) in its place. And verily this point did seem so ticklish and difficult to be scanned and resolved, that there were some of the wiser sort of Poetical Philosophers that did incline unto their part, as it appeareth by such mystical and allegorical expressions as they did enigmatically roll up or bewrap in their fabulous discourses. Amongst the rest, we find that the Poet Pronapis in his Pro o-cosmus, averreth that Demogorgon, (by which is meant the greatest of the Gods) was guarded or encircled about with Eternity and Chaos. And that on a time whilst he was in his majesty, he did perceive a great tumult and troublesome motion to be stirred up in the bowels of the Chaos: Whereupon to help her in this her travels and ease her of her trouble, he put forth his hand, and performing the office of a Midwife, did suddenly deliver her of the foul and deformed Monster Litigium, or strife, the which after such time as it had moved great storms and troubles, and had ambitiously attempted to sore or fly upward, was forthwith by Demogorgon cast down into the deep. But when he yet perceived her to travel and be oppressed miserably with fervent sighs and dropping sweats, Demogorgon would not in these her agonies remove his hand from her, until she was delivered of Pan, with his three Sisters, which were called the Parcaes or Destinies, and when Demogorgon was much affected and taken with the beauty and excellent form of Pan, he made him the Ruler of all his familiar businesses in the world, and commanded his three Sisters, as his Handmaids and Ministers, to obey his behests and will. It followeth, that Chaos being over burdened and oppressed, with the weight of so great a heap or Mass as she traveled with, and now being delivered and freed from it, did, at the persuasion of Demogorgon, place her Son Pan upon her Throne. This is the parabolical fable of Demogorgon, and Chaos, familiarly told by the Poets. Their Allegory importeth, that the generation and procreation of all things, did spring from the highest God or Creator, which they signify by the name of Demogorgon, unto whom Eternity is joined, by an inviolable link in one essential society, because that he only is truly to be called Eternal, who is, and ever was the beginning or primary cause of all things. And they fain also that Chaos made a third in that endless Society: forasmuch as she is, by Ovid's relation, the common mixed and confused matter or stuff of all things in the world, and therefore the Ancients did affirm her to be eternal with God, as being a rude Mass or dark abyss, out of which Demogorgon, as an universal Father and Workmaster, did according unto his will procreate and fashion out all things, and therefore they esteem this catholic Substance or matter of all things, to be the general Mother, on which, and out of which, the universal Father did beget and frame out every thing; for the which cause they concluded, that there were two general Parents of things, from endless antiquity; whereof the one was the Father and the other the Mother: But they consented that God was their chiefest cause, and they would have the Chaos serve only as his passive companion to engender on. And although it may appear, that the wise and divine Plato doth seem in some sort to verify that the Chaos was God's companion from all antiquity; yet he doth intimate to us well, as many other of the like profundity; that though she be termed a companion with God in the Creation, yet did she issue from him by a certain eternal generation or production, and that God did afterward frame all things out of Chaos: For which cause they conclude, that it did spring from God and is never divided from him; as also it serveth God as a female companion, for procreation and generation, no otherwise than Eve, being framed out of Adam, was called a companion unto Adam. This is the opinion of both the Heathen Philosophers and mystical Cabalists. But to proceed in this Allegorie's exposition. The hand of Demogorgon importeth the Divine Puissance. The firstborn of Chaos, namely Litigium, with a foul shape, signifieth the true Prince of Darkness, the Author of opposition, the Father of discord; and therefore for his presumptuous attempt, against the Prince of Light, and the Lord of Life, he was cast down into the abyss. By the Second birth of Chaos, namely Pan, they point at the universal nature of the world, and the peaceableness and accord of contrary Elements, arguing thereby, that after that great discord which was in the first opening of Chaos her womb, concord did follow in the second place, which was as beautiful and acceptable unto God in the later birth, as deformed discord was foul and odious in his sight in the first. Thus you see how in the first beginning of the world, all the Elements were at strife in the bowels of the Chaos: The three Parcaes or Sisters of Destiny, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, which were born with Pan, do signify the three orders of time, namely the time present, the time past, and the time to come. Clotho hath the care of the present time, and her office is to twist the thread of life: Lachesis is the superintendrix of the time to come, and looketh to the flax or hemp which is not yet spun nor twisted: And Atropos doth import the time past, which is irrevocable, and therefore she doth finish and cut off the thread now spun. I infer upon this parabolical relation, that though the Chaos or dark abyss be with God before the world's creation, yet did the infinite and sole eternal Unity or radical Essence create it, and produce it out of its self: For that Eternal Unity saith: Ego Dominus & non est alter, 
Isai. 45.7.  sormans lucem, & creans tenebras, faciens pacem, & creans malum: I am the Lord, and there is no other, who do inform light, and create darkness, making peace and creating evil: As if he had said, I am the Father of Light or of the bright Spirit of Wisdom, and I created the dark Chaos, out of which I framed the world, and out of her I produced as well the concord and discord of the Elements in the world; that is to say, Litigium and Pan; so that we may discern still, that there is but one Eternal Unity, which in itself is male and female, and all that can be imagined, which of himself, and in himself produceth all things, no otherwise than Adam contained in himself Eve, which was the Mother of the little world, or man after Adam: and therefore Hermes saith, Mens autem Deus utriusque sexús foecunditate plenissimus, 
Pimand.  vita & lux cum verbo sic alteram mentem peperit: God being full of the fertility of both sexes, and being life and light, brought forth another Divine Spirit by his Word. And Scriptures seem to intimate thus much in this sense: Qui caeteris generationem tribuo, an sterilis ero?  
It is evident therefore, that out of one and the same radical Unity, existing before all antiquity, both the matter and form of all things do proceed, and that they appear in regard of their being or births but aeviall, that is, having a beginning but no end, though in their essential Root, they are Eternal in God, the abstruse Monady or Unity of all things: So that as the dark Chaos, and the bright informing Spirit, are two principles opposite and contrary to one another, in nature and property, (for from the dark principle, discord, evil, cold, congelation, rest, death, privation, negation or Nolunty, do proceed; but from the other which is the type of beauty, and grace, namely the bright beginning, light, concord, goodness, heat, resolution, motion, life, and position, or Volunty, are poured out into the nature of the world, to cause it to exist and live:) so also both these are but main branches, arising from one and the same essential Unity, which when they cannot pass or exceed the limits of their infinite fountain, are in him light and darkness, and no way differing in essence from their Root, which is all in all, 
Psal. 13●. 12.  because that as the Psalmist doth say, Tenebrae sunt ei, sicut ipsa lux: Darkness is unto him as light: For all is one in him, who is only one and the same in himself, 
Rom. 11.36.  In whom, by whom, and therefore from whom are all things: For his Volunty and Nolunty, is but all one in him that is one simple Identity, and what is his Volunty, that is as well his affirmation as his negation, which is all but one good in him that is all goodness. And yet in regard of the creature, when his negation hath the supremacy, he hides the light of his loving countenance, and all is dark, and then he operateth in regard of his privation. For where he hideth his face, all is deformed, and, as it were, void of essence and goodness. Lo here is his Volunty, negative or privative, which may rightly be termed his Nolunty. If his affirmation hath dominion, he emitteth the beauty of his benignity, and the creatures expecting spirit is enlightened by his presence, and consequently replenished with goodness. Lo here is also his Volunty affirmative or positive, called his Volunty in the right sense. But least any man should think this strange, let him but observe the mental beam, which is assigned by God unto man, to inform him with reason, and adorn him with understanding. We know that man hath but one Divine nature, which giveth him intellect: 
Job 9  Spiritus est in homine (saith Job) sed inspiratio omnipotentis facit eum intelligere: And yet this Unity in essence, which is the Image of God, operateth in general by two contrary properties: Whereof the one is apt to affirm, give, and grant a petition by an affable emanation, (Lo here is the Act of position, scored out in man's spiritual Unity;) or else to deny, take away, or be against the demand of him that craveth by a privative ablation of the wished rewards, (Lo here is the effect of negation deciphered, for the mental beam shineth not out unto the Petitioner, but is reserved or contracted in itself.) In these two actions, we may observe but only one effect which is laudable, in this one simple and absolute unity unto the petitioner; for though I grant, by the friendly and pitiful emanation or emission of my mental beam, so that it is according unto the petitioners wish; or though I deny his demand, contrary unto his desire, and so it appeareth to be a great evil or mischief unto the demander; yet unto my mental spirit, both the affirmation or negation appeareth good, and are founded upon good reason, and therefore are indeed but one thing, though they seem divers to the demander. In like manner, in the eternal and archetypicall mental unity, whose type or similitude, the beam of our understanding is, as well the act of Volunty as Nolunty, is all one, and that is goodness; for he that is all goodness, hath in itself no contrariety, although in the creature, which is subject unto the effects, either of his privative or positive will; his privative or dark action is esteemed for evil, as chose his positive and light emanation, that is full of love and benignity, is received for good, and therefore embraced with joy. For, doth not the holy Text tell us, 
Eccles. 11.14.  Bonum & malum, vita & mors, à Deo sunt? Good and evil, life and death, are from God? And doth it not tell us in another place, Quod Deo abscondente faciem suam a creaturis conturbantur, 
Psal. 104.  recipiente spiritum eorum exspirant, emittente spiritum suum recreantur bono? God hiding his face from the creatures, they are troubled and sick; taking his bright vivifying Spirit from them they die, and sending it forth again they are recreated with goodness, health, and life. And again, Visitatio tua (saith David) praeservat spiritum meum, 
Job 10.12. Psal. 4.7. Psal. 18.29.  Thy visitation doth preserve my spirit. Attol●e faciem tuam & emitte lucem supra nos, & efficiet ut videamus lucem, & splendentes efficiat tenebras nostras: Send out the light of thy countenance, and it will cause us to see light, 
Isa. 42. Job. Joh. 12.  and it will make our darkness bright and shining. And again, Tenebras ponam iis in lucem, I will put darkness in them in stead of light. Tenebras in diem incurrent astuti & quasi in nocte sic palpabunt in meridie. Crafty men shall in the daytime run into darkness, 
1 Joh. 1.  and they shall grope at noonday as if it were in the night. In tenebris est, & in tenebris ambulat, qui odit fratrem: He is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, that hateth his brother. 
Nahum 1. Deut. 31.17.  And the Prophet saith, Tenebrae persequentur inimicos Dei, Darkness shall persecute the enemies of God. Abscondit faciem suam ab iis ut obtingant iis multa mala & angustiae: He hideth his face from them, that evil and misery may befall them. And yet there is neither of these two properties in this one essential unity, but is good absolutely, though the let be privative, passive, odious, disturbing, and deadly unto the creature that end ●reth the effect. Is it not written, that he hath the power of life and death, 
Sap. 16.13. Psal. 9.6.  and doth ●●ad down unto the mouth of the grave, and can bring back again to life when he pleaseth. And yet all this is but according to his double property of Volunty and Nolunty, that is, of his granting or positive emanation, and privative or negative condition, which are (as I have said) both good in him, who is nothing but pure goodness in his simple and absolute nature, and therefore are one in him, who is sincere unity in himself. Whereupon the wise Philosopher, 
Pimand. 14.  not disagreeing in this from Scriptures, saith, Non est ●n monade divinâ nisi unum & bonum, ab ipso enim factore nihil malum nihilque turpe: In the divine essence there is not any thing but unity and goodness, for from the Creator there is neither evil nor filthiness. And for this cause, when Job saw that God did strike him, as it seemed to him, without a cause, forasmuch as he was a just man, and (as the Text saith) according unto God's heart; he being egged forward, notwithstanding all his pains, with a pious zeal towards his Creator, though he knew that his affliction proceeded from the hiding of his Maker's countenance from him, did break forth into these terms, 
Job 14.  Et tamen absit à Deo impietas, & ab Omnipotente iniquitas: And yet for all that, far be it from me, that I should deem any impiety to be in God, or that iniquity should proceed from the Almighty. It is most apparent unto the sleightest Philosopher, that God is conversant in the created nature, as well about corruption and privation, as generation and position; and yet no good Christian can be ignorant, but that either of these opposite properties, so familiar in one sincere essence, is absolutely good, in that it is completely excellent in goodness in itself, although nothing is more terrible, fearful, abominable, and wicked to the creature, than is his own death and corruption. If we Christians deny the property in the Ideal unity, namely, as well to deprive the creature of his life, by withdrawing his act of life from it into itself, we may justly imagine ourselves to be inferiors in judgement, unto the Infidel Poets and Philosophers, who do verify this forementioned axiom of the wiseman, 
Eccles. 11.  Bonum & malum, vita & mors, honestas & paupertas▪ à Deo sunt: Good and evil, life and death, riches and poverty, are all from God. Whereby he intimateth, that this one essential divinity operateth oppositely in the created world, by a twofold differing property. Their Allegorical story is this, Proclus following the ancient Theology of Orpheus, Ilesiode, Euripides, and Eschylus, (which personages have enveloped in their fabulous Counts or Stories, such hidden secrets as they had learned of divine persons, and such as were profoundly seen in the mysteries of God) doth decipher the properties of the supreme and archetypicall Son, under the shadow of the visible and typical Sun, in this manner, expressing thereby, that one and the same eternal essence doth operate all in all, as well privati●ly as po●●tivly. These Poets term it by the name of Apollo in the daytime, because they pretend▪ that in his position and benign nature, which is manifested by the vivifying property of the Sun, he composeth the creature of seven parts, fo● 〈◊〉 ●he quaternary number, the Pythagoreans did signify matter which is ●●amed of the Elements; for it is the square o● 2, which is an unperfect number and therefore doth decipher matter: and by the ternary, which is the number of perfection, they express the form of things; so that these two numbers united, do make up the septenary number, whi●h doth include the perfect compliment of the creature. Again, they entitle it Dionysius in the night time, namely, in his dark and privative disposition, saying, that under this name he useth to tear and divide that creature into seven pieces, which under the title of Apollo, or in his positive property, or solar and divine nature, it had composed. So that they seem to argue, that the selfsame unity in essence is the author, as well of destruction and corruption, as of the generation and vivification of the creature; but they therefore term it according unto the variety of his property by a differing name, no otherwise than the Cabalist calls it in his hidden and privative property, Aleph tenebrosum, or dar● Aleph, namely, when he keepeth in his beams of life in himself, or withdraweth his face from the creature; and Aleph lucidum, or light Aleph, when he shineth forth unto it, and extendeth his beams of life upon it. By this therefore we Christian; may see, that the very Pagans did grant or acknowledge, that which the Scriptures do testify, though it be by an allegorical way, concluding with them, that it is only in the power of one and the same radical unity, to save or destroy, to give life or take it away, to will or to nill, and, in conclusion, to operate all, and in all, and that according unto its pleasure. Thus have we confirmed, that the two members of an opposite condition or disposition do spring out of one eternal root, and that they operate in this world by clean contrary effects, and consequently, that since the mass of waters, whereof (as St Peter doth testify) the heavens and the earth were made of old, did come out of the dark chaos, 
2 Pet. 3.  and was, as it were, her second birth, which the Poets feign to be Pan, or the universal nature, it is easy to be considered by the wise Philosopher, that this passive portion of the world is by a natural instinct inclined to darkness, and unto all the privative conditions thereof; so that if it were not for the formal portion of the world, which proceeded from that bright spirit of wisdom, (which Solomon calleth, 
Sap. 7.24.  The vapour of the virtue of God, and the sincere emanation of the brightness of the omnipotent, and the splendour of the divine li●ht, and the mirror, without all spot, 
Job 26.7. ●ob 28.25.  of his goodness; that divided the waters into distinct orbs or spheres, and gave a proportional weight unto the air, and tied or hanged up the waters in the thick clouds by measure, and gave orders unto the rain, and made a passage for the lightnings of the thunders) if it were not (I say) for the act of this Spirit, all things would be alike. It is this Spirit that said, Ab ore altissimi prodij & retunditatem coelorum circumivi solus in profundo ab●ssi ambulavi: 
Eccles. 3.  I came out from the mouth of JEHOVA, and compassed about the heavens, I walked in the profundity of the abyss, etc. It was the bright wisdom which JEHOVA did possess in the beginning of his ways, before his works, 
Prov. 8.  before all time, before the world was made, when there was not any abyss, before there was any fountain, before the mountains were raised, or the earth created. When he made the heavens it was there, when he did fortify the superior waters it was there, 
Joh. 1.  when the limits of the sea were framed, lest the waters should pass their bounds. When he gave the earth her foundation it was there with him, as a helper to compose all things. To conclude, by it all was formally made, and without it was nothing made and preserved. So that if it were not for the present action of this formal spirit, the watery matter of the world would return unto the deformed estate of her mother Chaos; for being in this world, it is inclined unto the disposition of her mother, being that it is passive, feminine, and serveth in place of the mother of all things; and in another respect, the vivifying and bright emanation of the eternal Unity, is become the masculine actor or father of all things, being that it doth vivify every thing in this world, as the Apostle teacheth us, and as the before-said Poets do seem to intimate unto us, under the name of Apollo, or the father of light.  
This therefore being well observed, we may by the detection of these two abstruse and mystical principles, I mean, of Light and Darkness, attain unto the radical knowledge and original of the true sympathy and antipathy, being that it is evident, that the first proceedeth from that concording and vivifying love, which ariseth from the benign emanation of the Creator, which desireth to be joined with his like, and seeketh to preserve his like by union; and the other issueth from that discording, privative, and hateful affection, which darkness and deformity doth afford unto the children of light and life, and to all the beauteous offsprings thereof. By this therefore it appeareth, that as before the separation of these different properties, or effects of one unity, namely, of light from darkness, which was brought to pass by the divine word, all things were one and the same without distinction and difference, and that unity or one was no way to be numbered among those things which were created, so that light was darkness, and darkness light, and neither of these discernible; nothing was really distinguished, but all were one in the first matter of all things, which was in the eternal unity: So that then there was neither light nor darkness, nor day nor night, nor heaven nor earth, nor spirit nor body, nor good nor evil, nor pure nor impure, nor generable nor corruptible, nor this nor that; and yet nevertheless all these, as well spiritual as corporal, proceeded from that potential subject, which remained complicitely in that infinite Unity, which both was, and is, and ever shall be, all in all, and over or without all. O admirable wisdom of God in all his works! All things (I say) proceeded from one matter, the which nevertheless was nothing of these things which were made. All things were abstrucely hidden and in secret, but, according unto our Saviour's words, nothing was so occult and obscure, but was to be revealed, and made to appear unto sighr, by the penetrating operation of the admirable word Fiat, by whose divine spagericall action or virtue, that one thing was divided into two contraries; upon the which, names, well befitting their natures, were imposed; for the one, as I have told you, was called Light, and the other Darkness; the first also was termed Day, the last Night; and thus was the pure separated from the impure. Hence therefore it cometh, that all the world was originally divided into two contrary Kingdoms, that correspond unto these two radical branches of one unity, by the which relation it is easy to express, what in verity is light and darkness, what day and night, what goodness and what badness, what is heaven and what is hell, what is truth and what is falsehood, what is humility and what is pride, what justice and what injustice, what is gladness and what is sorrow, what is sweet and what is bitter, what is action and what passion, what is life and what is death, what is generation and what corruption, what is pure, and what impure, what is wholesome and what pernicious, what is a medicine and what a poison, and, to conclude, what is amiable and what is odious, what is concord and what is discord, and, by consequence, what is sympathy and what antipathy, in an infinity of creatures in this world.  
That the whole world, and every creature thereof, is composed of these two contrarieties, or opposite natures, we find it justified as well by the sacred authority, as testimony of Ethnic Philosophy; for the son of Syrach saith, in the place before specified, 
Ecclus. 42.  Gemina sunt omnia quorum alterum contrarium est alteri, nec quicquam factum est quod mancum est: All things are of a twofold nature, whereof the one is contrary unto the other, and yet there is not any thing which is defective. And thereupon the Philosopher Heraclitus concludeth, that all things in the world are made by strife and concord; and Empedocles will have the soul to be composed of the elements, and of friendship and enmity. To conclude, lest some scrupulous Reader should condemn me for making so long a discourse upon these two contrary principles, proceeding from one Root, I thought it most fit to certify each judicious person, that the true knowledge thereof is of an especial importance, because that the two foresaid principles are observed to be the real and only foundation, both of universal Philosophy and Theology. For that the root and bases of them both, doth consist on the true understanding of these two contrarieties: And therefore if they be not first of all well opened and conceived, how is it possible afterwards that they should be rightly handled either in true Philosophy or understood in those places of Holy-Writ, wherein they are so often mentioned? Touching the explication of this most profound Sphyngian Riddle or abstruse question, namely Why God in his secret sense or mental intent did raise up and ordain out of the informed matter or Ideally delineated in himself, these two contrarieties, to cause thereby that all things in the world, should be put into a mutual dissonance, or fight and conflict with one another, so that there is found nothing which participateth of goodness, which hath not his contrary; that is to say, which doth not communicate with badness (insomuch that God himself is not without an adversary) verily it is too occult a Cabal to be explained by mortal capacity, being that it may well be esteemed the profoundest secret of all the divine mysteries: wherefore there is required a mental aspect, well purged and mundified from each misty cloud of ignorance and error, to search into the bowels of this question, and therefore it is impossible to be revealed unto any, but to such as God doth immediately bestow his grace and holy Spirit, which is the searcher out of all mysteries, the which Spirit is in us, and breatheth and blows, when and where it listeth, and it is called in Scriptures the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Sanctification, the Spirit of Illumination, the Spirit of Revelation, which is the best interpreter of the Divine Secrets, mentioned in holy-Writ: neither verily doth it become us of ourselves to inquire why God made this or that, or thus or after this fashion. But it behoveth the zealous to refer all this unto the time when these secrets shall be discovered, which will come to pass, when the seventh Seal shall be opened: for then that high mystery, which is the final cause, why and for what end God's Providence will by these two opposites reveal itself, and clean extinguish all enmity out of the world, shall be discovered. As touching nevertheless the end of this dissonancy, the Apostle saith, that it will be, when the Son hath delivered the Kingdom unto God the Father, and when he hath evacuated every Principality and Potentate, and Virtue, he must reign until he hath made his enemies his footstool, and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death. So that as two contrarieties or discords, proceeded from one Unity or unison, namely Light and Darkness from one Divine Essence; So also these two dissonant branches or confusion of Unities, will at the last be reduced or return again into one harmonious Unity, in which there will be found no dissonancy, namely when these words of the Revelation are accomplished: Ecce omnia nova facio: 
Rev. 21.  vetera enim transurunt: Behold I make all things new: for the old heaven and earth have passed away. But leaving this allaterall discourse, we will proceed directly in our Sympathetic and Antipathetical Argument or inquisition: into the which that we may penetrate with the greater celerity and facility, and dive the deeper into the research of their actions; it will be fit that we should describe in the first place, the manner how the world doth live, by the participation of these two, namely of the Light and Darkness, and that I will express unto you in few words, what the Ancient Philosophers have determined about the soul of the world; and lastly I will show that their Opinions do not err or vary much from the Testimony of the sacred Bible.   

CHAP. IU.  
Wherein it is evidently proved, as well by the ancient Ethnic Philosophers, as by the authority of Holy Scriptures, that there is a soul of the world: Herein also is expressed what this catholic Soul is, and whereof it is composed or made.  
I Purpose in the first rank of my discourse, touching the soul of the world, to express what the opinions as well of the ancient Cabalists and mystical Rabbi's, as Ethnic Philosophers are, concerning this Subject, so much condemned by some self-conceited and little skilful persons, in so profound a mystery, and so highly prised and esteemed by others, who have with the Lyncean eyesight of their understanding, dived and penetrated into the secret bowels of Nature, & with due reverence contemplated her central and eternal Agent. And afterwards my meaning is, to set down the concordance which is observed betwixt them and Holy-Writ. The Cabalist's tenant is, that the great Angel whom they term Mitattron, (which by interpretation is Donum Dei, the gift of God) is that very same catholic Spirit, which doth animate the whole world, and thereupon Rabbi Moses doth aver it to be Intellectus a ens, or the general intellectual agent, from which all particular forms do flow. 
Reuclin. de Arte cab. lib●.  And they say, that from this universal angelical Spirit, all singular virtues as well animal, as vital and natural, do proceed, which also they call Angels, whereof there are an infinite number in respect of our capacity. And the Philosopher Democritus, Orpheus, with divers of the Pythagoreans, do not much differ from this opinion of these Rabbis, but in variety of name only: for they imagine that all things are full of gods, and therefore they offered divine Honours, Prayers, and Sacrifices unto them in the creatures, and did worship each of them with a divers fashion of ceremony. But they had evermore that regard unto JEHOVA, the eternal Unity and Father of all things, that they referred all these gods unto one Jupiter. This point nevertheless being ill understood by the ignorant, was an especial cause of Idolatry, being that hereupon, the simple fell unto the worshipping of the creature, in stead of the Divinity which was in the creature. 
Sap. 15.  And for this reason, Solomon: Vani sunt homines omnes naturà in quibus est ignorantia Dei, & qui ex iis quae spectantur bonis, eum qui est, intellig ere non potuerunt, neque ex operibus consideratis, ipsum opificem agnoverunt: All men are naturally vain, in whom is the want of the knowledge of God, and cannot conceive him that truly is, by such good creatures as they sensibly do discern, nor yet have scanned and discovered the Workman by the consideration of his works. In like manner the Platonists did call the general virtue, which did engender and preserve all things the Animam mundi, or the soul of the world. And to this their opinions, the Arabic Astrologians do seem to adhere: forasmuch as they did maintain, that every particular thing in the world hath his distinct and peculiar soul from this vivifying Spirit. To this opinion also Mercurius Trismegistus, Theophrastus, Avicenna, Algazel, and as well all the Stoics and Peripatetics, do seem wholly to consent or agree. Again, Zoroaster and Heraclitus, the Ephesian, conclude that the soul of the world is that catholic invisible fire, of which and by the action whereof, all things are generated and brought forth from puissance unto act. Virgil, that excellent Latin Poet, calleth it that mental Spirit, which is infused through every joint and member of the world, whereby the whole Mass of it, namely the heaven and the earth, or spirit and body, are after an abstruse manner agitated and moved: His words are these;  
Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per ar●us  
Mens agitat molem, 
Aened. lib. ●.  etc.  
A Spirit (saith he) doth nourish within, and being infused over all the joints or members of the world, it doth move the whole substance of the same. Marcus Man●ius, as also Boetius and Augurel, being later Poets, are of Virgil's opinion. For Manlius saith;  
Hoc opus immensi constructum corpore mundi 
In Astronomicis ad August.   
Vis animae divina regit.  
The divine power of the ●oul doth govern this work, which is erected in the body of the vast world. And Boetius  
Tu triplicis mediam naturae, cuncta moventem,  
Connectis animam.  
Thou dost frame or tie together a mean soul of a triple nature, which moves all things. And Augurel saith;  
Nonnulli quicquid diffunditur undique coeli,  
Aëraque & terras & lati marmoris aequor, 
lib. 1 Chr●   
Intus agi referunt animà quà vivere mundi  
Cuncta putant, ipsumque hàe mundum ducere vitam.  
Ast animae quoniam nil non est corporis expers,  
Mundus at & mundi partes quoque corpore constant;  
Spiritus hic intermedius fit, quem neque corpus  
Aut animum dicunt sed eum qui solus utroque  
Participans in idem simul haec ex●rema red●cat.  
Some say, that whatsoever filleth the Heaven, the Air, the Earth, and wide Seas, is stirred up by a soul, through the virtue whereof all things in the world do live; and also that the world itself doth exist by it. But because there is not any bodily substance that is viod of a soul, and that the world and every part thereof doth consist of a body▪ therefore there is an intermediate spirit betwixt this soul and body, which they neither call a soul or a body, but a mean substance, participating of them both, to reduce both extremes together into one. The wiser sort of Alchemists, do make the Soul a certain infinite nature, 
Arte chym. c. 4.  or power in all things, which doth procreate like things of their like: for this nature doth engender all things, yea, and multiplieth, and nourisheth, or sustaineth them: and they also style it, the Ligament, or bond of the elements, since by it they are fastened together with the Symphoniacal accords of peaceable harmony, although of themselves, that is in regard of their matter, they are dissonant. Also it is termed the true virtue, that mingleth and proportionateth every thing in this sublunary world, allotting unto each specific creature a convenient and well agreeing form, that thereby one thing might be distinguished and made to vary from another: and, in conclusion, the mystical Rabbis do aver, that this occult fire is that Spirit of the Lord, or fiery love, which when it moved upon the waters, did impart unto them, a certain harmonious and hidden fiery virtue, without whose lovely assistance and favourable heat, nothing could be generated of them, or multiplied in them.  
Thus you may discern the manifold opinions, as well of Christian as Heathen Philosophers touching this Anima mundi, or soul of the world, which will appear to vary little or nothing at all from the tenant of Holy Scripture in sense, but in words only; Neither are these their opinions so heinous or abominable, as some more superstitiously zealous than truly understanding Christians of this our Age will make them, if they will scan the matter wisely and with moderation: for than they shall really perceive, that it doth concur with the Bible of Truth: And to confirm what I now say; my purpose is in the first place, to express unto each learned and well minded Reader, the harmony of the Scriptures touching this point, and then I will compare every one of the foresaid opinions, with the sense and grounds of the said harmony, that each wise man may thereby the better conjecture and guess at the truth of the business, before he shall rashly enter into the censuring of that deep and profound mystery, which concerneth the Divine action in natural effects.  
I told you, in my precedent discourse, that the Eternal Unity, which is the God of gods, and Beginning of beginnings, did cause by a double property in one essence, two divers principles to issue out of himself, whereof the one was potential, and no way as yet enacted by the brightness of his emanation, and in that respect is termed Darkness, privation, Nolunty, opposite to Light, and a friend unto death and rest: The other was actual, and nothing else but a pure catholic form and brightness, which is termed Light, Position, Volunty, and in nature opposite to Darkness, and a friend unto life and action, or motion. And then I signified unto you, that by the bright appearance of Eternity, or the Eternal Spirit of Wisdom, (which I termed with the Scriptures, the radiant emanation, or effluxion from the Almighty, which is all one with him in essence) the deformed waters were enacted and made manifest, out of this dark Principle or Chaos, that is, reduced from Potentia Divina, or the Divine Puissance, without form, in which they abode, into Actum Divinum, the Divine Act: and because all the humid and passive catholic nature, 
Gen. 1.  of which both the heavens and the earth were framed, did issue from this Mass of watery matter, which the Poets call Pana, or the second birth of Chaos, we must imagine it to be that spiritual matter of the world, which was made fertile and multiplicable, by reason of that hidden active and formal Light or invisible fire, which this increated emanation imparted unto it, immediately before the creation of the heavens and the earth. Whereupon the holy Text hath it: Spiritus Domini serebatur super aquas: The Spirit of the Lord moved or was carried upon the waters. And as St. A●gustin addeth to it, igneum illis vigorem imp●r●ie●s: Bestowing upon th●m a fiery vigour or formal and active virtue, Now as we see that Man, which is called the little-world, is composed of soul and body, (whereof the soul is his heaven or spiritual part, or, as we may say, the superior and higher waters, and the body with the humours thereof, as it were the lower waters, is the earth and g●osser humou●s) and each of these two are informed, united, and vivified by the Spirit of life, which God inspired into it▪ even so we may observe, that the heaven or spiritual humid nature of the great world, is animated by the eternal emanation or spirit of the supernatural wisdom of God, to give life and figure unto the world. And forasmuch as it is eadie to discern, that the macro cosmical heavens are of two sorts, namely composed of upper spiritual waters, which are called Ae●her, or heavenly; and of the lower spiritual waters, which are called Aer, or elementary, no otherwise than in the lesser world or man, the receptacle of the heavenly spirit is known to be Aer, so that Physicians distinguish by reason of this difference between the vital or etherial spirits, and the natural or elementary body: So we ought to consider, that this material humid spirit of the heavens, in both worlds, which are the subtlety of the waters, are in themselves dead, but in respect of the supercelestial emanation into them, which informeth and vivifieth them, they live, move, and are thinner or thicker, according unto that more or less formal grace, which the all-informing Spirit doth allot them; for the more the sacred Spirit of life doth abound, or really act, in this or that region of the universal air, the more that sphere is thin, subtle, active, worthy, and noble. Doth not Scripture seem to verify, that Deus sapientia sua aptet pondus aeri, 
Job 28. Psal. 147. Prov. 3.  & appendat aquas in mensura, fecerit terram in fortitudine sua & preparaverit orbem in sapientia sua & prudentia sua extenderit coelos, appenderit aquilonem super inane & suspenderit terram super nihilum. In coelorum structura & cum Deus stabiliret fund●menta terrae, ipsa aderat cuncta componens. And again Wisdom saith, Ex ore altissimi prodii primogenita ante omnem creaturam, in initio ante seculum creata sum, usque ad futurum seculum non desinam, & habitatione sancta coram ipsum ministravi. In coelis ●eci ut oriretur lumeninde ficiens, & sicut nebula tex● omnem terram. 
Ecclus. 24. Amos 1. Ester 4. Jer. 51. Job 26.  In altissimis habitavi, & thronus meus in columna nubis, coeli gyrum circuivi sola, profundum abyssi penetravi in fluctibus maris ambulavi & in omni terra s●eti. Feci Arcturum & Orionem, converti in mane tenebras, diem in noctem mutavi, vocavi aquas maris, effudi eas super terrae faciem. Coelos den que, mediante Spiritu meo, ornavit Deus; converti coelum in gyro in locum suum uno die: omniaque numero, pond●re, & me●sura disposuit & temperavit. God by his wisdom giveth proportion of weight unto the air, hangeth the waters in measure; He made the earth in his strength, prepared the world in his wisdom, and extended the heavens by his prudency. He hanged the North upon emptiness and inanity, and balanced the earth upon nothing. For she was present at the building of the heaven, and it was ●he that did compass and fashion out all things. When God did establish the foundations of the earth, she was present, and composed all things. And in another pla●e, this Spirit of wisdom saith, I came out of the mouth of the most high, being firstborn or brought forth before any creature. I was created in the beginning before all ages, neither shall my being cease in the latter age of the world: and I do administer before him in his holy habitation. I caused a never failing light to rise in the heavens, and I covered the earth after the manner of a mistress I dwelled in the highest places, and my throne was in a crowdy pillar. I alone did compass round about the heavens, and did penetrate into the profund●● of the abyss; and I walked in the waves of the seas, and I stood upon every earth. I made the North, or polestar, and Orion, and I turned the darkness into day, and the day unto night. I called the waters of the seas, and poured them out upon the face of the earth. I turned the heavens about unto his place in one day's space. To conclude, God adorned the heavens by my spirit, and did proportionate and temper all things in number, weight, and measure, etc. By which testimonies it is most apparent, that all changes, alterations, actions, ornaments of beauty, motions, numbers, weights, measures, and consequently all diversities that are made, in the general homogenial mass of the waters, are effected by this vivifying emanation of the benign and bright spirit of the eternal Unity, whose root is the Word; for in verity, according unto St. Paul, it is only this Spirit that doth operate all in all. 
1 Cor. 1.2. Psal. 103.24.  And therefore I must needs conclude with the kingly Prophet, and say, Opera Dei mirabilia & ampla sunt; quae omnia fecisti in sapientia: The works of God are marvellous and ample, which thou hast effected in thy wisdom. 
Psal. 33.6.  And again, Verbo Domini firmati sunt coeli & Spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum. By the word of the Lord the heavens were fashioned and fastened, and by the Spirit of his mouth each virtue thereof. Which words do seem to infer, not only the material substance of the world, which is intimated by that word Heavens, but also the enacting form, that is, the vivifying beginning of all things, which hath no beginning, and this is signified by the Word, and his offspring, the Spirit from the which the waters first received their being; and then of these catholic waters were the heavens, the earth, and elements made, in number, weight, and measure, that is to say, were effected by a subdivision, through the spagericks act of the selfsame word or spirit: 
2 Pet. 3.  And therefore St. Peter hath it, Coeli erunt prius & terra de aquis & per aquas consistentes verbo Dei: The heavens and the earth were of old of waters, and by waters, consisting by the word of God. As who should say, after the Spirit of the Lord had issued out of the dark abyss, (for it is said, Verbum erat in principio, The Word was in the beginning) and had given act and form, and consequently a name unto the waters, (for it was said, that the Spirit of the Lord was carried upon the waters) the same Spirit did operate to reveal explicitly and particularly, that which the Chaos did at the first contain in itself complicitely and confusedly, and that in a generality; wherefore when it had revealed the universal matter of all things, which was water, it did by little and little anatomise it, and open the secret closerts thereof, to show forth and make manifest that which from all eternity lay hid in it, and was without form or being, and therefore esteemed rightly for Nothing. And first, the substance of the world was made of it in general, as it appeareth by this Text, 
Sap. 11.18.  Manus omnipotentis mundunt ex informi materia effecit. The hand of the Omnipotent did make the world of a matter without form or shape. And as St. Jerom interpreteth it, Ex materia invisa, Of an unseen or invisible thing. Then that watery and humid substance was divided into the heaven and earth, in distinguishing the waters from the waters by the same Spirit, which is the ministering hand of the Almighty; for the Text hath it, 
Ecclus. 24. Prov. 9  In habitatione sancta coram ipso ministravi, I did administer before him in the holy habitacle. And again, Sapientia apud ipsum fuit cuncta componens, Wisdom was she that composed all things with God. And this was the second day's work. Then the lower waters were divided into elements, namely, earth, water, air, etc. and that was the third day's separation, as Moses doth methodically demonstrate. All which, Hermes expresseth thus, (as is said before) Ex luminis voce verbum factum prodit, 
Pimand. 1.  verum hoc naturae humidae astans, eam fovebat. Ex humidae autem naturae visceribus sincerus ac levis ignis protenus evolans alta petit, aer quoque levis spiritûs parens in mediam regionem inter aquam & ignem sortiebatur; terra verò, & aqua sic invicem commixta jacebant, ut terrae facies obruta nusquam pateret. The word which was made did issue out of the Light's voice, and this Word being present and assistant unto the humid nature, did foster and preserve it. Then the light fire, proceeding out of the bowels of the humid nature, soared or mounted aloft. The thin air a●s●, which is the father of the spirit, did elect the middle region which is between the fire and the water, for his abode. The earth and water did lie so intermingled together, that the face of the earth was no where overflowed or drowned by the waters. Whereby it is evidently proved, that this thin spiritual water, or humid nature, in itself is no more than man's spirit, without the vivifying act of life; for as in the soul of every creature that liveth, there are two things chiefly to be required, namely, an Agent and a Patient; so where the one of these are wanting, there can be no created soul: for if that the world's life was only the essential breath of God, without the vehicle of the created humid spirit, which is the matter of heaven; then that life would be simple identity, and of one and the same property, and consequently there would be neither variety of action, neither any contraction or dilatation of systole and diastole in things, and therefore no action or passion in the soul; for without a passive nature there can be no action, and also without an active nature there can be no passion. Now matter which proceedeth from water is the subject of all passion, as here, mother Chaos was the female or passive, unto the action of Demogorgon, or God. Also act or form, which proceedeth from light, is the subject of all action, as its father Eternity, or the bright emanation of the spirit of wisdom from the fountain of light, was the male or agent. From hence therefore it is an easy thing to gather, first, what the soul of the world is, and therefore of what parts it doth consist; for we must consider, that as every creature hath his interior and exterior, so also we must tightly search after an internal and an external, in the soul, being it is a creature; and again, that it is a creature, it is most certain, because it is not Identity, but Alterity; for if it were Identity, it would be the divine unity or essence, and consequently it would not be created. Now that it is Alteritas it is plain, because it is compounded of two, after the consistence of Angels, forasmuch as his internal is a vivifying flame, issuing or proceeding from the eternal emanation of life; and his external is an aeviall spirit, which is created, enacted, and animated by this eternal emanation from God. And forasmuch as the nature of that most essential and never-dying fire, is said to be all, and in every part of the world, 
Ephes. 4. Coloss. 3.11. Psal. 139.7.  (and therefore Scriptures say, Christus adimplet omnia, Christ filleth all things. Christus est omnia in omnibus, Christ is all, and in all. Dei Spiritus est in coelo, in inferno, in extremis maris, in nocte & in tenebris, etc. The Spirit of God is in heaven, in hell, in the extremest parts of the seas, in the night, and in darkness. Sapientiam effudit Deus super omnia opera sua, 
Eccles. 1.  God hath poured out the spirit of wisdom upon all his works. Spiritus Dei incorruptibilis inest omni rei, The incorruptible Spirit of God is in every ●hing. 
Sap. 12.1. Isai. Sap. 1.  Coelum est ei sedes, terra autem scabellum pedum ejus; The heaven is his seat, and the earth is his footstool. Spiritus sapientiae implet orbem, The spirit of wisdom filleth all the world, etc. Forasmuch (I say) as it is in every particle of this humid spirit, the which by his presence is now full of dignity, that before was vile and deformed; it is certain, that it maketh this catholic spirit to live. And therefore this angelical spirit thus composed of alterity, or of two, is called Anima mundi, because it is that catholic or general spirit, divinely animated from the beginning, which doth vivify afterwards each particular creature of the world, proceeding from the generality to the speciality, and from the speciality unto the individuality. So that the mighty question, so often revolved by the Peripatetic Philosophers, and so slenderly by them resolved, may hereby be fully determined, and enucleated, if it please the wise and impartial Reader rightly to consider things, as indeed they do stand; for by this, it is easy to express and distinguish mentem divinam, or the divine emanation, from anima, or the soul; and again, the anima from spiritus, or the spirit; being that it is evident, that the mental radication, is the eternal and formal emanation, which is given or sent out by the Creator in her positive property, to create the world, and consequently the earthly body and heavenly spirit thereof, of nothing, or non-actuall existence. The spirit is that inward created spirit of the world, or subtle substance of the waters, or humid nature, simply considered in its self, which is animated and illuminated by that Archetypicall emanation; and the soul, or anima, is that union, which is made between this humid created spirit, and the increated formal emanation, which doth inform or create. So that by this we may discern, first, what the forma informans, or natura naturans, is; then what the forma informata, or the natura naturata is. The forma formans, or natura naturans is God, or the divine emanation, which created all things; the forma informata, or natura naturata is the created light, or the spirit informed or illuminated, by the presence of the bright increased Spirit; and the increated Spirit clothed with, or enduing that created spirit, is said to be vestitus, or amictus lumine quasi vestimento, 
Psal. 142.  clothed with light, that is, with an illuminated spirit, as with a garment. We shall find also in Exodus, that in the same Chapter, the spiritual creature in which the divine Spirit acteth and resideth, 
Exod. 3.  is termed an Angel, in regard of his external spirit in composition; but again, in the same Chapter it is termed JEHOVA, in regard of the eternal form that acteth in it. Also the Angel is said to go before the Israelites in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. And again it is said in the same history, that JEHOVA went before them in the said order. 
Sap. 10.17.  And the wise man said, Fuit sapientia iis tegumentum interdiu, & lux stellaris noctu, Wisdom was a cover to them in the day time, and a starry-light in the night. And the reason of all this is expressed elsewhere thus, 
Exod. 23.20.  Noli exacerbare eum, quia non feret defectionem vestram, quoniam nomen meum est in eo; Do not anger this my angel; for he will not endure your defections, because my name is in him, etc. Where, by his name he signifieth his word, which is God; as if he had said, I do essentially animate him, and I am within him, etc. That the soul of the world, or Mens divina in mundo, simply taken, is the divine mental emanation absolutely in itself, being distinguished from the created spirit, this Text in Scriptures doth warrant: Animam & Spiritum dividit & discernit sermo Dei vivus: The Word of God doth divide the soul and the spirit, etc. Where, by the word is meant the mental beam; by the Spirit, the humid nature that existeth by the presence of the mental beam, which God by his Word can withdraw unto himself, or emit according unto his will and pleasure. Whereupon David said: Deo recipiente Spiritum suum à creatu●is, e●spi a●t, ●mi● erte spiritum recreantur bono. God receiving or withdrawing his Spirit from 〈…〉 they exspire, but sending out his Spirit they are recreated with life and goodness. A●d ●ow I will prove all this out of such definitions or descriptions, which as well the Fa●he●s of the Church as the Philosophers, both Christian and Gentile, have made upon the soul in general, both as it hath a relation unto a body, and also as it is in its simple and separated estate: Damascene seemeth to define it thus: Anima est sub●tantia spiritualis a divinis fontibus emana●s, simplex, indissolubilis, immortals, libera, incorporea, & indivisibilis; quantitate, figura, pondere, & colore carens. The s●●l is a spiritual substance, flowing from the divine fountains, simple, indissolvable, immortal, free, incorporeal, indivisible; wanting quantity, figure, weight, and colour. Unto this also Bernard seemeth to consent. And Augustin defineth it thus: Est mens div●na omnia intelligens omnibusque se assimilans: 
August.  It is a divine Spirit, that understandeth all things, and doth conform itself unto the shape or likeness of all things. And for this reason, certain Philosophers say, that it is made after the likeness of the Spirit of Wisdom, which is known to be the Image of God: For it beareth the likeness of every thing in itself. Wherefore it is defined by them, to be the similitude of all things. And verily it hath in itself this power, to apprehend, and find out all things. Again, it is like unto all things, being that it is one in all. There are some of the ●●viner sort of Mystical Philosophers, that seem to conclude man's soul more fully in this definition; Anima est lux quaedam divina ad imaginem Verbi, 
Agnip. lib. ●3. cap. 37.  causae causarum, primi exemplaris, creata; s●bstantia Dei, sigilioque figurata, cu●us character est verbum ae●●num: The soul is a certain divine Light, created after the Image of the Word, the ca●se of cause's, and the first exemplar or image, etc. Another defines it thus: Est res incorporea omni decore adornata, Sanctae Trinitati ●ssimi●ata, 〈◊〉 nae gloriae coaquata: It is an incorporeal thing, wh●ch is adorned with all virtue, likened to or resembling the Holy Trinity, and co●equated unto eternal glory. Some do describe it thus: Est Spiritus intellectualis semper vivens, semper in m●t●, & s●cundum sui operis effic●●m variis nuncupatur nominibus. Dicitur vita dum vegetat, spiritus dum contemplatur, sensus dum sentit, animus dum sapit, mens dum intelligit, ratio dum d●scernit, man ria dum recordatur, dum vuli voluntas; at isla omnia non sunt n●si una essentia se● proprietate diversa: It is an intellectual Spirit always living, always in motion, and in respect of its divers operations in the body, it hath divers appellations assigned unto it: For it is called life, in regard of its v● vificative and vegetative property. It is called a Spirit, as it is conversant about contemplation, and, is a spiritual substance: and breatheth in the body; it is called sense, as it is employed about the Act of sensation; it is termed Animus, when it operateth in Knowledge and Wisdom; and it is named men's, in regard of its Divine Understanding: and Memory, as it doth remember; again, as it is affected to will any thing, it is called Voluntas: and all these names decipher but only one Anima or Soul in essence, but divers and sundry properties or faculties, etc. And these later descriptions are assigned unto this vivifying Spirit, as it is conversant with the body. Now if we shall duly examine all these delineations, of the essence and properties of this Anima, as well in her freedom from the body, as when it is included in it; we shall find it not to vary one jot from the tenor of my precedent assertion. For first, we shall observe it to be in its essential virtue, the offspring of the eternal emanation, which came immediately from God, for the enacting of all things, and then that it hath for its substantial Vehicle, the thin subtle created spirit of the world, which maketh it alteritatem, or a composition of two, namely of the bright emanation from the eternal Fountain, and therefore in the foresaid definitions, it is termed in regard of this its interior, in the first, a Spiritual Substance, flowing from the divine Fountain: in the second mens divina; in the third, the Image of similitude of the divine Wisdom; in the fourth, a divine Light, after the Image of the Word, the substance of God whose character is the Word; in the fifth, the similitude of the Holy Trinity, coaequated unto the divine Glory. Secondly, it participates of the mundane spirit, and therefore it is by the sixth and seventh termed (in regard of its substance) a spirit that breatheth in the body, and it is the Vehicle of the formal act, which is in truth the divine mental beam: being considered in itself, as the substantial and material spirit, in its simple nature, it is that which participateth with the created spirit of the world. The union of these two, is called anima, so that anima includeth mentem and spiritum, or the divine and created nature in one, which filleth all, and animateth and vivifieth all things, according to the assertion of such Gentile and Ethnic Philosophers, as I have cited before, which I will prove no way to descent or vary from the testimony of the holy Text. And to make this the plainer, I will compare them in order. And first, I will begin my relation, with the Cabalists great Angel, whom they call Mitaitron: which by interpretation, is Donum Dei, the Gift of God, which (as they say) is the catholic intellectual Agent, from the which all peculiar forms do descend. The Apostle saith, that the Lord doth vivify all things. And Solomon saith, 
1 Tim. 6.13.  that the Spirit of Wisdom is the tree of life and the fountain, or beginning of life: and if this Spirit be the fountain of life, than the Son of Syrach: effudit Deus illam supra omnia opera sua, 
Prov. 3.  & supra omnem carnem secundum datum suum: God poured it out upon all his works, and upon all flesh in his measure. And this was that catholic angelical Spirit, which God sent out as a Spiritual Messenger from himself, and out of himself, 
Gen. 1.  in the form of an emanation, to move upon the waters, and to inform and vivify them, and give life and being, not only to the great world, but also to every particular thereof, 
Joh. 1. Ephes. 4. Collos. 3.  and the emanation was this Word of God, by whom all things were made, and vivified, forasmuch as in it was life: I mean that Christ which filleth all things, who is all in all, as the Apostle saith, who in the beginning made the earth, 
Heb. 1.  and the heavens were the work of his hands; and after his creation of all things, he doth (as St. Paul telleth us) portare omnia verbo virtutis suae: bear up, suffer and sustain all things, by the vivifying virtue of this Word. Which also David confirmeth in this: Verbo Domini firmati sunt coeli, & Spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum: 
Psal. 33.6.  By the Word of the Lord the heavens were framed and settled, and by the breath of his mouth, all the virtues thereof, namely, the life, preservation, and being. The Apostle therefore seemeth to conclude thus: Deus non aliquo indigens dat vitam & inspirationem & omnia: God needing not the assistance of any, giveth life and breath, 
Act. 17.  and all things unto every creature. But each Philosopher cannot but acknowledge, that Anima is nothing else, but that which doth animate or vivify a body or spirit: 
1 Cor. 12.  why then should not the catholic divine Spirit which filleth all, and operateth all, and in all, be termed the fountain of the world's life; by which it liveth, moveth, and hath its being, and consequently the essential life, and central or mental soul of the world, 
Wisd. Wisd. 12.1. Ecclus. 1.  moving the created humid spirit thereof, no otherwise, than the spirit which God breathed into Adam, did move and operate, in and by the Organ of the created air? What shall the eternal and vivifying Spirit of Wisdom, which is said to fill all, and to be in every thing, which hath the nature of the universal catholic and first created Angel: 
Sap. 7.22.  (For Ecclesiasticus hath it: prior omnium creata est Sapientia: Wisdom was created before all things,) shall it (being that it is as it were the catholic soul of the world, or life of all things; forasmuch as it is the emanation of the brightness of the Omnipotent, and the splendour of the eternal Light, and the pure mirror of the Majesty of God, and the Image of his goodness, being one, simple, subtle, permanent in itself, and the most piercing or movable of all things. All which are the properties assigned by St. Dionys, unto an Angel, and by the learned Fathers before mentioned, unto a separated soul:) shall it (I say) be in all things, and fill the heavenly spirit of each world, I mean of the great world, and the little one, called Man? and shall it not operate and act the vivifying and multiplying effect of his nature, but be idle, and vacant in the creature? Did God send forth his operative Spirit to be still, and not to act? Yea verily, the Father operates in it by his Volunty, and he effecteth the Volunty of his Father in the creature's spirit, which it possesseth, animateth, and guideth, 
Judith. 16.  which way it pleaseth. And for this reason Judith saith: Deo serviat omnis creatura, quia dixisti, & facta sunt; misisti spiritum tuum, & creatae sunt. 
Act. 17.  So that the great world may say, and confess, as well as man, that it was made after the Image of the Archetype or God, and that in him it liveth, moveth, and existeth. According to that of the Apostle unto man, which is the little world. Thus you see that the Cabalist's Mitatiron or Donum Dei, whom they make the catholic intellectual Agent, is nothing else but that universal Spirit of Wisdom which God sent out from this Throne (or as the Text hath it) even out of his own mouth, as the greatest gift and token of his benignity unto each world, and the members thereof: to reduce them from deformity, and nonexistence, into act and formal being, and to endue them with lively feature, and to tender life, and being unto them explicitly, which before was but complicitly included, and comprehended, in the dark and gloomy shadow of death, I mean out of the deformed Chaos, into a beautiful shape; out of deadly sleep and dark rest, into a lively action, and motion; out of obscurity into Light: And this therefore was termed rightly in the eyes of wise men Mitattron or Donum Dei catholicum, which reduceth the universal Nothing into an universal Something.  
But that I may the better express unto you by a Philosophical Demonstration, the Angelical nature of this supreme intelligence, called Mitattron, and consequently of the soul of the world; I would have you in the first place, to know the true manner how the Philosophers do demonstrate the harmony of the world, and his spirit. The Platonicks Heptachord, the which he did invent, and adapt for the demonstrating of the soul of the world, did consist of seven strings, or proportions, partly even, and partly odd, namely 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9.27. The which proportions, although Porphyry and Proclus have drawn forth in one line; nevertheless it appeareth unto me, that Adrastus and Calcidius have more fitly expressed, and adapted it unto the sides of a Pyramid, or Triangle in this manner.  
In the summity or top whereof, namely where both lines meet in one point, the figure of 1. is expressed with Unity, because it participates both on the side with the material existence, and on the other it hath a commerce with the formal emanation, it is apparent that this point or Unity from whence both these different lines, or streams do issue, in the fountain as well of matter as form, and therefore it is as well Synesius' as other Theosophers' opinion, (not disagreeing in this point from Holy Scripture) That Deus sit omne quod est; quip à quo, per quem, & in quo sunt omnia. Quod sit mas & faemina, vel, ut Mercurius Trismegistus ait, utriusquae sexûs faecund●ssimus; quod sit potentia, & actus, quod sit forma & quod sit materia. Imo vere nihil est quod ipse non existit: God (say they) is every thing that existeth; being that, from him, by him, and in him are all things. He is male and female, (as Synesius saith) or, as Mercurius Trismegistus will have it, He is most abundant in each sex: He is puissance and act, and finally, he is form and he is matter. And verily they conclude, that there is nothing which he is not. All which seem not to differ from Holy Testimony, which is, that God is all, and in all, and above all: and that in him are all things, and in his Spirit and Word all things consist, etc. The six other figures which do correspond unto one another, from the material side unto the formal, namely the even numbers, that regard directly the odd, namely the material number 2. regards the formal 3; the 4. the 9; and the 8. the 27. do most lively express the general kinds of all creatures, with their harmony. And in the first place, it deciphereth the Symphoniacall Degrees of the Soul of the world, as shall be told hereafter: For first, after the example of the Archetype from 1. issued 2. which is termed by the Pythagoreans, the confusion of Unities, and therefore it is the radical or incipient imperfect number, which is in respect of his confusedness and imperfection in the same relation unto Unity, from whence it sprung, as the bright eternal Unity is unto the dark Chaos, which is, rudis indi gestaque moles, a rude or confused and indigested heap: And it is rightly termed Imperfect, because that the eternal emanation which is all perfection, had not as yet made it perfect: and for this reason also, the watery matter that issued out of it, is of itself imperfect, no otherwise then the number of 2. is esteemed in regard of that of 3. because all perfection consisteth of 3. terms, namely a beginning, a middle, and an end. So that if you take one of the Unities of 2. for the beginning, and another for the middle, then there wants an end. If you put an Unity for the beginning and an other for the end, than you have two extremes, but no mean or middle, and therefore it is this way also imperfect: Or if you place one Unity for a mean and the other for an end, here also you have imperfection, because there wants a beginning. In like manner, if Unity had not emitted his actual emanatiom as a bright Unity of life, the 2. or deformed matter of the Chaos had stood in his dual, confused, or imperfect estate; that is, without the form, or shape of any perfect thing, I mean a plain Nihil or Aliquid in potentia & non actu: Something in puissance and not in act. So that matter (I say) before it was informed by the Unity of Light (which maketh the third Unity) was Vacuum & inane, Vacuity and inanity, because it wanted the presence of the informing Unity, or actual emanation, to endue it with the title of goodness: for after the bright emanation was made, than vacuity was changed into plenitude; puissance into act; darkness into light; and a deformed matter, into well form, and vivified waters, and, in a word, imperfection into perfection. And thereupon it was said, that God saw that it was good, that is, it was replenished with his virtuous Essence, who was all good and only goodness. By this reason therefore, namely by the addition of the formal Unity, the manner of confusion and of imperfection, which is the material duality, that doth Symbolise with the Chaos, which is the mother of matter, perfection is brought into the world, which by animating the purest and subtler waters, doth unite the mental Light with the heavenly Spirit, in an Angelical essence, which doth afterwards animate and inform all things. And this formal Union is Symbolically expressed, by the figure 3. which for this cause is termed, the first number of perfection, and the number of the Soul or the radical number of form in the course of nature: henceforth therefore it cometh, that the Platonists and Pythagoreans do express matter, which is imperfect in itself, by even or imperfect numbers, and according as in the Achetypicall world, defigned by 1, 2, 3. in form of the sacred Trinity, there appeareth to be three Ideal dimensions in one divine nature, or eternal essence, which present in their manner of progression a Root, a Square, and a Cube, which import a supreme soul, a spirit and body of the world, Ideally painted out in the Archetype and that these three seem to be raised out of one 1. or Unity (for multiplying 1. by the root 1. doth produce 1. and its self which makes 2. or a simple Ideal square, and multiplying it again by 1. there riseth but 2. and 1. which make 3. or a Cube, which argueth the perfection of the Ideal world, which was in God, if we take the two radical compounded numbers for roots, we shall produce after this pattern the created or exemplar world, namely we shall find out three dimensions; to wit, longitude, latitude, and profundity of the matter, by the inquiry or searching out of the Root, Square, and Cube of matter, the root of matter therefore was 2. for though the supreme unity had multiplied or dilated itself in 2. arguing its firstborn issue, yet because the holy Spirit of Illumination shined not forth, all was dark quoad nos: wherefore we must imagine, that the multiplication of matter in the world, is nothing but variety of penetration of formal light into the watery abyss, or material multitude: For the thicker matter is, the nearer she appeareth unto her root 2. or the dark Chaos. Again, the thinner it is made by the opulency of the formal emanation's bright presence, the nearer it appeareth unto the root of formal Unity This mystery (I say) being rightly understood, all science even in the abstrusest Philosophy, may easily be deciphered. The root of matter therefore which is 2. imports the dark Chaos, the root of form which is 3. imports that the root 2. or the dark waters, is animated by the formal or bright emanation of Unity or 1. and so the first 2. was accomplished, and the soul of the world created, namely by the Angelical emanation. And thus was the Cabalists M●tu●tron o● An●ma mundi first produced, which, according unto their traditions, is said to be the first creature that was created, agreeing with that of Ecclesiasticus: Prior omnium creata est Sap entia. 
Eccles. 1.  D●us 〈…〉 Sanc●o: Wisdom was created before all things. God created her in the Holy Spirit, etc. And in and by this Angelical creation, all other Angels were also made, and therefore it is said: Christus est Imago Dei invisibilis, 
Coloss. 1.13.  Primogenitus emnis ●●ca●●rae, in quo ed●ta sunt un●v● sa● coelis & in ●●●ra visibilia, & invi●●bilia, sive Th●●ni, sive Dominat ones, sieve Potesta●es, omnia per ipsum, & in ipso ●mnia sunt, & ipse ante omnes, & omnia in ipso constant. Christ is the Image of the invisible God; being b●ough● 〈◊〉 before any creature, in whom all things, as well visible, as invisible are ma●e, both in heaven and earth, whether they be Thrones, or Dominations, or Potestats, all are made by him, and in him, and he was before any thing, and all consist in him. Lo here is evidently described the true vivifying Spirit, which not only made all, and is all that he made, being that all are in him, doing the will of his Father in all that he hath made, whom the Hebrew Rabbis call Mitattro●, or Donum Dei, and the Prophet, Magniconcilii Angelum, the Angel of the great council: Et vocabitur n●m●n ejus (saith the Prophet) magni concilii Ange●us: And his name shall be called, 
Isai. 6.  The Angel of the great council, etc. Thus by the multiplying of 3 in itself, we have the created formal square, which imports the nine Orders of the Angels, which vary according to the multiplicity of properties: by which the effluxion or emanation, that is sent out from this infinite fountain of light, doth operate diversely in the world, according unto the will of the Father of lights, which sent it forth. And the formal square 9, being joined with the material square 4, doth animate the heavens, which by inspissation or multiplication are made corporal or cubical; so that all bodies are made of those thin substances, by multiplying of each square in his root, whereupon the cubical form will be 27, and that of matter 8, which argue every elementated or compound matter: and as the more the matter is multiplied in itself, the darker and thicker will it be; so the more that light is multiplied in it, the lighter, thinner, and more spiritual will the creature be. Insomuch that the formal root, and square, and cube import the essence and souls of creatures, as well supercelestial, as celestial and elemental, which are more or less dignified with form; for according unto these multiplications in form, the more will the creatures be exalted in excellency. You see now how far, and by what proportions, as well spiritual as material, the Platonic harmony of the world extends itself, and may observe, that where this harmonious proportion between form and matter is not, there must needs be as well spiritual as corporal dissension, or discord, and consequently antipathy. We see also, that the root of life is fixed in the angelical composition, which is of simple, light, & pure spiritual matter, so that the eternal sapience, or essential soul, is the act of the Angels; the aevial angelical spirit is the act or essential life of the stars, or heavenly influence; and the starry influence is the soul and life of the winds, the spiritual emanation from the winds do fourfoldly inform the catholic sublunary element, or lower waters; the element doth animate the meteorological impressions, and of these are the compound creatures compacted, which draw from the divine fountain of them all, being one spirit in essence, but multiform in regard of the variety of organs, by which it worketh variously in the world. So that it appeareth, that God animated immediately the Imperial heaven, or the intellectual spirit, which is the seat of Angels, and this we compare to the root; the imperial heaven animates the stars, or etherial region, which we refer to the square; and the starry heaven is, as it were, the male, or multiplyer and vivifier of the elementary region, and his creatures, which we compare unto the cube. Verily, not only the abstruse Cabalists, but also the profoundest Philosophers, have made an everlasting memory of this perfect and formal root, or ternary number, with his triple dimension; I mean not that which is taken for a mercatory number, or such an one as the vulgar Arithmeticians do use in their Algorism, but as it is a spiritual and essential character of numeration, proceeding from a certain circular revolution and square, and cubick multiplication: And therefore the Learned have founded on this subject their formal and mystical Arithmetic and Geometry, which are not exercised about common and vulgar subjects, but wholly employed about the profound meditations of the true Cab●le, natural Magic, and essential Alchemy, which because the ignorant vulgar people do rashly condemn under those titles, are otherwise termed by the mystical, with the name of the science, Elementary, Celestial, and Supermundane, as well because it entreateth of separated Intelligences and substances, (as some do style them) as also because it is the worthiest of all others to be understood, as being conversant about the knowledge of the Creator; for the greatest perfection in which man may most glory, is, to artain unto the true knowledge of God, which also the Prophet doth testify in these words, Let not the wise glory in his wisdom, 
Jerem. 9  no● the strong man in his strength, nor the rich man in his riches; but let him that will glory, vaunt and glory, in that he knoweth and understandeth me. And verily these are the three mystical sciences, which are by wise men appropriated unto the knowledge of the three worlds; I mean, the Intelligible, the Celestial, and Elementary, represented, according unto the Cabalists by these three Letters of the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adam. Also the three parts of man, termed the little world, to wit, the Intellect, the Soul, and Body, which is subject to alteration and corruption, as also the elementary part. Upon this foundation also, the Rabbi Zoar said, That there are three things which correspond unto one another in this ternary dimension, forasmuch as they are framed or form after the pattern of the Archetype, and radical Idea, namely, the Tabernacle of God which Moses erected, the Temple of Solomon, and man's Body, according unto the three manner of numbers which were applied unto them, namely, the vocal or operative, which is the extract of the measure unto the elementary world; the formal, which is extract from the vocal unto the celestial; and the rational or divine, which is extracted out of the formal unto the intellectual. I will make all this plain by the real description of the Tabernacle: This Tabernacle did symbolise with the three worlds in his parts, for the former of them was uncovered, and was exposed unto the wind, rain, hail, snow, and all other impressions, which are engendered in the sublunary world, with perpetual alterations and changes; and unto this part, the common sort of people, as also the beasts, in an assidual vicissitude of life and death, did resort, by reason of the continual sacrifices which were slain and offered in this place. And therefore this region importing the cube of matter, is rightly referred unto the elementary world, which is composed of the grosser waters, as of a substance fluid and unstable; and for this reason it is properly called, the world of darkness, wherefore the Evangelist in one place styleth the devil, the Prince of darkness; and in another place, the Prince of this world. This region also hath his relation unto the body of man.  
The second part of the Tabernacle, which was burnished over with gold, and illuminated with a Candlestick of seven lights, doth decipher out the starry heaven, and his seven erratic lights of Planets; and this heaven, as it is in the middle betwixt two extremes, namely, between the bright fountain of the formal or imperial heaven, and the obscure and dark abyss of matter, or elementary world; so also it doth participate of the two extremes, namely, of water and fire: And for this reason the heaven is called of the Hebrews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, A●●amaiim, of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esch, fire, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 maim, water; in Greek Aether, quasi igneus aer. But the marry body or matter of it is therefore incorruptible, because her appetite is so fulfilled by the affluence of the formal nectar from above, that it desireth not any alteration; and touching her activity and motion, it hath it from that eternal emanation, which is said by Solomon to be the most movable of all things; 
Wisd. 7.  and, in verity, it is the first catholic mover, who is said to be the Precedent of the primum mobile, at whose act, all the inferior intelligences do move about their rolling and twinkling fires, no otherwise than at the motion of a central wheel, many external wheels do move and have their life. Thus we may see, first, why this region of the world is termed Heaven, or sphere of equality, namely, by reason of his mixtion in equal proportions, of form and matter; also, why it is called the sphere of the soul of the world, by reason that it is composed of the pure spirit of the waters, which is female and passive, and the bright fire or act of eternity; for the mental divinity doth by and through this humid nature, which is his vehicle, act and show forth his vivifying and emanating property, in and by this spiritual organ; and therefore doth all life consist, ex cali●o essentiali, & humido radicali; of essential heat, as the masculine or active; and radical moisture, as the female or passive. This region therefore is referred unto the vital soul in man, and hath relation unto the square, as well of form as matter, which is in the midst between the cube and the root.  
The third part of the Tabernacle was the Sanctum sanctorum, and doth represent the supercelestial, or intelligible soul, or imperial spirit, forasmuch as his substance is almost light and fire and it is thought to be the seat of the Angels, which are the ministers of their great Prince the Lord of light: And this is argued by the presence of the two Cherubins, or fiery Angels, which with their wings do shadow the propitiatory. This heaven hath his relation unto the intellect in man, which the Hebrews call Nessaniah, and the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latins men's, or the mental beam, which hath the dominion in man's soul. So that we may discern, that in the great world, the angelical heaven being most formal and fiery, is as it were the soul of the etherial heaven, for by it, and from it, this region receiveth his life's motion and being; as also by the like proportion the celestial or etherial heaven is the soul or agent of the elementary region. For by means of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, which dart down their beams and influences upon the earth, as arrows against a butt, the earth, and water, and all things therein, do act, and live, and generate, and multiply; so that the heavens are esteemed by all Philosophers to be the Male, and the earth and other elements the Females, between the which, all generations are made in and upon the earth, and in the sea; for the earthly body cannot operate without a heavenly touch, yea, even man himself requireth for his generation the heavenly act and aid: and therefore Aristotle concludeth, that sol & homo generat hominem, the sun and man doth engender a man. Again, all Philosophers in general agree in this, namely, that superiora agunt in inferiora, more maris in foeminam; the superior bodies do operate upon the inferiors, as the man upon the woman. And the Maxim of all such Cabalists, as are conversant in the mystical Theology, 
Reucl. lib. 3. De arte Cab.  aver, that omnes res inferiores sunt representativae superiorum; & sicut fit inferius, sic agitur superius; All inferior things are representours or images of the superiors; and such as the inferiors are, such also are the superiors. And in verity, a notable person, and well seen in this abstruse learning, doth aver, that the aeviall or angelical heaven, is framed after the pattern of the eternal and ideal world, and the temporal elementary heaven or region, is the image of the celestial or etherial; so that the images and the actions of the darker world, have their ideal shapes in and from the lighter and starry world; and the starry world's shapes and actions were first delineated in the intellectual or angelical one, and they again proceed originally from the radical pattern without beginning in the Archetype.  
I conclude therefore, that both Theology and the mystical Philosophy do consent, that God is well pleased with the holy ternary, which is the first odd number in the Arithmetical progression; for we Christians honour a Trinity of Persons in one Deity; and Aristotle saith, That we are instructed by a natural kind of instinct or habit, to honour God after the number of three; and he speaketh in this but reason, being that in the ideal world there was three properties extracted out of one unity, after whose example the real world was afterward made; so that the Trinity in Divinity was the root of all the world's formal composition. For by the root 3, the intellectual or angelical world was deciphered; by the square 9, the celestial world; and by the cube 27, the elementary, as by the Platonic learning we may gather. But as for the Cabalistical Rabbis, they consider the quantitative proportions of this Ternary after another manner; for as the cube of three consists of three 9, so they take these three 9, & order them in this ternary position, 999, which makes nine hundred ninety and nine. So that after the rule of Algorism, the first 9 towards the right hand is a simple digital number, which because of its simplicity, formality, and essentiality, is attributed by them unto the nine orders of Angels, which belong unto the intelligible world. The middle 9, importing so many Ten, doth seem to partake one way of form or simplicity, and on the other hand of matter, and therefore they allot it unto the nine orbs or spheres of the starry heaven. The third 9, which is the place of Hundreds, importeth a deeper and more material composition, belonging unto the elementary world, all which do at the last terminate in Man, who is as it were a passage after the figure of unity from them unto celestial things, and from thence unto intellectual. To conclude, unity, in whom the Philosophers Leucippe did place the sovereign good and happiness, being added unto the three novenaries, will make a complete thousand, which is the cube often, and the end of all numbers, according to the Hebraick calculation. Also the square of 3, which is 9, by addition of Aleph, which is 1, produceth a Denary, or the number of 10, beyond the which, as Aristotle averreth, no man hath ever found any number. After the foresaid type therefore or image, the ancient Law did make a partition of the fruits and goods proceeding from the earth, ordaining the centenary number, as being more material and gross, unto the Laics and pro●ane persons; the tenths it ordained & allotted to the Churchmen, Priests or Levites; but the unity or denary it reserved for God's portion, who (as is proved before) being all, is nevertheless but one; even as from the trunk of a Tree do issue many branches, and from those branches again many sprigs, and yet are all continuated and undevided from that one trunk, from which they have their life and being; or as from one body of the Sun, an infinity of beams do spring, not separated from the essence of that Sun. But to return unto our purpose. The said Cabalists have adapted and fitted the name of their great Angel, which they take for the soul of the world, unto this very triple ternary, or formal proportion, namely, 999. arguing thereby his radical, his square, and his cubical extension, or emission of his divine form unto the profundity of matter, and consequently that he is A●pha and Omega, the vivifier of all, and present in all, and through all: For the Letters of the name Mitattron sar hapanim, which signifieth the Prince of Faces, which is taken for the soul of the world, after the calculation of the Hebrews amount unto 999. and therefore this name, with Letters befitting, do import this number, and yet nevertheless with this consideration, that the etymology of the word by interpretation may import donum Dei, or the gift of God; for what greater gift could God impart unto his potential creatures, and in general unto the great world, than his eternal Spirit of wisdom, or his only Begotten, to make them of somewhat nothing, and to take away all deformity and nullity from the water, and to shape out of them a Heaven and an Earth, and to figure out in them all the creatures thereof, and to preserve them in existence, essence, and lively being? This was therefore indeed the true catholic donum Dei, 
Wisd. 12.1. Wisd. 7.  or gift of God, whose incorruptible nature is in all things, and filleth all things; and as it is the most movable of all things, so it operateth all in all, according to the will of him that sent him. And therefore in regard of the office, and as he was an emissive Spirit, so was he not unworthily named by them, the great or catholic Angel, had not Scriptures in plain terms seemed to intimate so much.  
I could also demonstrate, that the world, and his soul, or life, was shaped after the image of the Archetype in this manner: From 1, which was all light, in whom is no darkness, did 2 issue, which was quoad nos, darkness, or the dark Chaos, so called, because unity did not as yet shine forth to inform them. Betwixt these two extremes is 3 interposed, as a peaceable or charitable unity, between mere light and darkness, or the Spirit of divine love, who resting in the midst between these two principles, uniteth the divine formal fire with the humid material nature, or spirit of darkness, making a union of two opposite natures, so that both natures do remain in one sympathetic concordance; and therefore this formal ternary is called▪ Ligamentum elementorum litem & amicitiam conco●diae vinculis connect●ns; The ligament of the elements, tying together hatred and love with the bands of concord. I express them thus.  
Deus 1 Lux. Coelum 3 Sphaera aequalitatis. Terra 2 Tenebrae.  
This excellent harmony of the soul of the world, is elsewhere most fitly expressed by me, by two equal Piramidicall shapes, whereof the one is formal, the other material; the basis of the formal is the immediate act of God, or the infinite and only bright Unity, and it importeth the emanation of the creating and informing Spirit, so that his Cone doth penetrate unto the very centre of the dark earth or abyss: And chose, the basis of the material or watery Pyramid, is in the earth or centre of darkness, and the Cone ascendeth unto the centre of the basis of the formal Pyramid, in this manner.  
Now where the intersection is made between the two principal concurrences, I have framed a piece of a circle, which circle, because the portions of the formal Pyramid, and material, are there equal, we therefore with the Platonists do call Sphaeram aequalitatis, or the Sphere of equality; or, as they in another respect term it, the orb or sphere of the soul of the world, which is just in the midst of the starry heaven, called for that reason Aether, quasi igneus aer, a fiery air, as who should say, an equal portion of the spirit of the waters, and of the formal fire descending from God or Unity, (as I have expressed before). And therefore as we placed in the precedent demonstration the 3 in the centre or middle of the line, between the divine illuminating unity 1, and the dark Chaos, or deformed duality 2; so in the world was the spiritual body of the visible Sun of this typical world placed, in which the invisible and increated Sun of the Archetypicall world did put his Tabernacle: and for this cause it is rightly termed of the Platonists, the sphere of the soul. And verily by effect we find, that all vivification doth potently spring from the solar or Sunny influence: and as for the excellent beauty of the creature, as also in respect of the vivifying act thereof, it is an evident argument, that it aboundeth with the blessed sparks or vivifying beams of divinity. Again, that it is the bright organ, by which he that vivifieth all things, doth impart and pour forth the shower of his benignity, or divine Nectar of life, continual experience teacheth, even the meanest ploughman. Now that this most excellent and perfect concord of life doth remain principally in the midst of the line, drawn from unity, or the fountain of form, to the earth or duality, which is the fountain of matter, I prove it thus by the accords of Music: The perfectest consonance in Music is Diapason, and of all the other symphoniacall accords, it approacheth nearest unto the sacred Unity in Divinity, for it is half unison, and therefore it is rightly compared unto the blessed emanation of life which came from unity; and for that reason it is rightly termed the Idea or image of a unison: And as the unison like one essence in Divinity, doth comprehend three Persons, importing the three accords in the Archetypicall harmony. So also the Diapason comprehendeth in it the two other accords besides itself, namely, Diapente, and D●atessaron. Now that this most perfect consonant of Diapason is planted in the midst of a unison, and doth, as it were, beget in itself two perfect chords, or Diapasons, which be contained within itself, I prove it thus: Take a Lute or Bandora, and strike any of the strings open, and then stop that same string exactly in the middle of it, and each half will sound a Diapason unto that open unison; so that the unison which is made by the striking of the whole string open, will be divided into two Diapasons or most perfect consonants unto the whole; which is an evident argument, that the perfection of the Diapason is in the seat of the Sun, and consequently, that the formal and lively accord of all the world, is no otherwise in that central or middle place, than the heart, which is the seat of life, is in man: And yet by the beams of the Sun, this life of the world is made catholic, and filleth all, no otherwise than the vital blood doth universally expanse itself in the Microcosm, by the channels of the arteries. But I fear I have followed this point too far, to prove and maintain the soul of this world; wherefore I leave it, to come directly unto the point, being that in my Mosaical Philosophy, to wit, in the fourth book thereof, I have fully proved and maintained that Translation of Jerom to be right, namely, Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole, he put his tabernacle in the Sun. I will proceed therefore unto the second opinion of the Philosophers.  
The ancient Philosopher Democritus, Orpheus, with the Pythagoreans, do judge that all things are full of gods; and again, all these gods they refer unto one Jupiter: where, by gods, they ●ntend the divine virtues, infused into things, which Zoroaster called divinos illices; Synesius the Bishop, Symbolicas illecebras; others term them lines; others sorts, on which the virtue of things do depend. They err not much in this saying, only in appearing to divide the Godhead into diversities of gods: but they seem to excuse themselves of that error, in saying, that all those gods had relation unto one Jupiter, and so by that word [relation] they preserve the continuity and indivisibility in the Soul. They agree therefore with Scriptures, in that their meaning is, that this divine essence is in all things: For as Scriptures acknowledge, that the catholic Spirit of Wisdom is one simple Spirit; and yet it is termed by Solomon, 
Sap. 7.  multiplex or manifold in respect of his multiplicity of action, or property in creatures which it animateth: for it is said to fill the universe. 
Wisd. 1. Wisd. 12. Wisd. 7.  And the incorruptible Spirit of God to be in all things, and to give life and motion unto all: forasmuch as it is omni re mobilior, more movable and sprightful than any thing, and being but one thing, it is able to do all things, it being permanent in it self, and therefore doth animate all, being that it is in all and every where. For this reason also the Poets say: Omnia Jovis plena, that all are full of Jupiter. That is to say, the essential beams of this Eternal Jupiter or JEHOVA are in every particular place of the world, making things to live and exist, by a different property. And for this reason, they conclude that omnia diis plena (as is said) all things are full of gods. I come unto the third.  
The Platonists, and all those Philosophers which partake with them, differ in nothing from Orpheus, Democritus, and the rest, saving, that those call that the Soul of the world, which the other term Jupiter▪ and the Gods which possess all things, they nominate peculiar souls or mental beams, which depend and have a continuated relation unto the Anima mundi: 
Wisd. 12.1.  as the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord, that filleth each particular is not discontinued from that humid fountain which filleth the universe.  
It is evident therefore, by this which is already said, that all the subsequent opinions of the Philosophers, touching the Anima mund●, may be fully confirmed and maintained by the self same reasons, and therefore I will say no more touching this point, at this instant.  
I conclude therefore thus, that seeing the Soul of the world hath for his internal act▪ the bright emanation of the eternal Unity, and the subtle catholic created Spirit for its humid Vehicle or material Organ, which is its external, in which, and by which, it operareth in all, and over all. We must acknowledge that there is a kind of contrariety in the very catholic Soul; for else, would not action and passion be in the created Soul (which is so called, because it is made of alterity, that is of two, namely of a creared passive, which is an offspring of the dark Chaos, and therefore apt to move unto darkness, by a natural inclination; and of an increated active which seeketh to Deify this Spirit, if it do adhere or incline unto it, and to exalt its light. Hence cometh it, that, by reason of this Spirit's divers inclination, there are good or bad passions engendered, not only in the heavens and earth of the great world, and their creatures, as well celestial and elementary, as animal, vegetable, and mineral; but also in the little world, which is man, as shall be expressed in the first Chapter of the next Book. But first, I deem it most fit, to open unto you the true mystery, how the peculiar Soul of the little world, and then how all other Souls, as well animal, vegetable, and mineral, do proceed and spring from, and afterwards are preserved and multiplied by, this catholic Soul of the world: which is a doubt, not fully decided by the best Philosophers, even unto this very day. And therefore ought this discourse of ours, not to be slighted, or lightly regarded, even of the learnedest of this our Age.   

CHAP. V.  
How all particular Souls are said to spring forth or proceed, and then afterwards to have their preservation and multiplication, from this general Anima mundi, or Soul of the world: and first to begin with that of the mo●● noble, which is of the little world or Man.  
HErmes (called also for another reason Mercurius Trismegistus) said rightly, that the world was made after the similitude or Type of God, 
Pimand. 1.  and therefore as the one is termed Archetypus, so also the other is said to be Typus: For this reason therefore in another place he saith: 
Pimand. 8.  Scio mundum à Deo, atque in Deo, hominem vero a mundo & in mundo consistere, principium autem comprehensioque omnium Deus: I know (saith he) that the world is from God, and in God, and that man is of the world, and in the world: 
Pimand. 9  But God is the beginning and the comprehension of all things. And again, he speaketh thus else where, in a generality: Deus est Cosmi Pater, cosmus vero eorum, quae in Cosmo; & cosmus quidem Dei filius, & jure Cosmus appellatus est, quia omnia veritate generationis exornat, necnon indesinenti vitae operatione, perpetua necessitatis celeritate elementorum commistione ordine genitorum. Cosmus quaecunque ab ipsa origine suscepit, à Deo perpetuò servat: God is the Father of the world, the world is the father of them that are in the world, and the world is the offspring of God, and it is rightly called Cosmus, because it adorneth with verity every kind of generation, and also with a never ceasing operation of life, and a perpetual celerity of necessity in the commixtion of the Elements, which by order are brought forth, etc. In all this he varieth not from Scriptures: For that in the beginning, God is said to have made the world of a matter without a form, and to have adorned his humid nature or the heavens with his vivifying Spirit, which filleth and operateth all in all, (as I have told you before) and that from the breath of the selfsame Spirit of life, all the creatures of the world are animated, and from the substantial Elements in the world they receive their matter. So that as God by the pouring forth of his bright vivifying and all-acting Spirit, did make the humid and passive nature of the world to operate, and that so animated Spirit which is mixed, secundum totum & in qualibet ejus parte, in all and every part, with his increated Animatour, is rightly called the Soul of all the Universe; So we ought to make no question at all, but that every particular Soul in this vaulted machine of the world, doth depend and is procreated, preserved, and multiplied from that catholic Soul, because it is an axiom infallible among Philosophers, that the whole doth comprehend each part, and again, each particular hath his existence and being from the whole. But the world's catholic material Spirit is enacted and preserved by the catholic Eternal Spirit, sent out from the Fountain of life, to enact and vivify all things▪ Which increated Spirit of life is indivisible in essence, and therefore as it doth actually from his immense fountain of life, send down or breathe forth the influences of life, after the manner of an infinity of beams, from one Sun, unto an infinite sort of creatures, to inform them and make them live: So are those beams of life, thus sent out, no less continuated and indivisible, from that fountain or spiritual and indivisible Son of life, than the visible beams can be divided from the visible Sun: Neither was it sufficient for Adam to have endued a Microcosmicall body, namely a mass of earth for his material, had not this exalted formal essence, sent by God into the world, as not divided from divinity, added a lively force and activity, by breathing his Spirit of life into him. And therefore Hermes spoke not amiss, when he said that the world was the Image of God, and man the image of the world: being that as God created and vivifyed the watery Spirit of the world, by adding unto it his creating Spirit of life, so that Spirit of life (which is all one in essence with the Father) being sent into the world, and filling the Spirit of the world doth vivify, multiply, and preserve, not only man, but also every other animal, vegetable, and mineral, that is in the world. This being therefore in the first place to be considered, I proceed thus.  
The variety of the Species upon the earth, did radically proceed from the very act of creation, when the word Fiat was spoken, and immediately the will of the speaker was accomplished by his Son, which, by the way of emanation, was sent into the world to do the will of his Father. And there are some that will not shrink to say, that all the Species or kinds of creatures, were expressed in and by the 22. Hebrew letters, not those external ones which are vulgarly painted out with Ink or Art, which are but shadows; but the fiery formal and bright spiritual letters which were engraven on the face or superficies of the dark hyles, by the fiery word of the eternal Speaker in the beginning, and therefore they are termed originally Elementa quasi Hylementa, or Elements; as engraven in the forehead of the dark abyss or Hyle, and by reason of the essence of that divine Word, which received the mystery of the Typical creation, and did trace it out after the Archetypicall pattern, and delineated it in characters of formal fire the language which was framed out of it was called Lingua Sancta, a language (I say) much spoken of by the learned Rabbis of our age, but little known or understood by them, and yet of an infinite importance, for the true enucleation as well of sacred Mysteries, as of all true Cabalistical abstrusities. But to proceed: According to the tenor of the divine Word, and his formal characters, the effects whereof passed unalterable into the world, each species or kind was framed; and again, every individual of each kind was made divers, and distinct from others as well in shape and proportion, as condition and and property. Now, as I said, that this Spirit of the Lord did effect the will of his Father, in creating every thing thus differently, being in itself but one and the same essence; So also did it, and doth still continue and keep every one of these Species or kinds by multiplication or generation, in their successive estates, and preserveth every individual, during the time of his being, as well by an elementary as aethereal kind of nutriment, which according to his spirituality doth descend, as it were from heaven, to nourish the spirits of each individual, according unto his kind. For you must understand, that as the catholic soul of the world is general unto all; So is the air made the chest or closet of his golden treasury or spiritual food, which while it swimmeth occultly like a golden vapour, showered down from heaven in the air, filling and replenishing all: So, whilst it is yet in the open air, it is as apt to sustain and multiply the life of a serpent, a sheep, a fish, or a foul, an oak, a herb, or such like, as of a man: For so soon as the magnetic power or virtue of the creature, which causeth every minute a refection from this heavanly Nectar, hath drawn in a portion of this catholic Spirit or nature, it leaveth his catholic or general nature, and worketh specifically; that is to say, according unto the individual nature of that kind which receiveth it; that is to say, it converteth itself, being in a dog into his nature; in a whale into his nature; in a man into his▪ in an oak or myrtill into his; in wheat into the proper nature of wheat, and so in all other kinds, and consequently it is the cause that every creatures spirit is nourished and sustained it itself: For this was the Creator's Ordinance, that by what spirit the creature was first created in his kind, by the same it should be maintained, preserved, and multiplied. Hence it was, that the Philosopher breaketh forth into this speech: 
In novo lumine chym.  Est in aere occulius vitae cibus: The hidden aliment of life is in the air. Whereby he means, that quint essential food, which we receive from the general Spirit of life in the world, which by the appointment of God, hangeth ready, and in every part of the air, to strive for the spiritual food of life unto every elementary creature, the main virtue whereof consisteth in the eternal vivifying Word and Spirit of all things: 
Acts 17 25. Joh, 10.12. Psal. 30.6.  and therefore the Text saith: Deus dat vitam & inspirationem & omnia: God giveth life and inspiration and all things. And again, Visitatio tua conservat spiritum meum: Thy visitation doth preserve my spirit. Vita adest benevolentiâ JEHOVAE, 
Psal. 36.10. Psal. 81.7. Psal. 36.17.  Life is present by the benevolence of JEHOVA. Vitae fons penes Deum est, The fountain of life is with God▪ Vitae prolongatio benignitas ejus, The prolonging of life is the benignity of God. Quem visitavit Deus salute sua, fruetur bono, Whom God doth visit with his salutiserous nature, he shall be partaker of goodness. Deo dante creaturis, colligunt; aperiente manum suam sa●iantur bono, abscondente faciem suam conturbantur, recipiente spiritum corrum exspirant, emittente spiritum suum recreantur. 
Psal. 104.28.  God giving unto the creatures food, they receive it; when he openeth his hand, they are filled with all goodness. If he hide away his face, or abstain from giving them their daily spiritual bread, they are troubled, and will be sick; if he take away from them their spirit, they exspire and die; but if he send forth again his Spirit, they are recreated and refreshed again. We are taught also by Christ in our Paternoster, to pray for our daily bread, and it is called there, Panem supersubstantialem, the supersubstantiall bread, as Jerom interpreteth it. And our Saviour, meaning of this spiritual bread, saith, Pater noster dat nobis de coelo panem verum, panis enim verus est, qui de coelo descend●t, & dat vitam mundo. Our father giveth us true bread from heaven; for it is the true bread which descendeth from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. But I know it will be alleged against me, that the bread here mentioned is meant of spiritual bread, & not that which nourisheth corporally. I grant, that, in a true sort, they speak not amiss, for this bread or food is spiritual, and therefore it is reserved in the heart & arteries of the creature, and is nothing in itself but pure life. Doth not our Saviour say, Non solo pane vivit homo, sed omni verbo quod procedit ab ore Dei; Man liveth not only by bread, 
Matth. 4. Deut. 8.3.  but by every word that cometh from the mouth of God. And these words were understood by Moses of that Manna, by which the Israelites were nourished in the desert: And the Apostle calleth the food wherewith they were nourished, The spiritual Rock, 
2 Cor. 11. Joh. 8. Joh. 1.  which was Christ. And therefore that spiritual Rock said, Ego sum panis vitae, etc. I am the bread of life which descend from heaven. In this word therefore is life only, and in no food else; and it is this in the aliment which nourisheth, and not the creature alone; for in the word only was life. And for this reason it was said, Et vidit quod omnia quae creavit essent bona; that is to say, not vacua aut inania, void and empty; but full of Gods essential being, which is only God; for it was he who by his presence made the creature good participative, or by participation. I will tell you what some of the Ethnic Philosophers say touching this point, who, in verity, (and the more is the pity) had a greater insight into the divine mysteries of God in nature, than some of this our age, who entitle themselves Christians, and yet indeed are sterile in the true grounds of a true Christian, being apt to judge and condemn the old Philosophers, and adjudge them for reprobates, and reserved (as they say) for damnation, and that only for not bearing the name of a Christian, then to observe the beam which is in their own eye, which maketh them so blind as to judge rashly of their brethren, when indeed the judgement concerning that point belongeth unto God only: They forget the Apostles saying, which averreth, that all men are of God's generation. 
Act. 17.  But to the purpose. This is the reason that the Philosopher Zeno did call the vital soul in a man, Ignem naturalem; and Prometheus termeth it, Ignem coelestem homines vita ditantem, The celestial fire that enricheth man with life. And because this Prometheus did obtain the full possession of it, the Poets feign, that he is punished by Jupiter's command, for stealing of this celestial fire. And Hermes calleth it, The fire of the word, which adhereth unto the humid nature of the world. And Zoroaster and Heraclitus do say, that it is that invisible fire, of which all generation and multiplication is made. Being therefore that the never-dying fire of life is in the animal creature, it is necessary, that for the conservation and multiplication thereof, it be nourished by its like in the air every moment, or by the vehicle of the air, lest it should vanish, and the creature should perish. And this is that the Philosopher Pa●menides seemeth to intimate, 
Parmenides.  where he saith, Natura sua natura l●etat●●, Nature is rejoiced in his like nature. For this very cause, the fiery virtue of the life having her position in the centre of the heart of the creature, doth with comfort and delight draw and suck into it, by a certain magnetical power and faculty, his like out of the air by inspiration; for (as I told you) this hidden food, or aliment of life, is in the air. This is the reason therefore, that a certain Author, who was very profoundly seen in the mysteries of nature, breaketh out into this speech, O Natura co●es●is veritatis, nature's Dei multiplicans! O thou heavenly Nature of truth, which dost multiply the natures of God And again, O natura fortis, natura vincens & superans, du●sque naturas gaude●e faciens; O stout nature, nature that dost conquer and overcome, and makest her natures to rejoice. By which he doth intimate, that by the help and visitation of this celestial nature, the vital spirits, and flames included in them, do increase and multiply; for by the virtue hereof, not only the life, but the fruits of generation, are produced infinitely. We infer by this which is already said, that the elementary air is full of the influences of life, vegetation, and of the formal seeds of multiplication, forasmuch as it is a treasure-house, which aboundeth with divine beams, and heavenly gifts. Neither doth this our assertion only touch the animal Kingdom of composition, but also that of the vegetables; for by this spirit they do vegetate, by this they do multiply into infinity, and, in conclusion, by this they exist and have their being: For in mine own ocular experience I am witness, and, if need be, I can quickly demonstrate, that in the vegetable is a pure volatile salt, which is nothing but the essential air of the specific, which is wheat or bread; this volatile salt is an unctuous liquor, as white and clear as crystal; this is inwardly nevertheless full of vegetating fire, by which the species is multiplied in infinitum: for it is a magnetical virtue, by which it draweth and sucketh abundantly his life from the air, and sun beams, which is the principal treasure-house of life, forasmuch as in it the eternal emanation of life did plant his Tabernacle, (as in the fourth Book of my Mosaical Philosophy I have plainly demonstrated). I have seen this volatile salt-peter of this vegetable, being freed from his elementary bands, and being in his unctuous nature in form of a liquor, I perceived him so desirous of the beams of life, which lurked in the air, and were darted from the sun, that in the space of three hours, it became from a white crystalline colour unto a bloody ruby: whereby I was easily taught the reason of formal multiplication, as well in animals as in vegetables; for by this reason, a grain of Wheat is multiplied unto a million. Again, no true Philosopher can be ignorant, that the salt-peter of every thing, which is but air, by virtue of that mystical spirit which dwelleth in it, doth attract air as well as the celestial form, unto it, being the form cannot be inspired but by the means of his airy vehicle; and by this very means also, the quantity of the airy substance, as well as the formal quality, is augmented, which maketh as well vegetation as multiplication. By the strong magnetical attraction of the celestial tincture, which hovereth in the air, or volatile salt, which is of the substance and nature of blood in the animals, it is easy to know, how blood in the animals body is transmuted from a white chylous substance into a rubicund and ruddy blood. By reason of his vegetation and multiplication in substance, it is an easy matter to guess the manner of augmentation and vegetation, and also of the quantitative multiplication, by way of generation, of the animal: For verily, I have observed so worthy an experiment in this vegetative salt in the Wheat, of which the blood of man by eating of bread is full, that we need not to make any doubt, but that it is the only substance of vegetation, as well in the animal as vegetable: For on a day, when I had cast away the faeces, or superfluous part of the substauce, out of which I did draw the salt liquor, into a large Pipkin, and covered it with a thin plate of iron, within three weeks or a month's space, I found it to have struck up out of the pot quite through the plate of iron, and to make above a thousand blades like an iron-coloured saffron to grow up out of the superficies of it, which argueth the admirable vegetative property that it hath in it. But letting this suffice to express the occult puissance of this secret fire of God in nature, in all vegetables, minerals, and other animals, I will now convert the file of my speech only unto that wondrous act and operation, which this admirable Spirit effecteth in the little world or man.  
The spirit of life was by God so inspired into man, that he was made a living creature, no otherwise then when Elohim Ruach was breathed on the waters, they were animated and vivified, and became a great world, which the Platonists for that reason called, Magnum animal, A great living creature. But as the world was made after the image of God, before man was made, and afterwards man by the same Spirit in the world, was framed by the Word, after the pattern of that Spirit of life, and the substance of the waters, which were in the great world. Therefore we must conceive, that man hath the vivifying means of his sustentation, preservation, and multiplication, by generation from the soul of the world, and his elements. Wherefore Hermes doth not unadvisedly express the descent and ingression of the world's vivifying spirit into man, 
Pimand. 10.  after this manner, A er est in corpore, anima in aere, m●ns in an●ma, in ment verbum; Verbum verò est eorum pater. The air is in the body, the soul or life is in the air, the mental Spirit is in the soul, the Word is in the mental Spirit; and the Word is the Father of them all. And he concludeth in that place: Quod Verbum sit imago Dei, mens verbi, anima mentis, aer animae, & corpus aëris: That the Word is the Image of God, the mental beam the image of the word, the vital Soul the image of the mental beam, the air of the vital Soul, and the body of the air. Whereby we may discern, the admirabletie, which every portion of each dignity in the great world hath unto other, in the composition of the little world; and therefore it is made evident, that the purest portion of elementary matter is air, the purest sublimity of the air is the vital form, in which is the mental beam, and in it is the Word which is God; and we must observe that by mentem, or the mental Spirit, is meant the vivifying Spirit of Wisdom, which filleth all things, whose fountain, 
Ecclus. 1.  as Ecclesiasticus doth teach us, is the Word of God: as if I with Hermes should say, the bright and eternal Spirit of life in the quintessential Spirit, maketh the Soul, the Soul in the air is conducted into the body, where it operateth the effects of vivification, and internal multiplication of the Species, and therefore he saith in another place: Anima hominis in hunc vehitur modum: Mens in ratione, 
Pimand. 10.  ratio in anima, anima in spiritu, & spiritus in corpore: Spiritus per venas arteriasque sanguinemque diffusus, animal undique ciet. The Soul of man is carried into his body after this manner. The mental beam is the reasonable spirit, the reasonable spirit is in the Soul or ethereal spirit, the Soul or ethereal spirit is in the airy spirit, and the airy spirit is in the body, which moveth through the veins and arteries, and being dispersed over all the blood, doth agitate and move the body on every side. We must therefore imagine, that the air which is drawn into our heart by inspiration, is full of that divine treasure of life, the which residing in the heart of man, sucketh and draweth his life into it, by a magnetic force and virtue: For nature coveteth and rejoiceth at the presence of its like, as is said. And again, that the heart is the precious store-house of the active treasure of life, we may collect out of this speech of Solomon: Cor tuum custodi supra on●nem observationem, quia ab eo procedunt actiones vitae: 
Prov. 4.23.  Guard with the best diligence and keep charily thy heart, seeing that from it proceed all the actions of life. The nature and instruments by which the Spirit attracteth magnetically, and expelleth after attraction, that of the humid vehicle of air, which is inutil and superfluous, in this:  
Being that without the sparks of life, and generation, which swim in the air, no creature (amongst the which we esteem Man to be the chiefest) can live scarcely a moment of time, it is most necessary that they should be drawn and sucked in by the creature every minute; for without this necessary act, with the salutary effect thereof, the animal will forthwith be suffocated or strangled: for by the deprivation of the air, the soul will soon cease his vivifying operation; forasmuch as it is nothing else, but a portion of eternal light in the soul of the world, which is composed (as I proved before) of the divine emanating virtue, and the subtle humid nature of the world, whereof the first affordeth the Calidum innatum or natural heat of life; and the last the humidum radical, or radical moisture, unto the creatures existence, and therefore by the inspiration of air, this double virtue is every moment renewed and refreshed in the creature. This Spirit therefore, the Animal (and by consequence man) inspireth or sucketh into the left chamber, ventricle, or region of the heart, by the contraction of the strait fibres of the heart, when the transverse and oblique fibres will be relaxed, whereby the heart will be dilated or opened, and this action is called of the Physician's Diastole. In the time thereof or interval of this motion, the heart doth draw into his left vessel by the Arteria venosa, or veiny artery out of the lungs, whither it first was conveyed by inspiration, through the aspera arteria, or weesell-pipe, a portion of the airy store-house of nature, with his vital treasury contained in it, being (as is said) ordained by God for vivification and spiritual and seminal generation's cause; that is to say, for the nutrition of the vital and internal generative Spirits; no otherwise then the liver is accustomed to suck and draw the chylous juice of the gross nutriment, for the engendering and fostering of the natural spirits, which are ordained for vegetation or increasing of the bodily parts. Again, after that nature hath received and drawn-in into her well-adorned, and subtly adapted still-house or laboratory, I mean the heart, this aereal Spirit, with his concealed or occult treasure, she beginneth in it to anatomise, and sift or search the bowels of of this attracted air; and separating the celestial nature, or true vital treasure, of the invisible fire of life, from the grosser and most inutil portion of the air, it reserveth only the purest, which is nothing but a subtle volatile salt, adapted to serve as a vehicle for the divine fire of life, or true vivifying Spirit, in the aethereal and quintessential nature, and then, as for the selected Spirits of life, she encloseth them in her large arterial store-house, called Aorta or Arteria magna, the great Artery, sending immediately the more superfluous fuligions and inutil part of the air back again the way it came, by expiration. And this expulsive action is effected by the contraction of the transverse fibres of the heart, and the relaxation of the strait: for by this means, the heart is also contracted or compressed; which action of motion, is called by Physician's Systole. And we must understand, that for the better preservation of this golden treasure of life, within his arterial treasure▪ house God in nature hath so ordered, that there is a triple valve or gate like three halfmoons, to close it in, and to keep it securely for the body's necessity, lest it should fly away by the passage it came in, and therefore this three-leaved gate is fashioned after such a manner, that it doth open within, and is closed without; so that what gets into the great Artery cannot return back again: as in like manner, at the mouth of the venal artery, there is a double gate compacted of two valves, and they do open without, and shut within; so that fresh air may easily enter, but the treasure included, after the expulsion of the fuliginous vehicle or superfluous air, may be retained.  
Now will I'm few words, express unto you the action of this heavenly Spirit. After it is thus included in the arterial trunk, it is certain, that it doth dilate itself, through the branches or divided channels thereof, over all the body: For by those branches called Charotides, a refined portion of it doth ascend unto the brain, by those small conduits; (I say) the supercelestial part of this Chemical extraction, (forasmuch as it is in dignity the most superexcellent of all the fountain of life,) doth challenge unto his seat and possession, the noblest and loftiest region of this microcosmicall palace, and as it were his Imperial heaven; for hither soareth the mental beam in his rational vehicle, electing this place for its chief tabernacle or coelum coelorum yet so, that the beams of his power, are reflected unto every branch of his divided Arterial cabinet: For this reason therefore, all Physicians as well Ethnic as Christian, have concluded, that the voluntary humane action, hath his seat in the brain▪ being the region of the animal virtue or faculty; whereas the other two actions of man, namely the vital in the heart, and natural in the liver, seem to be subject unto this, being that they are actiones involuntariae, unvoluntary actions, and this is the reason, that the Brain is the seat of reason and understanding. Then, in the second rank, that portion of the introducted Spirit, which in the forge of man's nature, is framed out and found fit for the action of life, is conveyed into those branches of the great Artery, which are called Cervicales, Humerariae, and those which assign life unto the region of the Chest or breast, where it doth endue and take on it that impression of spiritual vivacity, which belongeth unto those parts; as also the Coronariae do assume unto them the internal or ideal shape of spirits belonging unto the heart, and so forward touching the other Arterial branches, and their contained heavenly treasure: So that this invisible spirit lurking, and (as it were) swimming in the thin substance of the airy spirit, doth not only expanse and dilate itself, to the vivifying of each member in the body, but also by a contraction of itself into a spermatick cloud, (the which happeneth in the act of copulation, through a certain magnetic virtue, animated by divine love) this spirit is miraculously conveyed into two preparing arterial spermatick vessels, from every member, but especially from the three principals: and there this celestial Spirit full of divine fire, after the Image of the radical Archetype, in whom all things were first spiritually and ideally delineated before they were, in the regard of man (even as the Prophet David did glory in that he had wholly received the image of the Temple, described by the hand of God, which afterward was put in act) containeth the invisible of that humane body, which shortly was to be enacted, and really to be delineated, and brought forth unto man's sight; that is to say, it did ideally possess the shape of the inward or spiritual man; as also the image of the external or corporal man, being compacted of the four Elements, proceedeth from the visible sperm, which issued from the two venal spermatick vessels. But that this is so, we have it plainly (as I imagine) confirmed by these words of Holy-Writ: 
Psal. 139.13.  Tu possides renes meos ex quo obtegebar in utero matris meae: non celata est vis mea tibi ex quo factus sum in abdito, artificiosè, confectus velut in imis partibus terrae. Massam meam vident oculi tui, & in libro tuo omnia membra mea sunt scripta ex quibus diebus for mabantur, cum nullum ex iis extaret: Thou dost possess my reins, from the time that I was covered in my mother's womb. My strength is not hid unto thee, from the time that I was made, and was artificially shaped, as it were, in the lower parts of the earth. Thine eyes do behold the mass whereof I was made, and all my members were described and delineated in the days that they were shaped or informed, when none of them did visibly exist. And to this purpose it is said elsewhere, 
Job 33.4.  Spiritus Dei fecit me, & spiraculum omnipotentis vivificavit me: The Spirit of the Lord made me, and the breath of the Omnipotent did vivify me: That is, First he reduced me into a mass of seed, and afterwards did make it alive by his breathing into it. 
Eccles.  And the wiseman, Ut ignoras quae sit via spiritus, & quomodo ossa pinganturin ventre praegnantis; sic nescis opera Die quia est fabricator omnium. As thou knowest not which is the way that the spirit moveth, and how the bones are shaped and made in the mother's womb; so art thou ignorant in the works of the Lord, who hath made and framed all things, etc. Whereby it is manifest, that the Spirit of God operateth in the sperm, as well before the emission of the seed into the womb, as afterwards. This also is plainly expressed by these words of Job, Nun sicut lac fudisti me, & tanquam caseum coagulasti me: 
Job 10.9.  cu●e & carne indu●sti me, ossibus & nervis compegisti me, cum vita benignitatem exercu●stiergame, at visitatio tua praeservavit spiritum meum, at ista recondisti in animo tuo. Novi haec apud te esse. Didst thou not pour me out like milk, and didst thou not curdle me like a cheese? Thou didst endue me with skin and flesh, and compacted or joined me together with bones and sinews. Thou didst exercise thy benignity towards me, in giving me life, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. And yet hast thou kept this secret in thy heart. I know well that this is so with thee. In all which, this difficult point appeareth to be fully deciphered and opened, as well touching the act of generation, as in regard of the foresaid mystery, in the preservation and continuation of the life of the Infant, as well in his mother's womb, as after the birth thereof: For in this member, Sicut lac fudisti me, he seemeth to argue, that the spermatick mass was well disposed and composed by the spirit of life, of the which a man was afterward explicitly delineated and framed. Then goeth he forwards to the second degree in generation, Tanquam caseum coagulastime, by which it appeareth, that the divine Spirit did thicken the seed into a more solid substance like cheese, according unto that other saying of Job, Memento quaeso quod sicut argillam fecisti me, etc. 
Job 10.9.  Remember that thou mayest me as clay, etc. Then he proceedeth thus, Cute & carne induisti me, ossibusque & nervis compegisti me, etc. And now in this degree he cometh, after the coagulation of the spermatick mass, unto the compliment of the particular human parts or members, of the which the external man is made in the womb, as the spiritual image of the son was in the arterial seed of the father, before it was cast into the womb. By all which it appeareth, that the divine Spirit did operate all this outward man in his own person, and then to the vivification of that external man, so shaped out of the elementary seed, he proceedeth, thus▪ Cum vita benignitatem exercuisti erga me; showing by this, that the corporal work being effected, and made fit to lodge so noble and imperial a guest, as is the divine mental beam, namely, of the builder of it, riding in a mundane vehicle, the lordly guest doth immediately possess it, and make it live, and move, and feel, according unto that of the Apostle, 
Act. 17.  In him we live, move, and have our being▪ To conclude, after that Adam was by God shaped out of a lump of earth, he breathed into it the spiracle of life, and that mass was made a living creature, agreeing with the forementioned place of Job, saying, The Spirit of the Lord made me, and the breath of the Almighty did vivify me; that is, the Spirit of God made both the external and internal. Neither was that spiracle of life destitute of understanding, that is to say, without the real beam of eternity; for it is said elsewhere, In homine est spiritus, 
Job 9  sed in spiratio Omnipotentis facit eum intelligere: In man is a spirit, but it is the inspiration of the Almighty which maketh him to understand. And for this reason also is man-rightly said in Scripture to be framed after the image of God. Was not the excellent artifice of this eternal Spirit well expressed by Ezekiel, after it came from the four winds, and breathed upon the slain; Ecc●, (saith the Lord unto the dead bones) ego intromittam in vos spiritum ut vivatis; 
Ezek. 13.  & dabo super vos nervos & succrescere faciam supra vos carnes, & extendam in vos cutem, & dabo vobis spiritum & vivetis. Et dixit propheta ex man●a●o Dei, A quatuor ventis veni, spiritus, & insuffla super interfectos istos ut reviviscant, & ingressus est in eos spiritus & revixerunt. Behold, I will put into you a spirit, and you shall live, and I will put on you sinews, and I will make flesh to grow on you, and I will cover and extend on you a skin, and I will give you a spirit, and you shall live. And the prophet said according as God commanded him, Come, O spirit, from the four winds, and breath upon these slain persons, that they may live again. And the spirit entered into them, and hey lived again, etc. By the which file of speech we may gather, first, That it was the divine virtue which fashioned out the external man, before it had a living spirit; and then afterward, that the spirit of life was breathed into the external man, from the catholic spirit of life in the great world; for he said, Come O spirit from the four winds. And again, that the world hath a catholic spirit, by which it liveth; for the four winds had their breath and life from this one spirit, by the which the universal sublunary element seemeth to live, and is changed from one complexion unto another, and doth most lively operate diversity of effects, in the compound creatures of this lower region of the world; for experience doth teach us, that the common air is of an earthly nature when the North winds bloweth, and of a choleric, when the East wind hath dominion, etc.  
Now touching the manner of the shaping out of the specific individual, it may be demanded, why this catholic vivifying spirit of the world, being but one, doth bring forth every fruit or birth according unto his kind, and not all one. I told you before, that each specific creature was radically created in his kind, distinct and different from one another, according to the will of the Creator, and was by the same spirit maintained and multiplied, evermore reserving the shape of the species or kinds which was allotted him in his creation; and it should seem, that God appointed, as it were, a certain secret mould to fashion out the potential creature, before it came to act. And for the better understanding hereof, we must know, that there are four spermatick preparing vessels, namely, two and two on a side, whereof the one is a venal vessel, and it issueth out of the vena cava, and from hence cometh the bodily sperm, made of the refined subject of the four elements of the body, and is therefore the principle or root of the Infants external or body, and it is visible, and is called Sperma. And the other is an arterial vessel, and this is the wellspring of the inward man, for it is the invisible fire of life, and it is called Semen, which when the mixtion of both is made, doth dwell no otherwise centrally in the visible sperm, than man's soul doth in the body. We must observe therefore, that as there are two vessels on a side, the one spiritual, the other elemental, so these two in their descent towards the resticles, do make by their subtle implication of the one with the other, that admirable and pleasant web or plex to behold, which the Greeks do call Anastomosis; the which embracing and secret weaving together of insensible parts, is effected by the artifice of that great builder, not only (as the Anatomists do think) because that the red and bloody seed may be made white, but first, that it might divide the spermatick substance in the venal vessels, and seminal substance in the arterial, from the bloody mass as; well natural, which ●loweth from the liver, as vital, which springeth from the heart: And then that by this Dedalian labyrinth, the seminal form, being the microcosmicall heaven, may aptly, and according unto the specific creatures true similitude, be mingled together, no otherwise then we observe the form of a thing to be, by a natural mixtion perfused, and spread over all his elementary substance. And without all doubt, the fabric of this Plexus or Anastomosis is such, as is the impression of some notable Seal, the which in a Man is Manlike, in a Lion is like a Lion, in an Eagle is after the shape of an Eagle, and so according unto this impression, which is occult, and scarcely discerned by imagination, the sperm is form after the manner of clay, and is moistened with this seminary nature as with water; and by the virtue of that divine spirit which dwelleth secretly in it, is made a living creature in the womb. These two natures therefore are so tempered together, according un●o the law of this vivifying nature, and the semen or invisible spirit of the air, is so agitated and moved by the divine nature, which moveth in that spirit, no otherwise then the air is with the spirit of the blower, that the bodily visible sperm is shaped out, after the image of his created species or kind; even as we see a Mole to make and frame out itself a house or dwelling place under the earth. And this is the work of the secret spirit, after that this compounded and well mixed substance is cast into the womb.  
To conclude, all that we have spoken touching this animal sub●ect, may easily also be averred, and that without any offence of the vegetable kingdom; for the whole plant or tree did yet lie hid complicitely in the seed or kernel, and by the same reason is explicitly brought to light, by the operation of the hid and secret spirit of light and life which is in it. But I have ranged too far from my mark, and that in a subject (I fear) which will prove offensive unto such, as will not radically consider these things as they are indeed, but after their sense and the wisdom of the world. I will therefore now approach unto the main point of our Discourse, since that I have thus largely expressed unto you, the two principal and radical pillars of Sympathy and Antipathy, namely, light and darkness, or form and matter, being that all love, and therefore Sympathy, proceedeth from light; as chose, all hatred, and consequently Antipathy, must needs spring and arise from darkness, whose firstborn child was Litigium, or Discord.    

The Second BOOK.  
Wherein those mystical Irradiations which spring occultly from the two foresaid opposite Principles, Light and Darkness, with their Sympathetic and Antipathetical effects; as also, the reason of each living, or concupiscible Attraction of like natures, and odious and irascible Expulsion in things of a contrary spirit, are detected and opened.  
The Argument of this Second Book.  
THe Author having by diligent enquiry, found out the essential root of Sympathy and Antipathy, as is already expressed in the first Book, where he proveth it to be but one catholic or universal simplicity in essence, though of a twofold property, quite opposite unto one or other in nature and condition, no otherwise than Volunty is unto Nolunty: He thought it not sufficient to gather by circumstances, and conclude, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, namely, that it is so. And therefore in this present Book he attempteth, with the tightest and highest stretched nerves of his understanding, to inquire and search out the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to wit, why, wherefore, and by what means, this double act is disseminated in the Universe. Indeed he finds this last branch so difficult to be found out by mortal capacities, that he esteemeth it no small masterpiece in this his research; and for this reason is contented, to be directed or guided into this difficult path of so profound a speculation, by the light or Polestar of such sublime and rectified, both Theological and Cabalistical spirits, as have received the enucleation of so great a doubt, from that highest spiritual emanation, who is the only revealer of deep and arca●e mysteries, (as the Prophet Daniel and the wise Solomon doth assure us) who, forasmuch as 〈…〉, essential Actor, both in Sympathy and Antipathy, is most able to describe 〈…〉 ●orth this doubt, which men so earnestly hunt after, in her liveliest colour's. By the observation therefore of the rules and axioms, as well of the holy Scriptures, as learned Hebrew and Egyptian Rabbis, he hath gathered, That the eternal or divine and archetypicall world, which hath neither beginning nor end, doth radically spring from one simple and catholic fountain of Light, and doth effuse a decuple emanation, endued with a tenfold property, into the Aeviall or Angelical world, which hath its beginning from the eternal one, but no end. And the aeviall world doth in like manner pour out these divine effluxions, or emanations of light, by angelical vehicles, into the temporal world, which hath both a beginning and an end. So that the etherial or celestial region of the temporal world, is made the store house or treasury of the divine influences, from whence they are more or less, according unto the will of him who sendeth them out, distilled down into the elementary world, to effect his command or pleasure, either for the good or welfare, or harm and damage, of the elementary creature. By this degradation therefore he perceived, that God sent out one essential emanation by his word, of a multiform and sundry condition, that things might vary and differ in this world from one another, and that the variety of properties in the manifold emanation, or flowing forth of the divine virtue, establisheth an angelical creature, or spiritual organ, of a differing act, whereby and in the which it doth operate centrally, by a divers nature. And consequently he finds it evident, that, being in the divine emanations there are properties of a contrary fortitude, it must needs follow, that there are differing Angelical spirits, which correspond in nature and condition unto each divine property, under which they do administer in this world; so that by these spiritual organs, or angelical instruments, the beams and brightness of the eternal influence do descend, first, into the starry region of the temporal world, and afterwards are shoured down into the elementary spheres, and penetrate even into the bowels of the earth and dark abyss, to operate the will of that eternal and radical essence which sent them forth; by which means, the spirit of sapience is rightly said to be in the heavens above, and in the abyss beneath, and to fill or replenish all, and lastly to operate all in all. And lastly taketh into his consideration some special particular object, well known unto the world, that by the experimental enquiry, or searching out of his hidden nature, he might practically maintain and ocularly prove that unto the incredulous world, concerning the mystery of Sympathy and Antipathy, which before he had only expressed and verified Theorically, or by speculation. The Loadstone or mineral calamity therefore, is the mark at which he aimeth, or subject which he electeth for this purpose, being that the effects of its secret and occult properties, do most aptly correspond unto those of the animal, vegetable, and mineral. Wherefore he prepareth in this Book a way, by the anatomization and ripping up the farthel of this marvellous stone's occult nature, that thereby he might with the better speed make his entry unto such experimental conclusions and comparisons, between the one and the other, as shall be at large described and set forth in the third Book of this History, that thereby the nature and condition of the animal may be discovered, and demonstrated by that of the mineral. And lastly, for a conclusion unto this Book, he showeth the folly of such persons, as being masked or overlaid with ignorance, do imagine, that any magnetical action can be effected essentially, by the devil's artifice or power; averring confidently, that the devil is able to effect nothing, but by natural means, which also is rather ordained for the use of man, then of the devil; and consequently, that man which useth the natural creatures, which the devil hath practised on to work wickedness, is no way culpable of Cacomagy, as vain men would have it, being that the righteous use of the creature, for which God did ordain it, is not therefore to be rejected, because the devil with his adherents do unrighteously abuse them by converting them to mischief.  


CHAP. I.  
That Sympathy is the offspring of Light, as Antipathy hath its beginning from Darkness: The Etymology or true signification of both words; as also the natures of them both, are herein described.  
SInce the radical and essential Unity, with its two opposite branches or properties, which are the characters of his Nolunty and Volunty, have in general terms been thus evidently described unto you, with the two catholic effects thereof, namely love and hatred, and all those passions as well spiritual as corporal, which are derived from them, whether they be good or bad, in respect of the creature that suffereth: I think it now most fit, to enter into our main discourse, and to anatomise the secret bowels of that Sympathy and Antipathy, which is not only seen and made manifest in natural but also supernatural creatures by effect. For no man of learning can be so ignorant and blind, being instructed by daily experience, (which is the mother even of very fools) as not to discern the hidden miracles both of heavenly and earthly things, daily shining forth in Sympathy and Antipathy, that is, in concord's and discords, which are caused, by reason of a secret league or friendship, which is betwixt them, even from their very mixtion in their first creation? But before we presume to enter into this profound discovery, it will be requisite to lay open the signification or Etymology of them both, that thereby we may the better conceive their distinct natures and essences.  
Sympathia is a Greek word, namely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, id est, una cum, or one with, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is, passio or passion, which p●oceedeth from the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. patior, or I suffer, as Antipathia is composed of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. contra or against, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: So that the first imports a passion, bred of unity, concord, and love, termed more properly compassion; and the other an audible passion, moved by two resisting and fight natures, of a contrary fortitude: I may therefore rightly define Sympathy to be a consent, union, or concord, between two spirits, shining forth, or having their radical emanation from the selfsame or the like divine property. As for example: All creatures that participate of those benign emanations or beams, which are sent out from God, by his Angelical Organs into the orb of Jupiter, are from thence emitted down to the earth, and are conferred upon a multitude of creatures, that were created under this property; which, for that reason, do shine forth and emit their beams unto one another here upon earth, lovingly and joyfully, namely because they proceed all from one root, which descendeth unto Jupiter: also such as are friends to Jupiter, or like unto him in condition, send down influences in creatures, which are acceptable unto such as live, from their nativities, and are sustained and have their complexionary faculties from Jupiter, and therefore they send forth beams of friendship or benignity unto one another, as are also Venus, etc. But chose, where the influences which are adverse in property, or of an opposite divine emanation, are sent down unto the Planet Mars, which is enemy to Jupiter, and from thence are poured out on creatures beneath, there will be ill and unwelcome encounters made between the secret emissions of those creatures beams: So that one by a natural instinct doth seek to fly and escape the encounters of the other, or to resist and fight against the other, as shall more largely and plainly be expressed unto you hereafter. But because the general cause of all Sympathy and Antipathy, is a hidden and secret emanation, or shining forth by emission of beams from one creature unto another, it will be most requisite for us, to unloose the fardel of this profound business, that we may the plainlier behold and contemplate the fountain and root of all beams and eradiations in general, and thereby unfold and lay open the mystical reason of their difference, and follow their extensions, even from the root, unto the trunk, and from it unto the boughs and branches, and from those branches, to descend even unto the individual twigs, which nourish and foster an infinity of leaves, and bring forth fruit in abundance.   

CHAP. II.  
How and by what Attributes or properties the Hebrew Rabbis, and profoundest Cabalists do prove, tha● contrariety of natures doth proceed from one eternal Essence, as from the root of all things.  
IT is most certain, that as there are an infinity of creatures of divers natures, in the universal machine; So also every one of them was variously first created, and then generated and maintained after generation, even until the day of their corruption, by sundry celestial influences, or many thousand of varieties of beams, descending from above. And therefore the wisest amongst the Cabalistical Rabbis affirm: Quod non sit ulla planta aut herba inferiùs, cui non sit stella in firmamento, quae percutiat eam & dicat ei, 
Reuchlin. de Art. cab. lib. 3.  Cresce: That there is not any plant or herb here beneath, which hath not a Star in the firmament, to beat on it with his influence, and as it were to say unto it, Increase or muliply. Neither do the Scriptures appear to be repugnant unto this their opinion, as hereafter shall plainly, in his convenient place, be expressed. But because the radical indication of this matter, requireth a more profound speculation, it will be most necessary, for the Reader's better edification or instruction, to make a diligent inquisition after the depth of this Mystery, namely, first to discover how all Creation was effected, by the sending forth of the beams of God's eternal Light, and whether that Emanation be of one or divers and manifold, in property. I told you and proved manifestly before, that all things were in the beginning created by one eternal Spirit of Wisdom, which was sent forth from the infinite Fountain of Light, in the shape of an emanation, eradiation or effluxion, to inform and enact all things explicitly, which before were contained complicitly in the divine puissance of that everlasting Unity, which in itself is all in all. 
Sap. 7.  I proved it by these express places in Scripture: Solomon calleth this holy Spirit of discipline the vapour of God's Virtue, and the sincere emanation and effluxion of his brightness, and the splendour or beams of his Divine Light, and the mirror without all spot of his goodness. 
Joh. 1.8. Joh. 1. Eccles. 1.24. Prov. 8.  And St. John saith that in the Word is the life of all things, and that this Spirit was Light in which was no darkness, and that by it all things were made, and without it nothing was made. And the son of Syrach: That it came forth of the mouth of the Most High. And Solomon, That it was with JEHOVA in the beginning of all his ways, in the creation; and was that holy Spirit whereby be composed or made all things in the Creation: and therefore it is apparent, that it was by the emanation or sending forth of the catholic or universal beam of divine Light, that all particular things were diversely framed, shaped, and animated, and that by a many of streamings forth of more particular beams of light, proceeding by multiplication from the root unto the trunk or body, namely from the Unity, fountain or head, unto the general emanation, which may rightly be compared unto the body of a tree, forasmuch as from it all boughs, twigs, leaves and fruit do spring: and as in this progression the trunk of the tree doth immediately issue from the root, 
Reuchlin. lib. 3. de Art. cabal.  and yet is continued with the root, which is the beginning; so the divine emanation in like manner proceedeth directly from Ensoph or the fountain or root of infinity, by the way of emanation not divided or separated from his eternal Original: and by reason of this his emanation, the Spirit is said, to be the first created before all things, as the trunk before the boughs, twigs, leaves or fruit. So that in respect of his essential existence he is eternal; but in regard of his emanation into the world, he is, said to be aeviall, that is, to have a beginning without end, and therefore becometh the head and Prince of all the aeviall world, I mean the Angelical creature's. We proceed therefore in the progression and multiplication of this universal emanation, thus: From the trunk of the tree issueth the general, special, and individual branches, whereof the most strongest (after the trunk) are all arms of the body, the next boughs, than twigs, and lastly the leavs, etc. To this we compare, in our Angelical or aeviall world, the divers stations of the Angels, assigned unto them according unto their dignity and riches, in the divine influences, which they receive from the root or fountain of Light, by the mediation of their body Christ Jesus. And for this reason it is said, that, He is the Image of the invisible God, 
Colos. 1.13.  the first begotten of all creatures: for in h●m are ma●e all things, both in heaven and earth, as well visible as invisible, whether they are Thrones, or Dominations, or Potestates, all by him and in him are made, and he is before all, and all consist in him. So that all Angels do no otherwise proceed immediately from him, and are continuate with him, than the branches of a Tree proceed from the body thereof; but as we see, that the greater arms of the Tree are nearer in distance unto the trunk, and therefore are more substantial, and strong, and beautiful, than the rest; so are these Angels of the Imperial or supercelestial heaven nearer to the body, to wit, the everlasting stream of light, and therefore more rich and abundant in divine light, and that by degrees and order, according as they are nearer the face of the divine essential influence, that bestoweth that most excellent light and glory on them, to deck and adorn them with so perfect a formal beauty and existence. And as we see, that each main arm of the tree hath a dimension in longitude, in the which as it depa●teth from the body of the tree, it waxeth lesser and lesser; so each of the nine Orders of Angels are of a less proportion of light than other, and their pre-eminence in light is ever more diminished by little, as it is remote from the body that giveth it that light and life. Then as we see the lesser boughs, which by a subdivision do proceed from those arms of the tree, do immediately spring out of them, but have a place distinguished from them, although they are continued, and no way disjointed or separated f●om them, either in substance or essence: So also the Olympic or Etherial Angels, have their lights and souls poured out from the Imperial diversely, and that according unto several measures; and against, they send forth their beams or b●ight efflu●nces from the starry Orbs, which they possess and illuminate, unto the elementary spirits, which have dominion over the winds, with their legions, which we compare unto the many twigs which spring out of the said boughs: for as the twigs are small in substance in regard of the bough, and yet are continuate unto the bough, and have all one natural life; so those Angels are not so illuminated as the Olympic Spirits, as also the Olympic Spirits are not so bright and affluent in divine riches, as those angelical Intelligences which approach the excellently-bright throne of Eternity. All this in effect we may collect from the Fathers of the Church, (for St. Dionys. saith) That an Angel is the image of God, 
Dionys. de Divines Nom. lib. 6.  and the shining forth of his hidden light, a mirror pure and most bright, without spot, without wemm, and without defiling. And for this cause he calleth the Angels, Algamatha, that is, m●st clear Mirrors, receiving the light of God; arguing thereby, that they are the images of the catholic Emanation, 
Wisd. 7.  from whence they spring. For Scriptures say, that the Spirit of wisdom is the brightness of the eternal light, a glass or m●rro● of the majesty of God, without spot, and the image of his Goodness. And Barthol●m●w saith, That an Angel taketh his hidden light from God by influence, 
Barthol. lib. 6.  and sendeth it forth unto those Angel's whi●h are of a lower order or condition. And Austin and Damascens say, that Angels are intellectual lights, receiving their light from the first light. Again, Ba●thol●m●w saith, that they are called Gold, by reason of the beams which they send forth. Also they are called Fiery Rivers, by reason of the bright influences which they receive, and send forth to those of a lower region. Also St. Dennis saith, that the higher Orde's receive most plenteously the light of God, which afterward they impart by influence unto such Spirits as are lower. And this Law is observed in the O●der of Angels, namely, that some be the first, and some the second, and some the last. For this cause therefore the SERAPHINS are Angels, so called, because they are said to burn and be set on fire, by reason of their immediate presence before the face of God. But letting all these testimonies pass, we are instructed by many places of Scripture, that Angels are bright ●●ning lights; that they are above in the third heaven, attending on the Throne; that there are seven which are Precedents in heaven, as there are seven Candlesticks which import the seven Planets; and that there is one great Ange● that is head or master over them all, which held the seven stars in his hand. And that there are four Angels which have dominion over the four winds, 
Apoc. 4.  who have power to hurt the earth and the seas: And that they are commanded and overruled by one great Angel, who beareth the sovereign seal of preservation. And that there is a Prince of darkness, who is that great opposite spirit which hath dominion in the air. 
Ephes. 6.  And that there are as well deadly, as hurtful Principalities, Potestates, and Governors in this world, which are adverse unto God's creatures, as good Angels, or Angels of light, which are friends unto them. To conclude, the multiplicable fruit or seeds we compare unto the stars of heaven, and the leaves unto the creatures below, which have their natures and mutations, from those internal or spiritual organical agents. So that we may see, that Eternity giveth life unto eviality, and eviality unto temporality. And as we see that in the eternal world, the First Person addeth a being unto the Second, and the Third proceedeth from them both; so the aeviall or Imperial Angels, pour down the influences of life into the olympical or heavenly ones; and the olympical or starry spirits do send them down on the Elementary. In the same manner, the Imperial Spirits are the soul or life unto the Starry or Etherial heaven, which animateth by his influences the Elementary, and the earth is animated by them all.  
Thus therefore we see, that God operateth by his divine organs variously, all in all, which being well understood in the first place, we may boldly conclude, that also all the peculiar angelical lights, do proceed from one and the selfsame catholic Emanation; a●d consequently we find, that the diversity and opposition of their natures, proceed from the multiplicity of properties, which is in that general emanation, proceeding from the throne o● God or Unity before all beginnings. And this is the reason, that this eternal creating Spirit of wisdom is termed by Solomon, 
Wisd. 7  Unicus & mult●plex, One and manifold; One (I say) in regard of his essence, and manifold, in regard of the multiplicity of its properties, by which it worketh variously, and sometimes by opposition in the world. But all this is excellently expressed by the learned Cabalistical Rabbis, in the description of their numerical or Sephiroticall Tree. You must therefore understand, that as the mystical Theologians did observe but ten special names or attributes, which were ascribed unto God in the Hebrew Bible, a proprietate; so they did perceive, that each of these did import a divers operation to be effected; so that the Hebrews did call upon this or that Name of God, mentioned in the holy Text, according unto the nature of the several necessity they had of God's assistance. And though they collected by the word of God, that as the Divinity or Godhead is but one internal immutable essence, and therefore hath but one only essential title to be expressed by, namely, Tetragrammaton, or Jehova, which is his unseparable name, forasmuch as it is appropriated unto him only, for it includeth (as Rabbi Moses the Egyptian hath it) and argueth by a pure signification, the substance of the Creator, without any respect or participation that it hath unto the creature; yet nevertheless they found, that the other names ascribed unto him in Scripture, do note or signify God, as he participateth with his creatures, or as he hath relation unto things that are created, and consequently are known by the effect of his works. As touching his essential name, it was had amongst the Hebrews or Jews in that high esteem and reverence, that it was never uttered but in the Sanctuary, and that by such Priests, as were consecrated and made holy only unto the Lord; and than it was pronounced in that Benediction which the High Priest uttered in the day of fasting. For this reason that name was had in that honourable regard, that it was never rashly spoken or uttered, because (as the said Rabbi Moses saith) denotat Deum esse & fuisse super omnem essentiam quatenus, antequam ullares esset, existeret: I● importeth, that God is and was above any essence, forasmuch as he did exist before that any thing was existent in the world. And this was that precious Name of God▪ which Moses was so desirous of him to hear and know, when he received from him this answer, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Hoc est nomen meum in aeternum, JEHOVA is my everlasting name; Which name is so pure and simple, that it cannot be articulated, or compounded, or truly expressed by man's voice. As for the other denominations appropriated unto God, they do not express him according unto his Essence, but only in respect of his works, (as is said namely, as he appeareth all in all, and existeth in all things. We must understand therefore, for our better instruction, that seeing the Divine Nature is and operateth in all created things, as also without them, (for he is the centre of all his creatures, whose circumference is not to be found) in this regard his essential name Tetragrammaton is the common agent in every bough or branch, of the Sephiroticall or Cabalistical Tree, and hath the dominion or pre-eminence over all the trunk or body of that Tree; and consequently all the other ten names are assigned unto it, as having relation unto the properties or the effects of his multiplicity of virtues or actions, in one individual essence, and therefore all the rest are subject unto it, and are wholly comprehended within it, for it contains the property as well of Nolunty as Volunty, of privation as position, of death as life, of cursing as blessing, of evil, in regard of the creatures, as good, (though nothing is ideally bad in him) of hatred and discord, of love and concord, and consequently of Sympathy and Antipathy. All these opposite effects are testified by Scriptures to spring from one essential fountain, 
S●p. 16.13.  forasmuch as it comprehendeth the power of life and death, and induceth unto the brinck of the grave, and reduceth or bringeth back again unto life. It is JEHOVA that is light, life, and health, and it is he that afflicts with darkness, 
Psal. 27.1. 1 Sam. 2.6. Psal. 145▪ Psal. 9.6. Isai. 45. Job 5.  death, and sickness. It is JEHOVA that is gracious, full of misericord, and that extendeth his benignity and mercy unto all his creatures. And it ●s he that is angry and severe against nations, and d●th destroy the wicked. It is he that reprehendeth in his anger, and chastiseth in his displeasure. And it is he that is gracious and the only Saviour. It is he that woundeth and healeth again. It was JEHOVA that ●●rea●ne● to send vengeance, vexation, and death on the disobedient. It is he that causeth the plague, the consumption, the burning fever, the leprosy, s●abs and botches, emerods, and ulcers of Egypt. It is JEHOVA, that striketh with madness and blindness. It is he which causeth fear & a trembling heart, 
Deut. 27.  yea, showereth down sorrow, vexation, timidity & sad melancholy as in Deuteronomy we read of, & consequently produceth antipathy and discord. And chose, 
Exod. 23.25.  It is JEHOVA that bestoweth bened●ctions or blessings on his creatures. He blesseth the bread and drink that the creature tasteth, for refections cause; so that they preserve, and do not destroy. And it is he that removeth and taketh away all diseases, banisheth sterility from the earth, and multiplies the days of his creatures, and by consequence is the cause of loving Sympathy and concord. 
Isai. 45.6.  To conclude, it is JEHOVA, the great God of gods, that form light, and created darkness, made peace or love and concord, and produced evils and contention or trouble, as the Prophet teacheth us. Now forasmuch as this essential Unity did bring to light these contrary effects, by opposite properties, therefore did the secret Theologians ascribe unto him divers general names, which they gather out of the holy Writ, and are appropriated unto him▪ according unto the effects which follow them, whereof some incline to darkness and privation, others to light and position; some to severity, and others argue the fruits of his benignity. Some by a deprivation of his act, which happeneth by a reflection of his beams in himself, produce the effects of darkness, namely, an essential frigidity, and stupidity, immobility, congelation, contraction, & ●. Others by an actual emanation from the centre unto the circumference, do generate the effects of light, as are motion, heat, dilatation, subtiliation, etc. I will therefore rehearse or reckon up unto you, those divine Attributes whi●h are ascribed unto the sacred Essence, in order as they are numbered in the Cabalistical Tree, from the which the divine beams of different natures do descend, to accomplish the various will or volunty of him, that sendeth them forth into the world, to act and produce a multiplicity of effects.  
The first name therefore of the Divine Attribute is Ehieh, and this Attribute importeth the fountain or original of all creatures, and the foundation of misericord and clemency, because the effluxion or eradiation that springeth from this head, is full of grace, and spareth all; for it argueth the Father of pity and misericord, and the God of all consolation, unto whom our Saviour bids us pray in this form, Our Father which art in heaven, etc. And hereupon it is elsewhere said, that the Father ●udgeth no man. Again, it is the part of a Father to deal favourably and mercifully with his children; so God under this Attribute is esteemed to be the Father of all, and is therefore benign and merciful unto his creatures, according to that of Solomon, Thy creatures might fall and perish by the persecution of thy justice, and be ventilated or blasted by the spirit of ●hy puissance. But thou hast disposed all in number, 
Sap. 11.  weight, and measure; for that thou canst do much was ever present with thee. But thou hast therefore pity on all, because thou canst do all things. And thou dissemblest the sins of men, that they might wax wise and amend; for thou lov●st all things that are, and thou dost abhor nothing that thou hast made, neither didst thou ordain any thing to hate it. Could any thing exist which thou wouldst not have to be? or could it be preserved, if thou didst not send it the means of its being? But thou sparest all things because they are thine, O God, which art the lover of souls. Lo this is the fruit of the name Ehieh, namely, to create and beget all things as a Father, and to have a care of their preservation in his paternal affection. For this reason therefore, it is the Precedent of the Capital or radical bright port, gate, branch, or numeration, called Cheter or Corona, which is the root of the whole Tree, by which, and through which, the clear beams, or lucid and sacred emanation of JEHOVA, in his creating effability, or positive volunty, doth descend unto the creation of all things. For Ehieh signifieth the father and root of all creation.  
The second cognomination of JEHOVA in the divine numeration, or spherical Tree, is JAH, which imports the blessed and gracious emanation of the world, and extraction of the humid or created nature, namely the waters out of the womb or bowels of the dark and deformed Chaos: and therefore the Cabalistical port, by which these active and all-operating beams do descend into the world, is called Hochma in Hebrew, Sapientia in Latin, Wisdom in English. And Solomon, meaning of this Divine Emanation, 
Prov. 8.  speaketh thus: When JEHOVA did frame and fashion the heavens, when he did establish the fountains of the Abyss, when he gave limits unto the Sea, and did appoint a foundation unto the Earth, I Wisdom was with him as a helper to compass all things. And we must note that this name Jah, whose influence or emanation is Sapientia or Wisdom, appeareth sometime to be conversant as well about the effects of severity, as clemency, although it happen but seldom. And therefore JEHOVA said of the Angel, which was appointed for the conducting of the Israelites through the Desert. 
Exod. 25.  Ne exacerbes eum; quia non feret defectionem vestram, quoniam nomen meum est in eo: Do not displease him; for he will not endure your defections or errors: 
Eccles.  for my name is in him. Whereby it is evident, that this princely Angel, which is taken for this Emanation from Jah elsewhere, hath a double property; but his greatest inclination is to preserve the creature which it made.  
The third cognomination is Elohim: and the bright port through which the reflecting beams of his property do stream forth, is called in Hebrew Binah, in Latin Prudentia, in English Prudency. And this name Elohim, according to the Cabalistical interpretation, doth signify fear, and terror, because they have observed that by this property or attribute of God, 
Archang. cabal. de dog. cab.  there happeneth unto each world, punishments, and stratagems: for under this denomination JEHOVA doth exercise his power, as well for the sudden alteration of the world, as unto the punishment of the wicked. And therefore the Spirits which do receive this divine influence, are called Been Elohim the sons of Elohim, which are his instruments in the Elementary world, for the effecting of his will in this property. By virtue whereof, also the commotions of the waters were made in the first creation, and the production of them out of the dark Chaos: which was not effected, but by the extreme contradiction and oppugnancy which happened between the fire and the water, and consequently not without the dreadful dissension and war of the Elements, causing terror and many thundering commotions in the dark abyss or deformed waters, when each word Fiat was divinely uttered: For it was by the Spagericall or high Chemical virtue of the word, and working of the Spirit, that the separation of one region from another, and of the distinction of one formal virtue from another, was effected or made: of the which business the Psalmist meaneth where he saith: 
Psal. 36.6.  By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the Spirit from his mouth each virtue thereof.  
Ye may therefore perceive, that the whole power of the Cabalistical Tree, is comprehended in these three first branches, no otherwise then the typical world is comprehended in the Archetype, which consisteth in a triple property, most aptly referred unto the Trinity of Persons: For therein the intelligible world doth import, that which seven doth in this material and watery world: For 2 is the root of Matter, as 3 is the root of Form. As therefore 1 is the formal root unto three, and the material root unto 2: So verily is 2 the material root unto 4; and therefore 4, which is the Symbol or character of matter, and 3, the figure of form, being added together, produce the universal substance of the world, consisting of form and matter: we must therefore with diligence observe, that those three first denominations, do belong unto these properties, whereby JEHOVA did create the three first days work, wherein the whole world, with his heavens and elements were cr●●●ed, and received their due positions.  
The seven following branches of the Sephiroticall Tree, do appertain unto those various alterations or mutations, as well propitious as unfortunate, unto the creatures, which do befall them in this world, being thus completed and finished by the virtuous properties of the three precedent emanations or streamings forth of the divine beams. Wherefore the fourth branch of this Tree, hath for his Precedent the gentle and merciful attribute of God or JEHOVA, called EL; whose bright port, numeration, or channel, by which it poureth forth its beams into the world, is for that cause styled Chesed in Hebrew, which in Latin is Clementia, in English Clemency, because the divine influence which shineth out of it is full of grace, benignity, life and goodness, as by the consequence it shall appear. For it is the fountain, from the which the good and fortunate Planet Jupiter receiveth his benevolent Emanantion or beams of life: this name therefore Moses used, for the healing of Miriam, when she was made leprous for her disobedience, saying: El na rapha na la: Deus gratiae, quaeso sana illam.  
The fifth name, which is assigned unto the first branch of the Cabalistical Tree, is called Elohim Gibbor, and it is an attribute which sendeth malevolent and unwholesome influence down unto the creatures, making disturbances and troubles in the world, by Thunders, Lightnings, Comets, Wars, Contentions, Anger, Pestilence, and hot diseases, etc. And the celestial magazine of this influence is the Planet Mars: for this reason therefore the port or channel, through which this fiery influx doth immediately stream forth, is called in Hebrew Gehurah, which importeth power, force, violence.  
The next branch or numeration being the sixth, hath for its Lord, the name Eloach, whose influxion or emanations are full of life and golden beauty, and therefore the trunk or port by which it passeth, is termed Tiphereth in Hebrew, which noteth, Grace, ornament, beauty, and delight. By the golden emanation which floweth from this channel, the visible Sun of this world receiveth his bright beauty, and is adorned with that admirable vivifying virtue, which by effect doth manifest and testify itself unto the whole world. And this is that Grace and ornament of which Job meaneth, when he saith: Spiritu suo ornavit coelos: He adorneth the heavens with the beauty of his Spirit.  
The seventh divine cognomination or attribute is JEHOVA Seboath, which is as much as to say, the God of Armies, the God of jubilation, rest, and perfection; & therefore the port or channel, by which his beams or irradiations do pass, is called Netzeth, which signifieth triumph and victory: as also Justice, Charity, and Love: and therefore the influence of generation, and multiplication, and delight issueth from this emanation, which maketh the rolling Globe of the celestial Venus his store-house.  
The eighth name is Elohim Saboth or Deus exercituum, the God of Armies, and his port or channel by the which he sendeth forth the influxes or beams of this his property into his celestial treasury, which is the Globe of Mercury, is called by them Hod, or praise, honour and formosity; by which afterwards he operateth in this property, by his will on the earth by changeable and mutable effects.  
The ninth, Elohai, that is the Living God, or Sadal, that is, the Omnipotent God: and his numeration, or the gate or channel by which he sendeth down his bright influences, is called Jesod, that is to say, the basis or foundation, Redemption or rest; and these are received by the Sphere of the Moon, which is as were the celestial earth: unto the which all the influences in general do fall, and this is the reason that it is subject to so many and divers mutations. The effects whereof, as well to generation as corruption, is observed on the Earth and in the Sea.  
The last name or attribute is Adonai, or Dominus; and his port or gate by which he sendeth forth his illuminations or the active beams of his nature, is termed by the Hebrews Mulchut, that is, Regnum or Imperium. And this numeration importeth severity and servility unto the creatures, through God's anger and wrath; and his influxion is directly into the Elementary world.  
By which collections and observations of the wisest Rabbis, we find that in these Ten general properties of God, signified by the ten attributes unto the Divine Essence, all things in the world, be they esteemed good or evil; or positive and primitive; or concordant, and aimeable, or discordant, or odious; or in a word either occultly or manifestly opposite, or else concurring in nature or quality unto an other, do originally descend from this fount●●● of Unity: which though it be one in essence, is nevertheless manifold in property, and that property is therefore divers and altering, according to the multiplicity of Volunty in the Father, or fountain that sent it out, according unto whose mind all things as well concordant as disagreeing, are ordained both in heaven and in earth, and that by a multiplicity of special emanations of different qualities, from that eternal general catholic effluxion, and every of those specific emanations do branch themselves again into an infinity of individuals, even as ten may be multiplied, in infinitum; So that every one of those specific properties, do shine forth from the Star in heaven, as well fix as erratic, which is their receptacle or store-house, unto an infinity of earthly and watery creatures, which are generated or do grow upon the earth, and under the earth, according unto the influences of those Planets and fixed Stars over creatures, be they animal, vegetable, or mineral. And the reason why the Divinity, created or sent forth one specific eradiation, so contrary unto another, was, as well for the preservation as destruction of the creatures: For as the last effect of each of these contrary emanations or radious e●fluences, is the Creation, or generation, and preservation of creatures of their own nature and condition: So also are they to be applied, either for the preservation or restauration of the decaying creatures, namely when we apply any venomous simple, either animal, vegetable, or mineral, to expel a dangerous disease, or to poison a nature, which is sound; as, in the animal kingdom, is the venomous Viver, Scorpion, Toad, Spider, or blistering Cantharideses; and, in the vegetable Kingdom, the Somniferous and stupifying Poppy or Opium; the searching and inflaming or burning Flammula and Euphorbium; the fretting Scamony; the vomiting groundsel, Daffodil, Assera Bacca, Bears-foot, Titimall, and the venomous Aconite. In the mineral rank, the corroding Asnick; the quick, piercing, and infecting Quicksilver and Sublimary; the destroying Resalgar; the vomiting Antimony, and such like, which have all as well the property, to take away dangerous diseases, as to bring them: For in some cases they take away dolorous maladies, and in other some, they bring them quickly, and hasten on destruction upon the creature: So that all things, in some cases, both wound and destroy, and in othersome they heal and cure; yet unto him, that sent them the beams and irradiations of their form from some of his particular properties, they appeared all good, being they were ordained not only to heal in his benignity, but also to destroy in his severity; and to conclude, to effect his will one way or another, even as it pleaseth him, 
Sap. 11▪  who only worketh essentially all in all. And therefore Solomon saith: Could any thing exist which thou wouldst not have to be? So that all is good unto God, although unto wicked men which suffer them, they may appear bad. Oper a Domini universa, 
Ecclus. 29.21. Ecclus. 39.30.  (saith the Wiseman) bona valde: All the works of God are very good. Bona bonis crea a sunt ab i●itio, sic nequissimis bona & mala: Good things were created originally for good men, but to evil men they were in effect good and evil. There are Spirits created for vengeance, and in their fury they execute their torments: in the time appointed they pour out their virtue, and effect his fury that made them, namely water, hail, the teeth of beasts, as of the Scorpion and Serpent, etc. All these rejoice to execute his Commandments upon the Earth, etc. Even for this cause therefore, namely for the secret opposition of natures in the world, originally proceeding from the streams of those variable properties, which radically do spring from that one incomprehensible Fountain; Love and Hatred, and consequently Sympathy and Antipathy were created to justle, and as it were shoulder one another in this world, as well generally under the titles of Light and Dark, as particularly in that friendship and hatred, which is observed and testified in Scriptures, to be first between the very Angels themselves; then amongst the Stars which receive these opposite natures from the Angels; and thirdly, amongst the winds and Elements, which have their spirit of contention from the Stars: and lastly, amongst those compound creatures, which are composed of those Elements, by the active spirits of the winds. But because amongst all other opposite qualities in the world, this Sympathy and Antipathy are most occult and hidden; (For whereas we can produce the reason of contrariety of Elements, from their manifest qualities, namely cold, heat, moisture, or drought; in and for this occult opposition, we find not distinctly any such elementary ground) we will dive so far as our sterile capacity will give us leave, into the bowels of this Mystery.   

CHAP. III.  
Here it is demonstrated, that the occult action as well of Sympathy as Antipathy in creatures, proceedeth from Angelical irradi●tions or shinings forth; that is, by the emission or ejaculation of their secret beams, the one against the other, out of such creatures as are created or generated under their Dominions.  
SUch as are well seen in the Mystical Theology, 
Reuchlin. lib. 3. de Art. cabal.  affirm, that Angels are all of one kind, in respect of their own creation, though the one is more or less illuminated, according to the importance of the office, whereunto they are called, or the Creator's will and mind is to employ them. For we must consider, that the Angels are the immediate organs, by which and through which, the Eternity effecteth his will, and pronounceth his word Fiat, after that his will is decreed in himself. 
Psal. 104.4.  For that very reason David saith, Angeli Dei validissimi robore, efficientes verbum ejus, a scultantes voci ejus, ministri ejus facientes p●acitum ej●s. The angels of God are most strong in power, and do or effect his word, and l●s●en unto his voice; they are his minister's, to perform his will a●d leisure. So that it is evident, that nothing is effected in the world, be it in heaven or in earth, but it is performed by one of these organical spirits. And therefore Reuc●●ne saith, That all bodies, as well celestial as terrene, 
Reuclin:  have by the ordinance of God allotted them certain spiritual directors, and rulers of their virtues, and precedents of their operations, namely, as well they which are reasonable, namely, Man; as unreasonable, to wit, the Stars of heaven, and earthly creatures, both animals, vegetables, and minerals. And therefore Archangelus the Cabalist, 
In come. in cab. Dag.  maketh many degrees in the offices of Angels; For some (saith he) do stand before the divine tribunal of God, still praising him; some administer unto him, and unto us also; some have the custody of the watches of the night, of which CHRIST maketh mention, If he came in the second or th●●d watch of the n●ght, etc. Some have the government of the four quarters of the year, and these are Precedents over the four stations of the Sun; others are ordained rulers over the seven Planets; and some do dispose of the influences and virtues of the fixed Stars, and twelve Signs, of which St. Jo●● doth seem to make mention, saying, That in the twelve gates, that is, the twelve Signs, which (as Plato saith) are the ports of heaven, are the twelve Angels: Some are tutelar Angels, and are ordained for the creatures safeguard; some have the custody of beasts, others of plants, others of precious stones and minerals. All these, the secret Theologians and wisemen do affirm; averring withal, that God worketh all in this inferiors world, by the administration of Angels. And therefore St. Paul saith, That all are administering spirit's, sent to effect that office. Thus far Archangelus. And again, Reuclin argueth, That the influxion of angelical beams from the stars, must be divers and of sundry natures, because that the Angels do not by their voluntary action, move the celestial Orb always after one manner, though by reason of the violent motion, it doth move daily by a diurnal motion from East to West.  
But what needs many words, when the progression of the foresaid Cabalistical work, doth open and discover all the mystical operation, and variety of action, in the Angels. For if once the ten names of God, which produce ten divers emanations, of different conditions, which are sent by the ten foresaid numerations, or sephiroticall ports or channels, do breed contrary effects, both in heaven above, and in earth beneath, it followeth by the foresaid testimony of the Prophet David, that there must be so many angelical vehicles, to conduct them into the lower world, as there are Cabalistical ports and channels; and consequently as many diversities of the divine properties, proceeding from the variety of his will, as also varieties of vehicles to conduct them. For I would have each judicious Reader to conceive, that the Hebrew Doctors did judge of the nature and property of each Name or attribute ascribed unto God in holy Writ, by that selfsame effect which it produced, after the uttering or expressing of it therein, no otherwise than the Philosopher useth to judge of the nature and property of the complexion by the aspect of the Physiognomy; or as by the signs whi●h he beholdeth in the heavens, he determineth of their effects, to wit, of rain, winds thunder, etc. namely, because such presages in the heavens, do use to bring forth such and such effects. Now (as I have proved before) if it be the divine influence of light, which animateth and informeth each angelical spirit, it must needs follow, that every one of these angelical conductions, or vehicles of these influences must have also a divers property; because the formal influences which do animate these intelligences which carry them, are different▪ and therefore they will be naturally prone and inclined to operate the will of the Creator, according unto the nature of emanation, or beams of that property, which it receiveth from his proper port.  
As concerning therefore those angelical receptacles, or organs, which are ordained to receive the divers kinds of divine influences, or irradiations, I purpose briefly to express them in the first place, for the better understanding of the Reader, with the channel they do belong unto; and then the order of Angels which doth first receive them. After this I will set down the celestial Orbs or Stars, into the which, as unto their particular storehouses, they are conveyed. And lastly, I will speak somewhat of the effects that these influences, which are conveyed down from their starry treasury, into the elementary world, do effect, both in the air, seas, or water and earth. Touching therefore the Names or attributes of God, as also their emanations, or streaming forth of beams, with their peculiar properties, I have in few words written them, in the precedent Chapter; as for the rest, I would have the Reader to know, that those ten several divine emissions of ten several lights, out of so many Sephiroticall or Cabalistical spouts or channels, into the vast cavity of the world, to accomplish the will of the Creator, have their particular angelical waggoners or conductors; for in this, the best Theosophers agree, that as the upper Order of the Angels, do receive their light and bright emanations immediately from God, so do they emit them and manifest them unto the inferior Orders; and for this reason they are called Mirrors, because they receive their light from the face of God, or his eternal catholic emanation, which (as I have proved before) is the head and fountain of all these Angelical lights. And again, as the secret Theologians have, by their serious observation of the holy Bible, espied ten distinct properties, as also ten divers cognominations, or Names of God, appropriated unto them; so they perceived, that there was a singular Angel appointed to receive each of these emissions of beams, endued with the selfsame property or condition, as the lights which they receive do possess, forasmuch as these Spirits do live, and are animated by them, being that as the external of the Angel is a spiritual air, so the internal of it is the formal irradiation or emanation, which is according unto Gods will emitted into it. And this is a general note amongst all the secret Theologians, unto whom Bartholomaeus and St. Dennis do adhere, touching this point, that no Angel can intermeddle with another's business, or take upon him the work that belongeth unto another, except it be such inferior Angels, as are destinated to serve under their Archangels in the same function or property, as shall be said more at large.  
We must therefore understand, that the office of the great and catholic Angel Mitattron, was so universal, that it was employed first about the information of the whole world, and the division of light from darkness▪ as also, for the vivifying of the watery spirit of the world, and the diurnal rolling about of the heavens: And therefore it is said, and not without a good cause, That it was the divine and general Emanation, that is the eternal Sapience, which for this reason is said to be created before all things, by whom afterward all things were made or created. And for this reason it is said, That this Angel doth contain in it all the angelical perfection, no otherwise than the universal beams of the Sun are comprehended in the body of the Sun. Wherefore we do with the Hebrew Rabbis justly apply the essence of the first emanation unto Mitattron, which emanation is said to enter by the royal port or gate Cheter or Corona. For know, that this catholic Angel is said to be the first creature, because it importeth the spirit of the world, which did first receive the firstborn son, or the Imperial emanation, from the Attribute of God called EHIAH, which is a name of eternity, for that it containeth and doth respect the time past, the time present, and the time to come. For this cause therefore doth this great Angel style itself, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The first influence therefore which was of universal life and essence, is received by the Angel Mitattron, which is for this reason called Donum Dei, after it was shouted down from the port Cheter, into the highest order of the Angels, called Seraphin, which by reason of their propinquity unto the throne of God, are said to burn, or be set on fire with divine love. And hereupon these have their excellent beauty and clearness, by reason of this sacred influence, which is so full of the loving benignity of the Father of light. From thence this potent angelical nature conducts the beams of this light into the convexity of the etherial heaven, and there bestows it as in a general magazine or store-house; which place it afterwards informs or vivifieth, insomuch that by the admirable action and motion thereof, it is called Primum mobile, or that sphere which moveth first in the heavens, and by his motion it turneth the natural or temporal world round about, from the East unto the West, in twenty four hours. The mover is this catholic Angel of the world, full of this eternal emanation, by which it animates the world. Therefore also is Sapientia said to be omnium rerum prius creata, the first of all creatures; and, Fluxus virtutis Dei, & emana●io claritatis ejus, omni re mobilior, penetrans ubique propter suam munditiam & permanens in se, omnia innovans. It is an influence of the virtue of God, and the shining forth of his brightness, which is the most movable of all things, penetrating all things by his pureness, and being one in essence, reneweth all things, that is, it reviveth every thing. By which it is plain, that this catholic emanation is the soul of the world, having endued, or put on, the universal angelical spirit, and therefore is called by the holy Text, a Creature; so that the catholic created spirit of the world is the Primum mobile, for by this firstborn emanation from God, it is animated and moved, as by the swiftest mover in the world; and the mover is termed Primus motor, both together; or called Mundi anima, which therefore is defined to be, in respect of the created spirit thus animated, Primum mobile, spo●te, & per se mobile; The first thing moved, which is moved voluntarily and by itself. And for this reason also, the animal faculty in man, which is sedes animae intellectulis, is said to move voluntarily, when the action ●f the vital and natural faculty, compared unto the etherial and elementary heaven, do move unvoluntarily, that is, at the will of the first mover. And this work is therefore assigned unto this sphere, with the legions of intelligences, that are derived from, and created there by their catholic head, which is the said grand Archangel, as beams from one Sun, partly to hinder the starry lights, which were after created, from burning the elementary world, or working by their long continued impression, too violent and unnatural alterations; as also to make a proportionable day and night unto the earth. To conclude, by this angelical act, the whole spirit of the world was generally enacted.  
The divine emanation, which issued from the second Sephiret or port, called Hochma, which is sent out by the Attribute JAH, passeth into the order of the Cherubins, (which signifieth the plenitude of Science, and abundance of the gifts of Wisdom) and is received of the Archangel Zophiel, which, by the etymology of his name, argueth pulchritude, as being replenished with an infinity of particular beams of life: But another calleth this keeper, and conductor of these beams, Ruziel, who immediately doth direct them into the firmament or heaven of the fixed stars, and principally into the broad girdle of the starry heaven, which is called the Zodiac, arguing by the etymology of his name, that the beams of this emanation do chiefly work, and fashion out ideally, the liniments of an infinity of particularities in the elementary world, as shall be demonstrated hereafter.  
The third effluxion, which is made from the port Binah, under the protection of the name ELOHIM, descendeth immediately into the order of the Thrones, (arguing thereby God's severe property, full of judgement) and is received by the Archangel Zabkiel, or, as others will have it, of Kaspiel, which is as much to say as Genius Cholerae magnae; and this effluxion is conducted down into the next sphere below the firmament, which it informeth, according unto the natural property of the divine influx, and it procreateth the globe of Saturn, which it replenisheth with spirits, or inferior intelligences, called by the name of Saturnine Intelligences, which send down these influences into the elementary world, to produce effects according unto their nature, as well in the air and water, as in and upon the earth.  
The fourth emanation, which is derived from the conduit-pipe of Chesed, over which the word EL hath dominion, is received of the angelical order of Dominations, which import power against evil spirits, and the benefit of life and breath▪ and then is committed unto the Archangel Zadkiel, which is by interpretation Genius justitiae; and this Angel, according unto the nature of the influence which it carrieth, is a friend unto the true Justice, in the proportion of the elements, and a friend unto the creatures' life; wherefore it conducteth the beams of this property into the next or be below, Saturn, which they make a dwelling place for an infinity of spirits, that are created out of the same informing influence, and therefore are of its property. This Terra Angelica Olympi, is termed the Star of Jupiter, and these kinds of Olympic spirits are termed Jovial Intelligences, which do pour forth the streams of their influence into the elementary regions, and animateth the spirits of its nature, which work effects appropriated unto the property of this influence.  
The fifth eradiation, or emission of divine beams, is out of the Sephiroticall numeration or port, called Geburah, whose Precedent is the divine Attribute ELOHIM GIBBOR; and these beams are said to pass directly into the order of Potestats: and the Archangel unto the which these beams are committed is called Sama●l, or, as others will, Hamael; and it is a Genius which importeth horror: and this Intelligence doth conduct the beams of its Emanation into the Sphere, which is below that of Jupiter, and informeth the spirits thereof with the burning fire of this nature or property, making the starry Globe of Mars their residence, from whence they pour out their influences unto the Elementary spirits, which are of that nature.  
The next emission of divine beams, is out of the gate or channel Tipherith, over which the Divine Attribute ELOAH hath dominion, and these are infused immediately into the Angelical order of the Virtues, so called, because the divine Virtue doth shine forth of it: For, as Isidorus saith, The Angels of this order, do receive illumination, purgation, and perfection from God. And this order doth send them down by the Archangel Michael: which signifieth Quis tanquam Deus, into the next region below the Sphere of Mars; and there these golden and vivifying beams do inform and animate such bright intelligences, with their like property, as do dwell-in and Illuminate the visible Sun in heaven, and therefore are termed Solar spirits, from whence this mighty Archangel, which is called C●stos animarum, the keeper or preserver of living souls, doth order that they be hourly poured out into the Elementary region, to vivify and refresh those spirits, which are form out after their own image and nature.  
The seventh effluxion or irradiation, is out of the Sephiroticall port of Netzeth, over which the Attribute of God JEHOVA ZEBAOTH is Lord, and they pass immediately into the Angelical order of Principalities. And this influence is committed to the Archangel Anaol's custody, who conducteth them down into the next Sphere below the Sun, where it animates, according unto his good property, all such Olympic spirits, which do inhabit the Globe and Sphere of Venus, which are therefore termed Venerean Spirits, from whence the like vigour and force is sent out unto the Creation of Elementary spirits, of the nature of these formal influences which are radically sent down from the divine influence.  
The next flux of divine beams, issue from the spout or channel called HOD: over which the Attribute Elohim Zebaoth is Pre●ident, and descendeth immediately down unto the order of archangels, and from thence is conducted downward by the Archangel Raphael, into the next Sphere below Venus; and there it createth, and continually vivifieth those Olympic spirits, which possess and adorn the Orb or Globe of Mercury, and are therefore termed Mercurial spirits, which send down such mutable and changeable influences, to animate those Elementary spirits, which were created first by this Attribute, and therefore do Sympathize with the nature of such beams, as are sent down from this Sephiroticall gate.  
The ninth effluxion or irradiation, springeth out from the eternal fountain, by the bright port Jesod, whose Rector or Precedent is the Attribute Sadai, and passeth down unto the order of Angels, and is committed unto the custody and conveyance of the Archangel Gabriel, who directeth it downward unto the lowest aethereal or starry Orb, where it animateth those spirits, which inhabit the Globe of the Moon, and are thereupon styled Lunary spirits; from whence they rain down showers of these influences, upon such spirits or demons in the Elementary world, as have received their Creation from the influences of this Property in God.  
The last effluxion or flowing and streaming forth of the Divine beams, is effected by the channel or gate Malchut, whose Precedent is the divine Attribute Adonai, and this descendeth immediately (according unto the Cabalists opinion, into the order of the blessed Souls, from whence they deem them to be conducted directly into the Elementary world.  
By the continuity therefore of these several and opposite irradiations, or emanations of beams, from God unto the Imperial Angels, and from them unto the Olympic spirits, and so continuated from these unto the Elementary spiritual shapes or demons, we may gather thus much, namely first, that God doth only operate essentially all in all, in and over all: next, that according unto the variety of his Volunty, he worketh diversely in this world, and therefore we must know, that his Volunty is manifold in property, because that thing are effected, as well in heaven as in earth, after a manifold operation; wherefore if God operateth all, 
Asclep. 4.  and in all, the diversity of his work must proceed from the multiplicity of his Volunty. And for this reason Hermes saith, Voluntas Dei summa est rerum perfectio, quam necessitas sequitur; necessitatem verò concom: tatur effectus: The Volunty of God is the highest perfection of things, which necessity doth follow, and the effect doth accompany the necessity: So that what God doth will must be perfect, and consequently the effect must follow of necessity. And therefore he concludeth, that God accomplisheth at an instant of time, both his will and the effect thereof. But what he would not have that cannot be, and therefore what existeth in rerum natura, of what property soever it be, it is effected according unto the will or Volunty of one of these Divine Attributes. Neque (saith he) credib●le est, Deo displic ●urum esse quod placuit, 
Asclep. cap. 4.  cum & futurum id & plac●turum mulio ante sciverit: Neither is it credible, that that should displease God, which did please him, b●ing that he did know long before, both the thing that was to come, and what should be pleasant unto him. And therefore Solomon: Could any thing exist which thou would●st not have to be? Thirdly, 
Sap. 11.  That according unto the variety of his divine Volunty, things were created, the one either Sympathising spiritually in affection with another, or Antipathysing among themselves, by reason of beams of a contrary disposition, according unto the concordant or opposite nature of the Angelical irradiation or shining out of the beams of one spiritual creature another: which contrariety of conditions, did proceed from the varieties of properties, which is in the Volunty or will of one and the same radical and eternal Essence. Thus therefore were all creatures in the world, as well spiritual as corporal, composed; and thus were they vivified and animated by beams, the one either contrary unto the other, or else by reason of their concordance, and likeness of nature, rejoicing greatly when they meet together, by irradiation of all one influence. And we must know and understand, that although each creature had his radical information by these Emanations, yet in their generations and multiplications, they may vary from the condition of their created or generated Parents, by the uniting together of two different irradiations at the hour of their birth; So therefore cometh it to pass, that a man both in shape and condition, may be unlike unto his Parents; a horse more fierce or sluggish than his sire; a plant or fruit more lax, waterish, or unwholesome than the stock from whence the seed or sap came, and consequently by the application of Angelical beams of an opposite nature, in the birth of a man, it may happen, that the radiation of a plant, or flower, or beast, or such like thing, may for ever Antipathise with this man, which did aptly agree and Sympathize with another. And whereas the opposition which is made between the contrary Elements, is apparent and manifest, namely in respect of the fight or discord, which is made betwixt dissonant qualities or natures, as are cold, and heat; moisture, and drought; So that in this case the Sympathy and Antipathy of Elements are well known to every one, namely betwixt the water and fire; and betwixt the earth and the air; We must know that there is yet a more latent, and internal cause of Sympathy, and Antipathy in things, which by some is ascribed unto the occult natures of the Stars; but in verity it proceedeth from those Angelical influences, which do invisibly and after a most occult manner, stream out of creatures that are born under a discordant Emanation, which Reuchlin doth passingly well describe in these words: 
Reuchlin. de Art. cab. lib. 3.  Pholosophis Peripateticis id probatur, quod c●lum quods bet Sphaericum praeter formam suam essent●alem, habet assisten●em inte ligentiam orbis sui m●●ric●m, quae vocatur Angelus, eò q●od ad hoc officium missa, intelligens & volens comple● jussa Creatoris, tanquam inter Deum & Naturam, virtus media; à qua fiunt operationes in rebus, quas natura earum vel ●on faceret, vel non sic faceret, quas alii provenire dicunt a proprietate occulta, & ali● quia tale: It is approved of the Peripatetic Philosophers, that every Spheric heaven, hath besides his essential form, an assistant Intelligence, which is the mover of his O be; the which Intelligence, is called an Angel, b●cause i● being sent to perform that Office, doth understandingly and willingly accomplish the Command of the Creator, as a middle Virtue between God and nature, by the which are effected operations in things, which their nature either would not effect or would not do ●t after that fashion; the which are said by others, to proceed from an occult property, and others because it is so. Whereby it appeareth, that the hidden Sympathy and Antipathy in things, as well celestial as terrestrial, proceed from the mystical and arcane actions of Angelical spirits or Intelligences, who first receive that hidden property from a peculiar influence or irradiation, which descendeth from some of the Divine influences, which do inform and endue that Angelical spirit with that Virtue. But because it is not the Office of an Astrologian, to penetrate thus profoundly into these hidden Mysteries, which belong unto the aeviall world; forasmuch as his custom is, to make the visible Stars the fountains of all those effects, which by way of influence and irradiation, do descend to operate, as well by sympathy as antipathy, in things below. I will here, after the Astrologicians manner, make the wellspring of all sympathy and antipathy, to arise from the manifold influence of the stars, as shall more at large appear in the next Chapter.   

CHAP. IU.  
The Astrological reason of Sympathy and Antipathy is herein expressed, where also it is proved, that being all inferior spirits receive the influence of their nature from above, and being that the elemental creatures are b●t the images of the celestial; so also it must consequently follow that as there are both Sympathetic and Antipathetical aspects or irradiations, between two or more of the heavenly bodies, and therefore there must of necessity happen, that there is an emission of essential beams, from one earthly body unto another, which according unto the nature of the creature, is either Sympathetic or Antipathetical.  
I Will leave now a while to speak radically, with the mystical Hebrew, and Cabalistical Theologians, and will open this mystery of occult radiation, or streaming forth of hidden beams betwixt two creatures, whether they be celestial or terrestrial, of a like and sympathising nature, or un-like and antipathising condition, after the manner of an Astrologian; namely, taking the visible organ for the invisible agent, the external creature for the internal angelical virtue, the starry influence for the hidden supercelestial emanation, which is poured out into the spirits or intelligences, which inhabit and illuminate the stars, and send it down again from them into the elementary world, to animate the winds, and by them the catholic element, altered after a fourfold manner, and by the element so altered, to inform the meteorologick bodies diversely, and by them the several compounded creatures, both in the sea and land. We ought therefore to know, speaking like the Astrologian) that there is a manifest opposition and agreement, not only in respect of the manifest qualities of the elements, which are observed to be as well in the fixed, as erratic stars, (for the watery signs of the Zodiac are contrary unto the fiery, the nocturn unto the diurn, the oriental unto the occidental, the male unto the female) but also in a more hidden regard. For the best Astrologians have noted, that as Jupiter, Sol, and Luna are friends unto Saturn; so Mercury, Mars, and Venus are his enemies. Against all the Planets, but Mars, are friends unto Jupiter. Moreover, there is not any of the Planets that is Mars his friend, but Venus only, and especially Sol and Mercury are his greatest foes. Also Jupiter and Venus are friends unto the Sun, as chose his enemies are Mars, Mercury, and Luna. All the Planets are said to love and favour Venus, but Saturn. Mercury's friends are Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn; his enemies are Sol, Luna, and Mars. The friends of the Moon are Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn; her enemies are Mars and Mercury. The friends unto the head of the Dragon are Jupiter and Venus, the enemies are Saturn and Mars. Lastly, the enemies of the Tail of the Dragon are Jupiter, Luna, and Venus; as chose his friends are Saturn and Mars.  
Besides all this, we ought to note, that there is another kind of friendship or enmity between the Planets, namely, when the one of them hath his exaltation or dignity in another's House. In this case therefore, the things subject unto the influence of the one, will lovingly embrace the aspect of the other; and chose, the depression or detriment of the one, in the House of another, maketh the spirit of the one creature, (who is born under that Planet which hath the detriment, and is oppressed by a bad aspect of the other, that is in his own house where the detriment is) to aspect antipathetically, a thing that is under the other; by this means, I say, the presence of the thing born, or springing forth, under the Planet of that House, will be ungrateful and odious unto the other person or thing, whose detriment is in the said House. chose, we must note, that two creatures will well sympathize, and joyfully agree with one another, where their Planets do consent together, in nature, quality, essence, and strength, as are Mars and Venus, for these sympathize by a natural instinct: So also Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, and the Moon agree together; and so likewise the unfortunate Planets do agree, in the multiplying of misfortunes.  
We ought also in like manner to know, that the Sign which hath most dignity of a Planet, as House, Triplicity, Face, exaltation, Term, or such like, doth best sympathize with the Geniture of that Planet; whereas chose, the Signs, or fixed impression of the firmament, which is opposite in nature, or full of misfortunes, (as is the fall or detriment, etc.) doth by his beams cause a secret hatred and abhorring, when the things appertaining unto one another, do occultly by their beams aspect one another. Also the manner of casting out of their beams, do make a wondrous alteration in the two subjects; for as the beams of the stars were unto one another, in the nativity of the animal, or sprouting forth of the plant, so shall the true character of them abide, and be expressed in the thing born or produced. I will therefore express the nature of these beams, or secret irradiations, which accompany the influence of the stars, in a more ample manner, because therein consisteth the secret Astrological mystery, of the Sympathy or Antipathy which happen between such things as are here below.  

Alkindus de Radiis.  First, I must have you know, that the most internal and profound Astronomers are of opinion, that every star of heaven hath a nature or condition appropriated unto itself, in which the projection of his beams with others is contained: and as every one of them hath a proper nature, which is not totally found in any other, wherein the emission of beams is comprehended, so these beams are observed to be of a divers condition, even as the stars themselves are divers in nature; for every star hath his situation in the heavens, clean distinct and different from another. And therefore it followeth necessarily, that each of them hath a respect different from one another, and unto all other things or places contained in this world. Now it is certain, that the variety of the aspect doth vary the effect of the beams, as also divers other properties of the stars perform the same▪ Where upon it cometh to pass, that each star doth operate otherwise, and effecteth another thing in divers places and subjects, how little soever, or how smally different, being that the whole operation of the stars doth proceed of the beams, which do vary in every divers aspect in themselves. For the beams which issue from the centre of the star, unto the centre of the earth, are found, and by experience are justified, to be the strongest in the manner or kind of their operation; but the beam which is ejaculated or emitted obliquely, is debilitated and weakened in effect, according unto the proportion of his oblique motion, unless it be strengthened and comforted by the concurring beams of other stars, in the same place or point: for each particular star casteth his beams to every place. And therefore the diversity of beams being collected or gathered together, doth alter the content of each place or sub●ect, being there is a divers manner of beams in every divers place and thing, which is derived from the general or total harmony of the stars. Hereupon it happeneth, that in every place, and at every time, diversity of individual creatures are produced in this world; all which, the celestial harmony is said to effect, by the projection of beams into this lower elementary region, which do continually vary and diversify themselves. By this therefore it is evident, that the eradiations of all the stars, have divers operations in the things of this world, according unto the divers properties of the things; forasmuch as every thing doth rise or spring and exist, by these emanations, or streaming forth of beams. Moreover we ought to note, that the condition of the heavenly▪ harmony is such, that since all the stars are of divers natures, and by reason hereof, all their beams are of divers effects in the elementary world, it happeneth, that the beamy operations are assisted or aided about the same matter or subject; and again, in another matter, are hindered of one another. Moreover we must observe, that over every thing in this world, there is ordained a predominant star. And again, there is some celestial Sign, that in the work and government of the same thing, beareth the rule above all other. Out of this condition therefore of the starry beams between themselves, there ariseth so great a difference and diversity in things of this world, that there can be hardly found two thing or more, which are alike in all respects unto one another, although human sense be not in some cases sufficient, to apprehend the difference.  
To conclude, the celestial harmony worketh so differently in divers places and times, that now it generateth or produceth like of like, and at other times it bringeth forth things that are unlike. Also it produceth like things at this time by a like motion, and at another time unlike by an unlike motion: now by a slow motion, and then by a swift motion. Thus therefore we see, that by innumerable kinds of other ways, the things of this world, and their motions, are observed to vary, according unto places and times.  
This being well pondered by every wiseman, and seeing it is evident, that the Elementary world is made after the example of the heavenly; so that every thing, that is comprehended in it, doth contain his image, we ought not to make any scruple in affirming that all things in this world, whether they be substances or essential accidents, do emit beams unto one another, after their manner, by the imitation of the stars, from whence they are derived: For else▪ it were not possible that they should contain in them fully the figure of the starry world. But this is manifestly and sensibly confirmed by certain things: For the fire doth send forth heat unto the neighbouring parts: and contrariwise the earth doth expire or bring forth the beams of its coldness. Also Medicines taken inwardly, or applied outwardly, do send forth the beams of their virtue into the body. We observe also that the collision or dashing together of two hard bodies, make a sound or noise, pouring out or dispersing itself by beams after its fashion. Again, all coloured things do send out their beams, by the which they are seen: which being so, we may boldly aver, that every thing which hath actual existence in this Elementary world, sendeth forth beams on every side, which filleth all the cavity thereof after its fashion. 
Alkind de R●di●s stellarum.  And therefore Alkindus averreth, that every place of this world, containeth the beams of all the things which do actually exist in it. And as each thing doth differ from another, so do the beams of every Subject, differ in nature and effect, from the beams of all other things. Whereby it happeneth, that the operation of beams in all divers things, is varying or different. Thus far I have expressed the opinions of the learned Astronomers, touching the celestial radiations, and thereby also it is manifested unto us, that each creature in the Elementary world, is not only informed by these celestial beams, which have been poured out upon them, but are preserved by assidual succession of their beamy influence, and consequently all things that are so made by the celestial influxion, is the type or image of those celestial spirits, whose beams did make them; wherefore it must needs follow by Alkindus his rule, that if they are the types or images of the celestial shapes which did fashion them, they must in like manner emit their beams, though invisibly, no otherwise then the stars do, from which they draw the influence of their being. For we must know, (as I proved in my Radical Inquisition) that the essential beams descending from God to the Angels, and from the Angels unto the Stars, and from the Stars unto the creatures, are continual because indivisible: For there is no form Virtue issuing from God, that can be separated from its Fountain; which being so, it must needs follow, that they shine forth out of the body in which they are, unto other lights, which are sent out from other creatures, no otherwise then one star of heaven, doth behold another, in this or that aspect: Wherefore mark me well, what I now say: I told you that each star in heaven, hath his friend, and he ●hath his enemy; I told you that the reason of this opposition, as well among the Angels, as stars of heaven, was the diversity of the Volunty of God, which was the cause of such opposite Attributes, as are by the Hebrew Text (which the Cabalistical Rabbis do approve of) expressed and avouched; I proceed therefore thus, and say, That if in the heavenly harmony it happeneth, that there is a potent aspect or streaming forth of beams, which concurreth with the irradiation of the aethereal or starry Lord of life, of the thing generated or produced, being animal, vegetable, or minarell; And that if by Emanation the star so partaking with the Lord of Life, be an utter enemy unto the Lord of Life, then will the spirit of that creature so generated or made, be subject to discordant passions, as fear, anger, sadness, and suspicion; and that especially when the enemy unto the Lord of Life, being more potent in the celestial Scheme or Horoscope, doth apply unto the Lord of Life, being any way debilitated by an evil aspect; So that this way happeneth a kind of insensible antipathetical perturbation unto the spirit of the thing so generated or produced. Also if the thing produced or generated, do begin his nativity, when the enemy was most potent in heaven, than when his proper Lord, and he be joined with the first Lord, in any bad aspect, if at that time that creature be brought into the presence of that other creature, which was first mentioned, there must needs be an antipathetical distaste in the spirit of the first, because the Genius of the last is timorous and afraid of the Genius of the first, which is his enemy, being more powerful; and therefore the two earthly subjects of these different stars being present, and emitting the beams of their nature, those beams must of necessity work antipathetically with one another, and the strongest must prevail no otherwise, than the two stars of heaven, which made the mixtion of beams were enemies. But you must note and observe, that though the stronger beams be antipathetical unto the weaker, it followeth not that the weaker beams be antipathetical unto the stronger, being always that the stronger passion is in the weaker, as the action remaineth in the stronger. But if the Subject of a star in heaven be brought in on earth unto the subject of his enemy in heaven, if there was not in the nativity any aspect between them, they operate not antipathetically with their beams being present, and yet their natures or beams will be by so much the more inclined to actual opposition, if at the time of their meeting, the enemy's aspect on one another with an evil aspect in heaven. As for example; If that Jupiter be Lord of the nativity, or production of the thing, and Mars do aspect him in a quadrat or opposite aspect; and this creature, suppose it be a Man, doth meet with a Cat, the Lord of whose nativity is Mars, most powerful in heaven, aspecting Jupiter with a malevolent irradiation, then will the sight of this Cat be unpleasant unto that Man. But the truth is, that there may be some fixed star, which is the assigned original, or protector of the cat or animal of what nature soever, which may be antipathetical unto the fixed star with the Planet in it, that have dominion over the cat. But chose, if the beams of two Planets or signs, or more, do meet, or concur in one, and the same generation or production of a thing, where the star which hath most dominion is Lord of the thing, be it animal or vegetable, or mineral, and these Planets are friends to one another, then if any other Subject present itself, which is fashioned by the beams of the other Planet, these two Subjects emitting their beams upon the earth, will love each other, and sympathetically agree with one another, and so much the greater will their Sympathy be unto one another, by how much they accord unto one another in nature, property, and benevolence of aspect, in the instant of their nativities or beginnings. As for example: If Jupiter be Lord of a man's nativity, and aspect Venus, and Venus him, in a Sextil or Trine aspect; and again, Venus is the most powerful in the nativity of a cat or dog; and hath a relation by his beams unto Jupiter in a good aspect: then I say, that there will be a reciprocal affection in Sympathy betwixt both creatures, Also, if the like friendship be made in heaven, at the bringing forth of any vegetable, the man or beast will be well pleased at the presence, view, and taste of that vegetable; and if he eat of it, it will well agree with his nature. And all this is to be understood in things, which from their Creation were not ordained quite opposite and antipathetical unto the creature, as are vermin and such like; the which nevertheless are made by these concordant irradiations of heaven, more amiable and less harmful; yea, and more convenient for the use of man's or beasts bodies. Also there is since the fall of Adam, enmity set between the Serpent and Man; and yet by the like confluence in heaven, some affect Serpents or Snakes; some by the concurrence of contrary beams, do loath and fly from them, with an exceeding detestation, and do abhor them beyond all measure. But to return again unto the root of this business, the evident cause of Sympathy and Antipathy of things, proceedeth from the radical Mystery of the opposite Attributes or properties in God, which have the original of their Emanation, from the secret and hidden Volunty of Eternity, as I have told you here before. And yet these Astrologians have such reasons from their starry experiences, that they all take their Original of Sympathy or Antipathy from them. And hereupon did the Philosohers in general conclude that Inferiora à superioribus reguntur, & that Mundus inferior, sit corporibus superioribus contiguus: Inferior things a●e governed and directed by the superior, and the inferior world is contiguous unto the superior bodies. And Ptolemy: 
Ptol. Serm. 9 Centiloq.  Vultus hujus saeculi subjecti s●nt vultibus coeli: The effigiesses or shapes of this world, are subject unto the images of heaven. And Aristotle: Est mundus iste supernis lationibus fere continuus, ut inde vis ejus universa regatur: This world is almost continual with the supernal lations, 
lib. 1. Meteo.  that thereby his universal power may be governed. And Hypocrates: De coelestibus autem rebus, & sublimibus mihi nihil d●cendum videtur, nisi quatenus homines, animaliaque caetera quae in terris degunt, & gignuntur nataque sunt, 
c. 2. Hip. de Carnibus.  principia & originem inde habere demonstrabo, & quod anima de coelo est, quod dolere, languere, mori, & denique quicquid boni malive est in homine de coelo proficiscitur: Touching celestial and Divine matters, it seemeth to me, that there is nothing to be said, save only, that I will demonstrate, that men and beasts which live upon the earth, and are begotten and born, have their beginning and Original from thence, and that the Soul is from heaven, and to be dolorous, to languish, and to die, And finally, 
Haly in praelud. ante quoddam opus Hipp.  whatsoever is good or bad in man, doth proceed from above. And for this cause Haly saith, Medicus qui Astronomiam ignorat, est tanquaem caecus viam baculo examinans, huc atque illuc miserabiliter cespitans, pro qualibet boni malive-apparentia: The Physician which is ignorant in Astronomy, is like a blind man, which examineth and searcheth out his way with a staff, miserably reeling this way and that way, according to every appearance of good or evil. But to come nearer the point, Cichus Eschulamus saith, That every one of the twelve Signs receiveth his particular and special name from the nature or property of some beast, 
Escul. in lib. de 12 Sign.  because the nature of the one doth seem to symbolise with that of the other. And Moses Arabicus saith, That every animated thing hath a peculiar star, which sendeth down his influence to defend and preserve his like upon earth, and that by the divine will and command.  
As for example, The Stars which are in Aries, govern and send down their influence upon the terrestrial Ram, and on sheep; and the celestial Scorpion upon the terrestrial one. And Reuclin saith, Non est tibi ulla planta aut herba inferiùs, cui non est stella in firmamento quae non percutiat eam: 
Lib. 3. de cabal  There is not a herb or plant here below, which hath not a star in the firmament to beat on it by his influence. To conclude, you may discern by this the Astronomers and Philosophers intention, namely, to take the visible body's action for that angelical spirit or virtue, which ruleth and vivifieth all things that are beneath, and breatheth forth influences out of the starry organs, and not the starry sphere, as the worldly Ethnics did imagine, who went no deeper into the mysteries of God, and his nature, than their corporal eyes, and ocular experience did guide them. But they which have dived more profoundly into these secrets, have evidently discerned a more hidden principle in these occult influences. 
Pim. 3.  Hereupon Hermes saith, Dii in astrorum ideis cum signis ecrum conspiciebantur; dinumeratae sunt stellae secundum eos, qui inhabitant illas, Deos: The gods were discerned in the ideas of the stars, with their signs; and the stars are numbered according unto those gods which do inhabit them. Where, by the gods he meaneth, the variety of angelical emanations, which proceed from one unity; or he may take the Archangels, which are the conductors of those several emanations, for gods, 
1 Cor. 8.  at which the Apostle doth rightly except, when he saith, Dii quidem sunt qui dicuntur in coelo & in terra, nobis tamen unus Deus Pater ex quo omnia, & unus Dominus Jesus Christus per quem omnia. There are such creatures as are called gods, in heaven and in earth; but unto us there is but one God the Father, from whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things. As if he had said, God the Father, or the radical Unity, is the fountain from whence all things spring; and his catholic emanation the immediate act; by which all virtues, actions, and vivifications, are diversely effected, according unto his will which sent it out, both in heaven and earth: So that it is not the Angel, but God in the Angel. Wherefore Picus Mirandulanu●, Ad coelum non est referendum si quid à nobis sit, 
Lib. 4. the Astrol. c. 4.  quod nostras vires videtur excedere, sed potius vel ad angelosvel ad Deum. If there be any thing from us that exceedeth our power, it is not to be referred unto the heavens, but rather either to the Angels, or to God. For this reason therefore Rabbi Moses: 
Rabbi M●●.  Angeli non movent semper orbes coelestes eodem modo, quo fit ut non semper eodem modo fiant mutationes horum inferiorum; maximam namque vim atque potestatem angelica exercet conditio in res corporeas: quapropter intellectus agens, à quo influunt formae, nominatur Angelus, & appellatur praefectus universitati, ut dixerunt Sapientes nostri, vocaturque Mitattron, a quo quidem gubernantur omnes Virtutes singulares quae pariter Angeli dicuntur, quorum est multitudo quoad nos infinita, sed quo ad Creatorem determinata & finita. The Angels do not always move the celestial orbs after one manner. And thereupon it cometh to pass, that the mutations of inferior things are not made after one fashion; for the Angelical condition hath a great force and power over corporal things, and therefore the intellectual agent, from which the forms of things do issue or stream forth, is termed that Angel, which is the Precedent of all the world, as our wise men have testified; and it is called Mitattron, of whom all singular virtues are governed, the which are likewise called Angels, of which kind there is an infinite multitude in regard of us, though unto the Creator they are limited and finite. And Rabbi Bresitts doth seem to confirm thus much, in these words, Creator quotidie creat coetum Angelorum, quos alii vocant For mas, quod sint substantiae formales; quibus tota sphaera generabilium & corruptibilium absque numero plena est. The Creator doth daily create a company of Angels, which other men do call Forms, because they are formal substances; of the which kind, the whole sphere of generable and corruptible things are replenished without number..  
Now by this Intellectus agens, or Mitattron, forasmuch as it is the Precedent over the whole world, which I said before to be that Anima mundi of the Platonists, which did animate every particular thing, by sending out of an infinity of his formal beams; we may perceive, that these mystical Hebraick Theosophers did understand that very power, 
1 Cor. 8.  which the Apostle doth in the place before mentioned assign unto our Lord Jesus Christ. Being that as they made this: Mitattron the catholic Angel, or Praefectum universitati, the ruler of the world, proceeding by emanation from Ensoph or Infinity; so the Apostle saith, that all forms, and what else, proceedeth from God the Father, and have their being from our Lord Jesus Christ.  
To our purpose therefore. As God ordained from his infinite fountain of Unity, two principles of a clean contrary nature, namely, Light and Darkness; so the firstborn of Darkness was Litigium, or the Prince of darkness, which was termed Satan, and his rule is in darkness, and over all dark things, or privative properties; and he hath his fourfold Angels or Demons of a different nature, which have their dominions over the winds and elements, and are ready to effect their Prince his behests, in a business of darkness, and therefore of discord and privation, be it of the property of what wind that bloweth, according unto that of the Apocalypse, I saw four angels standing upon the four angles of the earth, 
Apoc. 7.  being precedents over the four winds of the earth, unto whom it was granted to hurt the earth and the seas, etc. Now each of these Angels have many divisions, and subdivisions of legions under them, who do then act at their volunty, when they have dominion to blow and trouble the air. All these are animated by the influences which are sent down from the Olympic spirits, as they likewise have their animation and times of dominion appointed them, by the Imperial Archangel: And these are the immediate dispensators of the will of their eternal head and wellspring. For this reason therefore, as we ocularly behold that the Sunbeams do illuminate wholly what object soever the same looketh upon, being enlightened, by reason of an infinity of beams which are united in and upon it: So also all emanations which are carried down unto the stars, do fill them with an infinity of beams, which are instead of subdivided Angels, having the nature of all that whole emanation which did animate the stars. And therefore all the Olympic spirits of each star are alike in property. The selfsame reason also there is, from the angelical beams which issue from each wind, and fill the whole air, and water, and earth, with an innumerable number of hurtful spirits, of their nature. And yet it is sure, that as God made all things to exist and be, (as Solomon saith) he had a care to appoint over the winds as many good Angels, 
Sap. 1.  with their inferior spirits, which arise from their good beams, to overrule the malice of the bad spirits, with their subjects, which also have their abidings in the air. And, that each of these hurting or harmful angelical Precedents of the winds have a master to curb his malice, it appeareth by the consequence of the foresaid Text, 
Apoc. 7.  Et vidi angelum ascendentem ab ortu solis habentem signum Dei vivi, & clamavit voce magna quatuor angelis, quibus datum est nocere terrae & mari, dicens, Noli●e nocere terrae, & mari, neque arboribus, etc. And I saw another angel ascend from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a great voice unto the four angels, in whose power it was to hurt the earth, and the seas, and the trees, etc. So that we see here, that there is an Imperial Angel, which is a spirit or Intelligence of goodness and preservation, who hath power over the Angels of the world, as well bad as good, and consequently is a Lord and commander over the harmful Angels, not only of that Easterly quarter, but also over all the other three▪ and that was Michael, unto whom the government of the Sun and East is ascribed. And this great and sovereign Angel by others is said to be Mitattron, of which we have spoke before, whom others esteem to be the image of the eternal Sapience, by which all things were made. Howsoever, it was that imperial Angel that had victory over the Dragon and his Angels, and therefore hath them his vassals. So that as Satan is the Prince of darkness, and an enemy unto light, and therefore unto Christ and his creatures; so this great Angel, in whom is JEHOVA's Name, (as the Scripture affirms) in which is life, and in whom is light without darkness, is the Prince of light, and hath power over light, position, and life, and therefore an utter enemy unto darkness, with the Prince thereof. And for that cause, as Satan hath his armies scattered in the air, by the four winds; so also hath the imperial and victorious Prince of light, his conducting Angels, dispersed over the face of the earth and waters, and in every place over the catholic element of the air, to resist the violent and subtle or invisible assaults of the army or spirits of darkness; which good spirits also are under the conduct of four good Captains, of the nature of the four winds; which Captains are full of goodness, and grace. Therefore the Mystical Theologians and Cabalists do aver: Quod ut in exercitu Dei quatuor sunt Ante signani, 
Leu. M. Rac. lib. 1.  nempe, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, & Raphael: Sic in exercitu pariter Satanae latissima gerunt signiferi ultores vela, Samael, Azaeel, Azael, Mahazael: as Mnahem Racanat affirmeth. Whereof the first of each kind, do war in the East, the second in the North, the third in the South, and the fourth in the West: For these four spiritual Captains of Satan, are thought to be the four harmfuls Angel, which are said to cause the four winds to blow: and as for the other four of God's Captains, that they are also Precedents of the four winds: we find it confirmed by Rabbi Tedacus. Levi in this sense: 
Tadac. Leu. lib. the 10. Numer.  Deus quatuor ventis creavit quatuor Angelos, qui praefecti sunt super eos in die & in nocte: Michael, qui est ex parte clementiae & miserationis constituitur Mamona i. e. praefectus super ventum orientalem usque ad dimidium diei, & usque ad noctem, regit que ventum Occidentalem: Raphael, qui similiter est de parte clementiae: Tum Gabriel in virtute judicii, & severitatis, praefectus est cum vento boreali, super dimidium noctis, & duas mensuras mundi: Noriel verò vel Uriel praesidet Austro: God created for the four winds four Angels, which are Rulers or Precedents over them, in the daytime, and in the night: Michael, which is of the part of clemency and commiseration, is made the Lord and Ruler over the East wind, until midday, and until night: And Raphael, which is also of the part of misericord, doth govern the West: Then Gabriel in the power of judgement and severity, is constituted Lord over the North wind: And Noriel or Uriel, is made Overseer of the South: So that we see, that as well there are good beams or benign spirits, which by a secret and hidden Emanation, do stream forth from the fountain of the winds, namely those which are poured out by JEHOVA's benign Attributes, as are El by Jupiter: Eloach by the Sun: Sadai by Venus, and then Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, etc. do by their Legions execute God's Will. And there are bad and corrupt or privative emission of spirits, of a contrary fortitude from the winds, which have their Original from Elohim, Elohim Gibbor, and Adonaia, which make Saturn, Mars, and the Moon, their store-house; neither would I have any one to wonder, that I should derive the multiplicity of the good and the bad properties, which are effected by the winds, from one Divine essence, which imparteth his Will by the diversity of his lively properties unto the 4 archangels; since the Prophet saith, 
Ezek. 37.  Vem spiritus à quatuor ventis, & insuffla interfectos istos ut revivi scant: Come (O Spirit) from the four winds, and breathe on these slain persons, that they may live again. Here the Prophet acknowledgeth, that it is but one essential vivifying Spirit that effecteth all this, and consequently that the four opposite properties in the four Angels, which are the Governors of the winds, are the influences or essential beams, of one and the same Spirit of life in essence.  
By reason of these spirits of a contrary fortitude in the air, sometimes good and propitious events befall the creatures of this lower world, namely when the good spirits reign, and wholesome winds do blow, which happen, when the benign stars and Planets have dominion in heaven, and consequently their influences below; and again, sometimes bad and dysastrous accidents, armed with privative and destructive effects, befall the creatures of this Elementary region, by reason of severe emissions of beams from the winds, which animate those evil spirits, that in infinite multitudes do hover, though invisible, in the air; who are rejoiced and revived at the blasts which issue from the stations of their cruel Princes, and are as it were summons and alarms to stir and excite them unto wrath, and to blow the coals of their sleeping malice. All this we may gather from this speech, extracted out of Joseph Castaliensis: 
Joseph. Castaleonsis Porta Lucis.  A terra usque ad firmamentum, non est locus vacuus, sed omne plenum formis, ex illis purae, ex illis capaces gratiae, ac m●serationum: & sunt infernis multae effigies foedae, noxiae, tentatrices; & omnes commorantes, & volantes in aë●e. Et non a terra usque in coelum locus vacuus, quin totum sunt species; ex iis ad pacem, ex iis ad bellum; ex iis ad bonum, ex iis ad malum; ex iis ad vitam, ex iis ad mortem, & omne id in habitatione inferiori in qua nos sumus: From the earth unto the firmament, there is not a void place, but all is full of forms: Of the which some are pure, and some are capable of grace and mercy: and there are beneath many foul, hurtful, and tempting shapes; and of all these do abide, and fly up and down, in the air. And from the earth unto the heaven, there is not one spar● place; but all is full of forms; whereof some are inclined to peace, some to war; some of them are given to goodness, some to naughtiness; and some of them are Agents to life, and some unto death; and all this chanceth in the lower habitation, in the which we are, etc. Whereby he signifieth, that the whole air is replenished as well with spirits of darkness, as with spirits of light. And therefore there is a continual conflict made here below, betwixt these spirits of opposite conditions: Whereof the one do attend upon their Prince of darkness, being always ready to accomplish his behests, and consequently are very familiar unto the humid nature or matter of the world, which is the child of the dark Chaos, and for that cause have naturally a great dominion and power over it, which by reason of its inclination unto darkness, is easy to be tempted and alured from the Society of formal Light. And hereupon the material world, the flesh, and the Devil, are joined together; as also Satan is termed by the Apostle the Prince of the air, 
Ephes. 2.  which is the offspring of the waters, from whence the material substance of the world was taken: The other do wait on the Prince of Light, their Master, who is the eternal Wisdom, which springeth from the bright word of eternity. And these two dignify the world with life, and do employ their greatest care, to animate, vivify, and preserve it, with such salutary beams, as they receive immediately from the eternal Emanation or fiery Word, in which is the essence of life and being. By this means therefore, namely from the opposition of these two spirits of a contrary fortitude, all the passions in the spirit, and consequently of the Soul, yea and body (as well of the great world, and all the creatures therein, as of the little world) have their immediate beginning, namely the good passions as are, joy, charity, hope, confidence, misericord, humanity, in the little world, which are caused by dilatation of the heart, and concord, appetite, Sympathy, desire, or concupiscence, delight, audacity, jucundity, caused by dilatation from the Centre unto the circumference: and by consequence Antipathy in the great world. And again, the bad passions, in the little world's spirit, as are sadness, hatred, desperatness, timidity, anger, furor, and bashfulness, which arise from the contraction of the heart; and in the great world and his creatures, as are stupidity or congelation, discord, hatred, irascibility, fear, etc. and in conclusion Antipathy, which comes by contracting from the circumference unto the Centre. All which are certain passions, either well affecting, and reviving the vital spirits with comfort by dilatation of those spirits with the beams of a kind of joy and delight, or else choking or suffocating them, with the gloomy fog of darkness, by contracting of those spirits, with the mist of grief or privative sadness.   

CHAP. V.  
What Actions in the Spirit or Soul in general, do produce Sympathy, and what Antipathy: How Sympathy or Compassion proceedeth from a certain dilatation of spirits in two or more particulars, or an emitting of their internal beams of life or essence, positively and benignly, from the Centre unto the Circumference, attempting thereby to make a concord or union, betwe●●●wo or more like or homogenial natures; and chose Antipathy, by contracting the said beams from the Circumference unto the Centre, moveth after an opposite manner, namely by division or discord; that is, quite contrary unto the beams of the other which are emitted.  

I Have signified unto you first, in my precedent discourse, that two properties were Archetypically, or Ideally, and after a complicite manner comprehended in one radical Unity, or Essence, namely the one effected by its Nolunty, the other by its Volunty Lo here the root and original foundation, or point, from the which all Antipathy and Sympathy do spring, namely the first from the privative property or its Nolunty; the second from its positive or Volunty. I told you next, that from this one root, or Unity in essence, a two-sold branch or member did spring forth, expressing typically, and explicitly, the effects and conditions of these two contrary properties, or dispositions, which were contained complicitely in the Ideal root, namely darkness, (which is the privative fruit of his Nolunty,) and light, the true character or badge of his Volunty. And then I proved unto you, that these two were the beginnings of all things. Lo here the two Principles of Antipathy and Sympathy, extracted out of one root. Thirdly, I demonstrated unto you, that by the separation of the pure from the impure, from the dark Chaos, (which act was effected by the spagericks virtue of the bright emanation, or word of the eternal Unity) the humid or watery nature of the world was created; that is to say, essentially informed, by the lively presence of the said all-informing Spirit; so that through that union of two contrary natures in one, namely, the informing essence, or naturating nature; and the informed substance, or the nature naturated; the spirit of the world was animated, and afterwards by the wisest Philosophers termed the Anima mundi, which is that angelical composition of two, called therefore by the Sages Alteritas, as God in his simple nature is called Identitas. Now the passive portion, of which alterity was made, is said to be the humid created nature, o● naturated matter of the world, whose active essence is the everliving emanation from eternity, which (as the Apostle teacheth us) doth vivify all things, and filleth all things, and is all in all. The union of these two maketh the catholic soul of the world, called in respect of the simple, creating, and vivifying emanation, men's; in regard only of the spirit informed, Spiritus; and, as these two are united in one, Anima. Lo here the third degree of the sympathetic and antipathetical progression, from the simple root of eternity, namely, the created matter or spirit in the soul of the world, being the child or offspring of darkness, or the dark Chaos, which is therefore naturally prone unto the negative or privative effects of darkness, and consequently apt in its own condition, to receive any discordant and antipathetical impression, which the angelical spirits of darkness shall imprint upon it. For as the sacred light, which animates the humid spirit of the world, and consequently the whole mass of the waters, whereof the heaven and the earth was made, (as St. Peter doth justify) is the most movable, agile, and active of all things; so on the contrary party, the matter that is informed, and therefore the created body and spirit, is most degenerate from it, in that it is no way inclined of its own nature unto motion or life. For the Philosopher's words are, Materia est per se ad motum inefficax, & ab ipsa anima seu luce degenerans. Wherefore of its self it endueth its mother Chaos, or Hyles her condition, and is inclined to rest, immobility, darkness, cold, spissitude, and congelation: For this cause therefore it suffereth the impressions and characters of both oppositions, to wit, sometimes it inclineth unto darkness, and then it groweth spisse, opak, cold, immobil, thick, and ponderous, and tendeth in that his property downwards to the cold centre, or the seat of darkness, which is its mother; and than it is in rebellion and opposition with light, motion, and heat, and so it is antipathetical unto the actions of light and life; as we see the airy spirit of the world, which is clear, light, diaphan, thin, movable, and soaring upward, by the operating power of the descending light, becometh by the Northern cold congealed, opak, spisse, and immobil, or fixed into snow, hail, ice, frost, and such like. So that by this antipathetical accession of the cold characters of the dark abyss, it is discordant from the loving union, and symphoniacall access, which it had unto the region of light. chose, the bright form of the soul, which is the essence of that eternal emanation, doth give the matter or spirit of the soul's life, action, motion, hear, tenuity, and diaphanity, and that more or less, according as it hath power and dominion over it. And we must note, that the more the spirit approacheth unto the nature of light, the firmer are the bonds of its sympathetic accords. For as sympathy doth consist of things of a like nature, so the nearer the spirit approacheth unto form, the greater is the sympathy and accord, the surer the tie, and the more virtuous the effect; for the more that the created spirit is illuminated, the less it remembers that natural inclination and love, that it had unto its dark original; insomuch that by such an extreme purified exaltation it becometh as it were deified: And therefore Plato's opinion is, that if the middle spirit, which is between the mental beam, and the dark bodily substance, doth more adhere unto the divine or mental beam, than the dark body, than it will become a good Demon or Angel; but if it respect the body more than the divine beam, it will descend unto the nature of a Cacodaemon, or spirit of darkness. Also by Scripture we are taught, that by adhering unto this divine light, namely, unto Christ, we shall be transformed into the same image, to wit, if we forsake this dark world, and the lusts of the obscure body or flesh. But to return unto the soul of the great world. If the airy spirit be given over unto the power of darkness, it becometh bodily, and turns into the same image, namely, frost, snow, hail, etc. but if the hot effect, or the formal act of light, prevail a degree over the stupid cold of darkness, it leaveth his opake quality, and becometh diaphan, and returneth from an earthly, fixed, and obscure nature, unto a clear, transparent, and fluxible substance; and by another degree of the divine act, it is made more subtle, more dilated, more invisible and pure, and it is called Air; by a third it is purified unto fire; by a fourth unto aether, when it loseth all the appetite of mutation, and forgetteth the privative stock from whence it came: by a fifth it becometh angelical or imperial; and so it is exalted more and more in dignity, according as it is more and more obedient unto the actions of the eternal and catholic influence of form, which shineth forth from the fountain of infinity. For we must understand, that the whole inclination of the eternal emanation, is to reduce this child of darkness unto eternal light, unity, and life; as chose, the endeavours of the potential darkness, which is the stamp of God's Nolunty, or privative nature, are clean contrary. So that all the end of the creating light's action, is to unite all by the symphoniacall band of love and unity, and consequently of sympathy, namely, by making the catholic child of darkness like itself, and therefore to make two to compassionate each other. But chose, that of darkness is evermore inclined to make duality of unity, and to breed discord, by violating the bands of concord, and so to procreate a new antipathy and hatred, thereby to destroy the fruits of love. So that the spirit which light hath redeemed out of the dark Chaos, is the intermediate subject betwixt both the extremes, that is to say, between light and darkness: and therefore is the passive subject ordained by the Creator, to endure the impressions of each opposite extreme, whereupon it becometh sometimes the subject of sympathy, namely, when it is obedient unto union and light; and sometimes of antipathy, to wit, when it rebelleth against that light. Thus do we see the true subject of all passion in the soul of the world, and this was the only reason, why the Philosopher Heraclitus avowed with such confidence, That all things were composed of strife and friendship; and Empedocles, That the soul was made of amity and enmity. I will now therefore express unto you that concordant order, which that eternal love, who shined out from the Father of light and love, hath put and placed in each region of this world, to distinguish the two different natures from one another, by placing between them an intermediate subject, which doth agree with each extreme. And first I will speak of the orders in the universal spirit of the world, and lastly, of every particular vivified, and enacted spirit, as well in the intellectual or imperial, as vital or etherial, and natural or elementary heaven, and that in order.  
We must place the two opposite principles in this world, in the two extremes of the semidiameter thereof; and first, we imagine the seat of the God of light, or of the divine act, to consist in the convexity of the higher and purer Orb of the Angels, or Imperial Heaven, (I speak unto the vulgars' understanding) that is in the circumference of the vaulted world; and then we deem the throne of darkness, or the divine puissance, to be in the centre thereof, as the furthest place from its opposite in nature, which is light. Here you may see the two principles of concord and discord, of love and hatred, and consequently of sympathy and antipathy, of the effects whereof all the Scripture and each member of Philosophy, is full. The catholic matter which was originally extracted out of darkness, namely, the waters, which was made the material substance, (of which the heavens and the earth were framed by the divine word, doth occupy all that space which the world containeth) was by the celestial Alchemy, or spagericks virtue of the divine illuminating emanation, divided according unto the contrary and discordant natures of the said two principles, into the upper waters, and the lower waters: whereof the first or higher waters were good, and obedient unto the bright Divinity, and were converted into a fiery nature, being thereupon termed the Imperial nature, for their obedience unto the bright emanation, & were full of intellectual fire, and angelical light. And therefore this portion of the waters was ordained for the seat of the good Angels. The lower waters chose, as being fecall, gross, impure, and therefore more rebellious unto light, and obedient by participation unto darkness, were placed next unto their dark beginning, namely, the earth▪ and did possess all that space between the starry heaven and the earth, which is called Elementary, and for this cause is subject to all changes of generation and corruption: And this was ordained to be the seat of Satan and his angels, which is for that cause called the Prince of this world, 
Ephes. 2. Ephes. 6.  the Prince of the air; and his prime subjects are called Principalities, Potentates, and Governors of this world. Lo here the two extremes in the created nature! from the upper whereof, a general sympathy and love, or a Symphoniacall consent of things, is made and effected in this world: by the other, namely the lower, an universal Antipathetical jar, is by turns effected, and intruded into the Symphoniacall accord of things in the lower world, namely when the severe Attributes of God▪ do rain down into the starry world, influences of a contrary nature, which afterward by their emissions unto the lower world, give liberty and power unto the bad Angels, to work their destructive and Antipathetical effects, on certain creatures thereof.  
As for example, the attribute ELOHIM, doth send down into the star, or Planet of Saturn, the fruits of his i'll and frozen effects, whereby the spirits of that Sphere are corroborated; the which again do pour down their boreal or Northern nature, unto the spirits which are their Substitutes in the Elementary world, to wit, those which have power to harm by the Northern winds. Hereupon Archangelus Cabalista: 
Com. in c●●. Dogm.  Hoc nomen EL, quod nos Deum habemus interpretatu, omnia fovet, & omnibus succurrit, summa pietate, & clementia, id quod est illi proprium, & ideo illi gratia attribuitur: At per ipsum nomen ELOHIM veniunt severa punitiones & strages, & Angeli ei inservientes dicuntur BEN-ELOHIM i. e. filii ELOHIM: ELOHIM ergo terrorem significat, & pavorem: Hinc locus Aquilonaris ei assignatur, à quo procedit omne malum: This name or attribute EL, which is by interpretation God, doth foster or nourish all things, and assisteth every creature by his piety and clemency, which is appropriated unto him: But by the name or Attribute ELOHIM, come severe punishments and Stratagems, and the Angels which are his Ministers to effect his will are called BEN-ELOHIM, that is to say, the sons of ELOHIM: ELOHIM therefore signifieth terror and fear: And for this cause the Northern quarter of the world, from whence cometh all evil, is assigned unto this property, etc. By this therefore we may discern, how the spirits, which are dispensators as well of salutary as malevolent and destructive influences, are in the mass of the lower Elementary waters: whereby man and the other creatures of God, may be either preserved or destroyed. To conclude, that middle spirit in the world, called the Firmament, which divideth both the extreamly-differing waters from one another, and is that intermediate spirit of the world, which doth equally participate, and behold each extreme, is the central mansion of that eternal Spirit, which emitteth his beams from his stately Solar, or sunny palace, even unto the Centre of darkness, and extendeth his emanation even unto the seat of Light, which is his root: for his brightness is emitted from the attribute ELOAH, by the beautiful or glorious port, or gate TIPHERETH: which importeth, grace, beauty, and pulchritude, by the Angelical order of the Virtues, into that purified palace of the Sun: So that by his emanating presence, he penetrateth every where, and filleth all things by his presence, and vivifieth all things by his Virtue, and is the Father of life, vegetation, multiplication, and preservation, and hath made his seat in the Centre of the heavens, that by one most perfect Consonant, namely a spiritual Diapason, he might illuminate the Angels above, and the stars round about him, and that by a more material Diapason, he might penetrate into the Centre of the elementary world, to communicate his perfection to each creature thereof, that they might be beautified by his bright presence, and vivified by the penetrating beams of his essence, and consequently that the imps or spirits of darkness may be debilitated by the appearance of his Glory; as if one chord were extended betwixt the Fountain of Light and the abyss of darkness, which being struck, made an unison, but being pressed down and divided directly in the middle of it, each part will render, being struck, a double diapason, unto that unison, importing a double perfection, proceeding from the bright catholic Emanation; whereof the one respecteth the adorning of the lower waters, with life and virtue, and the other maketh an accord of friendship among the higher. Now as the body of the Sun, and substance of the Aether is of a middle or mean spiritual matter, or consistence of the waters, it is evident, that it also is subject to be altered by passion, as well Antipathetical, as Sympathetic: For else it would not be the immediate receptacle of those opposite and contrary Emanations, which descend from the differing Attributes: But by effect we find the contrary For some stars are friends, and Sympathize in nature, with some creatures below: Some again, do hate one another deadly, and consequently send down into this lower world, contrary influences, which move contrary passions or impressions, in the vital spirits, or souls of certain Elementary creatures. Again, we find that the life of the Animal, doth consist of opposite actions, namely of Systole and Diastole; that is, of contraction by the property of matter, and dilatation by the Act of the formal Light; So that the nature of matter, is to draw by contraction from the Circumference unto the Centre: but the condition of the formal essence is quite contrary unto it: For it doth dilate or emit his beams from the Centre to ●he Circumference. Also the Philosophers testify, that in sleep and rest the spirits are contracted from the Circumference to the Centre, after the manner of the dark Chaos, or cold North wind, which bringeth by that contraction, the agile and volatile spirit or air of the lower world to rest, and fixation by condensation: But chose, in wachfulness, or waking, they conclude, that there is an emission or emanation of spirits from the Centre unto the Circumferentce, which is an Argument of two contrary effects, of the firmaments vivifying operation, in the souls or spirits of the creatures below, and yet by reason of the equality of each action and passion, they have a compound-disposition, according and agreeing in the natural operation of life, which descendeth from above. Thus therefore you see, that even from the starry heaven there descendeth Sympathy and Antipathy.  
As for the Elementary world, it aboundeth manifestly with the effects of these two contrarieties, and therefore lest there should follow any continual unnatural perturbation, which may deprave this great formal workman of his expectation, which was to put concord and peace in the machine which he had ordered and framed; he divided each region in this lower world, that there might be interposed an indifferent friend between two extreme enemies, which he effected by weight, number, and measure; So that unto the weightiest portion of the lower waters is imparted the least proportion of form, that by its grossness and weight it might fall unto the Centre, and remain fixed in it, and it was called earth; then, unto another portion he bestowed a double measure of Light, to make it reside in a higher region; and thereby the matter which was next the earth, became more thin, light, and movable. And therefore this augmentation of Light, melted the frozen waters a little, and did make them fluxible and transparent: So that he partly by reason of the continuity of his matter, with that of the earth, and partly because of its cold nature, it is a temperate friend of the earth, and taketh his place next unto him; So that it is not so cold as the earth, nor so moist as the air: For it is not enough subtiliated, till the bright Agent of the world bestoweth on the dark watery abyss, above the water, three portions of his Light; So that it converted part of the gross lower waters, into a thinner and more light shape, than was the watery Element; and it was the air which by reason of the triple proportion of formal light was hotter, and more dilated, then was the water; wherefore as the water was cold, (but not so cold as the earth,) and moist, (but not so moist as the air;) So the air is hot, but not so hot as the fire; and moister than the water. By reason therefore of his moisture, this portion of the catholic Element is friendly to the water on the one side, and on the other side unto the fire, because of his heat. Lastly, that in-created Spirit of life did yet multiply a part of those waters, by an other or higher degree, of subtlety and purity; So that it became the most subtle and highest portion of the general Elements, and is consequently hot and dry; wherefore by reason of its drought, it agreeth on the one side with the earth which in circulation is next unto him, and on the other side with the air, in respect of his heat; but it is hotter than the air, and not so dry as the earth. Lo here you see the effect of that Sympathy, which the Peace and Love of God, did put among the discordant enemies of this world: For thereby the water, as a friend to both the air and earth, becometh a stickler, and mediator of peace between them. The air, as a friend unto the two enemy's fire and water, is made an indifferent judge betwixt them both; So that the one contrary is kept from struggling and tugging with the other, by the supercelestial and golden tie of peace. 
Heb. 1.  Thus you see, that this Spiritual Christ doth (as the Apostle saith) bear and sustain all things by the word of his Virtue. And as Hermes said, the humid nature by the assistance of the world, 
Pimand. 1.  is ordered and disposed harmoniously into Elements; So that by this Virtue, all Sympathetic action was effected in the Sublunary world, 
Sap. 19  of which the Wiseman speaketh thus: In se Elementa dum convertebantur, sicut in organo qualita is sonus immutatur, & omnia suum locum custodiunt. But when this harmonical rank and Symphoniacall proportion is violated, than the enemies come together and rage against one another, unto the disturbance of the whole Sublunary fabric: For air and earth do struggle against one another; as also the water doth cruelly invade the limits of the fire, and all will be out of order, and in a destructive war with one another, were it not for the presence of this Lord of misrule. Thus, as you see, will Dyscracy and Antipathy reign by their turns, in the nether region of the world, when the tye of the elements are loose. Thus will friendship be quickly changed into hatred, when JEHOVA is pleased to send forth his altering winds, and to corroborate and animate by his influence from above, the ministers of his wrath here below, against the sublunary creature.  
Now come I to prove, that all sympathetic and antipathetical effects, do proceed from the secret and occult actions of the ministering spirits of this world. That there is a mighty difference amongst the Angels, no man of wisdom can deny; for though all Angels were at the first united unto the divine Unity, yet by reason of the rebellion and ambition of Lucifer, that knot of union was broke; and then the waters were divided from the waters, that the good Angels might be separated and distinguished from the bad, by the interposition of the firmament, as a Diaphragma or middle bar, between each of their habitations: So that the dark Angels were enclosed in the lower, or dark, fecall, and dreggy waters; and the light Angels were lodged in the higher waters, which were illuminated and dignified by a supercelestial light and glory.  
Thus you may see, that the very Angels of heaven, forasmuch as they are created of air, or the humid spirit of the world, (which is their external) and the bright emanation from Unity, (which is their internal) are subject, by reason of their material substance, which participates of both extremes, unto affections or passions, as well sympathetic as antipathetical; and consequently they a●e able by reason of their contrary properties, to produce both sympathetic and antipathetical accidents, in the spirits of the elementary creatures: As for examples sake, we will compare the catholic sympathy and antipathy, which is in the soul of the great world, unto that peculiar soul or spirit which is in man, being that every particular was framed out of the universal. We ought therefore to understand, that the whole essence of the soul or spirit of man, though it be invisible, extendeth and manifesteth itself by her virtues and faculties; for by her irascibility it contemneth and hateth, and by her concupiscibility it doth covet and desire, and by her rationability she distinguisheth and discerneth between them both. And verily, the whole effect of the souls essence consisteth in these three powers, whereof the first is compared to the action of the lower waters, which is apt to jar and disagree, and is the region of L●tig●um, or the Prince of darkness. The second is referred unto the nature of the firmament, which is the region of life and salutary love; and the last unto the angelical and intellectual heaven, which doth discern between things that belong unto the lower heavens, or regions of the world. Whereupon it appeareth, that from her rational property, every sense belonging unto the soul of man doth proceed; as, from the other two, every affection, motion, or passion of the mind, doth arise and spring. Now there are known to be four affections of the soul, whereof two do proceed from her concupiscible power, namely, Joy and Hope, (for at that which we love, we rejoice and are glad; or, we hope for and expect, that which shall rejoice us or make us glad) and the two other issue from her irascible faculty or virtue, namely, Grief or Dolour, and Fear; for now we grieve at that which we hate, or we fear that which would make us grieve, or be dolorously affected. And verily, we shall, after a due inquisition, find, that these four affections of the Microcosmicall soul, are not only the beginnings, and common matter or subject of all moral vices or virtues, but also the originals of Metaphysical or occult, and Physical or elementary, and apparent sympathy and antipathy, as well in the little as in the great world, and every creature thereof. For I would not have you ignorant, that being the soul in man is derived from the vivifying emanation, dwelling in the words spiritual vehicle, it must follow, that that soul in the great world must needs have in it the faculties, which the little world's soul hath; for, Quod facit tale, est magis tale. But these faculties in the soul of man were derived from the great world, and the eternal soul that vivified it. Wherefore it followeth, that there is a rationability, a concupiscibility, and an irascibility in the soul of the great world, though not made manifest unto us: First, because that it hath attributes of irascibility and displeasure; for from his Attribute ELOHIM Gibbor, he sendeth down by the port Geburah, the fiery beams of his displeasure, by his Archangel Samael, into the globe or sphere of Mars, who is for that cause Precedent of the irascible faculty of the greater world; wherefore his influences do cause wrath and angry effects in the air and earth, as thunder, lightnings, comets, and other wrangling accidents, which (as Scriptures tell us) are the arguments of God's wrath and vengeance; also war, famine, and pestilence; and augmenteth the angry nature and spirit of men and beasts. And again, God's Attribute JEHOVA Sabaoth poureth down the beams of concupiscibility, by the Archangel Anael, upon the globe of Venus, according to Philosophers and Astronomers, who for that reason, being moved thereto by experience and observation, have made this star the precedent and rectrix of the concupiscible faculty: As the Attribute EL doth pour out the beams of reason, justice, and religion, yea, and natural vegetation and life, into the sphere of Jupiter. But principally this natural faculty is reigned into the soul of the world, by the Attribute JAH, through his port Sapientia or Wisdom. The second reason is, because the great world hath an intellectual or rational heaven, and a concupiscible property manifested in every creature; and an irascible, which is apparent also by reason of hatred and horror, which appeareth between one thing and another. Also, that there is an irascible quality in the elements, that deadly hatred which is betwixt the fire and water, and the air and earth, doth manifest. That also there is a love and concupiscence between things, it is evident, because one nature rejoiceth in his like; and therefore by a natural inclination, every thing doth move and convert itself unto his like, by all possibility; but especially it is most inclinable unto itself. So we see, that fire doth naturally affect and move unto fire, water unto water, and earth unto earth. But above all, the vivifying spirit of every living thing, which is celestial, and therefore exceedeth the place of the elements, doth with fervency affect and thirst after his like, and is rejoiced at the presence and concurrency thereof. And for this cause, this passion of what creature soever, will be the more truly sympathetic; and the sympathy between things will be so much the greater, and of more force, by how much the nearer the spirits of the things, either present or dispersed, are in nature and consanguinity to one another. As for example, If that both be of one minier or thing, in number; also like specific individuals, though they differ in number, as the Uznea, fat, or blood of one man do sympathize with another, ad distans; the Loadstone of one Mine may affect harmonically the Iron of another, ad distans: And I told you before the true reason thereof, as well radical as immediate, namely, because both the natures belong unto one divine influence, or proceed from angelical beams or an emanation, sent forth from one and the same star, as well fixed, namely, of the firmament, or eighth sphere, as erratic and planetary. For I told you, that there is not one animal, or vegetable, or mineral upon the earth, or in the seas, which hath not a peculiar star, that poureth out upon him his proper influence, as well to produce and generate its like, and to continue it in succession, as to preserve and maintain it in essence. Now each angelical nature hath his appropriated beams, from the radical emanation of some divine Attribute, which conveyeth it to his destinated or starry store-house; and from the Olympic spirits of that star, it is sent down unto such spirits in the elements, as are their inferior ministers, which operate according unto the selfsame nature in each specific, and every individual there. As for example, The stars in the Ram or Aries of the Zodiac, have chiefest influence over such like cattle on the earth; and the Scorpion over the like creeping things thereof: the Crab, over such like creatures of the sea; for we find by experience, that if the Crab be taken when the Sun and Moon do join together, according unto the Longitude or degree of the Equinoctial, in which the great star of the celestial Crab's claw is found, it is of mighty virtue and power against poison; and if it be collected or taken at another time, it will have but small effect. Again, we must note, that each fixed star, or constellation of the Zodiac, hath his proper Planet, whose peculiar House he is, which concurreth in the fortification and alteration of that influence. For the diversity of application of other Planets unto it, doth cause a variety of operation, even in the same animals sperm, or plants, seed, and mettles secret spirit. And yet howsoever, they do more or less agree and sympathise in nature, as the beams of each Planet, so applying unto one another, will give them leave; for if the concurrence be between friendly Planets, and of one and the same triplicity, namely, where their Houses are of friendly elements, than the sympathy will be the stronger. And thus much Agrippa doth seem to intimate in these words, 
Agrip. occult. Philos. lib. 1.  In rebus proprietates occultas non ab elementali natura, sed caelitus in sitas, sensibus nostris occultas, rationi vix denique notas, quae quidem à vita spirituque mundi, per ipsos stellarum radios proficiscuntur, quae à nobis non aliter quam experientia, & conjecturis indagar● possun●. Scire ergo debes quod unaquaeq●e res movet ad suum simile & inc●inat aa seipsum secundum totum posse suum: The occult properties in things, which are not grafted in them by an Elementary nature, but descend from heaven, are hidden from our senses, and scarcely known unto our reason: Forasmuch as they are derived from the life and spirit of the world, by the beams of ●he stars, the which cannot be otherwise scanned and found out by us, than by experience, and that conjecturally or by guess. You must therefore know, that every thing doth move unto his like, and by all the means possible d●th incline unto itself, etc. Whereby he argueth that the catholic Angelical spirit, which vivifieth the world, in whose Diviner part consisteth the Sephiroticall power or Virtue of all the Divine Attributes, in which also (as Ezekiel testifieth,) is contained the virtues of the four wind, is the main actor, who by his several subdivided emissions, of diversely conditioned beams, doth operate in and by his starry Organs, all these occult and hidden effects below, which cannot fall into the Sphere or capacity of a common man's understanding, though by effect we find it to be thus and thus; So that there is not a particular beam, that is emitted from it, which hath not a secret disposed act, no otherwise varying from one another than, by ocular experience, we find the effects of them to differ: For whatsoever was originally decreed in the secret Counsel of the Archetype, is effected from a generality unto many Specialties, and from each Speciality unto an infinite number of individual particularities; So that the aeviall or Angelical effect, is the image of the eternal Idea, and the temporal world, is the similitude of the aeviall; and again, in the temporal or typical world, every stellar shape is the likeness or pattern of the Angelical Idea; and again, the Elementary things are the shadows of the spiritual shapes or Images in heaven: Wherefore as God sendeth out his Emanation, which is his Image, unto the Angelical world, in a diversity of fashions, and multiplicity of respects; So the Angelical spirits do send out their several different Lights unto each other, namely every order unto his inferior, and every upper Sphere unto the Spheres which are below them, and so from the stars, which also apply their lights unto one another by several aspects, infusing them in and upon the creatures by degrees downward, even unto the very Centre of the earth: which creatures after the manner of their pattern do also shine forth unto one another by beams, which are either Sympathetical and harmonious or Antipathetical and discordant to each other; neither ought we to doubt, that there are such agreeing and disagreeing beams here below, seeing that in the fountain of Unity from whence all things do flow, we observe an opposition of properties, namely a privative Nolunty, and a positive Volunty; Nor yet ought we to deem otherwise, then that the passive spiritual matter of the world's soul, is the substject by which the Divine Virtue worketh, and in which it stirreth up as well loving and positive, or good and Sympathetic passions, by pouring out plentifully his positive and vivifying beams of life, adding delight and joys with a completion of the spiritual created matter's appetite; So that it forgetteth the rooted nature which its dark Parents or Mother Chaos, and the Divine Puissance did in her nativity bestow upon it, and is converted into a child of Light, by adoption; and therefore in this case, it doth Sympathise with those golden showers of charitable and vivifying Light, which are sent down from the benign attributes of God, and begins to hate, and dread, and loath or eschew, all such privative influences, as are poured down from the severe, insalutary and destructive attributes; no otherwise then Light flieth from darkness, and being delighted at the presence of more light, and life, avoideth and hateth the presence of his contrary, namely of death, and evil. Hence therefore it cometh, that the children of Light, which are grafted unto this catholic illuminated spirit, do fly, as from a pestilence the children of darkness and their works. And the reason is, because this humid created spirit, finding now the pleasure, volunty, and felicity of its illuminated estate, is afraid lest the privative beams of darkness, or the dismal Emanations of God's wrath, should dim their light, and obscure the brightness of life; that is to say, lest they should turn their Sympathising passions of joy and gladness, into the Antipathizing storms of sadness and mourning, by sucking or contracting the beauteous Emanations of joy, love, and gladness, from the Circumference into the Centre of the Spirit, and so deprive it of that salutary and sprightful irradiation of love and life, by hiding of God's face, which he did emit from the Centre to the Circumference of the creature, to recreate and rejoice it. According unto that of Moses: God forsakes the wicked and hideth his face from them, 
Deut. 31.17. Psal. 104.  that much evil may befall them: Or unto that of David: God hiding his face from the wicked they are troubled, receiving their spirit they expire: That is, vexation and privative passions befall them: which may also be understood of the catholic Microcosmicall wordl's spirit, as of the Microcosmicall and other creatures, all which have their being from the Macrocosmicall Spirit: For when the Divine nature, which animateth the Sun of heaven, was displeased at the Passion of our Saviour, it did Centrally withdraw his beams from it, and it lost its beauty, and became dark, against the common course of nature; So that the pleasant Sympathy which it produced by its presence unto the creatures beneath, and in the heavens above, was quite changed into Antipathy for a while. This therefore was a privative passion in the heart of the great world, or as a man may say, a Syncope or swooning of the world, when ELOAH did abstain for that season, to pour forth his influence of beauty by the port of TIPHERETH: Also that palpable darkness which happened in Egypt, was a privative passion, caused by the hiding away of God's face, or by the contracting the beams of light within himself. Such privative passions also are menaced unto the Sun, Moon, and Stars, towards the latter end of the world: For if the world was made by the sending forth of God's bright Emanation (for by the Spirit of the Lord the heavens were adorned, as Job telleth us) it followeth, that by taking it away, all will return again unto darkness, and plain nothing or deformity, even as it was before. But this producing of good and Sympathetic passions, by emitting of light from the Centre to the Circumference; and again, the effects of Antipathetical passions, which do oppose the concord and Sympathy of life, is excellently described and painted forth, by the due examination of the vital action in man: For as there are noted to be in general, two several active Virtues in man's spirit; whereof the one is voluntary, which is the Prince over the other, and commandeth and moveth the inferior actions, even as the Divine Angel Mitattron doth in the Primum mobile of the great world, which is referred unto the Volunty, and moveth by it the celestial orbs, and Elementary world; so in the Microcosmicall Fabric, the first mover is that Divine mental beam which is the head of man's soul; and the other kind is involuntary, because it is commanded and ruleth after the will of the intellectual or rational beam, no otherwise then all the lower Orbs are constrained to move, after the will of the mover in the Primum mobile; So the vital action in man, is one of those branches, which is involuntary, and no otherwise subject unto the Volunty of the mental beam, than the starry heaven; (which is the seat of life, forasmuch as the Sun which is the heart of the world, hath his residence there) is commanded by the imperial Spirit.  
Now as we find, that according unto the will of the Divine essence poured out into the heavens, and consequently here below, as well joyful and compassionate effects do spring from the positive and dilative property of Unity, to recreate and stir up volupty and pleasure in the creature; as also trist and sad effluxions, proceeding from the contractive Virtue, whereby God hideth the face of his benignity from the creatures, and thereupon as well concupiscible as audible or irascible passions are caused in the world: Even so we find it manifested, as well by experience, as by the observation of the learnedest in Physick and Philosophy; that the vital action, which is overruled according unto the mind of the superior Volunty, either is opened or enlarged by the dilative property of the first movers will, and thereby openeth the cabinet of the heart, to produce in the vital spirit those good passions, which Sympathise with life and light, namely gladness, hope, confidence, love, miserecord, and affability; or it is contracted, and thereby gathereth together also the spirits in the heart, whereby is engendered in the vital spirit such bad privative passions, as do antipathise with those good ones, which rejoice and comfort the life, and these passions are termed Antipathetical, because they are wholly contrary unto the nature of those which are good; of which number, proceeding from the heart's contraction, are sadness, care, despair, fear, hatred, anger, furor, bashfulness, and so forth; So that as by the former, the spirit by dilatation did look up unto the Fountain of Light, and did rejoice to see the volupties and pleasure thereof; So by the later, the spirit was forced by contraction, to be deprived from the vision of light, and to look prone downward into the abyss of darkness, and to participate with the dark passions thereof. And by this decifering and opening therefore of the two opposite passions, in the little world, we may easily collect the reason and manner of them in the great world, being that as eadem sit ratio parcis & totius; so also the passions of the great world, may easily be considered by those of the little world. As for example, The Loadstone is in comparison of its mother earth, even as man is to the whole world; wherefore Man is called the Son of the world by He●mes, as Cardanus, Bap. Porta, D. Gilbert, and others, have made the Loadstone the child or son of the earth. We find, I say, in the Loadstone, all the passions, as well sympathetic as antipathetical, which do affect his mother earth; for it hath his Poles with the earth, and it escheweth all in conformity with the earth, it flieth from that which is contrary unto its nature. And again, doth sympathize with that which is its like, it hath its aequinoctials, Colours, Meridian's, and Tropi●ks, as the earth hath; and, in conclusion, it argueth not only a sense in motion, but a kind of reason in its action, namely, its refusing that which is contrary unto it, or embracing and desiring that, which is agreeing and conformable unto its harmony, as shall be more at large expressed, as well in the second part of this present Book, as in the magnetical experiences, which shall be set down in the third or last Book of this Treatise.  
To conclude, how this mental beam receiveth the behests or influxions, of benignity or severity from above, is expressed in my precedent discourse, namely, by permitting of bad spirits of darkness to reign and have dominion, or helping the good spirits to execute their offices of joy and delight. Lo, here is contained the sum of all mystical and hidden sympathy or antipathy in the world, which some do therefore, by reason of the profundity and difficulty in the inquisition thereof, justly attribute unto the secret act and operation of an angelical power, which is a middle virtue betwixt God and the creature. And for this reason (as is said before) an Angel is defined to be, Tanquam inter Deum & Naturam virtus media, à qua fiunt operationes in rebus quas vel natura eoram non faceret, non vel sic faceret: quas ali● provenire dicunt à proprietate occulta, & alii quia tale; As it were a mean virtue between God and nature, by the which certain operations are effected in things, which their nature (that is, their elementary form) would not produce, at the leastwise would not so effect, as that which is said to happen or come to pass by an occult property, and, as others will, Quiatale, Because it is so.   

How this is demonstrated by Harmony, what Sympathy and Antipathy is.  
IT is a divers proportion or disproportion of matter, or mundane spirit, guided by one and the same eternal soul. Veni spiritus à quatuor ventis. Demonstrated by a Pipe, whose notes vary according unto proportion, in spirit or air, moved by one and the selfsame blast, whose proportions, when they disproportionably meet, do jar; but when they proportionably meet, accord and agree. All spirits in creatures are proportioned by more or less air, all in spirit of life, moving and acting; and according unto the proportions in concord or discord, they agree or disagree: as the weights of Pythagoras his hammer, in bodies proportionate or disproportionate. Also two strings being as one stretched up, give concording or discording sounds, according to their greatness or shortness. As for example, in this case of air in a pipe.  
The creatures quality doth good or evil, not the devil, but the devil by it: Ergo, Diabolical, and to be abhorred.     

The Second Member of this Second Book. Wherein the Magnetical Nature is truly anatomised, and the reasons of Sympathetic and Antipathetical actions ripped up.  

CHAP. I  
The Author maketh a preamble in this Chapter unto this his Magnetic Discourse, and then proceedeth unto the Chaos of opinions, touching the original and attractive virtue of Magnetic Bodies.  
I Did manifest unto you in the precedent Member of this Book, the principles and originals of Sympathy and Antipathy; but because it is not every one's gift to soar so high at the first, as to be capable of a Theory or speculation, which penetrateth into God's store-house or treasury, contained in the abstruse bowels or centre of his created nature: I will stoop a little, for your better instruction, and more clear information, and elucidate or make more plain the abstruse subject we have in hand, by some vulgar or ocular demonstrations, which may guide them and persuade them to believe that, which may otherwise seem uncredible. That I may therefore proceed more methodically, I will only in this member lay down the chief platform, on which I purpose to build such experimental conclusions, as shall direct the misbelievers, yea, and such as by their ignorance do remain hitherto obstinate in their misbelieving error, (being that, Experienti a est etiam stultorum magistra, Experience is the mother of foo●s) into the more assured haven of faith, and solid belief. And because the exploits of sympathy, and also those of antipathy in every thing, are effected by a magnetical power, which is both to expel by an irascible or audible expulsion, and allure and draw unto it by a concupiscible attraction, (as shall be showed you hereafter) I think it most fit to search out diligently, and that with the Argos eyes of my brightest senses, or to penetrate deeply with the Lyncean optic of my sharpest understanding, unto the dark mystery of the Load-stone's or Magnet's nature, that we may with the more assurance make our ingression into the practical demonstration, of so arcane and occult a contemplation. For seeing that the secret operation, as well of the Weapon-salve, so exclaimed on by the ignorant, as the extraction of the Mummy, ●both corporal and spiritual, out of men or beasts; as also the transplantation of the animal's vitals, infirm or wholesome nature, into any vegetable or animal; with the manner of the stealing of the virtue and strength from one animal, and infusing of it into another; the secret alligation of the plants spirit, with that of man, or any other animal; so that what befalleth the one, namely, either wet or dry, or cold and heat, the other also shall partake of. Seeing (I say) that these operations are termed magnetical, because they imitate the active virtues of the magnet or Loadstone, I will bend all mine endeavour to make an open passage, unto the anatomising of all those mysteries, by the unripping and undoing the spiritual farthel of the Loadstone, thereby to p●y and look into the fountain of its formal, interior, or central and essential actions; and to espy the grounds, as well of his irascible as concupiscible passions: For if once we shall be able to find out, by the subtlest aspect of our reason, the invisible passages and lurking places thereof, and can after that observe the point, or punctual root of their essences, and discover the internal cause of each action, we shall with ease conquer and surpass all the rest, being that what things appear alike in external effect, must needs prove homogenial and all one, in their internal and hidden natures, as shall be proved more at large unto you.  
But alas, why should I, being (minimus Apostolorum) the least of a thousand, presume to make so dangerous a voyage unto that unknown Island, where this occult magnetic Nature doth dwell, among, or in the middle of such dangerous and inaccessible Rocks, when so many wise Philosophers have ●ailed and wandered on the variable and tempestuous seas of opinion, and have at the last returned home, only with the tidings of what others have related of her being, her essence, and her active virtues; and so know nothing of their own, but what they have attained to by hearsay, or perceived by external operation? Good God▪ how many such ships of fools are there in this world? who when they have traveled in their studies and learning many years, floating through the wide seas of vain and scarce probable imaginations, have returned home now in their old age unto the port of their infancy, having their wit or understanding only laded and charged, with the poor fragments or merchandise of Ipse dixit, or other men's opinions, but are able to say nothing centrally upon their own knowledge. So that we Christians, after we have traveled, and made our peregrination of life and studies in the world, think it sufficient in the end to say, Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Hypocrates, and, in conclusion, this man, or that man, said so; Ergo, it is so: When Scriptures do teach us a truer Philosophy, which is quite contrary unto theirs. This kind of students therefore are rightly pointed at by the Apostle, and numbered amongst those which are, 
2 Tim. 3.  semper discentes, sed ad scientiam veritatis nunquam pervenientes; ever learning, but never attaining unto the truth. For how is it possible, that the blind should rightly lead or conduct the blind? Others having long steered the Helm of their Bark this way, or that way, for to find out the abstruse seat or habitation of this Stones virtues, have scarce dashed their vessel against her rocky Island, but have thereupon returned with wondrous relations, of what they have by that means collected, and, in fine, have proved their new imaginations but as superficial, as the effects of their search have been; and, in conclusion, all have proved but conjectural. Others have so far been guided and directed in their search, by the Polestar allurements, that they have stuck fast in the frozen seas, and have gone no further; but, at the resolution of the ice, they have returned with imaginary wonders, conceived of magnetical Mountains, and iron Castles, even by eight degrees above the Moon, that is, in the eighth Sphere; yea, and others soar above that place also. Whereby we may conceive, how every man according unto his chimerian-fancy, imagines variety of Castles in the air, yea, and above the stars also, for the magnetical soul's habitation. Some b●gle not a jot from the continent of the earth, but imagine it to be numbered amongst those stars, which have the Sun for their fixed centre, about the which they move perpetually; so that they feign the earth to have the form of a star, which is far different from the Peripatetical form. In conclusion, every one hath his opinion somewhat differing from another; and that you may know all this to be true, I will express and recite some of their news, touching this enquiry, which after their long voyage they have made in the suddy seas of their serious contemplations, and registered them in their written monuments, as in the Chronicles or Histories of their studious adventures, or speculative and spiritual travels. Amongst the which, some foar upwards, and call the heavens for witness, to confirm their assertions; some sail unto the hyperboreall mountains, others unto strange northern Islands, to find out the grounds of this miracle; others send their spirits of enquiry down unto the bowels of the earth, and find it to be the universal starry form thereof; some will make the original to spring atomically out of the stone and subject to be attracted. But amongst all these rational persons, I dare scarce rank one of another kind; forasmuch as this man surely is to be numbered among those Elders, which have traveled in the ship of fools, being that he, much like an other Gryllus, or as the eighth wise Master of Greece, will have this virtue to be Cacomagical, or the act of the devil.  
Now amongst such as have traveled in their spirits unto heaven, to find out this mystery, one will have the reason, for the direction of the Loadstone, to be sought for out of the Tail of the celestial Bear-star, affirming, that the virtue of this starry Bear doth prevail, and hath dominion over this Stone, and is transferred from it into the Iron; and that is Marsilius Fie nus. But I reply, That this is not so, because experience teacheth us, that Iron of itself hath his Poles, as well as the Loadstone, and will by a due adaption seek out, and by its own natural instinct turn and direct itself, unto the station of his proper Poles. Of this opinion also is Petrus Peregrinus, who following the rules of Friar Bacon, have sought the arguments of the magnetical directions out from the Poles of the heaven. Also Cardanus will have the immediate cause of the variation of this Stones virtue, to spring from the rising of the star in the Bear's Tail; Lucas Gauricus is also of their opinion, but he joineth also the virtue of Saturn and Mars in this negotiation, confessing withal, that the main constellation in the Zodiac unto which this Stone is subject, is Virgo: Albertus Magnus saith, that the Loadstone and Iron are directed unto the Northern stars, and followeth them no otherwise, than a Plant called the Heli●ropion followeth the Sun. Bessardus will have his opinion apart, and maketh the pole of the Zodiac the fountain of the Load-stone's Virtue. Again, the Conimbricensian College, derive the cause hereof from a part of the heaven, not far from the Pole. But Martin Cor●esius will have this attractive Virtue, to descend from a place beyond the Poles or movable heavens. On the other side, Gaudentius Merula tells us, that the Loadstone doth draw Iron, with an intent to direct it unto the North, because it is an order superior unto the Iron, with the constellation of the Bear. I must confess, that beams which are dilated are prompt to deliver their brethten, which are imprisoned, and to direct them to their native home: But I cannot understand Me●ula's mind, in this sense. Others make the heavens in general, the fountain of this Stone's virtue: For Paracelsus saith, that it is the stars, which being full of the Load-stone's power, draweth the Iron unto them, etc. And this should seem probable, because the Iron moveth to it poles, even in the absence of the Loadstone. Fernelius staggers: for sometimes he confesseth the cause of this Action to be abstruse; and in another place, he maketh the heavens to be the Author. Scaliger, soaring nearer unto the point of verity, assigneth to it also a celestial cause unknown to himself, averring, that the terrestrial Loadstones are derived not from the Globes, or mountains of the stars; but from that essential power or essence, which was their Fabricator, which reigneth in that part of heaven, which hangeth over the Septentrional point. And unto this opinion doth P●ato seem to adhere, where he confesseth the Magnetical essence to be a Divine power. And verily, they speak well, but in so large a sense, that this their assertion appeareth unto their disciples, being rightly scanned, (as I said● igno●●m per igno●ius: For so in the general terms we may say, that all things are from God: We will come down from our celestial speculations, and look on the humility of such, as being too wary, and listening overmuch unto the Proverb, Noli alium s●per●; Climb not too 〈◊〉, have their regard more prone, namely upon the earth, and her effects only; and of this rank is Fracastorius, who searching after the reason, and beginning of this attracting faculty, doth imagine that the Hyperboreall mountains, which abound with rocks of this nature, do draw these Iron-natured subjects unto them. And this his figment seemeth so plausible, unto divers persons of learning, that they follow it as well in their Astronomical writings as Geographical tables, or descriptions of the world, and Sea-cards or maps; which if it were true, they would easily draw unto them all such Ships as pass in the Northern Seas: Olaus Magnus, and some other that follow his traditions, say, that the attractive force cometh from some northern Islands, which abound in that Magnetic subject. But leaving their fancy unto the empty wind, I proceed unto others. Lucretius Ca●us, a poet of the Epicurean Sect, dreameth that the attraction of Iron, is caused of an effluxion of atoms: For, saith he, according unto the Epicures opinions, as most subtle atoms do emanate and ●●ow out from every thing; even so do atoms ●lie out of the Iron, as Magnetical seeds, by a certain coition of it with the Load stone, into the interposed place, or space that is between them, and that by the union or complication of both bodies, the iron is drawn, etc. Unto this sense also do Aphrodiseus, Joannes Cost●us, Plutarch, yea, and Thomas Aquinas incline; when indeed they ought to know, that no attraction is made by emission from the Centre unto the Circumference, that is, by dilatation; but rather by sucking in, and contracting from the Circumference unto the Centre, and therefore the emission of atomical seeds, out of the Iron, can be no reason of its Union with or moving to the stone. But it must be the Loadstone, that must draw the beams or spirits out of the Iron: For it appeareth that the Iron doth not draw itself unto the Loadstone, but is drawn unto it: Thales and Anaxagoras think that the Loadstone hath life in it, because it attracteth a substance like itself, as lively creatures do: Luc●etiu● and Orpheus think there is that Sympathy between the Magnet and the Iron, which is between the male and female; and in this they err not much. Averro, Scaliger, and the Cardinal Cusanus, would have Iron to move unto the Loadstone, as unto his original Mattix. Galen thinketh that it draweth by his substantial form.  
And now I must come unto the opinion of my renowned Fellow or Colleague, D. William Gilbert, for his Magnetic skill, and deep search as well contemplative as experimental touching this Subject: His mind is, that this attractive virtue in the Loadstone, doth spring from formal actions, or original and primary Virtues or vigours: For he concludeth, that the Magnetic force proceedeth from a particular or singular form, differing from that formal and specific cause in mixed bodies, mentioned by the Peripatetics, but (saith he) it is a certain form, which is the proper entity and existence of the starry Globes, and their homogenial incorrupted parts, which he calleth the primary, radical, and astreall Form, namely such a one as is in the Sun, the Moon, and other celestial Stars. And he averreth, that after a like manner, there is one in the earth, which is that true Magnetical Puissance, which is called the first act or vigour. And this he saith, is not derived from the whole heaven, affirming, that it is procreated by Sympathy, through influence, or occult qualities; neither is it from any peculiar star: For it hath its Magnetical virtue from the earth, etc. This is my learned quondam Fellow-Collegue his opinion, whose pains and industry in the research of this Subject's practical conclusions, as I cannot but commend and extol; So on the contrary side, reason will not permit me, to consent unto this his speculative foundation or root of the Load-stone's virtue in all: For who can believe, that the earth itself, much less the particulars thereof, can have any Virtue radically from itself; when it is evident, that as well the earth as the heavens, came radically out of the waters? And therefore as the heaven was before the earth, it must needs follow, that the formal Virtue of the earth, did totally descend from heaven, and consequently the earth had no such property from itself. But of this hereafter more at large. Among the Ethnic Philosophers Plato, and of the Christians Scaliger and Fernelius, do think, that the cause of this Attraction is Divine and from above; but how, and after what manner they express not. And therefore though in a generality they have spoken the truth, yet in these common words they seem to express, they know not what. In particular, I will conclude with the last opinion, which is the most idle and insufficient of all the rest, and therefore is worthy to be made the last and most unworthy part, namely the tail, or excrement of them. Franciscus Rucus, maketh a great doubt, concerning the wonderful property in the Loadstone, and because (forsooth) the pitch of his capacity can attain no higher then unto Superficial things, and such as are subject unto sense; therefore he judgeth all effects beyond his reach, to be Cacomagicall, and consequently he maketh a doubt, whether the cause of these actions in the Loadstone be not an impostury or subtle slight of the Cacodemons' or evil spirits. And yet this man is more to be born withal, than such as do boldly aver, that the act and wonderful effects of the Weapon Salue is cacomagicall: For he speaketh not absolutely as they do; who without any farther doubting, do seem to attribute all hidden effects unto the Devil, and so deprive God of his due; but only this man maketh a doubt, whether it be so or no.   

CHAP. II.  
In this Chapter, the Author's Opinion touching the original, intermediate, and immediate Action or Virtue of the Loadstone is enucleated and set down at large.  
I Am sure you do remember how in my precedent discourse, I have demonstrated, that God in a generality doth operate all, and in all, and then after what manner the selfsame Unity in the Divine essence, is manifested in its property, according unto the multiplicity of his sacred Volunty, which is therefore proved to be manifold, because the particular effects of his actions, which are not put in execution but by his Volunty, are infinite in Variety. And for this cause I showed unto you, that there are attributed unto one and the same sacred essence, Ten several denominations or Attributes, whereof some send out emanations of dilatation and extension, by the which the waters were expansed and spread abroad by subtiliation, and shaped into bright, clear, and transparent heavens: and of such kind of influences, are those which are emitted and infused into the world by HOCHMA through JAH, or by the Spirit of Wisdom; and those which spring forth from ELOAH, by the Port of TIPHERETH (which importeth beauty and brightness) into the Sun, who by dilatation doth clarify and subtiliate the spirit of the world, and expelleth darkness; and this action doth proceed from the centre to the circumference. And chose, there are other emanations, which pour out beams of attraction or contraction, as doth ELOHIM by the port Binah or Prudentia, into the globe of Saturn. By this therefore, the Spirit of God in his prudency did tie and hang the heavens, as it were links in a chain of gold together, and did bear up the elements in their places, and sucked or contracted the grosser part of the waters, from the circumference unto the centre, and there did confirm and fix them in a dark and gross manner. So that the fountain of this attractive and contractive property, is in the divine Attribute ELOHIM, which for reasons that I have told you before, is the head of the northern property, namely, of cold, drought, opacity, congelation, incrassation, and rest, which is caused in the centre, because it is the terminus ad quem, the point unto the which the contraction or attraction is chiefly made, beyond the which, there can be no further penetration. And for this reason, the central virtue which is in the bowels of the earth, doth draw and allu●e all weighty things unto this point, which when they attain unto the centre, can pass no further; for it is at that central butt that the property of ELOHIM doth aim, and the Divinity which dwelleth in the earth's centre, is the divine essence under the name and property of ELOHIM▪ the seat of whose immediate emanation, is the angelical order of Thrones, which belongeth unto the earth or grosser waters; his magazine or treasure-house in the starry heaven, is the globe of Satu●n, whose property for this reason is cold and dry, astrictive, contractive, attractive, and retentive; for his beams contract unto the centre, and he is the Lord over the North-winds, which are cold and dry, contractive, attractive, sad, and melancholy; and it is the Planet which doth administer unto the Polestar, called by the Egyptians Alruckaba, forasmuch as it hath the nature and property of Saturn and Venus, and therefore it is the principal helper and assistant in performing, not only the attractive effects of ELOHIM, and for that reason doth endue the nature of Saturn, which abounds in the Northern effects of ELOHIM, but also it participates with the condition of Venus, which is the Planet that commandeth the concupiscible faculty; and for this reason it maketh a natural coition, namely, it draweth with a voluptuous delight his like, even as feminine matter is eagerly affected, to draw or suck masculine form unto it. This therefore is the reason, that the earth doth attract unto it the formal shapes, which descend down from above, and burieth them within its womb with delight. For heaven is affirmed by all true Philosophers and Cabalists, to be the masculine, and the earth the feminine. Neither can I but consent with Lucas Gauricus, the Astrologians opinion, where he saith, (as is recited before) That the star in the Tail of Ursamajor, or the great Bear, is Precedent of the Loadstone; as also, that Saturn is the Planet which is allotted unto him; and lastly, that it hath an special relation unto the Constellation of Virgo, and the rather, because Virgo is that Sign of the Zodiac, which possesseth the very selfsame Longitude that the said star doth, and for that it is of an earthly, styptic, and attractive nature, as also of the condition of Saturn and Venus. All these reasons have been strong motives to persuade me, that these are principal celestial agents, in the Northern disposition and property of this lower world, and consequently in the attractive motion of the terrestrial northern Pole, and every particular thereof.  
I told you before, that the eternal Unity, everlastingly One in essence, dividing or transforming itself by property into Trinity, did shape out or describe ideally, the archetypicall or internal world, according unto whose example he did afterwards delineate or frame out the typical or external. Wherefore it must follow, that if the typical or natural world was framed after the idea in the intellectual or mental world, than what parts or properties are made evident unto our capacity in this world, were also the same in the archetype; for, Quod facit tale est magis tale. There was no house that the Carpenter or Bricklayer builded, but it was first delineated in the idea of his intellect, and then drawn forth superficially in paper, and so afterward put into a solid execution; so also David confessed, that he had the Temple, which Solomon erected, first drawn forth ideally by God's finger. Now when that God had in his divine counsel, thus ordered and shaped out an ideal world in himself, to put it in execution, and, as it were, to make it to appear unto man's sense, he emitted himself out of himself in the form of an eternal emanation, called his Image, which was his wisdom, by which the general world, and every particular thereof, was produced according unto the ideal pattern, which was in itself. This therefore being so, and being that the divine essence can no way be divided, howsoever it varieth in property, it followeth, that every particular beam which shineth out diversely from that catholic emanation, to create differing things, is one indivisible essence with the whole emanation; and therefore he is said to fill all, and to be all in all. And that the incorruptible spirit is in all things, 
Wisd. 12.1. Wisd. 1.  and that he filleth the whole earth. I proceed therefore thus: If the created world have his shape, his members, and every particular property assigned unto it, by that formal and vivifying world, which is described and imprinted in this divine and all-sufficient and creating emanation; then consequently, all the members, properties, and natures in this world, are graphically or curiously painted out in the supernatural one, it remaining nevertheless one and the same in essence. And therefore as in him, the catholic image of the outward world is contained, so every beam or emanation that issueth from him, but is not divided from him, containeth the shape of the world. And for this reason, the wise Philosophers have said, That each creature enjoyeth a proportion of the great world, by which it is shaped and made in itself a little world, as shall be demonstrated by the Loadstone more plainly hereafter. And again, man is called, Omnis creatura, as he doth participate of all; so that his soul is said to be, Ad imaginemtotius sapientiae facta, omnium in se gerens similitudinem: Made after the similitude of all wisdom, bearing in itself the likeness of all things. And therefore it is termed of another, Omnium similitudo, The likeness of all things. And the reason is, because it is one Unity. Hereupon also it is reported, to be a certain divine and individual substance; Alkindus in his Book, de Radiis, speaking after an Astrological manner, seemeth to aver so much in these words, 
Alkind cap. de Radiis.  Si al●cu, datum esset totam conditionem coelestis harmoniae comprehendere, mundum elementorum cum suis singulis contentis in quocunque loco & quocunque tempore plene cognosceret tanquam causatum per causas; si et●am aliquam rem hujus mundi in tota sua conditione cognosceret, coelestis harmoniae conditio ipsum non lateret, sed etiam causam tanquam per effectum suum comprehenderet: omnis en●m●res, quan●umcunque modica, in mundo elementorum agens, totius coelestis harmoniae est effectus. Whosoever doth comprehend the whole condition of the celestial harmony, he may fully know the whole elementary world, with every content of the same, in every place, and at all times, as the effect by the cause. Also if he understand any thing of this world in his total nature and condition, the celestial disposition and condition will not be hidden from him, but will be discovered unto him, as the cause is by the effect. For every thing in this world, how little soever it be, that acteth, is the effect of the whole harmony of the heaven. By which words, Alkindus being deeply seen in the mystery of nature, seemeth to aver, that as there is a descent from unity unto multitude, so all that multitude is in that unity as also that unity filleth all the multitude; so is 1 in 2, and 2 in 3, and 3 in 4, and 4 in 5, etc. and yet that unity which is the beginning, is the end, and all in all. So light enforms the angelical creature, the angelical the starry creature, the starry creature the elements, and the elements the compound creature: Wherefore open the compound creature, and look upon the elements, divide the Elements, and you shall find the starry and quintessential nature; open these and you shall conceive the subtle alterity of the Angelical spirit, in which is the Divine act or immediate beam from God. In this work therefore there concurreth in the separation of the first a sensible aspect; in the other, we must behold with intellectual eyes; So that you may observe, how all is in every thing, and every thing in all. Hereupon it was also that Hermes said, (speaking mystically and not after the common sense) Qui fornacem cum vase nostro construit, novum mundum conflat: He which maketh our furnace with the glass to it, he maketh a new world. But what needs more words, when we find all this confirmed by demonstration? For we know that the Loadstone is but a part of the Earth, and yet it hath all his Circles, and both his Poles, yea, and that very nature in all respects, between each Pole, and Circle, that the whole Earth hath, and thereupon it is termed Terrella, or a little Earth; and so may the whole earth be termed parvus mundus, being it containeth the Poles, circles, and astral, yea, and Elemental natures of the great world; no otherwise then the great world doth in all those respects, represent the Archetype, which is carved out intellectually in the all-working Spirit of Wisdom, or sacred Emanation; yea, and we go yet deeper into our diminutives: For if a piece of Iron rod, which naturally aspecteth the North and South, be broke off, that small piece will have also as exactly his North and South Pole, and consequently his circles as the whole rod, and nevertheless the rod keepeth still his North and South point as before. The like in the Loadstone will happen, as experience shall hereafter make it appear more plainly.  
That we may come a little nearer to the explication of this Mystery, ye must understand that this eternal catholic Emanation, is the essential and spiritual rock, out of which, first the great world in general, and then all particular things therein, were carved or framed by generalities: first, according unto the Ten general Emanations and their properties, which the Ethnics in some sort referred unto their Ten general Predicaments; and this again had their specialties or subalternate degrees of many ranks and orders of dignities, all which were at last made apparent by the infinity of individuals, which they did in their kinds produce according unto those divers beams of the multiplicite Will or Volunty of God, which this eternal Emanation poured out into them. All which particular beams, more or less, being not divided in essence from the universal Emanation, or the Spirit of Wisdom, which made all things, are the spiritual Cornerstone, on which every creature as well particular as universal, doth formally or essentially consist; and this Cornerstone, is that internal essence in every thing, which as it giveth life; so also it is all and over all the things that it inacteth with life, and therefore also the soul, whose Centre this Cornerstone is, is said to be in all and every part. I will leave to speak of its action in other creatures, and will only insist on our main Subject in hand, which is the earth and her offspring or progeny, amongst the which the feminine Loadstone, and his ferruginous mass, are chiefly reckoned. Divine Philosophy teacheth us, that the Globe of the Earth is sustained by this Cornerstone, and consequently hath her manifold Virtues from it, 
Job. 38.  Ubinam eras, (saith JEHOVAH) quando fundebam terram? quis disposuit mensuras ejus, aut quis extendit super eam lineam? Super quo bases ejus defixae sunt? Aut quis jecit lapidem ejus Angularem? Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? Who disposed of the measures thereof? and who did extend over it a line? upon what basis or foundation was it sustained? or who laid the cornerstone thereof?  
In the Weatherglass, which I have described in my precedent Philosophical discourse, you may discern two points, corresponding unto the two Poles, namely the mattras head above, resembling the Northern Pole; and the water below, compared to the Southern Pole; the air interposed betwixt them, unto the spacious heaven, or sublunary spirit, which is betwixt these two Poles, the middle of which in the figure 1. the Equinoctial doth ●ut, as being in the midway betwixt the two Poles. We find evermore, that when the air, included in the top of the Mattras, or bolts-head, is cold, namely, when the northern blasts are sent forth, it will be contracted, and consequently will suck or draw up the water, and thereupon we are taught the reason of the attractive nature, not only in the northern or septentrional winds, but also in the Loadstone, and all other things, which by contraction of the air do draw and suck unto them, namely, that they have that property from the power of God's Spirit, which, by his angelical organs doth blow from the north. By this also it is made evident, why one Pole doth suck and attract from the other, in the Load stone, namely, by the continuity of the spiritual axletree, which is made and animated by one cornerstone, or essential and central spirit, as is said, though of two opposite conditions, in which also it worketh after many diversities of degrees: and therefore Solomon termeth it simplex or unicus, simple, or one, in regard of his divine nature; and multiplex, in respect that it worketh and operateth after a manifold manner: for as it worketh about the poles of the axletree, by attracting and sucking unto it by cold and drought; so about the Equinoctial, and that more and more approaching from the poles towards the Equinoctial, it varieth in ten thousand proportions more or less in dilatation, by reason of the manifold degrees of heat, which this central Sun of life imparteth unto the air: And this is not only manifested in the foresaid Weatherglass, forasmuch as we find, that by how much the more the heavenly Sun, with his divine central agent, approacheth unto us, by so much the more the external air, being dilated by his heat, doth also dilate the air, contained in the neck of the mattras, or bolts-head, and driveth down the water, that is, it repelleth back the cold of winter, which came in by showers of rain, sent from the south unto his proper pole. So that we see, as the nature of the cold pole is to draw or suck unto it by condensation, which is effected by contraction, or made by a Saturnine faculty, so the nature of the hot Equinoctial, and his adjacent parts, is to expel his opposite by dilatation, which is effected by a subtiliating heat. And this is the reason, as is already demonstrated, that the Equinoctial of the Loadstone detesteth to be joined unto the pole; as on the contrary side, the pole abhorreth reciprocally the Equinoctial. Also this is the reason, that in the pole of the said stone, there is so great power of attraction, and that it sucketh the iron unto it, ad angulos rectos, that is, after a perpendicular manner; and then the nearer the needle, or piece of steel, or iron-wier, approacheth unto the Equinoctial of the stone, the more will his obliquity in coition or conjunction be with the stone. So that when it cometh directly unto the Equinoctial, it will lose all angular contact, and lie flat, as it were, on its belly, as you may see by this true observation following.  
But because these demonstrations may seem unto the vulgar somewhat intricate, as being ignorant of the central sun of the earth, which the Philosophers call Archaeum naturae, or, The master-workman of nature. As also it will be difficult for them to conceive, what an axletree of the earth may be, and what his poles. And again, the right use of the Loadstone, or practise in the Weatherglass, is unknown unto many a man. I will proceed unto a kind of proof and explication of this matter, which is familiar unto each person of what degree soever. It cannot be gainsaid, but that Man, and all other creatures, as well vegetable as animal, are composed of a living soul, which is internal, and a body, being his external: The selfsame also we ought to judge of the earth, for it hath an inward spirit, whereby it operateth diversely; And again, as there is no animal nor vegetable, that can exist without the air, forasmuch as by it each thing liveth and existeth, by inspiration, (for by that means they suck in the celestial influence) so also the airy element doth feed the inward spirit of the earth, and conveyeth from above all the heavenly influences into her body, and maketh her the mother of all minerals and vegetables. I told you before, that all inferior things, with their operations, are the types or similitudes of things above; and that God did animate the Angels, the Angels did inform the stars, and the starry demons, or olympic spirits, send down influences unto the winds, and the winds do inform the catholic element of the air fourfoldly, that is to say, according unto the nature of the four winds; which fourfold information doth give or assign a name unto the four elements. And although in the catholic air, there is but one only substance in essence, yet it varieth in nature after a fourfold condition, according unto the will and property of that one Spirit, which only is the efficient actor or agent in this metamorphosis, or Protean transmutation, from one nature or form unto another, although he useth as well angelical as starry organs; and is said, to ride upon the cherubins, and to glide upon the wings of the winds. For this reason therefore the Prophet says, 
Ezek. 36.  Come, O spirit, from the four winds, and breathe upon these slain bodies that they may live. He said not, Come, O spirits; but, Come, O spirit; whereby he argued, that it is but one Spirit which bloweth essentially from the four winds, and consequently, that this one spirit in essence, is but only one thing, though fourfold in regard of his property; and that as in this archetypicall spirit, the whole world was ideally divided into poles and portions, distinguished by spiritual circles; so also in all the regions of the world, he observeth constantly the selfsame character of position, namely, in the starry world, as in the airy; and in the airy as in the water and earth. For in the heavens, the northern pole is pointed at, and marked out with the starry character, which is found in the Tail of the great Bear: in the air it is manifested in that very point, from whence Boreas or the northwind bloweth, which doth exactly correspond unto the polestar. Again, that the earth observeth the very same order in the direction of her pole, is confirmed, by the conversion of the Loadstone and Iron, unto the northstar. Thus you see, that it is one only spirit in essence, that worketh all in all. I proceed therefore thus to my demonstration, which is so familiar to each person, that not any one who is in his senses can deny it; for I am sure, no man can be ignorant, that when the northwind bloweth, the air is of nature cold and dry, and therefore is converted into the condition and consistence of earth, namely, from a clear transparent light, subtle, dissolved, and dilated consistence of air, into a troubled, opake or dark, gross, ponderous, and contracted substance; for experience doth teach us, that it is transmuted into snow, hail, frost, and ice; that is, from an airy spirit, unto an earthly and sol●d body; from an invisible and mobile estate, unto a visible and fixed disposition. And, in conclusion, the whole air is changed into a spiritual and corporal earth; and this transmutation it hath from that cold, dry, and attractive form, which it borrowed from the northern wind, or septentrional property of the divine spirit, which ordereth all things, and altereth them from one form unto another, by the breath of his nostrils, (as Scriptures allegoriously speak) or by those windy emissions, or angelical emanations, which it sendeth from the four corners of the earth. So that by his breath from the north, he exerciseth that property in the lower world, by the which he draweth or attracteth from the circumference unto the centre, and so congealeth, inspissateth, and hardeneth soft spirits, by contraction and coarctation of those parts, which before were porous and dilated. But some will perchance reply, and say, How is it likely, that the emanation or emission of spirits, from the port of Binah, under the Attribute of ELOHIM, or the streaming forth of the breath or blasts from Boreas, and his two colaterals, can harden by contraction, or suck and draw in spirits, from the circumference unto the centre, when their emissions are strait from the north southward, and make no reflection, whereby any such motion, à circumferentia ad centrum, should be made? I answer, That this is effected after a wonderful fashion, and worthy to be pondered by the choicest wits. We must consider therefore in the first place, that the property of the Attribute ELOHIM, was before all beginning ordained, to endue the negative or contractive nature of the eternal Unity's Nolunty, namely, of darkness; for when God will not show the light of his countenance, he reflecteth his light in himself, that is, he withdraweth it from the circumference to the centre, and leaveth only darkness unto the creatures. This property of God is antipathetical unto such parts of the world, as also unto all such creatures, as have their life from a natural heat, which heat had its beginning from God's benevolent emanation, that is, from the act of unity, by an emission or dilatation from the centre unto the circumference, I mean, from unity into multitude. It followeth therefore, that though the emission of winds from the north be straight, yet their essential property, proceeding immediately from God's angelical organ, is contractive and attracting from the circumference unto the centre, seeing that it is an emission, which, by the divine Spirits emanation and action in the nature of ELOHIM, is cold, dry, coagulative, or congealing, and apt to rest, and is therefore antipathetical and oppugnant unto the disposition of the air, forasmuch as it is hot and moist, and consequently is animated by the dilative action, which the catholic spirit sendeth or breatheth out of the celestial Sun, and other vivifying stars, as are Jupiter and Venus. And for this cause it followeth, that when the boreal spirits are sent forth into the air, it must needs succeed, that, at the antipathetical contract of these cold spirits, the natural heat or life of the air flieth, or withdraweth itself from its circumference unto its centre, and so partly by that contractive motion in itself, caused per antiperistasin, or by reason of the antipathetical occurrence, or meeting of his contrary, and partly by mingling of a new terrestrial form, it is congealed, and falleth to the earth as if it were dead, because unmovable, in the form of snow, hail, frost, and ice. In like manner we see, that the airy life in other creatures, whose formal being consisteth of Gods dilating property, is forced to fly from the circumference unto the centre, leaving the external parts chill, cold, and apt to a deadly congelation, or lethal repose, which we observe not only in animal creatures, but also in vegetables, seeing that their blood, (as I may term it) or vital suck, is congealed, by the winter and northern cold, and is, as it were, liveless, until by the vivifying and dilative source of the ensuing Vernal, or Springly and austral virtue, it is resolved and melted again, and the severe tye or icy knot of the northern nature undone. For this reason therefore you may discern, that there is but one catholic element, which is partly subject and obnoxious unto the privative and dark contracting, and consequently attracting property of God's Spirit, and partly capable to endue his positive and light dilating disposition; and that this common subject is the spirit or air of the sublunary world, which by less inspissation or contraction, caused by the west winds, is made water; and by more compression and constriction, caused by the northern and winter blasts, becometh snowy or icy earth: And chose, by less dilatation and subtiliation, is made airy or vaporous, caused by the spring season, and south wind, and by a greater rarefaction and exaltation it is made fire, by the dominion of such spirits as are sent out from the east, and summer's heat; and both these main, twofold, divided properties, belong unto one and the same Spirit, as is before related. Verily, this common demonstration can deceive no man, being that the very unreasonable creatures are moved by a natural inclination, either to sympathise and rejoice with the clemency and comfort of the one property, or to fly from or eschew the severer assaults of the other, which do antipathise with their nature. But to our main business. It is manifest by that which is already said, that the northern breath is contractive, attractive, inspissative, and apt to darkness, immobility, and rest; and that the south-wind, or rather the wind from the Equinoctial, is contrary in nature unto it, as being ready to undo all that the north wind did effect, namely, to dissolve the congealed air, which was made snow, frost, hail, ice, into water, and water into air, to make transparent that which was dark, and render thin that which was before thick: And therefore between these properties there is no more sympathy, than I have showed you to be between the Loadstones Equinoctial, and the Pole. And again, that both these opposite natures proceed, and spring from one and the same divine and catholic spirit, which operateth all in all, every where, and consequently as well in earth as in heaven, this testimony of the true Philosophy doth manifestly confirm and import: 
Psal. 147.  Deo emittente sermonem suum in terram quam celerrimè excurrit, qui nives emittit sicut lanam, & pru●nam quasi cineres dispergit, dejicit gelu tanquam frusta, coram frigore ejus quis consistat? Emittit verbum suum & liquefacit ista, simul ac efflat ventum suum, effluunt aquae. God sendeth forth his word, it runneth forth most swiftly upon the earth, who produceth snow like wool, and spreadeth abroad the frost like ashes, and casteth down the ice as it were pieces, Who is able to resist against his cold? He sendeth forth his word and melteth or dissolveth all these; so soon as he breatheth forth his wind or Spirit, the congealed waters begin to flow and move. Whereby it appeareth, that the Word or Spirit of God congealeth by one property, and dissolveth by another: and consequently as God is all one in essence; so it is one and the same Spirit that effecteth these fourfold alterations, in one catholic spirit of the world, which are by the Ancients called distinct Elements; because they cuold never as yet throughly determine, what was the essential form of the Elements. But if they had well considered the four Elements, of the which they spoke so much, and, as it should seem, understood essentially but little, or had they well conceived that heaven and earth were made of water, 
2 Pet. 3.  and by water by the Word, as Sacred Philosophy teacheth us, than they would have known also, that the common substantial Subject of them all, was but one created watery spirit; also that this spirits fourfold information, was effected by one increating formal essence or Divine Word, acting and informing that universal Element by a fourfold emanation; so that the will of one creating Spirit, effected by, and working in, four Angels of an opposite nature, maketh disposeth, or changeth every day this one spiritual watery Subject into this or that Element, according unto the Will of the Creator. All which is evidently demonstrated by the wether-glass: For the air therein enclosed, doth by contraction or dilatation, convert itself into the form of any of the Elements, and is altered therein, according as the nature of the Macrocosmicall blast or wind that bloweth. Now whereas it may be objectively demanded, From whence then came the earth and waters, that are resident perpetually here beneath? I answer, That they are the effects, which the winds by the Will of God or ELOHIM RUACH did originally produce, and these were framed first out of the air, namely by thickening it by one degree into water, and engrossing it by another into solid and fixed earth, as it appeared by the third day's Creation, where it was said, that Aridum apparuerit ex aquis: Dryland did appear out of the waters. But the Divine Philosopher St. Paul doth confirm all this, where he affirmeth, that we ought to believe by Faith, that those things which are visible, were first of things invisible and unseen. And again, if that the two lower bodies did not resolve themselves by little and little, though insensibly into air, it would not be possible that the earth or the water could hold that abundance of Water, Stones, Brimstone, caused of Lightnings, and such like, which falleth from the air; and yet we see that neither the air, nor water, nor earth, are at any time found bigger than their natural accustomed proportions. By this therefore I have sufficiently expressed unto you, the attractive and contractive property of the Northern Pole in the air; which inferreth thus much, that as the Northern blasts are enemies unto life, because they contract from the circumference to the Centre, which is contrary unto the act of man's life, therefore all things that are reduced into a i'll, cold, and Northern property, be they airy, watery, or earthy, they draw strongly unto them, as it is proved by the weatherglass: For the included air being animated, by the effects of a strong and obstinate Northern wind, sucketh and draweth the waters on high, namely from the Equinoctial point of the glass, unto the Centre of the North Pole, which is assigned by the head of the mattras; and also by the same reason congealed spirits in any earthly substance, do suck or draw from the exterior to the interior; as we observe that Bowl Armoniac sucketh moisture unto it; and also all other earth when it is throughly dry, and that in his own natural condition, namely because it being of the quality of the North, it sucketh and draweth strongly a watery moisture; but this is by reason of his drought; the attraction therefore in the Loadstone is otherwise. For it having the essential nature of its mother Earth, and the virtue of the North in his Pole, draweth the masculine Sulphureous spirits out of Iron greedily, and that with a feminine appetite by reason of the propinquity, and likeness of one nature unto another. The like regard also hath the Pole star unto the Loadstone, as the Loadstone hath unto the Iron, which is his like: For Natura Natura suá gaudet & laetatur: Nature is glad and rejoiceth in her like nature: as Empedocles doth truly testify. But both the Iron and the Loadstone are of one ours, one vein, and one nature, seeing that both of them are of an earthly and boreall disposition, and therefore the Loadstone and his formal included spirits, being more encumbered with superfluities, than the refined Iron, doth as it were (either for their assistance, namely to be delivered from that encumbrance) draw unto them their like, out of the purified Iron or Steel, by a wonderful appetite, and in this action suck unto it the Iron, who (as unwilling to leave its formal spirit) doth follow by a natural continuity, the motion of its formal beams, or else for comfort and consolation, yea, and formal refection's cause; no otherwise then the cold material female doth the more formal male, to be refreshed by the masculine seed or sulphureous Form, which they both received from that general Agent's ideal Northern nature, that sustaineth and animateth the earth. I will prove it by a similitude, but in a vegetable substance. We observe, that the grain of wheat, not participating with the nature of the earth, that is, so long as it is above ground and not sown, attracteth not his like from heaven; but when it is committed unto the earth, and the earth by corruption hath unloosed his bands, his spirits suck down from above the Sunbeams, and celestial influences of his fixed constellation and erratic Planet in quantity; that thereby it may be delivered, and rise again by the celestial beams of his own nature, that descend from heaven, and principally from the Sun; so that like being added to his like, becometh the stronger in ascension: For experience teacheth us, that the celestial included form or vital beam creepeth out of the earth upwards, tending by all his appetite unto its ethereal native home, from whence it came; but because the Element of fire is contiguous unto the aethereal spirit, therefore it will not permit these aethereal or sunny-beams, to ascend without it, and because the air is a near-cleaving and continued neighbour unto the fire, therefore it will not permit the fire to ascend without his presence: and again, the water challengeth the selfsame privilege, namely to ascend with the air: and lastly, the earth will not let the water move upwards without her company, as being next of her race, and therefore will have the selfsame prerogative with the other three. But because the earth is ponderous and cannot ascend, she holdeth it fast below, and will not permit the spirit to sore higher; and so those beamy spirits which seemed to descend, for the freedom of their brethren, are by these Elementary ties, or rather the fourfold disposition of one Element detained, and made to hover, and hang in the air; where instead of flying upwards to heaven, they do multiply into many grains. And I have noted by mine own experience, namely by anatomising of corn, with the fiery knife of distillation, that the female in corn, which sucketh down the celestial influences of the like nature, is a pure volatile Salt, of a refined or aereal terrestrial condition; but rich in celelestiall fire, and therefore made volatile and airy by the union of both extremes; so that it is this female, which allureth and draweth down magnetickly, beams from above, and holdeth them fast to multiply its own nature; even like the fowler, that maketh use of a captived bird, to allure others of the same kind unto his nets. But as for the female mineral nature, because the body of it is more compacted, and not corruptible; it sucketh unto it for the selfsame reason, namely by the attractive virtue of his styptic and attractive salt, the essential beams of Iron, as from a star of his own nature, to solace and redeem his spirits, and consequently with the spirit it sucketh also the masculine body; forasmuch as the one cannot be well divided from the other, and when it hath them it retaineth them; partly for a consolation and corroboration; and partly for a multiplication of his essence. And therefore those Philosophers are deceived, which aver, that the Loadstone doth not secretly feed upon the formal spirits of Iron, because though its force was preserved by immersing or burying of it in a bag of filings or scales of Iron; yet because neither the Loadstone was augmented, nor the Iron diminished in weight, they conclude that it doth not nourish. But they ought to know, that the formal beams in the air, doth add no more weight unto it, than the light of a candle doth to the glass, or water in which it shineth; and yet it nourisheth formally, that is, it multiplieth in formal essence, though not in material substance or quantity. To conclude, as the external cold, causeth the formal heat in the air to contract itself, in flying and retiring itself, from the circumference unto the Centre, to eschew the assaults of his adversary; so also the external cold, doth compact it into a more solid space by an antiperistaticall reverberation, and contraction, caused by the Northern cold's penetration. But in the Loadstone the spirit is Saturnine, and doth not otherwise suck in his like, by the assistance also of a Saturnine body, animated by the drought of a Martial nature, which also is by some ascribed unto the North: But moreover, it affecteth his like in the Iron, and therefore by a sympathetic desire is the more animated unto that business of Attraction. And it should appear, besides all this, that there is an attractive property also in the body of the Iron, which sucketh unto it the spirits of the Loadstone, no otherwise than the male or Mars doth in his nature covet and affect Venus; but because the female, by reason of her coldness, doth most affect and desire the company of the male, the spiritual beams of her affection doth with the most fervency desire and covet, and therefore draw and allu●e the beams of the male, (which is of a hotter, and for that reason of a more perfect nature) unto her; and this is observed in the Iron, which I take for the male, for though it, of itself, without the Loadstones assistance, doth convert his poles, by a natural inclination, unto the poles of the world, yet we observe, that it is more slowly, and with the lesser appetite, and therefore more formal than material.  
I collect therefore, upon that which is already said, that two like things, which are of the nature of the Equinoctial and temperate Zone, do affect and embrace one another, by a sympathetic emission of beams, from the centre unto the circumference; and such is the love of those creatures, which live by the property of a positive emanation, as are animals, which are of a hot disposition, be they dry or moist; and therefore they do not sensibly draw one spirit unto another, but work by the union which is made by a conjunction, or concurrency together of lights, after an emission of their formal beams. And these have a reference unto the spirits property, which issueth from the east and south winds, whose natures are to dilate from the centre, and therefore not to contract from the circumference. chose, two like natures, which embrace the property of the Poles, and cold Zones, do affect and hug one another by contraction, namely, by sucking and drawing of each nature from the circumference unto their centre, even as we see one Loadstone divided in the middle, will draw and suck another unto itself, till both parts of it be fitly joined together, in the very place or equinoctial of their division; and after this fashion also is that attractive affection made, which is between the iron and the Loadstone, which are creatures subject unto Saturn, V●rgo, and the Polestar.  
From these Physical and Astronomical assertions of ours, the Chimycall contemplation varieth not much; for if in that kind of speculation, we do observe the nature of the Loadstone, we shall find it not to spring from any natural, but rather from a monstrous birth or generation, forasmuch as it is noted to proceed from unequal and unlike parents, as the Mule doth; for if we observe well the manner of its composition, we shall find, that his mother, or passive corporeal mass, is a common, stony, and earthly Mercury; and that his father, or active form, is a metallic, or sulphureous Martial spirit: And, in conclusion, we shall perceive, that their mixtion is effected in this manner: The Mercurial liquor of a stony, earthly, or Saturnine nature, being as yet in its first matter or shell, as it were, and being a near neighbour unto the Mercury of Mars, (for these two natures are most commonly found near, and in company one of another) did hereupon, and for this cause, acquire unto itself, a light transmutation, and so do appear to be joined together by a straight, contiguous, and almost continued union; so that the composition doth obtain a mean existence, between the nature of a Martial mettle, and a Saturnine stone, and may well be termed a Mercury, metamorphosed by halves, or a kind of a Hermophroditicall Saturnine- Mercury; into the which, when the Sulphureous Martial spirits, as the metallic form, do enter, it receiveth those Martial spirits, and conserveth them in its womb, as their proper passive and mother; and by that means, the mass is coagulated into a stony body.  
Now since every spirit, and consequently this of the Loadstone, desireth to be nourished by that which is nearest and likest unto his own nature, the which nature or spirit is only found in Iron, it happeneth for this reason, that the inward martial spirit of the Loadstone, doth draw the body of Iron unto it, and after an occult manner, doth seem to suck his nourishment out of it; I conceive therefore, that the fixed salt in the Iron or Loadstone, is partly of a hot and dry Martial nature, and consequently of a fiery earthly condition; and partly of a cold and dry, styptic, and Saturnine faculty, which also it receiveth from its earth; and therefore there concurreth two testimonies of strange attraction in the Loadstone. And because Venus is said to be the female friend, and companion unto Mars, she doth add a strong concupiscible desire unto the attraction, and bridleth the irascible and audible property in Mars, by her feminine embraces. If we look seriously into the inward nature of Iron, or steel, we shall find all this to be manifested by effect, for I have with a certain familiar Menstruum, reduced all the body of Steel into a kind of Copperis or Vitriol, which nature of mineral salt is familiar with, as well to Copper as Iron; for Vitriol is by the same reason extracted out of Copper. Now we shall find in Vitriol or Copperis, a hot burning corrosive nature, and an earthy attracting sulphur, which sucketh unto it as Bole Armoniac, or Terra Sigillata doth moisture: whereby it is evident, that as well a Marshal and Saturnine, as Venerean condition, concur in the magnetical or ferruginous salt. Again, we shall find, that the influxions of Mars do mingle themselves naturally with the northern wind, and agree well with the nature of the earth, by reason that in the circulation of elements, the earth doth, in regard of her siccity, consent and sympathise with the fire. Again, Ptolemy doth ascribe those Aquilonary winds, which are violent, unto Mars his influences; moreover, that Mars his spirit is the cause of the attractive virtue, in each corrosive salt, and gum that is subject unto it, it is well manifested in Euphorbium, Scamony, Laureola, Flammula, and hot corrosive Venoms; for these (as Hermes telleth us) are subject unto Mars his Constellation. Hereupon we find, that Vitriol is cold, acid, and styptic in his external; and yet hot, caustick, and corrosive in his interior. And again, Iron (which is called Mars, because it is subject unto Mars his influences) is Vitriol or Copperis in his interior; as also Copper, (which is a mineral subject unto the Constellation of Venus and therefore is called Venus.)   

CHAP. III.  
Of the excellency of Man in the Animal Kingdom, and of the admirable nature of the Loadstone in the Mineral.  
I May well presume to compare the Loadstone in disposition with Man, considering the admirable virtues and dignity of the one in the Animal kingdom; and the miraculous operations, and mystical properties of the other, in the Mineral region. As for Man, (for dignities cause I will speak of him in the first place) there is such a supereminent and wonderful treasure hidden in him, that wisemen have esteemed, that the perfect wisdom of this world, consisteth in the knowledge of a man's self, namely, to find out that secret mystery, which doth lurk within him. For man is said to be the centre of every creature, and for that cause he is called Microcosmus, or the little world: Centrum & miraculum mundi, The centre or miracle of the world, containing in himself the properties of all creatures, as well celestial as terrestrial, and consequently of the Loadstone. He is Templum Dei, the Temple of God; Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ; Habitaculum Spiritus sancti, the Habitacle of the holy Ghost, (as the Apostle hath taught us). Neither verily may it be imagined, that God would make choice of an unworthy dwelling place. And therefore in the consideration thereof, and our enquiry after so great a mystery, we had need to proceed with our exactest discretion and judgement, from the visible things of man unto the invisible, that is, to penetrate with the sharpest edge of our wit by demonstration, à posteriori; or from the external man, into the bowels of his secret, mystical, and internal being; wherefore we proceed thus: Seeing that Man is rightly reported by Hermes to be the Son of the world, as the world is the Son of God, being that it is framed after the image of the Archetype, (for which cause he is termed the little world) It will be requisite to understand, that he is in like manner divided into a heaven and earth, as the great world was, and consequently containeth in itself no otherwise his heavens, circles, poles, and stars, than the great world doth. And also as we find, that the spiritual image of the heavens, with their circles and poles, are delineated also in the earth, and every particular thereof, (as it appeareth in the Loadstone and Iron) so the character of the inward man is deciphered and portrayed out in the outward man, no otherwise, than we may judge of the fashion of the sword by the scabbard, or the kernel by the shell. Concerning the re-search or enquiry after the world's poles in man, there hath risen no small difference amongst the Philosophers; Pythagoraes, Plato, and Aristotle have ordained the east part of the world to be his right hand, and their reason is, because the diurnal motion of the heavens, which proceedeth from the Primum mobile, is effected from east to west; and consequently the west must be his left hand, or sinister portion: and in placing man according unto this position, his face must look unto the north, and his posteriors unto the south. But Empedocles opposeth this opinion, affirming, that the aestival Solstice, o● the Tropic of Cancer, is the right hand of the world; it followeth therefore, that the Hyemall station of the Sun, or the Tropic of Capricorn, must be the left; and according unto this direction, man's face must behold the west. As for mine own part, mine opinion is adverse unto both their minds, forasmuch as I, being moved thereto for reasons, as well Theological as Natural, would rather adapt man's face unto the Orient, or eastern quarter, and then his posteriors shall respect the west, and so the north pole will correspond unto his left hand, and the south unto his right. That this position is not only naturally, but also divinely, befitting the Microcosm, we prove it thus: The Patriarcks, Prophets, and Apostles, in their devoutest prayers, did use to convert their faces unto the east, which is an argument, that this quarter of the world was by the Creator allotted unto man's anteriour part. And in Matthew we read, 
Matth. 14. Numb. 3●.  that lightning shall come out of the east, and shall pass unto the west. And in another place it is said, Metimin● quamque ad plagam orientalem, & ad plagam australem, & ad plagam occidentalem, & ad plagam septentrionalem. Measure forth unto the east, and the south, and the west, and towards the north. As if he had said, Measure out plots of ground before you, and at your right hand, and behind you, 
Job 23.  and at your left hand. And Job saith, Behold, I go into the east, and he will not be there; and unto the west, and I shall not find him there; or unto the north, where he worketh, and I shall not discern him; he hideth himself in the south, and I shall not behold him. But St. Jerom interprets this place thus, If I shall go unto the east, he appeareth not; if unto the west, I shall not understand him; if unto the left hand, what shall I do? I shall not overtake him; if on the right hand, I shall not see him. And Tremellius thus: If I shall go forward, he will not be there; if backward, I shall not find him; when he operateth on the left hand, yet shall I not see him; he will cover the right quarter of the world, and yet shall I not behold him. So that what Pagn●n● maketh the orient angle of the world, Tremellius maketh the face or forepart of the world, and soforth. Whence it appeareth, (and that, as I think, without further controversy) that the direct disposition of man, according unto the situation of the great world, is, when his face is disposed unto the orient, or east angle of the earth. And for this reason are the two eyes of man disposed in the frontispiece of his fabric, as also of all other creatures, that they might after a long nocturnal darkness, behold with delight the oriental Sun, that by the presence thereof, they might adore the Creator thereof, in whose power it is, by his golden aspect, to banish the presence of the gloomy night, and consequently to salute it, as being the visible type of the eternal Sun's invisible beauty; who also (as Scriptures hath taught us) will appear at the last day from that easterly point, to renovate and purify by fire the corrupt world. If followeth therefore, that man's right hand, or right part, must respect the south, as his left hand the north. All which are by so much the more apparent, by how much they agree and concord with Philosophical reason: For the Liver being on the right side of man, doth most conveniently sympathize with the southern nature, being that it engendereth by its virtue warm airy blood, and sendeth it forth by the channels of the veins, every where, over the microcosmicall earth, to make it to vegetate, even as the southern wind produceth tepid or madid showers, to water the microcosmicall earth, that thereby the plants and herbage which groweth on it, may increase and multiply by vegetation. The left side, or left hand, is rightly compared unto the world's Boreal quarter, or the Arctic p●le: for as in that angle, the air, water, or earth, is cold and dry, apt to congelation, & of a contractive and styptic, or restrictive nature; so also we find, that the spleen which lieth in the left part of man's body, is the receptacle of melancholy, or congealed, cold, black, sour, and earthly humours; and as the northern blasts of the macro●osmicall or great world, do obscure and mask, or eclipse ofttimes the fair sunshine of the east, and by that means do procure an obscure darkness over all the hemisphere; even so in the little world, the flatuous fumes sent forth from this northern spleen, contracteth the heart, and instead of wholesome and bright passion's, namely, of joy, mirth, and gladness, which the beauteous sunshine of life procureth unto man, it bringeth forth dark passions, as are, sadness, fear, despair, and such like; yea, and causeth the heart to suffer the effects of syncopes, and palpitations. Thus therefore you see the two opposite poles of the little world▪ to concur in effect, and that in all respects, with that of the great world, counting the southern pole from the Equinoctial. For if we divide the Loadstone in the middle, that part in the Equinoctial which is next the north-pole, will serve and stand in place of the South Pole; and if again, that half be divided in the Tropic of Cancer, the division about the Tropic of Cancer, will be his South Pole. But to look more internally yet into the little world, we find that it consisteth on that spiritual Cornerstone, by which the world was made and the earth sustained, and consequently in which the world, and every point thereof, was ideally delineated from the beginning, before it was made after the manner of the earth, which is said to be full of the Spirit of Wisdom. Hereupon it is termed the Temple of God, the body and members of Christ, and the habitacle of the Holy Spirit, (as is said before). For this cause therefore we must think, that there are secret Poles, circles, and stars, assigned unto man, as well spiritual as corporal, no otherwise then there is unto the earth, and every Magnetical portion thereof; So that in man is the properties of the Macrocosmicall winds, and consequently in it may passions be bred, and produced, which are as well Antipathetical as Sympathetic.  
Now verily, if in the second place, we shall duly observe the nature of the Loadstone, we shall not a little admire at the rare and singular properties thereof; yea truly, we shall find it almost to pass man's reason and understanding, that a hard mineral stone, unmoveable, and stupid, should nevertheless be possessor of such spirits, which are able insensibly to display and transmit their occult faculties and virtues, quite through or a travers the hardest stones, the most solid and closest grained wood; the thick and intranspirable plates of metal; yea, the impenetrable glass itself, and other such compacted stuff, which have not any sensible Spiracle or porosity, and that it should work on itself, and on Iron; and that it should behold the Pole Arctic at so long a distance, as there cannot be a greater in our regard, namely from the earth unto the highest heavens, or the eighth Shpere, the which is almost incommensurable, I mean unto the Polestar. I dare boldly say, that all the School of the Peripatetics, who made profession to give a reason of all things, and to be ignorant of nothing, that toucheth the most occult and intimate secrets of nature, would find themselves much troubled and puzzeled, and as it were enclosed in a confused Labyrinth of fantastical imaginations and Chimerian surmises, before they could discuss and unveil this misty business, or unrip the fardill of so profound a riddle; that is to say, ere they could hit the mark, or attain unto the wished end of this inquiry, which is only pointed at and demonstrated by the finger of a far truer, and diviner Philosophy, whose main Subject of all actions and power, is the spiritual Cornerstone Jesus Christ, in whom is the plenitude of Divinity, as St. Paul teacheth us. Is it not wonderful, that this spirit can pass like that celestial one in Man, where the air is not able to penetrate? Is it not an evident Argument, that it is of an aethereal race, which is able to operate these effects quite through such solid bodies? Wherefore let not Plutarch make his brags as he hath done, where he striveth to undo this intricate Gordian knot or tie, reputing it a shame and defect in such learned men, as have meddled herein, and have not dived into the depth thereof, being that at last he himself showeth palpably herein his error, after he had made so strict an inquisition: For he concludeth, that the insensible emanations or emissions or effluxions which issue out of the Loadstone, and produce his attractive effects, are gross and flatuous; whereas, if he had a little better considered the business, he would have found that the subtlest, and most rarified air, is not able to find any porosity or spiracle to breathe through thick compacted boards, or smoothed and polished stones, or plates of silver and gold; much less can any passage be admitted unto gross and flatuous spirits, to breathe or expire through. But to return again unto the strait line of our History.   

CHAP. IU.  
Of a double attractive disposition in Man; and how the one agreeth with the nature of the Loadstone; and the other is different from it. Herein also the Reason, why the dead carcase of a Man is endued with a Magnetic power or attractive nature, is discovered.  
AS in the dimension of the Loadstone, there is observed to be a multiplicity in kinds or manners of attraction, (for the attraction of it is otherwise effected at his Poles, namely perpendicularly, than it is on the Aequinoctial, which is flatling; so also there is a great difference between the attraction, which is made in man: For the Spleen being of the property of the North Pole, sucketh unto it by the Ramus Splenicus his like, namely Melancholy or terrestrial juices, directly by a Saturnine virtue, and the Gall attracteth, by a Martial Sulphureous or fiery terrestriety, choler unto it; and the Liver by a Southern or Aequinoctial dilatation, disperseth the blood which it hath rubified, by veiny channels through the whole Microcosmicall earth. But first, it attracteth by his porous Organs the like unto it from the guts. All which manner of attraction it would never effect, were it not by the incitation of natural heat, which though in itself it rather dissipateth by dilatation, then attracteth by contraction; yet it inciteth and animateth certain corporeal instruments, ordained by nature for attraction's cause, namely to draw and suck by contraction, and to dilate again by relaxing or dilating of themselves. And for this reason is the Heart, the Stomach, the Intestines, or Guts, the Veins, etc. made or compacted of fibers direct for attraction, transverse for retention, and oblique for expulsion. Again, the attraction of the air by the Aspera Arteria and nostrils, could not be effected, but by the aid of the Pulmones or Lungs, the which would not move or work but by the animation of a dilating and vivifying heat; so that, in this case, all attraction of external air, which is made by the Pores, into the fleshy parts, and by the Lungs into the Heart, and by the nostrils into the brain, proceedeth from the dilatated action of heat, and is effected by instruments, and that properly by the lungs and heart: Even as we see that the Syringe or Squirt being pulled out, attracteth or draweth air; but being thrust in, it emitteth or expelleth it again; and yet both these opposite actions in one Organ or instrument, proceed from one dilated humane spirit which acteth. We must understand therefore, (as I have expressed before) that man is composed of Matter which is his Patient, and Form which is his Agent; and as matter did first proceed of the watery Subject, which did issue out of the dark Chaos, and therefore is of itself inclinable unto a Northern and privative disposition, namely to rest, cold, mortification, and immobility; so it is this Matter, that maketh contraction, as well in the heart, and consequently in the Pulse's motion, as in the other parts of the body; that is to say, the natural inclination of Matter in man, is apt to contract spirits from the Circumference unto the Centre; when chose Form being derived from Light, is busy in dilatation, and therefore in animation, and exagitation of Matter, which would otherwise be sopified, and as it were mortified, by her mother's Northern cold. And this is the reason of Systole and Diastole, in the heart's motion, which cometh of that action and passion, or operation and resistance, which is made between the Light, heat, or Aequinoctial form, and the dark and cold, or polar matter in man's composition; whereby it is apparent, that as the great world is said to be composed ex lite et am●citia, of hatred and friendship; so also the little world, is rightly averred to be compacted of contraries, namely of the children of Light and Darkness. Now in this therefore, a live-man's attractive power, differeth from that of the Loadstone, because the Loadstone is not so appearing lively as man is; but may in some sort be esteemed dead, because it is divided from his ferruginous vein in the earth; and again, he attracteth not by any dilatation, made of a vivifying heat, through any organical Substance or assistance, but by an earthly and central, contracting disposition. And for that reason, his greatest power of attraction consisteth in the Pole. The live man's attraction proceedeth therefore from a dilatation of lively heat, from the Centre unto the circumference, which causeth material instruments ordained as well for attraction as retention or expulsion to effect their office; and yet sometimes it operateth chiefly to contraction, that is in motion from the circumfere●ne unto the Centre, when it receiveth by the permission of God the beams of a privative Emanation, as when the heart is contracted: whereupon bad passions, as sadness, melancholy, despair, envy, fear, and such like do follow, as we have told you before. Sometimes the natural heat reflecteth, for the Senses repose and rest, his beams inwardly, as in the action of sleep, which is a type of death and darkness: but chose, it dilateth its self from the Centre unto the circumference, when it will have the animal spirits to watch and operate in their functions.  
By this therefore we may imagine, that the Load-stone's attractive nature is from the circumference unto the Centre, being as it were to man's external view half dead, and by that manner of attraction it draweth unto it his like, namely spirits out of the Iron or steel, which by reason of its refination and homogeniety in nature, as being cleared from all his stony Mercury, which was heterogeneous unto it, we may compare unto a live man, which is replenished with lively emanating or dilating spirits: For I would have every man to know, that there is not a creature on the earth, which hath not his Astrological or starry influence, which (though we cannot discern it) doth shine forth, and maketh his aspect unto the like of his kind, namely unto such creatures, as are of condition with the stars of heaven, from whence the creatures' influence doth descend: But if the two creatures be dissonant in nature, than the one doth Antipathetically divert or reflect his beams from the other. The Iron therefore like a vivified mass, meeting with the Loadstone, doth easily emit his beams of love unto the Loadstone, who doth as greedily suck or draw them, by means of his inward earthly Martial Spirits, even unto her Centre, and by the attraction of the Iron's formal beams, draweth with it all the Iron body, that possesseth the starry or Martial influence. In like manner a strong Magnet, is as it were a female unto a weaker. No otherwise is it with a live man, and the dead carcase of another; For though that many bodies appear to be dead, yet shall the natural Magician know, that in his flesh and bones there abideth admirable spirits, which operate no less wonders, yea, and far greater than those of the Loadstone. And therefore I would have each self-conceited person, that are so apt to envy against the Mysteries of God in nature, to learn more discretion and experience, before they so vaingloriously do judge the strange, and marvellous effects of man's royal nature, and pronounce so boldly without hesitation, or sticking, that there are no spirits in any amputated members or portion in man, no nor in the dead carcase, as Casman and Foster aver: Nay that the Devil himself can not confer any into them or it: For I would have both them and other temerarious and bold Judges to know, that as the Loadstone, though appearing a dead mass, is observed to suck and draw Centrally unto it, with a lively appetite the beams and body of the Loadstone; and that all and every member divided from the Load stone, will do the like in its proportion: Even so I can prove it, and confirm it by an ocular demonstration, that by a right application of the fleshy parts of a dead man's carcase unto a live man, (if the application be long) it will make the live man faint and feeble, the which nevertheless a while after the material or corporal Magnetical Mummy be removed, will receive again his wont strength: Moreover, lest this relation may seem to Mr. Foster and the rest of his Cabalistical Sect, a figment or Chimerious fancy: forasmuch as he may allege, that the application of the thing may work in the live man's imagination, and cause him to persuade himself that he is faint, and that without any true ground, and that there can be no external effect to prove it. I answer: That it will suck or draw forth of the live man the spiritual Mummy in a visible manner: For by the coldness of the part, the spiritual Mummy so extracted, will condense itself on the superficies of the corporal Magnet, even as air into a cloud, or a cloud into Manna; so that it may be gathered and converted into a very precious and wholesome Panacaea or general medicine (if the party out of which it is extracted, be sound, and of a wholesome complexion)▪ as chose, it may prove as corrupt and Antipathetical a medicine, where the body out of which it is drawn is infected with any venomous or contagious disease, namely French Pox, Plague, Leprosy, and such like, as shall be more at large expressed in the next book. Now the reason of this act and operation in the dead man's Magnetic parts, is, that as when the body was alive, it was animated by light, and enjoyed all the properties of light, to wit, it was hot, active, movable, dilative, and, in conclusion, of an Equinoctial or Southern condition; so that natural fire being extinguished, it endueth the properties of darkness; for it is mortified by cold, and is congealed, potential, fix or immobil, contractive, and, in fine, of the rigid zones, and frozen Pole's nature; So that whereas before whilst it lived, it did emit his beams from the Centre to the Circumference, and did enjoy the blessings of God's vivifying and positive Emanation, now it endueth the condition of his contracting, privative and mortifying Emanation. And yet I would not that wisemen should think, that because the lively body is turned into a dead carcase, therefore it is void of all spirits of life, being that Scriptures confirm, that the incorruptible spirit is in all things, and consequently as well in those that are dead, as in those that are alive: For this incorruptible spirit according unto the variety of his property in the four winds, is sometime in motion from the centre of the thing in which it is, unto the circumference, for so he vivifyeth, and causeth the creature to act and live, by a southern or equinoctial faculty; so (I say) it operateth from the centre of the celestial sun, to the animation of inferior creatures, namely, by evocation of their incorruptible spirits, (which were repelled by the winter or Boreal cold into their centre) from their centre unto their circumference, as it appeareth by such vegetables, which seem, for that reason, as it were dead all the winter season, because the spirit of life leaves and forsakes the circumference of the plant, and betaketh itself unto the centre, to retire from the assaults of cold, which is its opposite, as far as it can. But when it perceiveth its fountain of light to approach, and to send them forth succours, they begin by little and little to spring again, from their centre unto their circumference; and being united unto the external beams which are come unto their aid, they expel dark privation, and congealing cold, from out their tabernacles, and do proceed to operate and act unto vegetation and multiplication; as also we see in the corn which is buried in the earth. Even so, (I say) and no otherwise, the Load-stone's Martial nature being originally, by a Saturnine spirit, contracted into his centre, is exagitated and stirred up, and with like joy doth suck unto it the formal beams of the Iron, from whose Martial sulphureous spirit they did originally spring. And even so also, the spirits of the dead body being by mortifying cold driven from the circumference unto the centre, and resting there at repose without any action, maketh the body and every part thereof fixed and unmovable; but when they are applied unto the lively circumference of their species or kind, they spring forthwith and in their watery spirits towards the circumference, (as if they were almost famished in the centre) and rejoice to meet with their like in the live man, which doth, as it were, dilate itself, and issue forth of the pores in a streaming manner, for their assistance; and they being partly congealed in the centre of the dead member, do with a greedy appetite suck them in with the spiritual Mummy, which is their vehicle, towards their central abiding, to endue it with life as it was before, and to recreate it with their presence; but the unctuous spiritual Mummy, being full of bright spirits, resting upon the superficies of the live man, inspissated with the cold and mortifying contact of the dead flesh, or part of the carcase, is forthwith congealed, and may be reserved for a private use. But can we (I pray you) better confirm this, than with the contractive, restrictive, or congelative virtue of the fumous excrescence, issuing from the salt contained in the dead man's bones? for by applying it, I mean, the Uznea or mass, which groweth on the dead man's bones, unto the eruptions of blood or haemorrhoigy in a living man, the warm blood, as it were, moved by an antipathetical affection, returneth back again, and is denied passage by the congealing and binding operation, of these northern effected excrescences.  
But leaving these conclusions, touching the dead man's magnet and its virtues, for a while, what will you say, and there may be a microcosmicall Magnes or Loadstone, which may be selected and gathered out of the living man, without any detriment or prejudice unto his life, whose virtues, both in regard of its monstrous and unnatural generation, being composed of unlike parents, and being compacted of two substances different in kind, as the Mule is, namely, of an earthly Mercury, and choleric sulphureous human spirits; as also in his manner of attraction of the spiritual Mummy out of the living man; yea, and what is far more admirable, by the transplantation of it, either to the animal or vegetable kinds, it worketh after a strange fashion, either sympathetically or antipathetically. I know, that these news will straight way be esteemed by some, who are apt to judge amiss, than rightly to scan, to be diabolical: And why? Marry because they pass the sphere of their capacities. And yet I know this to be true, and know them which have put it in execution, not without the wonderment of many; yea, I know this Microcosmicall Magnet, and the use thereof, the which when it is tried by wisemen, and well pondered by them, will appear as natural, as the effects thereof will seem strange, and the reason abstruse. But if that which I have said before be well understood, and seriously pondered, the cause hereof will not seem so hidden, as that it should exceed the limits of nature. Of this kind of magnetical action, as well sympathetic as antipathetical, I purpose, by God's grace, to discourse more at large, in the third or last Book of this Treatise or History.   

CHAP. V.  
In this Chapter is expressed the secret cause why, and manner how, as well the Microcosmicall, as Macrocosmicall Loadstone, doth operate ad distans, and th●● unto an unknown dimension, or unlimited interval.  
MR. Foster hath sufficiently expressed the shallowness of his Philosophy, where he averreth, That because the light of the Sun and Stars cannot penetrate the thick clouds, and opake bodies; Ergo, the formal essence of a man is not able to pierce and penetrate directly in his course, without being stopped or hindered by Castles, Hills, Woods, and such like. But had he been a little more profoundly seen, or immersed in the bowels of true Philosophy, he would have known, that the Etherial sperm, or Astralicall influences, are of a far subtler condition, than is the vehicle of visible light: Yea verily, they are so thin, so mobile, so penetrating, and so lively, that they are able, and also do continually penetrate, and that without any manifest obstacle or resistance, even unto the centre or inward bosom of the earth, where they generate metals of sundry kinds, according unto the condition of the influence, as the ancient Philosophers do justify. The subtlety therefore of this spirit, Plotinus, according unto Plato's mind, doth fully express in these words, Tanta est Aetheris tenuitas ut omnia corpora penetret universi tam supera quam infera, & cum ipsis conjunctus aut implicitus, ea major a minime reddat, quia spiritus iste interior cuncta opera eorum mole minima nullum prorsus augmentum recipiente, alit atque conservat. The tenuity of the Aether is such, that it doth penetrate all the bodies of the world, as well above in heaven, as below on earth; and this heavenly substance being joined and mixed with them, it maketh them not a jot the bigger for all that, because this inward spirit doth nourish and preserve all bodies, without adding any thing unto their weight, or increasing of their substance. And by reason of this heavenly nature's purity or subtlety, the heaven, or coelum, is called by the wiser Philosophers, and mystical Poets, the Husband unto the earth, which they term Vesta; yea, and the very stars of heaven, among the which the Copernicans rank the earth, are likened unto his wife, being that they are extracted out of the etherial substance, no otherwise than Eve was out of the side of Adam; for they are defined to be the thickest portions of their orbs, by reason whereof, they are accounted as the members of heaven, and consequently there is nothing so thin, subtle, and piercing, as is that spirit from whence by condensation they are derived. This is the cause, that the true Alchemists do tell such wonders of their Coelum, which they call their Quintessence, arguing, that by reason of its purity and subtlety, it is able to penetrate all things. And the Philosophers say, that it is their nature, which they define to be, 
De Arte Chimie.  Vis quaedam rebus infinita, omnia permeans entia, cunctas generans res, easque augens alensque & ex similibus similia procreans. A certain infinite power in things, which penetrateth and passeth through all things, engendering every thing, and augmenting and nourishing them, and procreating like things of their like. And verily, if you will be pleased to consider really what I have spoken before, you will remember how I told you, that the angelical virtue proceeded from the archetypicall emanations, and are the types of the divine Idea. Again, that the etherial spirit was filled with the angelical influences, which had their essential root from God. So that in verity, it is not the starry light which penetrateth so deeply, or operateth so universally, but that eternal central spirit, with which his divine and unresistable essence, penetrateth all things, both in heaven above, and in the earth and waters beneath. And all this the mystical Philosophers seemed to verify, though darkly, when they called Saturn, which was the father also of Jupiter, or the head of the catholic emanation, the father of Coelum, or Heaven, arguing thereby, that in the emission of the spirit of wisdom, he produced created, or informed the heavens, according to that of Job, Coelum ornasti Spiritu tuo, Thou didst adorn the heavens by thy Spirit. 
Job. Psalm.  And David, Verbo Domini fimati sunt coeli & Spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by his Spirit each virtue thereof. 
2 Pet. 3.  And St. Peter, Coeli erant prius & terra ex aquis, & per aquas existentes verbo Dei: The heavens were first, and the earth of water, and by the waters, existing by the word of God. It is certain therefore, that the whole essential act of the etherial spirit, is the divine emanation, or the bright incorruptible Spirit of the Lord; and therefore of necessity that spirit, which is worthy to be the immediate vehicle of so unresistible and emanating influence must be conformable to it in purity and subtlety which is the informer, who is said by the wise Solomon to be Omni re mobilior & subtilior & attingere ubique propter suam munditiam, 
Wisd. 7.  & innovare omnia & implere orbem terrarum: To be the most active and movable and subtle of all things, and to penetrate and pass everywhere, by reason of his purity in essence, and to renew and refresh all things, and to fill the earth with his presence. This therefore was it that made some, 
Wisd. 1.  even of our Christian Philosophers, to break forth into these speeches: Deus est Natura, & Natura Deus: God is Nature, and Nature is God. Whereby they meant, that the naturating or radical informing nature, was the eternal emanation, which made and informed the humid nature of the world; which for that reason was called Natura naturata, or the Nature which was made natural, namely by the presence of the Naturating nature or Spirit of the Lord, which moved upon the waters, and imparted unto them of his fiery informing Vigour or Essence, as we may find partly by Sacred Testimony, and partly by the confirmation of St. Austin.  
We must therefore after a due consideration of this which is said, infer, that if the influence be completely animated by the incorruptible Spirit of the Lord, then must it be endued with the properties of that Spirit or Divine Nature, and consequently it must be the most subtle, quick, movable and penetrating of all spirits, and in that respect will be able to pass through all solid bodies without resistance, and also to engender, augment, and nourish all things; and being incorporated or specificated, it procreateth like individualities of their like; and again, it hath in regard of our capacity, an infinite extension, and therefore cannot be limited. All which I purpose by experience or ocular demonstration, to demonstrate in this manner. We find in practice, that the Loadstone by virtue of his subtle spirit, which doth internally animate it, is made so potent through it, in his attractive virtue, that it is able without resistance to display and transmit the beams of his active virtue quite atravers the hardest stones, the most solid and finest grained wood, through thick plates, copper, tin, silver, or gold: yea, and to penetrate quite through the impenetrable glass itself, and other such like compacted stuff, which have no sensible porosity or spiracle, which is an evident Argument, that this spirit is of a far more piercing and subtle nature, than the sublunary air: forasmuch as it is denied passage through the slightest paper-skin or bladder. In the like manner man's inward or celestial spirit, which is the vehicle of this vivifying beam, is so subtle in itself, that nothing is able to resist it, when the inward mental beam doth aim at any mark, how far or how inaccessible soever it may be esteemed in the fleshly man's conceit. For being this celestial or aethereal spirit in man, is made after the pattern of the Divine Image which it beareth, it must also resemble it in its actions. Now the subtlety of the Divine act in man's spirit, 
Pimand. 4.  is expressed by Hermes, in these words: Quicunque hac Dei Naturà fulti sunt, intelligentià suâ cunctà complectuntur quae in terra sunt, & in mari, & siquid est praeter ea supra coelum, atque adeo scipsos erigunt ut ipsum quoque bonum intueantur: Who soever do rely on this Divine Nature, may comprehend by their understanding all things, wh●ch are upon the earth, and in the seas; yea, and besides all this, any thing that is in heaven above; and also they may elevate themselves in such a manner, that they may behold the face of goodness itself, etc. Whereby he signifieth the all-sufficient act of penetration, which is in the mental beam, by whose unresistable action the celestial influence doth penetrate and operate without any intermediate resistance in and through all things, By which it is evident, that as every inferior specific creature is endued with this essential spirit, and doth consist, and is as it were founded and edificated on it, as on an essential Cornerstone or Foundation; so the emission of his beams is not to be limited by any settled Sphere of activity, as the unadvised and more sensual than intellectual Philosophers have defined it to be, being that it is Vis in rebus infinita, An infinite virtue or nature in things, and therefore not finite or determinable: For look how far it shineth or emitteth his active spirit out of the Centre of the celestial star; even so far is this central terrestrial bright Spirit able to make his Semidiameter of extension; So that as the heavenly star's beamy influence doth penetrate downward unto the Centre of the earth; even after the very like manner doth each terrestrial star pierce unto the Centre of the celestial star from whence it was derived; and the more rich and exalted is the starry form in the creature, the nearer it approacheth unto the nature of the most exalted star in heaven, and maketh his extension the more forcible. Now as we see that every astral influence in the creature doth by a natural inclination, and that Sympathetically, aspect the star or celestial Fountain from which it did spring; and likewise that star in heaven, by a paternal respect, doth send down his influences to feed and nourish his like filial fire or form in the creature here below, and both of them by a mutual relation do rejoice together at the spiritual presence of each other, (whereupon it is said: Naturá natura laetatur & naturam continet; O natura coelestis veritatis, naturas Dei nutu multiplicans: Nature is rejoiced in nature, and containeth nature; O celestial nature which by the Will of God doth mul●ply natures,) so likewise each kind or species which is endued with all one influence, doth, because of his likeness to another, send forth by a sympathetic consent, beams of one nature, making an harmonious Symphony in the concourse of their beams, by which they do agree in union of love. And for this reason the axiom of the Philosophers before mentioned runneth in this strain, Natura ex similibus similia procreare solet: Nature doth use to procreate like of like. And this is the cause why each specific Form doth rejoice in its like, and is ready to produce his kind, and doth not use to pass the limits of his kind, as for example: A Man's nature produceth a Man, a Horse a Horse, a fenel-seed fenel, a bean a bean, wheat produceth wheat, etc. And also the nature of each thing so created is most amiable unto the nature of his like, and sendeth forth the amiable and Sympathetic beams of his affection, to concur with the like beams, which are emitted from his like; so that both of them do easily consent and rejoice at each other, and by contraction of beams, they endeavour to cause a union: For this reason therefore the Loadstone rejoiceth at the aspect of its like; for if one Loadstone meeteth with another, each will aspect the other by their Saturnine Sulphureous spirits, and embrace each other: For by their applications, they will Centrally suck and draw the one to the other, with a Sympathetic embracing. Also because that the Iron is subject unto the selfsame constellation, and hath his central star in all points correspondent unto the Loadstone, (for which essential consanguinity, they are both found in the selfsame terrestrial vein, therefore they both are observed so lovingly to entertain and hug one another: For experience telleth us, that the feminine Loadstone above all measure embraceth as a luxurious harlot the masculine Iron, and not the Iron the Loadstone, as Averro, Scaliger, and Cusanus the Cardinal, have erroneously surmised; affirming that the Iron moveth unto the Loadstone, as unto his beginning and matrix from whence it came: for, by that reason, the North Pole in the Iron should move of itself more swiftly unto the Pole-starr, which is the fountain of both their central influences, than the Magnet: all which is by experience proved quite contrary.  
Now to confirm the infinity of the extension of these central beams in two like bodies unto one another, let us first be capable of some Theory, that we may afterward the better descend unto Practice. Radius (saith Alkindus) quia centro stellae ad centrum terrae procedit fortissimus esse probatur in operationis suae specie: 
Alkind. de Rad. Stel.  The beam which proceedeth from the Centre of the star unto the Centre of the earth, i● proved to be most strong in the kind of his operation. Whereby he signifieth at what an incommensurable distance the occult starry beam, or beamy influence, worketh with and in his image on the earth; for he saith elsewhere Liquet quòd Radii stellares diversa constituunt individua in hoc mundo: It is manifest, that the starry beams do make and engender d●vers individual creatures in this world. Again, for the central stars, or starry influences of the lower bodies, and their beam's extension he speaketh thus: Mundus Elementarius est exemplum mundi Syderei, ita ut quaelibet res in eo contentia ipsius speciem contineat. Manifestum est quòd omnis res hujus mundi radios faciat suo more ad instar Syde●um; alioq●i figuram mundi Syderei ad plenum non haberet: sed & hoc in aliqu●bus sensu manifestatur: ignis enim radios caloris ad loca proxima transmittit, & terra radios algoris. Hoc igitur pro vero assumentes, dicimus quod omne quod actualem habet existentiam in mundo elementorum radios emittit in omnem partem, qui totum mundum elementarem replent suo modo. Praeterea distantia unius rei ab alia fac●● d●fferentiam in effectu radiorum in rebus hujus mundi: The Elementary world is the image or pattern of the starry world; so that every thing that this world containeth in it, doth comprehend the form or likeness of the starry world. It is evident that every thing in this world, doth ●mit his beams after his manner, even as the stars of heaven do▪ for else it would not fully assume the figure of the starry world; but this is made manifest in some things unto sense: For the fire doth send forth the beams of his heat unto the bordering places, and also the earth the Emanations of his cold. We affirm therefore for a certainty, that every thing which hath an actual existence in this elementary world, doth emit or send forth his beams unto every part, the which do fill the elementary world after their fashion. Moreover, the distance of one thing from an other, maketh a difference in the effect of the beams, in things of this world. Whereby he maketh it plain, first, That there is nothing in the lower world, but hath his like in the starry world, whose beams and influences it receiveth. And again, that as the said star in heaven doth dart forth his beams even unto the very centre of the earth, and therefore hath so large a sphere of activity, that it searcheth every place of the vaulted world: Even so, and after the same manner, those starry ●●intills, or beamy sparks, which it sendeth down into his subject creature, being that it is all one in essence with its fountain, and therefore continued with it, and indivisible; searcheth in like manner each angle or corner of the sublunary region, yea, it penetrateth even unto the very celestial fountain, from whence it is derived, as shall be more clearly demonstrated hereafter, being that every portion or small part of a large Loadstone, hath his poles and circles, as well as the whole. It is made therefore apparent by this, that the action of each elementary thing is effected, as well by disjunction of their bodies, that is to say, ad distans, as when they are joined together by a mutual contact of one another; but the action of elementary things, when they are separated from one another, is performed by a fit application, and infusion of their beamy influences unto each other, which would hardly be believed, by reason of the occultness of the action, did not experience guide us, by the observation of the Loadstones attraction of Iron unto it at a distance. Also we observe, that the images of things are seen afar off in Mirrors, or optical glasses; and it was no small artifice of the Pythagoreans, and some other of our Christian Philosophers, to express their minds unto friend's, being in far countries, by reflection, made through prepared Mathematical glasses, in the circle or compass of the Moon. But forsooth, our external Philosophers, which will only be guided by their sense, do dream of a certain limited sphere of activity, and do ascribe bounds unto the action of this mystical nature, as they please, or according unto their exterior sense's observation: As for example, Because the Loadstone draweth the Iron but at half the distance of a table, Ergo, they think and conclude, that the vivifying act of his virtue penetrateth or extendeth itself no farther, than at that distance in the air, and consequently being led by their corporal eyesight, they limit, after this external and visible action, the Load stones spiritual extension. But if they would duly close their corporal eyes in this inquisition, and look, as true Philosophers ought, in the re-search of so abstruse an action, with the aspect of their mental intellect, they would find, that the extension of the beamy spirit in the Loadstone, doth equalise that of his proper celestial star, being that they are both of one essence; as also is the like spirit in the Iron, and every scintill or spark of fire hath the properties of the whole, as is said of the Loadstone. But there are many things, which may hinder the evident effect in the Loadstone, namely, the ponderosity of the body of the Iron, and therefore it will not draw it beyond the circle of his sensible emanation; and another thing is the dispersing and dilating of the union of beams in the Loadstone: for the beams, after they are emitted, are the more dispersed the farther they pass, as it appeareth by this demonstration.  
A, the Loadstone, B D, the basis of his emitted beams, which doth aptly terminate and adapt itself unto the Iron B D, so that nothing is lost, but all the force is upon the Iron, for which cause it attracteth its spirits forcibly, because, vis unita est fortior. But when the Iron is planted at a further distance, namely, in C, the greatest portion of the basis of the spiritual triangular-emission, passeth by the Iron, without any straight encounter, and so his effect or virtue is made too weak, to draw so ponderous a thing at so far a distance. But because his celestial star doth meet and embrace his emissions, and doth fortify them, therefore it is evident, that the polestar doth act in the Loadstone, to stir up and animate his like vigour in it; and the Loadstone being so vivified, doth correspond unto the action of the star, penetrating, by all one sympathetic and symphoniacall consent, even to the centre of his fountain, which is easily effected, being they are all of one essence. Do we not perceive this by an external apprehension to be true, when we observe the northern pole of the Loadstone, in a kind of natural duty, to regard and behold with a steadfast constancy the polestar, which is so far off from the body of the Loadstone, though near and conjoined in the beamy affection of one essential spirit? That this is so, we may perceive by the needle touched. Do we not gather by Astronomical practice, that the distance of these two bodies, I mean, the celestial star, and the terrestrial stone, is so great, as there cannot be esteemed a greater extension in our regard? namely, seeing that the space is between the starry heaven, or eighth sphere, in which the polestar is; and the earth: And yet we find them to concur and meet in aspect, and to operate and sympathise with each other. What! and must this abstruse spirits action be limited by any fantastical and imaginary sphere of activity, figured out by persons little skilled, and too too superficial in the occult treasure, and arcane or central actions of God in nature? In like manner there must needs be a sympathetic concurrence of occult beamy light, betwixt the Iron and the Loadstone, because they have both central stars, or beamy influences of one nature, and from one and the same fountain, whose occult emanations pass, God knoweth, at how far a distance, although the effects do accidentally appear unto our sense, no more than the celestial influences which descend from heaven, upon the Minerals, Vegetables, and Animals. Nevertheless, if we will believe the relations of History, we are told by Serapio, O aus Magnus, and the Moors, that as well in the Indies, as towards the northern pole, there are Rocks of this Stone, which suck and draw ships unto them at a far distance, and pull the iron nails out of them, which is a cause, as they say, that they fasten together the planks and boards of their boats and ships with wooden pins. And again, what shall we say unto the opinion of Fracasto●ius, a learned Physician, and a well grounded Philosopher, who blusheth not, after a tedious enquiry made by him in the Loadstones secret disposition, to conclude, that the reason why the Loadstone directeth his pole unto the north, is, because that in that angle of the terrestrial world, there are mountains of Loadstone, which do draw Iron unto it. Verily, it is a great distance, that this magnetic Rock is able to operate upon the Iron, if that were true, namely, from the Equinoctial unto the frozen point of the North-pole; for unto the Equinoctial line, the Mariners make use of the Needle, to find out what altitude they are in. And although some do think this strange, yet for all that, many learned men, seen as well in Geography and composing of Sea-Maps, as delineating the description of the world, do firmly adhere unto this opinion. Whereby we see, that wise and learned men do confirm, that the limited sphere of activity, ascribed unto the Loadstone by the Peripatetic Philosophers, and Christian Schoolmen of his sect is vain and frivolous.  
But to come and ascend from the Mineral, unto the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms, we observe, that there is an admirable relation between the fixed stars and the planets, and by the same reason also between plant and plant, yea, and between the plant and the mineral, and between the animal and the plant: As for example, 
Mizald. Arca. lib. 1.  Touching th● sympathetic relation, we find in the first place, that the beams of the herb and flower Heliotropium, and that of Succory, do sympathetically meet, and join themselves, and embrace lovingly the beams and influences of the Sun, for they are observed to turn and wind about, even in the most cloudy day, at the diurnal motion of him. And chose, in the night time, by reason of his absence, they contract their flowers, as being enemies unto the dark and cold night, as Mizaldus affirmeth. Also the Onion, as Plutarch doth testify, waxeth green, 
Plutarch.  and groweth, when the Moon decreaseth, and again it withereth when she increaseth. There is also a great sympathetic reference between the Crab, and Oyster, and the Moon, for when the Moon increaseth, they increase in their succe or juice; again, when she decreaseth, they also do decrease in their substance.  

Munster Geograph. l. 19 c. 8.  Moreover, touching the eradiation of one plant unto another, it is noted, that the Rue, otherwise termed Herb-grace, doth entertain with exceeding great friendship the Figtree, insomuch that it never groweth or prospereth better, than under that tree; and, that there is a notable sympathy betwixt their natures, it is evident, because they smell and taste much alike. Also if the Myrtle be planted near the Pomgranat-tree, it maketh him more fertile and fruitful, and itself more odoriferous, and each of them rejoice at one another's presence and society; and indeed, both of them agree in a nature, being cold, dry, and astringent.  
Moreover, to express the exceeding sympathetic relation, which is between the Vegetable nature and the Mineral, let us but mark diligently the occult property of the Hazel-tree. For if at certain times there be forked twigs cut from it, and each twig of the forked branch be held in each hand, so that the forked place where they join stand directly upward, and, as it were, perpendicularly: And with this kind of posture of the stick, the party that holdeth it pass over a mountain, that hath in its bowels some ri●h mineral, or mettalline vein, when as the man walketh right over the place of the mine, the perpendicular twist will forcibly, and that whether the bearer will or no, bow downward towards the earth; but if there be no mine or vein, it will not move. That this is true, myself can witness, and more than a thousand, which have seen the effect, and will justify thus much; for even among us, certain Germans performed the like fear in the Silver-mines at Wales; and in Germany it is a thing commonly exercsied, in those mountains of Saxony and Hungary, where there are mines of Silver and Gold. 
Agric. lib. de Fost. vel. Munster in Geog.  Besides, lest my assertion should be of little faith among the incredulous, I would have them know, that George Agricola and Munster, do avow the same to be true. Lord, what a stir would the enemy of the weapon-salve make, to behold such a sight! What! an unsensible branch of a tree, consisting of two twigs only, to discover hidden metal, and to penetrate with his invisible beams above six hundred fathom in the solid earth, and that quite through craggy rocks, and stony veins! What, will they say) is it possible that a vegetable, which is less active, movable, and hot, then is the animal, should perform this act, when it is impossible (as they say) that the animal's beamy influence or emanation, should pass or cooperate at any far distance with his like, by reason of castles, rocks, woods, hills, fogs, and such like? Surely they will conclude, that this wonder must be done by the act of the devil, or not at all. For, being an animal spirit cannot effect such an union in aspect, at so far a distance, how should the senseless vegetable move, and incline of itself, & c? Such will their censures be, I know, who are apt to judge before the case be known, when in verity it is that proportioned harmony in all these lower creatures, by which they do correspond unto the celestial bodies, or rather to the divine influences in them, which spring from one capital, catholic, and eternal emanation, who infuseth immediately his virtuous beams, as well of sympathy as antipathy, into each starry globe, and they again do pour them down into this elementary world, causing a harmonious and symphoniacall consent betwixt both regions. 
Alkind de ●ad. Stell.  And therefore Alkindus saith, Omnia quae fiunt in hoc mund●, & contingunt in mun●o elementorum, à coelesti harmonia sunt translata: All things that are effected in this world, and do happen in the elementary world, proceed from the celestial harmony. It is therefore certain, that the metallic beams concurring in their ascent with the beamy influences of the forked rood, do cause that portion in the hazel roods twist, to move downwards, no otherwise than the Loadstone is noted to draw Iron, or another Loadstone, most strongly by the pole. I know, it will seem strange unto these kind of men, to hear, that metallic substances in their veins should send forth beams; but if they were as well conversant with the lively natures of the minerals as the mineral men of tirol, in Germany, and in Hungary are, they would be assured by ocular experience, that at times they send forth thunder and lightning in the earth, which appeareth most dangerous unto the workmen, so that except they get out of the mine when they observe the signs they suffer.  
But to proceed. There is also noted and marked to be a kind of antipathetical aspect, between the creatures here below, as well as between some special stars, both erratic, and fixed, above; and also one creatures beamy aspect is known to abhor the other; So that in their applications of beams, the one is observed to eschew and decline or reflex from the other, with a kind of irascible, formidable or audible and hateful aversion. Miraldus telleth us, that the Cowcumber being as it were terrified at the noise of the Thunder, 
Mirald. lib. 1.  is often changed. The Onion was refused by the Egyptians to be eaten, because it was noted by them, to vary from all other growing things: for as all herbs, saving it, did increase as the Moon did; So, only the Onion did chose, receive all his detriment and dimmution, when that star did increase in his Light. There is an Antipathy between the Lightning and the Figtree, and the hide of the Sea-calf, and therefore these are never struck by it. 
Plin. lib. 8.  Also there is known to be exceeding hatred between the reed and the fern or brake, insomuch that if either of the roots bruised be laid on the stalks or branches of the other, it casteth it off from it with a scornful hatred. Of all beasts also the Elephant hateth and detesteth the little Mouse; 
Plin. lib. 8. cap. 10.  so that if any of the food which is administered unto them, be eaten or touched by Mice, they will abhor and loath it forthwith. The like Antipathy is noted to be between the natures of the Catablepa and the Weasel: for the Weasells are as poison unto them. 
Ib. 12.  The Cock doth Antipathetically abhor the Fox. All Snakes and Adders do fear and fly from the Ashen-tree, 
Plin. lib. 16. cap. 13.  insomuch that they are careful to keep themselves as well out of the forenoon as afternoon shadow of it. Again, Diascorides reporteth that the taxus or Yew-tree is so venomous, that if any one do but sit under it, 
Diascorid.  he is hurt thereby, and often times it costs him his life. And Coelius Rodiginus saith, that the Adder is afraid of a naked man. It is well known and confirmed by many Authors, 
Cael. Rodig. lib. 15. cap. 25.  that the Catablepa being but a very small Animal, killeth with the beam of his aspect a thousand paces off from him. Also one blear-eyed person is able to infect another afar off by the secret emission of his contagious beams. We see that Onions draw tears from a person ad distans, by the emission of its beams. Again, we observe, that as like being wholesome and sound, doth commonly, by a Sympathetic affection embrace his like; So also like being corrupted, doth Antipathetically, and that ad d●stans poison and infect his like; as we see that a blear-eyed or Ophthaliniacall person, infecteth no member of another person but his eye, and one of Physical ulcered and consumed Lungs woundeth only the Lungs of another, and that ad distans, and by the application or concurrency of the two beams of one nature, being Antipathetically affected and empoisoned. But to return again unto our Magnetic Scope, which is as well spiritual as corporal; I say, there is such a spiritual respect of Sympathy betwixt creature and creature, that the beloved doth allure and draw unto it after an admirable manner of attraction, the spirit of the Lover, as I myself have seen marvellously effectd by a water-Spannell of mine own in France: For as I road post to Lions, and by the way had lost my vallise or male, in which my Letters of Exchange were, and seeking to return back again, I found my post-horse of that quality, that he would by no means recoil and go back again. Then I was forced to send my dog back to look out, and after he had been absent half an hour, he brought the bouget in his mouth, which is strange, considering that I was on horseback, and that he could not discern any footing of mine; and ye● nevertheless he came to the bouget which I desired, and finding by it a sent of me he brought it again. But that I may come more pertinently to the business. A friend of mine being in my company lost his dog in the nighttime, we came into a private house where he never was before; and being in a chamber, the door being fastened, about half an hour after the dog came, and did violently scrape and bounce at the door, to find out his beloved: whereby it is evident, that the beams of his affection, did in the absence of his Master not forsake his Master's beams, which guided him unto the unknown place so directly, that he found him out. Is it not also a wonderful Sympathetic Emanation, that the Pigeon called the Carrier, doth make unto the place or dove-coat wherein he was bred and fostered? Which for that reason, it doth so dear affect and love, that though he be conveied 500 miles from his nursery in an enclosed basket, yet he will fly directly back again with a letter about his neck? Which is an evident Argument, that it is justly and straightly guided by the emitted beam of his affection, which is contived, after a spiritual manner, with the place it doth most delight in. What shall we say in two persons; whereof the one doth love and affect without all reason, and therefore prosecuteth with the beam of his affection his beloved, though she or he altogether either abhorring or neglecting, and not corresponding with the like beams of affection, doth not reciprocally embrace, but rather refuse and avert the beams of his or her Love. But where two do jointly affect by a Sympathetic Union, there the action will spiritually be furthered at a far greater distance; as when two stars of heaven send out their beams semidiametrally, and concur in one harmonious point of affections. Nay verily, as we behold, being taught by experience, that there will be a great Antipathy between the slain body's contracted spirit, and the murderer; insomuch that the lively spirit of the dead, being contracted after death by cold, into its Centre, doth through an angry Antipathetical passion move again from the Centre unto the Circumference, as it were to resist the deadly enemy; and doth cause the congealed blood to flow and move, as if it would meet with and assault afresh the murtherer's emitted spirit; So we must surely confess, that where one spirit concurreth in Sympathy with another of the like nature, the power must be the greater, and the action performed at a larger distance, as is evidently expressed in the abstruse operation which is in the Magnetic cure, effected between the weapon or ointment, and the wounded▪ person: of which I have spoken so much, in that hot encounter, which hath been between Mr. Foster and myself, in the Book where I was provoked to squeeze his Sponge; and farther do purpose in this present Treatise to enlarge myself a little better touching that point, by way of a comparison made between the Magnetical virtue in Man, and that of the Loadstone.  
The Argument of Mr. Foster, consisteth upon the impossibility of that operating virtue at so large a distance, as is propounded by some, to be effected by the Ointment, or rather of the lively blood's Emanation and emitting forth of his exciting spiritual beams or influences, unto the dead or congealed blood; which impossibility, if it were true indeed in the Animal kingdom, which is the most dilative and less bound with bodily bonds: I wonder that it should not be far more impossible, and unfezible in the mineral bodies, by reason of the firm and close solidity of them, which are therefore apt to retain their influential beams, than the bodies which are made lax, and porous. Besides all this, the Animal body is hot and fiery, and consequently the readier to dilate, and send forth his virtue the further; but the mineral is cold, and therefore the less active and powerful in sending forth his beams. And yet for all this, experience teacheth us, that the Loadstone looketh towards the North-star, sendeth forth his spiritual aspect unto it: as also the star doth at the like distance send out his beams unto his Northern mineral mark, at an unmeasurable distance, as is said before; which being so, why should not (I beseech you) the Animal star derived from his celestial Fountain, send out also his beams unto the frozen and i'll blood, in his unctuous earth, I mean the Weapon-salve, or unto the blood's invisible spirit, sucked into the Iron by his attractive Sulphureous nature? For experience teacheth us, that though no corporal blood be found on the Iron, yet if the place of the weapon that wounded the person be anointed, it cureth by a like Sympathetic aspect: For country-Chirurgions have made trial, when they durst not search the wound with the Probe, and found by experience, namely, by putting the weapon into the fire, that the part of the sword or weapon will discover itself, which wounded the party, being that it will change colour from the rest; whereby they perceive how deep the wound is, by the observation of that part of the weapon which did penetrate. And therefore this is an evident argument of the ingression of the bloody spirits into the wounding instrument, and consequently it argueth, that there are essential spirits, which emanate or issue forth of the blood, quite forsaking the body: whereby also it is expressed, against Mr. Foster, that if the grosser spirits of the blood are able to pierce the close-grained steel, it's finer and more subtle spirits are able to penetrate without any resistance, all other things in manner of an influence. But we'll approach a little nearer to our purpose, and will remove ou● argument from the mineral demonstration, unto the vegetable, that thereby we may express like by like, in our animal subject. I will therefore insist upon the Grain of Wheat, which being dead and putrified in the earth, is suscitated by the beamy influences of the Sun. For like doth draw his like by a magnetic power, and like rejoiceth in his like, and like is suscitated, and revived and quickened, or evoked from his rest or centre, by his evoking, and alluring, or embracing like; and by this means, the beamy spark or atom of sunny influence in the grain, being idle, and doing nothing in the centre thereof, is stirred up by his external like, to act and operate his own delivery out of the elemental mire, or the slimy band of the elementary compound: And therefore, as it was before contracted from the external cold into the centre, it is now by the presence of fresh solary irradiation from above, exsuscitated, as is were, from death unto life; and so by the assistance of those celestial beams, it passeth beyond the limits of the corrupted grain, and soareth above the earth, and seeketh by all means to ascend unto his native region, from whence it descended; but being cumbered in his ascent by the sublunary substance of the importunate elements, which enclose it on every side, it is beset with the volatile salt of the air, and instead of mounting into his desired place, it is contented to multiply in his kind and to have companions, namely, other grains, procreated like itself. In like manner the microcosmical Sun of life, reigning (as Scriptures do teach us) in the blood, doth emanate and send out his spiritual beams which are inseparable, by continuity joined unto, and continued with, the spirit of the congealed blood, which is sucked into the iron, or other weapon, and retained in it; for, so pure, worthy, and subtle is the spirit of man's life, that every creature doth by a natural instinct affect to participate with it; 
F sellus de Demon.  yea, the very devils are said to affect a dwelling place in man's body, by reason of the excellent temper thereof. Neither would I have any man to scorn this saying of mine; for there is a concupiscible passion even in the very stones and minerals themselves, as in the Loadstone and Iron it is made manifest; and the spirit of the Iron, though it be mineral, is of the same condition in his catholic nature, that all other spirits are. And therefore marvel not, though I say, that the universal spirit affecteth the animal, being that for the same reason there hath been noted to be both a sympathetic and antipathetical condition between, as well the mineral and vegetable, and the mineral and animal, as between the animal and vegetable. But I will produce unto you a probable demonstration: There was an Earl (of whom, in my Book, entitled, The squeesing of Parson Foster's Sponge, I made mention) that had his Gardener cruelly wounded in his hand with a sith, as he was mowing of grass the wound bled shrewdly, and could not be stenched: They went up unto his Lord, and signified so much unto him, and implored his assistance, and desired to have some of his weapon-salve. He commanded, that forthwith the sith should be knocked off from his wooden handle, and conveyed unto him. The wounded fellow hearing so much, took a hammer himself, and holding it with one hand, he struck hard upon the weapon or sith with the other, and immediately (a wondrous thing to tell, and yet far from any suspicion of diabolical art!) the blood stenched, and he bled not one drop after it; as if the mineral spirit, which retained that of the animal, were terrified, and, as it were, in awe of the animal spirit that struck it, and thereby lost all the faculty of attraction; or that the spirits included in it, which did consent in harmony with the spirits of the bleeding man, had rejoiced in a kind of revenge which was taken on the weapon: For know, that there is a sympathetic and antipathetical irradiation, as well between the animal and the mineral, as between the animal and animal, or mineral and mineral. But mark, I pray you, a second notable observation, touching this point; Sir Bevis Thelwell told me, that for trial upon a Wheelers axe, that had wounded him grievously on his leg, after it was anointed and wrapped up, the wounded person that could not sleep for pain in five nights before, did sleep immediately after the ointment, and was at rest; which when Sir Bevis Thelwell espied, he would needs make trial of a thing, which he had heard confirmed by many: He opened the anointed Axe, and scraped off the ointment at one corner of it, and forthwith he was advertised, that the party complained of a grievous pain, which he felt just about that part of the wound where the axe was bare by scraping; whereupon also he anointed that protion over again, and suddenly the party felt ease. The same experiment was made and found true by the said Lord, Captain Stiles, and Sir Nicholas Gilbourn. I can also say upon mine own knowledge, that in the Churchyard on Bred-street-hill, a widow-Gentlewoman having a box of this ointment, cured many of the Toothache, by pricking the pained tooth with a sharp stick, till it bled, and putting that stick into her box of ointment. Among the rest, one of her neighbours, a contentious woman, having the toothache, made means unto her for her cure, or to have ease. Her teeth were pricked, and the stick put into the ointment, and she grew well. But within three or four days after, she fell out with the Gentlewoman's maid, and gave her Mistress but bad language; all which the maid did certify her Mistress of. The Gentlewoman being merrily disposed, said, She would make her repent it, and went unto the box, and took away the stick belonging to this woman out of the pot, and put it into a basin of cold water, and immediately the woman had such pain, as she was forced to sue to the Gentlewoman, and she receiving another stick which had pricked her teeth anew, it gave her immediate ease. Which accidents, when I had well contemplated, I thought with myself, that the included spirit had his chiefest comfort from the ointment, by keeping them warm; and that if the ointment was removed, the cold air, which is an enemy to the activity of the bloody spirits, was potent over it, and did congeal them; and so by consent of the beamy influence of life, emitted from the wound unto the included spirits, and continuated ever unto them, as inseparable, (for it was one and the same spirit, according unto Ezekiel's testimony, in two several properties, that blowed from the northwind, and the south) what distemper befalleth the included and congealed spirits in the weapon, happeneth, by effect of remission of evoked beams, and, as it were, by a report, unto the wound of the patient. Again, we must consider, that the separated blood hath in it each respect of the Microcosm, no otherwise, than a portion of a whole Loadstone, being divided from the whole, hath in it all the proportions of the World, namely, the Poles, Aequinoctial, and so forth, as well as the whole in it; so that the Idea of the wounded member, is in the spirits of the emitted blood, and maketh his relation to every part thereof, no otherwise, than the poles of a piece of the Loadstone do unto the whole. As also there is the like occult attraction and emission of beams, between the little blood emitted, and the whole bulk of blood retained in the veins, as is between the small amputated Loadstone, and the whole. I conclude therefore▪ that as the congealed bloody spirits in the weapon, or amputated blood, do by virtue of the homogenial heat, and unctuosity of the salve or ointment, ripen and exspire out by little and little unto his fountain, no otherwise than the spark in the grain of corn, being kept and preserved in the earthly matrix from the cold crude air, doth aspire upward to the heavenly Sun; so also by little and little doth the wound heal, and mend in the wounded creature. And thus much for the manner of action, between the wound and weapon-salve. Now a word or two touching the interval, or longitude of distance, between the wound and the ointment.  
The distance betwixt the Pole star and the Loadstone is unknown, and yet the one doth operate in the other, by sending out their reciprocal beams upward and downward; therefore here can no certain limited sphere of activity be assigned unto their action. The Sun and the spirit in the grain of wheat do operate in like manner, by a continuation of one and the same nature. Lo here, is the limited sphere of activity also abolished, being no man can justly determine of the extension of the solar influence, of whose nature, the beam in the grain doth participate no otherwise, than one small Loadstone cut out of a great one, hath his parts, or poles and circles, in every respect corresponding with those of the great one. Man hath a most subtle influence, or vivifying spirit of life, sent down and infused into him by divine inspiration, in which is the property of the four winds, (as the Prophet Ezekiel telleth us) and consequently the Idea of every nature; but the essence of this spirit is indivisible, and therefore the vivifying spirit sent from it into man, hath all the properties of the spirit that infused it, no otherwise than a lesser Loadstone, cut out of the greater, hath in every respect the property of the greater. And consequently, the spirit of the one is no more divided from the other, ●han the Sunbeams can be divided from the Sun. But the Spirit of the Lord filleth all things, (as Solomon hath it) and maketh the dimension of his operation in man more or less, according unto his will; and therefore will admit no such fantastical limited sphere of activity, as the wisdom of man's invention, I mean, the subject of the pagans Philosophy, which is folly before God, would infer. For this reason therefore Hermes saith, Anima ment Deoque plena, intima mundi replet, complectitur extima; 
Pimand. 11.  vitamque haec omnibus suggerit. The soul or vital● spirit being full of divinity, filleth the world, and embraceth external things, and this giveth life unto all things without; it giveth life unto the great and perfect animal the world, and breathing unto each thing that liveth within it. And again elsewhere, Naturá incorpore● nihil est capacius, nihil velocius, nihil validius aut potentius. Sic iterum à te ipso incipiens meditare, atque animae tuae praecipito, quae citius quam praeciples evolabit. Jubeto (inquam) ut transeat in Oceanum, illa priusquam ●usseris ibi erit, indenbi nunc est nequaquam discedens. Jubeto iterum ut in coelrm volet, nullis pennis egebit, nihil ejus obstruet cursui, non solis incendium, non aetheris amp i●udo, non vertigo coelorum, non syderum antiquorum corpora, quin penetrans omnia ad supernum usque corpus transcendat. Quinetiam sivolueris Globos omnes transire coel●rum, quodque supe●ius est investigare, id quoque tibi licebit. Adverte, quanta sit animae ●uae potestas quantae celeritas: There is nothing more capable than the incorporeal or spiritual nature; nothing more swift, and quick or nimble; nothing more strong or powerful. Again, Beginning thus with thyself, do thou meditate, and command thy soul, what thou pleasest, and it will fly sooner than thou commandest: Command it (I say) that it pass into the Ocean sea, and it will be there before thou bidst it. Again, command it that it fly into heaven, and it will want no wings; nothing will hinder her or stop her in her course, no not the heat of the Sun, nor the vast largeness of the heavenly or aethereal vault, nor the whee●ing about of the starry orbs, nor yet the bodies of the other stars, but piercing all these, it passeth quite through, even unto the highest body. Moreover, and if thou wilt have her to pass ●ver the celestial Globes, and to search out whatsoever is above, thou mayst do it also. Mark therefore how great the power of the Soul is, and how swift and quick it is in its execution, etc. thus far the wise Hermes. By both which places we may observe, first, that the Soul in general, and therefore in particular, is full of Divinity, and consequently that it is this Divine Essence, that worketh in this soul all in all, in the world, and every member thereof, as the Apostle saith, and therefore the said Philosopher in the place before: Anima m●nte Deoque p●ena, etc. Secondly, that this Divinity in the catholic created spirit filleth all things, in an Angelical existence; that is, endueth the mantle of the vast world's spirit. And this agreeth with Scripture, 
Sap. 12.1.  which saith, that Spiritus Dei implet omnia, The Spirit of the Lord falls all things. Spiritus incorruptibilis inest omni rei: The incorruptibe Spirit is in all things. 
Pimand. 10.  Deus vivificat omnia: God vivifieth all things, and consequently, is the essential act and life of the world, as I have proved fully in the first Book of this Treatise: wherefore Hermes in another place saith thus: Animae univers● per omnem mundum ab una mundi totius anima profluunt, tanquam d●stributae circumferentes: The universal souls throughout the whole world, do proceed as it were distributed concurrent● from one soul of the whole world; which is all one with that which we have said before, namely that all Souls in this world, are certain beamy streams, proceeding from that catholic Emanation, which issued from the eternal Fountain of the illuminating act, to some more copiously, and to some more sparingly; and therefore Man ●s said to be in dignity little less than the Angels, by reason of the large portion of Light bestowed upon him: 
Job.  Spiritus Dei fecit me (saith Job): sed inspiratio Omnipotentis fecit me ●mel●igere. Thirdly, That in the very twinkling of an eye, it is able to penetrate quite through all things, and that at what distance it pleaseth, and consequently will not be limited by any imaginary Sphere of activity. But Mr. Foster and his complices will reply, that the spirit which should operate in the blood, and from the blood, to the Ointment, is a natural spirit, and not this Divine Spirit. This Objection maketh me to smile: As who should say, that this act of vivifying, yea, and of every other faculty belonging unto man's spirit, doth not move from one and the same Divine Fountain when the Apostle saith, In him we move, we live, and have our being. Again, it is said, that in the blood is the soul or spirit of life. And St. John saith, In Verbo erat vita, in the Word was life. I will tell you therefore what a true Philosopher saith, touching this point, Anima (saith he) ad similitudinem totius sapientiae facta, omnem in se gerit similitudinem, est que spiritus intellectualis, semper vivens, semper in motu, & secundum su● operis officium, variis nunc●pa●ur n●m●nibus. Dicitur vita dum vegetat; spiritus dum contemplatur; sensus dum senti; animus dumb sapit; mens dum intelligit; ratio dum discernit; memoria dum recordatu●; dum vult voluntas: & ista omnia non sunt nisi una anima proprietate diversa sed essentia unica: The soul of Man framed after the similitude of all wisdom, doth bear in itself the likeness of all things; and it is an intellectual spirit, ever living, and ever in motion, and it is termed by divers names and appellations, according unto the office of the work which it effecteth: For when it vegetateth or causeth to grow and multiply, it is called life; when it contemplateth, it is termed a spirit; it is called sense, when it is conversant about the function, which belongeth unto the external sense; it is termed the mind, when it is versed about wisdom; it is called men's or the mental beam, when it understandeth; it is termed reason, when it discerneth between good or bad; it is called memory, when it remembreth; it is styled Volunty when it willeth; and yet all these are but only one soul, divers properties, I say, but one only essence. So that it is the same essential act, which causeth life, and contemplation; which maketh sense and intellect; which effecteth memory and reason; and, to conclude, that willeth or nilleth. Which being thus, Is it not a sinful thing in ignorant persons, to make the occult actions of this abstruse spirit, by which they live, move, understand, discern between good and evil, remember, see, feel, hear, touch, and ●ast, the effects of the devil; and consequently to rob their bright soul of her honour, instead of giving her thanks for her assistance, by ascribing her arcane operations most irreligiously and falsely, unto the devil? And why I pray? Why, because they cannot dive into the depth of her activity, by whom they themselves do live, move, and have their being. Yea, and to limit her activity with bounds, according unto their pleasure, who (though they know not so much) have their life and volunty from her, which limiteth them according as she pleaseth, who is infinite in her being; for so much as she is a portion, not divided from that Divine Emanation which is infinite in his extension. It is evident therefore, that this vivifying Spirit can send forth its action unto any mark in the world, from any specific nature, but especially from the Microcosmicall creature; and the rather▪ if the mark be of the same specific condition, and the vehicle of the spirit, namely the effused blood, measuring first the distance between the wound and the Ointment. Moreover, we shall find this confirmed by other of her operations, effected in the same Microcosmicall Mine, from whence it emitteth its beams, at an unlimited distance. As for example: It is found by experience, and that by natural means, without any suspicion of Cacomagicall devices or superstitious artifices, that if a persons urine that hath the Yellow Jaundis, be conveied at the distance of a hundred miles (as by an honourable Person of no small rank, and entire in Religion, I am informed, who hath often times made the trial hereof) unto a place where a composition shall be made of the urine, and ashes of a certain tree, commonly known and had in this Kingdom, with certain blades of Saffron, (as hath been told you in my Book, entitled The Squeezing of Parson Foster's Sponge) it oftentimes cureth that disease, when the best of Physical experiments have failed; and this Medicine misseth seldom, where the disease is curable. And now I will relate a true story, which befell this last year 1630, upon a Chirurgion's wife, who dwelled not far from the Tower of London: She fell desperately sick of the Yellow Jaundis, and had sick gripe, and shoutings withal, about her Stomach; myself after many others was called unto her, but prevailed but little by our Physical means over the disease; wherefore she hearing me tell of the many cures which this Noble Earl I spoke of, did perform in having the Parties water, she sent her man unto me with her water, to request me to make some means unto the Noble Man for her. The fellow was sent by me with a letter four miles into the country, and when he came unto the house, he found two that were there to give thanks for their recovery: For by that means they were cured. The urine was received for my sake, and the fellow sent away: But mark the consequence; so soon as the fellow was parted with the urine, the sick woman was tatled unto by demure Gossips, and told that it was done by witchcraft and the devil, and therefore dangerous for her soul, which made her rage and cry-out upon witchcraft, and was much discontented; which when I heard, I came no more unto her, esteeming her ungrateful, and sent suddenly to the Earl, to request him to undo the business, and break the clods; which he sent me word he would do, but told me it was to late: For (said he) it will work the effect howsoever. Indeed the woman mended immediately after it, and no doubt did ascribe the cure unto some other inefficacious Physical trash, applied per chance unto her by some Mountebank. All this I spoke to my knowledge; and I am not ignorant of the manner of the cure: For it pleased the Noble Personage to impart unto me the manner; yea, and the Ladies his daughters have cured many of this disease; aswell rich as poor, who have made some means unto them for this cure. And this worthy Lord did assure me, that he had cured at an hundred mile's distance. I cannot choose but make you acquainted with another cure, which he effected upon a noble Lady that was my patient. She had extremely the Jaundis, and though I did in some sort remove them for a while, yet it returned again. I than requested the Noble Knight her husband to send her water unto the foresaid Honourable Personage, and promised him to write my letter by him. All was done as I counselled, and the Countess herself took it into her care to dispose of the water; and the rather, because the Lady that was sick, was of a Noble Parentage. Somewhat i wrought with the disease, but not to our purpose: Whereupon I did visit this Noble Man, and told him of the small success that his Medicine had. He willed me to send her water once more; and told me, that a Lady was with him in the foresaid noble patient's behalf, the day before. I sent again her water, and from that time forward she mended apace, and was perfectly cured. There are a hundred who can justify this to be true. Neither can it be alleged, that it might be done by some medicine used in ●he mean time. To ●ut off this objection, she was prohibited for all that season to take any medicine, but bare food only. Now the reason of this cure is no otherwise effected, then that of the weapon-salve; for the spirit of the blood in the infected person, hath a continuated relation unto his salt, yea, and its habitation is in the aereal salt of the blood, which being a subtle earth, in the centre whereof is the spirit contracted, and being partly dispersed in the urine, which is the whey of the blood, it sucketh and draweth unto it his like from the infected body, whereby it being, as it were, resuscitated, and newly revived, it emitteth new beams to meet, comfort, and correct the infected beams, emitted out of the sick body. And again, the infecting spirit of the icteritious humour is, by virtue of the salt in the ashes, and saffron, conquered and tamped; so that as it dieth, the insulting humour, and his venomous spirit, decayeth and fadeth by little and little in his strength, till it be finally quite extinguished. Whereby it is evident, that by one and the same medicine, the spirit in the urin's salt, and that in the sick-man's blood, are both sympathetically refreshed and purified, and the flame of the evil infecting spirit of the disease as well as in the urine as sick body, is antipathetically quenched and annihilated. In this respect therefore, we compare the composition of urine, ashes, and saffron in this cure, unto the weapon-salve, in the consolidating of wounds; and the urine carried from the sick unto the mass so compounded, unto the blood or spirit on and in the weapon; and the exsuscitating of the congealed spirit in the salt of the urine, unto the revivifying and exagitating of the spirit in the dead blood, or sucked up by the po●y substance of the weapon; so that we see here all one consent: For as the dead blood came from the lively fountain of blood, so the urine was the whey or serous substance of the same wellspring, not left destitute of the bloody spirits.  
What shall we say unto the admirable effects, in the transplantation of the bloody spirits in man, into other animals or vegetables? Verily, it is a thing well known unto such, as are well seen in the mysteries of natural▪ micro●os●i●all, and macro●os●icall Magic, that the spiritual Mummy, whose se●t is in the microcosmicall blood, may be sucked or drawn out of man's ●ody by a Magne●, extracted out of the same subject, and transplanted into a beast, tree, o● herb; so that the disease also of the sick man may be conveyed from the sick person into them▪ by means of this microcosmicall Magnes, the practice whereof shall be expressed more at large in the next Book. Also Johannes R●melius Pharamund●s doth profess, that he hath cured divers of the Gout, by cutting off the hairs of the feet and thighs, and paring off the nails, and thrusting of them into a hole which he bored unto the very pith of an Oak, and closing or ramming up the ho●e again with a peg or pin, made of the same tree, and afterward daubing it up, and covering it over with cowdung. Then, saith he, if the Gout come not again within the space of three months, the Oak will be sufficient to draw magnetically unto it the disease; but if the Gout come again within three months' space, it noteth the insufficiency of the Oaks magnetical virtue. Wherefore then he proceedeth after this manner: He boreth a hole in another Oak as before, and keepeth those pieces which in the boring came out of the Oak, and bruiseth them, and quilts or stitcheth them up in a bag, and applieth them to the member grieved; and this he doth just three days before the new Moon: Then in the very hour of the new Moon, he taketh away the bag, and taketh out the bruised wood, and putteth it into the hole of the tree, and rammeth it in with a peg or pin of the same Oak. And if for all this the Gout shall be perceived within three three months after, than he cutteth off the hair and nails of the feet, and tieth them unto the back of a Crabfish, and casteth it into the running water, and the gouty person will be cured. This Doctor of Physic doth profess in a certain Book of his, set forth by him in the Germane Tongue, that he hath cured many by the first experiment, and many other by the first and second, one after another; and lastly, many desperate ones by the first, second, and third. And he saith, that this manner of cure is commonly found certain in those Gouts, which happen of a sulphureous cause; but in those Gouts which rise from a Mercurial and salted nature, it often faileth. And therefore leaving this magnetic manner of cure, he betaketh himself unto a more external kind of remedy.  
I have (also in my, Squeezing of Mr. Foster's Sponge) related unto you, the strange sympathy which is betwixt the Vegetable, called Rosa-solis, and the matrix of a woman, and how it being laid in Plantain water, it closeth itself, and if a part of that water be drunk by a woman that is in Travel, and the herb in the water be removed into another house, yet at that very instant that the woman is upon delivery, the flower or herb will by little and little open itself, even as the matrix of the woman doth: An evident argument, that those beams which issue from these two, do sympathise with one another. To conclude, it is most evident, that seeing the spiritual Astralicall virtues, in each inferior creature, do descend from celestial stars, and are of one continued nature with them, as the Sunbeams which are here below, are not divided or separated from their fountain of light, it followeth, that they emit their beamy influences unto one another, even as the two stars do in heaven, from whence they are animated: so that if the two stars in heaven be friends, they both do sympathise in the occurrences of their emanations with one another; but if they be enemies to one another in heaven, they will, in their applications of beams, antipathise and decline from one another. And as touching the distance which they observe in their mutual action with one another, we must imagine it to extend itself so far, as their beams are able to apply to one another. And I would have such men, as are only conversant about sens●ble affairs, know, that the action of these creatures by aspect unto one another, do operate occultly, though the effect doth nor always manifest itself unto ou● sense; but withal they ought to conceive, that the nearer in natural affinity the stars in heaven, and consequently the things beneath, which are subject unto those spirits, are unto one another, the more efficacious will the sympathising effects prove, by reason▪ that then their beams will meet directly, that is, without any swerving or declination.   

CHAP. VI  
That the devil doth make use of natural things to operate his stratagems amongst men, without the which, he can effect nothing truly, but only prestigiously, or by delusion; And, whether those Natural things are therefore Cacomagicall, and to be eschewed of Mankind, because their secret effects do sometimes conform themselves unto the volu●ty of the devil.  
WE read in many places in Scripture, that the devil maketh use of God's creatures, to bring to pass his secret devices and stratagems against mankind: as for example, Satan, to impoverish and ruinate the fortune of patient Job, did make use of the winds, and did call (as the Text saith) the fire of God from heaven to consume his cattle. God forbid, that we should esteem for this reason these creatures of God to be cacomagicall and diabolical, because God made them act to accomplish the will of the devil: He made him also a Prince of the air, insomuch as he hath power to stir up tempests in the seas, and storms in the elementary heavens; and therefore the air by some is called, The Synagogue of Satan: What! must we therefore abhor the air and winds, because the devil doth at sometimes act by and in them his mischievous feats? when as the air is cleared and purified from all corruption (as Aristotle saith rightly) by agitation of the winds, for if it were not excited and moved by the winds, it would putrify, as the standing waters doth. Again, if we should fly from, and loath the air, how should we live? when the airy spirit is the spiritual seed of our life. We read also in Scriptures, that God causeth the Sun indifferently to rise upon the good and bad, and that the Sun and Moon do harm or hurt some, as again they are comfortable and propitious unto others; 
Psal. 121.5.  and therefore David saith, The Sun shall not harm thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Moon, which is termed by the Poets, H●ccate, is the goddess of witches, for unto her did the famous Enchantress Medea make her orisons, for the furthering of her purposes; and yet the air, the water, and the earth, are seasoned with her humid or madid virtues, and the plants, yea, and animals, do acknowledge her the Patroness of vegetation; the maketh the seas to swell, and again, by another kind of her position or aspect, the seas are abated in their pride, and humours are more scanty in every living or vegetating thing: Yea, we find, that all the malignant watery spirits are subject unto her influences; and that Satan also taketh his advantage on the divers positions of her, or conjunctions and applications with other as well fixed as erratik stars to work his feats: for he is an old beaten Soldier in Astrology, and knoweth the effects of every situation of the heavens, and therefore can take the advantage of their strongest influences, upon animal, vegetable, or mineral creatures, which are subject unto them, he knoweth the due times when they are poured down upon them, and is expert in their virtues, which are then only of greatest efficacy and force, when the powerful point of their proper constellation striketh upon them, and stirreth up their central spirits, to show forth the uttermost of their occult or arcane natures and conditions, and then at the very instant, he collecteth the herb or stone, or maketh use of the Animal's members, or teacheth such as are Sorcerers to do it, without knowing the mystery of the constellation's concurrence or application at that time of the collection with the natural creatures so collected; So that when they attempt to make use of the same Simples at another time, they find them weak and of none effect; because the spirits of every herb, animal, or mineral, are weakest, when the star which is their nursing celestial mother, hath least power or dominion in heaven. All which the true Astrological Philosopher knoweth right well by experience, to be true: For gathering of a Simple at the point, when the constellation, as well fixed as erratic, which hath the essential dominion over it, is in his greatest dignity and power in heaven, he findeth an admirable efficacy in it, as well in his occult as evident property; when chose, if it be collected at a season, wherein the heavenly Patron is weak and feeble, they will appear as it were faint and almost dead in their power: Whereby it is most apparent, that it is the natural creature's, which by their own essential nature's work, even as well those sympathetic as antipathetical effects, which the devil doth make use of to perform his devices, even as the Physician, Philosopher or natural Magician doth, to effect their own ends. What shall we say then? what? that whosoever shall use or operate by the same creatures, be they animals, vegetabls, or minerals, are Cacomagicians and their work diabolical▪ because the devil at some times maketh use of their subtle and abstruse action, to build himself a name amongst fools? Is it not God that worketh such effects in these his creatures? Did he not by his Word bestow such virtues on them in their Creation, and continued it in their sucession by generation? Why then is it not as possible unto Man, who is framed after God's Image, to know the true time of the collection of these creatures, with the uses and virtues thereof, as well as the devil? What? because, forsooth, he since the fall Adam, is blinded with ignorance, and cannot see or distinguish light from dakness? That Adam knew the virtues of the stars and of every particular earthly creature subject unto every one of these stars, we partly gather out of Scripture: For else could he not have assigned a proper name unto each of them, agreeing to his nature. But if the sucession of Adam is blind, and cannot distinguish of colours, and therefore is ignorant also in these hidden treasures of God; How, I pray you, came the devil to have so deep an insight in them, being that he fell for his rebellion, far deeper than Man, and is clogged with a darker vail than he, and therefore is called the Prince of darkness. Oh, you reply, the devil is a spirit without body, and therefore is able to discern the hidden things of God in nature, sooner and better than Man, who is a gross bodily creature. And again, Man dieth every Age, but the devil by reason of his long continuance, is of great experience. I answer: That though Man die and continueth not long; and though he be obscured in his understanding by reason of his Forefathers fall; and though he be clad or endued with a dark and cumbersome body, yet hath he the revelation of the Truth, and a discovery of the abstruse mysteries of Natural things first from God, bequeathed and left unto him by succession; that is, by a Cabalistical tradition, even from our Forefather Adam, and by the revelation of God's Wisdom, 
Sap. 7.17.  or the good Spirit, which he hath bestowed upon the Elect: For by it (as Solomon himself doth testify) he came to know the disposition of the Earth; the virtue of the Elements; the beginning, end and middle of times; the change of manners the division of times; the course of the year; the disposition of the sta●rs; the natures of living creatures; the condition of beasts; the force of the winds; the differences of Plants; the virtues of roots; yea, saith he, and I discovered all hidden and abstruse things: For Wisdom who is the worker of all things taught it me, etc. And again, it is said, that he knew and was instructed in the mysteries of all Plants, even from the lowly Hyssop, unto the lofty Cedar of Libanon. Was it then a diabolical action in Solomon, to look after, and to practise upon the abstruse natures of Plants and Animals, and to find out by his skill in Astrology the proper stars, which are their true Patrons and charitable Mothers in heaven, and to make election of their due times and seasons in gathering of them; being that the Divine Wisdom that made them, operates in them, and by them, taught him this skill; because the devil also is by his acute observation made partaker of their knowledge, and doth make use also of all these things to serve his own turn: What? because, I say he, hath this knowledge to elect every Simple, in his force and season, by observation of that reference which is between the stars and them; Therefore must not Man be partaker of their natural virtues, or be made cunning in the skill of collecting them, but by the aid and revelation of the devil? When in flat terms the Scriptures say, that God made them all for the use of Man, must they be esteemed diabolical in all that use them, and therefore be forbidden, because the devil doth sometimes serve his turn with them? As who should say, that God should create any thing, only for the devil's use, and not to serve man in each necessity, and that according unto his free will, being that it is said, that He gave man power, and made him Lord over all his creatures. What if the animal, or vegetable, or mineral Simple, do in some cases harm and prove venomous, yet in other respects it proveth salutary. There is no wind so bad, but bloweth unto some men, good.  
The Coloquintida, Scamony, Euphorbium, Cucumer asininus, Titimall, Bea●s-foot, Flammula, Garlick, and such like, in the vegetable kingdom, prove in some respects venomous, and yet may be applied after a salutary condition, unto the body of Man. Also Arsenic, Orpiment, Antimony, Quicksilver, and such like, in the mineral Sphere do kill, being malevolously and without correction applied. The Toad, the Viper, or Adder, the Spider, the Scorpion, the Cantharideses, and such like in the animal region, are deadly poison unto man kind; and yet they may be so prepared, that they may prove wholesome medicines unto him, and become counter-poisons. But besides all this, as there is nothing in the world, that worketh more effectually by Sympathy and according unto nature, than one wholesome and sound nature doth with another; So verily is there nothing, that operateth more Antipathetically, and contrary to nature or destructively, than the corruption of an empoisoned or infected spirit, doth with a wholesome spirit of his like Species. And the reason is because it coveteth and desireth by an earnest communication of his beams, to receive (as it were help and succour in its distress from the sound spirits, unto the irradiations whereof, it applieth itself for relief: as we see in the time of contagion, the spirit arising or emanating from the infected person, applieth his infected beams greedily unto the emanating spirit of his wholesome like; and so by a continuation of one unto the other, the fiery venom of the one empoisoneth and co-inquinateth the salutary nature of the other, and that only with his specific like: For commonly the Plague, familiar unto Men, doth not stick or cleave unto the spirit of beasts, namely unto that of Sheep, and such other. As in like manner, the Murrain in beasts, infecteth not Man's spirit; but the like specific nature is evermore aprest, to embrace and apply his beams unto his like: For this cause therefore it is evident, that as our of a wholesome Man, there may be had a spiritual Mummy, which is wondrous healthful and salutiferous unto mankind; insomuch that for his universal respects, it may be esteemed as a Panacaea or catholic medicine, to preserve health; So also there may be attracted out of Man, after a strange manner of corruption of his spiritual Mummy, a venom, than the which there cannot be found a more pernicious or malignant one to mankind in the world: For this reason therefore, a certain Jew, (as I was by a Merchant that came newly from Fess in Barbary unto L●●orn credibly informed) after he had beheld an English Mariner in the ship, who had a red head, and feigning himself to be much taken with the love of him, wrought so with him, that for 300 Pound, he agreed to sell himself unto him for his slave, thinking in time to come to give his Jewish Master the slip, and run away: Within a while after the ship being ready to return, and the Mariners going to take their leave of their captive fellow, they resorted unto the Jew's house, who after they had demanded for their fellow, led them into a back Court, where they found the redheaded captive, his back being broke, and a gag in his mouth and chaps and throat swollen; which, as he said, was caused by the stinging of Vipers, which were forced into his mouth; and so hung up and exposed unto the hot Sun, with a silver basin under his mouth, to receive that which dropped from his mouth; of which (as he related unto me) the Jew made a kind of poison so deadly, that it did surely kill where it touched; affirming that he sold it at an excessive rate. The like was effected, (as I was told by the Pope's Apothecary, dwelling in Avinion; and since, it hath been confirmed by others, that came from Rome) by a certain Cardinal, who immediately after he had got his redheaded Mistress with child, and nourishing her with all the delightful dainties that might be, till she was delivered, did in a secret Court in his Palace bury her, arms and all, unto the paps, and so let loose unto her two hungry Asps, or, as a Germane heard it related, two deformed Toads, the which making immediately unto her dugs, sucked, and in sucking bit her, and empoisoned her dugs; and when the Toads were full, that milk became (as he said) so venomous and deadly, that it infected any one that touched it, it was so subtle and piercing. And besides, (as the former story goeth) the woman was taken up, and after her back was broken, was hanged her legs upward against the Sun, to receive that venomous liquor which distilled from it into a silver vessel, wherewith he intended to have poisoned that Cardinal, which stood as a block in his way between the Popedom and him. But all was discovered, and he, according to his merit, did endure the fiery trial for it. And the reason why the red headed man or woman is elected most fit for this purpose, is, because they are subject by their nativity unto the influences of the Sun, and therefore are the more capable of, and obnoxious to corruption; wherefore their spiritual Mummy being contaminated by the animal poison, is after his fermentation and putrefaction, made admirably subtle, and exceeding malicious. And although the sympathetic desire be in the specific Mummy, to be joined with his like, yet by reason it is infected, and intoxicated by that antipathetical spirit of the envenomed beast, which hath got the mastery over it, it cannot embrace his like sympathetically, but it infecteth it also by his antipathetical additament, and so the accidental venom converteth them both into his nature. That there was a certain Hermit, that lives not far off from Aex in Pr●vence, is fresh yet in every mouth of that place, that with the like philter did infect the whole City with so desperate a plague, that it did destroy mo●t of the people thereof; only they were preserved and cured when this Hermit pleased, who for that cause was styled by th● name of Holy Hermit; for as he poisoned the hammers of each of the doors, so that whosoever knocked with them was forthwith infected, he that poisoned had his counterpoison to cure. This devilish pe●son was at the last discovered, and burned alive, as he well deserved. By the like stratagem, a little before my coming into Prov●nce, the plague was brought into Tutor in in Piamont, by certain lewd persons, who suffered for it, their flesh being torn from them by hot fiery pincers. Also lately, by the strewing of a venomous powder, the plague was multiplied in Milan, the conspirators discovered, and executed: And thus by these wicked inventions, the internal spirits of men were infected, and the external air polluted. Neither can this to the true Naturalist appear strange, since it is proved by experience, that a wholesome air is oftentimes converted by a venomous blast of the southern wind, ●nto a corrupted and contagious disposition, and the air that was pure and unpolluted, is now by the pestiferous breath of a plaguy person, or the infecti●● carbuncle, or both, inquinated and made venomous; and that air so corrupted, will also corrupt his next airy neighbour, which was ●ound and healthful before. Let us but observe, how the infected spirit of the plaguy person, or one possessed with the small Pox or Measles, Ptisick, or Ophthalmy, or blear eyes, doth infect the spirit of a sound man at a good distance; and the Leprosy, Epilepsy, French-Pox, by an immediate contact; and we shall find, how that which was created wholesome and salutary in man, is become contaminating and venomous by disorder. What therefore shall I say? must we conclude, that we must abandon our own nature, because it may be made infectious and deadly unto us? Nay, must we therefore esteem human nature to be therefore abominable, and abhorred of man, because the witches and sorcerers do, by the devil's doctrine and instructions, make use of man's flesh, hair, nails, excrements, blood, yea, and of both his spiritual and corporal Mummy, to b●ing their wicked purposes and enchantments to pass? That this is so, we find it as well maintained by History, as daily practise, observed amongst the witches; for Apuleius (who, for his magical relations, was censured by some to be a witch) telleth, how his sweetheart ●otis, was by her mistress, being a notorious witch, sent into a Barber's shop secretly for men's hair, to employ it about her witchcraft. Also he showeth, that it was a thing so frequent in those days, by reason of the abundance of sorceresses which abode in Thessa●y, to have watchmen with store of lights, to attend upon the dead corpses or corpse, immediately after their death, to hinder and prevent the witches, which used to come in secretly by night, in the form of Weasels and such like shapes, to steal away some part of the carcase to serve their turns, about their wicked art. Moreover, it is a common thing, amongst them and the Necromancers, to frequent the Churchyards, and to visit the graves of such as are dead, either for some part of them, or else for a piece of their winding-sheet, or of the coffin wherein they were buried, by reason of the spiritual Mummy which sticketh unto them, to effect their ceremonies and naughty devices. It hath been confessed by a witch, that destroyed a Nobleman's children of this Land, that she could have no power over one of them, till she had recovered an old glove that it wore, and afterward she had power over it: the reason was, because of the relation which the spiritual Mummy of the child, that entered by sweat into the glove, had with that of the body; no otherwise than that spirit upon the weapon hath, unto the spirit of the wounded body; so that as that fareth, either in hot or cold distempers, so also it fared with the spirit in the wound, as it appeared, when the axe or weapon was uncovered by chance, the wound would be dolorous and distempered with cold; and when of purpose part of the ointment was pared off from the weapon, that part of the wound which corresponded unto it, would ache and be troubled; so also the witches, applying their naughty venom unto the Mummy in the glove, shoe, or other part of the worn-shirt, smock, sock, or such like, do produce their venomous effect afar off. We read also in cacomagicall books, in what esteem the members of young children were among enchanters, and especially their skin, of which, after many diabolical and necromantical consecrations, they create their virgin parchment, on which they write the names of god, of the angels they invoke, and the character of the planet or star unto which they do belong. Must therefore the magnetic effect of man's nature, or spiritual Mummy, with his like, be esteemed damnable and diabolical, because the mystery thereof is by the devil revealed unto witches, and the secret property thereof converted unto an evil sense, and unchristianlike use? Must air be refused and banished from man, because it may be by bad means corrupted, and so be made to kill; or is fire to be excluded as condemnable, for that it, being ill applied, proveth now destructive, which being rightly applied, doth cherish and comfort? If by contaminating or changing our spiritual Mummy into a contagious and venomous disposition, we infect another, as one plaguy person poisoneth another, ad distans; and one house on fire setteth fire unto another, though it be not contiguous or touching; must therefore the use of the air and fire be condemned, and banished from man's use? Or, must God's fire from heaven be abhorred, because Satan made use of it in a destructive sense, and for the ruin of Job's possession? Shall, I say, the occult property of the spiritual Mummy, and the admirable efficacy of man's spirit, in wholesome and salutary uses, be therefore eschewed and abhorred, because by infection it may be converted to a poisonsome disposition? Shall a good sword, which is ordained for the defence and safeguard of its master, b●●herefore broke and cast away, because a bad man killeth another with it? A good thing being ill applied, may do harm. The influence and light of the heavenly Sun, in the which is the spiracle of life, being ill received, doth sometime breed unnatural effects, yea, the devil himself maketh use of it, to serve his use at several seasons; and yet neither it, nor his virtues, can for all that be esteemed diabolical. In like manner, if we descend from the animal sphere, unto the vegetable and mineral, we find, that the notorious Enchantress Medea, made special use in her enchantments, (as also the same is related of other sorcerers and witches) of herbs, stones, and minerals, without the help of which natural things, neither they, nor their devil, which revealed unto them their secret virtues, could effect or accomplish their desires. And for this purpose, (as Ovid telleth the story) she searched the lofty tops of Ata, to find out herbs for her purposes. Many operate their feats by the virtuous property of stones, which the devil doth deliver unto them, though they themselves know neither the starry influence that giveth the force, nor yet how they should be prepared for the operations of such strange effects: As for example, There was a witch in Scotland, who at her arreignment did confess, that by the property of a stone which was taken from her, she could discover any thing, namely if a thing were true it would sweat, and if it were false, it would not sweat; and also it would reveal other things unto her by changing colours. And again, when they desired to see some conclusions from her, she said, that if they would let her have her stone, she would show them some: But they fearing that she would escape by that means durst not let her have it, but did burn her at the Queen's Ferry in Sco●land. Some are instructed by him to take a metal and to prepare it under his proper constellation, and to grave on it the characters of the star, and Angels belonging unto it, at su●h a time as the star is most potent in heaven, and well encountered by other Planets. And then they find these plates to be of a strange effect, in many Magical executions. What? And because the devil knoweth the virtue and properties of these natural things, and can instruct his ministers in the evil usage of them; therefore doth it follow, that Adam, and Solomon, and the wise Magicians of the East, and many other good and godly persons, do not know their virtues, their times of collection, and their manner of application in goodness; yea, and if they see a just cause in a contrary sense, and that without the transgression of the bounds of natural and lawful Magic, whose true subject is the Spirit of Wisdom, which is the Basis or foundation of true Natural Philosophy? What make we of the means which Moses used, when he by dispersing of ashes, brought the botch over all Egypt? But some will say, that this was supernaturally done: Let them but look into the occult Secrets in the nature of other animals, vegetables, and minerals, and they shall find as great mysteries as these contained naturally in them, all suspicion of commerce with the devil being set apart. Was the reverend Father Albertus Magnus a Cacomagician, because he reciteth the abstruse, occult, and mystical virtues of Animals, Plants, and Stones. The like did Hermes, Plato, and many other profound Philosophers. Or must these be the pupils of the devil, because they know the times and hours of their collection, and manner of preparation, though they kept that secret unto themselves? No verily, for they had it from tradition, namely from the mystical and profound Philophers or natural Wisemen, such as Solomon, Hermes, and the wise men called Magis, or natural Magicians of the East, which revealed them unto the worthy, by succession from one Age unto another. Was it not a wondrous propery in Gyges his ring, that could make him, by the natural property that it had, to walk invisible? And yet forsooth the blind buzzards of our Age (such, I say, as Mr. ●oster, and his Complices are) will have all these miraculous effects in the creatures, to proceed from the devil; and so deprive the Omnipotent Spirit of God, and his Nature, of their right; when Solomon in plain terms confesseth, that all the knowledge of the secret times of Election, of the mystical natures in the stars, of the occult virtues and properties of Man, Beasts, Plants, and Roots, and all things else known or unknown, proceed from the Spirit of God, and therefore he concludeth in these words: Omnium enim opifex me docuit Sapientia: For wisdom the worker or maker of all things taught me. In which words he inferreth, first, That the Spirit of Wisdom teacheth, and discovereth unto man, the abstruse mysteries of Natural Philosophy, which consisteth in the knowledge and discovery of natural virtues, as well above as beneath. And secondly, That it is the same Spirit that made those virtues in every specific thing, namely in the stars above; and in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms beneath. Which being so, what can the devil, being but a reasonable creature as well as man, do, in the creating of these essential virtues by which he worketh his feats, more than man? Or why should we attribute that unto him, which doth rightly belong unto the all-creating and acting Spirit in the internal creature? If man please, he may attribute the wickedness of the action unto the devil, which instigateth man to evil, and teacheth him the means to effect his bad intent; that, verily, doth of right belong unto the devil: For he was created for a destroyer, as the Prophet Isaias testifieth to us; and to effect it he maketh use of God's natural creatures; for he used the fire of God from heaven, to destroy Job's cattle, and the corrupt air to kill with the Plague or Pestilence the Israelites for David's sins: Neither was it ever observed, that he could do aught against man of himself, saving only in temptation: but he opera●eth to destroy, or make sick by such natural antipathising means, as God hath framed for a director usage; although also unto some of his veneficall scholars, he is pleased to show and reveal a counterpoison, by which they may by a stronger sympathetic operation, drown or extinguish such antipathetical effects as they have imposed upon man's external spirit, when they are moved either for fear of punishment, or for gain, or fo● compassion to do it: which is the reason that some witches can undo those afflicting maladies, which they themselves, or other witches have laid on persons; but always they must operate by a real and manifest natural Substance, 
Nichol. Pennigius Demonolo. lib. 1.  as are Powders, Ointments, Herbs, and such like. As for example: Claudaea, Fellea, Joan, Banno and Nicola Piscatrix, with all their Society, in Lorraine, confessed the 9 of May 1581. that they had delivered unto them by the devil, subtle powders of three natures, the which were distinguished in colour: For (said they) that of a black colour killeth, being strewed on meat, or rubbed on the body, or sprinkled on the apparel; and that of an ashen or reddish colour, causeth diseases: but the white Powder did cure those diseases. And Odella Boncuriana being arraigned the 18. of January 1586. saith that it was the manner of the witches of his faction, to strew a poisoned powder in the way where they should pass, on whom they would work mischief. And Francis Perine, confessed the 4. of November 1588. that an herb was given her by the devil, to be laid in the way that Riberianus (who did beat her for stealing some of his pears) did pass, which caused him suddenly to fall sick. Francis Follers, and Margot Warny, and Jacobit Equine, confessed the 15. of January 1584. that they had Ointments, by which they anointed rods and whips; So that if they touched therewith, but the vestments of any one, he died not long after. Also they said, that if they anointed their hand with this Magical Ointment, if they but touched any one's garments, they died within a small space after. Thus you see how the devil cannot work but by natural poisons: For nothing proceedeth merely of himself, but prestigious apparitions, namely those which seem, but indeed are no more in effect, than a painted image is in regard of the true substance.  
And therefore let not the devil's ministers make their brags, that this cometh from his invention: For the true Alchemists speak upon their own experience, that their Matter when it is in rotting and black, is more destructive than the venomous Tyrean or Serpent, and therefore it killeth suddenly; wherefore they warn the operatours to beware of their Fumes: but when it appeareth in decoction between white and black, it reduceth the Patient into a strait between death and health; that is, into a sickly constitution; and the white, which signifieth perfection of maturity, causeth health, and cureth infirmities, and preventeth the malice, that the black and ash colour bring with them; So that you see the devil can do no more of himself then man is able. Again, for strewing of the destroying powder, the same was effected by man's wicked invention in Milan, the year 1629. And for the Ointment which killeth by an immediate contact, the Jew and the Cardinal knew that wicked craft, namely to abuse God's creatures as well as the devil: for whosoever it touched, it killed; and again, the Hermit effected the same business by anointing the hammers of the doors, and had his Alexipharmacon or counterpoison for it, as well as the devil; So that you may see that the wicked-minded man, that abuseth God's good creatures, as well as the devil, altering it from the true sense, for which it was created by God, for the benefit of Man; may rightly be ranked with the devil, and be termed justly, a devil incarnate, in that without the devil's furtherance; he can effect many devilish ways, to destroy, as well as the devil, without flesh and bones. I conclude therefore, that it is a great absurdity; yea, and a gross foppery or madness in ignorant men, so lightly to adjudge and censure the abstruse Magnalia, or occult Mysteries of God in Nature, as to affirm them to be actions or inventions of the devil, though their effects were bad, much less when they are good, and salutiferous; as is that of the Weapon-salve, when it is commonly known unto God, and all truly understanding men, that it is the animal, vegetable, or mineral creature, which effecteth the one by abuse, and the other in the true property and virtue; that is, for the use, for which it was created by God: For God created all creatures good, and consequently for a good use; but it is the malice of the devil, that diverteth it from his true use; which also is evidently confirmed by the Wiseman in these words, Creavit Deus ut essent omnia, & sanabiles fecit nationes orbis terrarum, & non est in illis medicamentum exterminii, 
Sap. 1.14. Sap. 2.24.  nec Inferorum regnum in terra, creavitque hominem inexterminabilem, & ad imaginem similitudinis suae fecit eum: invidiâ autem Diaboli mors introivit in orbem terrarum: God created all things that they might exist or be, and made all the nations of the earth wholesome, and there is not any deadly thing to be found within them, nor yet the kingdom of hell and destruction upon the earth. And he created Man inexterminable, that is, to last for ever, and he made him after his own image; but death entered into the world by the envy and malice of the devil, etc. For know this, that before the fall of Adam, all things were straight and rightly taken, and consequently not mistaken; but after that he had tasted of the Tree of good and evil, his corporal eyes were open, and the creatures were interpreted and distinguished for good and evil, and were converted unto both uses; for from that hour, the mysteries of iniquity and righteousness began to reign in the world, and evil began in the very first practice after the fall, to shoulder goodness; and vice did first prevail against virtue, and by natural means was employed by the first fruits of wickedness, to wit, the vegetable creature, or a piece of wood, by the envy of unrighteous Cain, to knock out the brains of his righteous brother Abel; when chose this vegetable creature was in another sense a piece of wood, namely, in the form of a cross, (signifying the opposition which in this world is made between good and evil) an instrument of Christ's death, without the which, there was no assurance of salvation.  
We see therefore, that all occult operations proceed from the hidden virtue in natural things, which were discovered by God's Spirit, as well unto mankind, as conceived by the sharpwitted observation of Satan. Unto good men, I say, they were detected by the good Spirit, to do good, and prevent evil; for except the evil be known, a counterpoison will hardly be found out: Unto bad men, they were administered to execute mischief and iniquity. I will reckon up some of these secret virtues, in each of the three kingdoms of compound creatures, namely, Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral.  
First therefore for the Animal. The Owl is said by Albertus Magnus, to have many notable virtues; For, saith he, if his heart and right foot be put upon one that sleepeth, he will forthwith tell what he hath done, or any thing that you shall ask him; and he saith, that it hath been tried by some of his brethren to be most true. And again, if one do but put it under the armpit, no dog will bark at him. Also the Goat's blood is reported by him, to turn glass into a soft and malleable temper, if the glass be sod in it and vinegar, that one may handle it like paste, so that if it be cast against the wall, it will not break. And if one maketh an ointment of the same composition, and do anoint his face with it, things will appear horrible and terrible unto him. And if the said composition be put in the fire, and there be present one that hath the falling-sickness, and a Loadstone touch him, he will presently fall into a fit as dead, and if some cold water be given him to drink, he will recover. So (saith he) if a candle be anointed with the Camel's blood, all men in the room will seem to have Camel's heads. And thus he proceedeth in his History, with a description of admirable wonders, which are effected by the occult properties of beasts, vegetables, and stones. If Mr. Foster and his adherents shall say, that all these are lies, I reply, That it was a learned Philosopher, and famous Theologian that relateth them, who, no doubt, would, if he lived, tell him, That he should learn to understand the hours of elections, the stars that have dominions on the earth, and their times of exaltation or fortitude on the earth. And lastly, over what creatures in the three compound Kingdoms they have their proper influences. For my part, I know admirable secrets in man and beasts, for the which the Peripatetic Philosophy can yield no reason; as for example, That the Pike or Jack-fishe's guts dried, should mightily provoke urine; the sucking of blood from a Mole, whose nose is cut off for the same purpose, will cure the falling-sickness, and that after the taking of it, it maketh the party exceeding sick; as experience hath taught us, by the cure of a Lady in Kent, who was cured thereby: Also, that it being burnt unto powder, it should, by an occult nature, expel the colic. That the heart and liver of the Frogs should be approved, for the falling-sickness. That a Snake's skin should accelerate and hasten a woman's delivery. That the menstrues in a woman should cause a Leprosy. That the Toad dried should stench blood, as also the Spider, being applied unto the nostrils of him that bleedeth, as I have often tried.  
As for other occult miracles in stones, mettles, herbs, and animals, the true scholars unto Solomon, I mean, Hermes, Plato, Albertus Magnus, Diascorides, and such like, are full; and doubtless they would not prove so sottish and indiscreet, to publish lies, and to write things of impossibility, averring them to be effected in their knowledge, and so by that means, lose that reputation, which they have gained in the world by their wisdom But as concerning the practice of our main business, which is, touching the sympathetic and antipathetical respect, that is between the different Mummy which is in man's body, and the ocular demonstration thereof, produced from the Loadstone, I purpose in this next Book to show and prove more unto you, than any one hath done before me unto this present, as I may imagine.     

The Third BOOK.  
Which toucheth many practical Proofs, and experimental Conclusions, to confirm the loving Microcosmicall Attraction, or sympathetic Coition, and antipathetical Expulsion or hatred, by the magnetic and expulsive property of the Macrocosmicall Loadstone.  
The Argument of this Book. The Author's Proem unto this present Book, wherein he briefly and in few words, reciteth what is said before.  
I Have related to you in my precedent discourse, and made sufficient proof of it, that the spiritual Christ, 
coloss. 2.1.  the divine Word, or eternal wisdom, is the true basis or foundation of the essential Philosophy, as is proved by the Apostle's testimony, forasmuch as he is the sure and never-failing cornerstone, 
Joh. 1. 1 Tit. 6. 1 Cor. 12.  on which every creature is builded, and in whom it consisteth; seeing that in it is life, and that life is the essential light, which vivifieth all things, and consequently operateth all in all, 
Act. 17. Sap. 1. Sap. 12.1.  as the Scriptures do sufficiently testify: For if the Spirit of the Lord doth impart unto the creature life, and inspiration, and all things: And if again that Spirit doth replenish the earth, and be in every thing, (as Solomon confesseth) then must we also acknowledge, that this central Spirit of every specific thing is that Divinity, wherein the essential root of all magnetic sympathetic attraction, and antipathetical expulsion in every kind, consisteth. For being it is the catholic love which imparteth itself unto every particular existence, to give it action and motion, to attract his like nature, for a convenient nourishment, assistance, and consolation; so also it maketh the organ in which it acteth, to resist and expel all such emanations, as either in order, quality, or essence, do disagree, and are opposite or harmful to the specific existence or conservation. For this reason therefore it endueth the creature with a double affection, namely, with a concupiscible desire, and an irascible hatred, whereof the one doth rejoice or sympathise with his like, and therefore allureth or draweth it unto him, to consolate and assist him in his being; the other doth eschew and drive away, by an antipathetical and odious aspect, that which may be harmful and noisome unto it. And this is the act of that all-creating and sustaining Wisdom, which made each creature, by a kind of successive preservation, which it sucketh from his like in the world, to be and exist; and consequently hath given it an irascible faculty to defend itself, from that which is contrary unto it: Whereby we may see, how this vivifying spirit doth moderate all things with an unpartial hand, insomuch that though it hath framed all things by opposition, namely, light and darkness, and therefore in man's regard both good and evil; yet he ordained, that each individual should have the faculty, to eschew with an irascible and antipathetical disdain, that which unto it is contrary either in order or nature, or both: until the time be accomplished, in which after he is exalted, he shall expel all contrariety and discord out of this world, by making a sympathetic union amongst all things, which also St. Paul doth argue in these words: Cum evacuaverit omnem Principatum, 
1 Cor. 15.  & Potestatem, & Virtutem: Oportet autem eum regnare, donec ponat omnes inimicos sub pedibus suis: novissima autem inimica destruetur Mors, Omnia enim subjecit pedibus ejus: Cum autem ei subjecta fuerint omnia, 
Heb. 3.  tunc & ipse filius subjectus erit illi, qui subjecit sibi omnia, ut sit Deus omnia in omnibus: When he hath evacuated every Principality, and Potestat, and Virtue: For he must reign until he put all his enemies under his feet: the last enemy death shall be destroyed: For he shall subject all things under his feet. And when all things are made subject unto him; then also the Son shall be subject un-him, who hath made all things subject unto him, that God may be all in all. Whereby it is evident, that the catholic Magnetical virtue, which resideth in God's eternal Spirit, shall at the last be exalted after, his glorious victory, and draw all things unto him, and all things shall be one in him, and he in them, and consequently all Discord and Hatred being banished and laid apart, Love, Peace, and Unity, shall erect the perpetual and never-dying Trophy of this hallowed Victory. This universal Magnetic Virtue, is acknowledged by the Spirit of Christ in these words: 
Joh. 12.  Si exaltatus fuero à terra, omnia traham ad meipsum: If I shall be exalted from the earth, I will draw or attract all things unto myself; that is, I will, by mine attractive or conjoining, Unite all things, and, as it were, engraft them into mine own Nature; So that in the beginning, all things came from one Unity, as comprehending in it implicitly, all things which are explicitly unfolded, and comprehended under two contrary Principles; So in the end all things contained under discordant Principles, shall be again reduced unto one and the same radical beginning. But as yet we are subjected under contrary Principles; for the whole world, and the members thereof, are composed yet of strife and concord; of enmity and friendship; of darkness and light; of evil and good; and therefore under the protection of this Divine Wisdom, which governeth all things, and striveth to have the victory over confusion and dissension in this world, that a general peace and union may be made. And therefore that all things may return and live in him, who is only Love, the creature hath power to make a sympathetic accord with his like, and to repel, by an irascible or antipathetical property, his contrary.  
Now therefore since that this Spirit is all in all, 
Colos. 1.13.  and therefore in every Specific, it consequently followeth that it attracteth sympathetically, that which is conservative, or of a like nature and condition, in the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom, and expelleth antipathetically from it, that which is harmful, odious, and detestable, or of a contrary disposition unto it. And thus much touching a brief of my precedent sympathetic and antipathetical Theory, mentioned in my precedent discourse. I will now enter boldly into the Practic of them both, that thereby you may be the easilier induced to believe, that such things as are spoke of before Theorically, are feazible and easy to be brought to practice, and that only naturally, without any Cacomagicall act, or Diabolical assistance; as many temerarious and rash-headed fools of this world have scandalously blazed abroad, not only in their vain and windy Words, but also by their inconsiderate Writings. I will proceed therefore unto my purpose, and divide this present Book into two several members: Whereof the first shall handle such sympathetic effects; and the second such antipathetical events, as are Magnetically produced in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.  

The first Member of this Book, entreating of the admirable effects in Sympathy, which are brought to pass by the Magnetical Attraction of like unto like.  

CHAP. I.  
Herein is expressed, how by comparing the Mineral Loadstone, and his attractive Virtues with those of the Animal and Vegetable, we may find out and bring to a demonstrable light, the wonderful effects that do lurk in them both.  
SInce it is a thing most worthy of observation among wisemen, that there is nothing in the celestial Orb, which hath not his like in the terrestrial; So verily, there is nothing in the mineral kingdom which hath not his like in the vegetable; and again, the likeness of the vegetable Sphere is found in the animal, I mean in love and hatred; in attraction and expulsion; in union and divorce. But, because in the mineral kingdom, there is found nothing in all the world, so near in virtue unto the action and life of the animal, as is the Magnet or Loadstone; Since that it affecteth sensibly, his ferruginous like, it seemeth to woo and lust after it, and attracteth it eagerly▪ and lasty, uniteth itself unto it after a marvellous manner, even as the the female and male do in the animal kingdom. For this reason every like particle in the animal or vegetable kingdom, that worketh after the same manner, are justly termed Magnetical. Hereupon the well experimented Doctor, Paracelsus, when he writeth of the mystical Mummies, as well corporal as spiritual, and of the attractive means or manner to extract them, as well out of the living as dead body; He, for the better instruction of his Scholars, and such as he termeth filios Artis, the children of Art, expresseth examples, drawn from the Loadstone and the Iron: For by it he doth sufficiently declare the manner of extracting the said Mummy, and consequently doth open after his fashion, what the Microcosmicall, or Animal Magnet is, by means whereof it is extracted out of the body, namely that it is a corporal or substantial thing, as he seemeth to justify in these words: Spiritualis Mummia non operatur nisi per corporalia media: The spiritual Mummy worketh not but by corporal means. Where he intimateth by corporal means, those secret Magnetical bodies, which suck it forth of the living animal, and make it to operate, as well at home by an immediate contract as abroad, namely in or at an unlimited distance; that is to say, by a natural and convenient transplantation. He therefore who is wise and profound in these mysteries of Nature, and unto whom the Sympathetic Concordance, abstruse properties, nature, virtues, and original of the Loadstone, and the Iron, is well known, will know that their example may fitly be applied unto man: For by it he may easily discern the Microcosmicall Magnets, and understand the manner of their extraction of the spiritual Mummy out of man, and withal conceive the proper end and usage thereof. That thetefore these things may be the better dilated and enucleated unto the well-wishing Reader, I think it fit in the first place, to touch a little the same string of one symphoniacall Concordance, that doth concern the nature and Original of the Loadstone, and the Iron, which we have more fully mentioned in the precedent Book of this our discourse, that thereby we may with the greater facility, gather what the Microcosmicall Magnets are.  
As I told you before, in the third Chapter of the second Book of this Treatise, that it was evident, that the Loadstone, otherwise called the calamity, or mineral Magnes, proceedeth, not of any natural beginning, but rather of a monstrous birth and original, forasmuch as it seemeth after the manner of a Mule, to be procreated of unequal and unlike genitors or parents, being that his mother, or corporeal and passive mass appeareth evidently to be a common, Saturnine, stony, Mercurial substance; and his father, or active form, a mettallick or sulphureous Martial spirit: Now after what manner the mixtion of these two are made, I beseech you to observe in a word: When the Saturnine Mercurial liquor of the stony nature was as yet in his first matter, near unto the Mercury of Mars, (for these two are most commonly found together) namely, the Magnetical nature, and the Iron mine; for this reason, to wit, because of their near alliance, and propinquity in exidence, there was required but a light and easy transmutation, to unite them into one body, and therefore it seemeth to enjoy a middle nature, between a metal and a stone. And it may well be called a half transmuted Saturnine Mercury, into the which, when ●he spirit of the Martial sulphur, as a metallic form, hath entered, it receiveth it as his passive mother, and conserveth it within itself, and is coagulated into a stony body, whi●h is called the calamity, Magnet, or Loadstone. Now since every spirit doth principally affect and covet, to be nourished with that which is nearest ●nd likest unto his nature, the which nature and spirit is found to be only in Iron; and therefore they are observed to proceed from one Mine, or the same terrene matrix; yea, that out of the Magnet body, the perfectest Iron or Steel is extracted, it ariseth from the consideration, that the Marshal and Saturnine spirit of the Loadstone, sucketh and attracteth from his centre the body of Iron unto it, drawing forth of it his formal beams, as it were his spiritual food; but because the Iron-body will not forsake so easily his inward spirit, it followeth and is sucked unto it. And again, the Iron finding the like spirits in the Loadstone, doth covet as fast to be possessor of them, by an equal coition or desire, and so a conjunction or union is made no otherwise between them, than between man and wife. But because the Loadstone is fuller of the Saturnine stony Mercury than the Iron, which is purified from it by fire, and consequently more near unto the property of the male, therefore it sucketh not the Loadstone so greedily unto it, as the Loadstone doth the Iron. For it is an old confirmed axiom, That Matter doth desire and long after Form, and as eagerly doth draw and allure it, as the female doth the male. But that the Iron is in lieu of the male, it appeareth, in the strength that it addeth unto the Loadstone, for if the Loadstones pole be capped with steel, it doth so far animate it beyond his own proper nature, that it causeth it to draw unto it a far greater proportion of Iron, than otherwise it was able. This therefore being rightly considered, we may with the greater facility collect, what that micro●osmicall Loadstone should be, that is able to extract the microcosmicall spirit, without any damage or debilitation of the body.  
If therefore we would attempt to effect this excellent exploit, we must do it by such a corporal Magnet, as shall be taken out of the Microcosm, or Man, whose production and generation must in every respect accord and agree with that of the macrocosmical, or terrene mineral Loadstone, which is mentioned before; the which I purpose only by circumlocution, and not in plain terms, to express unto you, that thereby so great a secret as this key, to unlock the balsamic cabinet of man's Mummiall nature, may be hidden from the unworthy, and yet sufficiently made manifest unto the worthy and religious Philosopher, by evident circumstances; for if that such hidden mysteries in nature were vulgarly discovered, there would be no difference had between a wise man and a fool. And therefore Solomon did teaeh us, Quod sit sapientis celare rem, It is the part of a wise man to hide the thing. And the wise Philosophers in their Writings, did so considerately express the secret of nature, that they might hide it from the ignorant and uncapable vulgar, and yet speak plainly to such as are the children of art, and sons of true learning. But this is not all, for I would have you to understand, that the property of the magnetic microcosmicall work is so universal, that it showeth the way, as well to infect the Mummiall spirits of man with a venomous and pernicious antipathetical nature, as to extract it in its wholesome and sympathetic condition, whereby it may be employed in good and salutary usages. And for that reason, namely, because evill-minded persons, as well witches and sorcerers, whom the devil hath instructed in the abuse of this excellent mystery, as also wicked minded-men, I mean incarnate devils, may do great mischief in the world, by the public revelation thereof; for most men are proner unto mischief, than inclined to do goodness; I think it to be the wisest part, not to name the internal microcosmicall Magnet openly, but only to express it in more general terms. I would have therefore each wise man to understand, that the magnetic nature, as well antipathetical as sympathetic, of all things, consisteth only in the sulphureous virtue of the vital spirits, which by reason of their incarceration, are apt to attract their like unto them, by contracting of itself from the circumference unto the centre: Even so the animal, vegetable, and mineral salt, which is the immediate receptacle of this sulphureous spirit, that by reason of its pure, Saturnine, Mercurial earth, sucketh and draweth by the act of the included spirits their like from the circumference, whereby they vegetate and multiply, both in their airy volatill salt, which by a Saturnine or northern condition, is like snow or frost condensed, and in their etherial or celestial fire. And again, the sulphureous spirit flieth back, or reflecteth his beams into its central salt, after it did emanate unto the circumference of the body by northern accidents, namely, by external cold, as it appeareth by the fiery or heavenly seeds included in the air, that is retained within the Weatherglass, which when the northwind bloweth is contracted, by reason that the expansed spirits of the celestial sulphur, or the heavenly fire which is in it, flying from his cold opposite, betaketh itself unto the centre of the air, compassing, as it were itself with a cloud, or making it a house, to resist the northern blasts inclemency. For (as hereafter I will show you in my magnetic demonstration) that the sulphureous Aequator is an enemy to the cold Mercurial poles. Also in man's body, when a northern or stupid fear possesseth it, the sulphureous spirits contract themselves, and leave the external aspect pale, bluish, and wan, and in so doing, contract the internal spirits of the body unto the centre; but this motion is antipathetical, and caused by unnatural passion. Again, those sulphureous included spirits being at liberty, they dilate and expanse themselves into the open air, as having no evident magnet to attract or contract them into a narrower room. To conclude therefore, the microcosmicall Magnet must issue and be engendered from the microcosmicall sulphureous spirits in his proper salt, which is his form, & from a more strange Mercury, which by his vicinity and propinquity, is most familiar with it, and, as it were, akin unto it by adoption, and this is his passive matter. Wherefore of these two microcosmicall portions, I mean, the formal and material, our secret Magnes is framed, by the which, the spiritual Mummy is extracted out of the living man, by means whereof, admirable cures, and pernicious harms may be effected, as well ad distans, or afar off, as near at hand, or by an immediate contact or administration. Moreover, the same internal Magnet, or attractive salt in man, in whose interior the sulphureous vivifying spirit doth dwell, and of whose condition and root, our foresaid microcosmicall Magnet is, will perform the self same salutary effects, and many other rare experimental conclusions, if it be conveyed into the blood by transplantation from the alive person by an effluxion; or in the nails and hair, separated from him to another subject. There is also another microcosmicall Magnet, which is taken from the dead man, by the means whereof, the spiritual Mummy may be drawn out of the living man, and applied for man's health, as well by an immediate administration, as by transplanting of it into a vegetable plant, herb, or tree, as in the progress of this Book shall be more amply declared. But because the order of these things in our demonstration, à posteriori, or by progression from the effect unto the original cause of these things, will be most convenient for the common and vulgar capacity, I will begin to ascend in this mine explication from grosser elements, unto more subtle, intricate, and abstruse things, as if by proportionate degrees I should mount from the earth into heaven. I purpose therefore first to express and demonstrate unto you, those things magnetically, which are only wrought by the corporal contact of two several bodies of the same natural condition. But before I will begin with the Mummy, which is taken out of man's dead body, I think it in the first place most necessary, to entreat of the dead carcase his mystery, that we may proceed the more methodically in our intent.   

CHAP. II.  
That there are four sorts of corporal Mummy, whereof one only is useful and necessary for salutary purposes. In this Chapter also is set down an experiment, with certain ocular Demonstrations, confirming the magnetical or a tractive virtue of the Basamick spirits, which are in the useful Mummy.  
SUch as have profoundly considered, and deeply respected, as well the external as internal nature of man, have perceived, that the microcosmicall Mummy is of two conditions, namely, corporal or spiritual; of the first, I purpose to speak in this present Chapter; the second shall be handled hereafter, and that at large. Touching the corporal Mummy, it is either naturally sympathetic, or unnaturally antipathetical. We find therefore by experience, that the natural Mummy is only medicinable and salutiferous, after his due preparation, which is effected chiefly by his own magnetic property; the rest are apt to breed diseases, and to infect such persons as are in health, than to afford them any salutary relief or consolation; for, as according unto the nature of the four elements, there are four kinds of corporal and substantial Mummyes, so also are they distinguished according unto those elements, whose natures they have endued; of the which, three of these are corruptible, and inducers of death and sickness, namely, the earthly, the watery, and the fiery; and only that which is airy, is util to man's life, and amicable unto his nature. Concerning those three kinds of Mummy which breed corruption, the reason why they prove corruptible, is this: We must hold it first for a general axiom in Philosophy, Quod corruptum corrumpentis naturam in se induit, That the thing corrupted, doth endue the nature of the thing corrupting: As for example, If the dead carcase of a man be corrupted in the earth, it is changed and passeth into the nature of the earth, and becometh inutil for man's health, and indeed rather destructive then constructive or wholesome. Again, if the corruption be made in the water, than the corrupted flesh or dead body will acquire or endue a waterish and masseluginous disposition, which also will prove very incommodious or unprofitable, for the conservation of the vital spirits. And lastly, by the inordinate violence of fire, the spirits in the Mummiall body will be consumed, wasted, or expired. Now the reason why these said corporal Mummie's in those estates, are inconvenient for the conservation of health, is▪ Because the foresaid three do so destroy and corrupt the body of them, that they make and constrain his earth, his water, and his fire, to return unto their first matter; so that whereas the earth and the water are ordained, to be the recepta●les of two vivifying elements, namely, of fire and air, which only can be conserved in a body that is incorrupted, it must of necessity follow, that in the three foresaid Mummies, those vivifying spirits must needs vanish and fly away, for want of a natural body, which is now become corrupted and destroyed, and therefore unnatural. Seeing therefore nothing is required in the true Mummy, more than that which is apt and proper for the conservation of life, yea, for life itself, which is the air, which is banished and expelled from the three forsaid Mummies, therefore nothing can be extracted out of them, but sickness, death and destruction, and consequently antipathetical effects; so that if a sound, murdered, o● strangled body, do rot under the earth, or in the water, it is not fit or proper for the wholesome use of man's body. The very selfsame regard is to be had unto such bodies, as die through infirmities and diseases, and although they are not visibly corrupted by the three foresaid external elements, yet nevertheless it happeneth so, that a certain invisible corruptible influence and impression, is made or caused from the external elements, into the internal. From hence therefore proceedeth that intestine war in man's body, whereby the elements do kill and corrupt one another, but after a divers fashion, namely, otherwise in one body than in another, according as one element or elemental alteration, is said to have dominion or rule over the other. And this is the reason, that such variety of diseases do haunt man's body: as for example, The Dropsy cometh of the strong impression of water, the Hectic or burning Favour of fiery insultations, and the Leprosy of the dominion of earth, etc. And therefore also, where any such elementary corruption happeneth unto the body, there the wholesome spirit of the corporal Mummy, with his habitacle or dwelling mansion, is utterly overthrown, and the spirit is forced to depart, and consequently contrary Mummiall spirits, do domineer, and are ready to operate antipathetically as shall be expressed in the second member of this Book.  
But if the sound body, that is, not having any infirmity be killed only by and in the Element of air; that is to say, through strangling or by hanging, then there will be found no impression of the foresaid Elements in the corporal Mass of man's carcase. And for that reason it will remain incorrupted, and will not suffer any Elemental resolution, so long as it is conserved in the air. If therefore the body or tabernacle of the spirits, and vital Balsam remaineth entire, than that aereal vital Balsam is not compelled to depart from his lodging, so long as the body is not resolved by nature or art, But if it be resolved, than it will forsake the body, as the soul doth; as also the animal astral spirit, which did reconcile the one with the other. But the vital, vegetable and Balsamic spirit, remaineth in the incorrupted body: It followeth therefore, that this airy kind of Microcosmicall Mummy, is most proper for the conservation of vital spirits in the living man, being extracted, prepared, and rightly after preparation to be applied, I will therefore come briefly unto our Magnetical Experiences, touching this Mummiall Subject.  

The Proposition.  
If this salutary kind of airy Mummy, with his vehicle or Magnetical instrument, be taken, or chosen, or selected rightly, it will endue by reason of the absence of actual life, and the dominion of cold, the condition of the Northern pole, and consequently by that reason, those airy included spirits, which were whilst the body was living, of an hot equinoctial nature, and therefore more dilative from the Centre of the Circumference than attractive, are now by death made to act from the Circumference to the Centre, if they be excited by their like spirits, which are equinoctial and lively, and then they become attractive of the equinoctial Mummy, namely by contracting themselves into the Centre, and consequently this airy microcosmicall Mummy, must be endued with the Magnetical property of the Northern pole, and therefore by a contactuall application of it to his like the living man, it will suck and attract greedily his like nature; and having drawn it in, will retain it; So that it may, by a due preparation, be made sympathetic, and reduced into a singular medicine for man's health and conservation: Or it may be so contaminated, and made antipathetical with the impure and infectious Mummy, of the infirm living creature, that it may free the infirm, by extracting out the poison which did infect it, and infect a wholesome and sound body, unto the which it shall be given inwardly.   

An Experiment upon this.  
I collected a portion of this Northern Mummy, namely of the flesh of a man strangled in the air, in which the spritual Mummy, was Centrally contracted by cold, and I applied it typically unto the part of my body, which was nearest unto it in natural position. I found it in the contact passing cold, and as it were ice and Northern. After it had remained on, a certain time, I found, that in the exciting of his frozen and Northernly contracted spirits, by the equinoctial heat of my body, they drew off my Mummiall and vivifying spirits greedily, and at some times, and as it were by fits, I felt them in their Magnetic operation sensibly, and after a kind of dolorous fashion, to tug and pull some adjacent parts close about it; in conclusion, after a certain time I took it off, and found it much altered in smell and view, by reason of the quantity of my spirits, which they attracted unto them; both which Mummiall spirits, so Magnetically congregated together, I extracted, and prepared after my manner, for the use of mine own body. But because my assertion will perchance be of little credit, I will prove the feisibility of it, and probability of every particle or member hereof, by many and sundry examples or Demonstrations.   

I. Demonstration or Proof, made by a Relation unto the Microcosmicall nature.  
To prove and demonstrate, that the airy spirit of the Microcosm, is apt to take any polar impression, as well as the air of the Macrocosm, and by consequence is more Magnetical, or attractive in his Northern or cold property, than in his equinoctial or Southern habit. Look considerately upon the air included in the Wether-glass, which served as a catholic demonstration unto my precedent Philosophy, and you shall see, that when the equinoctial, namely the Eastern and Southern winds do blow in the air, the particular included air, and therefore the universal Element of air excluded, is less Magnetic or attractive, than when the Northern winds do blow. The proof is made evident, because that when those winds do blow, the external air, and therefore the internal, is more apt to be dilated, by reason of the Emanation of the Sulphureous or celestial spirits, which are included in each airy spirit, from the Centre unto the Circumference, making thereby a certain expulsion, or rather expansion of airy parts, by ratifying of the body of it. And therefore it is observed in the Instrument, not to draw the water higher than the figure 1. but to repel it down lower: chose when the North winds blow, the dilated and mobil air is by attraction or condensation, contracted into immobil snow; that is to say, into an earthly condition, So that we see that the air in this estate is admirably contractive, as it is expressed to the life, in the demonstrative Instrument or Wether-glass: For the included spirit attracteth the ponderous water upward, and contracteth itself out of a large room or place, into a narrow Angle or space, as it appeareth when the Northern Snow and Frosts, have had long dominion in the Macrocosmicall world, by a Northern breath, at which time we shall find the water against his nature, to be sucked up unto the upper figure 7. The reason whereof I have showed you before, namely because the occult Sulphurous nature or spirit, which is the Sun of light, and the actor in life, being carried in his airy vehicle, flieth from the persecuting cold, which is his adversary, and armeth itself about in the Centre, with a condensed air, to hinder or break the universal assault of cold, which is the imp of darkness, and therefore hath his seat at the pole, which is furthest off from the presence of the Sun. In like manner, the dead and cold Mummial spirits being for this reason Centrally contracted, and as it were mortified and congealed by application of it to the lively Spirits, as the cold Northern air, or spirit unto the equinoctial or Southern Sun then reviving, and incited by the living man's contactuall or contiguous presence, do greedily draw them in, as imploring their aid against their cold adversary, and having the possession of them seemeth better satisfied. I will prove this to be so by this demonstrative Example, taken from the Loadstone.   

II. Demonstration.  
That the dead spirits in a body, will not attract unto them dead spirits; nor, that lively spirits in a body, will not suck unto them Magnetically lively spirits, but very moderately; it is argued by the operation of the Loadstone, in this manner.   

Problem 1.  
The Southern pole of one Loadstone doth with a certain hatred fly from, and eschew the Southern pole of another, and will by no means be joined together in friendship, but avoideth by a natural antipathy, the contact of one another. But if the Northern pole of the one be applied unto the Southern pole of the other, they will stick and cleave together by a strong attraction.   

As for Example.  
Take a Loadstone with his distinct poles, namely his austral and boreal pole being marked out; 
Gilb. l. c. 5. fol 6. vid. Rid. 82. & 95.  put it into a little vessel or boat to float in a basin, or cistern, or tub of water, in such a manner, that the two poles thereof be disposed unto the plain of the Horizon: then hold in your hand another Loadstone, whose poles are well known unto you; So that the South-pole of that in your hand, be directed to the North of that which floateth, the two not being far from one another, and you shall find that the boat will follow your hand whither soever it moveth, and will not leave until it cleaveth unto it. But if chose you shall offer or apply the North-pole of that in your hand, unto the North-pole of that in the boat, or the south-pole of the one unto the south pole of the other, you shall perceive that the one Stone will by his aspect drive away the other, & the little Bark will forthwith turn from it, as if the Helm thereof were moved another way.   

Application.  
Even so the northern natured Mummy will not at all, or but weakly, operate on his like; nor the southern, or hot lively flesh, on his like; but contrary poles will act, and by a magnetic virtue will be united unto one another, by the attractive faculty of the northern, or cold dead man's flesh or blood, which coveteth by a secret instinct the hot nature of the Equinoctial south.   

III. Demonstration.  
Touching the fortification and augmentation of spirits in the dead and impotent, or northern Mummy, by the contact of the southern or lively Mummy or flesh, it is magnetically maintained to be possible and probable, by this problematical Demonstration, which proveth, that the northern Magnet, or airy Mummy, is exalted in his power by the southern.   

Problem 2.  
The stronger Magnet or Loadstone, and the bigger in quantity, doth augment the force of the lesser; as also of Iron, by putting the lesser Magnet upon the pole of the greater, so that the northern pole will become stronger in his attraction. As for example, A piece of Iron being put on the pole of the lesser Stone in that position, it will hold it up perpendicularly on the north point A. which on the pole B. will no way be effected. 
Gilber. lib. 2. de Mag. c. 25. Vid. Ridl. c. 84   
In like manner the northern Mummy, by the conjunction of it unto the southern nature, is exalted in strength, and sucketh new spirits and vigour unto it, by drawing power from the stronger, and so leaving the stronger weaker, which is better proved by this third Problem.   

Problem 3.  

Ridl. c. 24.  If two Magnets, armed by two Iron steely teeth a piece, be set before you, the one being strong, the other weak, or much less, whose axis or diameter between the teeth are equal, and of a like length; then set the teeth of these together, that come from contrary poles and parts, and the stronger will apprehend and lift up the weaker; and the weaker being united and incorporated with the stronger, by the virtue that it receiveth from the stronger, will lift up from the ground, and retain the stronger and greater very firmly, although he be much heavier than the weight the small Stone doth ordinarily lift up.   

Application.  
Even so the weaker or northern Mummy being lesser in quantity, will gather force, and multiply spirits, by his faculty of attraction from the stronger and bigger mass, of the southern or lively Mummy. Lastly, that by the application of this dead, northern, or congealed Mummy, unto the lively, southern, or equinoctial Mummy, the most evident and strangest attraction proceedeth from the northern Mummy; it is manifested by this example in the Loadstone.   

Problem 4.  
There is a magnetical attraction from the aequator of the Loadstone, but far different from that of the northern pole, both in violence, and in manner of attraction; for the equinoctial attraction is more naturally mild, as if it were a mean betwixt the two poles; and yet in substance, all is but one earth, though various in formal execution: As for example, The erection of a piece of Iron will be the less perpendicular, and the attraction will be the weaker, by how much the nearer it approacheth from the pole unto the equinoctial. Again, all that have written the magnetical History, do ascribe the greatest force of attraction unto the northern pole of the Magnet, as shall also hereafter be declared and proved more at large.  
I will conclude with a demonstration taken from the like Mummy of beasts; and it is this.   

The fourth demonstration, which is Animal.  
It is a common thing, and vulgarly in use, to take a piece of raw beef, and apply it unto the nape of the neck, to draw away rheums or defluxions out of the eyes: And I was informed by one of credit and learning, that when a simple fellow that was troubled with sore and watering eyes, was counselled to apply raw beef behind in his neck, to draw back and divert the humour; he mistaking the business, applied the raw cold beef upon both his eyes, and it was his bad chance, that it attracted so strongly, that instead of drawing out the rheum, it pulled forth his eye-holes. Also, a worthy Gentlewoman of mine acquaintance, had (as she telleth me) raw beef applied unto her neck, for to divert the rheum from her eyes; but she confessed, that it drew so strongly unto it, that she felt her eyes, as it were, sucked or drawn into her head, and will not be persuaded to this day, but that her eyes are deeper in her head than they were. Whereby it is argued, that by far greater reason, the experiment above mentioned is in every respect demonstrated to be true, being the Magnet of it, is composed of subtle air, Mummiall spirits, coagulated by an internal and central virtue, in the magnetical mass.   

Another relative Animal Demonstration.  
A Nobleman of Bohemia named Burgravius, did use for his Gout this medicine; He took a piece of Beef, and did moisten it a little with wine, and laid it on the place affected, renewing the same medicine every six hours' space, and it drew forth a great deal of filthy and sordid matter. And if afterward the same flesh be given to be eaten of dogs, it will infect them with the same Gouty disease as it did the man: and this was tried upon a couple of that Lord's dogs, as Hans Tanker, the Minister of the Lord Hoffman, did relate it from the said Burgravius his own mouth, and also he himself saw it effected on a dog.  
If this gross mass of magnetical stuff in its simple nature, 
Note here.  could draw so strongly unto it, much more should our faith be grounded on a more spiritual and airy animal Mummy, or mummiall Magnet, which I know, but am not disposed at this time, neither do I think it fit in this place, openly to reveal, or to express, either its manner of preparation▪ or diversity in usage, because by the abuse thereof, wicked and naughty-minded persons may do as much harm thereby, in inducing of diseases, as the honest Physician may do good, in expelling or curing of them. A third of Mr. Cotton 's Dog.   

A fourth relative animal-Demonstration.  
It is esteemed to be an excellent magnetical cure in the plague; when the sore or carbuncle doth appear, to take a dried Toad, macerated in vinegar, and afterward to apply it to the infected place of the body: for it is reported▪ to suck or draw the venom to it strongly. This hath been often tried, and it may be proved, by reason that the Toad is magnetically attractive, and styptic, partly because of her cold venom, and boreal, dull and heavy, or melancholy disposition, and then forasmuch as it is observed to stench blood. So that this gross and terrestrial venomous Magnet performeth his office, in attracting from the Botch or Carbuncle his like, though not so subtly and spiritually, as the Elementary or airy Northern Mummy doth from the lively or Southern natured man. I could tell you of many vegetables, which have a Magnetic property, to suck and draw unto them▪ being applied unto the soles of the feet, or pulses of the wrists or arms, for divers Aguish distempers. But that I should in so doing, prove perchance too tedious, unto you; and therefore I will proceed unto the second degree of the Magnetical virtue in the Mummy, which is to draw or suck unto it his like; not by contact or touch only, but ad distans, and that by a spiritual attraction in the air, and at an unknown longitude, as shall better appear in these Chapters following.    

CHAP. III.  
How by relation of Natural things unto one another, they do, after that a corporal contact or touch is ma●e betwixt them, operate wonderfully, and that by a Magnetical consent, or Spiritual continuity, both after a contact or touch is made in the curing of maladies, or wasting his like, by a mutual operation at an unknown distance.  
I Will proceed as I began, from a general proposition unto diversities of experiences, the which afterwards I will prove feisible and possible, by divers Demonstrative relations.  

The Proposition.  
It is possible that two Mummyes of opposite condition, that is to say, the one being of a deadly boreal condition; and the other of a lively and Southern, or equinoctial property, may after a corporal contact made betwixt them, operate from one to another a far distance, by a spiritual relation, which is continued between them, as well antipathetically as sympathetically.   

Experiment to confirm the same.  
An Italian Lord by an accident had his nose cut off, and by the counsel of his Physician made a wound in one of his slaves arms, and clapped his mutilated nose unto it, and so continued it until a perfect union was made betwixt the flesh of the slave and his Master. Afterwards a gobbit of the slaves flesh which cleaved to the nose, was cut out, and form into the shape of a nose. The servant's wound was healed up, and for his painful service during this exploit was manumitted or freed, and with store of money in his purse went unto Naples, which was above a hundred miles from the place where his Master remained, whose adopted flesh on his nose, prospered and did nourish from the veins; so long as the man which was made free, did live. It came to pass that the manumitted person did die at Naples, and thereupon immediately the adopted flesh unto the Master's nose did decay, and begun to gangrenate, insomuch that if he had not cu● it off, it would have marred all the rest and killed him. This relation is known to be so true and certain, that to this day it is famous over all Italy, and in every man's mouth of that Country, and testified by some Germane Writers and maintained as well by some Scotch as English men, which have been in that Country. By this History therefore we may se●, that so long as the two bodies which made contact were of one disposition, namely Southern or equinoctial, they, though being in body far remote from one another, did operate spiritually, and were present in spirit; that is, they did concur together with the aspect of their sympathetic beams, and the flesh was spiritually vivified from the slave's lively fountain, even as the grain of Wheat hath 〈◊〉 nourishment, and vivi●ieth by the application of the Sun's beams unto it: but when the Southern, or equinoctial, or lively property of the bondmans' spirit was changed into a deadly Northern and cold disposition, than the vivifying spirit did ●●ase to apply any more unto the adopted flesh, and in lieu of it, the deadly Northern spirit, did suck or draw away that which the Southern had bestowed upon it, no otherwise then the Northern Frost in the world killeth and draweth out the life of the grain, or seed, or plant, or herb, by his contractive and boreal property. And for this cause the Gangrene, which is a Northern disease, did take the borrowed portion of flesh on the nose. Here therefore we see, how the same spirit, altered from a Southern or equinoctial, unto a Northern condition, operateth by a contrary, and unnatural, and depriving means, and that secretly and a far off.   

I. A Corollary Demonstration, taken from the Macrocosm.  
We see in the Wether-glass (of which I spoke before) that between the bolts-head and the place of the water, to wit, in the whole pipe of the Mattras, there is an invisible airy spirit, which though it be not seen of itself, yet doth it operate visibly in effect: Fo● if the external air be very hot, than it dilateth the air included in the bolts-head; whereby the water at the other end, is observed to sink down, though no ocular Agent may be found: but by intellectual eyes we may discern, that it is done through the virtue, and lively Emanation of Sulphurous Light in the air, by the secret emission of whose beams, the air is rarefied, and by rarefaction beateth the water downward; and chose, by Northern cold the water is lift up through the contraction of the emitted Spirits; So that we may discern how lively Emanations, and consequently acting and vivifying spirits, are sent forth from the lively and Microcosmicall fountain unto the creatures, which are apt to animate and vivify: but if the fountain become cold and icy, in lieu of a Southern acting addition of life, it induceth a mortifying, and privative substraction, and that as you may perceive in the Wether-glass, by a spiritual concurrence, or rather an invisible, and insensible continuity, which is between both extremes; as you may easily see it demonstrated in the Wether-glass.   

II. A Demonstration derived from the Load-stone's property.  
If we shall take an oval Loadstone, 
Gib. lib. de Mag. cap. 5.  namely and shall divide it in the middle, namely in the aequinoctial about B, C, and then shall expose the part A, B, into his little vessel to float on the water; and also put the o●her half C, D, in another little boat, or vessel in the same water, we shall find that these two halves B, C, being of one equinoctial nature, will desire to be joined again together, and to be reduced into the same continuity it was before; and for that reason, the spirit which is continued between them, though the body be divided, being invisibly united unto both divided portions, doth direct them both, and by an actual emanation out of each of them, attract, suck, and agglutinate as it were each of them in their natural position, as they were before.   

Application.  
By this therefore, the continuation of spirits betwixt the flesh of the forementioned captive at Naples, and that which the master borrowed, remaining elsewhere, is evidently argued and confirmed. And though it may be alleged, that the Loadstone doth not draw without his orb, yet I say, that though men do guests at the sensible attraction of weights, yet can they not limit the penetrating action which is between magnetic bodies, as I have proved in my precedent Book, and will hereafter demonstrate it more at large.   

A Progression in the foresaid Magnetical Demonstration.  
But chose, if we shall attempt to apply the Equinoctial, or Southern place of the division in the Loadstone C, unto the pole A, in their barks thus; the one will fly from the other, and be contrary unto the other; for in so doing, nature will be perverted, and the form of the Stone disturbed. Therefore this flight from one another, or hatred between them, ariseth from the evil position or application of natures, discording in their genuine order, which stir up an intestine war, hatred, or antipathy between the parts, and cause a contrariety or distortion of spirits.   

Application.  
By which it appeareth, that the equinoctial spirit of the late-living captive, being turned northern or Boreal, will in no wise accord with the southern nature of the yet-living adopted or borrowed flesh, which is possessed by the Master, as it did before; but proveth antipathetical and destructive unto it, that is, it warreth with a contrary property against it, being that now it as fast withdraweth the beams of his spirits from the circumference unto the centre, namely, from the flesh lent unto the Master, as, whilst it lived, it did send them after an equinoctial manner, forth from the centre unto the circumference, namely, from the live fountain in the captive, unto the like in the Master.   

III. Demonstration, taken from the Loadstone.  
It is evident also, that the Needle touched with the Loadstone, will aspect the Loadstone at any position, whilst the Loadstone is strong and lively; but when the Loadstone is dead, or that he have lost his virtue by the fire, the property of the Needle will also die.   

A second Experiment, confirming the foresaid Proposition.  
Against the time that I was to read my public Anatomy in the College, I had (as our custom is) a certain body of one that was hanged, to be anatomised at my house privately: at which time I was solicited by Mr. Kellet, the Apothecary, to permit a Gentlewoman, who had a Scirrhous tumour in her belly, to be touched and stroked with the dead man's hand, because experience had taught it to be very efficacious, for the abolishing of the like horrid protuberation in others, as they averred. The Gentlewoman, with her husband and brother, came unto my house, and, as they desired, things were effected. Within a while after the Apothecary, with the Gentlewoman's husband, came to give me thanks for that courtesy, assuring me, that it had done his wife good, and taken away the tumorous swelling. Now this doth show, how the contact of this northern Mummy in the dead man's hand, did cause the southerly growing and vegetating tumour, which did more and more send out its beams from the centre to the circumference, to decrease and diminish, and caused it to rot and moulder away, by the central continuation or union of the northern spirit in the dead, with that which did vegetate unnaturally in the living, and that at a far distance.   

A third Experiment, to express the selfsame effect.  
It is evident, and often approved by common people, that if Warts be rubbed with a piece of fresh beef, and the said beef be conveyed into a field, and buried under the earth, that as the beef wasteth and rotteth in the earth, so will the warts languish and pine away. In like manner it hath been oft observed, that if a piece of bacon be rubbed on warts, and afterwards be nailed on a post against the Sun; as the bacon doth waste and diminish, so also will the warts fade and waste away. Also a dead body's hand touching warts, they will die.  
Whereby is evidently proved, that as things are sympathetically maintained in their being, that is to say, in their increase or vegetation; so also, by an antipathetical aspect, or spiritual continuity, between two remote natures, after a corporal contact is made between them, whereof the one is boreal, the other Southern or Equinoctial, the one which touched, will cause it to fade and vanish, after the nature of the toucher. So that as the northern property is an enemy unto life, and southern heat; so by his contact it causeth unnaturally-growing things to fade away by a like property, in changing the vegetating nature of the thing touched, into his decreasing, contracting, and mortifying nature. The experimental Glass doth teach us, that the action of cold is quite contrary unto that of heat, in one and the same spirit. And Scripture tells us, (if we will not stand unto experience) that the selfsame word in his southern property, doth undo and destroy the snow and ice, which it did make in his northern condition.    

CHAP. IU.  
How certain excrementitious parts, taken from the inform member of the Animal, and transplanted into a vegetable or growing tree, hath a spiritual relation or continuity with the spirit of the sick and impotent member, and consequently of the sick creature. I will for the better method's cause, express in the frontispiece of this Chapter a Proposition, as I have done in the precedent.  

The Proposition.  
THe magnetical force of the spiritual Mummy doth dwell and act, even in the excrementitious or superfluous excrescences, of any member of man's body, after that they are separated from it, and transplanted into some convenient magnetical vegetable or plant; so that by a secret emanation from them, or application unto the beam of the member, from whence they were cut or derived, and consequently by a continued spiritual relation which is had between them, and the body or member from whence they were extracted, they are able, by the magnetical plants assistance (whose vegetable nature they borrow and endue) to operate vegetatively upon the same defective dolorous decayed limb or member at an unlimited distance.   

The first Experimental History.  
My Mathematical Master, excellent for his knowledge in the art of Ingeniery, (remaining with the Cardinal St. George at Rome) did assure me, that if any one had a withered or consumed member, as a dried arm, leg, or foot, or such like, (which Physicians call, An A●rcphy of the limbs) and if he did cut from that member, be it foot, or arm, the nails, hair, and scrape of the skin, and shall pierce a Willow tree, with an anger, or wimble, unto the pith; and after that shall thrust in those pared nails, cut hair, etc. into the hole; and stop the hole close with a peg or pin made of the same wood: observing withal, that this action must be effected, when the Moon is increasing, and the good Planets in such multiplying Signs, as is Gemini, and Saturn, who is a great drier, be depressed, the limb so wasted, shall by little and little re-vegetate again, even as the Tree (in which the excrements are closed) shall daily increase, grow, and flourish. Also he did aver unto me, that I should find the selfsame effect, if I did put those excrements into a hole, made in the root of a Hazel-tree, and close up again the hole with the bark of the same Tree, and afterward cover it with earth; assuring me, that it hath been tried, that as the Tree groweth▪ so will the member prosper. But above all, he wished me to observe the due order of the heaven, and such secret and proper constellations, as he hath instructed me in; for, without them, the cure or amendment will be the less effectual.   

II. Another Magnetical Experiment to confirm the precedent.  

Out of a small Book, lately printed in the Germane Tongue.  Johannes Rhumelius Pharamondus, cureth the Gout by the very selfsame manner of transplantaion in this manner. He cutteth off the hair from the feet, legs, and thighs; and also he pareth off the nails of the feet. Then he maketh a hole in an Oak, even unto the very Centre or pith of the body, and pulleth into it the hair and the nails, and afterward he stoppeth up the hole with a peg or pin, framed out of the same Tree; and lastly, he daubeth it without with cowdung. This Author saith, that by this Magnetical experiment only he hath cured many. But if it chance (saith he) that the Gout shall for all this return again, within the space of three months, than it is an Argument that the Oak is insufficient to draw Magnetically: and then he proceedeth thus, namely he boreth another like hole in a second Oak; and after this, he taketh the pieces, of the Oak, which fall out in the boring of the hole, and bruiseth them, and sticheth them in a little bag, and applieh it unto the dolorous or infected member. And this he doth three days before the New-Moon. Then in that very hour, that the New-Moon is in, he removeth the bag from the part affected, and thrusteth it into the hole of the same Tree, and stoppeth it with a pin of the same wood, as before. And he affirmeth, that by this second practice, when the first hath failed, he hath cured many. But if it happen for all this, that the pain doth return within three other months; then he cutteth of the hair, and pareth the nails, the second time, and tieth them upon the back of a Crab, or Crabfish, and so casteth it into the running waters, and the sick will be cured. He concludeth there, that he hath cured many by the first; many others by the first and second; and many, by the first, second, and third Experiments.   

A third Experiment tried by the same Author.  
The same Author doth verify, that by this very manner of transplantation, he hath cured many of the Rupture or Hernia; and his practice is after this manner. He taketh a new laid Egg piping hot (as they say) and he rubbeth the Gouty place with it often, but gently: then he taketh away the bark of a good big tree, and with a great auger, he boreth a hole so big, as that the Egg might easily enter into it; then doth he lay on again the bark as before, stopping well the hole thereof with it, and anointing or daubing it with tree wax or cement. All which businesses must be effected in due order and time. And he telleth us, that when the barks of the tree do grow together, then also will the Hernia and rupture also close up. But if it happen that the Hernia be not cured within one month, than bore a hole in an Oak, and take the pieces that fall from the hole, bruise them, and stick them in a small bag, and apply it to the grief as is said, about three days before the new Moon; and then about the hour of the new Moon, put it into the hole, and do in all things as is told you before. He telleth many other observations, as well touching the time, namely if the Hernia's first increase, were in the Moon's increase or decrease; which for brevity sake I here omit: Lastly, if the Hernia be not for all this so dered or glued up, than he boareth a hole in the Oak, and puts in the nail and hair of the Patient's hands and feet; as also the hair of his privy parts, stopping it as is before said: For he affirmeth that when the hole will be grown up, the Hernia will be also closed. There also he showeth the reason, that he is forced to use more or less of these operations in his cure, according unto the nature of the Hernia, namely to the incipient Hernia one operation will serve; to the inveterate more will be required. And he saith, that in this cure is chiefly to be observed the time, the measure of the tree, and the depth or profundity of the hole.   

Another Experiment by him.  
Also he saith, that if we take the nails of the feet and hands of an Hydropic person, and transplant them on the Creyfish of the river, and bind them unto the back of her, and cast her into the river, it will cure the Dropsy. Whereby you may plainly observe by approved experience, that the marrow and strength of the foresaid Proposition, is in every respect confirmed; and again, if we do but burn the nails, and hair, and scrape of the skin, and take, by an alimbeck without a bottom, the fume of it, we shall find a kind of Balsamic oil to issue from them, which is very attractive, drying, and agglutinating of wounds. And therefore it appeareth, that there is a Balsamic virtue in these kind of Excrescences; though unto the ignorant they appear but of little value. But this Magnetic virtue of these Excrementitious parts, may, in some sort, be also demonstrated by the property of the Mineral Loadstone. As for Example.   

IV. A Magnetical Demonstration.  
We may rightly compare the mass of these superfluous Excrescences, unto a lesser Loadstone, capped with steel: For when it is transplanted into the Plant, it becometh of a greater force of attraction: For as the Iron being added unto the pole of the Loadstone, though it be but weak; yet it doth fortify it, and maketh it able to attract a far greater weight; for the Iron giveth it strength. In like manner, if Magnetic Excrescences, be grafted in the body of the Magnetical Tree; then that Tree will suck and draw his like, namely the spirit of defective limbs more strongly unto it; making them to become vegetative, and to increase and grow, which before did pine and wither: For the spirit sucked and continued by dilatation, from the member unto the vegetative nature of the Tree, doth endue the like nature; and doth by a continuity animate the fading spirits in the member, to increase, and vegetate, or prosper in his growth. Now to prove this Magnetical relation, I will produce certain Problems, touching the nature of the Loadstone.   

1. Problem.  
There is a strong Union in a Loadstone, 
Gilbert. lib. 2. cap. 19 Magnet.  armed with steel, and heavier weight may be by it taken up, than if it be not armed.   

Application.  
The reason is, because vis unita est fortior; for the Iron addeth force unto a Loadstone that is weak, as is confirmed by this Problem.   

2 Problem.  

Ridley of the Magnet. c. 24.  If there be a thin plate of Steel or Iron held or fastened unto the nether pole of the Load stone, between the Loadstone and the weight; then the Magnet will lift up double, and sometimes decuple, or ten times so much again. And from this practice came the capping or arming of the Adamant with Steel or Iron, after divers manners.   

Application.  
By the like correlation, If that the animal Magnet be armed with the vegetable power, it will more forcibly attract unto it, spirits from the greater animal Magnet, or rather the animal Iron. Also this Problem following is worthily to be noted.   

3. Problem.  

Paracels. Tract. 3. de Philos.  Every Body unto the which the lively Mummy of another man is administered or drunk up, doth forthwith become a Magnet, and will be armed to attract his like.   

Application.  
And therefore the lively Mummy of the decaying member, being in part included in the nails and hair thereof, and afterward conveyed into the vegetable body, that vegetable body which receiveth them, is made forthwith magnetical, and draweth to it the spirits of the member, and doth impart unto them of his vegetable power. And also the magnetic Mummy in the hair and nails, though of themselves they are but weak, yet are they made more strong and forcible, by being planted in a stronger magnetic vegetable, so that the one doth fortify and enable the other. This is demonstrated by this Problem.   

4 Problem.  
A weak Magnet being rubbed at one of the poles of a stronger, will be bettered by it in his vigour and virtue.   

Demonstration.  

Ridley in his Mag. Treat. c. 16  Also, set a Magnet of small force that can be perceived, upon a Loadstone of a good strength and vigour, especially upon the poles, and he will show a vigour, as if he were as strong as the stronger Stone is, whereunto he is united.   

Application.  
So by the like reason, we may transplant the superfluous excrescences, in which there appeareth but a small sign of any magnetic virtue, upon a stronger vegetable Magnet, or magnetical plant, and especially in his pith or axletree, and he will show forth a magnetic vigour, equal unto that of the plant, which appeareth in this, namely, because it doth direct by his beams the vegetable power, unto the decayed member. Now that the reference between the tree and the member is caused by a spiritual continuity, it is made plain by this magnetical Problem.   

5 Problem.  

Ridl. lib. c. 17.  If a long Iron be conjoined unto the pole of the Loadstone, and unto the end of this another be laid, and at the end of that a third, and so forward, the Adamant will, by virtue of his beamy emanating spirit, hold them all, or most of them, according unto the vigour thereof, all touching one another, and cleaving together like a linked chain.   

Application.  
Whereby it is evident, that as the spirit of the Loadstone is continuate, and by his continuity is apt to fasten and join bodies in a union, from his centre unto his spiritual circumference; even so, by the emanation from the double Magnet united in one, from their centre unto the weak line or member, there is caused and engendered a continual succession of vegetation in it, by degrees. Now that two Magnets uniting their forces in one, do emit a more vigorous emanation, and are endued with a greater magnetical force, it is proved in the second Problem of the third Demonstration of the second Chapter, before mentioned.    

CHAP. VI  
Herein is proved, that vegetables contain in themselves magnetical spirits, by means whereof, they do sensibly attract, as well from the Animal, as Vegetable and Mineral kingdom: And it is first expressed by two Propositions, and maintained by divers experimental Demonstrations.  

The first Proposition.  
THere is a magnetical virtue, as well in the vegetable, as in the animal and mineral, which doth operate and act attractively, both on his like in the vegetable, and also in the animal and mineral.   

The first experimental Demonstration.  
The experience hereof is manifold, and by that which hath been related in the precedent Chapter, that the magnetical relation or union which is made between the vegetable and the animal, is sufficiently expressed, and shall be more at large enucleated hereafter. Again, if one that hath an Ague do take the herb called Iberis, namely, a handful thereof, and put it into either of his shoes, and walketh upon it until he wax very hot, he will find, that it will draw a great deal of waterish matter downward, and cure the ague. But (saith my Master that taught me) it is not to be cast in the way that man or beast doth pass, for the animal that treadeth on it will be infected, and be aguish. This Christopher Schufzen, a Germane, did affirm that he had tried this, and found it to be true.   

2 Experience.  
Joannes Carfmanus delivereth it for a truth, that warts are taken away out of the hands and other places, by taking of straws, and cutting the knots in them, and he prepareth in that manner two for every wart, and the straws must be of a finger's length, which being thus prepared, you must put two sections of the knots in this fashion X upon every wart, so that the nodes do touch directly the warts, and they must strongly be pressed down; and this must be done unto every wart with a double straw, as is already said. Then take those straws, and dig a hole under a spout or gutter, and cover it with a stone; and you shall find (saith he) that as the straws do rot, so also will the warts consume away.   

3. Experimental Demonstration.  
Mr. Balthasar Wagner saith, that he hath often tried this magnetical cure, in the inflammation and redness of the eyes most true; 
Experiment of the Cammelion.  he taketh the root of the common Mallow, when the Sun is in the middle of Virgo, and applieth it backward unto the nuke or nape of the neck, binding it fast thereunto, averring, that it will attract and draw unto it with efficacy, all the cause of the redness.   

4. Experimental Demonstration.  
As there is a kind of Loadstone called Evax, 
Plin. l. 37. c. 10  which Pliny doth affirm to have a Magnetical power to attract flesh unto it; So also in another place he telleth us that there is another kind of Magnetic Stone, called Sa●da, which hath a property to draw wood unto it so strongly, that they cannot be separated from one another, except the wood be cut off from it. But leaving these things as uncredible, I will relate unto you, that mutual love and sympathetic affection, which (to my knowledge) hath been found between the Vegetable and the Mineral.   

5. Experimental Demonstration.  
There are divers men which do work in the Mines in Germany, of which a couple were employed about the Silver-Mines in Wales, who do use to gather at a due season, a forked rod of the Hazel-tree, and holding in either hand one of the two twigs in such manner, that the part where the fork beginneth to be perpendicular etc. there is so great a sympathy between this vegetable and the Mine, if it be rich, that the man that marcheth on the hill where the Mine is, and holdeth this Hazel-rod in this posture, shall presently perceive the top or perpendicular of the rod to incline violently downward, when the man treadeth on a place, where any Mine is; which is an evident Argument of the Magnetical affection, which is between the one and the other.   

6. Experiment.  
A man that hath many boils in his body, was counselled (when other things would not cure him) by an old woman, to find out a bramble which groweth out of the earth at both ends, or both ends rooted in the ground: and this man was counselled to creep in his clothes under the bramble backwards, three times, and he was cured; so his boils vanished by little and little, in five or six days. Mr. Fuller.   

2. Proposition.  
The singular order, and sympathy or antipathy of the vegetable parts between themselves, is described and typically set forth, by a relation or respect, had between it and the Loadstone; whereby is argued, that the vegetable and mineral, and consequently the animal observe one sympathetic, or harmonical proportion, as well in their sympathetic order, as antipathetical irregularity in their disorder.   

A Problem for the confirmation of the foresaid Proposition.  
In all Magnetical things, be they vegetable or mineral, and consequently animal; evermore nature doth tend unto a convenient unity, both in nature and position: and chose, where their parts do not according unto the course of nature, incline unto a conjunction, there happeneth a disturbance, and as it were a diversity between part and part.   

Demonstration in the Mineral Magnet.  
Take a long Loadstone or Mineral Magnet, and let it be C, D; and let C, be the North Pole, 
Gilbert. 3. lib. cap. 6. de Magnet.  B, and D, the South A; Then divide this long Loadstone in the middle between the two poles, where the aequator passeth, namely in E, F, and E, will be South or equinoctial unto the pole D, and F, unto the pole C. As therefore these parts of the Loadstone did respect one another in their entire disposition; So also nature tendeth after their division, to unite them again. And therefore where the division is made, the end E, desireth and coveteth to cleave and adhere unto F. But E. will not be joined or have any commerce with D, nor yet F, with C, and then one must convert C, unto D, and they will well agree and be combinated together.  
For D, turneth to the South as before, and C, to the North. But E, and F, which should be parts naturally conjoined, and united in the Stone, are in so doing mightily displaced, so that they do not accord and unite together by a material union, but they receive their motion and inclination from the form of the Stone; So that the ends of this Stone, whether they are disjoined or united, do Magnetically tend after one manner unto the poles of the earth, both in its first entire and divided figure, as in the second; and the Magnetical concourse F, E, in the second figure into one body, will be as perfect as that of C, D, even as it was engendered in his vein, and F, E, as the float in their boat.   

Application unto the Vegetable.  
This selfsame conveniency and inconveniency of the Magnetical Form, 
Gilbert. lib. 2. cap. 7.  which is noted to be in the Mineral Magnet, will also be observed in vegetables: For take a wand or rod of a Willow Tree, or any other Plant, which groweth easily, and let it be A, B, and A is the uppermost part of the rod, and B the lower part, next unto the root: divide this rod in the middle D, C: I say then, that if the end D, be grafted again in the end C, it will grow. Also if B, be grafted on A, they will be consolidated together, and sprout forth: But if D, be grafted upon A, or C. upon B, they will be at strife, and consequently will never grow, but one of them must needs die, by reason of the preposterous order and inconvenient position, because that the vegetative force or vigour, which proceedeth after one manner, is now diverted, and compelled or forced into contrary parts.  
I will say no more touching this point, but proceed unto the main burden of these practical Magnetical Conclusions, with their infallible Demonstration.    

CHAP. VI  
How the feisiblity and possibility of the Magnetical manner of cure by the Weapon-salve, is produced, and demonstrated to be natural: The which that we may the better effect, we will first set down our main Proposition touching this kind of cure; and afterward elucidate and clearly demonstrate it by evident proofs, derived especially from the virtue of the Loadstone.  

The Proposition.  
IF after the wound is made, a portion of the wound's external blood, with his inward spirits, or of his internal spirits only, that have penetrated into the weapon, or any other thing, which hath searched the depth of the wound, be conveyed from the wound, at any reasonable, but unlimited or unknown distance, unto an Ointment, whose composition is Balsamic, and agreeing specifically with the nature of the creature so wounded, and be in a decent and convenient manner adapted, and, as it were, transplanted or grafted into it; the ointment so animated by those spirits will become forthwith magnetical, and apply with a magnetical aspect or regard unto the bearny spirits, which stream forth invis●●bly from the wound, being directed thereunto by those spiritual bloody spirits in the weapon, or other thing, which hath received or included them; and the lively and southern beams streaming and flowing from the wound, will with the northern attraction of the ointment, so magnetically animated, concur and unite themselves with the northern and congealed, or fixed bloody spirits contained in the ointment, and stir them to act southernly, that is, from the centre to the circumference; so that by this reciprocal action, union, or continuity, the lively southern beams will act and revive the i'll, fixed, or northern beams, which do animate the ointment with a magnetical virtue, and quickened spirits of the ointment, animated by the spirits of them both, and directed by the spirits which were first transplanted into it, doth impart by the said union or continuity, his balsamic and sanative virtue unto the spirits in the wound, being first magnetically attracted; and they afterwards by an unseperable harmony, transfer it back again unto the wound. And this is the reason of that sympathetic and antipathetical reference or respect, which is by experience observed to be between the ointment and the wound, so that if the whole space of the weapon that made the wound, be covered and anointed with the unguent, and the unguent be well wrapped and kept warm, the wound will find consolation, and be at ease; but if a part of the ointment be pared away, or wiped off from the weapon, it hath been often tried, that pain or dolour will immediately ensue and afflict the wound. Moreover, if the place anointed be kept temperately warm, the wound will also rest in temper; but if it be uncovered, and left in the open cold air, then will it happen, that the wound will also be distempered and vexed with cold.   

Certain problematical Demonstrations, to prove the foresaid Proposition to be true in every point, and consequently to manifest this manner of Magical cure to be effected Naturally, and therefore not Cacomagically.  
The particulars of the foresaid Proposition are easily proved and maintained by such ocular demonstrations, as may be produced from the virtuous operation of the mineral Loadstone, unto the which we may rightly compare all magnetical bodies, with their actions, because they have their denominations from the mineral magnet, and therefore this weapon-salve is termed by some men, Un●uentum magnet●cum, and the cure is also called Magnetical. I proceed therefore in my purpose after this fashion, to prove the Proposition punctually, and therefore I divide it into members or portions.   

The first member of those Propositions, with certain experimental Conclusions from the Loadstone to confirm it.  
First therefore we gather by the said precedent Proposition, that two magnetical bodies of a like nature, may spiritually meet and conjoin together by a like natural inclination. And that the weapon wounding, or other material penetrating, doth imbibe the spirits, and is made magnetical.   

1 problematical Demonstration, taken from the Loadstone.  
Take two Lodestones, and place them in small wooden vessels, or boats of cork or wood, and set them upon a basin, or tub, or cistern of water, so that each of the Magnets may aspect one another, within the visible orb of his virtue, & you shall perceive them sensibly to move, and as it were, to incite each other to mutual embracement; so that at the contrary poles unto one another, they will meet and unite themselves; which is an argument, that dissevered spirits, of an identity of nature, do sympathetically operate and act one upon the other, at a distance.   

2 Demonstration from the same.  
In the like manner, 
Gilb. lib. 1. c. 5.  if we shall place a piece of Iron in one little boat, and a Loadstone in another, you will find, that the Iron will hasten with the like celerity unto the Loadstone, being also in his small bark; for you shall perceive, that each of them will be carried unto the other, and will the one stick and adhere unto the other in the midway; and after that the desire of each of them is accomplished, that is, after coition and union, they will stand still, and rest in their consents.   

3 Demonstration. 1 Problem.  
One vein of Iron being rightly disposed, 
Gilb. lib. 1. c. 9  will draw unto it another if the vein be rich, and of the colour of Iron. As for example, put one piece of the vein in his little cup, or small boat or bark, as is said before of the Loadstone, and hold in your hand another piece of the same Mine, somewhat near the other, and you shall find the other in his bark to move unto it, but nothing so swiftly as will the Iron unto the Loadstone.   

2 Problem.  
You shall find it also for a most true experiment, 
Gilb. lib. 1. c. 11  that if Iron be taken nakedly of itself, that is, not being excited by the Loadstone, or any thing else, it will draw another Iron unto it, though not so swiftly as the Load stone, that is vigorous; A trial is made thus. Make a piece of cork round, and as big as a hazelnut, and pierce it through the centre with a reasonable big piece of wire, till the middle of the iron be in the centre of the corck: put it into a quiet water to swim in, and apply it unto its other end very near; but so, that it toucheth it not, the end of another piece of wire; and you shall see, that the piece you hold in your hand shall draw the other in the cork, so that as you move the one, the other shall slowly follow. And this must be effected by the application of such of their ends, as shall agree in their pole. The Demonstration is this:   

Application.  
By these examples therefore it is made evident, how the two spirits of like disposition, or rather of one identity of nature, are apt and prone by a natural inclination to covet and embrace their like, and that at a distance, or space between each body, and consequently, that it is not the bodies that acteth. For they are divided and distant from one another; but the formal spirits, which by an astral emanation do sympathetically and lovingly, first aspect one another, and then by an equal attraction, do, as it were, kiss and hug together. And therefore it cannot seem strange or impossible unto wise men, that the bloody spirits in the ointment, and those in the wounded person, should at a far distance meet and apply together, by a sympathetic aspect, being that they are but one continued and indivisible quintessential spirit, though altered in elementary property, even as the northern air is by the north wind made to differ from the south, though all is but one essential and indivisible air.  
Touching the last branch of this Member, it argueth, that spirits may be, nay are imbibed by the weapon that woundeth, which by this axiom of Paracelsus, maketh the place of the weapon which woundeth a magnet, or magnetical. The Problem is this.   

3. Problem.  
Every Body, after that it hath imbibed the Mummy, which issueth from man, is forthwith made a Magnet unto him.  
And this is proved Magnetically by this Problem.   

4. Problem.  

Paracels. Trac. 2. de Plilos.  Iron incited or touched by the Loadstone at the Pole, doth draw unto him the like of the Loadstone that toucheth it.   

Application.  
Now that the vital spirits of the wounded animal, do penetrate in the very moment of the stroke into the weapon, and that the weapon doth greedily suck them in; it is proved by this following observation.  
Some Country Surgeons, not daring to search some deep wounds with a Probe, do use to take the weapon that made the wound, be it sword, dagger, knife, and such like, and put it into the fire; and though before you saw no difference in the colour of the weapon, yet after it cometh out of the fire, you shall see the place of it that wounded, altered in colour from the other, by reason of such spirits as it did imbibe. This is commonly found true by experience.  
Another proof to maintain this, is, that if a Viper or Adder be cut with a sword or knife, in pieces, the venomous, odious, and irascible spirit of the Serpent will penetrate into the substance of the steel; which is confirmed by this, namely because that if a man be afterward wounded by this weapon, that did cut and divide the Adder or Viper, it will so invenome the wound, that it will be made incurable, except an Antidote made of Adder or Viper be applied: So also the Scorpion, being bruised and applied unto the wound, that is made by the Scorpion, will cure it; as also an Oil made of the same.   

The second member of the Proposition, with the proofs.  
Secondly, that if a Magnetical body, be it animal, vegetable▪ or mineral, be divided into parts, the spiritual nature of these parts do always tend unto Unity, although these parts be divided far from one another: which is an Argument, that they are no continued thing in spirits; and therefore one part doth directly cooperate and send out actual beams of sympathetic identity unto another, though the bodily divided parts be absent or distant in space from one another.   

A Demonstration to confirm this.  
This is sufficiently proved, by the ocular Demonstrations, recited for the confirmation of the first member; but more especially by the second Demonstration of the eighth Chapter of this present Book: where I have showed you, that if a long Loadstone be divided in the middle, between the two Poles; that is to say, about the aequinoctial line, and each of these divided parts be put to float in his small vessel or bark on the still water. The influential spirit, which is one in essence, and continued between them, doth desire and covet to unite the divided mineral bodies, whose limbs are by a wound or Solution of continuity separated, and to reduce them into the natural estate, they were in at the first; and for that cause B, and C; whereof the one is Meridional, namely B; and the other Septentrional, to wit, C, which were at the first continuated parts, but now divided, are by that unseparable Spirit, which giveth life unto both the parts, reunited, sucked, and drawn together, and reduced unto the estate of their pristine continuity; that is, of two stones they are made one; so that the portion of spirit in C, draweth and attracteth the bodily B, unto it, and the proportion of spirit in B, sucketh and enticeth C, unto it: For we must note, that the unity of spirit, doth evermore desire and effect the unity of the body, in which it dwelleth; for the quintessential or formal spirit, delighteth not in the variable disposition of the airy spirit, and therefore coveteth to inhabit the close specifical house or palace, which it did possess immediately after his descent from his celestial starry parents. This is the reason, that one specific spirit is most easy, yea, and rejoiceth to communicate with his like; but especially one and the same spirit must needs act with, and never be absent from the other; and therefore when the frozen, Northern, and as it were congealed nature is incited and stirred up, by the equinoctial or Southern property, if it be rightly adopted; and the Southern Iron's property is touched with the Magnetical North-pole of the other, they will effect attraction the better; and to this purpose speaketh this Problem.   

Problem.  
If Magnetical bodies be divided, 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2. c. 33.  or any part broken off from the whole, each part so broken off, will have his North and South.  
And therefore each particle of Iron, or of the Load stone, being divided from the whole, will have a Northern property, and a Southern, which doth manifestly confirm unto wise men's capacities, that the spirit of every Specific, yea, of every individual, hath a Northern and a Southern condition, and consequently an attractive and dilative property; and not only the spirit of the whole, but also of every particular of it (if it may be spoken) being that the formal spirit is in all, and in every part.   

Application.  
Ye may therefore perceive by this, how possible and fezible it is, that the spirit in the dead blood or weapon, being transferred, and as it were transplanted at a far distance in the Ointment, as having a Balsam not differing from the animal nature; 
Vznea staunch blood.  but especially in respect of the vegetable Salt of the Uzneas, in the which altogether lurk spirits, which by the present application of the Southern, lively, and warm spirits in the wounded man, guided unto it by the spirits transported. or transplanted bood, doth re-vivify, and cooperate with the same spirit; not only in the staunching of the flowing blood, but also in the healing and consolidating of the wound: as shall be showed you more amply hereafter.   

The third Member of the Proposition, is confirmed by these proofs.  
Thirdly, that it is not the animal's external blood, but the internal in the external; which being separated from his fountain, 
3.  and transplanted on another unctuous stock, doth operate Magnetically from the stock on which it is planted, unto the fountain or spring, from whence it floweth. And it is maintained thus.   

A Demonstration to confirm this first Problem.  
It is not any corporeal thing, which floweth from the Loadstone, or which penetrateth into Iron, 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2. c. 4.  or that is poured, or extracted out of the Iron, being awaked by the Load-stone's power: but one Loadstone disposeth another, by an original or primary Form; and the Loadstone doth revoke, and disposeth the Iron, which is familiar unto his nature, together with itself, unto a form vigour, for which reason, the Iron runs unto the Loadstone, and doth greedily conform itself unto it, (each forces or vigours symphoniacally provoking).   

Application.  
Therefore it is a formal spirit, or subtle celestial influence, which doth operate mutually from the wounded body, unto the transported or transplanted blood, and not the body, or the blood, or the air, or the ointment, in which the transported blood, or bloody spirits are contained; so that the excited spirits in the ointment, do apply their regard unto the beams of the exciter, the north spiracle unto the southern; and so a union is made between the spirits of the ointment with the adopted blood, and those of the wounded body. And as we see, that by the concourse in the macrocosmicall air of the northwind and the south, both spirits are united into one form, and are magnetically, with their airy vehicle, contracted into a cloud, which containeth in it a formal fire or lightning, and a watery body: So the two emanations do cause a contracted airy spirit in the place of their concourse or application, which doth in his contraction attract the balsamic spirit which the ointment doth send forth; even as we see in the Weatherglass, that the contracted air sucketh up with it the mass of the water, and yet the air so contracted is not for all that visible. But this is further confirmed by this Problem.   

2 Problem.  

Gilb. de Mag. lib. 2. cap. 4.  Iron is alured and drawn, only by the immaterial act of form, that is to say, by an incorporeal proceeding, the which doth act and is conceived in the iron subject, as in a continuate homogeneal body: And this is the reason, that Iron is moved and drawn unto the Loadstone, without being impedited or hindered, by the interposition of dense and well-compacted bodies between them. And again, Iron draweth to it the Loadstone itself, and the concourse unto unity is moved by a mutual consent and vigour, the which concourse is vulgarly termed Attraction.   

Application.  
Here we see that reference, which is between the Magnet and the Mine, out of which that spirit which doth animate the Magnet is drawn; As for example, In the forementioned Chapter, the spirit of the microcosmicall Mummy is in the excrementitious excrescence transported unto the Plant; and so the plant, animated by that spirit, becometh a magnet, which directeth his vegetating spirit to apply unto the spirit or beam of the weak member, etc. I come now to the proof of the fourth Member.   

The fourth Member of the Proposition is demonstratively proved thus.  
Fourthly, that there is a spiritual penetration made from one body unto another, before any magnetical operation can be effected.   

Demonstration.  
This member is sufficiently confirmed by that which is already said in the other members, and yet it is more plainly expressed by this Problem.   

Problem.  
The Loadstone doth guide and direct magnetical things, the which do conceive vigour and force from it, 
Gilb. de Mag. lib. 2. cap. 4.  not only in their extremities, but also in their interiours, and very marrow: As for example, A piece of Iron, so soon as it is touched or attainted with the very breath of the Loadstone, it is excited magnetically at the end at which it is touched or regarded, and that very power which it received by that touch, passeth quite through from the end touched unto the other, not only superficially, but also centrally, and (as I may say) at the very marrow.   

Application.  
It appeareth evidently by this, that as the formal beams of one Loadstone doth penetrate unto the very centre of the other, and the other again reciprocally into the very centre of it; so also the spirit of the wounded man doth penetrate, partly by emission from itself, and partly by attraction of his like in the ointment, into the bowels of the ointment, unto the spirits of his own kind that are hid in it, and reciprocally the ointment being made a magnet by the imbibing of the Mummial spirits of the blood, applieth his attractive beams unto those, which are emitted from the wound, being directed therein by the spirit of the dead blood in the unguent, as shall be showed hereafter more at large.   

The fifth Member of the Proposition, with the Proofs.  
Fifthly, 
5.  that the magnetical act and operation of celestial, astralicall or starry, and influential spirits, are not to be limited, nor yet to be impedited or hindered in their motion, if we look into the mystery of this business with intellectual eyes.  
We must distinguish this Member, for your better understanding, into two several articles or branches, whereof the first must show, that the extension of the emanations made from two astralicall or starry spirits, are not to be limited by man's understanding, howsoever by an external effect, it may at random be guessed at. These one shall prove, that such influential starry beams, or quintessential emissions, as are sent forth from the Loadstone unto the Iron, or from one Loadstone unto his like in nature, and consequently from all other magnetical bodies, o● like condition in essence, cannot be hindered by the interposition of any solid or well-compacted bodies, as some Fool losophers, rather than Philosophers, have temerariously averred in their writings.  
Touching the first, which includeth the imaginary termination or bounding of beamy or formal extensions, or emanations from magnetical bodies, within a settled, or known limited sphere of activity, the impossibility thereof (howsoever our Peripatetic Philosophers have feigned the contrary) is argued by these following problematical Demonstrations.   

Certain problematical Demonstrations, confirming the contents of this Members first Article 1. Problem.  
The vigour in heavenly bodies, whereby they move themselves, doth argue a soul in them, and for that reason they are esteemed by the wisest Philosophers, to be endued and animated with a divine act or spirit, by means whereof they move; which being so, the extension of application of their beams must also prove uncertain, and therefore without limit, being that their spirits, after the emanation made, do concur sometimes in the air, sometimes in the water, and sometimes, without resistance, they pierce even unto the centre of the earth, to operate upon the mineral Kingdom, bestowing on the earthly subjects that are under them, of that very formal act and virtue, whereby they operate in their acute penetration: And therefore these inferior creatures of a like nature, are able to send forth and extend their astralaicall or beamy virtues as far, and to apply their beams at as an unterminable distance, as their stars in heaven are observed to do.   

2 Problem.  
It is rightly then said, that the Loadstone doth move the Loadstone, and doth both dispose of one another by their primary form, which it receiveth from his starry fountain. And therefore it was not any absurdity in the wise man, Thales Milesius, nor yet any madness in Scaliger, to assign a soul unto the Magnet, seeing that by it, it is centrally incited, directed, and carried or moved circularly: As for example.   

Example.  

Gilbert. lib. 2. cap. 4.  If two Magnets be put one against the other in their small barks, upon the water, they will not presently concur together, but first they do mutually conform themselves unto one another, or else the lesser doth obey the greater, moving itself after a circular fashion, and when at the last they are disposed, according unto their natural position, they run or concur together.  
The like effect also will appear between the Magnet and the Iron, and the Iron and the Iron; as shall be expressed hereafter.   

An Addition.  
Whereby, although it may be replied, that this Act of the Loadstone with the Loadstone, or it with the Iron, doth by effect seem to be limited, within a certain dimension, and therefore what I say, proveth not much as yet, for the unbounded dimension of the Magnetical body's emanation. I answer, That the sensible act, which is between the Loadstone and Loadstone, doth not argue, that because the two ponderous bodies, have their motion but at such a distance, therefore their spirits can extend themselves, or apply their beams no further: For it is one thing to operate sensibly, by a violent attraction of a heavy mass, and another thing for one Form only, to embrace and concur in a natural rejoicing sympathy with another. And this alteration, is verified even of such as are well practised in the Load-stone's property, by this following Problem.   

3. Problem.  
The Orb of the internal or spiritual Magnetical virtue, doth extend itself at a larger distance, 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2 c. 33.  than the Orb of any sensible, or external, or visible motion can warrant: For the thing that is Magnetical, is effected in the extremity of it, a far off, although it doth not move by a local motion: But if the Loadstone be applied nearer unto it, then will also the whole Magnetic mass move corporally unto it.  
Whereby is acknowledged, that the virtuous extension of the Magnet, is far beyond the limits of the Orb of visible Magnetical motion. But I will prove it by degrees more evidently, namely that the starry influential virtue in the Magnet, extendeth itself beyond the limits of any sensible capacity.   

4. Problem.  
The needle touched Magnetically, will aspect the North-pole, even from the equinoctial point, 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2. c. 33.  which is an Argument of the unlimited extension of the Loadstones virtue. As for example: Let there be a long Loadstone prepared, and directly in the middle upon the aequinoctial B, where the Axis runneth, plant an incited needle, and it will look directly unto the North-pole A. Also if within the Orb you place another incited needle without the Stone in C, it will also look directly upon the said Pole: whereby we may discern, the long distance which is between the aspect of the Magnet, and that of the incited body, namely 90 Degrees.  
Again, each part or fragment that is divided from the Magnet, (be it animal, vegetable, or mineral) hath therefore the selfsame dimension, because it is as well endued with his polar virtues, as the whole. And this is sufficiently testified by this Problem.   

5. Problem.  
If Magnetical subjects be divided, or any piece be broken off from it by any means, 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2. ●. 33. Ri●ley c. 2●.  every part so broken off from the whole, will have an end as well Septentrional as Meridional, as well as the whole had. As for example: If a smaller part or piece be taken out of a greater Loadstone, it will be endued which the same life and vigour, which the whole Magnet had, no otherwise then the child will, touching his life wholly correspond with the Father in life & parts; and it will be as it were a new creature, and will have his poles and aequinoctial as well as the whole Stone had. 
Ridley c. 17.  Also if an Iron-rod, as is that of the Curtain be hung up, and have his position North and South, without being touched (for being to god North and South, it will endue those properties, namely the polar virtues, and move in the air being hung up by a thread, or put into a boat on the water, unto the North and South; If (I say) a small piece of the rod be broke off from the North part, it will have his North and South-pole, as well as the whole rod of Iron from the which it was broken.  
Whereby it is apparent, that if every portion or fragment of the Loadstone or Iron, have his pole as well as the whole, than the spirit which is within, hath his relation or application with the Northern polestar of the great world; and doth also behold the Southern Virtue, with his South-pole; for except there were the Scintil of the Anima mundi, which is in it and operateth in it, according unto the small proportion of it, no otherwise than it doth in the great world, it could not aspect each Pole, as it is observed by experience to do; and consequently as the actions of the Anima mundi are so catholic, that they cannot be limited; so are the spiritual, quintessential, or astralicall Emanations. I prove it further thus.   

6. Problem.  
If you take an Iron rod, made of good Iron, and hang it up in the air on a thread, as if it were touched with a Loadstone, etc.   

The Experience is this.  
Take a strait piece of Iron or steel of six foot long, and a finger thick, hang it up in a close chamber, 
Ridley.  into the which there cometh no wind, (and therefore this experiment ought to be tried when the air is calm, and the day not windy; and must hang on a silken thread, which is not twisted but woven; and the Iron must hang directly equilibrous, or in an equal balance) and you shall discern it slowly to move, and by little and little to attain with his extremities or ends of the points of North and South, no otherwise then the needl's do in the dials, which are touched with the Loadstone.  
Moreover, we shall find that the Loadstone, or any thing else, that is touched or excited by the Loadstone, will direct their aspect, being planted in small boats, on the needle on his vertical unto the North-pole.   

The Conclusion.  
Wherefore it is made manifest, that the extension of the Load-stone's spiritual or formal Emanation; as also that of other Magnetical bodies, is not to be limited, being that they do act and apply their beams, unto the very state of the Polestar, and the Polestar by his like emitted influences, doth operate reciprocally and apply unto or aspect the Loadstone, and so make a continuated Spiritual union betwixt them, being that we ocularly discern, that both it and the Iron, doth diligently, and with a manifest Sympathy aspect, and actually move unto the said star. And then, after this is well considered, let us but think and ponder the distance, which is between the Polestar and the Magnet, namely betwixt the eighth Sphere, and the earth, and he will perceive it to be in a manner infinite and incommensurable, and consequently the emitted beams of the Loadstone, cannot by any fantastical Sphere, of sensible and sensual Philosophers, be comprehended or limited. But if the act of the Polestar on the Magnet be denied. And Fracastorius his opinion, with that of many other learned men, be received, namely that the Loadstone, the Iron, and the needle touched, do tend unto the North-pole, by reason of the attraction of certain Rocks of Loadstone, which are in the Hyperboreal mountains; if this opinion (I say) were admitted to be true, yet may we see by it, that the act of the Magnet, and the actual respect, which the Magnetical body beareth unto it, is not to be limited; being that so they will be observed to cooperate from the equinoctial, unto the Northern Hyperborean Rocks. But this opinion hath been proved false by us in another place, and shall hereafter be demonstrated by us to be so. We will now come to our Application, touching this first Article.   

Application.  
The first and second Problem teacheth us, that there is such a celestial or astralicall subtle spirit, in all magnetical bodies of the earth, as is in the heavenly ones, and consequently, that the beams of each of them may penetrate as far, though they be not discerned by sense, as the beams of each star. By this therefore we may be assured, that man's heavenly spirit being of a more pure and subtle a stuff, than is that of the Loadstone, may send forth the astralicall beams of his virtue, not only to the mark that the Loadstone aimeth at, but also unto the highest throne of divinity. Again, hereby it is argued, that the spirit in the transplanted blood, is able to operate at any distance on the wound; and the beamy spirit of the wound again, to cooperate, and have a continuated union and respect unto one another.  
The third instructeth us, that though the ointment and blood in it do not appear mobil or movable at a far distance, yet they may cooperate and be conjoined with the spirit of the wounded, at an unknown proportion of space,  
By the fourth and fifth we learn, that the extension of the northern blood's aspect unto the southern, may be so far, as the equinoctial is from the pole, namely, 90 degrees. But, I say, that as the northern and southern emanation of the soul of the world, filleth all the cavity of the world, so also by it, and in it, may this act of that soul in man extend itself, far beyond the capacity of flesh and blood and therefore is only intellectually to be understood.  
By the fifth, that each particle of man's blood, or spiritual Mummy, being divided from the whole, hath all the parts or proportions in it ideally described, that the whole hath, and therefore doth operate as well with a northern, as southern aspect, and consequently draweth down from the heavens a like property, as occasion is given: For so this one Spirit is said to come from the four winds, and yet it is but one spirit in essence, 
Ezek. 36.  though fourfold in property; for it was by the virtue of it, that the dead, mentioned by the Prophet, did rise again. And therefore so far as the north wind or south winds extension may be, so far is this spirit in man able to send forth his spiritual beam.  
I will come now unto the proof of the second.  
Touching the second Article, which showeth the acute penetration of this spirit, and that it is effected without any impediment, contrary unto some ignorant persons opinion, who think, that castles, stones, woods, hills, and such like, may hinder the penetration of this subtle and all-penetrating spirit: The proof is made by these problematical demonstrations.   

Demonstrations confirming this Member's second Article. 1 Problem.  

Gilb. de Mag. lib. 2. c. 4.  Neither fire, nor water, nor earth, can hinder the ingressive action, or piercing virtue of the Loadstone upon the Iron, being it is proved by experience, that it sucketh and draweth it unto him quite through them; as for example, If a candle, or flame of fire, be interposed between the Loadstone, and a small piece of wire, you shall find the piece of Iron will leap quite through the flame unto the Loadstone. 
Gilb. de Mag. lib. 2. c. 4.  In like manner, the Needle on his turn-pin, will, for all the interposition of a flame, turn unto the Loadstone, and that with the same celerity that it would do in the open air. So that you may see by this experiment, that the coition of these magnetical bodies are not hindered by fire. Also if water or earth be interposed between them, it will do the like.  
There is another Problem, which expresseth the unresistable penetrative virtue of this, more effectually, in these terms.   

2 Problem.  
Iron is alured only by an immaterial act, or an incorporeal process, which doth operate, and is conceived in an Iron subject, as in a continuated homogenial body, and therefore it hath no need of large or wide passages: And for this reason, the Iron is moved and drawn by the Loadstone itself; and again, the Iron doth draw the Loadstone itself, and a concourse, or a meeting together in a unity, is made by their beams, although that thi●k bodies be interposed as sticklers between them.  
So that you see, that the putting or applying of thi●k substances between the Iron and the Loadstone, cannot hinder the coition of spirits; which is a token, that the influential or formal spirit cannot be impedited in hi●●otion. And therefore ●his subtle spirit, whi●h hath his beginning from the soul of the world, is said by the wisest Philosopher, Omnia permeare entia, ●o pass or travers all things.  
But yet more plainly.   

3 Problem.  
The Loadstone, 
Gilb. de Mag. lib. 2. c. 2.  without any frication or rubbing, or being exsiccated by heat, or perfused with moisture, in the air in the water, doth provoke and allure unto it magnetical subjects, and also solid as well-compacted bodies, as thick boards, or tables of stone, or gross plates of mettle, as silver, gold or brass, being put between.  
And Ridley saith, 
Ridley in his Treatise ●f Magnetical bodies, cap. 14.  That although such substances as be not magnetical, be placed between the Needle and the Loadstone, yet they cannot hinder the orb and proceeding of the magnetic vigour: As for example, If a Loadstone should be placed in a box of wood, stone, tin, silver, or brass, yet the Loadstone will extend his magnetical orb.   

Application.  
I conclude therefore by this typical expression, that the emissions of man's vital spirits are so subtle, and so piercing, that no interposed bodies are able to hinder it in its motion to his pretended mark, nor yet the magnetical blood in the ointment being excited, can be hindered in his concourse o● union, with the same southern ●r vivifying spirit, and that especially, because the formal spirits of the one is continued and homogeneal unto the other. I proceed now unto the sixth Member of the foresaid Proposition.   

The sixth Member of the Proposition, with the Proofs,  
Sixtly, that after a Body (be it Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral) is made, by a transplantation of another bodies spirits, magnetical, or a magnet, unto that other body; it doth, by attracting of its beloved's spirits unto it, impart unto them of that virtue and property, which appertaineth unto itself; insomuch that as the lover doth participate with the nature of the beloved, so also the beloved doth partake and share with the lover's condition, especially if they be homogeneal in kind, and reciprocal in affection.   

Certain problematical Demonstrations, to confirm this member of the foresaid Proposition. 1 Problem.  
Quodlibet corpus cui Mummia viva in alio homine propinatur, 
Paracels. Tract. 3. de Philos.  illicò fit magnes: Every body, to whom the lively Mummy from a man is given or administered, is forthwith made a Magnet.   

Application.  
This Problem is animal, and not mineral, but it inferreth, that by the transplanting of man's bloody spirits into the ointment, the ointment is forthwith become magnetical and attractive; even as before I told you, that the hair and nails being planted or grafted on the Oak, make it forthwith, by communicating of the spirits of the one with the spirits of the other, attractive and magnetic.   

2 Problema Magneticum.  
The Loadstone hath nothing, neither can do any thing, which the Iron being excited cannot do; and that not only by contact, but at a reasonable distance.   

Application.  
Neither can the live man's spirit perform any action, that the dead blood transplanted in the Salve, by the Magnetical assistance of the Salve, cannot perform: yea verily, it goeth yet further; for it inspireth into the wound a Sanative influence.   

3. Problem.  
Iron being touched, doth recreate another Iron, and instructeth it unto Magnetical motions; 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2. c. 4.  so that it draweth unto it a third. As for example: The Loadstone being applied unto A, it draweth unto it the piece of wire B; and also after B, it draweth C, and after C, it draweth D.   

Application.  
The Iron B, is compared unto the spirits, that are first animated by the lively spirits in man, and that animates the Oyntment's spirits, which are of a Microcosmicall nature, by reason of Uzneas volatile salt, which is the receptacle of such vegetating and vivifying Spirits as give life unto man, save only they are of a Northern property, and as it were dead: These spirits in Ointment are referred unto C, which work and operate, being so excited in D; which importeth the emitted spirits of the wounded man: so that we see, that it is but one and the same continuated Spirit, which putteth into action the three several Subjects, and their spirits, namely the blood transported, the Ointment and the Body of the wounded.   

4 Problem.  

Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2. c. 4.  The Loadstone and the vein of Iron are all one, and have all one matrix, and are found in one Mine as twins; yea, and the robust Magnet, hath Iron in it. And therefore the Iron which is extracted from them both, hath all the Magnetical virtues, as well in the vein, as being made by separation, but more weakly, except it be excited by the Loadstone, and added unto it by capping: For so it will be stronger in his Magnetical power, than the Loadstone itself.   

Application.  
In like manner, the blood in the wounded person, and that which is transplanted to be purified, and comforted in the Ointment, came out of one and the same vein, and have all one matrix, and therefore that extracted blood, hath in it all the Magnetical virtues, but more weakly, and more in puissance than in act, except it be excited by the Southern fountain of blood, and capped with the Balsamic nature of the unguent, For being so prepared, namely incited and addressed, it will have his own Northern power, and that Balsamic and attractive virtue of the Uznea, is so powerful in his Northern Saturnine condition, that it suddenly sealeth up and arresteth by congelation, the Southern blood that floweth; even as the Northern wind converteth the air into fix, and immobil snow or hail.   

5 Problem.  

Gibe●t. de Mag. l. 1. c. 16.  The Load stone and the Iron, among all other bodies that are known unto us, are more near in nature and condition unto the earth; for they have in them a substance that is most genuine and homogenial, and approaching unto the earth. And therefore these three do agree in nature together.   

Application.  
By this it appeareth, what near reference there is, between the body of Man, which we compare rightly unto the Earth, and the blood which issueth out of the veins of the Earth referred to the Load stone, and the Ointment endued with a bloody spirit, and which was extracted out of blood: For the fat and the Uznea, and Mummy were of blood: For Scriptures tell us, that the Soul of the flesh, and consequently of the fat and bones, is in the blood. Whereby we may see, that though these three do differ in bodily Substance, yet they agree in the homogeniety of spirit. And therefore it is no marvel, though there is a continuity between the spirit of the bodily blood, and that transplanted; neither also ought we much to wonder at the natural commerce, which is between the bloody spirits, and the Ointment, that so sudden a union should be made between them, and that it should forthwith become a Magnet, adopted only in his Balsamic and sanative operation: for the wound, being that it is guided and directed by these bloody spirits, which are transplanted in it, and, after animation, did convert the beams of his nature unto his like, being as near in spirit and property unto the wounded man's blood, as is a piece of Iron, or Loadstone, which is broken from off the whole, which acordeth in every respect with the spirit of his Father, from whence it sprung. So also we see, that though the Macrocosmicall air doth seem to vary in nature, according to his position, (for the Northern air is cold, the Southern or equinoctial is hot); yet it is but one spirit, howsoever it is divided into this o● that cloud. And again, the internal or formal Spirit, which animateth diversely the four winds, is but one and the same indivisible spirit, (as the Prophet Ezekiel telleth us). In like manner, it is but one and the same identity of spirit, which acteth in the wound, the conveyed blood and the Ointment, being all three, as it were but one blood, 
Acts 17.  as the Apostle taught the Athenians, that all men came of one blood, and consequently of one spirit in the blood. I prove it also by this Problem.   

6. Problem.  
Attraction is made in the primary bodies, and these are nearest unto one another, and of a mutual consent, among themselves, by reason of their identity, in condition. And for this reason the Loadstone draweth the Loadstone, and Iron draweth Iron, and earth of them all draweth earth; and again, each of them draweth another.   

Application.  
Hence therefore is gathered a reason, why blood draweth blood, and one body his like, and the Ointment being animated by one and the same nature, doth attract his like unto him. And therefore Paracelsus saith justly, Quodlibet corpus, cui Mummia viva in alio homine propinatur, illicò fit magnes: Every body that drinketh or takeeth inwardly the lively Mummy of another man, is forthwith made a Magnet. And therefore we may say justly, seeing experience hath made it manifest, that every Microcosmical Ointment, that hath imbibed or comprehended the spiritual Mummy of another man's blood, is forthwith made a Magnet, and by the incitation of the Mummial spirit, which it containeth, doth greedily thirst, and covet after his like. And for that reason draweth, and allureth it unto it; thereby to impart as well unto it, as it doth communicate his vivifying property unto his attractor. I could say much more, to prove the reason of the strong attraction of this Ointment, after it is animated with the live man's spirits: but I shall be too redious; and again, I shall touch it in the consequence; and for that reason, I will leave this member to proceed to the seventh.   

The seventh Member of the Proposition with the Proofs.  
Seventhly, that the Agent which causeth the Alien or strange body, much more that which is of his consanguinity, to be come Magnetic, and affectionate, or concupiscible, and that by a kind of proximity in nature, is the bloody spirit transplanted into the animal unguent, or vegetable plant, (of which I have spoken before) the which spirit also is the director or guider unto the unctuous Magnet, to operate magnetically upon the subject, and his spirit from whence it was derived; the which spirit, if it be strong and potent, it worketh potently; if debil or weak, it operateth but weakly.   

Certain problematical Demonstrations, to confirm the Member of the foresaid Proposition.  
This Member, for the better explication of our purpose, we must divide into three Articles or Particles, whereof the first shall prove, That the transplanted spirit maketh the unguent, into the which it is committed, a Magnet unto the wounded person: The Second, That it is the only guider and director of the ointments force, and conductor of his balsamic faculty unto the wounded spirit: And the last shall demonstrate, how a weak and impotent spirit operateth but weakly of itself, and yet by the assistance of a sounder and stronger nature, it is refreshed, and becometh strong again.   

Demonstrations confirming the contents of this Members first Article.  
Touching the first Article of this Member, which maketh the transplanted spirit the cause, that the ointment is magnetical, we prove it thus.   

1 Problem.  

Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2. c. 25.  Experience hath taught us, and Baptista Porta confirmeth so much, that if a weak Loadstone be hid in the dust of Steel for a season, it will become more strong and powerful in his attraction, also the Steel will be bettered by his nature. But Paracelsus cometh more near in his relation, and saith, That by heating of the Loadstone, and extinguishing of him in an oil of Crocus Martis, which is made of the best Carinthian Steel, so often, till it will imbibe no more, it will so corroborate this Loadstone, that it will have ten times more force than it had, in attraction,   

Application.  
By a like relation, the weak spirits in the transplanted blood being imbibed by the animal unguent, which hath the selfsame relation unto the spiritual Mummy in it, as the oil of Crocus Martis hath unto the weak spirits in the Loadstone, will be revived and recreated in his magnetic vigour, and being mingled with his unctuous like, will make a compounded Magnet, which will draw his like spirits more strongly by far, than it could before. Again, as the small or weak Magnet doth recover force, by being buried in the dust, or ferruginous earth, which is of his nature; so also the bloody spirits being interred in the unctuous earth of his own nature, doth by the attraction of his like from the fountain of blood, and of the salutary spirit from the ointment, so unite itself unto the ointment, that it createth by emanation a fit Magnet, which communicateth his balsamic nature unto them both, and by attraction of the spirit of the wounded member, it rendereth itself medicinable; so that by a continuity and integrity of spirit, it conferreth, through an immediate spiritual contact, the balsamic spirit of the Uznea, and other unctuous ingrediences, into the wound. Do we not observe, that the water which passeth or runneth by a heap of salt, doth endue wholly the virtue of the salt, though the stream of it be long, and doth communicate that nature from one extreme unto the other: And much more the air will carry the nature of the place it passeth by afar off, and yet all that air so animated, will be continuate, and therefore much more that subtle celestial spirit which doth inhabit the air.   

2 Problem.  

Gilbert. de Madge l. 2 c. 4.  Iron being touched, doth recreate other Iron by touching it, and instructeth it unto magnetical motions.   

Application.  
By the like proportion in the Animal kingdom, the transplanted spirit being first animated by his southern or living fountain, doth animate and recreate magnetically the unguent, so that it doth operate upon the wounded man's spirit, being emanated and attracted unto it by bettering of his wounded nature, through his balsamic emission.   

3 Problem.  
Set a Loadstone of no force or strength that can be perceived, 
Ridley in his Treatise of the Loadstone, c. 16  upon a Loadstone of good strength and vigour, especially upon the poles, and he will show a vigour, as if he were as strong as the other Loadstone, whereunto he was united; but after he is taken away, he will be as weak as he was before, unless it be done again often. The selfsame effect followeth, if a piece of Iron be placed on a strong Loadstone, but take it away from the Stone, and almost all the virtue will be lost.   

Application.  
In the like manner, the weak northern blood being transplanted into the ointment, and applying itself unto the lively spirit's emanation, by the preservation and corroboration of the ointment, waxeth strong, and draweth or operateth effectually, rendering the whole ointment magnetical. But if it happen, that the ointment be either pared off from the place of the weapon, in which the spirits did penetrate, (as Sir Bevis Thelwel did prove on the axe that wounded the Wheeler) or be struck or wiped off, (as did happen unto the axe that wounded the Shipwright, by the striking down unadvisedly of Sir Nicholas G●lburn's hilt of his sword) than it will leave his virtue which it received from the bloody spirits in the live man, and the balsamic uncture of the unguent; and therefore will the wound by that division, be as dolorous, or more painful, than before: But if the ointment be reapplyed unto the place again, and it be wrapped warm, the magnetical concourse will be renewed and the dolour will forthwith cease, as it hath been tried by many; and this distemper is not made by the cold air only, causing a i'll dolour in the wound, but also by the heat of the fire it becometh inflamingly or burningly dolorous: For Mr. James Virot, sometimes my servant, but now Apothecary unto the Queen, and dwelling in Blackfriars, did this last year make of the unguent; and for a trial, did wound with his Lancet a man in the arm, and afterward did anoint the Lancet, and applied it to the fire, that the ointment melted, and the Lancet waxed hot; and it so fell out, that at that instant the wounded person found so great a burning pain in his wound, that he could not endure it; and then immediately he anointed it again, and the wound was forthwith pacific, and healed immediately. The Apothecary is extant, and will be ready to maintain it. The same is better confirmed by this Problem.   

4 Problem.  
If a weak Magnet be rubbed at one of his poles with a stronger Loadstone, 
Ridley, ibid.  it will be bettered by it by his vigour and virtue, if not augmented in power.   

Application.  
The very same proportion of action, is between the Mummy in the nails and hair, and the vegetable Magnet; as also between that in the transplanted blood, and in the ointment: for the vegetable Magnet or Oak did reduce the occult and secret Mummy in them, from puissance unto act, by opening the closerts of nature, no otherwise than the earth doth the grain of Wheat by rotting; and even so also is the potential or northern nature of the spiritual bloody Mummy, being extracted and reduced unto action, by the unctuous earth, or magnetic ointment.   

5 Problem.  

Ridley c. 19  If the magnetical Needle, being first touched with a Loadstone, be made red-hot in the fire, it will lose all his polar puissance or virtue, and directive faculty; but if it be freshly touched again, it will recover his virtue and act again.   

Application.  
So by converting the Proposition for eadem est ratio contrariorum, the reason of contraries point at one and the same. If the transplanted blood, which was touched magnetically with the spirit of life, be frozen or congealed with cold, it loseth all his strength, and operative and directive virtue; but if it be comforted by the ointment, and reanimated with the Southern or vital spirit, as before, it will not only wax alive and act again, but also render the ointment magnetical, and direct it in his course unto the member affected.   

6 Problem.  

Ridley, Treatise of Magnetic bodies.  If there be a thin plate of Steel fastened unto the nether pole of the Magnet or Loadstone, namely, between the Loadstone and the way of it, than the Magnet will lift double, and sometimes decuple, or ten-times so much as it did. From this practice began the capping or arming of the Loadstone with Steel or Iron, after divers manners.   

Application.  
So is the translated northern blood rightly compared unto the Loadstone, and the Ointment to the capping or arming with Iron: For by uniting the frozen blood unto the Ointment, the attractive power and Magnetical force is far the greater, and is able to suck and draw strongly unto it, the Southern spirit of lively blood in the wounded. I prove this better, by this Problem following.   

7. Problem.  
If two Loadstones, armed with two teeth apiece be set before us; the one being strong the other weak, or much less, whose Axis or Diameter betwixt the teeth is equal, and of like length; then set the teeth of these together, that came from contrary Poles and parts, and the stronger will apprehend and lift up the weaker; and the weaker being united, and incorporated with the stronger, by the virtue that it receiveth from the stronger, will lift up from the ground, and retain the stronger and greater very firmly; although he be much heavier than the weight which the small stone doth ordinarily lift up.   

Application.  
By this Mineral type we are taught, (by changing the measures of weights into proportions, in vigour of spirit) that the frozen, evacuated, and transported bloody spirits, being capped and armed with the Ointment, whose nature is as near as the blood unto the spirits, is made a Magnet so puissant, that it is able to attract unto itself, the bigger and stronger bloody nature, by applying to it the lesser Magnets Northern nature, and as it were his Northern-pole, unto the bigger Magnets Southern nature; for by that means in the mineral kingdom, a natural Union is made, as is proved by this Problem.   

8. Problem.  

Ridley. ibid.  There is a natural Union, and a violent and depraved Union; and the natural is, when the coition is made by contrary Poles, as by the North pole and the South. Again, that the strongest attraction is from the North-pole, this Problem doth confirm.   

9 Problem.  
The North-pole is the most strong and vigorous pole, 
Ridley c. 6.  to all Magnetic intents and purposes, if he have the quantity that the South hath.   

Application.  
Whereby it is evident, 
Ridley c. 6.  that the Northern nature; which is in the unctuous Magnet and his influential spirit, is by far more attractive than the Southern or warm spirit; neither can the Southern or aequinoctial draw unto it, but as he participates of the Northern nature, by a natural concurrency, unto his like; and that is the reason, that the natural Union, is said to be where a concurrency is made of opposite polar natures: For from them is the strongest attraction made; because that it is the nature only of cold to contract; as chose, heat doth dilate. This polar force therefore, is conclusively maintained by this Problem; with the which I conclude this Article's proof.   

10. Problem.  
The Loadstones that be capped, 
Ridley c. 24.  take and apprehend at the Pole only.   

Application.  
As who should say, that the Northern or congelated Mummy, capped or armed with the Ointment of his own nature, and the Southern or lively Mummy, capped with flesh, do apply Magnetically unto one another at the Poles; namely the lively Mummy, at the Southern or equinoctial, and the weak and frozen at the Northern; and therefore the manifest attraction is from the unctuous Magnet, and his imbibed Agent.  
I now come unto the second Article, 
2. Article.  or Particle of this Member.   

Demonstrations confirming the Contents of the Member's second Article or Particle.  
As concerning the second Article of this member, which showeth that the spiritual Mummy of the transplanted blood, is the director and guider of the Ointments Magnetical force, or vigour unto the wound, at what distance soever; I demonstrate it, by these problematical assertions following.   

1. Problem.  
The Loadstone doth guide and direct Magnetical things, 
Gilb. de Mag. lib. 2. c. 4.  which do conceive vigour and force from it, not only in the extremities, but also in their interior and veiny marrow. As for example: So soon as a piece of Iron is apprehended, it is accited Magnetically into the end where it was touched, and that very force so bestowed upon it, penetrateth quite throughout, even unto the other end or extremity, not only superficially but also centrally.   

Application.  
By this Example it is proved, that the formal Mummy of the blood, operateth in the very like manner with the Ointment; which is to it, as the Iron is unto the Loadstone; so that as the Loadstone by touching the Iron, maketh it after the imbibition of his spiritual vigour a Magnet; So also after the imbibition of this bloody spiritual Mummy, the unguent becometh a Magnet: Forasmuch as it is throughly animated with a Magnetical vigour. And doth by virtue of this Mummiall soul, direct his beam and Balsamic force, unto the fountain, from whence that Mummiall spirit did arise. I prove the direction to be true, by these other Problems following.   

2. Problem.  
One Loadstone doth dispose of the other, one doth convert the other, and reduceth it in his order, and guideth and directeth it into his Concordances, and when they are met and joined together, they do mutually adhere firmly unto one another. The example is evident: For if you take two Irom wires of a length, being excited at the ends by contrary Poles, and thrust them through round corks, as big as Hazelnuts, and put them to swim in the water; you shall find that they will by little and little order themselves, and the Northern spiritual contact of the one, will first direct his axletree, and after draw the South-pole unto it, until both meet one another, in the manner of two Tilters or Horsemen with their spears.   

The Demonstration. Application.  
The spiritual Mummy in the transplanted blood, is one Loadstone, which doth dispose the Ointment in such a manner, that it becometh a Magnet also; and this Magnet is directed by the spirit of the Mummy into the concordances of the spiritual Mummy, which breatheth forth of the living wounded man, which i● attracteth and uniteth, and partly participateth with his vivifying force, and partly communicateth with him of his balsamical spirit; which by reason of his continuity with the wound, it doth easily, though invisibly transfer unto the wound. I proceed now unto the third Article or Particle of this Member.   

Demonstrations, confirming the Contents of this member's third and last Article or Particle.  
As for the third and last Article of this Member, which showeth, that a weak and impotent spirit operateth but weakly of itself, 
3 Article.  but by the assistance of a stronger nature, it is recreated, and becometh vigorous. And lastly again, it is also confirmed by many sufficient problematical conclusions, which are produced from the Load stone's properties.   

1 Problem.  
A Loadstone loseth his attractive virtue, and doth, as it were, decay with age, if it be long exposed unto the open air, 
Gilb. lib. 1.  and not kept and put into the filings or scales of Iron.   

Application.  

Gilb. lib. 1.  Also the life-blood, so soon as it is effused out of his warm mineral veins, and tasteth of the cold air, loseth his active virtue, and becometh dead and congealed, except it be with the weapon conveyed unto his ointment, which keepeth it from the cold air, and serveth the spiritual Mummie's turn to preserve it, as the filings of Steel doth the formal spirit of the Loadstone.   

2. Problem.  
Baptista Porta did take a Loadstone, and kept it in the filings of Steel a good while, and afterwards he found it more vigorous and efficacious in his attractive virtue. Also Paracelsus, by heating a Loadstone, and imbibing it with the oil of Iron, did increase the vigour of it by many degrees, as is said before.   

Application.  
In like manner, if the spiritual Mummy in the transported blood be but weak or faint, yet if it be kept a while in the animal salve, it will become vigorous, insomuch that it will also animate the whole salve.   

3 Problem.  
Set a Magnet, of no force or strength that can easily be perceived, upon a Loadstone of good strength and vigour, 
Ridl●y's Treatise of Magnetical bodies, c. 17  especially upon the poles, and he will show a vigour as if he were as strong as the Loadstone is, whereunto he is united; but after he is taken away, he will be as weak as before, unless it be often done.   

Application.  
So also if the spirits, transported with the blood, be planted on a found and balsamic unguent, it will gather strength; but if the unguent be either wiped, or pared, or melted off from the weapon, it will immediately lose his force. And again, if it be freshly anointed, and covered warm, it will be forthwith recreated again, as is said before. Moreover, this is also confirmed by this Problem mentioned before.   

4 Problem.  
If a weak Magnet be rubbed at his poles with a stronger Loadstone, 
Ridley, ibid.  he will be bettered by it in his vigour and virtue, if not augmented therein.   

5. Problem.  
A stronger and bigger Loadstone doth augment the force of a lesser, 
Ibid.  if it be put on the pole of the greater Magnet, for than will the north pole of it be the more vigorous   

Application.  
The strong blood and spirit in the wounded man by aspect, maketh the weak blood and spirit, which is transplanted in the ointment, to operate magnetically, and to apply and direct the spirit of the unguent unto it strongly, which it would not do, without the union which it hath with its fountain, which is more lively, agile, and robust.   

The eighth Member of the Proposition, with his Proofs.  
The eighth Member of this Proposition is, that in all magnetical operations, there must be a reciprocal application or aspect, made between the lover and the beloved, as between the matter or feminine which coveteth,, and the form or male which is coveted; and by a likeness or continuation of formal spirits, like is united unto his like, which acteth in the matter. So the boreal spirit, with his unctuous material body, coveteth and allureth effectually the formal and equinoctial beams, or emanating spirit of the wound, and directeth the unctuous Magnet to bring to pass the effect of his concupiscence, which is easily effected, being that there is a continuation between their spirits. But to our Proofs.   

Certain problematical Demonstrations, to confirm this Problem. 1 Problem.  
The magnetical coition is an act of the Loadstone and the Iron; 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2. c. 4.  not of one, but of both, like man and wife.   

Application.  
As the woman that is colder, and of a more northern nature, doth covet the man which is of a hotter and southern disposition, so also by a sympathetic likeness in either's spirit, they meet and unite their seeds of affection: In the very like manner, the cold spirit in the congealed blood, coveteth the hot spirits of the lively and active blood, and after each of them are met, they unite natures, and procreate a third, as a child, which partaketh of them both.   

2 Problem.  
The first virtue of the primary form in the Iron, was at the first distinct, but is now confused, 
Gilb. ibises.  by the fusion or melting of his body, when the magnetical or iron-vein was examined; and yet nevertheless, after that a whole and strong Loadstone is applied unto, it returneth again unto his former act; for his form being disposed and ordered with the magnet, they both do conjoin together sociable forces, consenting magnetically and mutually unto unity in all motions, and are adjoined together without any corporeal contact, and consequently are made all one.   

Application.  
The selfsame is the reason of Contraries, and therefore the selfsame may be said touching the extremity of cold, which is, in the Problem, reported of the extremity of heat. We say therefore, That the blood, which, whilst it was in his natural vein, was distinct in his action, is now, by pouring it out into the cold air, made confused, and void of any manifest formal action; but when by the assistance of the ointment it is stirred up, and applied again, unto the spiritual emanation of the strong blood, it is rectified again, and doth conjoin his nature with the adopted power it hath from the ointment, and so a union of both natures is made, whereby the wound's spirit doth participate with the balsamic nature of the Mummy. Again, in the true nature of the said Problem, without any conversion of proposition, the bloody spirit in the ●nguent became confused through overmuch heat, as it appeareth by Mr. James Viret his experiment, in holding the Lancet by the fire, after it had wounded, and was anointed.   

3 Problem.  

Gilb.  Two Load stones being disposed into severed Boats, and placed on the superficies of the water, if they be sufficiently placed within the orbs of their virtues, they will with mutual affection prepare themselves for a meeting, and at the last embrace or adhere unto one another.  
Also if an Iron be fitted in one Bark, and a Loadstone in another, the Iron will hasten in the very same manner unto the Loadstone, and also the Loadstone being in his Bark, will move unto the Iron, insomuch that either of them are carried from their places in such a manner, that at the last they are joined together, and so do rest, as being well satisfied and contented in their loves.  
The like also will be effected, if two wires, excited by the Loadstone, be put through like corks, and placed on the water to swim; for you shall see them make love to one another, and moving by little and little, they will sensibly meet, and with their ends strike and touch one another.   

Application.  

Ridley c. 14.  In like manner, the Northern or congealed blood, or bloody transported Mummy, by the conduct of his unctuous vehicle, which is also by his presence made Magnetic, doth covet the Southern union, of the living and moving bloody spirits of the wounded, as Matter doth Form, or the female doth the male; and because the spirit is continuated betwixt them both, as the air is continuated betwixt the North-pole, and the South aequinoctial in the great world, though each extremity be of different natures, namely the one cold and dry, congelative, attractive, and immobil; the other hot and moist, dissolutive, discussive, and mobil, or agile; therefore they easily do concur, and meet with a sympathetical embracing.   

4. Problem.  

Ridley c. 22.  The natural union of Magnetical Spirits, is, when the condition is made by contrary parts, as by the pole North or South.   

Application.  
So the Northern blood or the spirits in the transported blood, that are congealed, and have assumed a Northern property, will easily concur with spirits of a Southern or aequinoctial nature, namely with the spirits of the lively fountain, from whence they come, being that like doth naturally covet his like; especially when it is compassed about by the cold and crude air, and so constrained to contract itself with its airy vehicle from his cold adversary: for spirits that are derived from the aequinoctial, do eschew by a natural instinct, even as the airy nature doth, the i'll disposition of the earth; and therefore being fled or contracted into the Centre, it draws unto it the lively beams of the Southern blood. This is the reason in the Macrocosm, that when the Northwind bloweth strongly, and the South wind not so strongly, the air is often times condensed into a cloud, by the contraction of the fiery, formal, and aequinoctial or astral beams in the air so condensed; which, by reason of the outward cold, do fly from the air's Circumference unto the Centre: Insomuch, that for this reason often times it is seen, that it breaketh out into Lightnings and Coruscations. This contraction also in the included air, when the external air is cold, is easily discerned in effect, by the Wether-glass, namely when the water is drawn up, and the included air contracted or coarct into a narrow room.   

The ninth Member of the Proposition, with his Proofs.  
The ninth member of the Proposition is, that the strong attractive faculties of every Magnet is of a Northern condition, or Boreal property, and consequently hath his chief attractive faculty from the polestar. And therefore after the manner of the Loadstone, it draweth from the Circumference unto the Centre. Again, all things coveted or beloved; forasmuch as they are formal, do participare of the equinoctial faculty, which emitteth beams by dilatation from the Centre; and therefore their union by application, maketh a mixtion of temper, which is between the Northern-pole, and the aequinoctial, that is partly attractive, and partly dilative, as is man's vital spirit, which acteth in Systole and Diastole, or contraction and dilatation, even such is the Act of Magnetical coition.   

Certain Problematical Demonstrations to confirm this Member.  
First, I will prove unto you demonstratively, and that by a relation made unto the Loadstone, that the most vigorous Magnetical attraction is from the North-pole and consequently that by the blood's induing of a Northern and congelative faculty, it must needs become most attractive and contractive of his like, as we see that the movable and thin expansed air becometh thick Snow, when the North wind doth blow, or ice, or frost, or hail.   

1. Problem.  
The North-pole is always the most vigorous and strong pole, 
23. Ridley c. 6.  to all Magnetical purposes, if he have the quantiry the South hath.   

Application.  
Therefore the bloody spirit induing the natute of the North, is most efficacious to operate upon the Southern nature Magnetically or attractively.   

2 Problem.  
The Loadstone draweth the Iron more strongly from the North-pole, 
Gilbert. de Mag. lib. 1.  than any point else of the said Stone.   

Application.  
This confirmeth the foresaid Problem. To conclude, the Magnetical attraction of the Northern blood, is the cause of planting the light of more spirits in the unctuous Magnet; whereby it is made stronger in his operation.   

3. Problem.  
The Loadstone hath his points, 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. c. 4.  that is to say, his true poles, in the which do abide his greatest virtue. And for this cause it doth not attract the Iron with equal force, from every part; and also the Magnetical Subject doth not move or flow unto every part of the Magnet.   

4 Problem.  
The parts that are nearest the North-pole, are the strongest in attraction, and the parts that are remote, are observed to be the weaker and more infirm in their drawing virtue.   

Demonstration.  
Now that the greatest attractive virtue is from the North, I demonstrate it many ways. And first, If we shall hang up a long piece of Iron, by a thread (as is said before) the Northern part of the world will attract unto it, the end of it; So that it will stand directly North and South.  

Ridley c. 14.  Secondly, if a wire of four or five inches in length, be thrust through a cork, and touched by the Loadstone, and the cork be put into the water, the Northern-Star will suck the end of the Iron unto it.  

Ridley c. 17.  Thirdly, if a long Iron be forged North and South, and so be laid to cool in the same situation, it will be animated and endued with the virtue of the Pole, and move in the air, being hung up by a thread, or put into a boat on the water, and it will be drawn by the North, and have as it were a coition with the North-star.  

Ridley ib.  Fourthly, if a long piece of clay newly burnt, doth cool North and South, it will then receive a Magnetical power from the earth, and pole.  

Ridley ib.  Fiftly, set two Loadstones with their poles of one denomination, namely the North-pole or South-pole of each, at each end of a piece of clay, while it cooleth, and both ends will be of one nature.  

Ridley.  Sixtly, put a piece of clay of a long form into the fire, and afterwards let it cool North and South, and it will receive a polar virtue: After that burn it again, in the fire, and let that end which cooled first North, cool now South, and it will be changed into the nature of the South, and the other into the nature of the North.   

Application.  
By the first therefore of these Problems and experiments, it is apparent, that the fountain of vigorous attraction is from the pole; because that the property of Northern cold is to attract, and therefore the bloody Spirit induing the nature of the North becometh Magnetical, as well as that of clay or Iron.  
I will come now therefore to demonstrate the effect, that this Northern spirit, and the Southern, do make by their mutual concourse and union, as we see that the Northern and Southern-pole by their intermediate concourse, do produce an aequinoctial nature, which is vernal, and temperate; that is to say, hot and moist, as is the living blood; So that a Media natura, or mean nature, which participates of both extremes, is produced between the confluence of their aspect or application, which receiveth from the one, and communicateth with the other. My magnetical proofs are these.   

5 Problem.  

Ridley c. ●9.  Two magnetical bodies being joined together at their poles, those two poles that touch together, have the nature of the Aequator or equinoctial, and will not excite or hold a needle thus touching.   

Application.  
The northern or contracted bloody spirit, joining by application with the southern equinoctial, or lively or dilated one, will endue by this conjunction an equinoctial nature, which will have relation unto each extremity, namely, by receiving from the ointments spirits, and giving or imparting them sympathetically unto the wound.   

The tenth Member of the Proposition, with his Proofs.  
The tenth Member of the Proposition is, that by a lively southern spirit, a portion of his like being made, by effusion of it into the open and cold air, weak, drooping, northern, or congealed, may, after transplantation, be revived, quickened, and corroborated; and so by returning again unto his southern or equinoctial nature, may, by a sympathetic union, be made all one homogeneal nature with the lively bloody spirit, conferring along with it by little and little the nature of the plant or animal mass in which he is grafted, and so may cause each extreme nature to participate with the symptoms of one another, be they good and salutary, or bad and dolorous.   

Certain problematical Demonstrations to confirm this Member. 1 Problem.  
If a Magnet of no force or strength, that can easily be discerned, be set on the pole of a Loadstone that is strong, 
Ridley. c. 16.  he will show a vigour, as if he were as strong as the Loadstone is, whereunto he is united; but after he is taken away, he will be as weak as before, unless it be often done.   

Application.  
The Southern blood penetrating through the unctuous Magnet, doth animate it, and by animation doth revive it, and as well preserving the transplanted spirit from the external air's inclemency, as calefacting or heating of it by his attracted southern nature, it doth revive again the dead spirits of the fainting blood so transported, even as we see the spirits in the dead grain of Wheat buried in the earth, is by the earth animated with the Sunbeams, being revived, as it were, from death to life. But if that a part of the ointment be taken away from the place of the weapon, where the blood doth stick, or the bloody spirits did penetrate, then will the revived spirits faint again, and the wound will be dolorous as it was before the blood was buried in the ointment; even as also, if the earth be removed from the vigorous spirits in the dead grain, they will fade, and the plant will not grow and multiply. But if the ointment, animated as before, be reapplyed, the wound will prosper, and heal without pain; no otherwise also then if the earth, that was removed from the revived spirit in the grain, be reapplyed unto it, suddenly it will prosper again.   

2 Problem.  
If a weak Magnet be rubbed at one of his poles with a stronger Magnet, 
Ridley, c. 16.  it will be bettered by it in vigour and virtue, if not augmented therein.   

Application.  
This typical proof doth confirm also exactly the same member, namely, the lively spirits will vigorate fainting-ones.   

3 Problem.  
The Magnet will lose some of his attractive virtue, and will, as it were, languish with old age, 
Gilb. Mag. l. 2.  if it be long exposed unto the open air, and be not put again, and reserved or buried in the filings of Iron.   

Application.  
So also man's blood effused out of his Mine, 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. 2. c. 4. & lib. 1. cap. 16  and exposed into the open air, doth languish, and becometh weak, if it be not preserved in the weapon-salve, which is of his nature.   

4 Problem.  
One Iron being touched doth recreate another, and instruct it unto magnetical motions.   

Application.  
So the Mummiall unguent, animated by the emitted beams of the lively blood, doth recreate, incite, and corroborate the spirits in the transported blood.   

The eleventh Member of this Proposition, with his Proofs.  
The eleventh Member is, That the alteration of the air doth operate equally upon either extreme, which is an evident argument of a continued unity in spirit, between the transplanted blood in the ointment, and the wound; so that what passion the distempered or unclement air operateth in the one, is felt by the other, no otherwise, than if a thread be tied at both ends of a Gallem, the one end being touched, the other end doth sympathise, or act likewise by consent, which is an evident argument, that the air is the medium or vehicle, in which the spiritual influence doth pass; and that the said formal, celestial, or influential spirit which is carried in it, doth, by an immediate contact, communicate with the distempers of its airy vehicle, and, by consequence, it is by that means changed by turns and by portions, into a northern or southern disposition. And therefore by the external air's cold, it sucketh spirits from the wound, and leaveth it distempered and dolorous, it being by that kind of attraction deprived of some natural heat. So that sympathy is turned into antipathy, as it appeareth, when the ointment is taken off from the wounding place of the weapon, either totally, or in part, as is said before.   

Certain problematical Demonstrations, to confirm this Member. 1 Problem.  
In the Weatherglass, so often mentioned before, you shall find between the bolts-head or mattras above, and the water below, a continued air in the neck of the glass; and you must imagine, that such included air is not without his sulphureous spirits, which by dilatation of themselves, do also dilate the airy vehicle they are in, and with the dilated vehicle the water is stricken down; and by contraction of themselves, the airy vehicle is also contracted, and the water is sucked up. And yet we see, that the air which is between both extremes, is all one continued air from the one extreme unto the other, and therefore much more the occult and celestial sulphureous spirit, which dwelleth and acteth within it, and is as the soul in a body, in toto & in qualibet parte, and that indivisibly, or not separated into parts. And because this included acting spirit being but one in number, is derived from the soul of the world, Look as the general worketh in the great world, namely, from the north or from the south; even so also doth this member of the general operate in his included air: For if the catholic spirit of the world acteth or breatheth from the north, and bringeth forth in the air, congealative and contractive effects, than the central spirit in the glass doth operate likewise after the same manner, for it contracteth his vehicle, and sucketh up the water: But if the world's catholic spirit bloweth from the south, then is the air, before contracted, now again dilated; and then also will the included formal spirits in the glass operate after the same fashion, and dissipate or extend out their airy vehicle in a larger proportion or manner, as by ocular observation you may discern in the said Instrument.   

2 Problem.  
The north wind blowing in the great world, continueth the essence of his blast from north to south, but the nearer that it approacheth the equinoctial line, the more weak is his effect in contraction and congelation, agreeing in this with the Magnet or Loadstone, whose parts the nearer they are unto the pole, the more potent are they in their operative or attractive power; and the farther they are off, the more infirm and debil they are. But this emanating spirit from the north to the equinoctial, is one and the same spirit in essence, although in property it varieth in his parts. Likewise the south wind having dominion, doth send out from the equinoctial unto the north his blast, without any discontinuance of his essence; and yet the nearer it approacheth unto the north, the weaker is his force in dilatation and dissolution, and yet the spirit is one and the same in essence with that of the north; for it is but one anima mundi, or vivifying spirit of the world, which the Platonist esteem, to have his dwelling in the Sun. And David saith, He put his tabernacle in the Sun. And therefore the winds are called by some Titanei filiI, the sons of Titan or the Sun. And the Prophet argueth aswell the Unity as the Omnipotency, 
Ezek. 36. Wisd. 36.  of this vivifying Spirit, where he saith, Veni, Spiritus, a quatuor ventis, & insuffla interfectos istos, ut reviviscant: Come, Spirit, from the four winds, and breathe upon these slain persons, that they may live. Where he argueth, that it is but one essential Spirit, which (as Solomon saith) filleth the world, and is in every thing of the world; but after a manifold property.   

The conclusive Application.  
We conclude therefore, that the spirit in the wounded man's blood, not exhausted, and that in the blood exhausted, is all one spirit in essence, howsoever it vary in property; and therefore being continuate and indivisible in essence, it is no marvel though it acteth from one extreme unto another diversely, namely Magnetically and attractively from the Ointment: for there by reason of its absence from the Southern or lively blood in the body, it endueth a Northern nature, and sucketh or attracteth his like, being emanated in the air, and the Southern-pole or aequinoctial point by dilatation, sendeth out his spirit to be attracted; and so there is made a communication betwixt the Balsamic nature, and the wounded, the selfsame spirit operating diversely. And I will express unto you a notable example in the great world. When the Sun is beyond the aequinoctial Southward, (which happeneth in the winter) then is the Northern nature most powerful in attraction, congelation, and inspissation on this side the aequinoctial. As chose, the Southern nature is most vigorous, and efficacious in dilatation, dissolution, and subtiliation; and yet you shall plainly discern, how one and the same Spirit in the world, doth operate from the one extreme unto the other: For when the Sun in the South, doth dilate the air and the waters there, which the precedent winter had thickened and incrassated by attraction of cold, and by dilatation doth dissipate it, than that air and water so dissipated, requireth a larger place, and flieth from the aspect of the Sun Northward. And again, the Northern property of the same spirit, being now in the winter time most potent, doth by attraction suck and direct Magnetically, those spirits, which are chased from the South; and the nearer it draweth them unto the pole, the more suddenly it condenseth them into clouds; which by reason of the Sulphureous nature, which it bringeth from the Summer or aequinoctial, do immediately dissolve themselves into rains. And this is the reason that the Southern winds are so rife among us in the winter, and consequently, that we have so much rain in that season; So that we may see how the double property of one and the same spirit, doth operate at one and the same time, about the effecting of one and the same thing, in one and the same catholic air of the world: as I have told you before in my foregoing Discourse, As also, in the ascending or descending of fountains in each Hemisphere, the like is effected. All which is most lively demonstrated and performed in the Weatherglass; as I have expressed before. Whereby it is confirmed, that being the Microcosmicall spirit is all one in condition, with the Macrocosmicall. It followeth, th●t though the body of it be divided, yet the spirit remains indivisible, and can dilate and contract itself at any extension; as is proved by the properties of the two contrary winds, whose spirit is continued from both extremities; and by the small pieces in the Loadstone, which have their complete poles as well as the whole. Also by this, a man way see, that this spirit's operation, is not to be limited by any of the Peripatetics imaginary Sphere of activity, and consequently that it may work at any distance, being directed and guided by a right and homogenial Magnet; that is to say, agreeing at the leastwise in speciality, if not in individuality or both; as the blood of the wounded, which is transplanted, and that in the body, both which are identity in nature; and also as is the Uznea, and Mummy in the Ointment, which is of the same Specific, though not of the Individual.  
You see therefore (Learned Reader) how plainly this business, or the foresaid Proposition, hath been demonstrated, as well by the Loadstone, as the natural practice in the great world, and in practice of the Weatherglass; which I term my Demonstrative Instrument. But because there are some strange accidents, which happen in this cure, by chance and unlooked for; a reason whereof, could never hitheto be expressed: I will speak a word or two of them in a second Proposition; and so I will end this Chapter.   

The second Proposition.  
It hath been observed, in the cure of wounds, by the Weapon-salve, that if there happen in the time of the cure, any issue of blood from some other part of the wounded man, as bleeding at the nose, pissing of blood, or by some other wound; or else if he have to do with any menstruous woman in the mean time, the force of the Ointment will be diverted, and the efficacy of it will stand but in little stead▪ and the reason that I can give, is, because the Southern bloody spirit, which, reigning in the veins, did emit and direct his beams unto the Ointment, was easily attracted, and imbibed by the Ointment: but when that spirit is diverted and turned another way, and is attracted by a contrary Magnetical Subject; then will a divorce, as it were, be made by the second Magnet, betwixt the emanating Spirit and the attractive in the Ointment. And I will maintain and demonstrate this to be true, by this Magnetical experiment.   

A Problem to confirm the Proposition out of Gilb. lib. 2. de Madge cap. 31.  
Two Loadstones or Irons excited, rightly cohaering by the coming of another fresher and stronger Loadstone or Iron excited, do make an abort; and the new comer will easily drive away the other, with a contrary face, and will command him; and so the endeavour or the desire of the other two, which were first joined, will end.   

Application.  
Thus you see, how fitly these two do concur, namely the forerecited animal act, with these of the mineral. I end this Chapter with this Assertion. Spirits that have their subtiliation and action from natural heat, do act livelily; so long as they abide within the sensible Orb of Light's calefacting beams, being stirred up a centro ad circumferentiam. But if the said Spirits depart or wander out of the Orb of Light, and are environed by the cold act of darkness, than they contract themselves from the Circumference unto the Centre, and so resting in the Centre, do cease to act except they be incited or provoked by the virtue of heat, which doth subtiliate, and by subtiliation make both extremes alike. As is proved by the Weatherglass, and by blood issuing out of the wound, etc. as is said before. Wherefore I will boldly conclude, that the spirits of the blood, conveyed either in the body of the blood, or sucked up into the wounding weapon, or in a stick, knitting-needle, probe, or suchlike; may be evoked, extracted, or revived, and united unto his fountain; partly by preserving it from the external air's inclemency, till it be dissevered by comfortable warm heat of his kind; and partly by the lively coition, or concurrence, and conjunction of his like, by a favourable and salutary aspect. I have been (I fear me) too tedious in this Chapter; and yet not longer than the business doth rightly deserve; considering how the world hath been puzzled, and all Philosophers put to their wit's end, about the due search and enquiry of this curing exploit: Forasmuch as they in the concluson, were able to say so little, and to demonstrate less to prove this manner of cure to be natural; that they gave way without controlment, unto the rash and temerarious censures of such self-conceited persons, as would (forsooth) have this kind of cure, to be only Cacomagicall, and Diabolical; which they insultingly go about therefore to maintain; because great appearing Philosophers, which did write in the defence of this Subject, could say so little, and to so small purpose unto the contrary. I will speak a few words concerning some other Histories, which are, and may be referred unto the selfsame manner of cure.    

CHAP. VII.  
How it is possible by Natural and Sympathetic operation, that a D'sease in the Blood may be cured, only by transplantation of the excrements thereof at a far distance, into a vegetable earth; not vegetating, but comforting the infected nature, by mortifying of the disease.  

The Proposition.  
IT is possible, that an infectious disease in the blood and body may be cured, by transplanting of the excrementitious whey of the blood, to wit, of the sick party's urine at a far distance, in the ashes of a vegetable, which is proper to comfort nature, and to kill and destroy the infection which doth debilitate it.   

An experimental history to confirm this.  
There is a Nobleman of no mean rank, and very wise, religious, and one of the best esteem▪ who useth commonly to cure the yellow Jaundice at the distance sometimes (as he hath related it unto me) of an hundred miles, and that only by means of the sick party's urine translated unto him, and the manner is this: He taketh the ashes of a certain Tree, commonly known among us here in England, and mingleth the urine with it, and causeth his man to mould it up in the form of a paste, the which is divided into lumps, which he causeth to be framed up into 3, 7, or 9 balls, and in the top of each of the said balls he maketh a hole, and puts a blade of Saffron into each hole, and so filleth up the hole with the said urine; and then he putteth or disposeth these balls into a secret place, where no body may meddle with them, and immediately the Jaundice in the patient, be he further or nearer off from the place of the medicine, will by little & little fade and wear away. And this experiment hath been tried on above a hundred poor and rich, and many of them were such as Physicians have dispaired of. This not only he, but also the noble Ladies his daughters, who, for God's sake, have in this case done good to many poor people, do affirm to be true. And thus much I can affirm myself, that being called unto a Surgeon's wife, Anno, 1637. after that other Doctors had been with her, but to little purpose, who was filthily infected with this disease; and having used some medicines, but to little purpose, at her request, I sent her man into the country with a Letter unto that noble personage, to implore his help: But in the interim that the urine was sent, the woman was persuaded by some sincere fools, that it was witchcraft, which made her half mad, and to rave, and to use her man hardly at his return: Whereupon I sent a messenger forthwith to desire his Lordship, to undo what he had caused to be done, because of the ingratitude of the woman. He sent me word, that he would; But, said he, it will be but in vain, for it will cure her, do now what I can: And indeed she mended immediately upon it. Also there was a noble Lady, daughter unto a Lord, who was much infected with the same disease, and finding that usual remedies in Physic did her little or no good, I sent her water unto the said noble Earl, who did his endeavour: But when I found, that the disease did stick still upon her, though her urine did amend in colour, I took horse, and did certify that noble personage of the small effect the medicine had. He wished me to send it again, and the sick Lady did send her water the second time, and did forthwith begin to mend, and within a few days was perfectly well. There is another, who, unto my knowledge, hath cured forty of this disease, by boiling of their water or urine away on a gentle fire; things (God he knoweth) far enough from either superstition or witchery.   

Certain problematical Demonstrations, to confirm the probability of this Proposition. 1 Problem.  
The nails and hair of the sick party being taken, and put into a hole that is bored in an Oak, and the Oak being stopped up with a peg of the same wood, cureth an Atrophiaticall or wasted member, as is proved before.   

Application.  
And therefore much more the serous matter which is separated from the blood, because the essential vegetable salt of the blood in the specific, in which are some scintills or sparks, is mingled with it; and by virtue of them, there is a continuated sympathy or respect between the salt and sulphur in the balls, and the infected blood: For (as I proved in the precedent Chapter) the spirit in the urine is as continuated with that in the blood, as was the spirit of the wounded and the ointment; so that by a continuity and union of consent, the curative faculty of the vegetable ashes doth operate spiritually, as well upon the infected blood in the body, as upon the urine; and therefore that is the reason, that as the salt in the ashes do work on the salt in the urine, so do both of them communicate their forces by a mutual consent, through the reason of the same continuity, unto the blood; so that as the virtue of the plant with the Saffron do kill and poison the infection in the urine; so also, by the mutual consent which is betwixt the two infecting extremes, namely, the blood and the urine, the infection also in the blood is observed by little and little to die, whither, and decay. But I will produce unto you a magnetical Problem, to confirm the possibility of this Proposition.   

2 Problem.  
Two Loadstones rightly cohering at opposite poles, by the coming of a stronger Loadstone or Iron incited, do make an abort, and the new comer will easily drive away the other which is with a contrary face, and will command him, and so the coherence or union of the other two will cease or end.   

Application.  
So that union which was made between the spirit infected, with the corrupting humour and the corrupted blood is separated, and the unnatural is forced to fly and depart from the natural, by the help of another, which is more potent than the unnatural, which is less homogeneal, and proper to rectify and purify by the union of his spirit, the impurity in the natural blood, and to kill and mortify the corrupter in the urine.  
I need not to say much more for the proof hereof, being that the precedent Chapter doth fully confirm, and that by relation had unto the Loadstone, and Weatherglass, in every particle of this Proposition, being that as blood is transplanted from the wounded parties fountain of blood, and, as it were, grafted on the ointment; so also is the urine with bloody spirits, transferred from the bloody fountain in the icteritious person, and is planted or placed in a bed of salutary ashes, from whence it operateth no otherwise in the living blood, than the blood or spirits in the ointment do, in the veins of the wounded person.  
I will now proceed unto the microcosmicall Magnet, which is taken out of the living man: and I purpose to describe unto you briefly, and in general terms, the wonderful effects in sympathy, which it produceth by his extraction of the spiritual Mummy out of man's body, and by the transplantation and right application thereof.    

CHAP. VIII.  
Wherein the secret Magnet, which is extracted out of the Microcosm, or Man yet living, is in general terms mentioned; with the manner of his attraction or extraction, of the spiritual Mummy out of Man, and the application; and as well the Antipathetical as Sympathetic operation thereof.  
I Will now in few words relate unto you a History, of the abstruse manner of healing by Transplantation; which if it be rightly considered, it doth far surpass that of the Weapon-salve: For it doth not only cure at distance, as that doth; but it operateth that feat, by the vegetative spirit of the plant. And yet I hope that my Story shall no way sound unto Wiseman's ears, as Cacomagicall, but only naturally Magical, and therefore ordained by God to be wrought upon in the right use thereof, for man's good and salutary benefit: For unto that end did the Spirit of Wisdom teach those which were inclined unto wisdom (as Solomon witnesseth) as well those things which are occult and hidden, as such as are manifest and apparent unto man's sense. And because that good things may, by abuse, be converted unto evil and unlawful purposes; as a sword, to kill as well as to save, as shall ●e told you hereafter; Therefore is it God's will, that these mysteries should be hid from the unlearned, or at leastwise from such of the vulgar, as are wickedly minded; and ordained them to be laid open, unto such as are honest, wise, and discreet. But leaving all preambles, I will come to the point, and proceed with that style and method, in which I began.  

The General Proposition.  
There may be extracted out of a living man, without any prejudice unto his health, a Magnet, which by a several application of it unto convenient parts of the body, will draw or suck out according unto the pleasure of the Applier, the animal, vital, or natural spiritual Mummy, out of one and the same living Man, and that without any detriment unto his person, the which being rightly with the Magnet that imbibed it transplanted and made vegetative, will operate as well by an internal administration as at a far distance, or by a spiritual emanating relatition, after it be duly ordered and adapted, both to the health and preservation; and infection, and damage, and destruction of mankind.   

An Explication of every Member of this Proposition.  
This Proposition doth consist of many Members; whereof the first, toucheth the generation, condition, and preparation, of the Magnet. The second, the manner of application, for the extraction of the spiritual Mummy. The third, openeth the fashion of a manifold Transplantation of that Mummy, being so extracted: and lastly, as well the usages as the abuses thereof. Of all which Particles or Members, thus in order.   

Of the Microcosmicall Magnet.  
We term this the Microcosmicall Magnet, because it hath the properties of the Mineral Loadstone. And it may therefore easily be conjectured and guessed, by such as are wise in their apprehension, what it is, by comparing the animal Magnet with that of the Mineral: For as the Mineral Magnet is not of a natural, but monstrous birth, for it is not engendered of like and equal Genitors; but is begotten after the manner of the Mule, being that her mother or passive corporeal mass, is a common Saturnine and stony Mercury; but his Father or active Form, is a Metalline, Sulphurous, Martial spirit; So also this our Microcosmicall Magnet doth consist of a Sulphurous Martial spirit, being as it were his Formal Father; and of a strange or foreign Mercury, which is nevertheless, a near neighbour in position, and condition unto the Microcosmicall Mercury, as his passive or Mercurial matter. As for the Mine of which it is extracted, it is the living Man, and it is taken or derived from him without any prejudice unto his health, and after a certain preparation of it, it is made a fit Magnet, to suck or draw unto it the spiritual Mummy out of the living Man, and that without any detriment unto his health.   

The Manner of this Magnet's application, for the extraction of the Spiritual Mummy.  
As for the manner of its application, it is this; We take the Magnet so prepared, and, if we would extract the Animal's Mummiall spirits, we must apply it unto those places, which are aptest for their evacuation. As for example: If we desire the Mummy of the vital parts, than we must adapt our Magnet to suck at that place, which nature hath ordained to purge the vital region. Lastly, if we would have the natural spiritual Mummy, we must apply it unto that place of the body, out of which nature is accustomed to send forth the spiritual fumes, or sweaty evacuations from that member, namely from the Liver. To conclude, if you would make a general Medicine, which should respect the animal, vital, and natural parts, all at once; then must your Magnet be applied unto them all, and after that it hath sucked a sufficient proportion, than ought you to reserve it, for to make your Transplantation.   

The Act of Transplantation of the Spiritual Mummy.  
Touching the act or manner of Transplantation: Paracelsus saith, that the extracted spiritual Mummy doth not ooperate unto health and preservation, but by mineral, vegetable, and animal means. And therefore it is necessary, that the spiritual Mummy attracted, or extracted out of the body, by the virtue of the Animal Magnet, must be introduced into a vegetative nature; whereby the said Mummy, not being of itself vegetative, may by adoption as it were be introduced into, and be endued with a vegetative nature or condition.  
We ought therefore to mingle a proportion of this imbibed Magnet, with a certain proportion of his mother-earth, and sow in this composition the seeds of such herbs, as are proper for thi● or that disease, and this or that ill affected principal part of man's body, or this or that infirm member, which is contained in his region. As for example: For the Lungs in the vital region, when the disease is the Ptifick, sow Line-seed or Juniper, in the natural region; when it is Dropsy, Pimpnel or wormwood; in the bruising or contusion of parts, Hypericon or Plantain; in tumour or wounds, Persecaria, or the great or lesser Cumfry; in Salt diseases as are the toothache, pain in the eyes, and flowing Menstrues, Persecaria maculata, and so forth. The herbs must grow in this compounded earth, and that in the open air: and as the herb or plant groweth, it will sympathetically and Magnetically extract the imbibed Mummiall spirits out of the Magnet, and will by that means cause the Mummy extracted out of every particular member, according unto his condition, to be fit to cure the infirmity of his proper member.   

Of the Use and Virtue of the Transplanted Mummy.  
Lastly, as concerning the manner how to use this Transplanted Mummy, now that it is changed into a vegetable nature or condition:  
If the disease be dry and of a combust nature, as is the yellow Jaundice, the Ptisick, etc. and you would cure it or expel it out of the body; then take the herb with his Magnetic earth, and cast them into the running water, and the disease will fade and die, by little and little.  
But if the disease be moist, than you must burn the herb, with the Magnetical earth. Again, if the disease be more temperate, namely between the extremities of water and fire; then hang up the herb in the air, or smoke, to dry; and the disease will languish by little and little, as the herb doth fade. If you shall give the herb or fruit unto the beast that is of a stronger nature than the sick, than the beast will be infected with that disease, and the sick will be free. Also if the spiritual Mummy so extracted, out of some peculiar member of a sound Man, be conserved in his continual vegetation, if you take of his fruit, and transplant it into a sound oaken tree, by that means the member out of which the Mummy was extracted, will grow continually, and continue in his natural and robust proportion of vegetation, without defect. After this manner also, are the Willow trees, but that they increase so suddenly, and by reason thereof, they are not so fit for this purpose, lest the member should grow too hastily, for by that means, many inconveniences may follow: As for example, If after that manner the hair of a person be shut up into a willowtree, they will grow so suddenly and so copiously, that unless they be removed thence, or the Willow be burned, the eyes and brains will endure damage and detriment, as dolours, fluxes, etc. namely, by the sudden increase, or too much humidity of the Tree. And therefore according unto the proportion of the person, there must be a proportionate tree found out, into the which the Mummy is to be transplanted; but the Oak is to be elected before all others, because it increaseth and groweth but temperately and strongly, and a man's life will not easily exceed the days of an Oak.  
By this mystical kind of attraction, the true and wise natural Magician, (for so I may call the true Philosopher, that operateth, as Solomon did, by the properties of natural things) may bring to pass such things, which in wonder will excel (as I said) by many degrees, the power or act of the weapon-salve; for by it, wise men have procured friendship & love, between such as have been utter enemies; & again, by the use of it, grace and affection may be recovered from another, whose favour is desired. Paracelsus speaking darkly of this Mummiall faculty, doth show, how the Ape and the Snake (betwixt the which, a natural antipathy, or strife and hatred, is ever observed to be) may be made friends, and familiar unto one another. But to our purpose.  
If the members out of the which the second Mummy is extracted, are to be corroborated, than you must make the extracted Mummy to vegetate, as before, by transplantation temperately, and according unto the natural proportion in the Oak, or other such like sound tree. But if the members be too dry, then let their extracted Mummy vegetate in the Willow tree, and from thence again be transplanted into some other temperate Tree. So also in a humid complexion, it may for a time be transplanted into a hot and slowly growing tree, as is the Juniper; only observing, that the fruit in which the Mummy is transplanted, be preserved from all external damage.   

Demonstration.  
I need not waste the time in further demonstration, of the possibility and feazibility of these acts in the spiritual transplanted Mummy, when by the very selfsame proofs, whereby I have confirmed the manner of curing by the weapon-salve, and by transplantation, which is set down in one of the Chapters of this present Book, I have fully demonstrated the reasons of these occult and abstruse actions in this kind of cure, unto such as will not (with St. Thomas) believe any thing, but what is confirmed by sense. And therefore, for the manifestation of this hidden action, by a relation of natures, I refer you unto that very place also, where the salve is compared unto the vegetable and Magnet, the bloody spirits unto the spiritual Mummy, the manner of application of beams from the Mummy to the sick member, unto the application of the transplanted bloody spirits to the wounded member; the keeping the spiritually-growing spirit in the ointment from cold, unto the preserving the vegetable fruit, in which the Mummy is planted, from external damage. So that eadem est ratio utriusque, and by consequence, eadem est demonstrationis via in ambobus.  
It is too tedious in this place to express the efficacious operations of this secret mystical Mummy; and I am assured, that some ignorant Momus, or Cynical ignorant, will either laugh or bark at what is said already touching it; for, Quis major scientiae inimicus, quam ignarus? And therefore I will conceal the rest of his occult properties, and their sympathetic effects, from such Critics, and lock it up in the treasury of truth: Only in a word, I say, that by it, the Dropsy, Pleurisy, Gout, Vertigo, Epilepsy, French-Pox, Palsy, Cancer, Fistula, foul Ulcers, Tumours, wounds, Herniaes', Fractions of Members, superfluity and suppression of Menstrues in women, as also sterility in them; Favours, Hectics, Athrophy, or wasting of members, and such like, may by this natural magical means be cured, and that at distance, and without any immediate contact. And, to conclude, Paracelsus affirmeth, that this magnetical kind of cure which is effected by natural Magic, doth excel in virtue all other Physical secrets, which may be extracted or separated, either out of Herbs, or Roots, or Minerals.  
I will now come to the second Part or Member of this Book, which speaketh of the antipathetical effects of this Mummiall experiment.     

The Second Part or Member of this Book, which handleth the practice of Antipathy.  

CHAP. I.  
In this Chapter the Author expresseth, how by the selfsame internal spirit in the creature, as well Antipathetical as Sympathetic effects may be produced. Herein is also set down the reason, why a spirit, that is infected and corrupted with a poison some condition, is most venomous and contagious unto his kind.  
AS it is certain, that like doth naturally affect his like; for Nature doth rejoice at the presence of his nature, and nature doth correct and corroborate his nature, if it be sound, and full of vivifying and wholesome spirits: So also nature, if it be poisoned and infected by a venomous nature, will, by uniting itself unto a sound and wholesome nature, quickly corrupt and inquinate it, and so by such a kind of abortive and depraved union, antipathy is placed instead of sympathy. Now how this is possible in nature, I will in few words relate unto you. As nature doth magnetically effect and allure unto it her like; so, if that like which it ●ucketh unto it be inquinated with corruption, the said attracting spirit, be it never so sound, will quickly taste of the bitter with the sweet, namely, of the poison, and so will also be corrupt equally with that spirit, which is homogeneal unto it, in which the infection dwelleth, being forced unawares to entertain strife, dissension, and antipathy into his tabernacle unawares; even as we see a sound spirit in the Animal, which thirsting after his like spiritual celestial food, which hovereth occultly in the air, to be refreshed by it, doth unawares draw in an enemy with it, namely, a pestilent and corrupt fume, whereby it is oppressed and inflamed with a putredinous fire; so that it was not the appetite or desire of the sound spirit to draw in that poison unto it, but the spirit like itself that was poisoned. And again, each spirit which is encumbered with any antipathetical and unnatural accident, desireth to shake off contentious antipathy, and to reassume that peaceful sympathy which it enjoyed before; but finding itself unable, it is apt to cleave and adhere unto good and sound spirits for its relief, being that vis unita fortior; and if more sound spirits of his like were joined unto it, than might it the easilier conquer and expel his antipathetical adversary. So also we see, that one blear-eyed person, by darting his infectious beams for relief at a reasonable distance, becometh a flame, which setteth on fire the sound spirit unto the which it applieth: for spiritual poisons are like secret flames of malignant fire. Wherefore as spirits are by union joined together and multiplied, like oil added unto oil, so doth the infectious flame increase, and feed equally upon them both: For as the sound spirit desireth the society of his like, to comfort it, and the corrupted spirit so desired, doth also covet the sound spirit to assist it against his enemy. So corruption is sucked in by them both, and antipathy is forced to roost among them, and forsaketh them not, until it hath penetrated and gnawed into even their bowels, and poisoned their very entrails. And we must note, that there is no poisoned spirit that doth sooner take hold of a spirit, than such as is specific, and of a homogeneal nature: For that is the reason, that one Man's spirit being infected with the Plague, doth so multiply it in his kind chiefly; as also the Murrain doth chiefly rage in the spirits of Sheep, and medles not with the spirits of Men. Do we not commonly see, that a like nature being altered by putrefaction, is most deadly unto his like? So worms avoided out of the body, and dried to powder, do by inward administration kill the worms. Spittle that is avoided from the Pulmoniack, cureth after preparation, the Physic. The Spleen of a Man prepared, is an enemy unto the swelling and vegetable Spleen. The stone of the Kidney or Bladder, by calcination cureth and dissolveth the Stone. The touch of a dead man's hand cureth the schirrous tumours. The Scorpion being bruised, or his body macerated in oil, cureth the wounds of the Scorpion; and the oil of the Viper; as also the trochises of his flesh, the bitings of the Adder or Viper; dead and congealed blood, and the salt excrescence out of man's bones, is antipathetical unto the flowing blood: In conclusion, there is nothing that is more powerful to check or correct an impediment in a spirit, then by applying of the same Specific spirit, being altered from his nature by a contrariety; So also there is nothing that infecteth a sound nature sooner, than a nature homogeneal unto itself, which hath endued corruption; and that is the reason, that the infirm and corrupted Mummy of one man, is so apt to putrify and corrupt that of another, as we may not only discern by these words of Paracelsus: Corrupta Mummia, corpus etiam sanum quod attingit, 
De Philos. Tract. 3.  & cum quo unitur, corrumpit; ea autem sani corporis corruptio, est corporis alterus, ex quo Mummia sumpta est, valetudo & sanitas: The corrupted Mummy. doth also corrupt the sound body, that it layeth hold of, and is united unto; and the corruption of the sound body, is the health of the other body, out of which the corrupt Mummy was extracted. As for example: If a man be Leprous, and I extract, by the Microcosmicall Magnet, the Mummy out of him, and give it to a sound man, it will reduce the Leprous person unto his health again; but it will filthily infect the sound man that took it, with the same disease, as shall be told you hereafter more at large. But before we come unto the bulk of this business, it will be most fit, that I make an Apologetical transgression, lest some persons, of more envy and indiscretion, than profundity in the true natural Magia, may unworthily accuse me of Cacomagy, and that only because they are altogether ignorant in the mysteries of those lawful Acts in nature, which were taught unto Solomon, and revealed unto the wise men of this world, for the good and benefit of mankind, by the good Spirit of God; neither are they therefore to be eschewed, because that by evil men they may be converted unto evil effects, and so diverted from their true usages, for which God did ordain them; but rather a skilful natural Magician, such as a true Physician ought to be, should first know the good uses of such hidden mysteries in nature, that they might with the better effect employ them, for the good of mankind, and then not be ignorant of those abuses, which may be produced by them, that they thereby may the better prevent, and put by, all such wicked effects, as naughty men would produce by them, unto the damage and destruction of God's creatures.   

AN APOLOGY.  
A short Apology for the usage of the Mystical or Spiritual Mummy, and to prove that as well the Antipathetical abuses, as Sympathetic uses of it, and all other natural things, are to be known and well understood, by the natural Magician or wise Physician, for preventions cause; though not always put in execution, but only where need requireth.  
I Know that there will be many barking Cynics, inveighing Critics, and railing or Satirical Momus', whose only delight is fostered with the fire of disdain or malice; who, smothered as it were, with the blind and foggy smoke or fume of ignorance, will say, that if the Sympathetic effects of the spiritual Mummy be allowable for a Physician, yet are the Antipathetiacall properties thereof odious, and no way to be endured; nay they are Cacomagicall, because the devil doth instruct his ministers, about the abuses of this Microcosmicall kind of corruption; and therefore for this reason, the very knowledge of such a thing is not to be endured, etc. These objections, I know, will these senseless and unreasonable kind of babblers make, touching the knowledge of so mystical a business. But if their saying should take place amongst the wise, what should become of Solomon's skill in natural Logic? Or wherefore should he (who was esteemed the wisest among men) be so overseen, as to aspire unto the knowledge of all things whatsoever, and to understand as well the enemies as friends unto man's nature: For it is said of him, 
Sap. 7.  that he knew the natures of living creatures; the fieriness of beasts; the cogitations of Men; the difference of Plants; the virtues of roots, and all things else that were occult and secret? Nay, why should he say, that Wisdom, the Work-Mistris of all things, taught it unto him? Are there not Plants, and Animals, and Minerals, that are stark poison and venomous unto man's nature, as well as benign and salutiferous? He knew (saith the Text) the natures of all living creatures or animals; and why so, if that were true, which those Scoffers mutter? Why should he know or look after the property of such things, which are poison and harmful unto mankind? Are not the Aspis, the Viper, Adder, and that putrifying or corrupting Worm, termed Seps in Latin, or Pur●isur in French, by reason of his rotting venom. The Serpent called Dipsas, which infecteth the spirit with an immensurable drought, the Amphisbena, the Basilick, the Dragon▪ the Hollio: Among creeping creatures, the Spider, the Scorpion, the Toad, the Lizard, the Salamander, the Cantharideses, and an infinite number of other, as well earthly as watery Animals, venomous and wonderful pernicious unto mankind? He knew also the differences and virtues of Plants. But say these temerarious Judges, What reason had Wisdom to show and discover unto him the abominable effects of the herb called Aconite? which is so pernicious unto Man and Beast, that the Poets feigned, that it grew alongst the shore of the venomous River Acheron, in hell. The Hemlock, which was the character of death among the Athenians; for with the juce thereof they poisoned the condemned persons. The Jusqu●ame or Hen-bane. The Poppy of whose juce the somniferous Opium is derived. The Toad-stool, Scamony, Euphorbium, Colloquintida, Bears-foo●, Tit●mal, or Spurge, Assera bacca, grunsel, Flammula, and an infinity of such like vegetables. Also amongst the Minerals, Antimony, Quicksilver, Arsenic, Rosalgar, Verde●rease, Lithurge, Ceruse, Vitriol, and an infinity of others? My answer is, That all these things, though in themselves they are venomous, yet being rightly handled and used by wise men, they are made passing medicinable. And I would have them know, that God created all things good; but it is the Devil and his instruments, who by ill employing of them do make them odious, and detestable unto man's nature: For as by their right use and application, they may produce sympathetic effects: so by their abuse they produce nothing else but antipathetical actions, and rebellious conflicts with man's nature: God, I say, ordained them for a good use, namely for man's health; but the Devil doth apply them destructively, and maliciously, which also the foresaid wise natural Magician, Solomon, confirmeth in these words: 
Sap. 14.2.23.  God created all things that they should exist and be; and he made all the Nations of the Earth sound and durable; so that there was not a destructive medicine in them. Also God created Man inexterminable; but it was by the malice of the Devil, that death entered into the world. And the wicked imitate him and are of his seed. Whereby it is plain, that it was the Devil, and naughty men, which are his instruments, and indeed true Devils incarnate, which do adapt that for a wicked use, which indeed is good and righteous in itself: What shall I say more? what? because that the Devil doth apply a good thing unto a bad use, must that thing for ever be abhorred and eschewed of wise men? And must for that reason the good use thereof be excommunicated out of man's society, and be for ever after reputed for Cacomagicall, damnable, and diabolical? As for example: Because the Devil and his adherents, I mean the witches and Necromancers, do by the Devil's instructions, apply the Mummy of man as well corporal as spiritual, about their pernicious and destructive inventions: Therefore must all ●hey which use the same for a good and salutiferous intent be esteemed Cacomagicians? Is it a sign that the Physician who cureth diseases by it, hath for that reason a commerce with the Devil? Or, must a Christian Physician, because he is acquainted with the evil which the properties of natural things may effect, by an unnatural or antipathetical adaptation, needs put that evil in execution unto the prejudice of man's health? Verily, if things are rightly considered, the knowledge of good and evil in the creatures, do well befit the science of a Physician, for except he be acquainted with the evil as well as the good, how is it possible to cure the harms which are effected by the bad, being that except the cause be known, the effect will hardly or never be cured. As for example, If the nature of the spiritual philter which infecteth, be not discovered, how should the cure be performed, or the cause be extinguished or taken away? The true Magician doth not intrude into the science of the Simples venomous nature, to do harm thereby, but to discern the counterpoison which should prevent the mischief thereof, as the Scorpion cureth the Scorpions, the Viper the Viper's harms. Must every man that hath a sword needs kill, or do a mischief with it? May he not defend another from being killed or harmed? So also it followeth not, that he must therefore poison his patient, because he knoweth the poison, and the manner how to correct or amend his malice, which hath deprived his patient of his health. Except the poison be known, the Alexipharmicon or counter poison will hardly be had. If the Hermit of Aix (of whom I have spoken before) had not known the especial antidote to cure those, which he had poisoned and infected with the pestilence, many of those which he afterwards cured would have died with the rest. If there be devils incarnate, whose delight is to destroy, (as some men that wear swords delight in quarrelling and killing; and othersome that know the good use of fire employ it naughtily, as he did, who destroyed with it D●ana's temple of the Ephesians) God forbid that such natural creatures, as are fire, iron, and such like, should be abandoned, and not exercised in their right usage, because they do harm when they are abused. There are Saints as well as there are devils on the earth, who being acquainted with the impious inventions and devices of these devils, with their arch-master Satan, are able to challenge and combat them at their own weapons. Scholars learn of Aristotle the art of sophistry and fallacy, not that they should deceive, but that they should prevent deceit and the honest, and most skilful and faithful Physician, prieth into the mystery of the most spiritual poison, not with an intent to poison, or do any evil by it, but that he may with the greater assurance, and vigorous efficacy, attempt the cure, and take away the cause after it is known; for the nature of the poison being well understood the cure will be the more certain. The venomous wound of the Viper (as I have said) is cured by the theriacal antidote, into whose composition the flesh of Vipers doth enter; the oil of Scorpions, or the Scorpion of itself being bruised, doth cure the sting of the Scorpion, and that by a magnetical attraction of his like. All which being so, why should not the wise Physician look into the nature of spiritual venoms, as well as the spiritual counter-poisons that are in man. When we find, that the venom that woundeth, is, by reason of his homogeniety in nature, the perfectest Magnet to suck and draw unto it his like? If by the sound Mummy in man, I can cure or take away the corruption or venom, which his like nature hath accidentally imbibed, is it not a fit and convenient thing to know the one as well as the other.  
I must confess, that there are fleshly devils upon earth, I mean, abominable ministers and children of Satan, who being abandoned unto their master and head, commit (as I have told you before) many insolences, and treacherous straragems, by the blood, hair, bones, skin, and corporal Mummy of man's body; but above all the rest, the wickedness of certain thiefs, hangmen, and other of that Necromantical faction, is abominable before God and man, and worthy to be whipped out with iron, or wiped away with fire, out of every good Commonwealth, which by their diabolical sleights, do make use of man's last breath in their expiration of life, to serve for their wicked employment, as spirits made obedient to their wills, and so do disturb the quiet rest of the dying man's spirit. Of which kind of wicked persons, Paracelsus speaketh thus, Per triplices hasce Mummias multa passim praestita & confecta sunt, 
De 〈◊〉 Tract. ●.  ab iis cumprimis qui illas ipsimet preparârunt, ut sunt carnifices, lictores, latrones, etc. qui non solum vitam hominibus ademerun● & jugulatos ipsos Mummiam fecerunt, sed etiam jugulatorum spiritum, quem spiritum hominis vocaverunt, exceperunt; illumque sibi in extremo mortis momento subjecerunt, seu subjugaverunt, ac variis impositis oneribus exagitârunt. Hinc ars enata est Necromantiae, taliter ab ipsis vocatae. Vae autem huic arti, ac illis universis qui tam faede ill● abutuntur. N●cromantia quidem & ipsa est; sed diaboli, seu à diabolo instilla●a, docta, & tradita; ac ab ipsius instrumentis seu mancip●is in abusum tam grandem conversa: sunt enim illi homines nocentissimi, quibus praestaret lapidem molarem de collo suspendi, ac ita in profundum ma●e e●ici. By these three kinds of Mummies, there are many things done and effected, and that especially by such as have prepared them, as are the hangmen, the sergeant's, and thiefs, etc. who do not only bereave men of their lives, but also they have received the spirit of those whose throats they have cut, or strangled, and do make them subject, or do subjugate it unto them. From hence springeth the art of Necromancy, so termed by them. Fie upon this art, and upon all such as are so filthily abused by it: Verily it is Necromancy, but of the devil; or it is instilled, taught, and delivered by the devil, and is by his instruments or slaves converted into so great an abuse; for these are wicked & harmful persons, about whose neck it were better that a millstone were hanged, & that they were with it cast into the bottom of the sea. I am advertised, that the hangmen of Germany are commonly artists in this devilish kind of trade, and by it can do wonders, the more is the pity that they are suffered. Thus therefore each man may discern a manifest difference, between the true use, and the abominable abuse of a good thing, and how (as I said before) there are devils incarnate, as well as Saints, or good and pious men upon the earth, whereof some do use God's creatures to the benefit of man, and others unto his ruin and destruction: And consequently, that it is lawful for a Physician to be conversant in both extremes, though his only practice ought to be employed in doing good. I will now descend unto my subject.   

CHAP. III.  
How Sympathy may by accident or disorder be changed into Antipathy. Here also certain magnetical Demonstrations, convenient to prove each Proposition concerning this subject, are expressed.  
I Purpose in this Chapter, which toucheth the effects of Antipathy, to proceed after the selfsame method, which I observed in my precedent discourse of Sympathy; and therefore in the first place I will propose unto you certain grounds, which I for that reason call Propositions; and then afterward I will demonstratively maintain them many ways.  

1 Proposition.  
As by sympathy in natural spirits, each member may be corroborated and fortified; so by their antipathy, members may be debilitated, corrupted, and infected.   

An experimental Example or Demonstration.  
If the spiritual Mummy extracted out of man, be mingled with venomous things, and so be suffered to rot, or else be mingled with the Mummies of infirm or infected persons, or with the poisonsome menstrues of a woman, and then a herb be planted, or the magnet so imbibed, and be conserved in a continual vegetation, it may be a cause, that the disease should be of continuance. Also if one give the herb or fruit which savoureth of a sick man's Mummy, unto a beast that is of a stronger nature than the sick, than the beast will be infected with that disease, and the sick will be free. From this experiment, many egregious abuses may and would be effected by wicked men, if this manner of diverting the creatures virtue from good to bad, were known unto them; for by it, they may disseminate agues and the pestilence over a whole Country: for the plant will suck out the spiritual Mummy of such persons, as are infected with such venomous diseases, by reason of its vegetating activity. Also, if the spiritual Mummy be extracted by means of this microcosmicall Magnet, out of a body infected with the Leprosy, and be applied, or any way administered inwardly unto another, that is healthful and sound, it will infect the sound person, and free the infected, as it hath been proved by some.   

2 Proposition.  
The antipathetical Mummy of the sick may be extracted, and infected or infused into another that is sound.   

A demonstrative Example.  
This is confirmed by the precedent proofs, and is further maintained thus.  
If one do sow seeds or herbs pertaining unto the three principal members in the Mummy of a dead carcase, or in the Mummy extracted out of a sick or infected person, and the fruit of these vegetables be given or administered unto man or beast, than the disease will be transplanted upon the said man or beast. By this means also naughty men may infect and poison. But because these mischiefs are horrible to a religious spirit, I dare not farther express the effects of antipathy in spirits, which may be brought to pass by the abusing of God's blessings. I will therefore enter into another kind of antipathetical practice, which shall rather tend unto the conservation of man, than the destruction of it.   

3 Proposition.  
If two lively flesh's that are wounded be applied to each other, they will sympathise and be united, assimilated, and made one continued flesh, so that as the one prospereth, the other will do the like also; conditionally, that the party from whom the added flesh is borrowed, continue in his lively and vegetable disposition; but if the animal tree from which the graft was taken, I mean, the body out of which the flesh was lent or cut, do wither or die, that is, doth leave to vegetate and act, then will that borrowed flesh also be at jar and discord with the flesh of the borrower, that liveth and vegetateth; and consequently antipayhy will spring out from that union, which was sympathetic before; so that except the dying flesh be amputated, or taken off from the lively flesh, upon the which it was grafted or transplanted, it will cause the living flesh also to gangrenate, and corrupt with itself.   

An experiment to confirm this.  
This is well proved and maintained, by that experiment in Italy before mentioned; for when a certain noble personage had lost his nose by a wound, and had by the Physician's advice made a wound in one of his slaves arms, and clapped it unto his wounded nose, and so the flesh of the one was bound fast unto the flesh of the other, continuing after that manner, until by a sympathetic agglutination and union, both flesh's became one flesh. Then a gobbit of the slave's flesh was cut out of the arm, and was framed into the shape of a nose on the Nobleman; and the slave was manumitted, with money in his purse, for his pains. It befell, tha● on a certain time after, the slave did die, and though he departed this life being far distant from his master, yet the borrowed flesh on the master's nose withered and gangrenated, insomuch that the antipathy between these two flesh's, though united into one substance, became so great, that if immediately that dead flesh had not been cut off, it would have corrupted and destroyed the rest.   

A problematical Demonstration from the Loadstone.  
One Loadstone doth draw another in his natural position, but being unnaturally ordered, it driveth away or resisteth the other.  
The demonstration of this Problem hath been expressed, as well by a Loadstone divided in Boats, as by two Irons swimming on corks.   

2 Problem.  
If a plant be cut off (as, for example, a willow-wand) and if it be regularly planted or grafted on the same stick, it will grow; but if irregularly, it will die.  
For the proof of this Problem, look the 2 Proposition of the 5 Chapter, in the Application unto the Vegetable.   

The Application.  
So if the spirits of the two flesh's be unnaturally disposed unto one another, and turned from their sympathetic union, unto an antipathetical duality or disunion, or discord in natures; then will it, after unequal jars, follow a general corruption: for, (as is said before) Corruptum corrumpentis naturam facillime induit.   

4 Problem.  
If a spiritual Mummy be corrupted by some alien, or strange infectious nature, yet in respect of the natural Mummy of the sound and wholesome body which is so infected, the sound and wholesome Mummy of a body not infected, will magnetically attact it, though not so affectionately, but more slowly; by reason of the union or adhering of the strange venom unto it, which causeth a mixtion of antipathy with that of sympathy; and the reason of that slowness in the repelling of the antipathetical insult, is, because the sound and homogenial Mummy doth partly, by his concupiscible act, attract unto it his sympathetic like, and partly expel his contaminating unlike, by his irascible property: But for that this antipathetical unlike cleaveth so fast unto his infected like, therefore it happeneth, that the expulsive resistance is but slow; and so the sound spiritual Mummy becometh as well corrupted and infected as the other, and by that means Sympathy is turned into Antipathy.   

An Experiment to confirm this.  
There are many proofs to maintain this, for when a corrupted spiritual Mummy is carried in the air, from one infected with a pestilent fever, or small Pox, the Mummy so infected doth unite itself, being homogenial unto the sound man's spirit, and in that regard the one embraceth the other; but the sound Mummiall spirit, perceiving and tasting of the heterogenial, or infected nature, which adhereth unto his like, doth slowly expel or resist it, by reason that it doth covet his like, and therefore sympathetically attracteth; and again, hateth his unlike, and therefore antipathetically expelleth, which is, for that reason, but slowly performed; and this is the cause, that the expulsive crisis is not made suddenly, after the poisonsome infection is received; neither will sweats, or fluxes, or eruption of blood out of the nose, which are arguments of the resistance and expulsive faculty of contagious antipathy, suddenly appear: and this is effected sometimes by the sound spirits conquest, and sometimes by the vain attempt thereof.   

1. A problematical Demonstration derived from the Loadstone.  
When a small piece of Iron is put into a small Boat, with materials of another loading, to float upon the water, and a Loadstone be placed in another vessel on the same water, near one another, the coition which will be made betwixt these two magnetical bodies will be depraved, weak, and unnatural, because the Magnet affecteth and draweth unto it most strongly his like, or best-beloved, when she is not laded or mixed with materials of a contrary nature, and consequently not agreeing in sympathy with it.   

An Application.  
To conclude, A Mummy which hath an antipathetical infection joined unto it, and applieth in conjunction unto a sound or strong and wholesome Mummy, is like as if a portion of the stone called Theamides, (which is antipathetical unto that of the Magnet, fo● it ●●pelleth Iron or the Magnet itself, as the Magnet doth attract them unto it) were joined in a little bark unto the Magnet, or a piece of Iron also placed in it, and that bark or boat so burdened were applied unto a stronger Magnet in another bark in a basin of water; the strong Magnet or Loadstone would partly attract his like, namely, the Magnet or Iron, and partly resist and expel his enemy, and so by reason of his attraction, his expulsion would be the flower. Therefore also the magnetical Philosophers hold this for a Maxim.   

2 Problem.  
The coition or union betwixt two magnetical bodies is more quick and nimble, than the flight or divorce from one another; for experience teacheth, that magnetical bodies are more sluggishly repelled than they are alured or drawn unto one another; and the reason is, because there is some antipathetical invasion which causeth that hatred, and maketh that irascible resistance between the homogeneal spirit of the Mummy, and the heterogenial poison or infection in it: for we ought to consider, that magnetic bodies do covet sympathetic union.   

5 Proposition.  
Two Mummies of divers bodies, whereof the one is sound, and the other infected, though in their first coition they seem to agree, by reason of that homogenial respect which is between them, being in their purity but of one and the same essence; yet, for that the one is infected, and for that cause hath endued a heterogenial disposition, contrary unto the essence of them both; for that reason (I say) the second Mummy endeavoureth to be divorced from them both. And this is proved thus by this problematical Demonstration, drawn out of the Load-stone's property.   

3 Problem.  
If you shall set two small wires on the poles of a Loadstone, 
Gilbert. de Mag. l. 3. c. 8. Ridl. cap. 21.  these wires will be observed to adhere at the lower ends together, upon the point of the pole, but at their tops they will be at discord, and averse unto one another at their upper ends, so that they will be observed to make a fork, as if one end did eschew and fly from the company and society of the other.    

THE CONCLUSION.  
I Could (judicious Reader) have made a whole Volume of experimental Propositions, with their problematical proofs, touching the infinite abyss of Sym●heticall and Antipathetical effects in the three Kingdoms, namely, Animal, vegetable, and Mineral, both mutually between each species or kind, as from the ●●dividualls of one kind unto another: But it is not my intention to express my ●ore bold and settled opinions touching the true Philosophy and his appendices, 〈◊〉 a larger English phrase, considering the roughness and harshness of my pen, 〈◊〉 reason of my defect, and the insufficiency in the polished nature thereof. Again, know, that filled words and phrases are but superficial flashes, and flying shadows of a wealthy and rich subject, the which, as they are, Proteus-like, changeable ●nto an infinity of colours, so also are men's fancies and judgements as variable, being the Proverb is, So many men, so many minds. I do imagine, and my mind giveth ●●e, that although I be never so curious in my inditing, or laborious in the phrase ●f mine expression; yet will my best endeavours appear faulty in the curious eyesight of some men, though perchance acceptable enough unto others. I esteem it ●ufficient therefore, that I dare be hardy and bold in the fundamental subject of the essential Philosophy, being that it hath Truth itself to maintain and defend it, without any adornation made by the gilded tresses of superficial speeches, or verbal explication; and therefore as veritas non quaerit angulos, so also she needeth not the expression of eloquent words, and refined sentences or phrases to illustrate it, and make it more perspicuous in the eyes of wise and learned men, being that it is not unknown unto them, that she doth conquer all, for she is the bright splendour or emanation, which springeth from the omnipotent and eternal fountain; she enlighteneth all, she acteth essentially in all, and over all, and revealeth herself in effect to all; and therefore she is so manifest in all her works, that she needeth not any golden-tongued Orator, nor smooth and methodical Rhetorician, or lip-learned Philosopher, to do her honour, in the expression of her excellency, and recording the perfection of her graces, revealed unto all the world, though the unworthy worldlings will not acknowledge or receive her with reverence, as they ought to do, but rather hide her perpetually, by their best endeavours, with the vail of obscure ignorance, and thereby do not desist to persecute and crucify daily that spiritual Christ, which is the only verity, true wisdom, cornerstone, and essential subject of the true Philosophy, whose Name be blessed for ever and ever; who only hath made the heavens and the earth, and every thing therein, and sustaineth and preserveth them by the vivification of his Spirit; which operateth all in all, and reigneth in power and glory with the Father, for ever and ever: Who will defend his servants from the oppression of evill-minded men, and stand as a shield of defence, to preserve the proclaimer of his truth from the Serpentine tongues of malicious backbiters, and the venomous carping of the Cynical and Satirical Momus. 
Luk. 21.15.  It is he that saith unto the adorer of his truth, Ego dabo vobis os & sapientiam cui non poterant resistere & contradicere omnes adversarii vestri. And therefore I will say as the Prophet David did, In alarm tuarum umbra canam; I will sing the truth under the shadow of thy wings. O Lord, in thee do I put my trust; keep and preserve me from mine enemies, for thy mercy's sake, AMEN.  
FINIS.