The Hiftory of Life and Death. 



Articles. 



I fuppofe alfo, that fome Emaciating Difeafes, well cured, do profit to long life ; For 

 they y« eld new Juice, the old being confumed ; And, (as he faith, ) To recover a fickj 

 neffe ,*is to renew youth t Therefore it were good to make fome Artificial Difeafies $ 

 which is done by Uriel', and Emaciating Diets ; Of which I fhall fpeak hereafter. 



The Intentions. 



HAving- -finifhc 'd the Inquifition, according to the Subjects : As Namely , of Inani- 

 mate Bodies, Vegetables, Living Creatuies, Man ; / mill mw come nearer to the 

 Matter ^anA order mine inquifition by certain Intentions ; Such as are true , and 

 proper , ( as I am wholly per/waded; ) And which are the very paths to Mortal Life. 

 For in this part, Nothing that is of worth hath hitheno been enquired ; B^t the Con- 

 templations of Men have been^ but fimple,and fton-proficien^s. For when I he are Men, 

 on tin one fide, fpeak^of Comforting Natural Heat, andthe Radical Moitfure ; <iAndof 

 Meats, which breed good Blood ;Such as may neither be Burnt-, nor Thlegmatick^; And 

 of the Cheering and Recreating the Spirits ; / fuppofe them to be no bad Men , which 

 fpeakthefe Things : But none of thefeworketh effectually towards the end. But when, 

 on the other fide , / heare fever al Difceurfes , touching Medicines made of Gold, be- 

 cause Gold is not fubjeit to Corruption ; And touching Precious Stones, to refresh the 

 Spirits by their hidden Properties and huftre : And that, if they could be taken, and re- 

 tained in Veffels, the Balfomes , and Quint-effences 0/ Living Creatures , would make 

 Men conceive a proud hopt of Immortality : <>And that the Flejh of Serpents , and 

 Harts, by a certain confent , are powerful to the Renovation of Life ; Becaufe the one 

 cafieth his Skjn , the other his Horns ; ( They fhould alfo have added the Flefh of 

 Eagles , beemfe the Eagle changes his Bill : ) And that a certain Man , when he had 

 fmnd an Ointment hidden under the Ground, and had anointed himfelf there-with 

 ^ from He ad to Foot-, (excepting onely the foles of the Feet ) Did, by his anointing , live 

 three hundred ye ares-, without any Wifcafef fave onely fome Tumours in the foles of his 

 Feet : And ef Artefius, who when he found his Spirit ready to depart , drew into his Bo- 

 dy the Spirit of a cert am young man^ and thereby made him Breathleffe ; Hut himfelf 

 lived many years by another Mans Spirit ': And of Fortunate Hours , according to the 

 Figures 0/Heaven , in which Medicines are to be gathered , and compounded for the 

 prolongation of Life : nAnd of the Seales of Planets , by which Venues may be drawn % 

 and fetched down from Heaven , to prolong Life 1 And fuch like fabulous , and fuper- 

 fiitious Vanities I wonder exceedingly, that menfhoti/d fo much dote, as to fuffer them- 

 felves to be deluded with the fe Things. And again, I do pity Man-kjnde ; That 

 they [hould.have the hard Fortune, to be befieged with fuch frivolous, and fenfelefs hp- 

 ehenfions. "But mine Intentions do both come home to the Matter ; tAnd arefarre 

 from vain and credulous Imaginations : Being alfo finch, as I conceive , Pofterity may 

 adde much to the Matters , which fatisfie thefie Intentions : Butte the Intentions 

 themfelves, but a little. Rotwithftanding there are a few Things , and thofe of very 

 great Moment, of which I would have t_Men to be fore-warned. 



Firfi, we are of that Opinion , that we efieem the Offices o/Life, to be more worthy 

 than Life it felfe. Therefore, if there be any Thing of that kjnde , that may indeed ex- 

 actly anfwer our Intentions, yet fio, that the Offices and Duties of Life, be thereby hin- 

 dered \ What fo ever it be of ' this kinde^we reject it. 'Perhaps, we may mafe fome light 

 Mention of fuch things, but we infifi not upon them. For we make no feriom , nor dili- 

 gent Dificourfie ; Either of leading the life in Caves,where the Sun-beams, and feverall 

 changes of 'the Aire, pierce not ; Like Epimenides his Cave ; Or of perpetual Baths, 

 made of Liquors prepared ; Or of Shirts, and Sear-chaths^fo applied , that the Body 

 fhould be alwayes, as it were, in a Box 5 Or of thicks paintings of the Body , after the 

 manner of fome Barbarous Nations ; Or of an exalt ordering of our Life,-& Diet, which 

 aimeth onely at this, and mendeth nothing el fe ■> but that a Man live; ( As was that 

 */Herodicus, amongft the Ancients : AW of Cornarus the Venetian ; in ourdayes, 

 but with greater Moderation;) Or of any fuch Prodigie-,Tedioufneffe, or Inconveni- 

 ence : But we propound fuch Remedies>and Precepts, by which the Offices of Life, may 

 neither be deferted,nor receive any great Interruptions, or Mokftations. 

 - • Secondly, 



