The Fame and Confession of the Fraternity of R. C./Advertisement
A SHORT
ADVERTISEMENT
TO THE
READER.
This Advertiſement, Reader, invites thee not to my Lodging, for I would give thee no ſuch Directions, my Nature being more Melancholy, then Sociable. I would onely tell thee how Charitable I am, for having purpoſely omitted ſome Neceſſaries in my former Diſcourſe, I have upon ſecond Thoughts reſolved againſt that ſilence.
There is abroad a bold ignorance, for Philoſophie hath her Confidents, but in a ſenſe different from the Madams. This Generation I have ſometimes met withall, and leaſt they ſhould ride, and repent, I thought it not amiſs to ſhew them the Præcipieces. The ſecond Philoſophicall work is commonly cal’d the groſs work, but ’tis one of the greateſt Subtilties in all the Art. Cornelius Agrippa knew the firſt Præparation, and hath clearly diſcovered it, but the Difficulty of the ſecond made him almoſt an enemy to his own Profeſsion. By the ſecond work, I underſtand not Coagulation' but the Solution of the Philoſophical Salt, a ſecret' which Agrippa did not rightly know, as it appears by his practiſe at Malines, nor would Natalius teach him, for all his frequent, and ſerious intreaties. This was it, that made his neceſsities ſo vigorous, and his purſe ſo weak, that I can ſeldome finde him in a full fortune. But in this, he is not alone: Raymund Lully the beſt Chriſtian Artiſt that ever was, received not this Myſterie from Arnoldus for in his firſt Practiſes he followed the tedious common proceſs, which after all is ſcarce profitable. Here he met with a Drudgerie almoſt invincible, and if we add the Task to the Time, it is enough to make a Man old. Norton was ſo ſtrange an Ignoramus in this Point, that if the Solution and Purgation were performed in three years, he thought it a happy work. George Ripley labour’d for new Inventions, to putrifie this red Salt, which he enviouſly cals his gold: and his knack is, to expoſe it to alternat fits of cold and heat, but in this he is ſingular, and Faber is ſo wiſe he will not underſtand him. And now that I have mention’d Faber, I muſt needs ſay that Tubal-Cain himſelf is ſhort of the right Solution, for the Proceſs he deſcribes hath not any thing of Nature in it. Let us return then to Raymund Lullie, for he was ſo great a Maſter, that he perform’d the Solution, intra novem Dies, and this Secret he had from God himſelf; for this is his Confeſsion. Nos (ſaith he) de primâ illâ nigredine à paucis cognitâ, benignum Spiritum extrahere affectantes, pugnam ignis vincentem, & non victum, licet ſenſibus corporis multoties palpavimus, & oculis propriis illum vidimus, Extractionis tamen ipſius motitiam non habuimus quacunque Scientiarum, vel arte: ideoque ſentie bamus nos adhuc aliqua ruſticitate excæcatos, quia nullo modo eam comprehendere valuimus, donec alius Spiritus prophetiæ, ſpirans a patre Luminum deſcendit, tanquam ſuos nullatenus deſerens, aut a ſe Poſtulantibus deficiens, Qui in ſomniis tantam claritatem mentis noſtræ oculis infulſit, ut Illam intrus & extra, remota onmi figura, gratis revelare dignatus est, inſatiabili bonitate nos reficiendo, demonſtrans ut ad eam naturalem decoctionem ſecretam, quâ penitus ordine retrogrado cum pungenti lancea, tota ejus natura in meram Nigredinem viſibiliter diſſolveretur. Here lyes the knot, and who is he that will untye it? for ſaith the ſame Lully, it was never put to Paper, and he gives this Reaſon for it. Quia Solius dei est ea revelare, & homo divinæ Majeſtati ſubtrahere nititur, cum ſoli Deo pertinentia vulgat ſpiritu prolationis humanæ, aut literarum ſerie. Propterea operationem illam habere non poteris, quousque ſpiritualiter prius fueris Divinitatis meritis comprobatus. Quia hoc ſecretum a nemine comprobatus. Quia hoc ſecretum a nemine mortali Revelandum eſt, præterquam ab Almo ſpiritu, qui ubi vult, ſpirat. It ſeems then the greateſt Difficulty is not in the Coagulation or production of the Philoſophicall Salt, but in the Putrefaction of it, when it is produced. Indeed this agrees best with the ſence of the Philoſophers, for one of thoſe Præciſians tels us, Qui ſcit Salem, & ejus solutionem, ſcit secretum occultum antiquorum Philoſophorum. Alas then! what ſhall we do? whence comes our next Intelligence? I am afraid here is a ſad Truth for ſome body. Shall we run now to Lucas Rodargirus, or have we any duſty Manuſcripts, that can inſtrct us? Well Reader, thou ſeeſt how free I am grown, and now I could diſcover ſomething elſe, but here is enough at once. I could indeed tell thee of the firſt and ſecond ſublimation, of a double Nativity, Viſible and Inviſible, without which the matter is not alterable, as to our purpoſe. I could tell thee alſo of Sulphurs ſimple, and compounded, of three Argents Vive, and as many Salts and all this would be new news (as the Book-men phraſe it) even to the beſt Learned in England. But I have done, and I hope this Diſcourſe hath not demoliſhed any man’s Caſtles, for why ſhould they deſpair, when I contribute to their Building? I am a hearty Diſpenſero, and if they have got any thing by me, much good may it do them. It is my onely fear, they will miſtake when they read, for were I to live long, which I am confident I ſhall not, I would make no other wiſh, but that my years might be as many as their Errors. I ſpeak not this out of any contempt, for I undervalue no man; It is my Experience in this kind of learning, which I ever made my Buſineſs, that gives me the boldneſs to ſuſpect a poſsibility of the ſame faylings in others, which I have found in my ſelf. To conclude, I would have my Reader know, that the Philoſophers finding this life ſubjected to Neceſſitie, and the Neceſsity was inconſiſtant with the Nature of the Soul, they did therefore look upon Man, as a Creature originally ordained for ſome better State then the preſent, for this was not agreeable with his ſpirit. This thought made them ſeek the Ground of his Creation, that if poſſible, they might take hold of Libertie, and tranſcend the Diſpenſations of that Circle, which they Myſteriouſly cal’d Fate. Now what this really ſignifies not one in ten thouſand knows, and yet we are all Philoſophers.
But to come to my purpoſe, I ſay, the true Philoſophers did find in every Compound a double Compexion, Circumferential, and Central. The Circumferential was corrupt in all things, but in ſome things altoether venomous: The Central not ſo, for in the Center of every thing there was a perfect Unity, a miraculous indiſſoluble Concord of Fire and Water. Theſe two Complexions are the Manifeſtum and the Occultum of the Arabians, and they reſiſt one another, for they are Contraries. In the Center it ſelf they found no Diſcords at all, for the Difference of Spirits conſiſted not in Qualities, but in Degrees of Eſſence and Tranſcendency. As for the Water, it was of kin with the Fire, for it was not common, but æthereal. In all Centers this Fire was not the ſame, for in ſome it was only a Solar Spirit, and ſuch a Center was called, Aqua Solis, Aqua Cœleſtis, Aqua Auri, & Argenti: In ſome again the Spirit was more then Solar, for it was ſuper-cœleſtial, and Metaphyſical: This Spirit purged the very rational Soul, and awakened her Root that was aſleep, and therefore ſuch a Center was called, Aqua Igne tincta, Aqua Serenans, Candelas accendens, & Domum illuminans. Of both theſe Waters have I diſcourſed in thoſe ſmall Tractures I have publiſhed; and though I have had ſome Dirt caſt at me for my pains, yet this is ſo ordinary I mind it not, for whiles we live here we ride in a High-way. I cannot think him wiſe who reſents his Injuries, for he ſets a rate upon things that are worthleß, and makes uſe of his Spleen where his Scorn becomes him. This is the Entertainment I provide for my Adverſaries, and if they think it too coarſe, let them judg where they underſtand, and they may fare better.
FINIS.