,transcriber's ,note   ,the printed text
 contained both footnotes and endnotes4 
,these have been renumbered in          
continuous series of letters and ,arabic
 numerals respectively4  ,corrected     
errata are listed at the end of the     
text4  ,the following ,list of ,contents
 has been added by the transcriber3     
,,religio ,,medici   ,,hydriotaphia   ,a
 ,,letter ,,to ,a ,,friend   ,,notes    
,,to ,,the ,,religio ,,medici   ,,notes 
,,to ,,hydriotaphia   ,,notes ,,to      
,,letter ,,to ,a ,,friend     ,,religio 
,,medici4     ,,religio ,,medici1       
,,hydriotaphia1 ,,and ,,the ,,letter    
,,to ,a ,,friend4  ,,by  ,,sir ,,thomas 
,,browne1 ,,knt4  ,,with ,,an           
,,introduction ,,and ,,notes ,,by  ,j4  
,w4 ,,willis ,,bund1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,b41  
,,gonville ,,and ,,caius ,,college1     
,,cambridge1  ,,of ,,lincoln',s ,,inn1  
,,barrister-,,at-,,law4  ,,london3      
,,sampson ,,low1 ,,son1 ,,and ,,marston1
  ,,crown ,,buildings1 #ahh ,,fleet     
,,street4  #ahfi4     ,,introduction4   

,,sir ,,thomas ,,browne 7whose works    
occupy so prominent a position in the   
literary history of the seventeenth     
century7 is an author who is now little 
known and less read4 ,this comparative  
oblivion to which he has been consigned 
is the more remarkable1 as1 if for      
nothing else1 his writings deserve to be
 studied as an example of the ,english  
language in what may be termed a        
transition state4 ,the prose of the     
,elizabethan age was beginning to pass  
away and give place to a more inflated  
style of writing--a style which1 after  
passing through various stages of       
development1 culminated in that of      
,johnson4  ,browne is one of the best   
early examples of this school2 his      
style1 to quote ,johnson himself1 8is   
vigorous but rugged1 it is learned but  
pedantick1 it is deep but obscure1 it   
strikes but does not please1 it commands
 but does not allure4 4 4 4 ,it is a    
tissue of many languages1 a mixture of  
heterogeneous words brought together    

from distant regions40  ,yet in spite of
 this qualified censure1 there are      
passages in ,browne's works not inferior
 to any in the ,english language2 and   
though his writings may not be 8a well  
of ,english undefiled10 yet it is the   
very defilements that add to the beauty 
of the work4  ,but it is not only as an 
example of literary style that ,browne  
deserves to be studied4 ,the matter of  
his works1 the grandeur of his ideas1   
the originality of his thoughts1 the    
greatness of his charity1 amply make up 
for the deficiencies 7if deficiencies   
there be7 in his style4 ,an author who  
combined the wit of ,montaigne with the 
learning of ,erasmus1 and of whom even  
,hallam could say that 8his varied      
talents wanted nothing but the          
controlling supremacy of good sense to  
place him in the highest rank of our    
literature10 should not be suffered to  
remain in obscurity4  ,a short account  
of his life will form the best          
introduction to his works4  ,sir ,thomas

 ,browne was born in ,london1 in the    
parish of ,st ,michael le ,quern1 on the
 #aith of ,october #afje4 ,his father   
was a ,london merchant1 of a good       
,cheshire family2 and his mother a      
,sussex lady1 daughter of ,mr ,paul     
,garraway of ,lewis4 ,his father died   
when he was very young1 and his mother  
marrying again shortly afterwards1      
,browne was left to the care of his     
guardians1 one of whom is said to have  
defrauded him out of some of his        
property4 ,he was educated at           
,winchester1 and afterwards sent to     
,oxford1 to what is now ,pembroke       
,college1 where he took his degree of   
,m4,a4 in #afbi4 ,thereupon he commenced
 for a short time to practise as a      
physician in ,oxfordshire4 ,but we soon 
find him growing tired of this1 and     
accompanying his father-in-law1 ,sir    
,thomas ,dutton1 on a tour of inspection
 of the castles and forts in ,ireland4  
,we next hear of ,browne in the south of
 ,france1 at ,montpellier1 then a       

celebrated school of medicine1 where he 
seems to have studied some little time4 
,from there he proceeded to ,padua1 one 
of the most famous of the ,italian      
universities1 and noted for the views   
some of its members held on the subjects
 of astronomy and necromancy4 ,during   
his residence here1 ,browne doubtless   
acquired some of his peculiar ideas on  
the science of the heavens and the black
 art1 and1 what was more important1 he  
learnt to regard the ,romanists with    
that abundant charity we find throughout
 his works4 ,from ,padua1 ,browne went  
to ,leyden1 and this sudden change from 
a most bigoted ,roman ,catholic to a    
most bigoted ,protestant country was not
 without its effect on his mind1 as can 
be traced in his book4 ,here he took the
 degree of ,doctor of ,medicine1 and    
shortly afterwards returned to ,england4
 ,soon after his return1 about the year 
#afce1 he published his 8,religio       
,medici10 his first and greatest work1  
which may be fairly regarded as the     

reflection of the mind of one who1 in   
spite of a strong intellect and vast    
erudition1 was still prone to           
superstition1 but having                
8,through many cities strayed1          
,their customs1 laws1 and manners       
weighed10  had obtained too large views 
of mankind to become a bigot4  ,after   
the publication of his book he settled  
at ,norwich1 where he soon had an       
extensive practice as a physician4 ,from
 hence there remains little to be told  
of his life4 ,in #afcg he was           
incorporated ,doctor of ,medicine at    
,oxford2 and in #afda he married        
,dorothy the daughter of ,edward        
,mileham1 of ,burlingham in ,norfolk1   
and had by her a family of eleven       
children4  ,in #afdf he published his   
8,pseudodoxia ,epidemica10 or ,enquiries
 into ,vulgar ,errors4 ,the discovery of
 some ,roman urns at ,burnham in        
,norfolk1 led him in #afeh to write his 
8,hydriotaphia0 7,urn-burial72 he also  
published at the same time 8,the ,garden

 of ,cyrus1 or the ,quincunxcial        
,lozenge of the ,ancients10 a curious   
work1 but far inferior to his other     
productions4  ,in #affe he was elected  
an honorary ,fellow of the ,college of  
,physicians1 8virtute et literis        
ornatissimus40  ,browne had always been 
a ,royalist4 ,in #afdc he had refused to
 subscribe to the fund that was then    
being raised for regaining ,newcastle4  
,he proved a happy exception to the     
almost proverbial neglect the ,royalists
 received from ,charles ,,ii4 in #afga1 
for when ,charles was at ,newmarket1 he 
came over to see ,norwich1 and conferred
 the honour of knighthood on ,browne4   
,his reputation was now very great4     
,evelyn paid a visit to ,norwich for the
 express purpose of seeing him2 and at  
length1 on his #gfth birthday 7#aith    
,october #afhb71 he died1 full of years 
and honours4  ,it was a striking        
coincidence that he who in his ,letter  
to a ,friend had said that 8in persons  
who outlive many years1 and when there  

are no less than #cfe days to determine 
their lives in every year1 that the     
first day should mark the last1 that the
 tail of the snake should return into   
its mouth precisely at that time1 and   
that they should wind up upon the day of
 their nativity1 is indeed a remarkable 
coincidence1 which1 though astrology    
hath taken witty pains to solve1 yet    
hath it been very wary in making        
predictions of it10 should himself die  
on the day of his birth4  ,browne was   
buried in the church of ,st ,peter1     
,mancroft1 ,norwich1 where his wife     
erected to his memory a mural monument1 
on which was placed an ,english and     
,latin inscription1 setting forth that  
he was the author of 8,religio ,medici10
 8,pseudodoxia ,epidemica10 and other   
learned works 8per orbem notissimus40   
,yet his sleep was not to be            
undisturbed2 his skull was fated to     
adorn a museum6 ,in #ahdj1 while some   
workmen were digging a vault in the     
chancel of ,st ,peter's1 they found a   

coffin with an inscription--            
8,amplissimus ,vir   ,dus ,thomas       
,browne ,miles ,medicin   ,dr ,annis    
,natus #gg ,denatus #ai ,die   ,mensis  
,octobris ,anno ,dnj #afhb hoc4         
,loculo indormiens ,corporis ,spagyrici 
pulvere plumbum in aurum   convertit40  
,the translation of this inscription    
raised a storm over his ashes1 which    
,browne would have enjoyed partaking in1
 the word spagyricus being an enigma to 
scholars4 ,mr ,firth of ,norwich 7whose 
translation seems the best7 thus renders
 the inscription3--   8,the very        
distinguished man1 ,sir ,thomas ,browne1
 ,knight1 ,doctor of  ,medicine1 aged   
#gg years1 who died on the #aith of     
,october1 in the year  of our ,lord     
#afhb1 sleeping in this coffin of lead1 
by the dust of his  alchemic body1      
transmutes it into a coffer of gold40   
,after ,sir ,thomas's death1 two        
collections of his works were published1
 one by ,archbishop ,tenison1 and the   
other in #aggb4 ,they contain most of   

his letters1 his tracts on various      
subjects1 and his ,letter to a ,friend4 
,various editions of parts of ,browne's 
works have from time to time appeared4  
,by far the best edition of the whole of
 them is that published by ,simon       
,wilkin4  ,it is upon his 8,religio     
,medici0--the religion of a             
physician--that ,browne's fame chiefly  
rests4 ,it was his first and most       
celebrated work1 published just after   
his return from his travels2 it gives us
 the impressions made on his mind by the
 various and opposite schools he had    
passed through4 ,he tells us that he    
never intended to publish it1 but that  
on its being surreptitiously printed1 he
 was induced to do so4 ,in #afdc1 the   
first genuine edition appeared1 with 8an
 admonition to such as shall peruse the 
observations upon a former corrupt copy 
of this book40 ,the observations here   
alluded to1 were written by ,sir ,kenelm
 ,digby1 and sent by him to the ,earl of
 ,dorset4 ,they were first printed at   

the end of the edition of #afdc1 and    
have ever since been published with the 
book4 ,their chief merit consists in the
 marvellous rapidity with which they    
were written1 ,sir ,kenelm having1 as he
 tells us1 bought the book1 read it1 and
 written his observations1 in the course
 of twenty-four hours6  ,the book       
contains what may be termed an apology  
for his belief4 ,he states the reasons  
on which he grounds his opinions1 and   
endeavours to show that1 although he had
 been accused of atheism1 he was in all 
points a good ,christian1 and a loyal   
member of the ,church of ,england4 ,each
 person must judge for himself of his   
success2 but the effect it produced on  
the mind of ,johnson may be noticed4    
8,the opinions of every man10 says he1  
8must be learned from himself2          
concerning his practice1 it is safer to 
trust to the evidence of others4 ,when  
the testimonies concur1 no higher degree
 of historical certainty can be         
obtained2 and they apparently concur to 

prove that ,browne was a zealous        
adherent to the faith of ,christ1 that  
he lived in obedience to ,his laws1 and 
died in confidence of ,his mercy40  ,the
 best proof of the excellence of the    
8,religio0 is to be found in its great  
success4 ,during the author's life1 from
 #afdc to #afha1 it passed through      
eleven editions4 ,it has been translated
 into ,latin1 ,dutch1 ,french1 and      
,german1 and many of the translations   
have passed through several editions4   
,no less than thirty-three treatises    
have been written in imitation of it2   
and what1 to some1 will be the greatest 
proof of all1 it was soon after its     
publication placed in the ,index        
,expurgatorius4 ,the best proof of its  
liberality of sentiment is in the fact  
that its author was claimed at the same 
time by the ,romanists and ,quakers to  
be a member of their respective creeds6 
,the 8,hydriotaphia10 or ,urn-burial1 is
 a treatise on the funeral rites of     
ancient nations4 ,it was caused by the  

discovery of some ,roman urns in        
,norfolk4 ,though inferior to the       
8,religio10 8there is perhaps none of   
his works which better exemplifies his  
reading or memory40  ,the text of the   
present edition of the 8,religio        
,medici0 is taken from what is called   
the eighth edition1 but is in reality   
the eleventh1 published in ,london in   
#afhb1 the last edition in the author's 
lifetime4 ,the notes are for the most   
part compiled from the observations of  
,sir ,kenelm ,digby1 the annotation of  
,mr4 ,keck1 and the very valuable notes 
of ,simon ,wilkin4 ,for the account of  
the finding of ,sir ,thomas ,browne's   
skull ,i am indebted to ,mr ,friswell's 
notice of ,sir ,thomas in his 8,varia40 
,the text of the 8,hydriotaphia0 is     
taken from the folio edition of #afhf1  
in the ,lincoln's ,inn library4 ,some of
 ,browne's notes to that edition have   
been omitted1 and most of the           
references1 as they refer to books which
 are not likely to be met with by the   

general reader4  ,the 8,letter to a     
,friend1 upon the occasion of the ,death
 of his intimate ,friend10 was first    
published in a folio pamphlet in #afij4 
,it was reprinted in his posthumous     
works4 ,the concluding reflexions are   
the basis of a larger work1 8,christian 
,morals40 ,i am not aware of any        
complete modern edition of it4 ,the text
 of the present one is taken from the   
original edition of #afij4 ,the pamphlet
 is in the ,british ,museum1 bound up   
with a volume of old poems4 ,it is      
entitled1 8,a ,letter to a ,friend1 upon
 the occasion of the ,death of his      
intimate ,friend4 ,by the learned ,sir  
,thomas ,brown1 ,knight1 ,doctor of     
,physick1 late of ,norwich4 ,london3    
,printed for ,charles ,brone1 at the    
,gun1 at the ,west ,end of ,st ,paul's  
,churchyard1 #afij40     ,,to ,,the     
,,reader4   ,,certainly that man were   
greedy of life1 who should desire to    
live when all the world were at an end2 
and he must needs be very impatient1 who

 would repine at death in the society of
 all things that suffer under it4 ,had  
not almost every man suffered by the    
press1 or were not the tyranny thereof  
become universal1 ,i had not wanted     
reason for complaint3 but in times      
wherein ,i have lived to behold the     
highest perversion of that excellent    
invention1 the name of his ,majesty     
defamed1 the honour of ,parliament      
depraved1 the writings of both          
depravedly1 anticipatively1             
counterfeitly1 imprinted3 complaints may
 seem ridiculous in private persons2 and
 men of my condition may be as incapable
 of affronts1 as hopeless of their      
reparations4 ,and truly had not the duty
 ,i owe unto the importunity of friends1
 and the allegiance ,i must ever        
acknowledge unto truth1 prevailed with  
me2 the inactivity of my disposition    
might have made these sufferings        
continual1 and time1 that brings other  
things to light1 should have satisfied  
me in the remedy of its oblivion4 ,but  

because things evidently false are not  
only printed1 but many things of truth  
most falsely set forth2 in this latter  
,i could not but think myself engaged3  
for1 though we have no power to redress 
the former1 yet in the other reparation 
being within ourselves1 ,i have at      
present represented unto the world a    
full and intended copy of that piece1   
which was most imperfectly and          
surreptitiously published before4  ,this
 ,i confess1 about seven years past1    
with some others of affinity thereto1   
for my private exercise and             
satisfaction1 ,i had at leisurable hours
 composed2 which being communicated unto
 one1 it became common unto many1 and   
was by transcription successively       
corrupted1 until it arrived in a most   
depraved copy at the press4 ,he that    
shall peruse that work1 and shall take  
notice of sundry particulars and        
personal expressions therein1 will      
easily discern the intention was not    
publick3 and1 being a private exercise  

directed to myself1 what is delivered   
therein was rather a memorial unto me1  
than an example or rule unto any other3 
and therefore1 if there be any          
singularity therein correspondent unto  
the private conceptions of any man1 it  
doth not advantage them2 or if          
dissentaneous thereunto1 it no way      
overthrows them4 ,it was penned in such 
a place1 and with such disadvantage1    
that 7,i protest71 from the first       
setting of pen unto paper1 ,i had not   
the assistance of any good book1 whereby
 to promote my invention1 or relieve my 
memory2 and therefore there might be    
many real lapses therein1 which others  
might take notice of1 and more that ,i  
suspected myself4 ,it was set down many 
years past1 and was the sense of my     
conceptions at that time1 not an        
immutable law unto my advancing judgment
 at all times2 and therefore there might
 be many things therein plausible unto  
my passed apprehension1 which are not   
agreeable unto my present self4 ,there  

are many things delivered rhetorically1 
many expressions therein merely         
tropical1 and as they best illustrate my
 intention2 and therefore also there are
 many things to be taken in a soft and  
flexible sense1 and not to be called    
unto the rigid test of reason4 ,lastly1 
all that is contained therein is in     
submission unto maturer discernments2   
and1 as ,i have declared1 shall no      
further father them than the best and   
learned judgments shall authorize them3 
under favour of which considerations1 ,i
 have made its secrecy publick1 and     
committed the truth thereof to every    
ingenuous reader4    ,,thomas ,,browne4 
,,religio ,,medici4   ,,sect4 #a4--;,for
 my religion1 though there be several   
circumstances that might persuade the   
world ,i have none at all1--as the      
general scandal of my profession1#a--the
 natural course of my studies1--the     
indifferency of my behaviour and        
discourse in matters of religion        
7neither violently defending one1 nor   

with that common ardour and contention  
opposing another71--yet1 in despite     
hereof1 ,i dare without usurpation      
assume the honourable style of a        
,christian4 ,not that ,i merely owe this
 title to the font1 my education1 or the
 clime wherein ,i was born1 as being    
bred up either to confirm those         
principles my parents instilled into my 
understanding1 or by a general consent  
proceed in the religion of my country2  
but having1 in my riper years and       
confirmed judgment1 seen and examined   
all1 ,i find myself obliged1 by the     
principles of grace1 and the law of mine
 own reason1 to embrace no other name   
but this4 ,neither doth herein my zeal  
so far make me forget the general       
charity ,i owe unto humanity1 as rather 
to hate than pity ,turks1 ,infidels1 and
 7what is worse7 ,jews2 rather          
contenting myself to enjoy that happy   
style1 than maligning those who refuse  
so glorious a title4  ,sect4 #b4--;,but1
 because the name of a ,christian is    

become too general to express our       
faith1--there being a geography of      
religion as well as lands1 and every    
clime distinguished not only by their   
laws and limits1 but circumscribed by   
their doctrines and rules of faith1--to 
be particular1 ,i am of that reformed   
new-cast religion1 wherein ,i dislike   
nothing but the name2 of the same belief
 our ,saviour taught1 the apostles      
disseminated1 the fathers authorized1   
and the martyrs confirmed2 but1 by the  
sinister ends of princes1 the ambition  
and avarice of prelates1 and the fatal  
corruption of times1 so decayed1        
impaired1 and fallen from its native    
beauty1 that it required the careful and
 charitable hands of these times to     
restore it to its primitive integrity4  
,now1 the accidental occasion whereupon1
 the slender means whereby1 the low and 
abject condition of the person by whom1 
so good a work was set on foot1 which in
 our adversaries beget contempt and     
scorn1 fills me with wonder1 and is the 

very same objection the insolent pagans 
first cast at ,christ and his disciples4
  ,sect4 #c4--,yet have ,i not so shaken
 hands with those desperate resolutions 
who had rather venture at large their   
decayed bottom1 than bring her in to be 
new-trimmed in the dock1--who had rather
 promiscuously retain all1 than abridge 
any1 and obstinately be what they are1  
than what they have been1--as to stand  
in diameter and sword's point with them4
 ,we have reformed from them1 not       
against them3 for1 omitting those       
improperations#b and terms of scurrility
 betwixt us1 which only difference our  
affections1 and not our cause1 there is 
between us one common name and          
appellation1 one faith and necessary    
body of principles common to us both2   
and therefore ,i am not scrupulous to   
converse and live with them1 to enter   
their churches in defect of ours1 and   
either pray with them or for them4 ,i   
could never perceive any rational       
consequences from those many texts which

 prohibit the children of ,israel to    
pollute themselves with the temples of  
the heathens2 we being all ,christians1 
and not divided by such detested        
impieties as might profane our prayers1 
or the place wherein we make them2 or   
that a resolved conscience may not adore
 her ,creator anywhere1 especially in   
places devoted to his service2 if their 
devotions offend him1 mine may please   
him3 if theirs profane it1 mine may     
hallow it4 ,holy water and crucifix     
7dangerous to the common people7 deceive
 not my judgment1 nor abuse my devotion 
at all4 ,i am1 ,i confess1 naturally    
inclined to that which misguided zeal   
terms superstition3 my common           
conversation ,i do acknowledge austere1 
my behaviour full of rigour1 sometimes  
not without morosity2 yet1 at my        
devotion ,i love to use the civility of 
my knee1 my hat1 and hand1 with all     
those outward and sensible motions which
 may express or promote my invisible    
devotion4 ,i should violate my own arm  

rather than a church2 nor willingly     
deface the name of saint or martyr4 ,at 
the sight of a cross1 or crucifix1 ,i   
can dispense with my hat1 but scarce    
with the thought or memory of my        
,saviour4 ,i cannot laugh at1 but rather
 pity1 the fruitless journeys of        
pilgrims1 or contemn the miserable      
condition of friars2 for1 though        
misplaced in circumstances1 there is    
something in it of devotion4 ,i could   
never hear the ,ave-,mary bell,a without
 an elevation1 or think it a sufficient 
warrant1 because they erred in one      
circumstance1 for me to err in          
all1--that is1 in silence and dumb      
contempt4 ,whilst1 therefore1 they      
direct their devotions to her1 ,i       
offered mine to ,god2 and rectify the   
errors of their prayers by rightly      
ordering mine own4 ,at a solemn         
procession ,i have wept abundantly1     
while my consorts1 blind with opposition
 and prejudice1 have fallen into an     
excess of scorn and laughter4 ,there    

are1 questionless1 both in ,greek1      
,roman1 and ,african churches1          
solemnities and ceremonies1 whereof the 
wiser zeals do make a ,christian use2   
and stand condemned by us1 not as evil  
in themselves1 but as allurements and   
baits of superstition to those vulgar   
heads that look asquint on the face of  
truth1 and those unstable judgments that
 cannot resist in the narrow point and  
centre of virtue without a reel or      
stagger to the circumference4  ,a ,a    
church-bell1 that tolls every day at six
 and twelve of the clock2 at the hearing
 whereof every one1 in what place       
soever1 either of house or street1      
betakes himself to his prayer1 which is 
commonly directed to the ,virgin4       
,sect4 #d4--;,as there were many        
reformers1 so likewise many             
reformations2 every country proceeding  
in a particular way and method1         
according as their national interest1   
together with their constitution and    
clime1 inclined them3 some angrily and  

with extremity2 others calmly and with  
mediocrity1 not rending1 but easily     
dividing1 the community1 and leaving an 
honest possibility of a                 
reconciliation2--which1 though peaceable
 spirits do desire1 and may conceive    
that revolution of time and the mercies 
of ,god may effect1 yet that judgment   
that shall consider the present         
antipathies between the two             
extremes1--their contrarieties in       
condition1 affection1 and opinion1--may1
 with the same hopes1 expect a union in 
the poles of heaven4  ,sect4 #e4--;,but1
 to difference myself nearer1 and draw  
into a lesser circle2 there is no church
 whose every part so squares unto my    
conscience1 whose articles1             
constitutions1 and customs1 seem so     
consonant unto reason1 and1 as it were1 
framed to my particular devotion1 as    
this whereof ,i hold my belief--the     
,church of ,england2 to whose faith ,i  
am a sworn subject1 and therefore1 in a 
double obligation1 subscribe unto her   

articles1 and endeavour to observe her  
constitutions3 whatsoever is beyond1 as 
points indifferent1 ,i observe1         
according to the rules of my private    
reason1 or the humour and fashion of my 
devotion2 neither believing this because
 ,luther affirmed it1 nor disproving    
that because ,calvin hath disavouched   
it4 ,i condemn not all things in the    
council of ,trent1 nor approve all in   
the synod of ,dort4#c ,in brief1 where  
the ,scripture is silent1 the church is 
my text2 where that speaks1 'tis but my 
comment2#d where there is a joint       
silence of both1 ,i borrow not the rules
 of my religion from ,rome or ,geneva1  
but from the dictates of my own reason4 
,it is an unjust scandal of our         
adversaries1 and a gross error in       
ourselves1 to compute the nativity of   
our religion from ,henry the ,eighth2   
who1 though he rejected the ,pope1      
refused not the faith of ,rome1#e and   
effected no more than what his own      
predecessors desired and essayed in ages

 past1 and it was conceived the state of
 ,venice would have attempted in our    
days4#f ,it is as uncharitable a point  
in us to fall upon those popular        
scurrilities and opprobrious scoffs of  
the ,bishop of ,rome1 to whom1 as a     
temporal prince1 we owe the duty of good
 language4 ,i confess there is a cause  
of passion between us3 by his sentence  
,i stand excommunicated2 heretic is the 
best language he affords me3 yet can no 
ear witness ,i ever returned to him the 
name of antichrist1 man of sin1 or whore
 of ,babylon4 ,it is the method of      
charity to suffer without reaction3     
those usual satires and invectives of   
the pulpit may perchance produce a good 
effect on the vulgar1 whose ears are    
opener to rhetoric than logic2 yet do   
they1 in no wise1 confirm the faith of  
wiser believers1 who know that a good   
cause needs not be pardoned by passion1 
but can sustain itself upon a temperate 
dispute4  ,sect4 #f4--;,i could never   
divide myself from any man upon the     

difference of an opinion1 or be angry   
with his judgment for not agreeing with 
me in that from which1 perhaps1 within a
 few days1 ,i should dissent myself4 ,i 
have no genius to disputes in religion3 
and have often thought it wisdom to     
decline them1 especially upon a         
disadvantage1 or when the cause of truth
 might suffer in the weakness of my     
patronage4 ,where we desire to be       
informed1 'tis good to contest with men 
above ourselves2 but1 to confirm and    
establish our opinions1 'tis best to    
argue with judgments below our own1 that
 the frequent spoils and victories over 
their reasons may settle in ourselves an
 esteem and confirmed opinion of our    
own4 ,every man is not a proper champion
 for truth1 nor fit to take up the      
gauntlet in the cause of verity2 many1  
from the ignorance of these maxims1 and 
an inconsiderate zeal unto truth1 have  
too rashly charged the troops of error  
and remain as trophies unto the enemies 
of truth4 ,a man may be in as just      

possession of truth as of a city1 and   
yet be forced to surrender2 'tis        
therefore far better to enjoy her with  
peace than to hazard her on a battle4   
,if1 therefore1 there rise any doubts in
 my way1 ,i do forget them1 or at least 
defer them1 till my better settled      
judgment and more manly reason be able  
to resolve them2 for ,i perceive every  
man's own reason is his best dipus1#g   
and will1 upon a reasonable truce1 find 
a way to loose those bonds wherewith the
 subtleties of error have enchained our 
more flexible and tender judgments4 ,in 
philosophy1 where truth seems           
double-faced1 there is no man more      
paradoxical than myself3 but in divinity
 ,i love to keep the road2 and1 though  
not in an implicit1 yet an humble faith1
 follow the great wheel of the church1  
by which ,i move2 not reserving any     
proper poles1 or motion from the        
epicycle of my own brain4 ,by this means
 ,i have no gap for heresy1 schisms1 or 
errors1 of which at present1 ,i hope ,i 

shall not injure truth to say1 ,i have  
no taint or tincture4 ,i must confess my
 greener studies have been polluted with
 two or three2 not any begotten in the  
latter centuries1 but old and obsolete1 
such as could never have been revived   
but by such extravagant and irregular   
heads as mine4 ,for1 indeed1 heresies   
perish not with their authors2 but1 like
 the river ,arethusa1#h though they lose
 their currents in one place1 they rise 
up again in another4 ,one general       
council is not able to extirpate one    
single heresy3 it may be cancelled for  
the present2 but revolution of time1 and
 the like aspects from heaven1 will     
restore it1 when it will flourish till  
it be condemned again4 ,for1 as though  
there were metempsychosis1 and the soul 
of one man passed into another1 opinions
 do find1 after certain revolutions1 men
 and minds like those that first begat  
them4 ,to see ourselves again1 we need  
not look for ,plato's year3,b every man 
is not only himself2 there have been    

many ,diogenes1 and as many ,timons1    
though but few of that name2 men are    
lived over again2 the world is now as it
 was in ages past2 there was none then1 
but there hath been some one since1 that
 parallels him1 and is1 as it were1 his 
revived self4  ,b ,a revolution of      
certain thousand years1 when all things 
should return unto their former estate1 
and he be teaching again in his school1 
as when he delivered this opinion4      
,sect4 #g4--,now1 the first of mine was 
that of the ,arabians2#i that the souls 
of men perished with their bodies1 but  
should yet be raised again at the last  
day3 not that ,i did absolutely conceive
 a mortality of the soul1 but1 if that  
were 7which faith1 not philosophy1 hath 
yet thoroughly disproved71 and that both
 entered the grave together1 yet ,i held
 the same conceit thereof that we all do
 of the body1 that it rise again4       
,surely it is but the merits of our     
unworthy natures1 if we sleep in        
darkness until the last alarm4 ,a       

serious reflex upon my own unworthiness 
did make me backward from challenging   
this prerogative of my soul3 so that ,i 
might enjoy my ,saviour at the last1 ,i 
could with patience be nothing almost   
unto eternity4 ,the second was that of  
,origen2 that ,god would not persist in 
his vengeance for ever1 but1 after a    
definite time of his wrath1 would       
release the damned souls from torture2  
which error ,i fell into upon a serious 
contemplation of the great attribute of 
,god1 his mercy2 and did a little       
cherish it in myself1 because ,i found  
therein no malice1 and a ready weight to
 sway me from the other extreme of      
despair1 whereunto melancholy and       
contemplative natures are too easily    
disposed4 ,a third there is1 which ,i   
did never positively maintain or        
practise1 but have often wished it had  
been consonant to truth1 and not        
offensive to my religion2 and that is1  
the prayer for the dead2 whereunto ,i   
was inclined from some charitable       

inducements1 whereby ,i could scarce    
contain my prayers for a friend at the  
ringing of a bell1 or behold his corpse 
without an orison for his soul4 ',twas a
 good way1 methought1 to be remembered  
by posterity1 and far more noble than a 
history4 ,these opinions ,i never       
maintained with pertinacity1 or         
endeavoured to inveigle any man's belief
 unto mine1 nor so much as ever         
revealed1 or disputed them with my      
dearest friends2 by which means ,i      
neither propagated them in others nor   
confirmed them in myself3 but1 suffering
 them to flame upon their own substance1
 without addition of new fuel1 they went
 out insensibly of themselves2 therefore
 these opinions1 though condemned by    
lawful councils1 were not heresies in   
me1 but bare errors1 and single lapses  
of my understanding1 without a joint    
depravity of my will4 ,those have not   
only depraved understandings1 but       
diseased affections1 which cannot enjoy 
a singularity without a heresy1 or be   

the author of an opinion without they be
 of a sect also4 ,this was the villany  
of the first schism of ,lucifer2 who was
 not content to err alone1 but drew into
 his faction many legions2 and upon this
 experience he tempted only ,eve1 well  
understanding the communicable nature of
 sin1 and that to deceive but one was   
tacitly and upon consequence to delude  
them both4  ,sect4 #h4--,that heresies  
should arise1 we have the prophecy of   
,christ2 but1 that old ones should be   
abolished1 we hold no prediction4 ,that 
there must be heresies1 is true1 not    
only in our church1 but also in any     
other3 even in the doctrines heretical  
there will be superheresies2 and        
,arians1 not only divided from the      
church1 but also among themselves3 for  
heads that are disposed unto schism1 and
 complexionally propense to innovation1 
are naturally indisposed for a          
community2 nor will be ever confined    
unto the order or economy of one body2  
and therefore1 when they separate from  

others1 they knit but loosely among     
themselves2 nor contented with a general
 breach or dichotomy#aj with their      
church1 do subdivide and mince          
themselves almost into atoms4 ',tis     
true1 that men of singular parts and    
humours have not been free from singular
 opinions and conceits in all ages2     
retaining something1 not only beside the
 opinion of his own church1 or any      
other1 but also any particular author2  
which1 notwithstanding1 a sober judgment
 may do without offence or heresy2 for  
there is yet1 after all the decrees of  
councils1 and the niceties of the       
schools1 many things1 untouched1        
unimagined1 wherein the liberty of an   
honest reason may play and expatiate    
with security1 and far without the      
circle of a heresy4  ,sect4 #i4--;,as   
for those wingy mysteries in divinity1  
and airy subtleties in religion1 which  
have unhinged the brains of better      
heads1 they never stretched the pia     
mater#aa of mine4 ,methinks there be not

 impossibilities enough in religion for 
an active faith3 the deepest mysteries  
ours contains have not only been        
illustrated1 but maintained1 by         
syllogism and the rule of reason4 ,i    
love to lose myself in a mystery2 to    
pursue my reason to an ,o altitudo6     
',tis my solitary recreation to pose my 
apprehension with those involved enigmas
 and riddles of the ,trinity--with      
incarnation and resurrection4 ,i can    
answer all the objections of ,satan and 
my rebellious reason with that odd      
resolution ,i learned of ,tertullian1   
8,certum est quia impossibile est40 ,i  
desire to exercise my faith in the      
difficultest point2 for1 to credit      
ordinary and visible objects1 is not    
faith1 but persuasion4 ,some believe the
 better for seeing ,christ's sepulchre2 
and1 when they have seen the ,red ,sea1 
doubt not of the miracle4 ,now1         
contrarily1 ,i bless myself1 and am     
thankful1 that ,i lived not in the days 
of miracles2 that ,i never saw ,christ  

nor his disciples4 ,i would not have    
been one of those ,israelites that      
passed the ,red ,sea2 nor one of        
,christ's patients1 on whom he wrought  
his wonders3 then had my faith been     
thrust upon me2 nor should ,i enjoy that
 greater blessing pronounced to all that
 believe and saw not4 ',tis an easy and 
necessary belief1 to credit what our eye
 and sense hath examined4 ,i believe he 
was dead1 and buried1 and rose again2   
and desire to see him in his glory1     
rather than to contemplate him in his   
cenotaph or sepulchre4 ,nor is this much
 to believe2 as we have reason1 we owe  
this faith unto history3 they only had  
the advantage of a bold and noble faith1
 who lived before his coming1 who1 upon 
obscure prophesies and mystical types1  
could raise a belief1 and expect        
apparent impossibilities4  ,sect4       
#aj4--',tis true1 there is an edge in   
all firm belief1 and with an easy       
metaphor we may say1 the sword of faith2
 but in these obscurities ,i rather use 

it in the adjunct the apostle gives it1 
a buckler2 under which ,i conceive a    
wary combatant may lie invulnerable4    
,since ,i was of understanding to know  
that we knew nothing1 my reason hath    
been more pliable to the will of faith3 
,i am now content to understand a       
mystery1 without a rigid definition1 in 
an easy and ,platonic description4 ,that
 allegorical description of ,hermes,c   
pleaseth me beyond all the metaphysical 
definitions of divines4 ,where ,i cannot
 satisfy my reason1 ,i love to humour my
 fancy3 ,i had as lieve you tell me that
 anima est angelus hominis1 est corpus  
,dei1 as 2--lux est umbra ,dei1 as actus
 perspicui4 ,where there is an obscurity
 too deep for our reason1 'tis good to  
sit down with a description1            
periphrasis1 or adumbration2#ab for1 by 
acquainting our reason how unable it is 
to display the visible and obvious      
effects of nature1 it becomes more      
humble and submissive unto the          
subtleties of faith3 and thus ,i teach  

my haggard and unreclaimed reason to    
stoop unto the lure of faith4 ,i believe
 there was already a tree1 whose fruit  
our unhappy parents tasted1 though1 in  
the same chapter when ,god forbids it1  
'tis positively said1 the plants of the 
field were not yet grown2 for ,god had  
not caused it to rain upon the earth4 ,i
 believe that the serpent 7if we shall  
literally understand it71 from his      
proper form and figure1 made his motion 
on his belly1 before the curse4 ,i find 
the trial of the pucelage and virginity 
of women1 which ,god ordained the ,jews1
 is very fallible4 ,experience and      
history informs me that1 not only many  
particular women1 but likewise whole    
nations1 have escaped the curse of      
childbirth1 which ,god seems to         
pronounce upon the whole sex2 yet do ,i 
believe that all this is true1 which1   
indeed1 my reason would persuade me to  
be false3 and this1 ,i think1 is no     
vulgar part of faith1 to believe a thing
 not only above1 but contrary to1       

reason1 and against the arguments of our
 proper senses4  ,c 8,sphra cujus       
centrum ubique1 circumferentia nullibi40
  ,sect4 #aa4--;,in my solitary and     
retired imagination 78neque enim cum    
porticus aut me lectulus accepit1 desum 
mihi071 ,i remember ,i am not alone2 and
 therefore forget not to contemplate him
 and his attributes1 who is ever with   
me1 especially those two mighty ones1   
his wisdom and eternity4 ,with the one  
,i recreate1 with the other ,i confound1
 my understanding3 for who can speak of 
eternity without a solecism1 or think   
thereof without an ecstasy8 ,time we may
 comprehend2 'tis but five days elder   
than ourselves1 and hath the same       
horoscope with the world2 but1 to retire
 so far back as to apprehend a          
beginning1--to give such an infinite    
start forwards as to conceive an        
end1--in an essence that we affirm hath 
neither the one nor the other1 it puts  
my reason to ,st ,paul's sanctuary3 my  
philosophy dares not say the angels can 

do it4 ,god hath not made a creature    
that can comprehend him2 'tis a         
privilege of his own nature3 8,i am that
 ,i am0 was his own definition unto     
,moses2 and 'twas a short one to        
confound mortality1 that durst question 
,god1 or ask him what he was4 ,indeed1  
he only is2 all others have and shall   
be2 but1 in eternity1 there is no       
distinction of tenses2 and therefore    
that terrible term1 predestination1     
which hath troubled so many weak heads  
to conceive1 and the wisest to explain1 
is in respect to ,god no prescious      
determination of our estates to come1   
but a definitive blast of his will      
already fulfilled1 and at the instant   
that he first decreed it2 for1 to his   
eternity1 which is indivisible1 and     
altogether1 the last trump is already   
sounded1 the reprobates in the flame1   
and the blessed in ,abraham's bosom4 ,st
 ,peter speaks modestly1 when he saith1 
8a thousand years to ,god are but as one
 day20 for1 to speak like a philosopher1

 those continued instances of time1     
which flow into a thousand years1 make  
not to him one moment4 ,what to us is to
 come1 to his eternity is present2 his  
whole duration being but one permanent  
point1 without succession1 parts1 flux1 
or division4  ,sect4 #ab4--,there is no 
attribute that adds more difficulty to  
the mystery of the ,trinity1 where1     
though in a relative way of ,father and 
,son1 we must deny a priority4 ,i wonder
 how ,aristotle could conceive the world
 eternal1 or how he could make good two 
eternities4 ,his similitude1 of a       
triangle comprehended in a square1 doth 
somewhat illustrate the trinity of our  
souls1 and that the triple unity of     
,god2 for there is in us not three1 but 
a trinity of1 souls2 because there is in
 us1 if not three distinct souls1 yet   
differing faculties1 that can and do    
subsist apart in different subjects1 and
 yet in us are thus united as to make   
but one soul and substance4 ,if one soul
 were so perfect as to inform three     

distinct bodies1 that were a pretty     
trinity4 ,conceive the distinct number  
of three1 not divided nor separated by  
the intellect1 but actually comprehended
 in its unity1 and that a perfect       
trinity4 ,i have often admired the      
mystical way of ,pythagoras1 and the    
secret magick of numbers4 8,beware of   
philosophy10 is a precept not to be     
received in too large a sense3 for1 in  
this mass of nature1 there is a set of  
things that carry in their front1 though
 not in capital letters1 yet in         
stenography and short characters1       
something of divinity2 which1 to wiser  
reasons1 serve as luminaries in the     
abyss of knowledge1 and1 to judicious   
beliefs1 as scales and roundles to mount
 the pinnacles and highest pieces of    
divinity4 ,the severe schools shall     
never laugh me out of the philosophy of 
,hermes1 that this visible world is but 
a picture of the invisible1 wherein1 as 
in a portrait1 things are not truly1 but
 in equivocal shapes1 and as they       

counterfeit some real substance in that 
invisible fabrick4  ,sect4 #ac4--,that  
other attribute1 wherewith ,i recreate  
my devotion1 is his wisdom1 in which ,i 
am happy2 and for the contemplation of  
this only do not repent me that ,i was  
bred in the way of study4 ,the advantage
 ,i have therein1 is an ample recompense
 for all my endeavours1 in what part of 
knowledge soever4 ,wisdom is his most   
beauteous attribute3 no man can attain  
unto it3 yet ,solomon pleased ,god when 
he desired it4 ,he is wise1 because he  
knows all things2 and he knoweth all    
things1 because he made them all3 but   
his greatest knowledge is in            
comprehending that he made not1 that is1
 himself4 ,and this is also the greatest
 knowledge in man4 ,for this do ,i      
honour my own profession1 and embrace   
the counsel even of the devil himself3  
had he read such a lecture in ,paradise 
as he did at ,delphos1,d#ac we had      
better known ourselves2 nor had we stood
 in fear to know him4 ,i know ,god is   

wise in all2 wonderful in what we       
conceive1 but far more in what we       
comprehend not3 for we behold him but   
asquint1 upon reflex or shadow2 our     
understanding is dimmer than ,moses's   
eye2 we are ignorant of the back parts  
or lower side of his divinity2          
therefore1 to pry into the maze of his  
counsels1 is not only folly in man1 but 
presumption even in angels4 ,like us1   
they are his servants1 not his senators2
 he holds no counsel1 but that mystical 
one of the ,trinity1 wherein1 though    
there be three persons1 there is but one
 mind that decrees without              
contradiction4 ,nor needs he any2 his   
actions are not begot with deliberation2
 his wisdom naturally knows what's best3
 his intellect stands ready fraught with
 the superlative and purest ideas of    
goodness1 consultations1 and election1  
which are two motions in us1 make but   
one in him3 his actions springing from  
his power at the first touch of his     
will4 ,these are contemplations         

metaphysical3 my humble speculations    
have another method1 and are content to 
trace and discover those expressions he 
hath left in his creatures1 and the     
obvious effects of nature4 ,there is no 
danger to profound#ad these mysteries1  
no sanctum sanctorum in philosophy4 ,the
 world was made to be inhabited by      
beasts1 but studied and contemplated by 
man3 'tis the debt of our reason we owe 
unto ,god1 and the homage we pay for not
 being beasts4 ,without this1 the world 
is still as though it had not been1 or  
as it was before the sixth day1 when as 
yet there was not a creature that could 
conceive or say there was a world4 ,the 
wisdom of ,god receives small honour    
from those vulgar heads that rudely     
stare about1 and with a gross rusticity 
admire his works4 ,those highly magnify 
him1 whose judicious enquiry into his   
acts1 and deliberate research into his  
creatures1 return the duty of a devout  
and learned admiration4 ,therefore1  ,d 
8 40 8,nosce teipsum40      ,search     

while thou wilt2 and let thy reason go1 
,to ransom truth1 e'en to th' abyss     
below2     ,rally the scatter'd causes2 
and that line     ,which nature twists  
be able to untwine4     ,it is thy      
,maker's will2 for unto none     ,but   
unto reason can he e'er be known4       
,the devils do know thee2 but those     
damn'd meteors     ,build not thy glory1
 but confound thy creatures4     ,teach 
my endeavours so thy works to read1     
,that learning them in thee ,i may      
proceed4     ,give thou my reason that  
instructive flight1     ,whose weary    
wings may on thy hands still light4     
,teach me to soar aloft1 yet ever so1   
,when near the sun1 to stoop again      
below4     ,thus shall my humble        
feathers safely hover1     ,and1 though 
near earth1 more than the heavens       
discover4     ,and then at last1 when   
homeward ,i shall drive1     ,rich with 
the spoils of nature1 to my hive1       
,there will ,i sit1 like that           
industrious fly1     ,buzzing thy       

praises2 which shall never die     ,till
 death abrupts them1 and succeeding     
glory     ,bid me go on in a more       
lasting story4  ,and this is almost all 
wherein an humble creature may endeavour
 to requite1 and some way to retribute  
unto his ,creator3 for1 if not he that  
saith1 8,lord1 ,lord1 but he that doth  
the will of the ,father1 shall be       
saved10 certainly our wills must be our 
performances1 and our intents make out  
our actions2 otherwise our pious labours
 shall find anxiety in our graves1 and  
our best endeavours not hope1 but fear1 
a resurrection4  ,sect4 #ad4--,there is 
but one first cause1 and four second    
causes1 of all things4 ,some are without
 efficient1#ae as ,god2 others without  
matter1 as angels2 some without form1 as
 the first matter3 but every essence1   
created or uncreated1 hath its final    
cause1 and some positive end both of its
 essence and operation4 ,this is the    
cause ,i grope after in the works of    
nature2 on this hangs the providence of 

,god4 ,to raise so beauteous a structure
 as the world and the creatures thereof 
was but his art2 but their sundry and   
divided operations1 with their          
predestinated ends1 are from the        
treasure of his wisdom4 ,in the causes1 
nature1 and affections1 of the eclipses 
of the sun and moon1 there is most      
excellent speculation2 but1 to profound 
further1 and to contemplate a reason why
 his providence hath so disposed and    
ordered their motions in that vast      
circle1 as to conjoin and obscure each  
other1 is a sweeter piece of reason1 and
 a diviner point of philosophy4         
,therefore1 sometimes1 and in some      
things1 there appears to me as much     
divinity in ,galen his books1 ,de ,usu  
,partium1#af as in ,suarez's            
,metaphysicks4 ,had ,aristotle been as  
curious in the enquiry of this cause as 
he was of the other1 he had not left    
behind him an imperfect piece of        
philosophy1 but an absolute tract of    
divinity4  ,sect4 #ae4--,natura nihil   

agit frustra1 is the only indisputable  
axiom in philosophy4 ,there are no      
grotesques in nature2 not any thing     
framed to fill up empty cantons1 and    
unnecessary spaces4 ,in the most        
imperfect creatures1 and such as were   
not preserved in the ark1 but1 having   
their seeds and principles in the womb  
of nature1 are everywhere1 where the    
power of the sun is1--in these is the   
wisdom of his hand discovered4 ,out of  
this rank ,solomon chose the object of  
his admiration2 indeed1 what reason may 
not go to school to the wisdom of bees1 
ants1 and spiders8 ,what wise hand      
teacheth them to do what reason cannot  
teach us8 ,ruder heads stand amazed at  
those prodigious pieces of nature1      
whales1 elephants1 dromedaries1 and     
camels2 these1 ,i confess1 are the      
colossus and majestick pieces of her    
hand2 but in these narrow engines there 
is more curious mathematicks2 and the   
civility of these little citizens more  
neatly sets forth the wisdom of their   

,maker4 ,who admires not ,regio         
,montanus his fly beyond his eagle2#ag  
or wonders not more at the operation of 
two souls in those little bodies than   
but one in the trunk of a cedar8 ,i     
could never content my contemplation    
with those general pieces of wonder1 the
 flux and reflux of the sea1 the        
increase of ,nile1 the conversion of the
 needle to the north2 and have studied  
to match and parallel those in the more 
obvious and neglected pieces of nature  
which1 without farther travel1 ,i can do
 in the cosmography of myself4 ,we carry
 with us the wonders we seek without us3
 there is all ,africa and her prodigies 
in us4 ,we are that bold and adventurous
 piece of nature1 which he that studies 
wisely learns1 in a compendium1 what    
others labour at in a divided piece and 
endless volume4  ,sect4 #af4--,thus     
there are two books from whence ,i      
collect my divinity4 ,besides that      
written one of ,god1 another of his     
servant1 nature1 that universal and     

publick manuscript1 that lies expansed  
unto the eyes of all4 ,those that never 
saw him in the one have discovered him  
in the other2 this was the scripture and
 theology of the heathens2 the natural  
motion of the sun made them more admire 
him than its supernatural station did   
the children of ,israel4 ,the ordinary  
effects of nature wrought more          
admiration in them than1 in the other1  
all his miracles4 ,surely the heathens  
knew better how to join and read these  
mystical letters than we ,christians1   
who cast a more careless eye on these   
common hieroglyphics1 and disdain to    
suck divinity from the flowers of       
nature4 ,nor do ,i so forget ,god as to 
adore the name of nature2 which ,i      
define not1 with the schools1 to be the 
principle of motion and rest1 but that  
straight and regular line1 that settled 
and constant course the wisdom of ,god  
hath ordained the actions of his        
creatures1 according to their several   
kinds4 ,to make a revolution every day  

is the nature of the sun1 because of    
that necessary course which ,god hath   
ordained it1 from which it cannot swerve
 but by a faculty from that voice which 
first did give it motion4 ,now this     
course of nature ,god seldom alters or  
perverts2 but1 like an excellent artist1
 hath so contrived his work1 that1 with 
the self-same instrument1 without a new 
creation1 he may effect his obscurest   
designs4 ,thus he sweeteneth the water  
with a word1 preserveth the creatures in
 the ark1 which the blest of his mouth  
might have as easily created2--for ,god 
is like a skilful geometrician1 who1    
when more easily1 and with one stroke of
 his compass1 he might describe or      
divide a right line1 had yet rather do  
this in a circle or longer way1         
according to the constituted and        
forelaid principles of his art3 yet this
 rule of his he doth sometimes pervert1 
to acquaint the world with his          
prerogative1 lest the arrogancy of our  
reason should question his power1 and   

conclude he could not4 ,and thus ,i call
 the effects of nature the works of     
,god1 whose hand and instrument she only
 is2 and therefore1 to ascribe his      
actions unto her is to devolve the      
honour of the principal agent upon the  
instrument2 which if with reason we may 
do1 then let our hammers rise up and    
boast they have built our houses1 and   
our pens receive the honour of our      
writing4 ,i hold there is a general     
beauty in the works of ,god1 and        
therefore no deformity in any kind of   
species of creature whatsoever4 ,i      
cannot tell by what logick we call a    
toad1 a bear1 or an elephant ugly2 they 
being created in those outward shapes   
and figures which best express the      
actions of their inward forms2 and      
having passed that general visitation of
 ,god1 who saw that all that he had made
 was good1 that is1 conformable to his  
will1 which abhors deformity1 and is the
 rule of order and beauty4 ,there is no 
deformity but in monstrosity2 wherein1  

notwithstanding1 there is a kind of     
beauty2 nature so ingeniously contriving
 the irregular part1 as they become     
sometimes more remarkable than the      
principal fabrick4 ,to speak yet more   
narrowly1 there was never any thing ugly
 or mis-shapen1 but the chaos2 wherein1 
notwithstanding1 to speak strictly1     
there was no deformity1 because no form2
 nor was it yet impregnant by the voice 
of ,god4 ,now nature is not at variance 
with art1 nor art with nature2 they     
being both the servants of his          
providence4 ,art is the perfection of   
nature4 ,were the world now as it was   
the sixth day1 there were yet a chaos4  
,nature hath made one world1 and art    
another4 ,in brief1 all things are      
artificial2 for nature is the art of    
,god4  ,sect4 #ag4--,this is the        
ordinary and open way of his providence1
 which art and industry have in good    
part discovered2 whose effects we may   
foretell without an oracle4 ,to foreshow
 these is not prophecy1 but             

prognostication4 ,there is another way1 
full of meanders and labyrinths1 whereof
 the devil and spirits have no exact    
ephemerides3 and that is a more         
particular and obscure method of his    
providence2 directing the operations of 
individual and single essences3 this we 
call fortune2 that serpentine and       
crooked line1 whereby he draws those    
actions his wisdom intends in a more    
unknown and secret way2 this cryptic#ah 
and involved method of his providence   
have ,i ever admired2 nor can ,i relate 
the history of my life1 the occurrences 
of my days1 the escapes1 or dangers1 and
 hits of chance1 with a bezo las manos  
to ,fortune1 or a bare gramercy to my   
good stars4 ,abraham might have thought 
the ram in the thicket came thither by  
accident3 human reason would have said  
that mere chance conveyed ,moses in the 
ark to the sight of ,pharaoh's daughter4
 ,what a labyrinth is there in the story
 of ,joseph6 able to convert a stoick4  
,surely there are in every man's life   

certain rubs1 doublings1 and wrenches1  
which pass a while under the effects of 
chance2 but at the last1 well examined1 
prove the mere hand of ,god4 ',twas not 
dumb chance that1 to discover the       
fougade1#ai or powder plot1 contrived a 
miscarriage in the letter4 ,i like the  
victory of '#hhbj the better for that   
one occurrence which our enemies imputed
 to our dishonour1 and the partiality of
 fortune2 to wit1 the tempests and      
contrariety of winds4 ,king ,philip did 
not detract from the nation1 when he    
said1 he sent his armada to fight with  
men1 and not to combat with the winds4  
,where there is a manifest disproportion
 between the powers and forces of two   
several agents1 upon a maxim of reason  
we may promise the victory to the       
superior3 but when unexpected accidents 
slip in1 and unthought-of occurrences   
intervene1 these must proceed from a    
power that owes no obedience to those   
axioms2 where1 as in the writing upon   
the wall1 we may behold the hand1 but   

see not the spring that moves it4 ,the  
success of that petty province of       
,holland 7of which the ,grand ,seignior 
proudly said1 if they should trouble    
him1 as they did the ,spaniard1 he would
 send his men with shovels and pickaxes1
 and throw it into the sea7 ,i cannot   
altogether ascribe to the ingenuity and 
industry of the people1 but the mercy of
 ,god1 that hath disposed them to such a
 thriving genius2 and to the will of his
 providence1 that disposeth her favour  
to each country in their preordinate    
season4 ,all cannot be happy at once2   
for1 because the glory of one state     
depends upon the ruin of another1 there 
is a revolution and vicissitude of their
 greatness1 and must obey the swing of  
that wheel1 not moved by intelligencies1
 but by the hand of ,god1 whereby all   
estates arise to their zenith and       
vertical points1 according to their     
predestinated periods4 ,for the lives1  
not only of men1 but of commonwealths   
and the whole world1 run not upon a     

helix that still enlargeth2 but on a    
circle1 where1 arriving to their        
meridian1 they decline in obscurity1 and
 fall under the horizon again4  ,sect4  
#ah4--,these must not therefore be named
 the effects of fortune but in a        
relative way1 and as we term the works  
of nature4 ,it was the ignorance of     
man's reason that begat this very name1 
and by a careless term miscalled the    
providence of ,god3 for there is no     
liberty for causes to operate in a loose
 and straggling way2 nor any effect     
whatsoever but hath its warrant from    
some universal or superior cause4 ',tis 
not a ridiculous devotion to say a      
prayer before a game at tables2 for1    
even in sortileges#ba and matters of    
greatest uncertainty1 there is a settled
 and preordered course of effects4 ,it  
is we that are blind1 not fortune4      
,because our eye is too dim to discover 
the mystery of her effects1 we foolishly
 paint her blind1 and hoodwink the      
providence of the ,almighty4 ,i cannot  

justify that contemptible proverb1 that 
8fools only are fortunate20 or that     
insolent paradox1 that 8a wise man is   
out of the reach of fortune20 much less 
those opprobrious epithets of           
poets1--8whore10 8bawd10 and 8strumpet40
 ',tis1 ,i confess1 the common fate of  
men of singular gifts of mind1 to be    
destitute of those of fortune2 which    
doth not any way deject the spirit of   
wiser judgments who thoroughly          
understand the justice of this          
proceeding2 and1 being enriched with    
higher donatives1 cast a more careless  
eye on these vulgar parts of felicity4  
,it is a most unjust ambition1 to desire
 to engross the mercies of the          
,almighty1 not to be content with the   
goods of mind1 without a possession of  
those of body or fortune3 and it is an  
error1 worse than heresy1 to adore these
 complimental and circumstantial pieces 
of felicity1 and undervalue those       
perfections and essential points of     
happiness1 wherein we resemble our      

,maker4 ,to wiser desires it is         
satisfaction enough to deserve1 though  
not to enjoy1 the favours of fortune4   
,let providence provide for fools3 'tis 
not partiality1 but equity1 in ,god1 who
 deals with us but as our natural       
parents4 ,those that are able of body   
and mind he leaves to their deserts2 to 
those of weaker merits he imparts a     
larger portion2 and pieces out the      
defect of one by the excess of the      
other4 ,thus have we no just quarrel    
with nature for leaving us naked2 or to 
envy the horns1 hoofs1 skins1 and furs  
of other creatures2 being provided with 
reason1 that can supply them all4 ,we   
need not labour1 with so many arguments1
 to confute judicial astrology2 for1 if 
there be a truth therein1 it doth not   
injure divinity4 ,if to be born under   
,mercury disposeth us to be witty2 under
 ,jupiter to be wealthy2 ,i do not owe a
 knee unto these1 but unto that merciful
 hand that hath ordered my indifferent  
and uncertain nativity unto such        

benevolous aspects4 ,those that hold    
that all things are governed by fortune1
 had not erred1 had they not persisted  
there4 ,the ,romans1 that erected a     
temple to ,fortune1 acknowledged        
therein1 though in a blinder way1       
somewhat of divinity2 for1 in a wise    
supputation1#bb all things begin and end
 in the ,almighty4 ,there is a nearer   
way to heaven than ,homer's chain2#bc an
 easy logick may conjoin a heaven and   
earth in one argument1 and1 with less   
than a sorites1#bd resolve all things to
 ,god4 ,for though we christen effects  
by their most sensible and nearest      
causes1 yet is ,god the true and        
infallible cause of all2 whose          
concourse1 though it be general1 yet    
doth it subdivide itself into the       
particular actions of every thing1 and  
is that spirit1 by which each singular  
essence not only subsists1 but performs 
its operation4  ,sect4 #ai4--,the bad   
construction and perverse comment on    
these pair of second causes1 or visible 

hands of ,god1 have perverted the       
devotion of many unto atheism2 who1     
forgetting the honest advisoes of faith1
 have listened unto the conspiracy of   
passion and reason4 ,i have therefore   
always endeavoured to compose those     
feuds and angry dissensions between     
affection1 faith1 and reason3 for there 
is in our soul a kind of triumvirate1 or
 triple government of three competitors1
 which distracts the peace of this our  
commonwealth not less than did that     
other#be the state of ,rome4  ,as reason
 is a rebel unto faith1 so passion unto 
reason4 ,as the propositions of faith   
seem absurd unto reason1 so the theorems
 of reason unto passion and both unto   
reason2 yet a moderate and peaceable    
discretion may so state and order the   
matter1 that they may be all kings1 and 
yet make but one monarchy3 every one    
exercising his sovereignty and          
prerogative in a due time and place1    
according to the restraint and limit of 
circumstance4 ,there are1 as in         

philosophy1 so in divinity1 sturdy      
doubts1 and boisterous objections1      
wherewith the unhappiness of our        
knowledge too nearly acquainteth us4    
,more of these no man hath known than   
myself2 which ,i confess ,i conquered1  
not in a martial posture1 but on my     
knees4 ,for our endeavours are not only 
to combat with doubts1 but always to    
dispute with the devil4 ,the villany of 
that spirit takes a hint of infidelity  
from our studios2 and1 by demonstrating 
a naturality in one way1 makes us       
mistrust a miracle in another4 ,thus1   
having perused the ,archidoxes1 and read
 the secret sympathies of things1 he    
would dissuade my belief from the       
miracle of the brazen serpent2 make me  
conceit that image worked by sympathy1  
and was but an ,egyptian trick1 to cure 
their diseases without a miracle4       
,again1 having seen some experiments of 
bitumen1 and having read far more of    
naphtha1 he whispered to my curiosity   
the fire of the altar might be natural1 

and bade me mistrust a miracle in       
,elias1 when he intrenched the altar    
round with water3 for that inflamable   
substance yields not easily unto water1 
but flames in the arms of its           
antagonist4 ,and thus would he inveigle 
my belief to think the combustion of    
,sodom might be natural1 and that there 
was an asphaltick and bituminous nature 
in that lake before the fire of         
,gomorrah4 ,i know that manna is now    
plentifully gathered in ,calabria2 and  
,josephus tells me1 in his days it was  
as plentiful in ,arabia4 ,the devil     
therefore made the query1 8,where was   
then the miracle in the days of ,moses80
 ,the ,israelites saw but that1 in his  
time1 which the natives of those        
countries behold in ours4 ,thus the     
devil played at chess with me1 and1     
yielding a pawn1 thought to gain a queen
 of me2 taking advantage of my honest   
endeavours2 and1 whilst ,i laboured to  
raise the structure of my reason1 he    
strove to undermine the edifice of my   

faith4  ,sect4 #bj4--,neither had these 
or any other ever such advantage of me1 
as to incline me to any point of        
infidelity or desperate positions of    
atheism2 for ,i have been these many    
years of opinion there was never any4   
,those that held religion was the       
difference of man from beasts1 have     
spoken probably1 and proceed upon a     
principle as inductive as the other4    
,that doctrine of ,epicurus1 that denied
 the providence of ,god1 was no atheism1
 but a magnificent and high-strained    
conceit of his majesty1 which he deemed 
too sublime to mind the trivial actions 
of those inferior creatures4 ,that fatal
 necessity of the stoicks is nothing but
 the immutable law of his will4 ,those  
that heretofore denied the divinity of  
the ,holy ,ghost have been condemned but
 as hereticks2 and those that now deny  
our ,saviour1 though more than          
hereticks1 are not so much as atheists3 
for1 though they deny two persons in the
 ,trinity1 they hold1 as we do1 there is

 but one ,god4  ,that villain and       
secretary of hell1#bf that composed that
 miscreant piece of the three impostors1
 though divided from all religions1 and 
neither ,jew1 ,turk1 nor ,christian1 was
 not a positive atheist4 ,i confess     
every country hath its ,machiavel1 every
 age its ,lucian1 whereof common heads  
must not hear1 nor more advanced        
judgments too rashly venture on4 ,it is 
the rhetorick of ,satan2 and may pervert
 a loose or prejudicate belief4  ,sect4 
#ba4--;,i confess ,i have perused them  
all1 and can discover nothing that may  
startle a discreet belief2 yet are their
 heads carried off with the wind and    
breath of such motives4 ,i remember a   
doctor in physick1 of ,italy1 who could 
not perfectly believe the immortality of
 the soul1 because ,galen seemed to make
 a doubt thereof4 ,with another ,i was  
familiarly acquainted1 in ,france1 a    
divine1 and a man of singular parts1    
that on the same point was so plunged   
and gravelled with three lines of       

,seneca1,e that all our antidotes1 drawn
 from both ,scripture and philosophy1   
could not expel the poison of his error4
 ,there are a set of heads that can     
credit the relations of mariners1 yet   
question the testimonies of ,saint      
,paul3 and peremptorily maintain the    
traditions of lian or ,pliny2 yet1 in   
histories of ,scripture1 raise queries  
and objections3 believing no more than  
they can parallel in human authors4 ,i  
confess there are1 in ,scripture1       
stories that do exceed the fables of    
poets1 and1 to a captious reader1 sound 
like ,garagantua or ,bevis4#bg ,search  
all the legends of times past1 and the  
fabulous conceits of these present1 and 
'twill be hard to find one that deserves
 to carry the buckler unto ,samson2 yet 
is all this of an easy possibility1 if  
we conceive a divine concourse1 or an   
influence from the little finger of the 
,almighty4 ,it is impossible that1      
either in the discourse of man or in the
 infallible voice of ,god1 to the       

weakness of our apprehensions there     
should not appear irregularities1       
contradictions1 and antinomies3#bh      
myself could show a catalogue of doubts1
 never yet imagined nor questioned1 as  
,i know1 which are not resolved at the  
first hearing2 not fantastick queries or
 objections of air2 for ,i cannot hear  
of atoms in divinity4 ,i can read the   
history of the pigeon that was sent out 
of the ark1 and returned no more1 yet   
not question how she found out her mate 
that was left behind3 that ,lazarus was 
raised from the dead1 yet not demand    
where1 in the interim1 his soul awaited2
 or raise a law-case1 whether his heir  
might lawfully detain his inheritance   
bequeathed upon him by his death1 and   
he1 though restored to life1 have no    
plea or title unto his former           
possessions4 ,whether ,eve was framed   
out of the left side of ,adam1 ,i       
dispute not2 because ,i stand not yet   
assured which is the right side of a    
man2 or whether there be any such       

distinction in nature4 ,that she was    
edified out of the rib of ,adam1 ,i     
believe2 yet raise no question who shall
 arise with that rib at the             
resurrection4 ,whether ,adam was an     
hermaphrodite1 as the rabbins contend   
upon the letter of the text2 because it 
is contrary to reason1 there should be  
an hermaphrodite before there was a     
woman1 or a composition of two natures1 
before there was a second composed4     
,likewise1 whether the world was created
 in autumn1 summer1 or the spring2      
because it was created in them all3 for1
 whatsoever sign the sun possesseth1    
those four seasons are actually         
existent4 ,it is the nature of this     
luminary to distinguish the several     
seasons of the year2 all which it makes 
at one time in the whole earth1 and     
successively in any part thereof4 ,there
 are a bundle of curiosities1 not only  
in philosophy1 but in divinity1 proposed
 and discussed by men of most supposed  
abilities1 which indeed are not worthy  

our vacant hours1 much less our serious 
studies4 ,pieces only fit to be placed  
in ,pantagruel's library1 or bound up   
with ,tartaratus1 ,de ,modo             
,cacandi4,f#bi  ,e 8,post mortem nihil  
est1 ipsaque mors nihil1 mors individua 
est noxia corpori1 nec patiens anim4 4 4
 4 ,toti morimur nullaque pars manet    
nostri40  ,f ,in ,rabelais4  ,sect4     
#bb4--,these are niceties that become   
not those that peruse so serious a      
mystery4 ,there are others more         
generally questioned1 and called to the 
bar1 yet1 methinks1 of an easy and      
possible truth4  ',tis ridiculous to put
 off or down the general flood of ,noah1
 in that particular inundation of       
,deucalion4#cj ,that there was a deluge 
once seems not to me so great a miracle 
as that there is not one always4 ,how   
all the kinds of creatures1 not only in 
their own bulks1 but with a competency  
of food and sustenance1 might be        
preserved in one ark1 and within the    
extent of three hundred cubits1 to a    

reason that rightly examines it1 will   
appear very feasible4 ,there is another 
secret1 not contained in the ,scripture1
 which is more hard to comprehend1 and  
put the honest ,father#ca to the refuge 
of a miracle2 and that is1 not only how 
the distinct pieces of the world1 and   
divided islands1 should be first planted
 by men1 but inhabited by tigers1       
panthers1 and bears4 ,how ,america      
abounded with beasts of prey1 and       
noxious animals1 yet contained not in it
 that necessary creature1 a horse1 is   
very strange4 ,by what passage those1   
not only birds1 but dangerous and       
unwelcome beasts1 come over4 ,how there 
be creatures there 7which are not found 
in this triple continent74 ,all which   
must needs be strange unto us1 that hold
 but one ark2 and that the creatures    
began their progress from the mountains 
of ,ararat4 ,they who1 to salve this1   
would make the deluge particular1       
proceed upon a principle that ,i can no 
way grant2 not only upon the negative of

 ,holy ,scriptures1 but of mine own     
reason1 whereby ,i can make it probable 
that the world was as well peopled in   
the time of ,noah as in ours2 and       
fifteen hundred years1 to people the    
world1 as full a time for them as four  
thousand years since have been to us4   
,there are other assertions and common  
tenets drawn from ,scripture1 and       
generally believed as ,scripture1       
whereunto1 notwithstanding1 ,i would    
never betray the liberty of my reason4  
',tis a paradox to me1 that ,methusalem 
was the longest lived of all the        
children of ,adam2 and no man will be   
able to prove it2 when1 from the process
 of the text1 ,i can manifest it may be 
otherwise4 ,that ,judas perished by     
hanging himself1 there is no certainty  
in ,scripture3 though1 in one place1 it 
seems to affirm it1 and1 by a doubtful  
word1 hath given occasion to            
translate#cb it2 yet1 in another place1 
in a more punctual description1 it makes
 it improbable1 and seems to overthrow  

it4 ,that our fathers1 after the flood1 
erected the tower of ,babel1 to preserve
 themselves against a second deluge1 is 
generally opinioned and believed2 yet is
 there another intention of theirs      
expressed in ,scripture4 ,besides1 it is
 improbable1 from the circumstance of   
the place2 that is1 a plain in the land 
of ,shinar4 ,these are no points of     
faith2 and therefore may admit a free   
dispute4 ,there are yet others1 and     
those familiarly concluded from the     
text1 wherein 7under favour7 ,i see no  
consequence4 ,the church of ,rome       
confidently proves the opinion of       
tutelary angels1 from that answer1 when 
,peter knocked at the door1 8',tis not  
he1 but his angel20 that is1 might some 
say1 his messenger1 or somebody from    
him2 for so the original signifies2 and 
is as likely to be the doubtful family's
 meaning4 ,this exposition ,i once      
suggested to a young divine1 that       
answered upon this point2 to which ,i   
remember the ,franciscan opponent       

replied no more1 but1 that it was a new1
 and no authentick interpretation4      
,sect4 #bc4--,these are but the         
conclusions and fallible discourses of  
man upon the word of ,god2 for such ,i  
do believe the ,holy ,scriptures2 yet1  
were it of man1 ,i could not choose but 
say1 it was the singularest and         
superlative piece that hath been extant 
since the creation4 ,were ,i a pagan1 ,i
 should not refrain the lecture of it2  
and cannot but commend the judgment of  
,ptolemy1 that thought not his library  
complete without it4 ,the ,alcoran of   
the ,turks 7,i speak without prejudice7 
is an ill-composed piece1 containing in 
it vain and ridiculous errors in        
philosophy1 impossibilities1 fictions1  
and vanities beyond laughter1 maintained
 by evident and open sophisms1 the      
policy of ignorance1 deposition of      
universities1 and banishment of         
learning4 ,that hath gotten foot by arms
 and violence3 this1 without a blow1    
hath disseminated itself through the    

whole earth4 ,it is not unremarkable1   
what ,philo first observed1 that the law
 of ,moses continued two thousand years 
without the least alteration2 whereas1  
we see1 the laws of other commonwealths 
do alter with occasions3 and even those1
 that pretended their original from some
 divinity1 to have vanished without     
trace or memory4 ,i believe1 besides    
,zoroaster1 there were divers others    
that writ before ,moses2 who1           
notwithstanding1 have suffered the      
common fate of time4 ,men's works have  
an age1 like themselves2 and though they
 outlive their authors1 yet have they a 
stint and period to their duration4     
,this only is a work too hard for the   
teeth of time1 and cannot perish but in 
the general flames1 when all things     
shall confess their ashes4  ,sect4      
#bd4--;,i have heard some with deep     
sighs lament the lost lines of ,cicero2 
others with as many groans deplore the  
combustion of the library of            
,alexandria2#cc for my own part1 ,i     

think there be too many in the world2   
and could with patience behold the urn  
and ashes of the ,vatican1 could ,i1    
with a few others1 recover the perished 
leaves of ,solomon4 ,i would not omit a 
copy of ,enoch's pillars1#cd had they   
many nearer authors than ,josephus1 or  
did not relish somewhat of the fable4   
,some men have written more than others 
have spoken4 ,pineda#ce quotes more     
authors1 in one work1,g than are        
necessary in a whole world4 ,of those   
three great inventions in ,germany1#cf  
there are two which are not without     
their incommodities1 and 'tis disputable
 whether they exceed not their use and  
commodities4 ',tis not a melancholy     
utinam of my own1 but the desires of    
better heads1 that there were a general 
synod--not to unite the incompatible    
difference of religion1 but1--for the   
benefit of learning1 to reduce it1 as it
 lay at first1 in a few and solid       
authors2 and to condemn to the fire     
those swarms and millions of rhapsodies1

 begotten only to distract and abuse the
 weaker judgments of scholars1 and to   
maintain the trade and mystery of       
typographers4  ,g ,pineda1 in his       
8,monarchia ,ecclesiastica10 quotes one 
thousand and forty authors4  ,sect4     
#be4--;,i cannot but wonder with what   
exception the ,samaritans could confine 
their belief to the ,pentateuch1 or five
 books of ,moses4 ,i am ashamed at the  
rabbinical interpretation of the ,jews  
upon the ,old ,testament1#cg as much as 
their defection from the ,new3 and truly
 it is beyond wonder1 how that          
contemptible and degenerate issue of    
,jacob1 once so devoted to ethnick      
superstition1 and so easily seduced to  
the idolatry of their neighbours1 should
 now1 in such an obstinate and          
peremptory belief1 adhere unto their own
 doctrine1 expect impossibilities1 and  
in the face and eye of the church1      
persist without the least hope of       
conversion4 ,this is a vice in them1    
that were a virtue in us2 for obstinacy 

in a bad cause is but constancy in a    
good3 and herein ,i must accuse those of
 my own religion2 for there is not any  
of such a fugitive faith1 such an       
unstable belief1 as a ,christian2 none  
that do so often transform themselves1  
not unto several shapes of              
,christianity1 and of the same species1 
but unto more unnatural and contrary    
forms of ,jew and ,mohammedan2 that1    
from the name of ,saviour1 can          
condescend to the bare term of prophet3 
and1 from an old belief that he is come1
 fall to a new expectation of his       
coming4 ,it is the promise of ,christ1  
to make us all one flock3 but how and   
when this union shall be1 is as obscure 
to me as the last day4 ,of those four   
members of religion we hold a slender   
proportion4#ch ,there are1 ,i confess1  
some new additions2 yet small to those  
which accrue to our adversaries2 and    
those only drawn from the revolt of     
pagans2 men but of negative impieties2  
and such as deny ,christ1 but because   

they never heard of him4 ,but the       
religion of the ,jew is expressly       
against the ,christian1 and the         
,mohammedan against both2 for the ,turk1
 in the bulk he now stands1 is beyond   
all hope of conversion3 if he fall      
asunder1 there may be conceived hopes2  
but not without strong improbabilities4 
,the ,jew is obstinate in all fortunes2 
the persecution of fifteen hundred years
 hath but confirmed them in their error4
 ,they have already endured whatsoever  
may be inflicted3 and have suffered1 in 
a bad cause1 even to the condemnation of
 their enemies4 ,persecution is a bad   
and indirect way to plant religion4 ,it 
hath been the unhappy method of angry   
devotions1 not only to confirm honest   
religion1 but wicked heresies and       
extravagant opinions4 ,it was the first 
stone and basis of our faith4 ,none can 
more justly boast of persecutions1 and  
glory in the number and valour of       
martyrs4 ,for1 to speak properly1 those 
are true and almost only examples of    

fortitude4 ,those that are fetched from 
the field1 or drawn from the actions of 
the camp1 are not ofttimes so truly     
precedents of valour as audacity1 and1  
at the best1 attain but to some bastard 
piece of fortitude4 ,if we shall        
strictly examine the circumstances and  
requisites which ,aristotle requires#ci 
to true and perfect valour1 we shall    
find the name only in his master1       
,alexander1 and as little in that ,roman
 worthy1 ,julius ,csar2 and if any1 in  
that easy and active way1 have done so  
nobly as to deserve that name1 yet1 in  
the passive and more terrible piece1    
these have surpassed1 and in a more     
heroical way may claim1 the honour of   
that title4 ',tis not in the power of   
every honest faith to proceed thus far1 
or pass to heaven through the flames4   
,every one hath it not in that full     
measure1 nor in so audacious and        
resolute a temper1 as to endure those   
terrible tests and trials2 who1         
notwithstanding1 in a peaceable way1 do 

truly adore their ,saviour1 and have1 no
 doubt1 a faith acceptable in the eyes  
of ,god4  ,sect4 #bf4--,now1 as all that
 die in the war are not termed soldiers1
 so neither can ,i properly term all    
those that suffer in matters of         
religion1 martyrs4 ,the council of      
,constance condemns ,john ,huss for a   
heretick2#dj the stories of his own     
party style him a martyr4 ,he must needs
 offend the divinity of both1 that says 
he was neither the one nor the other4   
,there are many 7questionless7 canonized
 on earth1 that shall never be saints in
 heaven2 and have their names in        
histories and martyrologies1 who1 in the
 eyes of ,god1 are not so perfect       
martyrs as was that wise heathen        
,socrates1 that suffered on a           
fundamental point of religion1--the     
unity of ,god4 ,i have often pitied the 
miserable bishop#da that suffered in the
 cause of antipodes2 yet cannot choose  
but accuse him of as much madness1 for  
exposing his living on such a trifle1 as

 those of ignorance and folly1 that     
condemned him4 ,i think my conscience   
will not give me the lie1 if ,i say     
there are not many extant1 that1 in a   
noble way1 fear the face of death less  
than myself2 yet1 from the moral duty ,i
 owe to the commandment of ,god1 and the
 natural respect that ,i tender unto the
 conservation of my essence and being1  
,i would not perish upon a ceremony1    
politick points1 or indifferency3 nor is
 my belief of that untractable temper   
as1 not to bow at their obstacles1 or   
connive at matters wherein there are not
 manifest impieties4 ,the leaven1       
therefore1 and ferment of all1 not only 
civil1 but religious1 actions1 is       
wisdom2 without which1 to commit        
ourselves to the flames is homicide1 and
 7,i fear7 but to pass through one fire 
into another4  ,sect4 #bg4--,that       
miracles are ceased1 ,i can neither     
prove nor absolutely deny1 much less    
define the time and period of their     
cessation4 ,that they survived ,christ  

is manifest upon record of ,scripture3  
that they outlived the apostles also1   
and were revived at the conversion of   
nations1 many years after1 we cannot    
deny1 if we shall not question those    
writers whose testimonies we do not     
controvert in points that make for our  
own opinions3 therefore1 that may have  
some truth in it1 that is reported by   
the ,jesuits of their miracles in the   
,indies4 ,i could wish it were true1 or 
had any other testimony than their own  
pens4 ,they may easily believe those    
miracles abroad1 who daily conceive a   
greater at home--the transmutation of   
those visible elements into the body and
 blood of our ,saviour2--for the        
conversion of water into wine1 which he 
wrought in ,cana1 or1 what the devil    
would have had him done in the          
wilderness1 of stones into bread1       
compared to this1 will scarce deserve   
the name of a miracle3 though1 indeed1  
to speak properly1 there is not one     
miracle greater than another2 they being

 the extraordinary effects of the hand  
of ,god1 to which all things are of an  
equal facility2 and to create the world 
as easy as one single creature4 ,for    
this is also a miracle2 not only to     
produce effects against or above nature1
 but before nature2 and to create       
nature1 as great a miracle as to        
contradict or transcend her4 ,we do too 
narrowly define the power of ,god1      
restraining it to our capacities4 ,i    
hold that ,god can do all things3 how he
 should work contradictions1 ,i do not  
understand1 yet dare not1 therefore1    
deny4 ,i cannot see why the angel of    
,god should question ,esdras to recall  
the time past1 if it were beyond his own
 power2 or that ,god should pose        
mortality in that which he was not able 
to perform himself4 ,i will not say that
 ,god cannot1 but he will not1 perform  
many things1 which we plainly affirm he 
cannot4 ,this1 ,i am sure1 is the       
mannerliest proposition2 wherein1       
notwithstanding1 ,i hold no paradox3    

for1 strictly1 his power is the same    
with his will2 and they both1 with all  
the rest1 do make but one ,god4  ,sect4 
#bh4--,therefore1 that miracles have    
been1 ,i do believe2 that they may yet  
be wrought by the living1 ,i do not     
deny3 but have no confidence in those   
which are fathered on the dead4 ,and    
this hath ever made me suspect the      
efficacy of relicks1 to examine the     
bones1 question the habits and          
appertenances of saints1 and even of    
,christ himself4 ,i cannot conceive why 
the cross that ,helena#db found1 and    
whereon ,christ himself died1 should    
have power to restore others unto life4 
,i excuse not ,constantine from a fall  
off his horse1 or a mischief from his   
enemies1 upon the wearing those nails on
 his bridle which our ,saviour bore upon
 the cross in his hands4 ,i compute     
among pi fraudes1 nor many degrees      
before consecrated swords and roses1    
that which ,baldwin1 king of ,jerusalem1
 returned the ,genoese for their costs  

and pains in his wars2 to wit1 the ashes
 of ,john the ,baptist4 ,those that     
hold1 the sanctity of their souls doth  
leave behind a tincture and sacred      
faculty on their bodies1 speak naturally
 of miracles1 and do not salve the      
doubt4 ,now1 one reason ,i tender so    
little devotion unto relicks is1 ,i     
think the slender and doubtful respect  
which ,i have always held unto          
antiquities4 ,for that1 indeed1 which ,i
 admire1 is far before antiquity2 that  
is1 ,eternity2 and that is1 ,god        
himself2 who1 though he be styled the   
,ancient of ,days1 cannot receive the   
adjunct of antiquity1 who was before the
 world1 and shall be after it1 yet is   
not older than it3 for1 in his years    
there is no climacter3#dc his duration  
is eternity2 and far more venerable than
 antiquity4  ,sect4 #bi4--;,but1 above  
all things1 ,i wonder how the curiosity 
of wiser heads could pass that great and
 indisputable miracle1 the cessation of 
oracles2 and in what swoon their reasons

 lay1 to content themselves1 and sit    
down with such a far-fetched and        
ridiculous reason as ,plutarch allegeth 
for it4#dd ,the ,jews1 that can believe 
the supernatural solstice of the sun in 
the days of ,joshua1 have yet the       
impudence to deny the eclipse1 which    
every pagan confessed1 at his death2 but
 for this1 it is evident beyond all     
contradiction3 the devil himself        
confessed it4,h ,certainly it is not a  
warrantable curiosity1 to examine the   
verity of ,scripture by the concordance 
of human history2 or seek to confirm the
 chronicle of ,hester or ,daniel by the 
authority of ,megasthenes#de or         
,herodotus4 ,i confess1 ,i have had an  
unhappy curiosity this way1 till ,i     
laughed myself out of it with a piece of
 ,justin1 where he delivers that the    
children of ,israel1 for being scabbed1 
were banished out of ,egypt4 ,and truly1
 since ,i have understood the           
occurrences of the world1 and know in   
what counterfeiting shapes and deceitful

 visards times present represent on the 
stage things past1 ,i do believe them   
little more than things to come4 ,some  
have been of my own opinion1 and        
endeavoured to write the history of     
their own lives2 wherein ,moses hath    
outgone them all1 and left not only the 
story of his life1 but1 as some will    
have it1 of his death also4  ,h ,in his 
oracle to ,augustus4  ,sect4 #cj4--;,it 
is a riddle to me1 how the story of     
oracles hath not wormed out of the world
 that doubtful conceit of spirits and   
witches2 how so many learned heads      
should so far forget their metaphysicks1
 and destroy the ladder and scale of    
creatures1 as to question the existence 
of spirits2 for my part1 ,i have ever   
believed1 and do now know1 that there   
are witches4 ,they that doubt of these  
do not only deny them1 but spirits3 and 
are obliquely1 and upon consequence1 a  
sort1 not of infidels1 but atheists4    
,those that1 to confute their           
incredulity1 desire to see apparitions1 

shall1 questionless1 never behold any1  
nor have the power to be so much as     
witches4 ,the devil hath made them      
already in a heresy as capital as       
witchcraft2 and to appear to them were  
but to convert them4 ,of all the        
delusions wherewith he deceives         
mortality1 there is not any that        
puzzleth me more than the legerdemain of
 changelings4#df ,i do not credit those 
transformations of reasonable creatures 
into beasts1 or that the devil hath a   
power to transpeciate a man into a      
horse1 who tempted ,christ 7as a trial  
of his divinity7 to convert but stones  
into bread4 ,i could believe that       
spirits use with man the act of         
carnality2 and that in both sexes4 ,i   
conceive they may assume1 steal1 or     
contrive a body1 wherein there may be   
action enough to content decrepit lust1 
or passion to satisfy more active       
veneries2 yet1 in both1 without a       
possibility of generation3 and therefore
 that opinion1 that ,antichrist should  

be born of the tribe of ,dan1 by        
conjunction with the devil1 is          
ridiculous1 and a conceit fitter for a  
rabbin than a ,christian4 ,i hold that  
the devil doth really possess some men2 
the spirit of melancholy others2 the    
spirit of delusion others3 that1 as the 
devil is concealed and denied by some1  
so ,god and good angels are pretended by
 others1 whereof the late defection of  
the maid of ,germany hath left a        
pregnant example4#dg  ,sect4            
#ca4--;,again1 ,i believe that all that 
use sorceries1 incantations1 and spells1
 are not witches1 or1 as we term them1  
magicians4 ,i conceive there is a       
traditional magick1 not learned         
immediately from the devil1 but at      
second hand from his scholars1 who1     
having once the secret betrayed1 are    
able and do empirically practise without
 his advice2 they both proceeding upon  
the principles of nature2 where actives1
 aptly conjoined to disposed passives1  
will1 under any master1 produce their   

effects4 ,thus1 ,i think1 at first1 a   
great part of philosophy was witchcraft2
 which1 being afterward derived to one  
another1 proved but philosophy1 and was 
indeed no more than the honest effects  
of nature3--what invented by us1 is     
philosophy2 learned from him1 is magick4
 ,we do surely owe the discovery of many
 secrets to the discovery of good and   
bad angels4 ,i could never pass that    
sentence of ,paracelsus without an      
asterisk1 or annotation3 8ascendens,i   
constellatum multa revelat qurentibus   
magnalia natur1 i4e4 opera ,dei40 ,i do 
think that many mysteries ascribed to   
our own inventions have been the        
corteous revelations of spirits2 for    
those noble essences in heaven bear a   
friendly regard unto their fellow-nature
 on earth2 and therefore believe that   
those many prodigies and ominous        
prognosticks1 which forerun the ruins of
 states1 princes1 and private persons1  
are the charitable premonitions of good 
angels1 which more careless inquiries   

term but the effects of chance and      
nature4  ,i ,thereby is meant our good  
angel1 appointed us from our nativity4  
,sect4 #cb4--,now1 besides these        
particular and divided spirits1 there   
may be 7for aught ,i know7 a universal  
and common spirit to the whole world4   
,it was the opinion of ,plato1 and is   
yet of the hermetical philosophers4 ,if 
there be a common nature1 that unites   
and ties the scattered and divided      
individuals into one species1 why may   
there not be one that unites them all8  
,however1 ,i am sure there is a common  
spirit1 that plays within us1 yet makes 
no part in us2 and that is1 the spirit  
of ,god2 the fire and scintillation of  
that noble and mighty essence1 which is 
the life and radical heat of spirits1   
and those essences that know not the    
virtue of the sun2 a fire quite contrary
 to the fire of hell4 ,this is that     
gentle heat that brooded on the waters1 
and in six days hatched the world2 this 
is that irradiation that dispels the    

mists of hell1 the clouds of horror1    
fear1 sorrow1 despair2 and preserves the
 region of the mind in serenity4        
,whatsoever feels not the warm gale and 
gentle ventilation of this spirit       
7though ,i feel his pulse71 ,i dare not 
say he lives2 for truly without this1 to
 me1 there is no heat under the tropick2
 nor any light1 though ,i dwelt in the  
body of the sun4      8,as when the     
labouring sun hath wrought his track    
,up to the top of lofty ,cancer's back1 
,the icy ocean cracks1 the frozen pole  
,thaws with the heat of the celestial   
coal2     ,so when thy absent beams     
begin t' impart     ,again a solstice on
 my frozen heart1     ,my winter's o'er1
 my drooping spirits sing1     ,and     
every part revives into a spring4       
,but if thy quickening beams a while    
decline1     ,and with their light bless
 not this orb of mine1     ,a chilly    
frost surpriseth every member4     ,and 
in the midst of ,june ,i feel ,december4
     ,oh how this earthly temper doth   

debase     ,the noble soul1 in this her 
humble place6     ,whose wingy nature   
ever doth aspire     ,to reach that     
place whence first it took its fire4    
,these flames ,i feel1 which in my heart
 do dwell1     ,are not thy beams1 but  
take their fire from hell4     ,oh      
quench them all6 and let thy ,light     
divine     ,be as the sun to this poor  
orb of mine6     ,and to thy sacred     
,spirit convert those fires1     ,whose 
earthly fumes choke my devout aspires60 
,sect4 #cc4--,therefore1 for spirits1 ,i
 am so far from denying their existence1
 that ,i could easily believe1 that not 
only whole countries1 but particular    
persons1 have their tutelary and        
guardian angels4 ,it is not a new       
opinion of the ,church of ,rome1 but an 
old one of ,pythagoras and ,plato3 there
 is no heresy in it3 and if not         
manifestly defined in ,scripture1 yet it
 is an opinion of a good and wholesome  
use in the course and actions of a man's
 life2 and would serve as an hypothesis 

to salve many doubts1 whereof common    
philosophy affordeth no solution4 ,now1 
if you demand my opinion and            
metaphysicks of their natures1 ,i       
confess them very shallow2 most of them 
in a negative way1 like that of ,god2 or
 in a comparative1 between ourselves and
 fellow-creatures3 for there is in this 
universe a stair1 or manifest scale1 of 
creatures1 rising not disorderly1 or in 
confusion1 but with a comely method and 
proportion4 ,between creatures of mere  
existence and things of life there is a 
large disproportion of nature3 between  
plants and animals1 or creatures of     
sense1 a wider difference3 between them 
and man1 a far greater3 and if the      
proportion hold on1 between man and     
angels there should be yet a greater4   
,we do not comprehend their natures1 who
 retain the first definition of         
,porphyry2#dh and distinguish them from 
ourselves by immortality3 for1 before   
his fall1 man also was immortal3 yet    
must we needs affirm that he had a      

different essence from the angels4      
,having1 therefore1 no certain knowledge
 of their nature1 'tis no bad method of 
the schools1 whatsoever perfection we   
find obscurely in ourselves1 in a more  
complete and absolute way to ascribe    
unto them4 ,i believe they have an      
extemporary knowledge1 and1 upon the    
first motion of their reason1 do what we
 cannot without study or deliberation3  
that they know things by their forms1   
and define1 by specifical difference    
what we describe by accidents and       
properties3 and therefore probabilities 
to us may be demonstrations unto them3  
that they have knowledge not only of the
 specifical1 but numerical1 forms of    
individuals1 and understand by what     
reserved difference each single         
hypostatis 7besides the relation to its 
species7 becomes its numerical self3    
that1 as the soul hath a power to move  
the body it informs1 so there's a       
faculty to move any1 though inform none3
 ours upon restraint of time1 place1 and

 distance3 but that invisible hand that 
conveyed ,habakkuk to the lion's den1 or
 ,philip to ,azotus1 infringeth this    
rule1 and hath a secret conveyance1     
wherewith mortality is not acquainted4  
,if they have that intuitive knowledge1 
whereby1 as in reflection1 they behold  
the thoughts of one another1 ,i cannot  
peremptorily deny but they know a great 
part of ours4 ,they that1 to refute the 
invocation of saints1 have denied that  
they have any knowledge of our affairs  
below1 have proceeded too far1 and must 
pardon my opinion1 till ,i can          
thoroughly answer that piece of         
,scripture1 8,at the conversion of a    
sinner1 the angels in heaven rejoice40  
,i cannot1 with those in that great     
father1#di securely interpret the work  
of the first day1 fiat lux1 to the      
creation of angels2 though ,i confess   
there is not any creature that hath so  
near a glimpse of their nature as light 
in the sun and elements3 we style it a  
bare accident2 but1 where it subsists   

alone1 'tis a spiritual substance1 and  
may be an angel3 in brief1 conceive     
light invisible1 and that is a spirit4  
,sect4 #cd4--,these are certainly the   
magisterial and masterpieces of the     
,creator2 the flower1 or1 as we may say1
 the best part of nothing2 actually     
existing1 what we are but in hopes1 and 
probability4 ,we are only that          
amphibious piece1 between a corporeal   
and a spiritual essence2 that middle    
form1 that links those two together1 and
 makes good the method of ,god and      
nature1 that jumps not from extremes1   
but unites the incompatible distances by
 some middle and participating natures4 
,that we are the breath and similitude  
of ,god1 it is indisputable1 and upon   
record of ,holy ,scripture3 but to call 
ourselves a microcosm1 or little world1 
,i thought it only a pleasant trope of  
rhetorick1 till my near judgment and    
second thoughts told me there was a real
 truth therein4 ,for1 first we are a    
rude mass1 and in the rank of creatures 

which only are1 and have a dull kind of 
being1 not yet privileged with life1 or 
preferred to sense or reason2 next we   
live the life of plants1 the life of    
animals1 the life of men1 and at last   
the life of spirits3 running on1 in one 
mysterious nature1 those five kinds of  
existencies1 which comprehend the       
creatures1 not only of the world1 but of
 the universe4 ,thus is man that great  
and true amphibium1 whose nature is     
disposed to live1 not only like other   
creatures in divers elements1 but in    
divided and distinguished worlds2 for   
though there be but one to sense1 there 
are two to reason1 the one visible1 the 
other invisible2 whereof ,moses seems to
 have left description1 and of the other
 so obscurely1 that some parts thereof  
are yet in controversy4 ,and truly1 for 
the first chapters of ,genesis1 ,i must 
confess a great deal of obscurity2      
though divines have1 to the power of    
human reason1 endeavoured to make all go
 in a literal meaning1 yet those        

allegorical interpretations are also    
probable1 and perhaps the mystical      
method of ,moses1 bred up in the        
hieroglyphical schools of the           
,egyptians4  ,sect4 #ce4--,now for that 
immaterial world1 methinks we need not  
wander so far as the first moveable2    
for1 even in this material fabrick1 the 
spirits walk as freely exempt from the  
affection of time1 place1 and motion1 as
 beyond the extremest circumference4 ,do
 but extract from the corpulency of     
bodies1 or resolve things beyond their  
first matter1 and you discover the      
habitation of angels2 which if ,i call  
the ubiquitary and omnipresent essence  
of ,god1 ,i hope ,i shall not offend    
divinity3 for1 before the creation of   
the world1 ,god was really all things4  
,for the angels he created no new world1
 or determinate mansion1 and therefore  
they are everywhere where is his        
essence1 and do live1 at a distance     
even1 in himself4 ,that ,god made all   
things for man1 is in some sense true2  

yet1 not so far as to subordinate the   
creation of those purer creatures unto  
ours2 though1 as ministering spirits1   
they do1 and are willing to fulfil the  
will of ,god in these lower and         
sublunary affairs of man4 ,god made all 
things for himself2 and it is impossible
 he should make them for any other end  
than his own glory3 it is all he can    
receive1 and all that is without        
himself4 ,for1 honour being an external 
adjunct1 and in the honourer rather than
 in the person honoured1 it was         
necessary to make a creature1 from whom 
he might receive this homage3 and that  
is1 in the other world1 angels1 in this1
 man2 which when we neglect1 we forget  
,god1 not only to repent that he hath   
made the world1 but that he hath sworn  
he would not destroy it4 ,that there is 
but one world1 is a conclusion of faith2
 ,aristotle with all his philosophy hath
 not been able to prove it3 and as      
weakly that the world was eternal2 that 
dispute much troubled the pen of the    

philosophers1 but ,moses decided that   
question1 and all is salved with the new
 term of a creation1--that is1 a        
production of something out of nothing4 
,and what is that8--whatsoever is       
opposite to something2 or1 more exactly1
 that which is truly contrary unto ,god3
 for he only is2 all others have an     
existence with dependency1 and are      
something but by a distinction4 ,and    
herein is divinity conformant unto      
philosophy1 and generation not only     
founded on contrarieties1 but also      
creation4 ,god1 being all things1 is    
contrary unto nothing2 out of which were
 made all things1 and so nothing became 
something1 and omneity#ej informed      
nullity into an essence4  ,sect4        
#cf4--,the whole creation is a mystery1 
and particularly that of man4 ,at the   
blast of his mouth were the rest of the 
creatures made2 and at his bare word    
they started out of nothing3 but in the 
frame of man 7as the text describes it7 
he played the sensible operator1 and    

seemed not so much to create as make    
him4 ,when he had separated the         
materials of other creatures1 there     
consequently resulted a form and soul2  
but1 having raised the walls of man1 he 
was driven to a second and harder       
creation1--of a substance like himself1 
an incorruptible and immortal soul4 ,for
 these two affections we have the       
philosophy and opinion of the heathens1 
the flat affirmative of ,plato1 and not 
a negative from ,aristotle4 ,there is   
another scruple cast in by divinity     
concerning its production1 much disputed
 in the ,german auditories1 and with    
that indifferency and equality of       
arguments1 as leave the controversy     
undetermined4 ,i am not of ,paracelsus's
 mind1 that boldly delivers a receipt to
 make a man without conjunction2 yet    
cannot but wonder at the multitude of   
heads that do deny traduction1 having no
 other arguments to confirm their belief
 than that rhetorical sentence and      
antimetathesis#ea of ,augustine1        

8creando infunditur1 infundendo         
creatur40 ,either opinion will consist  
well enough with religion3 yet ,i should
 rather incline to this1 did not one    
objection haunt me1 not wrung from      
speculations and subtleties1 but from   
common sense and observation2 not pick'd
 from the leaves of any author1 but bred
 amongst the weeds and tares of my own  
brain4 ,and this is a conclusion from   
the equivocal and monstrous productions 
in the copulation of a man with a beast3
 for if the soul of man be not          
transmitted and transfused in the seed  
of the parents1 why are not those       
productions merely beasts1 but have also
 an impression and tincture of reason in
 as high a measure1 as it can evidence  
itself in those improper organs8 ,nor1  
truly1 can ,i peremptorily deny that the
 soul1 in this her sublunary estate1 is 
wholly1 and in all acceptions1          
inorganical3 but that1 for the          
performance of her ordinary actions1 is 
required not only a symmetry and proper 

disposition of organs1 but a crasis and 
temper correspondent to its operations2 
yet is not this mass of flesh and       
visible structure the instrument and    
proper corpse of the soul1 but rather of
 sense1 and that the hand of reason4 ,in
 our study of anatomy there is a mass of
 mysterious philosophy1 and such as     
reduced the very heathens to divinity2  
yet1 amongst all those rare discoveries 
and curious pieces ,i find in the       
fabrick of man1 ,i do not so much       
content myself1 as in that ,i find      
not1--that is1 no organ or instrument   
for the rational soul2 for in the brain1
 which we term the seat of reason1 there
 is not anything of moment more than ,i 
can discover in the crany of a beast2   
and this is a sensible and no           
inconsiderable argument of the          
inorganity of the soul1 at least in that
 sense we usually so conceive it4 ,thus 
we are men1 and we know not how2 there  
is something in us that can be without  
us1 and will be after us1 though it is  

strange that it hath no history what it 
was before us1 nor cannot tell how it   
entered in us4  ,sect4 #cg4--,now1 for  
these walls of flesh1 wherein the soul  
doth seem to be immured before the      
resurrection1 it is nothing but an      
elemental composition1 and a fabrick    
that must fall to ashes4 8,all flesh is 
grass10 is not only metaphorically1 but 
literally1 true2 for all those creatures
 we behold are but the herbs of the     
field1 digested into flesh in them1 or  
more remotely carnified in ourselves4   
,nay1 further1 we are what we all abhor1
 anthropophagi1 and cannibals1 devourers
 not only of men1 but of ourselves2 and 
that not in an allegory but a positive  
truth3 for all this mass of flesh which 
we behold1 came in at our mouths3 this  
frame we look upon1 hath been upon our  
trenchers2 in brief1 we have devoured   
ourselves4 ,i cannot believe the wisdom 
of ,pythagoras did ever positively1 and 
in a literal sense1 affirm his          
metempsychosis1 or impossible           

transmigration of the souls of men into 
beasts4 ,of all metamorphoses or        
transmigrations1 ,i believe only one1   
that is of ,lot's wife2 for that of     
,nabuchodonosor proceeded not so far4   
,in all others ,i conceive there is no  
further verity than is contained in     
their implicit sense and morality4 ,i   
believe that the whole frame of a beast 
doth perish1 and is left in the same    
state after death as before it was      
materialled unto life3 that the souls of
 men know neither contrary nor          
corruption2 that they subsist beyond the
 body1 and outlive death by the         
privilege of their proper natures1 and  
without a miracle3 that the souls of the
 faithful1 as they leave earth1 take    
possession of heaven2 that those        
apparitions and ghosts of departed      
persons are not the wandering souls of  
men1 but the unquiet walks of devils1   
prompting and suggesting us unto        
mischief1 blood1 and villany2 instilling
 and stealing into our hearts that the  

blessed spirits are not at rest in their
 graves1 but wander1 solicitous of the  
affairs of the world4 ,but that those   
phantasms appear often1 and do frequent 
cemeteries1 charnel-houses1 and         
churches1 it is because those are the   
dormitories of the dead1 where the      
devil1 like an insolent champion1       
beholds with pride the spoils and       
trophies of his victory over ,adam4     
,sect4 #ch4--,this is that dismal       
conquest we all deplore1 that makes us  
so often cry1 ,o ,adam1 quid fecisti8 ,i
 thank ,god ,i have not those strait    
ligaments1 or narrow obligations to the 
world1 as to dote on life1 or be        
convulsed and tremble at the name of    
death4 ,not that ,i am insensible of the
 dread and horror thereof2 or1 by raking
 into the bowels of the deceased1       
continual sight of anatomies1 skeletons1
 or cadaverous relicks1 like vespilloes1
 or gravemakers1 ,i am become stupid1 or
 have forgot the apprehension of        
mortality2 but that1 marshalling all the

 horrors1 and contemplating the         
extremities thereof1 ,i find not        
anything therein able to daunt the      
courage of a man1 much less a           
well-resolved ,christian2 and therefore 
am not angry at the error of our first  
parents1 or unwilling to bear a part of 
this common fate1 and1 like the best of 
them1 to die2 that is1 to cease to      
breathe1 to take a farewell of the      
elements2 to be a kind of nothing for a 
moment2 to be within one instant of a   
spirit4 ,when ,i take a full view and   
circle of myself without this reasonable
 moderator1 and equal piece of justice1 
death1 ,i do conceive myself the        
miserablest person extant4 ,were there  
not another life that ,i hope for1 all  
the vanities of this world should not   
entreat a moment's breath from me4      
,could the devil work my belief to      
imagine ,i could never die1 ,i would not
 outlive that very thought4 ,i have so  
abject a conceit of this common way of  
existence1 this retaining to the sun and

 elements1 ,i cannot think this is to be
 a man1 or to live according to the     
dignity of humanity4 ,in expectation of 
a better1 ,i can with patience embrace  
this life2 yet1 in my best meditations1 
do often defy death4 ,i honour any man  
that contemns it2 nor can ,i highly love
 any that is afraid of it3 this makes me
 naturally love a soldier1 and honour   
those tattered and contemptible         
regiments1 that will die at the command 
of a sergeant4 ,for a pagan there may be
 some motives to be in love with life2  
but1 for a ,christian to be amazed at   
death1 ,i see not how he can escape this
 dilemma--that he is too sensible of    
this life1 or hopeless of the life to   
come4  ,sect4 #ci4--,some divines#eb    
count ,adam thirty years old at his     
creation1 because they suppose him      
created in the perfect age and stature  
of man3 and surely we are all out of the
 computation of our age2 and every man  
is some months older than he bethinks   
him2 for we live1 move1 have a being1   

and are subject to the actions of the   
elements1 and the malice of diseases1 in
 that other world1 the truest microcosm1
 the womb of our mother2 for besides    
that general and common existence we are
 conceived to hold in our chaos1 and    
whilst we sleep within the bosom of our 
causes1 we enjoy a being and life in    
three distinct worlds1 wherein we       
receive most manifest gradations4 ,in   
that obscure world1 the womb of our     
mother1 our time is short1 computed by  
the moon2 yet longer than the days of   
many creatures that behold the sun2     
ourselves being not yet without life1   
sense1 and reason2#ec though1 for the   
manifestation of its actions1 it awaits 
the opportunity of objects1 and seems to
 live there but in its root and soul of 
vegetation4 ,entering afterwards upon   
the scene of the world1 we arise up and 
become another creature2 performing the 
reasonable actions of man1 and obscurely
 manifesting that part of divinity in   
us1 but not in complement and           

perfection1 till we have once more cast 
our secundine1 that is1 this slough of  
flesh1 and are delivered into the last  
world1 that is1 that ineffable place of 
,paul1 that proper ubi of spirits4 ,the 
smattering ,i have of the philosopher's 
stone 7which is something more than the 
perfect exaltation#ed of gold7 hath     
taught me a great deal of divinity1 and 
instructed my belief1 how that immortal 
spirit and incorruptible substance of my
 soul may lie obscure1 and sleep a while
 within this house of flesh4 ,those     
strange and mystical transmigrations    
that ,i have observed in silkworms      
turned my philosophy into divinity4     
,there is in these works of nature1     
which seem to puzzle reason1 something  
divine2 and hath more in it than the eye
 of a common spectator doth discover4   
,sect4 #dj4--;,i am naturally bashful2  
nor hath conversation1 age1 or travel1  
been able to effront or enharden me2 yet
 ,i have one part of modesty1 which ,i  
have seldom discovered in another1 that 

is 7to speak truly71 ,i am not so much  
afraid of death as ashamed thereof2 'tis
 the very disgrace and ignominy of our  
natures1 that in a moment can so        
disfigure us1 that our nearest friends1 
wife1 and children1 stand afraid1 and   
start at us4 ,the birds and beasts of   
the field1 that before1 in a natural    
fear1 obeyed us1 forgetting all         
allegiance1 begin to prey upon us4 ,this
 very conceit hath1 in a tempest1       
disposed and left me willing to be      
swallowed up in the abyss of waters1    
wherein ,i had perished unseen1         
unpitied1 without wondering eyes1 tears 
of pity1 lectures of mortality1 and none
 had said1 8,quantum mutatus ab illo60  
,not that ,i am ashamed of the anatomy  
of my parts1 or can accuse nature of    
playing the bungler in any part of me1  
or my own vicious life for contracting  
any shameful disease upon me1 whereby ,i
 might not call myself as wholesome a   
morsel for the worms as any4  ,sect4    
#da4--,some1 upon the courage of a      

fruitful issue1 wherein1 as in the      
truest chronicle1 they seem to outlive  
themselves1 can with greater patience   
away with death4 ,this conceit and      
counterfeit subsisting in our progenies 
seems to be a mere fallacy1 unworthy the
 desire of a man1 that can but conceive 
a thought of the next world2 who1 in a  
nobler ambition1 should desire to live  
in his substance in heaven1 rather than 
his name and shadow in the earth4 ,and  
therefore1 at my death1 ,i mean to take 
a total adieu of the world1 not caring  
for a monument1 history1 or epitaph2 not
 so much as the bare memory of my name  
to be found anywhere1 but in the        
universal register of ,god4 ,i am not   
yet so cynical1 as to approve the       
testament of ,diogenes1,j nor do ,i     
altogether allow that rodomontado of    
,lucan2,k  ,j ,who willed his friend not
 to bury him1 but to hang him up with a 
staff in his hand1 to fright away the   
crows4  ,k 8,pharsalia10 vii4 #hai4     
-----8,clo tegitur1 qui non habet       

urnam40      ,he that unburied lies     
wants not his hearse2     ,for unto him 
a tomb's the universe4  but commend1 in 
my calmer judgment1 those ingenuous     
intentions that desire to sleep by the  
urns of their fathers1 and strive to go 
the neatest way unto corruption4 ,i do  
not envy the temper#ee of crows and     
daws1 nor the numerous and weary days of
 our fathers before the flood4 ,if there
 be any truth in astrology1 ,i may      
outlive a jubilee2#ef as yet ,i have not
 seen one revolution of ,saturn1#eg nor 
hath my pulse beat thirty years1 and    
yet1 excepting one1#eh have seen the    
ashes of1 and left under ground1 all the
 kings of ,europe2 have been            
contemporary to three emperors1 four    
grand signiors1 and as many popes3      
methinks ,i have outlived myself1 and   
begin to be weary of the sun2 ,i have   
shaken hands with delight in my warm    
blood and canicular days2 ,i perceive ,i
 do anticipate the vices of age2 the    
world to me is but a dream or mock-show1

 and we all therein but pantaloons and  
anticks1 to my severer contemplations4  
,sect4 #db4--;,it is not1 ,i confess1 an
 unlawful prayer to desire to surpass   
the days of our ,saviour1 or wish to    
outlive that age wherein he thought     
fittest to die2 yet1 if 7as divinity    
affirms7 there shall be no grey hairs in
 heaven1 but all shall rise in the      
perfect state of men1 we do but outlive 
those perfections in this world1 to be  
recalled unto them by a greater miracle 
in the next1 and run on here but to be  
retrograde hereafter4 ,were there any   
hopes to outlive vice1 or a point to be 
superannuated from sin1 it were worthy  
our knees to implore the days of        
,methuselah4 ,but age doth not rectify1 
but incurvate our natures1 turning bad  
dispositions into worser habits1 and    
7like diseases7 brings on incurable     
vices2 for every day1 as we grow weaker 
in age1 we grow stronger in sin1 and the
 number of our days doth but make our   
sins innumerable4 ,the same vice1       

committed at sixteen1 is not the same1  
though it agrees in all other           
circumstances1 as at forty2 but swells  
and doubles from the circumstance of our
 ages1 wherein1 besides the constant and
 inexcusable habit of transgressing1 the
 maturity of our judgment cuts off      
pretence unto excuse or pardon4 ,every  
sin1 the oftener it is committed1 the   
more it acquireth in the quality of     
evil2 as it succeeds in time1 so it     
proceeds in degrees of badness2 for as  
they proceed they ever multiply1 and1   
like figures in arithmetick1 the last   
stands for more than all that went      
before it4 ,and1 though ,i think no man 
can live well once1 but he that could   
live twice1 yet1 for my own part1 ,i    
would not live over my hours past1 or   
begin again the thread of my days2 not  
upon ,cicero's ground1,l because ,i have
 lived them well1 but for fear ,i should
 live them worse4 ,i find my growing    
judgment daily instruct me how to be    
better1 but my untamed affections and   

confirmed vitiosity make me daily do    
worse4 ,i find in my confirmed age the  
same sins ,i discovered in my youth2 ,i 
committed many then because ,i was a    
child2 and1 because ,i commit them      
still1 ,i am yet an infant4 ,therefore  
,i perceive a man may be twice a child1 
before the days of dotage2 and stand in 
need of son's bath#ei before threescore4
  ,l ,ep4 lib4 xxiv4 ep4 #bd4  ,sect4   
#dc4--;,and truly there goes a deal of  
providence to produce a man's life unto 
threescore2 there is more required than 
an able temper for those years3 though  
the radical humour contain in it        
sufficient oil for seventy1 yet ,i      
perceive in some it gives no light past 
thirty3 men assign not all the causes of
 long life1 that write whole books      
thereof4 ,they that found themselves on 
the radical balsam1 or vital sulphur of 
the parts1 determine not why ,abel lived
 not so long as ,adam4 ,there is        
therefore a secret gloom or bottom of   
our days3 'twas his wisdom to determine 

them3 but his perpetual and waking      
providence that fulfils and             
accomplisheth them2 wherein the spirits1
 ourselves1 and all the creatures of    
,god1 in a secret and disputed way1 do  
execute his will4 ,let them not         
therefore complain of immaturity that   
die about thirty3 they fall but like the
 whole world1 whose solid and           
well-composed substance must not expect 
the duration and period of its          
constitution3 when all things are       
completed in it1 its age is             
accomplished2 and the last and general  
fever may as naturally destroy it before
 six thousand1#fj as me before forty4   
,there is therefore some other hand that
 twines the thread of life than that of 
nature3 we are not only ignorant in     
antipathies and occult qualities2 our   
ends are as obscure as our beginnings2  
the line of our days is drawn by night1 
and the various effects therein by a    
pencil that is invisible2 wherein1      
though we confess our ignorance1 ,i am  

sure we do not err if we say1 it is the 
hand of ,god4  ,sect4 #dd4--;,i am much 
taken with two verses of ,lucan1 since  
,i have been able not only1 as we do at 
school1 to construe1 but understand3    
8,victurosque ,dei celant ut vivere     
durent1     ,felix esse mori40,m  ,m    
,pharsalia1 iv4 #eai4      ,we're all   
deluded1 vainly searching ways     ,to  
make us happy by the length of days2    
,for cunningly1 to make's protract this 
breath1     ,the gods conceal the       
happiness of death4  ,there be many     
excellent strains in that poet1         
wherewith his stoical genius hath       
liberally supplied him3 and truly there 
are singular pieces in the philosophy of
 ,zeno1#fa and doctrine of the stoics1  
which ,i perceive1 delivered in a       
pulpit1 pass for current divinity3 yet  
herein are they in extremes1 that can   
allow a man to be his own assassin1 and 
so highly extol the end and suicide of  
,cato4 ,this is indeed not to fear      
death1 but yet to be afraid of life4 ,it

 is a brave act of valour to contemn    
death2 but1 where life is more terrible 
than death1 it is then the truest valour
 to dare to live3 and herein religion   
hath taught us a noble example2 for all 
the valiant acts of ,curtius1 ,scvola1  
or ,codrus1 do not parallel1 or match1  
that one of ,job2 and sure there is no  
torture to the rack of a disease1 nor   
any poniards in death itself1 like those
 in the way or prologue unto it4 8,emori
 nolo1 sed me esse mortuum nihil curo20 
,i would not die1 but care not to be    
dead4 ,were ,i of ,csar's religion1#fb  
,i should be of his desires1 and wish   
rather to go off at one blow1 than to be
 sawed in pieces by the grating torture 
of a disease4 ,men that look no further 
than their outsides1 think health an    
appurtenance unto life1 and quarrel with
 their constitutions for being sick2 but
 ,i1 that have examined the parts of    
man1 and know upon what tender filaments
 that fabrick hangs1 do wonder that we  
are not always so2 and1 considering the 

thousand doors that lead to death1 do   
thank my ,god that we can die but once4 
',tis not only the mischief of diseases1
 and the villany of poisons1 that make  
an end of us2 we vainly accuse the fury 
of guns1 and the new inventions of      
death3--it is in the power of every hand
 to destroy us1 and we are beholden unto
 every one we meet1 he doth not kill us4
 ,there is therefore but one comfort    
left1 that though it be in the power of 
the weakest arm to take away life1 it is
 not in the strongest to deprive us of  
death4 ,god would not exempt himself    
from that2 the misery of immortality in 
the flesh he undertook not1 that was    
immortal4 ,certainly there is no        
happiness within this circle of flesh2  
nor is it in the opticks of these eyes  
to behold felicity4 ,the first day of   
our jubilee is death2 the devil hath    
therefore failed of his desires2 we are 
happier with death than we should have  
been without it3 there is no misery but 
in himself1 where there is no end of    

misery2 and so indeed1 in his own sense1
 the stoic is in the right4#fc ,he      
forgets that he can die1 who complains  
of misery3 we are in the power of no    
calamity while death is in our own4     
,sect4 #de4--,now1 besides this literal 
and positive kind of death1 there are   
others whereof divines make mention1 and
 those1 ,i think1 not merely            
metaphorical1 as mortification1 dying   
unto sin and the world4 ,therefore1 ,i  
say1 every man hath a double horoscope2 
one of his humanity1--his birth1 another
 of his ,christianity1--his baptism3 and
 from this do ,i compute or calculate my
 nativity2 not reckoning those hor      
combust1#fd and odd days1 or esteeming  
myself anything1 before ,i was my       
,saviour's and enrolled in the register 
of ,christ4 ,whosoever enjoys not this  
life1 ,i count him but an apparition1   
though he wear about him the sensible   
affections of flesh4 ,in these moral    
acceptions1 the way to be immortal is to
 die daily2 nor can ,i think ,i have the

 true theory of death1 when ,i          
contemplate a skull or behold a skeleton
 with those vulgar imaginations it casts
 upon us4 ,i have therefore enlarged    
that common memento mori into a more    
,christian memorandum1 memento quatuor  
novissima1--those four inevitable points
 of us all1 death1 judgment1 heaven1 and
 hell4 ,neither did the contemplations  
of the heathens rest in their graves1   
without a further thought1 of           
,rhadamanth#fe or some judicial         
proceeding after death1 though in       
another way1 and upon suggestion of     
their natural reasons4 ,i cannot but    
marvel from what sibyl or oracle they   
stole the prophecy of the world's       
destruction by fire1 or whence ,lucan   
learned to say--      8,communis mundo  
superest rogus1 ossibus astra           
,misturus----0,n  ,n ,pharsalia1 vii4   
#had4      ,there yet remains to th'    
world one common fire1     ,wherein our 
bones with stars shall make one pyre4   
,i believe the world grows near its end2

 yet is neither old nor decayed1 nor    
will ever perish upon the ruins of its  
own principles4 ,as the work of creation
 was above nature1 so its adversary1    
annihilation2 without which the world   
hath not its end1 but its mutation4     
,now1 what force should be able to      
consume it thus far1 without the breath 
of ,god1 which is the truest consuming  
flame1 my philosophy cannot inform me4  
,some believe there went not a minute to
 the world's creation1 nor shall there  
go to its destruction2 those six days1  
so punctually described1 make not to    
them one moment1 but rather seem to     
manifest the method and idea of that    
great work of the intellect of ,god than
 the manner how he proceeded in its     
operation4 ,i cannot dream that there   
should be at the last day any such      
judicial proceeding1 or calling to the  
bar1 as indeed the ,scripture seems to  
imply1 and the literal commentators do  
conceive3 for unspeakable mysteries in  
the ,scriptures are often delivered in a

 vulgar and illustrative way1 and1 being
 written unto man1 are delivered1 not as
 they truly are1 but as they may be     
understood2 wherein1 notwithstanding1   
the different interpretations according 
to different capacities may stand firm  
with our devotion1 nor be any way       
prejudicial to each single edification4 
,sect4 #df4--,now1 to determine the day 
and year of this inevitable time1 is not
 only convincible and statute madness1  
but also manifest impiety4 ,how shall we
 interpret ,elias's six thousand years1 
or imagine the secret communicated to a 
,rabbi which ,god hath denied unto his  
angels8 ,it had been an excellent qure  
to have posed the devil of ,delphos1 and
 must needs have forced him to some     
strange amphibology4 ,it hath not only  
mocked the predictions of sundry        
astrologers in ages past1 but the       
prophecies of many melancholy heads in  
these present2 who1 neither             
understanding reasonably things past nor
 present1 pretend a knowledge of things 

to come2 heads ordained only to manifest
 the incredible effects of melancholy   
and to fulfil old prophecies1,o rather  
than be the authors of new4 8,in those  
days there shall come wars and rumours  
of wars0 to me seems no prophecy1 but a 
constant truth in all times verified    
since it was pronounced4 8,there shall  
be signs in the moon and stars20 how    
comes he then like a thief in the night1
 when he gives an item of his coming8   
,that common sign1 drawn from the       
revelation of antichrist1 is as obscure 
as any2 in our common compute he hath   
been come these many years2 but1 for my 
own part1 to speak freely1 ,i am half of
 opinion that antichrist is the         
philosopher's stone in divinity1 for the
 discovery and invention whereof1 though
 there be prescribed rules1 and probable
 inductions1 yet hath hardly any man    
attained the perfect discovery thereof4 
,that general opinion1 that the world   
grows near its end1 hath possessed all  
ages past as nearly as ours4 ,i am      

afraid that the souls that now depart   
cannot escape that lingering            
expostulation of the saints under the   
altar1 8quousque1 ,domine80 how long1 ,o
 ,lord8 and groan in the expectation of 
the great jubilee4  ,o 8,in those days  
there shall come liars and false        
prophets40  ,sect4 #dg4--,this is the   
day that must make good that great      
attribute of ,god1 his justice2 that    
must reconcile those unanswerable doubts
 that torment the wisest understandings2
 and reduce those seeming inequalities  
and respective distributions in this    
world1 to an equality and recompensive  
justice in the next4 ,this is that one  
day1 that shall include and comprehend  
all that went before it2 wherein1 as in 
the last scene1 all the actors must     
enter1 to complete and make up the      
catastrophe of this great piece4 ,this  
is the day whose memory hath1 only1     
power to make us honest in the dark1 and
 to be virtuous without a witness4      
8,ipsa sui pretium virtus sibi10 that   

virtue is her own reward1 is but a cold 
principle1 and not able to maintain our 
variable resolutions in a constant and  
settled way of goodness4 ,i have        
practised that honest artifice of       
,seneca1#ff and1 in my retired and      
solitary imaginations to detain me from 
the foulness of vice1 have fancied to   
myself the presence of my dear and      
worthiest friends1 before whom ,i should
 lose my head rather than be vicious2   
yet herein ,i found that there was      
nought but moral honesty2 and this was  
not to be virtuous for his sake who must
 reward us at the last4 ,i have tried if
 ,i could reach that great resolution of
 his1 to be honest without a thought of 
heaven or hell2 and1 indeed ,i found1   
upon a natural inclination1 and inbred  
loyalty unto virtue1 that ,i could serve
 her without a livery1 yet not in that  
resolved and venerable way1 but that the
 frailty of my nature1 upon an easy     
temptation1 might be induced to forget  
her4 ,the life1 therefore1 and spirit of

 all our actions is the resurrection1   
and a stable apprehension that our ashes
 shall enjoy the fruit of our pious     
endeavours2 without this1 all religion  
is a fallacy1 and those impieties of    
,lucian1 ,euripides1 and ,julian1 are no
 blasphemies1 but subtile verities2 and 
atheists have been the only             
philosophers4  ,sect4 #dh4--;,how shall 
the dead arise1 is no question of my    
faith2 to believe only possibilities is 
not faith1 but mere philosophy4 ,many   
things are true in divinity1 which are  
neither inducible by reason nor         
confirmable by sense2 and many things in
 philosophy confirmable by sense1 yet   
not inducible by reason4 ,thus it is    
impossible1 by any solid or             
demonstrative reasons1 to persuade a man
 to believe the conversion of the needle
 to the north2 though this be possible  
and true1 and easily credible1 upon a   
single experiment unto the sense4 ,i    
believe that our estranged and divided  
ashes shall unite again2 that our       

separated dust1 after so many           
pilgrimages and transformations into the
 parts of minerals1 plants1 animals1    
elements1 shall1 at the voice of ,god1  
return into their primitive shapes1 and 
join again to make up their primary and 
predestinate forms4 ,as at the creation 
there was a separation of that confused 
mass into its pieces2 so at the         
destruction thereof there shall be a    
separation into its distinct            
individuals4 ,as1 at the creation of the
 world1 all the distinct species that we
 behold lay involved in one mass1 till  
the fruitful voice of ,god separated    
this united multitude into its several  
species1 so1 at the last day1 when those
 corrupted relicks shall be scattered in
 the wilderness of forms1 and seem to   
have forgot their proper habits1 ,god1  
by a powerful voice1 shall command them 
back into their proper shapes1 and call 
them out by their single individuals4   
,then shall appear the fertility of     
,adam1 and the magick of that sperm that

 hath dilated into so many millions4 ,i 
have often beheld1 as a miracle1 that   
artificial resurrection and             
revivification of mercury1 how being    
mortified into a thousand shapes1 it    
assumes again its own1 and returns into 
its numerical self4 ,let us speak       
naturally1 and like philosophers4 ,the  
forms of alterable bodies in these      
sensible corruptions perish not2 nor1 as
 we imagine1 wholly quit their mansions2
 but retire and contract themselves into
 their secret and unaccessible parts2   
where they may best protect themselves  
from the action of their antagonist4 ,a 
plant or vegetable consumed to ashes to 
a contemplative and school-philosopher  
seems utterly destroyed1 and the form to
 have taken his leave for ever2 but to a
 sensible artist the forms are not      
perished1 but withdrawn into their      
incombustible part1 where they lie      
secure from the action of that devouring
 element4 ,this is made good by         
experience1 which can from the ashes of 

a plant revive the plant1 and from its  
cinders recall it into its stalk and    
leaves again4#fg ,what the art of man   
can do in these inferior pieces1 what   
blasphemy is it to affirm the finger of 
,god cannot do in those more perfect and
 sensible structures8 ,this is that     
mystical philosophy1 from whence no true
 scholar becomes an atheist1 but from   
the visible effects of nature grows up a
 real divine1 and beholds not in a      
dream1 as ,ezekiel1 but in an ocular and
 visible object1 the types of his       
resurrection4  ,sect4 #di4--,now1 the   
necessary mansions of our restored      
selves are those two contrary and       
incompatible places we call heaven and  
hell4 ,to define them1 or strictly to   
determine what and where these are1     
surpasseth my divinity4 ,that elegant   
apostle1 which seemed to have a glimpse 
of heaven1 hath left but a negative     
description thereof2 which 8neither eye 
hath seen1 nor ear hath heard1 nor can  
enter into the heart of man30 he was    

translated out of himself to behold it2 
but1 being returned into himself1 could 
not express it4 ,saint ,john's          
description by emeralds1 chrysolites1   
and precious stones1 is too weak to     
express the material heaven we behold4  
,briefly1 therefore1 where the soul hath
 the full measure and complement of     
happiness2 where the boundless appetite 
of that spirit remains completely       
satisfied that it can neither desire    
addition nor alteration2 that1 ,i think1
 is truly heaven3 and this can only be  
in the enjoyment of that essence1 whose 
infinite goodness is able to terminate  
the desires of itself1 and the          
unsatiable wishes of ours4 ,wherever    
,god will thus manifest himself1 there  
is heaven1 though within the circle of  
this sensible world4 ,thus1 the soul of 
man may be in heaven anywhere1 even     
within the limits of his own proper     
body2 and when it ceaseth to live in the
 body it may remain in its own soul1    
that is1 its ,creator4 ,and thus we may 

say that ,saint ,paul1 whether in the   
body or out of the body1 was yet in     
heaven4 ,to place it in the empyreal1 or
 beyond the tenth sphere1 is to forget  
the world's destruction2 for when this  
sensible world shall be destroyed1 all  
shall then be here as it is now there1  
an empyreal heaven1 a quasi vacuity2    
when to ask where heaven is1 is to      
demand where the presence of ,god is1 or
 where we have the glory of that happy  
vision4 ,moses1 that was bred up in all 
the learning of the ,egyptians1         
committed a gross absurdity in          
philosophy1 when with these eyes of     
flesh he desired to see ,god1 and       
petitioned his ,maker1 that is truth    
itself1 to a contradiction4 ,those that 
imagine heaven and hell neighbours1 and 
conceive a vicinity between those two   
extremes1 upon consequence of the       
parable1 where ,dives discoursed with   
,lazarus1 in ,abraham's bosom1 do too   
grossly conceive of those glorified     
creatures1 whose eyes shall easily      

out-see the sun1 and behold without     
perspective the extremest distances3 for
 if there shall be1 in our glorified    
eyes1 the faculty of sight and reception
 of objects1 ,i could think the visible 
species there to be in as unlimitable a 
way as now the intellectual4 ,i grant   
that two bodies placed beyond the tenth 
sphere1 or in a vacuity1 according to   
,aristotle's philosophy1 could not      
behold each other1 because there wants a
 body or medium to hand and transport   
the visible rays of the object unto the 
sense2 but when there shall be a general
 defect of either medium to convey1 or  
light to prepare and dispose that       
medium1 and yet a perfect vision1 we    
must suspend the rules of our           
philosophy1 and make all good by a more 
absolute piece of opticks4  ,sect4      
#ej4--;,i cannot tell how to say that   
fire is the essence of hell2 ,i know not
 what to make of purgatory1 or conceive 
a flame that can either prey upon1 or   
purify the substance of a soul4 ,those  

flames of sulphur1 mentioned in the     
scriptures1 ,i take not to be understood
 of this present hell1 but of that to   
come1 where fire shall make up the      
complement of our tortures1 and have a  
body or subject whereon to manifest its 
tyranny4 ,some who have had the honour  
to be textuary in divinity are of       
opinion it shall be the same specifical 
fire with ours4 ,this is hard to        
conceive1 yet can ,i make good how even 
that may prey upon our bodies1 and yet  
not consume us3 for in this material    
world1 there are bodies that persist    
invincible in the powerfulest flames2   
and though1 by the action of fire1 they 
fall into ignition and liquation1 yet   
will they never suffer a destruction4 ,i
 would gladly know how ,moses1 with an  
actual fire1 calcined or burnt the      
golden calf into powder3 for that       
mystical metal of gold1 whose solary and
 celestial nature ,i admire1 exposed    
unto the violence of fire1 grows only   
hot1 and liquefies1 but consumeth not2  

so when the consumable and volatile     
pieces of our bodies shall be refined   
into a more impregnable and fixed       
temper1 like gold1 though they suffer   
from the action of flames1 they shall   
never perish1 but lie immortal in the   
arms of fire4 ,and surely1 if this flame
 must suffer only by the action of this 
element1 there will many bodies escape2 
and not only heaven1 but earth will not 
be at an end1 but rather a beginning4   
,for at present it is not earth1 but a  
composition of fire1 water1 earth1 and  
air2 but at that time1 spoiled of these 
ingredients1 it shall appear in a       
substance more like itself1 its ashes4  
,philosophers that opinioned the world's
 destruction by fire1 did never dream of
 annihilation1 which is beyond the power
 of sublunary causes2 for the last and  
proper action of that element is but    
vitrification1 or a reduction of a body 
into glass2 and therefore some of our   
chymicks facetiously affirm1 that1 at   
the last fire1 all shall be crystalized 

and reverberated into glass1 which is   
the utmost action of that element4 ,nor 
need we fear this term1 annihilation1 or
 wonder that ,god will destroy the works
 of his creation3 for man subsisting1   
who is1 and will then truly appear1 a   
microcosm1 the world cannot be said to  
be destroyed4 ,for the eyes of ,god1 and
 perhaps also of our glorified selves1  
shall as really behold and contemplate  
the world1 in its epitome or contracted 
essence1 as now it doth at large and in 
its dilated substance4 ,in the seed of a
 plant1 to the eyes of ,god1 and to the 
understanding of man1 there exists1     
though in an invisible way1 the perfect 
leaves1 flowers1 and fruit thereof2 for 
things that are in posse to the sense1  
are actually existent to the            
understanding4 ,thus ,god beholds all   
things1 who contemplates as fully his   
works in their epitome as in their full 
volume1 and beheld as amply the whole   
world1 in that little compendium of the 
sixth day1 as in the scattered and      

dilated pieces of those five before4    
,sect4 #ea4--,men commonly set forth the
 torments of hell by fire1 and the      
extremity of corporal afflictions1 and  
describe hell in the same method that   
,mahomet doth heaven4 ,this indeed makes
 a noise1 and drums in popular ears3 but
 if this be the terrible piece thereof1 
it is not worthy to stand in diameter   
with heaven1 whose happiness consists in
 that part that is best able to         
comprehend it1 that immortal essence1   
that translated divinity and colony of  
,god1 the soul4 ,surely1 though we place
 hell under earth1 the devil's walk and 
purlieu is about it4 ,men speak too     
popularly who place it in those flaming 
mountains1 which to grosser             
apprehensions represent hell4 ,the heart
 of man is the place the devils dwell   
in2 ,i feel sometimes a hell within     
myself2 ,lucifer keeps his court in my  
breast2 ,legion is revived in me4 ,there
 are as many hells as ,anaxagoras#fh    
conceited worlds4 ,there was more than  

one hell in ,magdalene1 when there were 
seven devils2 for every devil is an hell
 unto himself1#fi he holds enough of    
torture in his own ubi2 and needs not   
the misery of circumference to afflict  
him3 and thus1 a distracted conscience  
here is a shadow or introduction unto   
hell hereafter4 ,who can but pity the   
merciful intention of those hands that  
do destroy themselves8 ,the devil1 were 
it in his power1 would do the like2     
which being impossible1 his miseries are
 endless1 and he suffers most in that   
attribute wherein he is impassible1 his 
immortality4  ,sect4 #eb4--;,i thank    
,god1 and with joy ,i mention it1 ,i was
 never afraid of hell1 nor ever grew    
pale at the description of that place4  
,i have so fixed my contemplations on   
heaven1 that ,i have almost forgot the  
idea of hell2 and am afraid rather to   
lose the joys of the one1 than endure   
the misery of the other3 to be deprived 
of them is a perfect hell1 and needs    
methinks no addition to complete our    

afflictions4 ,that terrible term hath   
never detained me from sin1 nor do ,i   
owe any good action to the name thereof4
 ,i fear ,god1 yet am not afraid of him2
 his mercies make me ashamed of my sins1
 before his judgments afraid thereof3   
these are the forced and secondary      
method of his wisdom1 which he useth but
 as the last remedy1 and upon           
provocation2--a course rather to deter  
the wicked1 than incite the virtuous to 
his worship4 ,i can hardly think there  
was ever any scared into heaven3 they go
 the fairest way to heaven that would   
serve ,god without a hell3 other        
mercenaries1 that crouch unto him in    
fear of hell1 though they term          
themselves the servants1 are indeed but 
the slaves1 of the ,almighty4  ,sect4   
#ec4--;,and to be true1 and speak my    
soul1 when ,i survey the occurrences of 
my life1 and call into account the      
finger of ,god1 ,i can perceive nothing 
but an abyss and mass of mercies1 either
 in general to mankind1 or in particular

 to myself4 ,and1 whether out of the    
prejudice of my affection1 or an        
inverting and partial conceit of his    
mercies1 ,i know not1--but those which  
others term crosses1 afflictions1       
judgments1 misfortunes1 to me1 who      
inquire further into them than their    
visible effects1 they both appear1 and  
in event have ever proved1 the secret   
and dissembled favours of his affection4
 ,it is a singular piece of wisdom to   
apprehend truly1 and without passion1   
the works of ,god1 and so well to       
distinguish his justice from his mercy  
as not to miscall those noble           
attributes2 yet it is likewise an honest
 piece of logick so to dispute and argue
 the proceedings of ,god as to          
distinguish even his judgments into     
mercies4 ,for ,god is merciful unto all1
 because better to the worst than the   
best deserve2 and to say he punisheth   
none in this world1 though it be a      
paradox1 is no absurdity4 ,to one that  
hath committed murder1 if the judge     

should only ordain a fine1 it were a    
madness to call this a punishment1 and  
to repine at the sentence1 rather than  
admire the clemency of the judge4 ,thus1
 our offences being mortal1 and         
deserving not only death but damnation1 
if the goodness of ,god be content to   
traverse and pass them over with a loss1
 misfortune1 or disease2 what frenzy    
were it to term this a punishment1      
rather than an extremity of mercy1 and  
to groan under the rod of his judgments 
rather than admire the sceptre of his   
mercies6 ,therefore to adore1 honour1   
and admire him1 is a debt of gratitude  
due from the obligation of our nature1  
states1 and conditions3 and with these  
thoughts he that knows them best will   
not deny that ,i adore him4 ,that ,i    
obtain heaven1 and the bliss thereof1 is
 accidental1 and not the intended work  
of my devotion2 it being a felicity ,i  
can neither think to deserve nor scarce 
in modesty to expect4 ,for these two    
ends of us all1 either as rewards or    

punishments1 are mercifully ordained and
 disproportionably disposed unto our    
actions2 the one being so far beyond our
 deserts1 the other so infinitely below 
our demerits4  ,sect4 #ed4--,there is no
 salvation to those that believe not in 
,christ2 that is1 say some1 since his   
nativity1 and1 as divinity affirmeth1   
before also2 which makes me much        
apprehend the end of those honest       
worthies and philosophers which died    
before his incarnation4 ,it is hard to  
place those souls in hell1 whose worthy 
lives do teach us virtue on earth4      
,methinks1 among those many subdivisions
 of hell1 there might have been one     
limbo left for these4 ,what a strange   
vision will it be to see their poetical 
fictions converted into verities1 and   
their imagined and fancied furies into  
real devils6 ,how strange to them will  
sound the history of ,adam1 when they   
shall suffer for him they never heard   
of6 ,when they who derive their         
genealogy from the gods1 shall know they

 are the unhappy issue of sinful man6   
,it is an insolent part of reason1 to   
controvert the works of ,god1 or        
question the justice of his proceedings4
 ,could humility teach others1 as it    
hath instructed me1 to contemplate the  
infinite and incomprehensible distance  
betwixt the ,creator and the creature2  
or did we seriously perpend that one    
simile of ,st ,paul1 8shall the vessel  
say to the potter1 why hast thou made me
 thus80 it would prevent these arrogant 
disputes of reason3 nor would we argue  
the definitive sentence of ,god1 either 
to heaven or hell4 ,men that live       
according to the right rule and law of  
reason1 live but in their own kind1 as  
beasts do in theirs2 who justly obey the
 prescript of their natures1 and        
therefore cannot reasonably demand a    
reward of their actions1 as only obeying
 the natural dictates of their reason4  
,it will1 therefore1 and must1 at last  
appear1 that all salvation is through   
,christ2 which verity1 ,i fear1 these   

great examples of virtue must confirm1  
and make it good how the perfectest     
actions of earth have no title or claim 
unto heaven4  ,sect4 #ee4--,nor truly do
 ,i think the lives of these1 or of any 
other1 were ever correspondent1 or in   
all points conformable1 unto their      
doctrines4 ,it is evident that          
,aristotle transgressed the rule of his 
own ethicks2#gj the stoicks1 that       
condemn passion1 and command a man to   
laugh in ,phalaris's#ga bull1 could not 
endure without a groan a fit of the     
stone or colick4 ,the scepticks1 that   
affirmed they knew nothing1#gb even in  
that opinion confute themselves1 and    
thought they knew more than all the     
world beside4 ,diogenes ,i hold to be   
the most vainglorious man of his time1  
and more ambitious in refusing all      
honours1 than ,alexander in rejecting   
none4 ,vice and the devil put a fallacy 
upon our reasons2 and1 provoking us too 
hastily to run from it1 entangle and    
profound us deeper in it4 ,the duke of  

,venice1 that weds himself unto the sea1
 by a ring of gold1#gc ,i will not      
accuse of prodigality1 because it is a  
solemnity of good use and consequence in
 the state3 but the philosopher1 that   
threw his money into the sea to avoid   
avarice1 was a notorious prodigal4#gd   
,there is no road or ready way to       
virtue2 it is not an easy point of art  
to disentangle ourselves from this      
riddle or web of sin4 ,to perfect       
virtue1 as to religion1 there is        
required a panoplia1 or complete armour2
 that whilst we lie at close ward       
against one vice1 we lie not open to the
 veney#ge of another4 ,and indeed wiser 
discretions1 that have the thread of    
reason to conduct them1 offend without a
 pardon2 whereas under heads may stumble
 without dishonour4 ,there go so many   
circumstances to piece up one good      
action1 that it is a lesson to be good1 
and we are forced to be virtuous by the 
book4 ,again1 the practice of men holds 
not an equal pace1 yea and often runs   

counter to their theory2 we naturally   
know what is good1 but naturally pursue 
what is evil3 the rhetorick wherewith ,i
 persuade another cannot persuade       
myself4 ,there is a depraved appetite in
 us1 that will with patience hear the   
learned instructions of reason1 but yet 
perform no further than agrees to its   
own irregular humour4 ,in brief1 we all 
are monsters2 that is1 a composition of 
man and beast3 wherein we must endeavour
 to be as the poets fancy that wise man1
 ,chiron2 that is1 to have the region of
 man above that of beast1 and sense to  
sit but at the feet of reason4 ,lastly1 
,i do desire with ,god that all1 but yet
 affirm with men that few1 shall know   
salvation1--that the bridge is narrow1  
the passage strait unto life3 yet those 
who do confine the church of ,god either
 to particular nations1 churches1 or    
families1 have made it far narrower than
 our ,saviour ever meant it4  ,sect4    
#ef4--,the vulgarity of those judgments 
that wrap the church of ,god in         

,strabo's cloak1#gf and restrain it unto
 ,europe1 seem to me as bad geographers 
as ,alexander1 who thought he had       
conquered all the world1 when he had not
 subdued the half of any part thereof4  
,for we cannot deny the church of ,god  
both in ,asia and ,africa1 if we do not 
forget the peregrinations of the        
apostles1 the deaths of the martyrs1 the
 sessions of many and 7even in our      
reformed judgment7 lawful councils1 held
 in those parts in the minority and     
nonage of ours4 ,nor must a few         
differences1 more remarkable in the eyes
 of man than1 perhaps1 in the judgment  
of ,god1 excommunicate from heaven one  
another2 much less those ,christians who
 are in a manner all martyrs1           
maintaining their faith in the noble way
 of persecution1 and serving ,god in the
 fire1 whereas we honour him in the     
sunshine4  ',tis true1 we all hold there
 is a number of elect1 and many to be   
saved2 yet1 take our opinions together1 
and from the confusion thereof1 there   

will be no such thing as salvation1 nor 
shall any one be saved3 for1 first1 the 
church of ,rome condemneth us2 we       
likewise them2 the sub-reformists and   
sectaries sentence the doctrine of our  
church as damnable2 the atomist1 or     
familist1#gg reprobates all these2 and  
all these1 them again4 ,thus1 whilst the
 mercies of ,god do promise us heaven1  
our conceits and opinions exclude us    
from that place4 ,there must be         
therefore more than one ,st ,peter2     
particular churches and sects usurp the 
gates of heaven1 and turn the key       
against each other2 and thus we go to   
heaven against each other's wills1      
conceits1 and opinions1 and1 with as    
much uncharity as ignorance1 do err1 ,i 
fear1 in points not only of our own1 but
 one another's salvation4  ,sect4       
#eg4--;,i believe many are saved who to 
man seem reprobated1 and many are       
reprobated who in the opinion and       
sentence of man stand elected4 ,there   
will appear1 at the last day1 strange   

and unexpected examples1 both of his    
justice and his mercy2 and1 therefore1  
to define either is folly in man1 and   
insolency even in the devils4 ,these    
acute and subtile spirits1 in all their 
sagacity1 can hardly divine who shall be
 saved2 which if they could prognostick1
 their labour were at an end1 nor need  
they compass the earth1 seeking whom    
they may devour4 ,those who1 upon a     
rigid application of the law1 sentence  
,solomon unto damnation1#gh condemn not 
only him1 but themselves1 and the whole 
world2 for by the letter and written    
word of ,god1 we are without exception  
in the state of death3 but there is a   
prerogative of ,god1 and an arbitrary   
pleasure above the letter of his own    
law1 by which alone we can pretend unto 
salvation1 and through which ,solomon   
might be as easily saved as those who   
condemn him4  ,sect4 #eh4--,the number  
of those who pretend unto salvation1 and
 those infinite swarms who think to pass
 through the eye of this needle1 have   

much amazed me4 ,that name and          
compellation of 8little flock0 doth not 
comfort1 but deject1 my devotion2       
especially when ,i reflect upon mine own
 unworthiness1 wherein1 according to my 
humble apprehensions1 ,i am below them  
all4 ,i believe there shall never be an 
anarchy in heaven2 but1 as there are    
hierarchies amongst the angels1 so shall
 there be degrees of priority amongst   
the saints4 ,yet is it1 ,i protest1     
beyond my ambition to aspire unto the   
first ranks2 my desires only are1 and ,i
 shall be happy therein1 to be but the  
last man1 and bring up the rear in      
heaven4  ,sect4 #ei4--;,again1 ,i am    
confident1 and fully persuaded1 yet dare
 not take my oath1 of my salvation4 ,i  
am1 as it were1 sure1 and do believe    
without all doubt1 that there is such a 
city as ,constantinople2 yet1 for me to 
take my oath thereon were a kind of     
perjury1 because ,i hold no infallible  
warrant from my own sense to confirm me 
in the certainty thereof4 ,and truly1   

though many pretend to an absolute      
certainty of their salvation1 yet when  
an humble soul shall contemplate our own
 unworthiness1 she shall meet with many 
doubts1 and suddenly find how little we 
stand in need of the precept of ,st     
,paul1 8work out your salvation with    
fear and trembling40 ,that which is the 
cause of my election1 ,i hold to be the 
cause of my salvation1 which was the    
mercy and beneplacit of ,god1 before ,i 
was1 or the foundation of the world4    
8,before ,abraham was1 ,i am10 is the   
saying of ,christ1 yet is it true in    
some sense if ,i say it of myself2 for  
,i was not only before myself but ,adam1
 that is1 in the idea of ,god1 and the  
decree of that synod held from all      
eternity4 ,and in this sense1 ,i say1   
the world was before the creation1 and  
at an end before it had a beginning4    
,and thus was ,i dead before ,i was     
alive2 though my grave be ,england1 my  
dying place was ,paradise2 and ,eve     
miscarried of me1 before she conceived  

of ,cain4  ,sect4 #fj4--;,insolent      
zeals1 that do decry good works and rely
 only upon faith1 take not away merit3  
for1 depending upon the efficacy of     
their faith1 they enforce the condition 
of ,god1 and in a more sophistical way  
do seem to challenge heaven4 ,it was    
decreed by ,god that only those that    
lapped in the water like dogs1 should   
have the honour to destroy the          
,midianites2 yet could none of those    
justly challenge1 or imagine he         
deserved1 that honour thereupon4 ,i do  
not deny but that true faith1 and such  
as ,god requires1 is not only a mark or 
token1 but also a means1 of our         
salvation2 but1 where to find this1 is  
as obscure to me as my last end4 ,and if
 our ,saviour could object1 unto his own
 disciples and favourites1 a faith that1
 to the quantity of a grain of mustard  
seed1 is able to remove mountains2      
surely that which we boast of is not    
anything1 or1 at the most1 but a remove 
from nothing4  ,this is the tenour of my

 belief2 wherein1 though there be many  
things singular1 and to the humour of my
 irregular self1 yet1 if they square not
 with maturer judgments1 ,i disclaim    
them1 and do no further favour them than
 the learned and best judgments shall   
authorize them4     ,,part ,,the        
,,second4   ,sect4 #a4--,now1 for that  
other virtue of charity1 without which  
faith is a mere notion and of no        
existence1 ,i have ever endeavoured to  
nourish the merciful disposition and    
humane inclination ,i borrowed from my  
parents1 and regulate it to the written 
and prescribed laws of charity4 ,and1 if
 ,i hold the true anatomy of myself1 ,i 
am delineated and naturally framed to   
such a piece of virtue1--for ,i am of a 
constitution so general that it consorts
 and sympathizeth with all things2 ,i   
have no antipathy1 or rather            
idiosyncrasy1 in diet1 humour1 air1     
anything4 ,i wonder not at the ,french  
for their dishes of frogs1 snails1 and  
toadstools1 nor at the ,jews for locusts

 and grasshoppers2 but1 being amongst   
them1 make them my common viands2 and ,i
 find they agree with my stomach as well
 as theirs4 ,i could digest a salad     
gathered in a church-yard as well as in 
a garden4 ,i cannot start at the        
presence of a serpent1 scorpion1 lizard1
 or salamander2 at the sight of a toad  
or viper1 ,i find in me no desire to    
take up a stone to destroy them4 ,i feel
 not in myself those common antipathies 
that ,i can discover in others3 those   
national repugnances do not touch me1   
nor do ,i behold with prejudice the     
,french1 ,italian1 ,spaniard1 or ,dutch2
 but1 where ,i find their actions in    
balance with my countrymen's1 ,i honour1
 love1 and embrace them1 in the same    
degree4 ,i was born in the eighth       
climate1 but seem to be framed and      
constellated unto all4 ,i am no plant   
that will not prosper out of a garden4  
,all places1 all airs1 make unto me one 
country2 ,i am in ,england everywhere1  
and under any meridian4 ,i have been    

shipwrecked1 yet am not enemy with the  
sea or winds2 ,i can study1 play1 or    
sleep1 in a tempest4 ,in brief ,i am    
averse from nothing3 my conscience would
 give me the lie if ,i should say ,i    
absolutely detest or hate any essence1  
but the devil2 or so at least abhor     
anything1 but that we might come to     
composition4 ,if there be any among     
those common objects of hatred ,i do    
contemn and laugh at1 it is that great  
enemy of reason1 virtue1 and religion1  
the multitude2 that numerous piece of   
monstrosity1 which1 taken asunder1 seem 
men1 and the reasonable creatures of    
,god1 but1 confused together1 make but  
one great beast1 and a monstrosity more 
prodigious than ,hydra4 ,it is no breach
 of charity to call these fools2 it is  
the style all holy writers have afforded
 them1 set down by ,solomon in canonical
 ,scripture1 and a point of our faith to
 believe so4 ,neither in the name of    
multitude do ,i only include the base   
and minor sort of people3 there is a    

rabble even amongst the gentry2 a sort  
of plebeian heads1 whose fancy moves    
with the same wheel as these2 men in the
 same level with mechanicks1 though     
their fortunes do somewhat gild their   
infirmities1 and their purses compound  
for their follies4 ,but1 as in casting  
account three or four men together come 
short in account of one man placed by   
himself below them1 so neither are a    
troop of these ignorant ,doradoes#gi of 
that true esteem and value as many a    
forlorn person1 whose condition doth    
place him below their feet4 ,let us     
speak like politicians2 there is a      
nobility without heraldry1 a natural    
dignity1 whereby one man is ranked with 
another1 another filed before him1      
according to the quality of his desert1 
and pre-eminence of his good parts4     
,though the corruption of these times1  
and the bias of present practice1 wheel 
another way1 thus it was in the first   
and primitive commonwealths1 and is yet 
in the integrity and cradle of well     

ordered polities3 till corruption       
getteth ground2--ruder desires labouring
 after that which wiser considerations  
contemn2--every one having a liberty to 
amass and heap up riches1 and they a    
licence or faculty to do or purchase    
anything4  ,sect4 #b4--,this general and
 indifferent temper of mine doth more   
nearly dispose me to this noble virtue4 
,it is a happiness to be born and framed
 unto virtue1 and to grow up from the   
seeds of nature1 rather than the        
inoculations and forced grafts of       
education3 yet1 if we are directed only 
by our particular natures1 and regulate 
our inclinations by no higher rule than 
that of our reasons1 we are but         
moralists2 divinity will still call us  
heathens4 ,therefore this great work of 
charity must have other motives1 ends1  
and impulsions4 ,i give no alms to      
satisfy the hunger of my brother1 but to
 fulfil and accomplish the will and     
command of my ,god2 ,i draw not my purse
 for his sake that demands it1 but his  

that enjoined it2 ,i relieve no man upon
 the rhetorick of his miseries1 nor to  
content mine own commiserating          
disposition2 for this is still but moral
 charity1 and an act that oweth more to 
passion than reason4 ,he that relieves  
another upon the bare suggestion and    
bowels of pity doth not this so much for
 his sake as for his own2 and so1 by    
relieving them1 we relieve ourselves    
also4 ,it is as erroneous a conceit to  
redress other men's misfortunes upon the
 common considerations of merciful      
natures1 that it may be one day our own 
case2 for this is a sinister and        
politick kind of charity1 whereby we    
seem to bespeak the pities of men in the
 like occasions4 ,and truly ,i have     
observed that those professed           
eleemosynaries1 though in a crowd or    
multitude1 do yet direct and place their
 petitions on a few and selected        
persons2 there is surely a physiognomy1 
which those experienced and master      
mendicants observe1 whereby they        

instantly discover a merciful aspect1   
and will single out a face1 wherein they
 spy the signature and marks of mercy4  
,for there are mystically in our faces  
certain characters which carry in them  
the motto of our souls1 wherein he that 
can read ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 may read our       
natures4 ,i hold1 moreover1 that there  
is a phytognomy1 or physiognomy1 not    
only of men1 but of plants and          
vegetables2 and is every one of them    
some outward figures which hang as signs
 or bushes of their inward forms4 ,the  
finger of ,god hath left an inscription 
upon all his works1 not graphical1 or   
composed of letters1 but of their       
several forms1 constitutions1 parts1 and
 operations1 which1 aptly joined        
together1 do make one word that doth    
express their natures4 ,by these letters
 ,god calls the stars by their names2   
and by this alphabet ,adam assigned to  
every creature a name peculiar to its   
nature4 ,now1 there are1 besides these  
characters in our faces1 certain        

mystical figures in our hands1 which ,i 
dare not call mere dashes1 strokes  la  
volee or at random1 because delineated  
by a pencil that never works in vain2   
and hereof ,i take more particular      
notice1 because ,i carry that in mine   
own hand which ,i could never read of   
nor discover in another4 ,aristotle1 ,i 
confess1 in his acute and singular book 
of physiognomy1 hath made no mention of 
chiromancy3#hj yet ,i believe the       
,egyptians1 who were nearer addicted to 
those abstruse and mystical sciences1   
had a knowledge therein3 to which those 
vagabond and counterfeit ,egyptians did 
after#ha pretend1 and perhaps retained a
 few corrupted principles1 which        
sometimes might verify their            
prognosticks4  ,it is the common wonder 
of all men1 how1 among so many millions 
of faces1 there should be none alike3   
now1 contrary1 ,i wonder as much how    
there should be any4 ,he that shall     
consider how many thousand several words
 have been carelessly and without study 

composed out of twenty-four letters2    
withal1 how many hundred lines there are
 to be drawn in the fabrick of one man2 
shall easily find that this variety is  
necessary3 and it will be very hard that
 they shall so concur as to make one    
portrait like another4 ,let a painter   
carelessly limn out a million of faces1 
and you shall find them all different2  
yes1 let him have his copy before him1  
yet1 after all his art1 there will      
remain a sensible distinction3 for the  
pattern or example of everything is the 
perfectest in that kind1 whereof we     
still come short1 though we transcend or
 go beyond it2 because herein it is     
wide1 and agrees not in all points unto 
its copy4 ,nor doth the similitude of   
creatures disparage the variety of      
nature1 nor any way confound the works  
of ,god4 ,for even in things alike there
 is diversity2 and those that do seem to
 accord do manifestly disagree4 ,and    
thus is man like ,god2 for1 in the same 
things that we resemble him we are      

utterly different from him4 ,there was  
never anything so like another as in all
 points to concur2 there will ever some 
reserved difference slip in1 to prevent 
the identity2 without which two several 
things would not be alike1 but the same1
 which is impossible4  ,sect4           
#c4--;,but1 to return from philosophy to
 charity1 ,i hold not so narrow a       
conceit of this virtue as to conceive   
that to give alms is only to be         
charitable1 or think a piece of         
liberality can comprehend the total of  
charity4 ,divinity hath wisely divided  
the act thereof into many branches1 and 
hath taught us1 in this narrow way1 many
 paths unto goodness2 as many ways as we
 may do good1 so many ways we may be    
charitable4 ,there are infirmities not  
only of body1 but of soul and fortunes1 
which do require the merciful hand of   
our abilities4 ,i cannot contemn a man  
for ignorance1 but behold him with as   
much pity as ,i do ,lazarus4 ,it is no  
greater charity to clothe his body than 

apparel the nakedness of his soul4 ,it  
is an honourable object to see the      
reasons of other men wear our liveries1 
and their borrowed understandings do    
homage to the bounty of ours4 ,it is the
 cheapest way of beneficence1 and1 like 
the natural charity of the sun1         
illuminates another without obscuring   
itself4 ,to be reserved and caitiff#hb  
in this part of goodness is the         
sordidest piece of covetousness1 and    
more contemptible than the pecuniary    
avarice4 ,to this 7as calling myself a  
scholar7 ,i am obliged by the duty of my
 condition4 ,i make not therefore my    
head a grave1 but a treasure of         
knowledge4 ,i intend no monopoly1 but a 
community in learning4 ,i study not for 
my own sake only1 but for theirs that   
study not for themselves4 ,i envy no man
 that knows more than myself1 but pity  
them that know less4 ,i instruct no man 
as an exercise of my knowledge1 or with 
an intent rather to nourish and keep it 
alive in mine own head than beget and   

propagate it in his4 ,and1 in the midst 
of all my endeavours1 there is but one  
thought that dejects me1 that my        
acquired parts must perish with myself1 
nor can be legacied among my honoured   
friends4 ,i cannot fall out or contemn a
 man for an error1 or conceive why a    
difference in opinion should divide an  
affection2 for controversies1 disputes1 
and argumentations1 both in philosophy  
and in divinity1 if they meet with      
discreet and peaceable natures1 do not  
infringe the laws of charity4 ,in all   
disputes1 so much as there is of        
passion1 so much there is of nothing to 
the purpose2 for then reason1 like a bad
 hound1 spends upon a false scent1 and  
forsakes the question first started4    
,and this is one reason why             
controversies are never determined2 for1
 though they be amply proposed1 they are
 scarce at all handled2 they do so swell
 with unnecessary digressions2 and the  
parenthesis on the party is often as    
large as the main discourse upon the    

subject4 ,the foundations of religion   
are already established1 and the        
principles of salvation subscribed unto 
by all4 ,there remain not many          
controversies worthy a passion1 and yet 
never any dispute without1 not only in  
divinity but inferior arts4 ,what a  and
 hot skirmish is betwixt ,s4 and ,t4 in 
,lucian6#hc ,how do grammarians hack and
 slash for the genitive case in         
,jupiter6#hd ,how do they break their   
own pates1 to salve that of             
,priscian6#he 8,si foret in terris1     
rideret ,democritus40 ,yes1 even amongst
 wiser militants1 how many wounds have  
been given and credits slain1 for the   
poor victory of an opinion1 or beggarly 
conquest of a distinction6 ,scholars are
 men of peace1 they bear no arms1 but   
their tongues are sharper than ,actius's
 razor2#hf their pens carry farther1 and
 give a louder report than thunder4 ,i  
had rather stand the shock of a         
basilisko#hg than in the fury of a      
merciless pen4 ,it is not mere zeal to  

learning1 or devotion to the muses1 that
 wiser princes patron the arts1 and     
carry an indulgent aspect unto scholars2
 but a desire to have their names       
eternized by the memory of their        
writings1 and a fear of the revengeful  
pen of succeeding ages3 for these are   
the men that1 when they have played     
their parts1 and had their exits1 must  
step out and give the moral of their    
scenes1 and deliver unto posterity an   
inventory of their virtues and vices4   
,and surely there goes a great deal of  
conscience to the compiling of an       
history3 there is no reproach to the    
scandal of a story2 it is such an       
authentick kind of falsehood1 that with 
authority belies our good names to all  
nations and posterity4  ,sect4          
#d4--,there is another offence unto     
charity1 which no author hath ever      
written of1 and few take notice of1 and 
that's the reproach1 not of whole       
professions1 mysteries1 and conditions1 
but of whole nations1 wherein by        

opprobrious epithets we miscall each    
other1 and1 by an uncharitable logick1  
from a disposition in a few1 conclude a 
habit in all4      ,le mutin ,anglois1  
et le bravache ,escossois     ,le bougre
 ,italien1 et le fol ,francois2     ,le 
poltron ,romain1 le larron de ,gascogne1
     ,l',espagnol superbe1 et l',alleman
 yvrogne4  ,st ,paul1 that calls the    
,cretians liars1 doth it but indirectly1
 and upon quotation of their own        
poet4#hh ,it is as bloody a thought in  
one way as ,nero's was in another4#hi   
,for by a word we wound a thousand1 and 
at one blow assassin the honour of a    
nation4 ,it is as complete a piece of   
madness to miscall and rave against the 
times2 or think to recall men to reason 
by a fit of passion4 ,democritus1 that  
thought to laugh the times into         
goodness1 seems to me as deeply         
hypochondriack as ,heraclitus1 that     
bewailed them4 ,it moves not my spleen  
to behold the multitude in their proper 
humours2 that is1 in their fits of folly

 and madness1 as well understanding that
 wisdom is not profaned unto the world2 
and it is the privilege of a few to be  
virtuous4 ,they that endeavour to       
abolish vice destroy also virtue2 for   
contraries1 though they destroy one     
another1 are yet the life of one        
another4 ,thus virtue 7abolish vice7 is 
an idea4 ,again1 the community of sin   
doth not disparage goodness2 for1 when  
vice gains upon the major part1 virtue1 
in whom it remains1 becomes more        
excellent1 and1 being lost in some1     
multiplies its goodness in others1 which
 remain untouched1 and persist entire in
 the general inundation4 ,i can         
therefore behold vice without a satire1 
content only with an admonition1 or     
instructive reprehension2 for noble     
natures1 and such as are capable of     
goodness1 are railed into vice1 that    
might as easily be admonished into      
virtue2 and we should be all so far the 
orators of goodness as to protect her   
from the power of vice1 and maintain the

 cause of injured truth4 ,no man can    
justly censure or condemn another2      
because1 indeed1 no man truly knows     
another4 ,this ,i perceive in myself2   
for ,i am in the dark to all the world1 
and my nearest friends behold me but in 
a cloud4 ,those that know me but        
superficially think less of me than ,i  
do of myself2 those of my near          
acquaintance think more2 ,god who truly 
knows me1 knows that ,i am nothing3 for 
he only beholds me1 and all the world1  
who looks not on us through a derived   
ray1 or a trajection of a sensible      
species1 but beholds the substance      
without the help of accidents1 and the  
forms of things1 as we their operations4
 ,further1 no man can judge another1    
because no man knows himself2 for we    
censure others but as they disagree from
 that humour which we fancy laudable in 
ourselves1 and commend others but for   
that wherein they seem to quadrate and  
consent with us4 ,so that in conclusion1
 all is but that we all condemn1        

self-love4 ',tis the general complaint  
of these times1 and perhaps of those    
past1 that charity grows cold2 which ,i 
perceive most verified in those which do
 most manifest the fires and flames of  
zeal2 for it is a virtue that best      
agrees with coldest natures1 and such as
 are complexioned for humility4 ,but how
 shall we expect charity towards others1
 when we are uncharitable to ourselves8 
8,charity begins at home10 is the voice 
of the world2 yet is every man his      
greatest enemy1 and as it were his own  
executioner4 8,non occides10 is the     
commandment of ,god1 yet scarce observed
 by any man2 for ,i perceive every man  
is his own ,atropos1 and lends a hand to
 cut the thread of his own days4 ,cain  
was not therefore the first murderer1   
but ,adam1 who brought in death2 whereof
 he beheld the practice and example in  
his own son ,abel2 and saw that verified
 in the experience of another which     
faith could not persuade him in the     
theory of himself4  ,sect4 #e4--,there  

is1 ,i think1 no man that apprehends his
 own miseries less than myself2 and no  
man that so nearly apprehends another's4
 ,i could lose an arm without a tear1   
and with few groans1 methinks1 be       
quartered into pieces2 yet can ,i weep  
most seriously at a play1 and receive   
with a true passion the counterfeit     
griefs of those known and professed     
impostures4 ,it is a barbarous part of  
inhumanity to add unto any afflicted    
parties misery1 or endeavour to multiply
 in any man a passion whose single      
nature is already above his patience4   
,this was the greatest affliction of    
,job1 and those oblique expostulations  
of his friends a deeper injury than the 
down-right blows of the devil4 ,it is   
not the tears of our own eyes only1 but 
of our friends also1 that do exhaust the
 current of our sorrows2 which1 falling 
into many streams1 runs more peaceably1 
and is contented with a narrower        
channel4 ,it is an act within the power 
of charity1 to translate a passion out  

of one breast into another1 and to      
divide a sorrow almost out of itself2   
for an affliction1 like a dimension1 may
 be so divided as1 if not indivisible1  
at least to become insensible4 ,now with
 my friend ,i desire not to share or    
participate1 but to engross1 his        
sorrows2 that1 by making them mine own1 
,i may more easily discuss them3 for in 
mine own reason1 and within myself1 ,i  
can command that which ,i cannot entreat
 without myself1 and within the circle  
of another4 ,i have often thought those 
noble pairs and examples of friendship1 
not so truly histories of what had been1
 as fictions of what should be2 but ,i  
now perceive nothing in them but        
possibilities1 nor anything in the      
heroick examples of ,damon and ,pythias1
 ,achilles and ,patroclus1 which1       
methinks1 upon some grounds1 ,i could   
not perform within the narrow compass of
 myself4 ,that a man should lay down his
 life for his friend seems strange to   
vulgar affections and such as confine   

themselves within that worldly          
principle1 8,charity begins at home40   
,for mine own part1 ,i could never      
remember the relations that ,i held unto
 myself1 nor the respect that ,i owe    
unto my own nature1 in the cause of     
,god1 my country1 and my friends4 ,next 
to these three1 ,i do embrace myself4 ,i
 confess ,i do not observe that order   
that the schools ordain our             
affections1--to love our parents1 wives1
 children1 and then our friends2 for1   
excepting the injunctions of religion1  
,i do not find in myself such a         
necessary and indissoluble sympathy to  
all those of my blood4 ,i hope ,i do not
 break the fifth commandment1 if ,i     
conceive ,i may love my friend before   
the nearest of my blood1 even those to  
whom ,i owe the principles of life4 ,i  
never yet cast a true affection on a    
woman2 but ,i have loved my friend1 as  
,i do virtue1 my soul1 my ,god4 ,from   
hence1 methinks1 ,i do conceive how ,god
 loves man2 what happiness there is in  

the love of ,god4 ,omitting all other1  
there are three most mystical unions2   
two natures in one person2 three persons
 in one nature2 one soul in two bodies4 
,for though1 indeed1 they be really     
divided1 yet are they so united1 as they
 seem but one1 and make rather a duality
 than two distinct souls4  ,sect4       
#f4--,there are wonders in true         
affection4 ,it is a body of enigmas1    
mysteries1 and riddles2 wherein two so  
become one as they both become two3 ,i  
love my friend before myself1 and yet1  
methinks1 ,i do not love him enough4    
,some few months hence1 my multiplied   
affection will make me believe ,i have  
not loved him at all4 ,when ,i am from  
him1 ,i am dead till ,i be with him4    
,united souls are not satisfied with    
embraces1 but desire to be truly each   
other2 which being impossible1 these    
desires are infinite1 and must proceed  
without a possibility of satisfaction4  
,another misery there is in affection2  
that whom we truly love like our own    

selves1 we forget their looks1 nor can  
our memory retain the idea of their     
faces3 and it is no wonder1 for they are
 ourselves1 and our affection makes     
their looks our own4 ,this noble        
affection falls not on vulgar and common
 constitutions2 but on such as are      
marked for virtue4 ,he that can love his
 friend with this noble ardour will in a
 competent degree effect all4 ,now1 if  
we can bring our affections to look     
beyond the body1 and cast an eye upon   
the soul1 we have found out the true    
object1 not only of friendship1 but     
charity3 and the greatest happiness that
 we can bequeath the soul is that       
wherein we all do place our last        
felicity1 salvation2 which1 though it be
 not in our power to bestow1 it is in   
our charity and pious invocations to    
desire1 if not procure and further4 ,i  
cannot contentedly frame a prayer for   
myself in particular1 without a         
catalogue for my friends2 nor request a 
happiness wherein my sociable           

disposition doth not desire the         
fellowship of my neighbour4 ,i never    
hear the toll of a passing bell1 though 
in my mirth1 without my prayers and best
 wishes for the departing spirit4 ,i    
cannot go to cure the body of my        
patient1 but ,i forget my profession1   
and call unto ,god for his soul4 ,i     
cannot see one say his prayers1 but1    
instead of imitating him1 ,i fall into  
supplication for him1 who perhaps is no 
more to me than a common nature3 and if 
,god hath vouchsafed an ear to my       
supplications1 there are surely many    
happy that never saw me1 and enjoy the  
blessing of mine unknown devotions4 ,to 
pray for enemies1 that is1 for their    
salvation1 is no harsh precept1 but the 
practice of our daily and ordinary      
devotions4 ,i cannot believe the story  
of the ,italian2#ij our bad wishes and  
uncharitable desires proceed no further 
than this life2 it is the devil1 and the
 uncharitable votes of hell1 that desire
 our misery in the world to come4       

,sect4 #g4--8,to do no injury nor take  
none0 was a principle which1 to my      
former years and impatient affections1  
seemed to contain enough of morality1   
but my more settled years1 and          
,christian constitution1 have fallen    
upon severer resolutions4 ,i can hold   
there is no such things as injury2 that 
if there be1 there is no such injury as 
revenge1 and no such revenge as the     
contempt of an injury3 that to hate     
another is to malign himself2 that the  
truest way to love another is to despise
 ourselves4 ,i were unjust unto mine own
 conscience if ,i should say ,i am at   
variance with anything like myself4 ,i  
find there are many pieces in this one  
fabrick of man2 this frame is raised    
upon a mass of antipathies3 ,i am one   
methinks but as the world1 wherein      
notwithstanding there are a swarm of    
distinct essences1 and in them another  
world of contrarieties2 we carry private
 and domestick enemies within1 public   
and more hostile adversaries without4   

,the devil1 that did but buffet ,st     
,paul1 plays methinks at sharp#ia with  
me4 ,let me be nothing1 if within the   
compass of myself1 ,i do not find the   
battle of ,lepanto1#ib passion against  
reason1 reason against faith1 faith     
against the devil1 and my conscience    
against all4 ,there is another man      
within me that's angry with me1 rebukes1
 commands1 and dastards me4 ,i have no  
conscience of marble1 to resist the     
hammer of more heavy offences3 nor yet  
so soft and waxen1 as to take the       
impression of each single peccadillo or 
scape of infirmity4 ,i am of a strange  
belief1 that it is as easy to be        
forgiven some sins as to commit some    
others4 ,for my original sin1 ,i hold it
 to be washed away in my baptism2 for my
 actual transgressions1 ,i compute and  
reckon with ,god but from my last       
repentance1 sacrament1 or general       
absolution2 and therefore am not        
terrified with the sins or madness of my
 youth4 ,i thank the goodness of ,god1  

,i have no sins that want a name4 ,i am 
not singular in offences2 my            
transgressions are epidemical1 and from 
the common breath of our corruption4    
,for there are certain tempers of body  
which1 matched with a humorous depravity
 of mind1 do hatch and produce          
vitiosities1 whose newness and          
monstrosity of nature admits no name2   
this was the temper of that lecher that 
carnaled with a statua1 and the         
constitution of ,nero in his spintrian  
recreations4 ,for the heavens are not   
only fruitful in new and unheard-of     
stars1 the earth in plants and animals1 
but men's minds also in villany and     
vices4 ,now the dulness of my reason1   
and the vulgarity of my disposition1    
never prompted my invention nor         
solicited my affection unto any of      
these2--yet even those common and       
quotidian infirmities that so           
necessarily attend me1 and do seem to be
 my very nature1 have so dejected me1 so
 broken the estimation that ,i should   

have otherwise of myself1 that ,i repute
 myself the most abject piece of        
mortality4 ,divines prescribe a fit of  
sorrow to repentance3 there goes        
indignation1 anger1 sorrow1 hatred1 into
 mine1 passions of a contrary nature1   
which neither seem to suit with this    
action1 nor my proper constitution4 ,it 
is no breach of charity to ourselves to 
be at variance with our vices1 nor to   
abhor that part of us1 which is an enemy
 to the ground of charity1 our ,god2    
wherein we do but imitate our great     
selves1 the world1 whose divided        
antipathies and contrary faces do yet   
carry a charitable regard unto the      
whole1 by their particular discords     
preserving the common harmony1 and      
keeping in fetters those powers1 whose  
rebellions1 once masters1 might be the  
ruin of all4  ,sect4 #h4--;,i thank     
,god1 amongst those millions of vices ,i
 do inherit and hold from ,adam1 ,i have
 escaped one1 and that a mortal enemy to
 charity1--the first and father sin1 not

 only of man1 but of the devil1--pride2 
a vice whose name is comprehended in a  
monosyllable1 but in its nature not     
circumscribed with a world1 ,i have     
escaped it in a condition that can      
hardly avoid it4 ,those petty           
acquisitions and reputed perfections1   
that advance and elevate the conceits of
 other men1 add no feathers unto mine4  
,i have seen a grammarian tower and     
plume himself over a single line in     
,horace1 and show more pride1 in the    
construction of one ode1 than the author
 in the composure of the whole book4    
,for my own part1 besides the jargon and
 patois of several provinces1 ,i        
understand no less than six languages2  
yet ,i protest ,i have no higher conceit
 of myself than had our fathers before  
the confusion of ,babel1 when there was 
but one language in the world1 and none 
to boast himself either linguist or     
critick4 ,i have not only seen several  
countries1 beheld the nature of their   
climes1 the chorography of their        

provinces1 topography of their cities1  
but understood their several laws1      
customs1 and policies2 yet cannot all   
this persuade the dulness of my spirit  
unto such an opinion of myself as ,i    
behold in nimbler and conceited heads1  
that never looked a degree beyond their 
nests4 ,i know the names and somewhat   
more of all the constellations in my    
horizon2 yet ,i have seen a prating     
mariner1 that could only name the       
pointers and the north-star1 out-talk   
me1 and conceit himself a whole sphere  
above me4 ,i know most of the plants of 
my country1 and of those about me1 yet  
methinks ,i do not know so many as when 
,i did but know a hundred1 and had      
scarcely ever simpled further than      
,cheapside4 ,for1 indeed1 heads of      
capacity1 and such as are not full with 
a handful or easy measure of knowledge1 
think they know nothing till they know  
all2 which being impossible1 they fall  
upon the opinion of ,socrates1 and only 
know they know not anything4 ,i cannot  

think that ,homer pined away upon the   
riddle of the fishermen1 or that        
,aristotle1 who understood the          
uncertainty of knowledge1 and confessed 
so often the reason of man too weak for 
the works of nature1 did ever drown     
himself upon the flux and reflux of     
,euripus4#ic ,we do but learn1 to-day1  
what our better advanced judgments will 
unteach to-morrow2 and ,aristotle doth  
but instruct us1 as ,plato did him1 that
 is1 to confute himself4 ,i have run    
through all sorts1 yet find no rest in  
any3 though our first studies and junior
 endeavours may style us ,peripateticks1
 ,stoicks1 or ,academicks1 yet ,i       
perceive the wisest heads prove1 at     
last1 almost all ,scepticks1#id and     
stand like ,janus in the field of       
knowledge4 ,i have therefore one common 
and authentick philosophy ,i learned in 
the schools1 whereby ,i discourse and   
satisfy the reason of other men2 another
 more reserved1 and drawn from          
experience1 whereby ,i content mine own4

 ,solomon1 that complained of ignorance 
in the height of knowledge1 hath not    
only humbled my conceits1 but           
discouraged my endeavours4 ,there is yet
 another conceit that hath sometimes    
made me shut my books1 which tells me it
 is a vanity to waste our days in the   
blind pursuit of knowledge3 it is but   
attending a little longer1 and we shall 
enjoy that1 by instinct and infusion1   
which we endeavour at here by labour and
 inquisition4 ,it is better to sit down 
in a modest ignorance1 and rest         
contented with the natural blessing of  
our own reasons1 than by the uncertain  
knowledge of this life with sweat and   
vexation1 which death gives every fool  
gratis1 and is an accessary of our      
glorification4  ,sect4 #i4--;,i was     
never yet once1 and commend their       
resolutions who never marry twice4 ,not 
that ,i disallow of second marriage2 as 
neither in all cases of polygamy1 which 
considering some times1 and the unequal 
number of both sexes1 may be also       

necessary4 ,the whole world was made for
 man1 but the twelfth part of man for   
woman4 ,man is the whole world1 and the 
breath of ,god2 woman the rib and       
crooked piece of man4 ,i could be       
content that we might procreate like    
trees1 without conjunction1 or that     
there were any way to perpetuate the    
world without this trivial and vulgar   
way of coition3 it is the foolishest act
 a wise man commits in all his life1 nor
 is there anything that will more deject
 his cooled imagination1 when he shall  
consider what an odd and unworthy piece 
of folly he hath committed4 ,i speak not
 in prejudice1 nor am averse from that  
sweet sex1 but naturally amorous of all 
that is beautiful4 ,i can look a whole  
day with delight upon a handsome        
picture1 though it be but of an horse4  
,it is my temper1 and ,i like it the    
better1 to affect all harmony2 and sure 
there is musick1 even in the beauty and 
the silent note which ,cupid strikes1   
far sweeter than the sound of an        

instrument4 ,for there is a musick      
wherever there is a harmony1 order1 or  
proportion2 and thus far we may maintain
 8the musick of the spheres30 for those 
well-ordered motions1 and regular paces1
 though they give no sound unto the ear1
 yet to the understanding they strike a 
note most full of harmony4 ,whatsoever  
is harmonically composed delights in    
harmony1 which makes me much distrust   
the symmetry of those heads which       
declaim against all church-musick4 ,for 
myself1 not only from my obedience but  
my particular genius ,i do embrace it3  
for even that vulgar and tavern-musick  
which makes one man merry1 another mad1 
strikes in me a deep fit of devotion1   
and a profound contemplation of the     
first composer4 ,there is something in  
it of divinity more than the ear        
discovers3 it is an hieroglyphical and  
shadowed lesson of the whole world1 and 
creatures of ,god1--such a melody to the
 ear1 as the whole world1 well          
understood1 would afford the            

understanding4 ,in brief1 it is a       
sensible fit of that harmony which      
intellectually sounds in the ears of    
,god4 ,i will not say1 with ,plato1 the 
soul is an harmony1 but harmonical1 and 
hath its nearest sympathy unto musick3  
thus some1 whose temper of body agrees1 
and humours the constitution of their   
souls1 are born poets1 though indeed all
 are naturally inclined unto rhythm4    
,this made ,tacitus1 in the very first  
line of his story1 fall upon a verse2,p 
and ,cicero1 the worst of poets1 but    
declaiming for a poet1 falls in the very
 first sentence upon a perfect          
hexameter4,q ,i feel not in me those    
sordid and unchristian desires of my    
profession2 ,i do not secretly implore  
and wish for plagues1 rejoice at        
famines1 revolve ephemerides and        
almanacks in expectation of malignant   
aspects1 fatal conjunctions1 and        
eclipses4 ,i rejoice not at unwholesome 
springs nor unseasonable winters3 my    
prayer goes with the husbandman's2 ,i   

desire everything in its proper season1 
that neither men nor the times be out of
 temper4 ,let me be sick myself1 if     
sometimes the malady of my patient be   
not a disease unto me4 ,i desire rather 
to cure his infirmities than my own     
necessities4 ,where ,i do him no good1  
methinks it is scarce honest gain1      
though ,i confess 'tis but the worthy   
salary of our well intended endeavours4 
,i am not only ashamed but heartily     
sorry1 that1 besides death1 there are   
diseases incurable2 yet not for my own  
sake or that they be beyond my art1 but 
for the general cause and sake of       
humanity1 whose common cause ,i         
apprehend as mine own4 ,and1 to speak   
more generally1 those three noble       
professions which all civil             
commonwealths do honour1 are raised upon
 the fall of ,adam1 and are not any way 
exempt from their infirmities4 ,there   
are not only diseases incurable in      
physick1 but cases indissolvable in law1
 vices incorrigible in divinity4 ,if    

general councils may err1 ,i do not see 
why particular courts should be         
infallible3 their perfectest rules are  
raised upon the erroneous reasons of    
man1 and the laws of one do but condemn 
the rules of another2 as ,aristotle     
ofttimes the opinions of his            
predecessors1 because1 though agreeable 
to reason1 yet were not consonant to his
 own rules and the logick of his proper 
principles4 ,again1--to speak nothing of
 the sin against the ,holy ,ghost1 whose
 cure not only1 but whose nature is     
unknown1--,i can cure the gout or stone 
in some1 sooner than divinity1 pride1 or
 avarice in others4 ,i can cure vices by
 physick when they remain incurable by  
divinity1 and they shall obey my pills  
when they contemn their precepts4 ,i    
boast nothing1 but plainly say1 we all  
labour against our own cure2 for death  
is the cure of all diseases4 ,there is  
no catholicon or universal remedy ,i    
know1 but this1 which though nauseous to
 queasy stomachs1 yet to prepared       

appetites is nectar1 and a pleasant     
potion of immortality4  ,p 8,urbem      
,romam in principio reges habuere40  ,q 
8,in qua me non inficior mediocriter    
esse40--,pro ,archia ,poeta4  ,sect4    
#aj4--;,for my conversation1 it is1 like
 the sun's1 with all men1 and with a    
friendly aspect to good and bad4        
,methinks there is no man bad2 and the  
worst best1 that is1 while they are kept
 within the circle of those qualities   
wherein they are good4 ,there is no     
man's mind of so discordant and jarring 
a temper1 to which a tuneable           
disposition may not strike a harmony4   
,magn virtutes1 nec minora vitia2 it is 
the posy#ie of the best natures1 and may
 be inverted on the worst4 ,there are1  
in the most depraved and venomous       
dispositions1 certain pieces that remain
 untouched1 which by an                 
antiperistasis#if become more excellent1
 or by the excellency of their          
antipathies are able to preserve        
themselves from the contagion of their  

enemy vices1 and persist entire beyond  
the general corruption4 ,for it is also 
thus in nature3 the greatest balsams do 
lie enveloped in the bodies of the most 
powerful corrosives4 ,i say moreover1   
and ,i ground upon experience1 that     
poisons contain within themselves their 
own antidote1 and that which preserves  
them from the venom of themselves2      
without which they were not deleterious 
to others only1 but to themselves also4 
,but it is the corruption that ,i fear  
within me2 not the contagion of commerce
 without me4 ',tis that unruly regiment 
within me1 that will destroy me2 'tis   
that ,i do infect myself2 the man       
without a navel#ig yet lives in me4 ,i  
feel that original canker corrode and   
devour me3 and therefore1 8,defenda me1 
,dios1 de me60 8,lord1 deliver me from  
myself60 is a part of my litany1 and the
 first voice of my retired imaginations4
 ,there is no man alone1 because every  
man is a microcosm1 and carries the     
whole world about him4 8,nunquam minus  

solus quam cum solus10,r though it be   
the apothegm of a wise man is yet true  
in the mouth of a fool3 for indeed1     
though in a wilderness1 a man is never  
alone2 not only because he is with      
himself1 and his own thoughts1 but      
because he is with the devil1 who ever  
consorts with our solitude1 and is that 
unruly rebel that musters up those      
disordered motions which accompany our  
sequestered imaginations4 ,and to speak 
more narrowly1 there is no such thing as
 solitude1 nor anything that can be said
 to be alone1 and by itself1 but        
,god2--who is his own circle1 and can   
subsist by himself2 all others1 besides 
their dissimilary and heterogeneous     
parts1 which in a manner multiply their 
natures1 cannot subsist without the     
concourse of ,god1 and the society of   
that hand which doth uphold their       
natures4 ,in brief1 there can be nothing
 truly alone1 and by its self1 which is 
not truly one1 and such is only ,god3   
all others do transcend an unity1 and so

 by consequence are many4  ,r 8,cic4 de 
,off410 #a4 iii4  ,sect4 #aa4--,now for 
my life1 it is a miracle of thirty      
years1 which to relate1 were not a      
history1 but a piece of poetry1 and     
would sound to common ears like a fable4
 ,for the world1 ,i count it not an inn1
 but an hospital2 and a place not to    
live1 but to die in4 ,the world that ,i 
regard is myself2 it is the microcosm of
 my own frame that ,i cast mine eye on3 
for the other1 ,i use it but like my    
globe1 and turn it round sometimes for  
my recreation4 ,men that look upon my   
outside1 perusing only my condition and 
fortunes1 do err in my altitude2 for ,i 
am above ,atlas's shoulders4#ih ,the    
earth is a point not only in respect of 
the heavens above us1 but of the        
heavenly and celestial part within us4  
,that mass of flesh that circumscribes  
me limits not my mind4 ,that surface    
that tells the heavens it hath an end   
cannot persuade me ,i have any4 ,i take 
my circle to be above three hundred and 

sixty4 ,though the number of the ark do 
measure my body1 it comprehendeth not my
 mind4 ,whilst ,i study to find how ,i  
am a microcosm1 or little world1 ,i find
 myself something more than the great4  
,there is surely a piece of divinity in 
us2 something that was before the       
elements1 and owes no homage unto the   
sun4 ,nature tells me1 ,i am the image  
of ,god1 as well as ,scripture4 ,he that
 understands not thus much hath not his 
introduction or first lesson1 and is yet
 to begin the alphabet of man4 ,let me  
not injure the felicity of others1 if ,i
 say ,i am as happy as any4 8,ruat clum1
 fiat voluntas tua10 salveth all2 so    
that1 whatsoever happens1 it is but what
 our daily prayers desire4 ,in brief1 ,i
 am content2 and what should providence 
add more8 ,surely this is it we call    
happiness1 and this do ,i enjoy2 with   
this ,i am happy in a dream1 and as     
content to enjoy a happiness in a fancy1
 as others in a more apparent truth and 
reality4 ,there is surely a nearer      

apprehension of anything that delights  
us1 in our dreams1 than in our waked    
senses4 ,without this ,i were unhappy2  
for my awaked judgment discontents me1  
ever whispering unto me that ,i am from 
my friend1 but my friendly dreams in the
 night requite me1 and make me think ,i 
am within his arms4 ,i thank ,god for my
 happy dreams1 as ,i do for my good     
rest2 for there is a satisfaction in    
them unto reasonable desires1 and such  
as can be content with a fit of         
happiness4 ,and surely it is not a      
melancholy conceit to think we are all  
asleep in this world1 and that the      
conceits of this life are as mere       
dreams1 to those of the next1 as the    
phantasms of the night1 to the conceits 
of the day4 ,there is an equal delusion 
in both2 and the one doth but seem to be
 the emblem or picture of the other4 ,we
 are somewhat more than ourselves in our
 sleeps2 and the slumber of the body    
seems to be but the waking of the soul4 
,it is the ligation of sense1 but the   

liberty of reason2 and our waking       
conceptions do not match the fancies of 
our sleeps4 ,at my nativity1 my         
ascendant was the watery sign of        
,scorpio4 ,i was born in the planetary  
hour of ,saturn1 and ,i think ,i have a 
piece of that leaden planet in me4 ,i am
 no way facetious1 nor disposed for the 
mirth and galliardise#ii of company2 yet
 in one dream ,i can compose a whole    
comedy1 behold the action1 apprehend the
 jests1 and laugh myself awake at the   
conceits thereof4 ,were my memory as    
faithful as my reason is then fruitful1 
,i would never study but in my dreams1  
and this time also would ,i choose for  
my devotions3 but our grosser memories  
have then so little hold of our         
abstracted understandings1 that they    
forget the story1 and can only relate to
 our awaked souls a confused and broken 
tale of that which hath passed4         
,aristotle1 who hath written a singular 
tract of sleep1 hath not1 methinks1     
thoroughly defined it2 nor yet ,galen1  

though he seem to have corrected it2 for
 those noctambulos and night-walkers1   
though in their sleep1 do yet enjoy the 
action of their senses4 ,we must        
therefore say that there is something in
 us that is not in the jurisdiction of  
,morpheus2 and that those abstracted and
 ecstatick souls do walk about in their 
own corpses1 as spirits with the bodies 
they assume1 wherein they seem to hear1 
see1 and feel1 though indeed the organs 
are destitute of sense1 and their       
natures of those faculties that should  
inform them4 ,thus it is observed1 that 
men sometimes1 upon the hour of their   
departure1 do speak and reason above    
themselves4 ,for then the soul beginning
 to be freed from the ligaments of the  
body1 begins to reason like herself1 and
 to discourse in a strain above         
mortality4  ,sect4 #ab4--,we term sleep 
a death2 and yet it is waking that kills
 us1 and destroys those spirits that are
 the house of life4 ',tis indeed a part 
of life that best expresseth death2 for 

every man truly lives1 so long as he    
acts his nature1 or some way makes good 
the faculties of himself4 ,themistocles 
therefore1 that slew his soldier in his 
sleep1 was a merciful executioner3 'tis 
a kind of punishment the mildness of no 
laws hath invented2 ,i wonder the fancy 
of ,lucan and ,seneca did not discover  
it4 ,it is that death by which we may be
 literally said to die daily2 a death   
which ,adam died before his mortality2 a
 death whereby we live a middle and     
moderating point between life and death4
 ,in fine1 so like death1 ,i dare not   
trust it without my prayers1 and an half
 adieu unto the world1 and take my      
farewell in a colloquy with ,god3--     
,the night is come1 like to the day2    
,depart not thou1 great ,god1 away4     
,let not my sins1 black as the night1   
,eclipse the lustre of thy light4       
,keep still in my horizon2 for to me    
,the sun makes not the day1 but thee4   
,thou whose nature cannot sleep1     ,on
 my temples sentry keep2     ,guard me  

'gainst those watchful foes1     ,whose 
eyes are open while mine close4     ,let
 no dreams my head infest1     ,but such
 as ,jacob's temples blest4     ,while  
,i do rest1 my soul advance3     ,make  
my sleep a holy trance3     ,that ,i    
may1 my rest being wrought1     ,awake  
into some holy thought1     ,and with as
 active vigour run     ,my course as    
doth the nimble sun4     ,sleep is a    
death2--,oh make me try1     ,by        
sleeping1 what it is to die6     ,and as
 gently lay my head     ,on my grave1 as
 now my bed4     ,howe'er ,i rest1 great
 ,god1 let me     ,awake again at last  
with thee4     ,and thus assured1 behold
 ,i lie     ,securely1 or to wake or    
die4     ,these are my drowsy days2 in  
vain     ,i do now wake to sleep again3 
,oh come that hour1 when ,i shall never 
,sleep again1 but wake for ever6  ,this 
is the dormitive ,i take to bedward2 ,i 
need no other laudanum than this to make
 me sleep2 after which ,i close mine    
eyes in security1 content to take my    

leave of the sun1 and sleep unto the    
resurrection4  ,sect4 #ac4--,the method 
,i should use in distributive justice1  
,i often observe in commutative2 and    
keep a geometrical proportion in both1  
whereby becoming equable to others1 ,i  
become unjust to myself1 and            
supererogate in that common principle1  
8,do unto others as thou wouldst be done
 unto thyself40 ,i was not born unto    
riches1 neither is it1 ,i think1 my star
 to be wealthy2 or if it were1 the      
freedom of my mind1 and frankness of my 
disposition1 were able to contradict and
 cross my fates3 for to me avarice seems
 not so much a vice1 as a deplorable    
piece of madness2 to conceive ourselves 
urinals1 or be persuaded that we are    
dead1 is not so ridiculous1 nor so many 
degrees beyond the power of             
hellebore1#ajj as this4 ,the opinions of
 theory1 and positions of men1 are not  
so void of reason1 as their practised   
conclusions4 ,some have held that snow  
is black1 that the earth moves1 that the

 soul is air1 fire1 water2 but all this 
is philosophy3 and there is no delirium1
 if we do but speculate the folly and   
indisputable dotage of avarice4 ,to that
 subterraneous idol1 and god of the     
earth1 ,i do confess ,i am an atheist4  
,i cannot persuade myself to honour that
 the world adores2 whatsoever virtue its
 prepared substance may have within my  
body1 it hath no influence nor operation
 without4 ,i would not entertain a base 
design1 or an action that should call me
 villain1 for the ,indies2 and for this 
only do ,i love and honour my own soul1 
and have methinks two arms too few to   
embrace myself4 ,aristotle is too       
severe1 that will not allow us to be    
truly liberal without wealth1 and the   
bountiful hand of fortune2 if this be   
true1 ,i must confess ,i am charitable  
only in my liberal intentions1 and      
bountiful well wishes4 ,but if the      
example of the mite be not only an act  
of wonder1 but an example of the noblest
 charity1 surely poor men may also build

 hospitals1 and the rich alone have not 
erected cathedrals4 ,i have a private   
method which others observe not2 ,i take
 the opportunity of myself to do good2  
,i borrow occasion of charity from my   
own necessities1 and supply the wants of
 others1 when ,i am in most need myself3
 for it is an honest stratagem to take  
advantage of ourselves1 and so to       
husband the acts of virtue1 that1 where 
they are defective in one circumstance1 
they may repay their want1 and multiply 
their goodness in another4 ,i have not  
,peru in my desires1 but a competence   
and ability to perform those good works 
to which he hath inclined my nature4 ,he
 is rich who hath enough to be          
charitable2 and it is hard to be so poor
 that a noble mind may not find a way to
 this piece of goodness4 8,he that      
giveth to the poor lendeth to the       
,lord30 there is more rhetorick in that 
one sentence than in a library of       
sermons4 ,and indeed1 if those sentences
 were understood by the reader with the 

same emphasis as they are delivered by  
the author1 we needed not those volumes 
of instructions1 but might be honest by 
an epitome4 ,upon this motive only ,i   
cannot behold a beggar without relieving
 his necessities with my purse1 or his  
soul with my prayers4 ,these scenical   
and accidental differences between us   
cannot make me forget that common and   
untoucht part of us both3 there is under
 these centoes#aja and miserable        
outsides1 those mutilate and semi       
bodies1 a soul of the same alloy with   
our own1 whose genealogy is ,god's as   
well as ours1 and in as fair a way to   
salvation as ourselves4 ,statists that  
labour to contrive a commonwealth       
without our poverty take away the object
 of charity2 not understanding only the 
commonwealth of a ,christian1 but       
forgetting the prophecy of ,christ4,s   
,s 8,the poor ye have always with you40 
,sect4 #ad4--,now1 there is another part
 of charity1 which is the basis and     
pillar of this1 and that is the love of 

,god1 for whom we love our neighbour2   
for this ,i think charity1 to love ,god 
for himself1 and our neighbour for ,god4
 ,and all that is truly amiable is ,god1
 or as it were a divided piece of him1  
that retains a reflex or shadow of      
himself4 ,nor is it strange that we     
should place affection on that which is 
invisible3 all that we truly love is    
thus4 ,what we adore under affection of 
our senses deserves not the honour of so
 pure a title4 ,thus we adore virtue1   
though to the eyes of sense she be      
invisible4 ,thus that part of our noble 
friends that we love is not that part   
that we embrace1 but that insensible    
part that our arms cannot embrace4 ,god 
being all goodness1 can love nothing but
 himself2 he loves us but for that part 
which is as it were himself1 and the    
traduction of his ,holy ,spirit4 ,let us
 call to assize the loves of our        
parents1 the affection of our wives and 
children1 and they are all dumb shows   
and dreams1 without reality1 truth1 or  

constancy4 ,for first there is a strong 
bond of affection between us and our    
parents2 yet how easily dissolved6 ,we  
betake ourselves to a woman1 forgetting 
our mother in a wife1 and the womb that 
bare us in that which shall bear our    
image4 ,this woman blessing us with     
children1 our affection leaves the level
 it held before1 and sinks from our bed 
unto our issue and picture of posterity3
 where affection holds no steady        
mansion2 they growing up in years1      
desire our ends2 or1 applying themselves
 to a woman1 take a lawful way to love  
another better than ourselves4 ,thus ,i 
perceive a man may be buried alive1 and 
behold his grave in his own issue4      
,sect4 #ae4--;,i conclude therefore1 and
 say1 there is no happiness under 7or1  
as ,copernicus,t will have it1 above7   
the sun2 nor any crambe#ajb in that     
repeated verity and burthen of all the  
wisdom of ,solomon3 8,all is vanity and 
vexation of spirit20 there is no        
felicity in that the world adores4      

,aristotle1 whilst he labours to refute 
the ideas of ,plato1 falls upon one     
himself3 for his summum bonum is a      
chimra2 and there is no such thing as   
his felicity4 ,that wherein ,god himself
 is happy1 the holy angels are happy1 in
 whose defect the devils are            
unhappy2--that dare ,i call happiness3  
whatsoever conduceth unto this1 may1    
with an easy metaphor1 deserve that     
name2 whatsoever else the world terms   
happiness is1 to me1 a story out of     
,pliny1 a tale of ,bocace or            
,malizspini1 an apparition or neat      
delusion1 wherein there is no more of   
happiness than the name4 ,bless me in   
this life with but the peace of my      
conscience1 command of my affections1   
the love of thyself and my dearest      
friends1 and ,i shall be happy enough to
 pity ,csar6 ,these are1 ,o ,lord1 the  
humble desires of my most reasonable    
ambition1 and all ,i dare call happiness
 on earth2 wherein ,i set no rule or    
limit to thy hand or providence2 dispose

 of me according to the wisdom of thy   
pleasure4 ,thy will be done1 though in  
my own undoing4  ,t ,who holds that the 
sun is the centre of the world4         
,,hydriotaphia4   ,,urn ,,burial2 ,,or1 
,a ,,discourse ,,of ,,the ,,sepulchral  
,,urns ,,lately ,,found ,,in ,,norfolk4 
,,to ,,my ,,worthy ,,and ,,honoured     
,,friend1  ,,thomas ,,le ,,gros1  ,,of  
,,crostwick1 ,,esquire4  ,,when the     
general pyre was out1 and the last      
valediction over1 men took a lasting    
adieu of their interred friends1 little 
expecting the curiosity of future ages  
should comment upon their ashes2 and1   
having no old experience of the duration
 of their relicks1 held no opinion of   
such after-considerations4  ,but who    
knows the fate of his bones1 or how     
often he is to be buried8 ,who hath the 
oracle of his ashes1 or whither they are
 to be scattered8 ,the relicks of many  
lie like the ruins of ,pompey's1,u in   
all parts of the earth2 and when they   
arrive at your hands these may seem to  

have wandered far1 who1 in a direct and 
meridian travel1,v have but few miles of
 known earth between yourself and the   
pole4  ,u 8,pompeios juvenes ,asia atque
 ,europa1 sed ipsum terr tegit ,libyos40
  ,v ,little directly but sea1 between  
your house and ,greenland4  ,that the   
bones of ,theseus should be seen again  
in ,athens,w was not beyond conjecture  
and hopeful expectation3 but that these 
should arise so opportunely to serve    
yourself was an hit of fate1 and honour 
beyond prediction4  ,w ,brought back by 
,cimon ,plutarch4  ,we cannot but wish  
these urns might have the effect of     
theatrical vessels and great ,hippodrome
 urns,x in ,rome1 to resound the        
acclamations and honour due unto you4   
,but these are sad and sepulchral       
pitchers1 which have no joyful voices2  
silently expressing old mortality1 the  
ruins of forgotten times1 and can only  
speak with life1 how long in this       
corruptible frame some parts may be     
uncorrupted2 yet able to outlast bones  

long unborn1 and noblest pile among us4 
,x ,the great urns at the ,hippodrome at
 ,rome1 conceived to resound the voices 
of people at their shows4  ,we present  
not these as any strange sight or       
spectacle unknown to your eyes1 who have
 beheld the best of urns and noblest    
variety of ashes2 who are yourself no   
slender master of antiquities1 and can  
daily command the view of so many       
imperial faces2 which raiseth your      
thoughts unto old things and            
consideration of times before you1 when 
even living men were antiquities2 when  
the living might exceed the dead1 and to
 depart this world could not be properly
 said to go unto the greater number4,y  
,and so run up your thoughts upon the   
ancient of days1 the antiquary's truest 
object1 unto whom the eldest parcels are
 young1 and earth itself an infant1 and 
without ,egyptian,z account makes but   
small noise in thousands4  ,y 8,abiit ad
 plures40  ,z ,which makes the world so 
many years old4  ,we were hinted by the 

occasion1 not catched the opportunity to
 write of old things1 or intrude upon   
the antiquary4 ,we are coldly drawn unto
 discourses of antiquities1 who have    
scarce time before us to comprehend new 
things1 or make out learned novelties4  
,but seeing they arose1 as they lay     
almost in silence among us1 at least in 
short account suddenly passed over1 we  
were very unwilling they should die     
again1 and be buried twice among us4    
,beside1 to preserve the living1 and    
make the dead to live1 to keep men out  
of their urns1 and discourse of human   
fragments in them1 is not impertinent   
unto our profession2 whose study is life
 and death1 who daily behold examples of
 mortality1 and of all men least need   
artificial mementos1 or coffins by our  
bedside1 to mind us of our graves4      
',tis time to observe occurrences1 and  
let nothing remarkable escape us3 the   
supinity of elder days hath left so much
 in silence1 or time hath so martyred   
the records1 that the most industrious  

heads do find no easy work to erect a   
new ,britannia4  ',tis opportune to look
 back upon old times1 and contemplate   
our forefathers4 ,great examples grow   
thin1 and to be fetched from the passed 
world4 ,simplicity flies away1 and      
iniquity comes at long strides upon us4 
,we have enough to do to make up        
ourselves from present and passed times1
 and the whole stage of things scarce   
serveth for our instruction4 ,a complete
 piece of virtue must be made from the  
,centos of all ages1 as all the beauties
 of ,greece could make but one handsome 
,venus4  ,when the bones of ,king       
,arthur were digged up1,,aa the old race
 might think they beheld therein some   
originals of themselves2 unto these of  
our urns none here can pretend relation1
 and can only behold the relicks of     
those persons who1 in their life giving 
the laws unto their predecessors1 after 
long obscurity1 now lie at their        
mercies4 ,but1 remembering the early    
civility they brought upon these        

countries1 and forgetting long-passed   
mischiefs1 we mercifully preserve their 
bones1 and piss not upon their ashes4   
,,aa ,in the time of ,henry the ,second4
  ,in the offer of these antiquities we 
drive not at ancient families1 so long  
outlasted by them4 ,we are far from     
erecting your worth upon the pillars of 
your forefathers1 whose merits you      
illustrate4 ,we honour your old virtues1
 conformable unto times before you1     
which are the noblest armoury4 ,and1    
having long experience of your friendly 
conversation1 void of empty formality1  
full of freedom1 constant and generous  
honesty1 ,i look upon you as a gem of   
the old rock1,,ab and must profess      
myself even to urn and ashes4--,your    
ever faithful ,friend and ,servant1     
,,ab 8,adamas de rupe veteri            
prstantissimus40    ,,thomas ,,browne4  
,,norwich1 ,may #ast4                   
,,hydriotaphia4   ,,chapter ,i4  ,,in   
the deep discovery of the subterranean  
world a shallow part would satisfy some 

inquirers2 who1 if two or three yards   
were open about the surface1 would not  
care to rake the bowels of ,potosi1,,ac 
and regions toward the centre4 ,nature  
hath furnished one part of the earth1   
and man another4 ,the treasures of time 
lie high1 in urns1 coins1 and monuments1
 scarce below the roots of some         
vegetables4 ,time hath endless rarities1
 and shows of all varieties2 which      
reveals old things in heaven1 makes new 
discoveries in earth1 and even earth    
itself a discovery4 ,that great         
antiquity ,america lay buried for       
thousands of years1 and a large part of 
the earth is still in the urn unto us4  
,,ac ,the rich mountain of ,peru4       
,though if ,adam were made out of an    
extract of the earth1 all parts might   
challenge a restitution1 yet few have   
returned their bones far lower than they
 might receive them2 not affecting the  
graves of giants1 under hilly and heavy 
coverings1 but content with less than   
their own depth1 have wished their bones

 might lie soft1 and the earth be light 
upon them4 ,even such as hope to rise   
again1 would not be content with central
 interment1 or so desperately to place  
their relicks as to lie beyond          
discovery2 and in no way to be seen     
again2 which happy contrivance hath made
 communication with our forefathers1 and
 left unto our view some parts1 which   
they never beheld themselves4  ,though  
earth hath engrossed the name1 yet water
 hath proved the smartest grave2 which  
in forty days swallowed almost mankind1 
and the living creation2 fishes not     
wholly escaping1 except the salt ocean  
were handsomely contempered by a mixture
 of the fresh element4  ,many have taken
 voluminous pains to determine the state
 of the soul upon disunion2 but men have
 been most phantastical in the singular 
contrivances of their corporal          
dissolution3 whilst the soberest nations
 have rested in two ways1 of simple     
inhumation and burning4  ,that carnal   
interment or burying was of the elder   

date1 the old examples of ,abraham and  
the patriarchs are sufficient to        
illustrate2 and were without            
competition1 if it could be made out    
that ,adam was buried near ,damascus1 or
 ,mount ,calvary1 according to some     
tradition4 ,god himself1 that buried but
 one1 was pleased to make choice of this
 way1 collectible from ,scripture       
expression1 and the hot contest between 
,satan and the archangel about          
discovering the body of ,moses4 ,but the
 practice of burning was also of great  
antiquity1 and of no slender extent4    
,for 7not to derive the same from       
,hercules7 noble descriptions there are 
hereof in the ,grecian funerals of      
,homer1 in the formal obsequies of      
,patroclus and ,achilles2 and somewhat  
elder in the ,theban war1 and solemn    
combustion of ,meneceus1 and            
,archemorus1 contemporary unto ,jair the
 eighth judge of ,israel4 ,confirmable  
also among the ,trojans1 from the       
funeral pyre of ,hector1 burnt before   

the gates of ,troy3 and the burning of  
,penthesilea the ,amazonian queen3 and  
long continuance of that practice1 in   
the inward countries of ,asia2 while as 
low as the reign of ,julian1 we find    
that the king of ,chionia,,ad burnt the 
body of his son1 and interred the ashes 
in a silver urn4  ,,ad ,gumbrates1 king 
of ,chionia1 a country near ,persia4    
,the same practice extended also far    
west2 and besides ,herulians1 ,getes1   
and ,thracians1 was in use with most of 
the ,celt1 ,sarmatians1 ,germans1       
,gauls1 ,danes1 ,swedes1 ,norwegians2   
not to omit some use thereof among      
,carthaginians and ,americans4 ,of      
greater antiquity among the ,romans than
 most opinion1 or ,pliny seems to allow3
 for 7besides the old table laws,,ae of 
burning or burying within the city1 of  
making the funeral fire with planed     
wood1 or quenching the fire with wine71 
,manlius the consul burnt the body of   
his son3 ,numa1 by special clause of his
 will1 was not burnt but buried2 and    

,remus was solemnly burned1 according to
 the description of ,ovid4,,af  ,,ae    
,,xii4 ,tabul1 part i41 de jure sacro1  
8,hominem mortuum in urbe ne sepelito   
neve urito40  ,,af 8,ultima prolata     
subdita flamma rogo10 c4 ,fast41 lib4   
iv41 #hef4  ,cornelius ,sylla was not   
the first whose body was burned in      
,rome1 but the first of the ,cornelian  
family2 which being indifferently1 not  
frequently used before2 from that time  
spread1 and became the prevalent        
practice4 ,not totally pursued in the   
highest run of cremation2 for when even 
crows were funerally burnt1 ,poppa the  
wife of ,nero found a peculiar grave    
interment4 ,now as all customs were     
founded upon some bottom of reason1 so  
there wanted not grounds for this2      
according to several apprehensions of   
the most rational dissolution4 ,some    
being of the opinion of ,thales1 that   
water was the original of all things1   
thought it most equal#ajc to submit unto
 the principle of putrefaction1 and     

conclude in a moist relentment4#ajd     
,others conceived it most natural to end
 in fire1 as due unto the master        
principle in the composition1 according 
to the doctrine of ,heraclitus2 and     
therefore heaped up large piles1 more   
actively to waft them toward that       
element1 whereby they also declined a   
visible degeneration into worms1 and    
left a lasting parcel of their          
composition4  ,some apprehended a       
purifying virtue in fire1 refining the  
grosser commixture1 and firing out the  
thereal particles so deeply immersed in 
it4 ,and such as by tradition or        
rational conjecture held any hint of the
 final pyre of all things2 or that this 
element at last must be too hard for all
 the rest2 might conceive most naturally
 of the fiery dissolution4 ,others      
pretending no natural grounds1          
politickly declined the malice of       
enemies upon their buried bodies4 ,which
 consideration led ,sylla unto this     
practice2 who having thus served the    

body of ,marius1 could not but fear a   
retaliation upon his own2 entertained   
after in the civil wars1 and revengeful 
contentions of ,rome4  ,but as many     
nations embraced1 and many left it      
indifferent1 so others too much         
affected1 or strictly declined this     
practice4 ,the ,indian ,brachmans seemed
 too great friends unto fire1 who burnt 
themselves alive and thought it the     
noblest way to end their days in fire2  
according to the expression of the      
,indian1 burning himself at ,athens1 in 
his last words upon the pyre unto the   
amazed spectators1 8thus ,i make myself 
immortal40,,ag  ,,ag ,and therefore the 
inscription on his tomb was made        
accordingly1 8,hic ,damase40  ,but the  
,chaldeans1 the great idolaters of fire1
 abhorred the burning of their carcases1
 as a pollution of that deity4 ,the     
,persian magi declined it upon the like 
scruples1 and being only solicitous     
about their bones1 exposed their flesh  
to the prey of birds and dogs4 ,and the 

,persees now in ,india1 which expose    
their bodies unto vultures1 and endure  
not so much as feretra or biers of wood1
 the proper fuel of fire1 are led on    
with such niceties4 ,but whether the    
ancient ,germans1 who burned their dead1
 held any such fear to pollute their    
deity of ,herthus1 or the earth1 we have
 no authentic conjecture4  ,the         
,egyptians were afraid of fire1 not as a
 deity1 but a devouring element1        
mercilessly consuming their bodies1 and 
leaving too little of them2 and         
therefore by precious embalmments1      
depositure in dry earths1 or handsome   
inclosure in glasses1 contrived the     
notablest ways of integral conservation4
 ,and from such ,egyptian scruples1     
imbibed by ,pythagoras1 it may be       
conjectured that ,numa and the          
,pythagorical sect first waived the     
fiery solution4  ,the ,scythians1 who   
swore by wind and sword1 that is1 by    
life and death1 were so far from burning
 their bodies1 that they declined all   

interment1 and made their graves in the 
air3 and the ,ichthyophagi1 or          
fish-eating nations about ,egypt1       
affected the sea for their grave2       
thereby declining visible corruption1   
and restoring the debt of their bodies4 
,whereas the old heroes1 in ,homer1     
dreaded nothing more than water or      
drowning2 probably upon the old opinion 
of the fiery substance of the soul1 only
 extinguishable by that element2 and    
therefore the poet emphatically         
implieth,,ah the total destruction in   
this kind of death1 which happened to   
,ajax ,oileus4  ,,ah ,which ,magius     
reads 4  ,the old ,balearians had a     
peculiar mode1 for they used great urns 
and much wood1 but no fire in their     
burials1 while they bruised the flesh   
and bones of the dead1 crowded them into
 urns1 and laid heaps of wood upon them4
 ,and the ,chinese without cremation or 
urnal interment of their bodies1 make   
use of trees and much burning1 while    
they plant a pine-tree by their grave1  

and burn great numbers of printed       
draughts of slaves and horses over it1  
civilly content with their companies in 
effigy1 which barbarous nations exact   
unto reality4  ,christians abhorred this
 way of obsequies1 and though they      
sticked not to give their bodies to be  
burnt in their lives1 detested that mode
 after death3 affecting rather a        
depositure than absumption1 and properly
 submitting unto the sentence of ,god1  
to return not unto ashes but unto dust  
again1 and conformable unto the practice
 of the patriarchs1 the interment of our
 ,saviour1 of ,peter1 ,paul1 and the    
ancient martyrs4 ,and so far at last    
declining promiscuous interment with    
,pagans1 that some have suffered        
ecclesiastical censures1,,ai for making 
no scruple thereof4  ,,ai ,martialis the
 ,bishop4  ,the ,mussulman believers    
will never admit this fiery resolution4 
,for they hold a present trial from     
their black and white angels in the     
grave2 which they must have made so     

hollow1 that they may rise upon their   
knees4  ,the ,jewish nation1 though they
 entertained the old way of inhumation1 
yet sometimes admitted this practice4   
,for the men of ,jabesh burnt the body  
of ,saul2 and by no prohibited practice1
 to avoid contagion or pollution1 in    
time of pestilence1 burnt the bodies of 
their friends4,,aj ,and when they burnt 
not their dead bodies1 yet sometimes    
used great burnings near and about them1
 deducible from the expressions         
concerning ,jehoram1 ,zedechias1 and the
 sumptuous pyre of ,asa4 ,and were so   
little averse from ,pagan burning1 that 
the ,jews lamenting the death of ,csar  
their friend1 and revenger on ,pompey1  
frequented the place where his body was 
burnt for many nights together4 ,and as 
they raised noble monuments and         
mausoleums for their own nation1,,ak so 
they were not scrupulous in erecting    
some for others1 according to the       
practice of ,daniel1 who left that      
lasting sepulchral pile in ,ecbatana1   

for the ,median and ,persian kings4,,al 
,,aj ,amos vi4 #aj4  ,,ak ,as in that   
magnificent sepulchral monument erected 
by ,simon4--#a ,macc4 xiii4  ,,al   1   
whereof a ,jewish priest had always     
custody until ,josephus' days4--,jos4   
,antiq41 lib4 x4  ,but even in times of 
subjection and hottest use1 they        
conformed not unto the ,roman practice  
of burning2 whereby the prophecy was    
secured concerning the body of ,christ1 
that it should not see corruption1 or a 
bone should not be broken2 which we     
believe was also providentially         
prevented1 from the soldier's spear and 
nails that passed by the little bones   
both in his hands and feet2 not of      
ordinary contrivance1 that it should not
 corrupt on the cross1 according to the 
laws of ,roman crucifixion1 or an hair  
of his head perish1 though observable in
 ,jewish customs1 to cut the hair of    
malefactors4  ,nor in their long        
cohabitation with ,egyptians1 crept into
 a custom of their exact embalming1     

wherein deeply slashing the muscles1 and
 taking out the brains and entrails1    
they had broken the subject of so entire
 a resurrection1 nor fully answered the 
types of ,enoch1 ,elijah1 or ,jonah1    
which yet to prevent or restore1 was of 
equal facility unto that rising power   
able to break the fasciations and bands 
of death1 to get clear out of the       
cerecloth1 and an hundred pounds of     
ointment1 and out of the sepulchre      
before the stone was rolled from it4    
,but though they embraced not this      
practice of burning1 yet entertained    
they many ceremonies agreeable unto     
,greek and ,roman obsequies4 ,and he    
that observeth their funeral feasts1    
their lamentations at the grave1 their  
music1 and weeping mourners2 how they   
closed the eyes of their friends1 how   
they washed1 anointed1 and kissed the   
dead2 may easily conclude these were not
 mere ,pagan civilities4 ,but whether   
that mournful burthen1 and treble       
calling out after ,absalom1 had any     

reference unto the last conclamation1   
and triple valediction1 used by other   
nations1 we hold but a wavering         
conjecture4  ,civilians make sepulture  
but of the law of nations1 others do    
naturally found it and discover it also 
in animals4 ,they that are so           
thick-skinned as still to credit the    
story of the ,phnix1 may say something  
for animal burning4 ,more serious       
conjectures find some examples of       
sepulture in elephants1 cranes1 the     
sepulchral cells of pismires1 and       
practice of bees1--which civil society  
carrieth out their dead1 and hath       
exequies1 if not interments4   ,,chapter
 ,,ii4  ,,the solemnities1 ceremonies1  
rites of their cremation or interment1  
so solemnly delivered by authors1 we    
shall not disparage our reader to       
repeat4 ,only the last and lasting part 
in their urns1 collected bones and      
ashes1 we cannot wholly omit or decline 
that subject1 which occasion lately     
presented1 in some discovered among us4 

,in a field of ,old ,walsingham1 not    
many months past1 were digged up between
 forty and fifty urns1 deposited in a   
dry and sandy soil1 not a yard deep1 nor
 far from one another4--,not all        
strictly of one figure1 but most        
answering these described2 some         
containing two pounds of bones1 and     
teeth1 with fresh impressions of their  
combustion2 besides the extraneous      
substances1 like pieces of small boxes1 
or combs handsomely wrought1 handles of 
small brass instruments1 brazen nippers1
 and in one some kind of opal4  ,near   
the same plot of ground1 for about six  
yards compass1 were digged up coals and 
incinerated substances1 which begat     
conjecture that this was the ustrina or 
place of burning their bodies1 or some  
sacrificing place unto the ,manes1 which
 was properly below the surface of the  
ground1 as the ar and altars unto the   
gods and heroes above it4  ,that these  
were the urns of ,romans from the common
 custom and place where they were found1

 is no obscure conjecture1 not far from 
a ,roman garrison1 and but five miles   
from ,brancaster1 set down by ancient   
record under the name of ,branodunum4   
,and where the adjoining town1          
containing seven parishes1 in no very   
different sound1 but ,saxon termination1
 still retains the name of ,burnham1    
which being an early station1 it is not 
improbable the neighbour parts were     
filled with habitations1 either of      
,romans themselves1 or ,britons         
,romanized1 which observed the ,roman   
customs4  ,nor is it improbable1 that   
the ,romans early possessed this        
country4 ,for though we meet not with   
such strict particulars of these parts  
before the new institution of           
,constantine and military charge of the 
count of the ,saxon shore1 and that     
about the ,saxon invasions1 the         
,dalmatian horsemen were in the garrison
 of ,brancaster2 yet in the time of     
,claudius1 ,vespasian1 and ,severus1 we 
find no less than three legions         

dispersed through the province of       
,britain4 ,and as high as the reign of  
,claudius a great overthrow was given   
unto the ,iceni1 by the ,roman          
lieutenant ,ostorius4 ,not long after1  
the country was so molested1 that1 in   
hope of a better state1 ,prastaagus     
bequeathed his kingdom unto ,nero and   
his daughters2 and ,boadicea1 his queen1
 fought the last decisive battle with   
,paulinus4 ,after which time1 and       
conquest of ,agricola1 the lieutenant of
 ,vespasian1 probable it is1 they wholly
 possessed this country2 ordering it    
into garrisons or habitations best      
suitable with their securities4 ,and so 
some ,roman habitations not improbable  
in these parts1 as high as the time of  
,vespasian1 where the ,saxons after     
seated1 in whose thin-filled maps we yet
 find the name of ,walsingham4 ,now if  
the ,iceni were but ,gammadims1         
,anconians1 or men that lived in an     
angle1 wedge1 or elbow of ,britain1     
according to the original etymology1    

this country will challenge the         
emphatical appellation1 as most properly
 making the elbow or iken of ,icenia4   
,that ,britain was notably populous is  
undeniable1 from that expression of     
,csar4,,am ,that the ,romans themselves 
were early in no small numbers--seventy 
thousand1 with their associates1 slain1 
by ,boadicea1 affords a sure account4   
,and though not many ,roman habitations 
are now known1 yet some1 by old works1  
rampiers1 coins1 and urns1 do testify   
their possessions4 ,some urns have been 
found at ,castor1 some also about       
,southcreak1 and1 not many years past1  
no less than ten in a field at ,buxton1 
not near any recorded garrison4 ,nor is 
it strange to find ,roman coins of      
copper and silver among us2 of          
,vespasian1 ,trajan1 ,adrian1 ,commodus1
 ,antoninus1 ,severus1 c42 but the      
greater number of ,dioclesian1          
,constantine1 ,constans1 ,valens1 with  
many of ,victorinus ,posthumius1        
,tetricus1 and the thirty tyrants in the

 reign of ,gallienus2 and some as high  
as ,adrianus have been found about      
,thetford1 or ,sitomagus1 mentioned in  
the ,itinerary of ,antoninus1 as the way
 from ,venta or ,castor unto ,london4   
,but the most frequent discovery is made
 at the two ,castors by ,norwich and    
,yarmouth at ,burghcastle1 and          
,brancaster4  ,,am 8,hominum infinita   
multitudo est creberrimaque2 dificia    
fere ,gallicis consimilia40--,csar de   
,bello4 ,gal41 lib4 v4  ,besides the    
,norman1 ,saxon1 and ,danish pieces of  
,cuthred1 ,canutus1 ,william1 ,matilda1 
and others1 some ,british coins of gold 
have been dispersedly found1 and no     
small number of silver pieces near      
,norwich1 with a rude head upon the     
obverse1 and an ill-formed horse on the 
reverse1 with inscriptions ,ic4 ,duro4  
,t42 whether implying ,iceni1           
,durotriges1 ,tascia1 or ,trinobantes1  
we leave to higher conjecture4 ,vulgar  
chronology will have ,norwich ,castle as
 old as ,julius ,csar2 but his distance 

from these parts1 and its ,gothick form 
of structure1 abridgeth such antiquity4 
,the ,british coins afford conjecture of
 early habitation in these parts1 though
 the city of ,norwich arose from the    
ruins of ,venta2 and though1 perhaps1   
not without some habitation before1 was 
enlarged1 builded1 and nominated by the 
,saxons4 ,in what bulk or populosity it 
stood in the old ,east-,angle monarchy  
tradition and history are silent4       
,considerable it was in the ,danish     
eruptions1 when ,sueno burnt ,thetford  
and ,norwich1 and ,ulfketel1 the        
governor thereof1 was able to make some 
resistance1 and after endeavoured to    
burn the ,danish navy4  ,how the ,romans
 left so many coins in countries of     
their conquests seems of hard           
resolution2 except we consider how they 
buried them under ground when1 upon     
barbarous invasions1 they were fain to  
desert their habitations in most part of
 their empire1 and the strictness of    
their laws forbidding to transfer them  

to any other uses3 wherein the ,spartans
 were singular1 who1 to make their      
copper money useless1 contempered it    
with vinegar4 ,that the ,britons left   
any1 some wonder1 since their money was 
iron and iron rings before ,csar2 and   
those of after-stamp by permission1 and 
but small in bulk and bigness4 ,that so 
few of the ,saxons remain1 because1     
overcome by succeeding conquerors upon  
the place1 their coins1 by degrees1     
passed into other stamps and the marks  
of after-ages4  ,than the time of these 
urns deposited1 or precise antiquity of 
these relicks1 nothing of more          
uncertainty2 for since the lieutenant of
 ,claudius seems to have made the first 
progress into these parts1 since        
,boadicea was overthrown by the forces  
of ,nero1 and ,agricola put a full end  
to these conquests1 it is not probable  
the country was fully garrisoned or     
planted before2 and1 therefore1 however 
these urns might be of later date1 not  
likely of higher antiquity4  ,and the   

succeeding emperors desisted not from   
their conquests in these and other      
parts1 as testified by history and      
medal-inscription yet extant3 the       
province of ,britain1 in so divided a   
distance from ,rome1 beholding the faces
 of many imperial persons1 and in large 
account2 no fewer than ,csar1 ,claudius1
 ,britannicus1 ,vespasian1 ,titus1      
,adrian1 ,severus1 ,commodus1 ,geta1 and
 ,caracalla4  ,a great obscurity herein1
 because no medal or emperor's coin     
enclosed1 which might denote the date of
 their interments2 observable in many   
urns1 and found in those of             
,spitalfields1 by ,london1 which        
contained the coins of ,claudius1       
,vespasian1 ,commodus1 ,antoninus1      
attended with lacrymatories1 lamps1     
bottles of liquor1 and other            
appurtenances of affectionate           
superstition1 which in these rural      
interments were wanting4  ,some         
uncertainty there is from the period or 
term of burning1 or the cessation of    

that practice4 ,macrobius affirmeth it  
was disused in his days2 but most agree1
 though without authentic record1 that  
it ceased with the ,antonini1--most     
safely to be understood after the reign 
of those emperors which assumed the name
 of ,antoninus1 extending unto          
,heliogabalus4 ,not strictly after      
,marcus2 for about fifty years later1 we
 find the magnificent burning and       
consecration of ,servus2 and1 if we so  
fix this period or cessation1 these urns
 will challenge above thirteen hundred  
years4  ,but whether this practice was  
only then left by emperors and great    
persons1 or generally about ,rome1 and  
not in other provinces1 we hold no      
authentic account2 for after            
,tertullian1 in the days of ,minucius1  
it was obviously objected upon          
,christians1 that they condemned the    
practice of burning4,,an ,and we find a 
passage in ,sidonius1 which asserteth   
that practice in ,france unto a lower   
account4 ,and1 perhaps1 not fully       

disused till ,christianity fully        
established1 which gave the final       
extinction to these sepulchral bonfires4
  ,,an 8,execrantur rogos1 et damnant   
ignium sepulturam40--,min4 in ,oct4     
,whether they were the bones of men1 or 
women1 or children1 no authentic        
decision from ancient custom in distinct
 places of burial4 ,although not        
improbably conjectured1 that the double 
sepulture1 or burying-place of ,abraham1
 had in it such intention4 ,but from    
exility of bones1 thinness of skulls1   
smallness of teeth1 ribs1 and           
thigh-bones1 not improbable that many   
thereof were persons of minor age1 or   
woman4 ,confirmable also from things    
contained in them4 ,in most were found  
substances resembling combs1 plates like
 boxes1 fastened with iron pins1 and    
handsomely overwrought like the necks or
 bridges of musical instruments2 long   
brass plates overwrought like the       
handles of neat implements2 brazen      
nippers1 to pull away hair2 and in one a

 kind of opal1 yet maintaining a bluish 
colour4  ,now that they accustomed to   
burn or bury with them1 things wherein  
they excelled1 delighted1 or which were 
dear unto them1 either as farewells unto
 all pleasure1 or vain apprehension that
 they might use them in the other world1
 is testified by all antiquity1         
observable from the gem or beryl ring   
upon the finger of ,cynthia1 the        
mistress of ,propertius1 when after her 
funeral pyre her ghost appeared unto    
him2 and notably illustrated from the   
contents of that ,roman urn preserved by
 ,cardinal ,farnese1 wherein besides    
great number of gems with heads of gods 
and goddesses1 were found an ape of     
agath1 a grasshopper1 an elephant of    
amber1 a crystal ball1 three glasses1   
two spoons1 and six nuts of crystal2 and
 beyond the content of urns1 in the     
monument of ,childerick the first1 and  
fourth king from ,pharamond1 casually   
discovered three years past at ,tournay1
 restoring unto the world much gold     

richly adorning his sword1 two hundred  
rubies1 many hundred imperial coins1    
three hundred golden bees1 the bones and
 horse-shoes of his horse interred with 
him1 according to the barbarous         
magnificence of those days in their     
sepulchral obsequies4 ,although1 if we  
steer by the conjecture of many a       
,septuagint expression1 some trace      
thereof may be found even with the      
ancient ,hebrews1 not only from the     
sepulchral treasure of ,david1 but the  
circumcision knives which ,joshua also  
buried4  ,some men1 considering the     
contents of these urns1 lasting pieces  
and toys included in them1 and the      
custom of burning with many other       
nations1 might somewhat doubt whether   
all urns found among us1 were properly  
,roman relicks1 or some not belonging   
unto our ,british1 ,saxon1 or ,danish   
forefathers4  ,in the form of burial    
among the ancient ,britons1 the large   
discourses of ,csar1 ,tacitus1 and      
,strabo are silent4 ,for the discovery  

whereof1 with other particulars1 we much
 deplore the loss of that letter which  
,cicero expected or received from his   
brother ,quintus1 as a resolution of    
,british customs2 or the account which  
might have been made by ,scribonius     
,largus1 the physician1 accompanying the
 ,emperor ,claudius1 who might have also
 discovered that frugal bit of the old  
,britons1 which in the bigness of a bean
 could satisfy their thirst and hunger4 
,but that the ,druids and ruling priests
 used to burn and bury1 is expressed by 
,pomponius2 that ,bellinus1 the brother 
of ,brennus1 and ,king of the ,britons1 
was burnt1 is acknowledged by           
,polydorus1 as also by ,amandus         
,zierexensis in ,historia and ,pineda in
 his ,universa ,historia 7,spanish74    
,that they held that practice in        
,gallia1 ,csar expressly delivereth4    
,whether the ,britons 7probably         
descended from them1 of like religion1  
language1 and manners7 did not sometimes
 make use of burning1 or whether at     

least such as were after civilized unto 
the ,roman life and manners1 conformed  
not unto this practice1 we have no      
historical assertion or denial4 ,but    
since1 from the account of ,tacitus1 the
 ,romans early wrought so much civility 
upon the ,british stock1 that they      
brought them to build temples1 to wear  
the gown1 and study the ,roman laws and 
language1 that they conformed also unto 
their religious rites and customs in    
burials1 seems no improbable conjecture4
  ,that burning the dead was used in    
,sarmatia is affirmed by ,gaguinus2 that
 the ,sueons and ,gathlanders used to   
burn their princes and great persons1 is
 delivered by ,saxo and ,olaus2 that    
this was the old ,german practice1 is   
also asserted by ,tacitus4 ,and though  
we are bare in historical particulars of
 such obsequies in this island1 or that 
the ,saxons1 ,jutes1 and ,angles burnt  
their dead1 yet came they from parts    
where 'twas of ancient practice2 the    
,germans using it1 from whom they were  

descended4 ,and even in ,jutland and    
,sleswick in ,anglia ,cymbrica1 urns    
with bones were found not many years    
before us4  ,but the ,danish and        
northern nations have raised an era or  
point of compute from their custom of   
burning their dead3 some deriving it    
from ,unguinus1 some from ,frotho the   
great1 who ordained by law1 that princes
 and chief commanders should be         
committed unto the fire1 though the     
common sort had the common grave        
interment4 ,so ,starkatterus1 that old  
hero1 was burnt1 and ,ringo royally     
burnt the body of ,harold the king slain
 by him4  ,what time this custom        
generally expired in that nation1 we    
discern no assured period2 whether it   
ceased before ,christianity1 or upon    
their conversion1 by ,ausgurius the     
,gaul1 in the time of ,ludovicus ,pius1 
the son of ,charles the ,great1         
according to good computes2 or whether  
it might not be used by some persons1   
while for an hundred and eighty years   

,paganism and ,christianity were        
promiscuously embraced among them1 there
 is no assured conclusion4 ,about which 
times the ,danes were busy in ,england1 
and particularly infested this country2 
where many castles and strongholds were 
built by them1 or against them1 and     
great number of names and families still
 derived from them4 ,but since this     
custom was probably disused before their
 invasion or conquest1 and the ,romans  
confessedly practised the same since    
their possession of this island1 the    
most assured account will fall upon the 
,romans1 or ,britons ,romanized4        
,however1 certain it is1 that urns      
conceived of no ,roman original1 are    
often digged up both in ,norway and     
,denmark1 handsomely described1 and     
graphically represented by the learned  
physician ,wormius4 ,and in some parts  
of ,denmark in no ordinary number1 as   
stands delivered by authors exactly     
describing those countries4 ,and they   
contained not only bones1 but many other

 substances in them1 as knives1 pieces  
of iron1 brass1 and wood1 and one of    
,norway a brass gilded jew's-harp4  ,nor
 were they confused or careless in      
disposing the noblest sort1 while they  
placed large stones in circle about the 
urns or bodies which they interred3     
somewhat answerable unto the monument of
 ,rollrich stones in ,england1 or       
sepulchral monument probably erected by 
,rollo1 who after conquered ,normandy2  
where 'tis not improbable somewhat might
 be discovered4 ,meanwhile to what      
nation or person belonged that large urn
 found at ,ashbury1,,ao containing      
mighty bones1 and a buckler2 what those 
large urns found at ,little             
,massingham2,,ap or why the ,anglesea   
urns are placed with their mouths       
downward1 remains yet undiscovered4     
,,ao ,in ,cheshire4  ,,ap ,in ,norfolk4 
,,chapter ,,iii4  ,,plaistered and      
whited sepulchres were anciently        
affected in cadaverous and corrupted    
burials2 and the rigid ,jews were wont  

to garnish the sepulchres of the        
righteous4,,aq ,ulysses1 in ,hecuba1    
cared not how meanly he lived1 so he    
might find a noble tomb after death4,,ar
 ,great princes affected great          
monuments2 and the fair and larger urns 
contained no vulgar ashes1 which makes  
that disparity in those which time      
discovereth among us4 ,the present urns 
were not of one capacity1 the largest   
containing above a gallon1 some not much
 above half that measure2 nor all of one
 figure1 wherein there is no strict     
conformity in the same or different     
countries2 observable from those        
represented by ,casalius1 ,bosio1 and   
others1 though all found in ,italy2     
while many have handles1 ears1 and long 
necks1 but most imitate a circular      
figure1 in a spherical and round        
composure2 whether from any mystery1    
best duration or capacity1 were but a   
conjecture4 ,but the common form with   
necks was a proper figure1 making our   
last bed like our first2 nor much unlike

 the urns of our nativity while we lay  
in the nether part of the earth1,,as and
 inward vault of our microcosm4 ,many   
urns are red1 these but of a black      
colour somewhat smooth1 and dully       
sounding1 which begat some doubt1       
whether they were burnt1 or only baked  
in oven or sun1 according to the ancient
 way1 in many bricks1 tiles1 pots1 and  
testaceous works2 and1 as the word testa
 is properly to be taken1 when occurring
 without addition and chiefly intended  
by ,pliny1 when he commendeth bricks and
 tiles of two years old1 and to make    
them in the spring4 ,nor only these     
concealed pieces1 but the open          
magnificence of antiquity1 ran much in  
the artifice of clay4 ,hereof the house 
of ,mausolus was built1 thus old        
,jupiter stood in the ,capitol1 and the 
statua of ,hercules1 made in the reign  
of ,tarquinius ,priscus1 was extant in  
,pliny's days4 ,and such as declined    
burning or funeral urns1 affected       
coffins of clay1 according to the mode  

of ,pythagoras1 a way preferred by      
,varro4 ,but the spirit of great ones   
was above these circumscriptions1       
affecting copper1 silver1 gold1 and     
porphyry urns1 wherein ,severus lay1    
after a serious view and sentence on    
that which should contain him4,,at ,some
 of these urns were thought to have been
 silvered over1 from sparklings in      
several pots1 with small tinsel parcels2
 uncertain whether from the earth1 or   
the first mixture in them4  ,,aq ,st    
,matt4 xxiii4  ,,ar ,euripides4  ,,as   
,psal4 lxiii4  ,,at 8  1     40--,dion4 
,among these urns we could obtain no    
good account of their coverings2 only   
one seemed arched over with some kind of
 brickwork4 ,of those found at ,buxton1 
some were covered with flints1 some1 in 
other parts1 with tiles2 those at       
,yarmouth ,caster were closed with      
,roman bricks1 and some have proper     
earthen covers adapted and fitted to    
them4 ,but in the ,homerical urn of     
,patroclus1 whatever was the solid      

tegument1 we find the immediate covering
 to be a purple piece of silk3 and such 
as had no covers might have the earth   
closely pressed into them1 after which  
disposure were probably some of these1  
wherein we found the bones and ashes    
half mortared unto the sand and sides of
 the urn1 and some long roots of quich1 
or dog's-grass1 wreathed about the      
bones4  ,no ,lamps1 included liquors1   
lacrymatories1 or tear bottles1 attended
 these rural urns1 either as sacred unto
 the manes1 or passionate expressions of
 their surviving friends4 ,while with   
rich flames1 and hired tears1 they      
solemnized their obsequies1 and in the  
most lamented monuments made one part of
 their inscriptions4,,au ,some find     
sepulchral vessels containing liquors1  
which time hath incrassated into        
jellies4 ,for1 besides these            
lacrymatories1 notable lamps1 with      
vessels of oils1 and aromatical liquors1
 attended noble ossuaries2 and some yet 
retaining a vinosity and spirit in them1

 which1 if any have tasted1 they have   
far exceeded the palates of antiquity4  
,liquors not to be computed by years of 
annual magistrates1 but by great        
conjunctions and the fatal periods of   
kingdoms4,,av ,the draughts of consulary
 date were but crude unto these1 and    
,opimian wine but in the must unto      
them4,,aw  ,,au 8,cum lacrymis posuere40
  ,,av ,about five hundred years4  ,,aw 
8,vinum ,opiminianum annorum            
centum40--,petron4  ,in sundry graves   
and sepulchres we meet with rings1      
coins1 and chalices4 ,ancient frugality 
was so severe1 that they allowed no gold
 to attend the corpse1 but only that    
which served to fasten their teeth4     
,whether the ,opaline stone in this were
 burnt upon the finger of the dead1 or  
cast into the fire by some affectionate 
friend1 it will consist with either     
custom4 ,but other incinerable          
substances were found so fresh1 that    
they could feel no singe from fire4     
,these1 upon view1 were judged to be    

wood2 but1 sinking in water1 and tried  
by the fire1 we found them to be bone or
 ivory4 ,in their hardness and yellow   
colour they most resembled box1 which1  
in old expressions1 found the epithet of
 eternal1 and perhaps in such           
conservatories might have passed        
uncorrupted4  ,that bay leaves were     
found green in the tomb of ,s4 ,humbert1
 after an hundred and fifty years1 was  
looked upon as miraculous4 ,remarkable  
it was unto old spectators1 that the    
cypress of the temple of ,diana lasted  
so many hundred years4 ,the wood of the 
ark1 and olive-rod of ,aaron1 were older
 at the captivity2 but the cypress of   
the ark of ,noah was the greatest       
vegetable of antiquity1 if ,josephus    
were not deceived by some fragments of  
it in his days3 to omit the moor logs   
and fir trees found underground in many 
parts of ,england2 the undated ruins of 
winds1 floods1 or earthquakes1 and which
 in ,flanders still show from what      
quarter they fell1 as generally lying in

 a north-east position4  ,but though we 
found not these pieces to be wood1      
according to first apprehensions1 yet we
 missed not altogether of some woody    
substance2 for the bones were not so    
clearly picked but some coals were found
 amongst them2 a way to make wood       
perpetual1 and a fit associate for      
metal1 whereon was laid the foundation  
of the great ,ephesian temple1 and which
 were made the lasting tests of old     
boundaries and landmarks4 ,whilst we    
look on these1 we admire not            
observations of coals found fresh after 
four hundred years4 ,in a long-deserted 
habitation even egg-shells have been    
found fresh1 not tending to corruption4 
,in the monument of ,king ,childerick   
the iron relicks were found all rusty   
and crumbling into pieces2 but our      
little iron pins1 which fastened the    
ivory works1 held well together1 and    
lost not their magnetical quality1      
though wanting a tenacious moisture for 
the firmer union of parts2 although it  

be hardly drawn into fusion1 yet that   
metal soon submitteth unto rust and     
dissolution4 ,in the brazen pieces we   
admired not the duration1 but the       
freedom from rust1 and ill savour1 upon 
the hardest attrition2 but now exposed  
unto the piercing atoms of air1 in the  
space of a few months1 they begin to    
spot and betray their green entrails4   
,we conceive not these urns to have     
descended thus naked as they appear1 or 
to have entered their graves without the
 old habit of flowers4 ,the urn of      
,philopmen was so laden with flowers and
 ribbons1 that it afforded no sight of  
itself4 ,the rigid ,lycurgus allowed    
olive and myrtle4 ,the ,athenians might 
fairly except against the practice of   
,democritus1 to be buried up in honey1  
as fearing to embezzle a great commodity
 of their country1 and the best of that 
kind in ,europe4 ,but ,plato seemed too 
frugally politick1 who allowed no larger
 monument than would contain four       
heroick verses1 and designed the most   

barren ground for sepulture3 though we  
cannot commend the goodness of that     
sepulchral ground which was set at no   
higher rate than the mean salary of     
,judas4 ,though the earth had confounded
 the ashes of these ossuaries1 yet the  
bones were so smartly burnt1 that some  
thin plates of brass were found half    
melted among them4 ,whereby we apprehend
 they were not of the meanest caresses1 
perfunctorily fired1 as sometimes in    
military1 and commonly in pestilence1   
burnings2 or after the manner of abject 
corpses1 huddled forth and carelessly   
burnt1 without the ,esquiline ,port at  
,rome2 which was an affront continued   
upon ,tiberius1 while they but half     
burnt his body1 and in the amphitheatre1
 according to the custom in notable     
malefactors2,,ax whereas ,nero seemed   
not so much to fear his death as that   
his head should be cut off and his body 
not burnt entire4  ,,ax 8,in            
amphitheatro                            
semiustulandum40--,suetonius ,vit4 ,tib4

  ,some1 finding many fragments of      
skulls in these urns1 suspected a       
mixture of bones2 in none we searched   
was there cause of such conjecture1     
though sometimes they declined not that 
practice4--,the ashes of ,domitian were 
mingled with those of ,julia2 of        
,achilles with those of ,patroclus4 ,all
 urns contained not single ashes2       
without confused burnings they          
affectionately compounded their bones2  
passionately endeavouring to continue   
their living unions4 ,and when distance 
of death denied such conjunctions1      
unsatisfied affections conceived some   
satisfaction to be neighbours in the    
grave1 to lie urn by urn1 and touch but 
in their manes4 ,and many were so       
curious to continue their living        
relations1 that they contrived large and
 family urns1 wherein the ashes of their
 nearest friends and kindred might      
successively be received1 at least some 
parcels thereof1 while their collateral 
memorials lay in minor vessels about    

them4  ,antiquity held too light        
thoughts from objects of mortality1     
while some drew provocatives of mirth   
from anatomies1,,ay and jugglers showed 
tricks with skeletons4 ,when fiddlers   
made not so pleasant mirth as fencers1  
and men could sit with quiet stomachs1  
while hanging was played before         
them4,,az ,old considerations made few  
mementos by skulls and bones upon their 
monuments4 ,in the ,egyptian obelisks   
and hieroglyphical figures it is not    
easy to meet with bones4 ,the sepulchral
 lamps speak nothing less than          
sepulture1 and in their literal draughts
 prove often obscene and antick pieces4 
,where we find ,d4 ,m4,,ba it is obvious
 to meet with sacrificing pateras and   
vessels of libation upon old sepulchral 
monuments4 ,in the ,jewish hypogum and  
subterranean cell at ,rome1 was little  
observable beside the variety of lamps  
and frequent draughts of ,anthony and   
,jerome we meet with thigh-bones and    
death's-heads2 but the cemeterial cells 

of ancient ,christians and martyrs were 
filled with draughts of ,scripture      
stories2 not declining the flourishes of
 cypress1 palms1 and olive1 and the     
mystical figures of peacocks1 doves1 and
 cocks2 but iterately affecting the     
portraits of ,enoch1 ,lazarus1 ,jonas1  
and the vision of ,ezekiel1 as hopeful  
draughts1 and hinting imagery of the    
resurrection1 which is the life of the  
grave1 and sweetens our habitations in  
the land of moles and pismires4  ,,ay   
8,sic erimus cuncti1 444 ergo dum       
vivimus vivamus40  ,,az  4 ,a barbarous 
pastime at feasts1 when men stood upon a
 rolling globe1 with their necks in a   
rope and a knife in their hands1 ready  
to cut it when the stone was rolled     
away1 wherein1 if they failed1 they lost
 their lives1 to the laughter of their  
spectators4  ,,ba ,diis manibus4        
,gentle inscriptions precisely delivered
 the extent of men's lives1 seldom the  
manner of their deaths1 which history   
itself so often leaves obscure in the   

records of memorable persons4 ,there is 
scarce any philosopher but dies twice or
 thrice in ,laertius2 nor almost any    
life without two or three deaths in     
,plutarch2 which makes the tragical ends
 of noble persons more favourably       
resented by compassionate readers who   
find some relief in the election of such
 differences4  ,the certainty of death  
is attended with uncertainties1 in time1
 manner1 places4 ,the variety of        
monuments hath often obscured true      
graves2 and cenotaphs confounded        
sepulchres4 ,for beside their real      
tombs1 many have found honorary and     
empty sepulchres4 ,the variety of       
,homer's monuments made him of various  
countries4 ,euripides had his tomb in   
,africa1 but his sepulture in           
,macedonia4 ,and ,severus found his real
 sepulchre in ,rome1 but his empty grave
 in ,gallia4  ,he that lay in a golden  
urn eminently above the earth1 was not  
like to find the quiet of his bones4    
,many of these urns were broke by a     

vulgar discoverer in hope of enclosed   
treasure4 ,the ashes of ,marcellus were 
lost above ground1 upon the like        
account4 ,where profit hath prompted1 no
 age hath wanted such miners4 ,for which
 the most barbarous expilators found the
 most civil rhetorick4 ,gold once out of
 the earth is no more due unto it2 what 
was unreasonably committed to the       
ground1 is reasonably resumed from it2  
let monuments and rich fabricks1 not    
riches1 adorn men's ashes4 ,the commerce
 of the living is not to be transferred 
unto the dead2 it is not injustice to   
take that which none complains to lose1 
and no man is wronged where no man is   
possessor4  ,what virtue yet sleeps in  
this terra damnata and aged cinders1    
were petty magic to experiment4 ,these  
crumbling relicks and long fired        
particles superannuate such             
expectations2 bones1 hairs1 nails1 and  
teeth of the dead1 were the treasures of
 old sorcerers4 ,in vain we revive such 
practices2 present superstition too     

visibly perpetuates the folly of our    
forefathers1 wherein unto old           
observation this island was so complete1
 that it might have instructed ,persia4 
,plato's historian of the other world   
lies twelve days incorrupted1 while his 
soul was viewing the large stations of  
the dead4 ,how to keep the corpse seven 
days from corruption by anointing and   
washing1 without extenteration1 were an 
hazardable piece of art1 in our choicest
 practice4 ,how they made distinct      
separation of bones and ashes from fiery
 admixture1 hath found no historical    
solution2 though they seemed to make a  
distinct collection and overlooked not  
,pyrrhus his toe4 ,some provision they  
might make by fictile vessels1          
coverings1 tiles1 or flat stones1 upon  
and about the body 7and in the same     
field1 not far from these urns1 many    
stones were found underground71 as also 
by careful separation of extraneous     
matter composing and raking up the burnt
 bones with forks1 observable in that   

notable lamp of ,galvanus ,martianus1   
who had the sight of the vas ustrinum or
 vessel wherein they burnt the dead1    
found in the ,esquiline field at ,rome1 
might have afforded clearer solution4   
,but their insatisfaction herein begat  
that remarkable invention in the funeral
 pyres of some princes1 by incombustible
 sheets made with a texture of asbestos1
 incremable flax1 or salamander's wool1 
which preserved their bones and ashes   
incommixed4  ,how the bulk of a man     
should sink into so few pounds of bones 
and ashes1 may seem strange unto any who
 considers not its constitution1 and how
 slender a mass will remain upon an open
 and urging fire of the carnal          
composition4 ,even bones themselves1    
reduced into ashes1 do abate a notable  
proportion4 ,and consisting much of a   
volatile salt1 when that is fired out1  
make a light kind of cinders4 ,although 
their bulk be disproportionable to their
 weight1 when the heavy principle of    
salt is fired out1 and the earth almost 

only remaineth2 observable in sallow1   
which makes more ashes than oak1 and    
discovers the common fraud of selling   
ashes by measure1 and not by            
ponderation4  ,some bones make best     
skeletons1 some bodies quick and        
speediest ashes4 ,who would expect a    
quick flame from hydropical ,heraclitus8
 ,the poisoned soldier when his belly   
brake1 put out two pyres in ,plutarch4  
,but in the plague of ,athens1 one      
private pyre served two or three        
intruders2 and the ,saracens burnt in   
large heaps1 by the king of ,castile1   
showed how little fuel sufficeth4       
,though the funeral pyre of ,patroclus  
took up an hundred foot1,,bb a piece of 
an old boat burnt ,pompey2 and if the   
burthen of ,isaac were sufficient for an
 holocaust1 a man may carry his own     
pyre4  ,,bb 8   40  ,from animals are   
drawn good burning lights1 and good     
medicines against burning4 ,though the  
seminal humour seems of a contrary      
nature to fire1 yet the body completed  

proves a combustible lump1 wherein fire 
finds flame even from bones1 and some   
fuel almost from all parts2 though the  
metropolis of humidity,,bc seems least  
disposed unto it1 which might render the
 skulls of these urns less burned than  
other bones4 ,but all flies or sinks    
before fire almost in all bodies3 when  
the common ligament is dissolved1 the   
attenuable parts ascend1 the rest       
subside in coal1 calx1 or ashes4  ,,bc  
,the ,brain4 ,hippocrates4  ,to burn the
 bones of the king of ,edom for         
lime1,,bd seems no irrational ferity2   
but to drink of the ashes of dead       
relations1,,be a passionate prodigality4
 ,he that hath the ashes of his friend1 
hath an everlasting treasure2 where fire
 taketh leave1 corruption slowly enters4
 ,in bones well burnt1 fire makes a wall
 against itself2 experimented in        
,copels1#aje and tests of metals1 which 
consist of such ingredients4 ,what the  
sun compoundeth1 fire analyzeth1 not    
transmuteth4 ,that devouring agent      

leaves almost always a morsel for the   
earth1 whereof all things are but a     
colony2 and which1 if time permits1 the 
mother element will have in their       
primitive mass again4  ,,bd ,amos ii4   
#a4  ,,be ,as ,artemisia of her husband 
,mausolus4  ,he that looks for urns and 
old sepulchral relicks1 must not seek   
them in the ruins of temples1 where no  
religion anciently placed them4 ,these  
were found in a field1 according to     
ancient custom1 in noble or private     
burial2 the old practice of the         
,canaanites1 the family of ,abraham1 and
 the burying-place of ,joshua1 in the   
borders of his possessions2 and also    
agreeable unto ,roman practice to bury  
by highways1 whereby their monuments    
were under eye3--memorials of           
themselves1 and mementoes of mortality  
unto living passengers2 whom the        
epitaphs of great ones were fain to beg 
to stay and look upon them1--a language 
though sometimes used1 not so proper in 
church inscriptions4,,bf ,the sensible  

rhetorick of the dead1 to exemplarity of
 good life1 first admitted to the bones 
of pious men and martyrs within church  
walls1 which in succeeding ages crept   
into promiscuous practice3 while        
,constantine was peculiarly favoured to 
be admitted into the church porch1 and  
the first thus buried in ,england1 was  
in the days of ,cuthred4  ,,bf ,siste1  
viator4  ,christians dispute how their  
bodies should lie in the grave4 ,in     
urnal interment they clearly escaped    
this controversy4 ,though we decline the
 religious consideration1 yet in        
cemeterial and narrower burying-places1 
to avoid confusion and cross-position1 a
 certain posture were to be admitted3   
which even ,pagan civility observed4    
,the ,persians lay north and south2 the 
,megarians and ,phnicians placed their  
heads to the east2 the ,athenians1 some 
think1 towards the west1 which          
,christians still retain4 ,and ,beda    
will have it to be the posture of our   
,saviour4 ,that he was crucified with   

his face toward the west1 we will not   
contend with tradition and probable     
account2 but we applaud not the hand of 
the painter1 in exalting his cross so   
high above those on either side3 since  
hereof we find no authentic account in  
history1 and even the crosses found by  
,helena1 pretend no such distinction    
from longitude or dimension4  ,to be    
knav'd out of our graves1 to have our   
skulls made drinking-bowls1 and our     
bones turned into pipes1 to delight and 
sport our enemies1 are tragical         
abominations escaped in burning burials4
  ,urnal interments and burnt relicks   
lie not in fear of worms1 or to be an   
heritage for serpents4 ,in carnal       
sepulture1 corruptions seem peculiar    
unto parts2 and some speak of snakes out
 of the spinal marrow4 ,but while we    
suppose common worms in graves1 'tis not
 easy to find any there2 few in         
churchyards above a foot deep1 fewer or 
none in churches though in fresh-decayed
 bodies4 ,teeth1 bones1 and hair1 give  

the most lasting defiance to corruption4
 ,in an hydropical body1 ten years      
buried in the churchyard1 we met with a 
fat concretion1 where the nitre of the  
earth1 and the salt and lixivious liquor
 of the body1 had coagulated large lumps
 of fat into the consistence of the     
hardest ,castile soap1 whereof part     
remaineth with us4#ajf ,after a battle  
with the ,persians1 the ,roman corpses  
decayed in few days1 while the ,persian 
bodies remained dry and uncorrupted4    
,bodies in the same ground do not       
uniformly dissolve1 nor bones equally   
moulder2 whereof in the opprobrious     
disease1 we expect no long duration4    
,the body of the ,marquis of ,dorset,,bg
 seemed sound and handsomely            
cereclothed1 that after seventy-eight   
years was found uncorrupted4 ,common    
tombs preserve not beyond powder3 a     
firmer consistence and compage of parts 
might be expected from arefaction1 deep 
burial1 or charcoal4 ,the greatest      
antiquities of mortal bodies may remain 

in putrefied bones1 whereof1 though we  
take not in the pillar of ,lot's wife1  
or metamorphosis of ,ortelius1 some may 
be older than pyramids1 in the putrefied
 relicks of the general inundation4     
,when ,alexander opened the tomb of     
,cyrus1 the remaining bones discovered  
his proportion1 whereof urnal fragments 
afford but a bad conjecture1 and have   
this disadvantage of grave interments1  
that they leave us ignorant of most     
personal discoveries4 ,for since bones  
afford not only rectitude and stability 
but figure unto the body1 it is no      
impossible physiognomy to conjecture at 
fleshy appendencies1 and after what     
shape the muscles and carnous parts     
might hang in their full consistencies4 
,a full-spread cariola shows a          
well-shaped horse behind2 handsome      
formed skulls give some analogy of      
fleshy resemblance4 ,a critical view of 
bones makes a good distinction of sexes4
 ,even colour is not beyond conjecture1 
since it is hard to be deceived in the  

distinction of the ,negroes' skulls4#ajg
 ,dante's,,bh characters are to be found
 in skulls as well as faces4 ,hercules  
is not only known by his foot4 ,other   
parts make out their comproportions and 
inferences upon whole or parts4 ,and    
since the dimensions of the head measure
 the whole body1 and the figure thereof 
gives conjecture of the principal       
faculties3 physiognomy outlives         
ourselves1 and ends not in our graves4  
,,bg ,who was buried in #aecj1 and dug  
up in #afjh1 and found perfect like an  
ordinary corpse newly interred4  ,,bh   
,purgat4 xxiii4 #ca4  ,severe           
contemplators1 observing these lasting  
relicks1 may think them good monuments  
of persons past1 little advantage to    
future beings2 and1 considering that    
power which subdueth all things unto    
itself1 that can resume the scattered   
atoms1 or identify out of anything1     
conceive it superfluous to expect a     
resurrection out of relicks3 but the    
soul subsisting1 other matter1 clothed  

with due accidents1 may salve the       
individuality4 ,yet the saints1 we      
observe1 arose from graves and monuments
 about the holy city4 ,some think the   
ancient patriarchs so earnestly desired 
to lay their bones in ,canaan1 as hoping
 to make a part of that resurrection2   
and1 though thirty miles from ,mount    
,calvary1 at least to lie in that region
 which should produce the first-fruits  
of the dead4 ,and if1 according to      
learned conjecture1 the bodies of men   
shall rise where their greatest relicks 
remain1 many are not like to err in the 
topography of their resurrection1 though
 their bones or bodies be after         
translated by angels into the field of  
,ezekiel's vision1 or as some will order
 it1 into the valley of judgment1 or    
,jehosaphat4   ,,chapter ,,iv4          
,,christians have handsomely glossed the
 deformity of death by careful          
consideration of the body1 and civil    
rites which take off brutal             
terminations3 and though they conceived 

all reparable by a resurrection1 cast   
not off all care of interment4 ,and     
since the ashes of sacrifices burnt upon
 the altar of ,god were carefully       
carried out by the priests1 and deposed 
in a clean field2 since they            
acknowledged their bodies to be the     
lodging of ,christ1 and temples of the  
,holy ,ghost1 they devolved not all upon
 the sufficiency of soul-existence2 and 
therefore with long services and full   
solemnities1 concluded their last       
exequies1 wherein to all distinctions   
the ,greek devotion seems most          
pathetically ceremonious4  ,christian   
invention hath chiefly driven at rites1 
which speak hopes of another life1 and  
hints of a resurrection4 ,and if the    
ancient ,gentiles held not the          
immortality of their better part1 and   
some subsistence after death1 in several
 rites1 customs1 actions1 and           
expressions1 they contradicted their own
 opinions3 wherein ,democritus went     
high1 even to the thought of a          

resurrection1 as scoffingly recorded by 
,pliny4,,bi ,what can be more express   
than the expression of ,phocylides8,,bj 
,or who would expect from ,lucretius,,bk
 a sentence of ,ecclesiastes8 ,before   
,plato could speak1 the soul had wings  
in ,homer1 which fell not1 but flew out 
of the body into the mansions of the    
dead2 who also observed that handsome   
distinction of ,demas and ,soma1 for the
 body conjoined to the soul1 and body   
separated from it4 ,lucian spoke much   
truth in jest1 when he said that part of
 ,hercules which proceeded from ,alcmena
 perished1 that from ,jupiter remained  
immortal4 ,thus ,socrates was content   
that his friends should bury his body1  
so they would not think they buried     
,socrates2 and1 regarding only his      
immortal part1 was indifferent to be    
burnt or buried4 ,from such             
considerations1 ,diogenes might contemn 
sepulture1 and1 being satisfied that the
 soul could not perish1 grow careless of
 corporal interment4 ,the ,stoicks1 who 

thought the souls of wise men had their 
habitation about the moon1 might make   
slight account of subterraneous         
deposition2 whereas the ,pythagoreans   
and transcorporating philosophers1 who  
were to be often buried1 held great care
 of their interment4 ,and the           
,platonicks rejected not a due care of  
the grave1 though they put their ashes  
to unreasonable expectations1 in their  
tedious term of return and long set     
revolution4  ,,bi 8,similis 99999999    
reviviscendi promissa ,democrito        
vanitas1 qui non revixit ipse4 ,qu      
7malum7 ista dementia est iterari vitam 
morte80--,plin4 l4 vii4 c4 #ee4  ,,bj 8 
40  ,,bk 8,cedit item retro de terra    
quod fuit ante in terras40--,luc41 lib4 
ii4 #iih4  ,men have lost their reason  
in nothing so much as their religion1   
wherein stones and clouts make martyrs2 
and1 since the religion of one seems    
madness unto another1 to afford an      
account or rational of old rites        
requires no rigid reader4 ,that they    

kindled the pyre aversely1 or turning   
their face from it1 was an handsome     
symbol of unwilling ministration4 ,that 
they washed their bones with wine and   
milk2 that the mother wrapped them in   
linen1 and dried them in her bosom1 the 
first fostering part and place of their 
nourishment2 that they opened their eyes
 toward heaven before they kindled the  
fire1 as the place of their hopes or    
original1 were no improper ceremonies4  
,their last valediction1,,bl thrice     
uttered by the attendants1 was also very
 solemn1 and somewhat answered by       
,christians1 who thought it too little1 
if they threw not the earth thrice upon 
the interred body4 ,that1 in strewing   
their tombs1 the ,romans affected the   
rose2 the ,greeks amaranthus and myrtle3
 that the funeral pyre consisted of     
sweet fuel1 cypress1 fir1 larix1 yew1   
and trees perpetually verdant1 lay      
silent expressions of their surviving   
hopes4 ,wherein ,christians1 who deck   
their coffins with bays1 have found a   

more elegant emblem2 for that it1       
seeming dead1 will restore itself from  
the root1 and its dry and exsuccous     
leaves resume their verdure again2      
which1 if we mistake not1 we have also  
observed in furze4 ,whether the planting
 of yew in churchyards hold not its     
original from ancient funeral rites1 or 
as an emblem of resurrection1 from its  
perpetual verdure1 may also admit       
conjecture4  ,,bl 8,vale1 vale1 nos te  
ordine quo natura permittet sequamur40  
,they made use of musick to excite or   
quiet the affections of their friends1  
according to different harmonies4 ,but  
the secret and symbolical hint was the  
harmonical nature of the soul2 which1   
delivered from the body1 went again to  
enjoy the primitive harmony of heaven1  
from whence it first descended2 which1  
according to its progress traced by     
antiquity1 came down by ,cancer1 and    
ascended by ,capricornus4  ,they burnt  
not children before their teeth         
appeared1 as apprehending their bodies  

too tender a morsel for fire1 and that  
their gristly bones would scarce leave  
separable relicks after the pyral       
combustion4 ,that they kindled not fire 
in their houses for some days after was 
a strict memorial of the late afflicting
 fire4 ,and mourning without hope1 they 
had an happy fraud against excessive    
lamentation1 by a common opinion that   
deep sorrows disturb their ghosts4,,bm  
,,bm 8,tu manes ne lde meos40  ,that    
they buried their dead on their backs1  
or in a supine position1 seems agreeable
 unto profound sleep1 and common posture
 of dying2 contrary to the most natural 
way of birth2 nor unlike our pendulous  
posture1 in the doubtful state of the   
womb4 ,diogenes was singular1 who       
preferred a prone situation in the      
grave2 and some ,christians,,bn like    
neither1 who decline the figure of rest1
 and make choice of an erect posture4   
,,bn ,the ,russians1 c4  ,that they     
carried them out of the world with their
 feet forward1 not inconsonant unto     

reason1 as contrary unto the native     
posture of man1 and his production first
 into it2 and also agreeable unto their 
opinions1 while they bid adieu unto the 
world1 not to look again upon it2       
whereas ,mahometans who think to return 
to a delightful life again1 are carried 
forth with their heads forward1 and     
looking toward their houses4  ,they     
closed their eyes1 as parts which first 
die1 or first discover the sad effects  
of death4 ,but their iterated clamations
 to excitate their dying or dead        
friends1 or revoke them unto life again1
 was a vanity of affection2 as not      
presumably ignorant of the critical     
tests of death1 by apposition of        
feathers1 glasses1 and reflection of    
figures1 which dead eyes represent not3 
which1 however not strictly verifiable  
in fresh and warm cadavers1 could hardly
 elude the test1 in corpses of four or  
five days4  ,that they sucked in the    
last breath of their expiring friends1  
was surely a practice of no medical     

institution1 but a loose opinion that   
the soul passed out that way1 and a     
fondness of affection1 from some        
,pythagorical foundation1 that the      
spirit of one body passed into another1 
which they wished might be their own4   
,that they poured oil upon the pyre1 was
 a tolerable practice1 while the        
intention rested in facilitating the    
ascension4 ,but to place good omens in  
the quick and speedy burning1 to        
sacrifice unto the winds for a despatch 
in this office1 was a low form of       
superstition4  ,the archimime1 or       
jester1 attending the funeral train1 and
 imitating the speeches1 gesture1 and   
manners of the deceased1 was too light  
for such solemnities1 contradicting     
their funeral orations and doleful rites
 of the grave4  ,that they buried a     
piece of money with them as a fee of the
 ,elysian ferryman1 was a practice full 
of folly4 ,but the ancient custom of    
placing coins in considerable urns1 and 
the present practice of burying medals  

in the noble foundations of ,europe1 are
 laudable ways of historical            
discoveries1 in actions1 persons1       
chronologies2 and posterity will applaud
 them4  ,we examine not the old laws of 
sepulture1 exempting certain persons    
from burial or burning4 ,but hereby we  
apprehend that these were not the bones 
of persons planet-struck or burnt with  
fire from heaven2 no relicks of traitors
 to their country1 self-killers1 or     
sacrilegious malefactors2 persons in old
 apprehension unworthy of the earth2    
condemned unto the ,tartarus of hell1   
and bottomless pit of ,pluto1 from      
whence there was no redemption4  ,nor   
were only many customs questionable in  
order to their obsequies1 but also      
sundry practices1 fictions1 and         
conceptions1 discordant or obscure1 of  
their state and future beings4 ,whether 
unto eight or ten bodies of men to add  
one of a woman1 as being more           
inflammable and unctuously constituted  
for the better pyral combustion1 were   

any rational practice2 or whether the   
complaint of ,periander's wife be       
tolerable1 that wanting her funeral     
burning1 she suffered intolerable cold  
in hell1 according to the constitution  
of the infernal house of ,pluto1 wherein
 cold makes a great part of their       
tortures2 it cannot pass without some   
question4  ,why the female ghosts appear
 unto ,ulysses1 before the heroes and   
masculine spirits1--why the ,psyche or  
soul of ,tiresias is of the masculine   
gender1 who1 being blind on earth1 sees 
more than all the rest in hell2 why the 
funeral suppers consisted of eggs1      
beans1 smallage1 and lettuce1 since the 
dead are made to eat asphodels about the
 ,elysian meadows3--why1 since there is 
no sacrifice acceptable1 nor any        
propitiation for the covenant of the    
grave1 men set up the deity of ,morta1  
and fruitlessly adored divinities       
without ears1 it cannot escape some     
doubt4  ,the dead seem all alive in the 
human ,hades of ,homer1 yet cannot well 

speak1 prophecy1 or know the living1    
except they drink blood1 wherein is the 
life of man4 ,and therefore the souls of
 ,penelope's paramours1 conducted by    
,mercury1 chirped like bats1 and those  
which followed ,hercules1 made a noise  
but like a flock of birds4  ,the        
departed spirits know things past and to
 come2 yet are ignorant of things       
present4 ,agamemnon foretells what      
should happen unto ,ulysses2 yet        
ignorantly inquires what is become of   
his own son4 ,the ghosts are afraid of  
swords in ,homer2 yet ,sibylla tells    
neas in ,virgil1 the thin habit of      
spirits was beyond the force of weapons4
 ,the spirits put off their malice with 
their bodies1 and ,csar and ,pompey     
accord in ,latin hell2 yet ,ajax1 in    
,homer1 endures not a conference with   
,ulysses2 and ,deiphobus appears all    
mangled in ,virgil's ghosts1 yet we meet
 with perfect shadows among the wounded 
ghosts of ,homer4  ,since ,charon in    
,lucian applauds his condition among the

 dead1 whether it be handsomely said of 
,achilles1 that living contemner of     
death1 that he had rather be a          
ploughman's servant1 than emperor of the
 dead8 ,how ,hercules his soul is in    
hell1 and yet in heaven2 and ,julius his
 soul in a star1 yet seen by neas in    
hell8--except the ghosts were but images
 and shadows of the soul1 received in   
higher mansions1 according to the       
ancient division of body1 soul1 and     
image1 or simulachrum of them both4 ,the
 particulars of future beings must needs
 be dark unto ancient theories1 which   
,christian philosophy yet determines but
 in a cloud of opinions4 ,a dialogue    
between two infants in the womb         
concerning the state of this world1     
might handsomely illustrate our         
ignorance of the next1 whereof methinks 
we yet discourse in ,pluto's den1 and   
are but embryo philosophers4            
,pythagoras escapes in the fabulous hell
 of ,dante1,,bo among that swarm of     
philosophers1 wherein1 whilst we meet   

with ,plato and ,socrates1 ,cato is to  
be found in no lower place than         
purgatory4 ,among all the set1 ,epicurus
 is most considerable1 whom men make    
honest without an ,elysium1 who         
contemned life without encouragement of 
immortality1 and making nothing after   
death1 yet made nothing of the king of  
terrors4  ,,bo ,del ,inferno1 cant4 #d4 
,were the happiness of the next world as
 closely apprehended as the felicities  
of this1 it were a martyrdom to live2   
and unto such as consider none          
hereafter1 it must be more than death to
 die1 which makes us amazed at those    
audacities that durst be nothing and    
return into their chaos again4          
,certainly such spirits as could contemn
 death1 when they expected no better    
being after1 would have scorned to live1
 had they known any4 ,and therefore we  
applaud not the judgment of ,machiavel1 
that ,christianity makes men cowards1 or
 that with the confidence of but        
half-dying1 the despised virtues of     

patience and humility have abased the   
spirits of men1 which ,pagan principles 
exalted2 but rather regulated the       
wildness of audacities in the attempts1 
grounds1 and eternal sequels of death2  
wherein men of the boldest spirits are  
often prodigiously temerarious4 ,nor can
 we extenuate the valour of ancient     
martyrs1 who contemned death in the     
uncomfortable scene of their lives1 and 
in their decrepit martyrdoms did        
probably lose not many months of their  
days1 or parted with life when it was   
scarce worth the living4 ,for 7beside   
that long time past holds no            
consideration unto a slender time to    
come7 they had no small disadvantage    
from the constitution of old age1 which 
naturally makes men fearful1 and        
complexionally superannuated from the   
bold and courageous thoughts of youth   
and fervent years4 ,but the contempt of 
death from corporal animosity1 promoteth
 not our felicity4 ,they may sit in the 
orchestra1 and noblest seats of heaven1 

who have held up shaking hands in the   
fire1 and humanly contended for glory4  
,meanwhile ,epicurus lies deep in       
,dante's hell1 wherein we meet with     
tombs enclosing souls which denied their
 immortalities4 ,but whether the        
virtuous heathen1 who lived better than 
he spake1 or erring in the principles of
 himself1 yet lived above philosophers  
of more specious maxims1 lie so deep as 
he is placed1 at least so low as not to 
rise against ,christians1 who believing 
or knowing that truth1 have lastingly   
denied it in their practice and         
conversation--were a query too sad to   
insist on4  ,but all or most            
apprehensions rested in opinions of some
 future being1 which1 ignorantly or     
coldly believed1 begat those perverted  
conceptions1 ceremonies1 sayings1 which 
,christians pity or laugh at4 ,happy are
 they which live not in that            
disadvantage of time1 when men could say
 little for futurity1 but from reason3  
whereby the noblest minds fell often    

upon doubtful deaths1 and melancholy    
dissolutions4 ,with these hopes1        
,socrates warmed his doubtful spirits   
against that cold potion2 and ,cato1    
before he durst give the fatal stroke1  
spent part of the night in reading the  
,immortality of ,plato1 thereby         
confirming his wavering hand unto the   
animosity of that attempt4  ,it is the  
heaviest stone that melancholy can throw
 at a man1 to tell him he is at the end 
of his nature2 or that there is no      
further state to come1 unto which this  
seems progressional1 and otherwise made 
in vain4 ,without this accomplishment1  
the natural expectation and desire of   
such a state1 were but a fallacy in     
nature2 unsatisfied considerators would 
quarrel the justice of their            
constitutions1 and rest content that    
,adam had fallen lower2 whereby1 by     
knowing no other original1 and deeper   
ignorance of themselves1 they might have
 enjoyed the happiness of inferior      
creatures1 who in tranquillity possess  

their constitutions1 as having not the  
apprehension to deplore their own       
natures1 and1 being framed below the    
circumference of these hopes1 or        
cognition of better being1 the wisdom of
 ,god hath necessitated their           
contentment3 but the superior ingredient
 and obscured part of ourselves1 whereto
 all present felicities afford no       
resting contentment1 will be able at    
last to tell us1 we are more than our   
present selves1 and evacuate such hopes 
in the fruition of their own            
accomplishments4   ,,chapter ,v4  ,now  
since these dead bones have already     
outlasted the living ones of            
,methuselah1 and in a yard underground1 
and thin walls of clay1 outworn all the 
strong and specious buildings above it2 
and quietly rested under the drums and  
tramplings of three conquests3 what     
prince can promise such diuturnity unto 
his relicks1 or might not gladly say1   
,sic ego componi versus in ossa         
velim8,,bp  ,,bp ,tibullus1 lib4 iii4   

el4 #b1 #bf4  ,time1 which antiquates   
antiquities1 and hath an art to make    
dust of all things1 hath yet spared     
these minor monuments4  ,in vain we hope
 to be known by open and visible        
conservatories1 when to be unknown was  
the means of their continuation1 and    
obscurity their protection4 ,if they    
died by violent hands1 and were thrust  
into their urns1 these bones become     
considerable1 and some old philosophers 
would honour them1 whose souls they     
conceived most pure1 which were thus    
snatched from their bodies1 and to      
retain a stronger propension unto them2 
whereas they weariedly left a           
languishing corpse and with faint       
desires of re-union4 ,if they fell by   
long and aged decay1 yet wrapt up in the
 bundle of time1 they fall into         
indistinction1 and make but one blot    
with infants4 ,if we begin to die when  
we live1 and long life be but a         
prolongation of death1 our life is a sad
 composition2 we live with death1 and   

die not in a moment4 ,how many pulses   
made up the life of ,methuselah1 were   
work for ,archimedes3 common counters   
sum up the life of ,moses his man4 ,our 
days become considerable1 like petty    
sums1 by minute accumulations3 where    
numerous fractions make up but small    
round numbers2 and our days of a span   
long1 make not one little finger4,,bq   
,,bq ,according to the ancient          
arithmetick of the hand1 wherein the    
little finger of the right hand         
contracted1 signified an                
hundred4--,pierius in ,hieroglyph4  ,if 
the nearness of our last necessity      
brought a nearer conformity into it1    
there were a happiness in hoary hairs1  
and no calamity in half-senses4 ,but the
 long habit of living indisposeth us for
 dying2 when avarice makes us the sport 
of death1 when even ,david grew         
politickly cruel1 and ,solomon could    
hardly be said to be the wisest of men4 
,but many are too early old1 and before 
the date of age4 ,adversity stretcheth  

our days1 misery makes ,alcmena's       
nights1,,br and time hath no wings unto 
it4 ,but the most tedious being is that 
which can unwish itself1 content to be  
nothing1 or never to have been1 which   
was beyond the malcontent of ,job1 who  
cursed not the day of his life1 but his 
nativity2 content to have so far been1  
as to have a title to future being1     
although he had lived here but in an    
hidden state of life1 and as it were an 
abortion4  ,,br ,one night as long as   
three4  ,what song the ,syrens sang1 or 
what name ,achilles assumed when he hid 
himself among women1 though puzzling    
questions1,,bs are not beyond all       
conjecture4 ,what time the persons of   
these ossuaries entered the famous      
nations of the dead1 and slept with     
princes and counsellors1 might admit a  
wide solution4 ,but who were the        
proprietaries of these bones1 or what   
bodies these ashes made up1 were a      
question above antiquarism2 not to be   
resolved by man1 nor easily perhaps by  

spirits1 except we consult the          
provincial guardians1 or tutelary       
observators4 ,had they made as good     
provision for their names1 as they have 
done for their relicks1 they had not so 
grossly erred in the art of             
perpetuation4 ,but to subsist in bones1 
and be but pyramidally extant1 is a     
fallacy in duration4 ,vain ashes which  
in the oblivion of names1 persons1      
times1 and sexes1 have found unto       
themselves a fruitless continuation1 and
 only arise unto late posterity1 as     
emblems of mortal vanities1 antidotes   
against pride1 vain-glory1 and madding  
vices4 ,pagan vain-glories which thought
 the world might last for ever1 had     
encouragement for ambition2 and1 finding
 no atropos unto the immortality of     
their names1 were never dampt with the  
necessity of oblivion4 ,even old        
ambitions had the advantage of ours1 in 
the attempts of their vain-glories1 who 
acting early1 and before the probable   
meridian of time1 have by this time     

found great accomplishment of their     
designs1 whereby the ancient heroes have
 already outlasted their monuments and  
mechanical preservations4 ,but in this  
latter scene of time1 we cannot expect  
such mummies unto our memories1 when    
ambition may fear the prophecy of       
,elias1,,bt and ,charles the ,fifth can 
never hope to live within two           
,methuselahs of ,hector4,,bu  ,,bs ,the 
puzzling questions of ,tiberius unto    
grammarians4--,marcel4 ,donatus in      
,suet4  ,,bt ,that the world may last   
but six thousand years4  ,,bu ,hector's 
fame outlasting above two lives of      
,methuselah before that famous prince   
was extant4  ,and therefore1 restless   
inquietude for the diuturnity of our    
memories unto the present considerations
 seems a vanity almost out of date1 and 
superannuated piece of folly4 ,we cannot
 hope to live so long in our names1 as  
some have done in their persons4 ,one   
face of ,janus holds no proportion unto 
the other4 ',tis too late to be         

ambitious4 ,the great mutations of the  
world are acted1 or time may be too     
short for our designs4 ,to extend our   
memories by monuments1 whose death we   
daily pray for1 and whose duration we   
cannot hope1 without injury to our      
expectations in the advent of the last  
day1 were a contradiction to our        
beliefs4 ,we whose generations are      
ordained in this setting part of time1  
are providentially taken off from such  
imaginations2 and1 being necessitated to
 eye the remaining particle of futurity1
 are naturally constituted unto thoughts
 of the next world1 and cannot excusably
 decline the consideration of that      
duration1 which maketh pyramids pillars 
of snow1 and all that's past a moment4  
,circles and right lines limit and close
 all bodies1 and the mortal right-lined 
circle,,bv must conclude and shut up    
all4 ,there is no antidote against the  
opium of time1 which temporally         
considereth all things3 our fathers find
 their graves in our short memories1 and

 sadly tell us how we may be buried in  
our survivors4 ,gravestones tell truth  
scarce forty years4 ,generations pass   
while some trees stand1 and old families
 last not three oaks4 ,to be read by    
bare inscriptions like many in ,gruter1 
to hope for eternity by enigmatical     
epithets or first letters of our names1 
to be studied by antiquaries1 who we    
were1 and have new names given us like  
many of the mummies1 are cold           
consolations unto the students of       
perpetuity1 even by everlasting         
languages4  ,,bv ,the character of      
death4  ,to be content that times to    
come should only know there was such a  
man1 not caring whether they knew more  
of him1 was a frigid ambition in        
,cardan2,,bw disparaging his horoscopal 
inclination and judgment of himself4    
,who cares to subsist like              
,hippocrates's patients1 or ,achilles's 
horses in ,homer1 under naked           
nominations1 without deserts and noble  
acts1 which are the balsam of our       

memories1 the entelechia and soul of our
 subsistences8 ,to be nameless in worthy
 deeds1 exceeds an infamous history4    
,the ,canaanitish woman lives more      
happily without a name1 than ,herodias  
with one4 ,and who had not rather have  
been the good thief1 than ,pilate8  ,,bw
 8,cuperem notum esse quod sim non opto 
ut sciatur qualis sim40  ,but the       
iniquity of oblivion blindly scattereth 
her poppy1 and deals with the memory of 
men without distinction to merit of     
perpetuity4 ,who can but pity the       
founder of the pyramids8 ,herostratus   
lives that burnt the temple of ,diana1  
he is almost lost that built it4 ,time  
hath spared the epitaph of ,adrian's    
horse1 confounded that of himself4 ,in  
vain we compute our felicities by the   
advantage of our good names1 since bad  
have equal durations1 and ,thersites is 
like to live as long as ,agamemnon      
without the favour of the everlasting   
register4 ,who knows whether the best of
 men be known1 or whether there be not  

more remarkable persons forgot1 than any
 that stand remembered in the known     
account of time8 ,the first man had been
 as unknown as the last1 and            
,methuselah's long life had been his    
only chronicle4  ,oblivion is not to be 
hired4 ,the greater part must be content
 to be as though they had not been1 to  
be found in the register of ,god1 not in
 the record of man4 ,twenty-seven names 
make up the first story and the recorded
 names ever since contain not one living
 century4 ,the number of the dead long  
exceedeth all that shall live4 ,the     
night of time far surpasseth the day1   
and who knows when was the equinox8     
,every hour adds unto that current      
arithmetick1 which scarce stands one    
moment4 ,and since death must be the    
,lucina of life1 and even ,pagans#ajh   
could doubt1 whether thus to live were  
to die2 since our longest sun sets at   
right descensions1 and makes but winter 
arches1 and therefore it cannot be long 
before we lie down in darkness1 and have

 our light in ashes2 since the brother  
of death daily haunts us with dying     
mementoes1 and time that grows old in   
itself1 bids us hope no long            
duration2--diuturnity is a dream and    
folly of expectation4  ,darkness and    
light divide the course of time1 and    
oblivion shares with memory a great part
 even of our living beings2 we slightly 
remember our felicities1 and the        
smartest strokes of affliction leave but
 short smart upon us4 ,sense endureth no
 extremities1 and sorrows destroy us or 
themselves4 ,to weep into stones are    
fables4 ,afflictions induce callosities2
 miseries are slippery1 or fall like    
snow upon us1 which notwithstanding is  
no unhappy stupidity4 ,to be ignorant of
 evils to come1 and forgetful of evils  
past1 is a merciful provision in nature1
 whereby we digest the mixture of our   
few and evil days1 and1 our delivered   
senses not relapsing into cutting       
remembrances1 our sorrows are not kept  
raw by the edge of repetitions4 ,a great

 part of antiquity contented their hopes
 of subsistency with a transmigration of
 their souls1--a good way to continue   
their memories1 while having the        
advantage of plural successions1 they   
could not but act something remarkable  
in such variety of beings1 and enjoying 
the fame of their passed selves1 make   
accumulation of glory unto their last   
durations4 ,others1 rather than be lost 
in the uncomfortable night of nothing1  
were content to recede into the common  
being1 and make one particle of the     
public soul of all things1 which was no 
more than to return into their unknown  
and divine original again4 ,egyptian    
ingenuity was more unsatisfied1         
contriving their bodies in sweet        
consistences1 to attend the return of   
their souls4 ,but all is vanity1 feeding
 the wind1 and folly4 ,egyptian mummies1
 which ,cambyses or time hath spared1   
avarice now consumeth4 ,mummy is become 
merchandise1 ,mizraim1 cures wounds1 and
 ,pharaoh is sold for balsams4  ,in vain

 do individuals hope for immortality1 or
 any patent from oblivion1 in           
preservations below the moon2 men have  
been deceived even in their flatteries1 
above the sun1 and studied conceits to  
perpetuate their names in heaven4 ,the  
various cosmography of that part hath   
already varied the names of contrived   
constellations2 ,nimrod is lost in      
,orion1 and ,osyris in the ,dog-star4   
,while we look for incorruption in the  
heavens1 we find that they are but like 
the earth2--durable in their main       
bodies1 alterable in their parts2       
whereof1 beside comets and new stars1   
perspectives begin to tell tales1 and   
the spots that wander about the sun1    
with ,phaeton's favour1 would make clear
 conviction4  ,there is nothing strictly
 immortal1 but immortality4 ,whatever   
hath no beginning1 may be confident of  
no end2--all others have a dependent    
being and within the reach of           
destruction2--which is the peculiar of  
that necessary essence that cannot      

destroy itself2--and the highest strain 
of omnipotency1 to be so powerfully     
constituted as not to suffer even from  
the power of itself4 ,but the           
sufficiency of ,christian immortality   
frustrates all earthly glory1 and the   
quality of either state after death1    
makes a folly of posthumous memory4 ,god
 who can only destroy our souls1 and    
hath assured our resurrection1 either of
 our bodies or names hath directly      
promised no duration4 ,wherein there is 
so much of chance1 that the boldest     
expectants have found unhappy           
frustration2 and to hold long           
subsistence1 seems but a scape in       
oblivion4 ,but man is a noble animal1   
splendid in ashes1 and pompous in the   
grave1 solemnizing nativities and deaths
 with equal lustre1 nor omitting        
ceremonies of bravery in the infamy of  
his nature4  ,life is a pure flame1 and 
we live by an invisible sun within us4  
,a small fire sufficeth for life1 great 
flames seemed too little after death1   

while men vainly affected precious      
pyres1 and to burn like ,sardanapalus2  
but the wisdom of funeral laws found the
 folly of prodigal blazes and reduced   
undoing fires unto the rule of sober    
obsequies1 wherein few could be so mean 
as not to provide wood1 pitch1 a        
mourner1 and an urn4  ,five             
languages#aji secured not the epitaph of
 ,gordianus4 ,the man of ,god lives     
longer without a tomb than any by one1  
invisibly interred by angels1 and       
adjudged to obscurity1 though not       
without some marks directing human      
discovery4 ,enoch and ,elias1 without   
either tomb or burial1 in an anomalous  
state of being1 are the great examples  
of perpetuity1 in their long and living 
memory1 in strict account being still on
 this side death1 and having a late part
 yet to act upon this stage of earth4   
,if in the decretory term of the world  
we shall not all die but be changed1    
according to received translation1 the  
last day will make but few graves2 at   

least quick resurrections will          
anticipate lasting sepultures4 ,some    
graves will be opened before they be    
quite closed1 and ,lazarus be no wonder4
 ,when many that feared to die1 shall   
groan that they can die but once1 the   
dismal state is the second and living   
death1 when life puts despair on the    
damned2 when men shall wish the         
coverings of mountains1 not of          
monuments1 and annihilations shall be   
courted4  ,while some have studied      
monuments1 others have studiously       
declined them1 and some have been so    
vainly boisterous1 that they durst not  
acknowledge their graves2 wherein       
,alaricus seems most subtle1 who had a  
river turned to hide his bones at the   
bottom4 ,even ,sylla1 that thought      
himself safe in his urn1 could not      
prevent revenging tongues1 and stones   
thrown at his monument4 ,happy are they 
whom privacy makes innocent1 who deal so
 with men in this world1 that they are  
not afraid to meet them in the next2    

who1 when they die1 make no commotion   
among the dead1 and are not touched with
 that poetical taunt of ,isaiah4,,bx    
,,bx ,isa4 xiv4 #af4  ,pyramids1 arches1
 obelisks1 were but the irregularities  
of vain-glory1 and wild enormities of   
ancient magnanimity4 ,but the most      
magnanimous resolution rests in the     
,christian religion1 which trampleth    
upon pride and sits on the neck of      
ambition1 humbly pursuing that          
infallible perpetuity1 unto which all   
others must diminish their diameters1   
and be poorly seen in angles of         
contingency4,,by  ,,by ,the least of    
angles4  ,pious spirits who passed their
 days in raptures of futurity1 made     
little more of this world1 than the     
world that was before it1 while they lay
 obscure in the chaos of pre-ordination1
 and night of their fore-beings4 ,and if
 any have been so happy as truly to     
understand ,christian annihilation1     
ecstasies1 exolution1 liquefaction1     
transformation1 the kiss of the spouse1 

gustation of ,god1 and ingression into  
the divine shadow1 they have already had
 an handsome anticipation of heaven2 the
 glory of the world is surely over1 and 
the earth in ashes unto them4  ,to      
subsist in lasting monuments1 to live in
 their productions1 to exist in their   
names and predicament of chimeras1 was  
large satisfaction unto old             
expectations1 and made one part of their
 ,elysiums4 ,but all this is nothing in 
the metaphysicks of true belief4 ,to    
live indeed1 is to be again ourselves1  
which being not only an hope1 but an    
evidence in noble believers1 'tis all   
one to lie in ,st ,innocent's,,bz       
church-yard as in the sands of ,egypt4  
,ready to be anything1 in the ecstasy of
 being ever1 and as content with six    
foot as the moles of ,adrianus4,,ca     
,,bz ,in ,paris1 where bodies soon      
consume4  ,,ca ,a stately mausoleum or  
sepulchral pile1 built by ,adrianus in  
,rome1 where now standeth the castle of 
,st ,angelo4      ----8,tabsne cadavera 

solvat1     ,an rogus1 haud             
refert40--,,lucan4 viii4 #hji4     ,a   
,,letter ,,to ,a ,,friend1  ,,upon      
,,occasion ,,of ,,the ,,death ,,of ,,his
 ,,intimate ,,friend4     ,,letter ,,to 
,a ,,friend4   ,,give me leave to wonder
 that news of this nature should have   
such heavy wings that you should hear so
 little concerning your dearest friend1 
and that ,i must make that unwilling    
repetition to tell you 8ad portam       
rigidos calces extendit10 that he is    
dead and buried1 and by this time no    
puny among the mighty nations of the    
dead2 for though he left this world not 
very many days past1 yet every hour you 
know largely addeth unto that dark      
society2 and considering the incessant  
mortality of mankind1 you cannot        
conceive there dieth in the whole earth 
so few as a thousand an hour4  ,although
 at this distance you had no early      
account or particular of his death1 yet 
your affection may cease to wonder that 
you had not some secret sense or        

intimation thereof by dreams1 thoughtful
 whisperings1 mercurisms1 airy nuncios  
or sympathetical insinuations1 which    
many seem to have had at the death of   
their dearest friends3 for since we find
 in that famous story1 that spirits     
themselves were fain to tell their      
fellows at a distance that the great    
,antonio was dead1 we have a sufficient 
excuse for our ignorance in such        
particulars1 and must rest content with 
the common road1 and ,appian way of     
knowledge by information4 ,though the   
uncertainty of the end of this world    
hath confounded all human predictions2  
yet they who shall live to see the sun  
and moon darkened1 and the stars to fall
 from heaven1 will hardly be deceived in
 the advent of the last day2 and        
therefore strange it is1 that the common
 fallacy of consumptive persons who feel
 not themselves dying1 and therefore    
still hope to live1 should also reach   
their friends in perfect health and     
judgment2--that you should be so little 

acquainted with ,plautus's sick         
complexion1 or that almost an           
,hippocratical face should not alarum   
you to higher fears1 or rather despair1 
of his continuation in such an emaciated
 state1 wherein medical predictions fail
 not1 as sometimes in acute diseases1   
and wherein 'tis as dangerous to be     
sentenced by a physician as a judge4    
,upon my first visit ,i was bold to tell
 them who had not let fall all hopes of 
his recovery1 that in my sad opinion he 
was not like to behold a                
grasshopper1#aaj much less to pluck     
another fig2 and in no long time after  
seemed to discover that odd mortal      
symptom in him not mentioned by         
,hippocrates1 that is1 to lose his own  
face1 and look like some of his near    
relations2 for he maintained not his    
proper countenance1 but looked like his 
uncle1 the lines of whose face lay deep 
and invisible in his healthful visage   
before3 for as from our beginning we run
 through variety of looks1 before we    

come to consistent and settled faces2 so
 before our end1 by sick and languishing
 alterations1 we put on new visages3 and
 in our retreat to earth1 may fall upon 
such looks which from community of      
seminal originals were before latent in 
us4  ,he was fruitlessly put in hope of 
advantage by change of air1 and imbibing
 the pure aerial nitre of these parts2  
and therefore1 being so far spent1 he   
quickly found ,sardinia in ,tivoli1,,cb 
and the most healthful air of little    
effect1 where death had set her broad   
arrow2,,cc for he lived not unto the    
middle of ,may1 and confirmed the       
observation of ,hippocrates of that     
mortal time of the year when the leaves 
of the fig-tree resemble a daw's claw4  
,he is happily seated who lives in      
places whose air1 earth1 and water1     
promote not the infirmities of his      
weaker parts1 or is early removed into  
regions that correct them4 ,he that is  
tabidly#aaa inclined1 were unwise to    
pass his days in ,portugal3 cholical    

persons will find little comfort in     
,austria or ,vienna3 he that is         
weak-legged must not be in love with    
,rome1 nor an infirm head with ,venice  
or ,paris4 ,death hath not only         
particular stars in heaven1 but         
malevolent places on earth1 which single
 out our infirmities1 and strike at our 
weaker parts2 in which concern1 passager
 and migrant birds have the great       
advantages1 who are naturally           
constituted for distant habitations1    
whom no seas nor places limit1 but in   
their appointed seasons will visit us   
from ,greenland and ,mount ,atlas1 and1 
as some think1 even from the            
,antipodes4,,cd  ,,cb 8,cum mors        
venerit1 in medio ,tibure ,sardinia     
est40  ,,cc ,in the king's forests they 
set the figure of a broad arrow upon    
trees that are to be cut down4  ,,cd    
,bellonius de ,avibus4  ,though we could
 not have his life1 yet we missed not   
our desires in his soft departure1 which
 was scarce an expiration2 and his end  

not unlike his beginning1 when the      
salient point scarce affords a sensible 
motion1 and his departure so like unto  
sleep1 that he scarce needed the civil  
ceremony of closing his eyes2 contrary  
unto the common way1 wherein death draws
 up1 sleep lets fall the eyelids4 ,with 
what strife and pains we came into the  
world we know not2 but 'tis commonly no 
easy matter to get out of it3 yet if it 
could be made out1 that such who have   
easy nativities have commonly hard      
deaths1 and contrarily2 his departure   
was so easy1 that we might justly       
suspect his birth was of another nature1
 and that some ,juno sat cross-legged at
 his nativity4  ,besides his soft death1
 the incurable state of his disease     
might somewhat extenuate your sorrow1   
who know that monsters but seldom       
happen1 miracles more rarely in         
physick4,,ce ,angelus ,victorius gives a
 serious account of a consumptive1      
hectical1 phthisical woman1 who was     
suddenly cured by the intercession of   

,ignatius4 ,we read not of any in       
,scripture who in this case applied unto
 our ,saviour1 though some may be       
contained in that large expression1 that
 he went about ,galilee healing all     
manner of sickness and all manner of    
diseases4,,cf ,amulets1 spells1 sigils1 
and incantations1 practised in other    
diseases1 are seldom pretended in this2 
and we find no sigil in the ,archidoxis 
of ,paracelsus to cure an extreme       
consumption or marasmus1 which1 if other
 diseases fail1 will put a period unto  
long livers1 and at last makes dust of  
all4 ,and therefore the ,stoics could   
not but think that the fiery principle  
would wear out all the rest1 and at last
 make an end of the world1 which        
notwithstanding without such a lingering
 period the ,creator may effect at his  
pleasure3 and to make an end of all     
things on earth1 and our planetical     
system of the world1 he need but put out
 the sun4  ,,ce 8,monstra contingunt in 
medicina40 ,hippoc4--8,strange and rare 

escapes there happen sometimes in       
physick40  ,,cf ,matt4 iv4 #bc4  ,i was 
not so curious to entitle the stars unto
 any concern of his death1 yet could not
 but take notice that he died when the  
moon was in motion from the meridian2 at
 which time an old ,italian long ago    
would persuade me that the greatest part
 of men died3 but herein ,i confess ,i  
could never satisfy my curiosity2       
although from the time of tides in      
places upon or near the sea1 there may  
be considerable deductions2 and         
,pliny,,cg hath an odd and remarkable   
passage concerning the death of men and 
animals upon the recess or ebb of the   
sea4 ,however1 certain it is1 he died in
 the dead and deep part of the night1   
when ,nox might be most apprehensibly   
said to be the daughter of ,chaos1 the  
mother of sleep and death1 according to 
old genealogy2 and so went out of this  
world about that hour when our blessed  
,saviour entered it1 and about what time
 many conceive he will return again unto

 it4 ,cardan#aab hath a peculiar and no 
hard observation from a man's hand to   
know whether he was born in the day or  
night1 which ,i confess holdeth in my   
own4 ,and ,scaliger#aac to that purpose 
hath another from the tip of the        
ear3,,ch most men are begotten in the   
night1 animals in the day2 but whether  
more persons have been born in the night
 or day1 were a curiosity undecidable1  
though more have perished by violent    
deaths in the day2 yet in natural       
dissolutions both times may hold an     
indifferency1 at least but contingent   
inequality4 ,the whole course of time   
runs out in the nativity and death of   
things2 which whether they happen by    
succession or coincidence1 are best     
computed by the natural1 not artificial 
day4  ,,cg 8,aristoteles nullum animal  
nisi stu recedente expirare affirmat2   
observatum id multum in ,gallico ,oceano
 et duntaxat in homine compertum10 lib4 
#b1 cap4 #aja4  ,,ch 8,auris pars       
pendula lobus dicitur1 non omnibus ea   

pars1 est auribus2 non enim iis qui     
noctu sunt1 sed qui interdiu1 maxima ex 
parte40--,com4 in ,aristot4 de ,animal4 
lib4 #a4   ,that ,charles the ,fifth#aad
 was crowned upon the day of his        
nativity1 it being in his own power so  
to order it1 makes no singular          
animadversion3 but that he should also  
take ,king ,francis#aae prisoner upon   
that day1 was an unexpected coincidence1
 which made the same remarkable4        
,antipater1 who had an anniversary feast
 every year upon his birth-day1 needed  
no astrological revolution to know what 
day he should die on4 ,when the fixed   
stars have made a revolution unto the   
points from whence they first set out1  
some of the ancients thought the world  
would have an end2 which was a kind of  
dying upon the day of its nativity4 ,now
 the disease prevailing and swiftly     
advancing about the time of his         
nativity1 some were of opinion that he  
would leave the world on the day he     
entered into it2 but this being a       

lingering disease1 and creeping softly  
on1 nothing critical was found or       
expected1 and he died not before fifteen
 days after4 ,nothing is more common    
with infants than to die on the day of  
their nativity1 to behold the worldly   
hours1 and but the fractions thereof2   
and even to perish before their nativity
 in the hidden world of the womb1 and   
before their good angel is conceived to 
undertake them4 ,but in persons who     
outlive many years1 and when there are  
no less than three hundred and          
sixty-five days to determine their lives
 in every year2 that the first day      
should make the last1 that the tail of  
the snake should return into its mouth  
precisely at that time1 and they should 
wind up upon the day of their nativity1 
is indeed a remarkable coincidence1     
which1 though astrology hath taken witty
 pains to salve1 yet hath it been very  
wary in making predictions of it4,,ci   
,,ci ,according to the ,egyptian        
hieroglyphic4  ,in this consumptive     

condition and remarkable extenuation1 he
 came to be almost half himself1 and    
left a great part behind him1 which he  
carried not to the grave4 ,and though   
that story of ,duke ,john ,ernestus     
,mansfield#aaf;,,cj be not so easily    
swallowed1 that at his death his heart  
was found not to be so big as a nut2 yet
 if the bones of a good skeleton weigh  
little more than twenty pounds1 his     
inwards and flesh remaining could make  
no bouffage1#aag but a light bit for the
 grave4 ,i never more lively beheld the 
starved characters of ,dante,,ck in any 
living face2 an aruspex might have read 
a lecture upon him without exenteration1
 his flesh being so consumed1 that he   
might1 in a manner1 have discerned his  
bowels without opening of him2 so that  
to be carried1 sexta cervice,,cl to the 
grave1 was but a civil unnecessity2 and 
the complements of the coffin might     
outweigh the subject of it4  ,,cj       
,turkish history4  ,,ck ,in the poet    
,dante's description4  ,,cl i4e4 8by six

 persons40  ,omnibonus ,ferrarius in    
mortal dysenteries of children looks for
 a spot behind the ear2 in consumptive  
diseases some eye the complexion of     
moles2 ,cardan eagerly views the nails1 
some the lines of the hand1 the thenar  
or muscle of the thumb2 some are so     
curious as to observe the depth of the  
throat-pit1 how the proportion varieth  
of the small of the legs unto the calf1 
or the compass of the neck unto the     
circumference of the head2 but all      
these1 with many more1 were so drowned  
in a mortal visage1 and last face of    
,hippocrates1 that a weak physiognomist 
might say at first eye1 this was a face 
of earth1 and that ,morta,,cm had set   
her hard seal upon his temples1 easily  
perceiving what caricatura,,cn draughts 
death makes upon pined faces1 and unto  
what an unknown degree a man may live   
backward4  ,,cm ,morta1 the deity of    
death or fate4  ,,cn ,when men's faces  
are drawn with resemblance to some other
 animals1 the ,italians call it1 to be  

drawn in caricatura4  ,though the beard 
be only made a distinction of sex1 and  
sign of masculine heat by ,ulmus1,,co   
yet the precocity and early growth      
thereof in him1 was not to be liked in  
reference unto long life4 ,lewis1 that  
virtuous but unfortunate king of        
,hungary1 who lost his life at the      
battle of ,mohacz1#aah was said to be   
born without a skin1 to have bearded at 
fifteen1 and to have shown some grey    
hairs about twenty2 from whence the     
diviners conjectured that he would be   
spoiled of his kingdom1 and have but a  
short life2 but hairs make fallible     
predictions1 and many temples early grey
 have outlived the psalmist's           
period4,,cp ,hairs which have most      
amused me have not been in the face or  
head1 but on the back1 and not in men   
but children1 as ,i long ago observed in
 that endemial distemper of children in 
,languedoc1 called the morgellons1,,cq  
wherein they critically break out with  
harsh hairs on their backs1 which takes 

off the unquiet symptoms of the disease1
 and delivers them from coughs and      
convulsions4  ,,co ,ulmus de usu barb   
human4  ,,cp ,the life of man is        
threescore and ten4  ,,cq ,see ,picotus 
de ,rheumatismo4  ,the ,egyptian mummies
 that ,i have seen1 have had their      
mouths open1 and somewhat gaping1 which 
affordeth a good opportunity to view and
 observe their teeth1 wherein 'tis not  
easy to find any wanting or decayed2 and
 therefore in ,egypt1 where one man     
practised but one operation1 or the     
diseases but of single parts1 it must   
needs be a barren profession to confine 
unto that of drawing of teeth1 and to   
have been little better than            
tooth-drawer unto ,king ,pyrrhus1,,cr   
who had but two in his head4  ,,cr ,his 
upper jaw being solid1 and without      
distinct rows of teeth4  ,how the       
banyans of ,india maintain the integrity
 of those parts1 ,i find not            
particularly observed2 who              
notwithstanding have an advantage of    

their preservation by abstaining from   
all flesh1 and employing their teeth in 
such food unto which they may seem at   
first framed1 from their figure and     
conformation2 but sharp and corroding   
rheums had so early mouldered these     
rocks and hardest parts of his fabric1  
that a man might well conceive that his 
years were never like to double or twice
 tell over his teeth4,,cs ,corruption   
had dealt more severely with them than  
sepulchral fires and smart flames with  
those of burnt bodies of old2 for in the
 burnt fragments of urns which ,i have  
inquired into1 although ,i seem to find 
few incisors or shearers1 yet the dog   
teeth and grinders do notably resist    
those fires4  ,,cs ,twice tell over his 
teeth1 never live to threescore years4  
,in the years of his childhood he had   
languished under the disease of his     
country1 the rickets2 after which1      
notwithstanding many have become strong 
and active men2 but whether any have    
attained unto very great years1 the     

disease is scarce so old as to afford   
good observation4 ,whether the children 
of the ,english plantations be subject  
unto the same infirmity1 may be worth   
the observing4 ,whether lameness and    
halting do still increase among the     
inhabitants of ,rovigno in ,istria1 ,i  
know not2 yet scarce twenty years ago   
,monsieur du ,loyr observed that a third
 part of that people halted2 but too    
certain it is1 that the rickets         
increaseth among us2 the small-pox grows
 more pernicious than the great2 the    
king's purse knows that the king's evil 
grows more common4 ,quartan agues are   
become no strangers in ,ireland2 more   
common and mortal in ,england2 and      
though the ancients gave that           
disease,,ct very good words1 yet now    
that bell,,cu makes no strange sound    
which rings out for the effects thereof4
  ,,ct   1 securissima et               
facillima4--,hippoc4  ,,cu ,pro febre   
quartana raro sonat campana4  ,some     
think there were few consumptions in the

 old world1 when men lived much upon    
milk2 and that the ancient inhabitants  
of this island were less troubled with  
coughs when they went naked and slept in
 caves and woods1 than men now in       
chambers and feather-beds4 ,plato will  
tell us1 that there was no such disease 
as a catarrh in ,homer's time1 and that 
it was but new in ,greece in his age4   
,polydore ,virgil delivereth that       
pleurisies were rare in ,england1 who   
lived but in the days of ,henry the     
,eighth4 ,some will allow no diseases to
 be new1 others think that many old ones
 are ceased3 and that such which are    
esteemed new1 will have but their time3 
however1 the mercy of ,god hath         
scattered the great heap of diseases1   
and not loaded any one country with all3
 some may be new in one country which   
have been old in another4 ,new          
discoveries of the earth discover new   
diseases3 for besides the common swarm1 
there are endemial and local infirmities
 proper unto certain regions1 which in  

the whole earth make no small number3   
and if ,asia1 ,africa1 and ,america1    
should bring in their list1 ,pandora's  
box would swell1 and there must be a    
strange pathology4  ,most men expected  
to find a consumed kell1#aai empty and  
bladder-like guts1 livid and marbled    
lungs1 and a withered pericardium in    
this exsuccous corpse3 but some seemed  
too much to wonder that two lobes of his
 lungs adhered unto his side2 for the   
like ,i have often found in bodies of no
 suspected consumptions or difficulty of
 respiration4 ,and the same more often  
happeneth in men than other animals3 and
 some think in women than in men3 but   
the most remarkable ,i have met with1   
was in a man1 after a cough of almost   
fifty years1 in whom all the lobes      
adhered unto the pleura1 and each lobe  
unto another2 who having also been much 
troubled with the gout1 brake the rule  
of ,cardan1,,cv and died of the stone in
 the bladder4 ,aristotle makes a query1 
why some animals cough1 as man2 some    

not1 as oxen4 ,if coughing be taken as  
it consisteth of a natural and voluntary
 motion1 including expectoration and    
spitting out1 it may be as proper unto  
man as bleeding at the nose2 otherwise  
we find that ,vegetius and rural writers
 have not left so many medicines in vain
 against the coughs of cattle2 and men  
who perish by coughs die the death of   
sheep1 cats1 and lions3 and though birds
 have no midriff1 yet we meet with      
divers remedies in ,arrianus against the
 coughs of hawks4 ,and though it might  
be thought that all animals who have    
lungs do cough2 yet in cataceous fishes1
 who have large and strong lungs1 the   
same is not observed2 nor yet in        
oviparous quadrupeds3 and in the        
greatest thereof1 the crocodile1        
although we read much of their tears1 we
 find nothing of that motion4  ,,cv     
,cardan in his ,encomium ,podagrae      
reckoneth this among the ,dona ,podagr1 
that they are delivered thereby from the
 phthisis and stone in the bladder4     

,from the thoughts of sleep1 when the   
soul was conceived nearest unto         
divinity1 the ancients erected an art of
 divination1 wherein while they too     
widely expatiated in loose and in       
consequent conjectures1 ,hippocrates,,cw
 wisely considered dreams as they       
presaged alterations in the body1 and so
 afforded hints toward the preservation 
of health1 and prevention of diseases2  
and therein was so serious as to advise 
alteration of diet1 exercise1 sweating1 
bathing1 and vomiting2 and also so      
religious as to order prayers and       
supplications unto respective deities1  
in good dreams unto ,sol1 ,jupiter      
clestis1 ,jupiter opulentus1 ,minerva1  
,mercurius1 and ,apollo2 in bad1 unto   
,tellus and the heroes4  ,,cw ,hippoc1  
de ,insomniis  ,and therefore ,i could  
not but notice how his female friends   
were irrationally curious so strictly to
 examine his dreams1 and in this low    
state to hope for the phantasms of      
health4 ,he was now past the healthful  

dreams of the sun1 moon1 and stars1 in  
their clarity and proper courses4 ',twas
 too late to dream of flying1 of limpid 
fountains1 smooth waters1 white         
vestments1 and fruitful green trees1    
which are the visions of healthful      
sleeps1 and at good distance from the   
grave4  ,and they were also too deeply  
dejected that he should dream of his    
dead friends1 inconsequently divining1  
that he would not be long from them2 for
 strange it was not that he should      
sometimes dream of the dead1 whose      
thoughts run always upon death2 beside1 
to dream of the dead1 so they appear not
 in dark habits1 and take nothing away  
from us1 in ,hippocrates' sense was of  
good signification3 for we live by the  
dead1 and everything is or must be so   
before it becomes our nourishment4 ,and 
,cardan1 who dreamed that he discoursed 
with his dead father in the moon1 made  
thereof no mortal interpretation2 and   
even to dream that we are dead1 was     
having a signification of liberty1      

vacuity from cares1 exemption and       
freedom from troubles unknown unto the  
dead4  ,some dreams ,i confess may admit
 of easy and feminine exposition2 he who
 dreamed that he could not see his right
 shoulder1 might easily fear to lose the
 sight of his right eye2 he that before 
a journey dreamed that his feet were cut
 off1 had a plain warning not to        
undertake his intended journey4 ,but why
 to dream of lettuce should presage some
 ensuing disease1 why to eat figs should
 signify foolish talk1 why to eat eggs  
great trouble1 and to dream of blindness
 should be so highly commended1         
according to the oneirocritical verses  
of ,astrampsychus and ,nicephorus1 ,i   
shall leave unto your divination4  ,he  
was willing to quit the world alone and 
altogether1 leaving no earnest behind   
him for corruption or after-grave1      
having small content in that common     
satisfaction to survive or live in      
another1 but amply satisfied that his   
disease should die with himself1 nor    

revive in a posterity to puzzle physic1 
and make sad mementoes of their parent  
hereditary4 ,leprosy awakes not         
sometimes before forty1 the gout and    
stone often later2 but consumptive and  
tabid,,cx roots sprout more early1 and  
at the fairest make seventeen years of  
our life doubtful before that age4 ,they
 that enter the world with original     
diseases as well as sin1 have not only  
common mortality but sick traductions to
 destroy them1 make commonly short      
courses1 and live not at length but in  
figures2 so that a sound ,csarean       
nativity,,cy may outlast a natural      
birth1 and a knife may sometimes make   
way for a more lasting fruit than a     
midwife2 which makes so few infants now 
able to endure the old test of the      
river1,,cz and many to have feeble      
children who could scarce have been     
married at ,sparta1 and those provident 
states who studied strong and healthful 
generations2 which happen but           
contingently in mere pecuniary matches  

or marriages made by the candle1 wherein
 notwithstanding there is little redress
 to be hoped from an astrologer or a    
lawyer1 and a good discerning physician 
were like to prove the most successful  
counsellor4  ,,cx ,tabes maxime         
contingunt ab anno decimo octavo and    
trigesi mum quintum4--,hippoc4  ,,cy ,a 
sound child cut out of the body of the  
mother4  ,,cz ,natos ad flumina primum  
deferimus svoque gelu dura mus et undis4
  ,julius ,scaliger1 who in a sleepless 
fit of the gout could make two hundred  
verses in a night1 would have but       
five,,da plain words upon his tomb4 ,and
 this serious person1 though no minor   
wit1 left the poetry of his epitaph unto
 others2 either unwilling to commend    
himself1 or to be judged by a distich1  
and perhaps considering how unhappy     
great poets have been in versifying     
their own epitaphs2 wherein ,petrarch1  
,dante1 and ,ariosto1 have so unhappily 
failed1 that if their tombs should      
outlast their works1 posterity would    

find so little of ,apollo on them as to 
mistake them for ,ciceronian poets4     
,,da ,julii ,csaris ,scaligeri quod     
fuit4--,joseph4 ,scaliger in vita       
patris4  ,in this deliberate and        
creeping progress unto the grave1 he was
 somewhat too young and of too noble a  
mind1 to fall upon that stupid symptom  
observable in divers persons near their 
journey's end1 and which may be reckoned
 among the mortal symptoms of their last
 disease2 that is1 to become more       
narrow-minded1 miserable1 and tenacious1
 unready to part with anything1 when    
they are ready to part with all1 and    
afraid to want when they have no time to
 spend2 meanwhile physicians1 who know  
that many are mad but in a single       
depraved imagination1 and one prevalent 
decipiency2 and that beside and out of  
such single deliriums a man may meet    
with sober actions and good sense in    
bedlam2 cannot but smile to see the     
heirs and concerned relations           
gratulating themselves on the sober     

departure of their friends2 and though  
they behold such mad covetous passages1 
content to think they die in good       
understanding1 and in their sober       
senses4  ,avarice1 which is not only    
infidelity1 but idolatry1 either from   
covetous progeny or questuary#abj       
education1 had no root in his breast1   
who made good works the expression of   
his faith1 and was big with desires unto
 public and lasting charities2 and      
surely where good wishes and charitable 
intentions exceed abilities1 theorical  
beneficency may be more than a dream4   
,they build not castles in the air who  
would build churches on earth2 and      
though they leave no such structures    
here1 may lay good foundations in       
heaven4 ,in brief1 his life and death   
were such1 that ,i could not blame them 
who wished the like1 and almost to have 
been himself2 almost1 ,i say2 for though
 we may wish the prosperous             
appurtenances of others1 or to be       
another in his happy accidents1 yet so  

intrinsical is every man unto himself1  
that some doubt may be made1 whether any
 would exchange his being1 or           
substantially become another man4  ,he  
had wisely seen the world at home and   
abroad1 and thereby observed under what 
variety men are deluded in the pursuit  
of that which is not here to be found4  
,and although he had no opinion of      
reputed felicities below1 and           
apprehended men widely out in the       
estimate of such happiness1 yet his     
sober contempt of the world wrought no  
,democratism or ,cynicism1 no laughing  
or snarling at it1 as well understanding
 there are not felicities in this world 
to satisfy a serious mind2 and          
therefore1 to soften the stream of our  
lives1 we are fain to take in the       
reputed contentations of this world1 to 
unite with the crowd in their           
beatitudes1 and to make ourselves happy 
by consortion1 opinion1 and             
co-existimation2 for strictly to        
separate from received and customary    

felicities1 and to confine unto the     
rigour of realities1 were to contract   
the consolation of our beings unto too  
uncomfortable circumscriptions4  ,not to
 fear death1,,db nor desire it1 was     
short of his resolution3 to be          
dissolved1 and be with ,christ1 was his 
dying ditty4 ,he conceived his thread   
long1 in no long course of years1 and   
when he had scarce outlived the second  
life of ,lazarus2,,dc esteeming it      
enough to approach the years of his     
,saviour1 who so ordered his own human  
state1 as not to be old upon earth4     
,,db ,summum nec metuas diem nec optes4 
,,dc ,who upon some accounts1 and       
tradition1 is said to have lived thirty 
years after he was raised by our        
,saviour4--,baronius4  ,but to be       
content with death may be better than to
 desire it2 a miserable life may make us
 wish for death1 but a virtuous one to  
rest in it2 which is the advantage of   
those resolved ,christians1 who looking 
on death not only as the sting1 but the 

period and end of sin1 the horizon and  
isthmus between this life and a better1 
and the death of this world but as a    
nativity of another1 do contentedly     
submit unto the common necessity1 and   
envy not ,enoch or ,elias4  ,not to be  
content with life is the unsatisfactory 
state of those who destroy              
themselves1,,dd who being afraid to live
 run blindly upon their own death1 which
 no man fears by experience3 and the    
,stoics had a notable doctrine to take  
away the fear thereof2 that is1 in such 
extremities1 to desire that which is not
 to be avoided1 and wish what might be  
feared2 and so made evils voluntary1 and
 to suit with their own desires1 which  
took off the terror of them4  ,,dd ,in  
the speech of ,vulteius in ,lucan1      
animating his soldiers in a great       
struggle to kill one                    
another4--8,decernite letum1 et metus   
omnis abest1 cupias quodcumque necesse  
est40 8,all fear is over1 do but resolve
 to die1 and make your desires meet     

necessity40--,phars4 iv4 #dhf4  ,but the
 ancient martyrs were not encouraged by 
such fallacies2 who1 though they feared 
not death1 were afraid to be their own  
executioners2 and therefore thought it  
more wisdom to crucify their lusts than 
their bodies1 to circumcise than stab   
their hearts1 and to mortify than kill  
themselves4  ,his willingness to leave  
this world about that age1 when most men
 think they may best enjoy it1 though   
paradoxical unto worldly ears1 was not  
strange unto mine1 who have so often    
observed1 that many1 though old1 oft    
stick fast unto the world1 and seem to  
be drawn like ,cacus's oxen#aba1        
backward1 with great struggling and     
reluctancy unto the grave4 ,the long    
habit of living makes mere men more     
hardly to part with life1 and all to be 
nothing1 but what is to come4 ,to live  
at the rate of the old world1 when some 
could scarce remember themselves young1 
may afford no better digested death than
 a more moderate period4 ,many would    

have thought it an happiness to have had
 their lot of life in some notable      
conjunctures of ages past2 but the      
uncertainty of future times have tempted
 few to make a part in ages to come4    
,and surely1 he that hath taken the true
 altitude of things1 and rightly        
calculated the degenerate state of this 
age1 is not like to envy those that     
shall live in the next1 much less three 
or four hundred years hence1 when no man
 can comfortably imagine what face this 
world will carry3 and therefore since   
every age makes a step unto the end of  
all things1 and the ,scripture affords  
so hard a character of the last times2  
quiet minds will be content with their  
generations1 and rather bless ages past1
 than be ambitious of those to come4    
,though age had set no seal upon his    
face1 yet a dim eye might clearly       
discover fifty in his actions2 and      
therefore1 since wisdom is the grey     
hair1 and an unspotted life old age2    
although his years come short1 he might 

have been said to have held up with     
longer livers1 and to have been         
,solomon's,,de old man4 ,and surely if  
we deduct all those days of our life    
which we might wish unlived1 and which  
abate the comfort of those we now live2 
if we reckon up only those days which   
,god hath accepted of our lives1 a life 
of good years will hardly be a span     
long3 the son in this sense may outlive 
the father1 and none be climacterically 
old4 ,he that early arriveth unto the   
parts and prudence of age1 is happily   
old without the uncomfortable attendants
 of it2 and 'tis superfluous to live    
unto grey hairs1 when in precocious     
temper we anticipate the virtues of     
them4 ,in brief1 he cannot be accounted 
young who outliveth the old man4 ,he    
that hath early arrived unto the measure
 of a perfect stature in ,christ1 hath  
already fulfilled the prime and longest 
intention of his being2 and one day     
lived after the perfect rule of piety1  
is to be preferred before sinning       

immortality4  ,,de ,wisdom1 cap4 iv4    
,although he attained not unto the years
 of his predecessors1 yet he wanted not 
those preserving virtues which confirm  
the thread of weaker constitutions4     
,cautelous chastity and crafty sobriety 
were far from him2 those jewels were    
paragon1 without flaw1 hair1 ice1 or    
cloud in him2 which affords me a hint to
 proceed in these good wishes1 and few  
mementoes unto you4  ,tread softly and  
circumspectly in this funambulous#abb   
track and narrow path of goodness2      
pursue virtue virtuously1 be sober and  
temperate1 not to preserve your body in 
a sufficiency for wanton ends1 not to   
spare your purse1 not to be free from   
the infamy of common transgressors that 
way1 and thereby to balance or palliate 
obscure and closer vices1 nor simply to 
enjoy health1 by all of which you may   
leaven good actions1 and render virtues 
disputable1 but1 in one word1 that you  
may truly serve ,god1 which every       
sickness will tell you you cannot well  

do without health4 ,the sick man's      
sacrifice is but a lame oblation4 ,pious
 treasures1 laid up in healthful days1  
excuse the defect of sick               
non-performance2 without which we must  
needs look back with anxiety upon the   
last opportunities of health2 and may   
have cause rather to envy than pity the 
ends of penitent malefactors1 who go    
with clear parts unto the last act of   
their lives1 and in the integrity of    
their faculties return their spirit unto
 ,god that gave it4  ,consider          
whereabouts thou art in ,cebe's#abc     
table1 or that old philosophical        
pinax#abd of the life of man2 whether   
thou art still in the road of           
uncertainties2 whether thou hast yet    
entered the narrow gate1 got up the hill
 and asperous way which leadeth unto the
 house of sanity2 or taken that         
purifying potion from the hand of       
sincere erudition1 which may send thee  
clear and pure away unto a virtuous and 
happy life4  ,in this virtuous voyage   

let no disappointment cause despondency1
 nor difficulty despair4 ,think not that
 you are sailing from ,lima to          
,manilla1,,df #abe wherein thou mayest  
tie up the rudder1 and sleep before the 
wind1 but expect rough seas1 flaws and  
contrary blasts2 and 'tis well if by    
many cross tacks and veerings thou      
arrivest at the port4 ,sit not down in  
the popular seats and common level of   
virtues1 but endeavour to make them     
heroical4 ,offer not only               
peace-offerings but holocausts unto     
,god4 ,to serve him singly to serve     
ourselves were too partial a piece of   
piety1 not like to place us in the      
highest mansions of glory4  ,,df        
,through the ,pacifick ,sea with a      
constant gale from the east4  ,he that  
is chaste and continent not to impair   
his strength or terrified by contagion  
will hardly be heroically virtuous4     
,adjourn not that virtue until those    
years when ,cato could lend out his     
wife1 and impotent satyrs write satires 

against lust1 but be chaste in thy      
flaming days when ,alexander dared not  
trust his eyes upon the fair sisters of 
,darius1 and when so many think that    
there is no other way but ,origen's4,,dg
  ,,dg ,who is said to have castrated   
himself4  ,be charitable before wealth  
make thee covetous1 and lose not the    
glory of the mitre4 ,if riches increase1
 let thy mind hold pace with them1 and  
think it is not enough to be liberal but
 munificent4 ,though a cup of cold water
 from some hand may not be without its  
reward1 yet stick not thou for wine and 
oil for the wounds of the distressed1   
and treat the poor as our ,saviour did  
the multitude to the reliques of some   
baskets4  ,trust not unto the           
omnipotency of gold1 or say not unto it1
 thou art my confidence4 ,kiss not thy  
hand when thou beholdest that           
terrestrial sun1 nor bore thy ear unto  
its servitude4 ,a slave unto ,mammon    
makes no servant unto ,god4             
,covetousness cracks the sinews of      

faith1 numbs the apprehension of        
anything above sense2 and only affected 
with the certainty of things present1   
makes a peradventure of things to come2 
lives but unto one world1 nor hopes but 
fears another3 makes their own death    
sweet unto others1 bitter unto          
themselves1 brings formal sadness1      
scenical mourning1 and no wet eyes at   
the grave4  ,if avarice be thy vice1 yet
 make it not thy punishment4 ,miserable 
men commiserate not themselves1         
bowelless unto themselves1 and merciless
 unto their own bowels4 ,let the        
fruition of things bless the possession 
of them1 and take no satisfaction in    
dying but living rich4 ,for since thy   
good works1 not thy goods will follow   
thee2 since riches are an appurtenance  
of life1 and no dead man is rich1 to    
famish in plenty1 and live poorly to die
 rich1 were a multiplying improvement in
 madness and use upon use in folly4     
,persons lightly dipt1 not grained1 in  
generous honesty are but pale in        

goodness and faint-hued in sincerity4   
,but be thou what thou virtuously art1  
and let not the ocean wash away thy     
tincture4 ,stand majestically upon that 
axis where prudent simplicity hath fixed
 thee2 and at no temptation invert the  
poles of thy honesty that vice may be   
uneasy and even monstrous unto thee2 let
 iterated good acts and long confirmed  
habits make virtue natural or a second  
nature in thee2 and since few or none   
prove eminently virtuous but from some  
advantageous foundations in their temper
 and natural inclinations1 study thyself
 betimes1 and early find what nature    
bids thee to be or tells thee what thou 
mayest be4 ,they who thus timely descend
 into themselves1 cultivating the good  
seeds which nature hath set in them1 and
 improving their prevalent inclinations 
to perfection1 become not shrubs but    
cedars in their generation4 ,and to be  
in the form of the best of bad1 or the  
worst of the good1 will be no           
satisfaction unto them4  ,let not the   

law of thy country be the non ultra of  
thy honesty1 nor think that always good 
enough that the law will make good4     
,narrow not the law of charity1 equity1 
mercy4 ,join gospel righteousness with  
legal right4 ,be not a mere ,gamaliel in
 the faith1 but let the ,sermon on the  
,mount be thy ,targum unto the law of   
,sinai4  ,make not the consequences of  
virtue the ends thereof4 ,be not        
beneficent for a name or cymbal of      
applause2 nor exact and punctual in     
commerce for the advantages of trust and
 credit1 which attend the reputation of 
just and true dealing3 for such rewards1
 though unsought for1 plain virtue will 
bring with her1 whom all men honour1    
though they pursue not4 ,to have other  
by-ends in good actions sours laudable  
performances1 which must have deeper    
roots1 motives1 and instigations1 to    
give them the stamp of virtues4  ,though
 human infirmity may betray thy heedless
 days into the popular ways of          
extravagancy1 yet1 let not thine own    

depravity or the torrent of vicious     
times carry thee into desperate         
enormities in opinions1 manners1 or     
actions4 ,if thou hast dipped thy foot  
in the river1 yet venture not over      
,rubicon2 run not into extremities from 
whence there is no regression1 nor be   
ever so closely shut up within the holds
 of vice and iniquity1 as not to find   
some escape by a postern of             
recipiscency4#abf  ,owe not thy humility
 unto humiliation by adversity1 but look
 humbly down in that state when others  
look upward upon thee4 ,be patient in   
the age of pride1 and days of will1 and 
impatiency1 when men live but by        
intervals of reason1 under the          
sovereignty of humour and passion1 when 
it is in the power of every one to      
transform thee out of thyself1 and put  
thee into short madness4,,dh ,if you    
cannot imitate ,job1 yet come not short 
of ,socrates1 and those patient ,pagans1
 who tired the tongues of their enemies1
 while they perceived they spit their   

malice at brazen walls and statues4     
,,dh ,ir furor brevis est4  ,let age1   
not envy1 draw wrinkles on thy cheeks2  
be content to be envied1 but envy not4  
,emulation may be plausible1 and        
indignation allowable1 but admit no     
treaty with that passion which no       
circumstance can make good4 ,a          
displacency at the good of others1      
because they enjoy it although we do not
 want it1 is an absurd depravity        
sticking fast unto nature1 from its     
primitive corruption1 which he that can 
well subdue were a ,christian of the    
first magnitude1 and for ought ,i know  
may have one foot already in heaven4    
,while thou so hotly disclaimest the    
devil1 be not guilty of ,diabolism4     
,fall not into one name with that       
unclean spirit1 nor act his nature whom 
thou so much abhorrest1 that is1 to     
accuse1 calumniate1 backbite1 whisper1  
detract1 or sinistrously interpret      
others4 ,degenerous depravities and     
narrow-minded vices6 not only below ,st 

,paul's noble ,christian1 but           
,aristotle's true gentleman4,,di ,trust 
not with some that the ,epistle of ,st  
,james is apocryphal1 and so read with  
less fear that stabbing truth that in   
company with this vice1 8thy religion is
 in vain40 ,moses broke the tables      
without breaking the law1 but where     
charity is broke the law itself is      
shattered1 which cannot be whole without
 love that is 8the fulfilling of it40   
,look humbly upon thy virtues1 and      
though thou art rich in some1 yet think 
thyself poor and naked without that     
crowning grace which 8thinketh no evil1 
which envieth not1 which beareth1       
believeth1 hopeth1 endureth all things40
 ,with these sure graces while busy     
tongues are crying out for a drop of    
cold water1 mutes may be in happiness1  
and sing the 8,trisagium10,,dj in       
heaven4  ,,di ,see ,aristotle's ,ethics1
 chapter ,magnanimity4  ,,dj ,holy1     
holy1 holy4  ,let not the sun in        
,capricorn,,dk go down upon thy wrath1  

but write thy wrongs in water1 draw the 
curtain of night upon injuries1 shut    
them up in the tower of oblivion1,,dl   
and let them be as though they had not  
been4 ,forgive thine enemies totally1   
without any reserve of hope that however
 ,god will revenge thee4  ,,dk ,even    
when the days are shortest4  ,,dl       
,alluding to the tower of oblivion1     
mentioned by ,procopius1 which was the  
name of a tower of imprisonment among   
the ,persians2 whoever was put therein  
was as it were buried alive1 and it was 
death for any but to name him4  ,be     
substantially great in thyself1 and more
 than thou appearest unto others2 and   
let the world be deceived in thee1 as   
they are in the lights of heaven4 ,hang 
early plummets upon the heels of pride1 
and let ambition have but an            
epicycle#abg or narrow circuit in thee4 
,measure not thyself by thy morning     
shadow1 but by the extent of thy grave2 
and reckon thyself above the earth1 by  
the line thou must be contented with    

under it4 ,spread not into boundless    
expansions either to designs or desires4
 ,think not that mankind liveth but for 
a few2 and that the rest are born but to
 serve the ambition of those who make   
but flies of men1 and wildernesses of   
whole nations4 ,swell not into vehement 
actions1 which embroil and confound the 
earth1 but be one of those violent ones 
that force the kingdom of heaven4,,dm   
,if thou must needs rule1 be ,zeno's    
king1 and enjoy that empire which every 
man gives himself3 certainly the        
iterated injunctions of ,christ unto    
humility1 meekness1 patience1 and that  
despised train of virtues1 cannot but   
make pathetical impression upon those   
who have well considered the affairs of 
all ages2 wherein pride1 ambition1 and  
vain-glory1 have led up to the worst of 
actions1 whereunto confusions1          
tragedies1 and acts1 denying all        
religion1 do owe their originals4  ,,dm 
,st ,matt4 xi4  ,rest not in an         
ovation1,,dn but a triumph over thy     

passions4 ,chain up the unruly legion of
 thy breast2 behold thy trophies within 
thee1 not without thee4 ,lead thine own 
captivity captive1 and be ,csar unto    
thyself4  ,,dn ,ovation1 a petty and    
minor kind of triumph4  ,give no quarter
 unto those vices that are of thine     
inward family1 and1 having a root in thy
 temper1 plead a right and propriety in 
thee4 ,examine well thy complexional    
inclinations4 ,rain early batteries     
against those strongholds built upon the
 rock of nature1 and make this a great  
part of the militia of thy life4 ,the   
politic nature of vice must be opposed  
by policy1 and therefore wiser honesties
 project and plot against sin2 wherein  
notwithstanding we are not to rest in   
generals1 or the trite stratagems of    
art2 that may succeed with one temper1  
which may prove successless with        
another4 ,there is no community or      
commonwealth of virtue1 every man must  
study his own economy and erect these   
rules unto the figure of himself4       

,lastly1 if length of days be thy       
portion1 make it not thy expectation4   
,reckon not upon long life2 but live    
always beyond thy account4 ,he that so  
often surviveth his expectation lives   
many lives1 and will scarce complain of 
the shortness of his days4 ,time past is
 gone like a shadow2 make times to come 
present2 conceive that near which may be
 far off4 ,approximate thy latter times 
by present apprehensions of them3 be    
like a neighbour unto death1 and think  
there is but little to come4 ,and since 
there is something in us that must still
 live on1 join both lives together1     
unite them in thy thoughts and actions1 
and live in one but for the other4 ,he  
who thus ordereth the purposes of this  
life1 will never be far from the next1  
and is in some manner already in it1 by 
a happy conformity and close            
apprehension of it4     ,,notes ,,to    
,,the ,,religio ,,medici4   #a4 ,it was 
a proverb1 8,ubi tres medici duo athei40
  #b4 ,a ,latinised word meaning a taunt

 7impropero47  #c4 ,the synod of ,dort  
was held in #afai to discuss the        
doctrines of ,arminius4 ,it ended by    
condemning them4  #d4 ,hallam1          
commenting on this passage1 says--8,that
 ,jesuit must be a disgrace to his order
 who would have asked more than such a  
concession to secure a proselyte--the   
right of interpreting whatever was      
written1 and of supplying whatever was  
not40--,hist4 ,england1 vol4 ii4 p4 #gd4
  #e4 ,see the statute of the ,six      
,articles 7#ca ,hen4 ,,viii4 c4 #ad71   
which declared that transubstantiation1 
communion in one kind1 celibacy of the  
clergy1 vows of widowhood1 private      
masses1 and auricular confession1 were  
part of the law of ,england4  #f4 ,in   
the year #afjf1 when the ,jesuits were  
expelled from ,venice1 ,pope ,paul ,v4  
threatened to excommunicate that        
republic4 ,a most violent quarrel       
ensued1 which was ultimately settled by 
the mediation of ,france4  #g4 ,alluding
 to the story of dipus solving the      

riddle proposed by the ,sphynx4  #h4    
,the nymph ,arethusa was changed by     
,diana into a fountain1 and was said to 
have flowed under the sea from ,elis to 
the fountain of ,arethusa near          
,syracuse4--,ov4 ,met4 lib4 v4 fab4 #h4 
#i4 ,these heretics denied the          
immortality of the soul1 but held that  
it was recalled to life with the body4  
,origen came from ,egypt to confute     
them1 and is said to have succeeded4    
7,see ,mosh4 ,eccl4 ,hist41 lib4 i4 c4  
#e4 sec4 #af47 ,pope ,john ,,xxii4      
afterwards adopted it4  #aj4 ,a division
 from the ,greek 4  #aa4 ,the brain4    
#ab4 ,a faint resemblance1 from the     
,latin adumbro1 to shade4  #ac4         
,alluding to the idea ,sir ,t4 ,browne  
often expresses1 that an oracle was the 
utterance of the devil4  #ad4 ,to       
fathom1 from ,latin profundus4  #ae4    
,beginning from the ,latin efficio4     
#af4 ,galen's great work4  #ag4 ,john de
 ,monte ,regio made a wooden eagle that1
 when the emperor was entering          

,nuremburg1 flew to meet him1 and       
hovered over his head4 ,he also made an 
iron fly that1 when at dinner1 he was   
able to make start from under his hand1 
and fly round the table4--,see ,de      
,bartas1 #fme jour #ame semaine4  #ah4  
,hidden1 from the ,greek 4  #ai4 ,a     
military term for a small mine4  #bj4   
,the ,armada4  #ba4 ,the practice of    
drawing lots4  #bb4 ,an account4  #bc4  
,see ,il4 ,,viii4 #ah--      8,let down 
our golden everlasting chain1     ,whose
 strong embrace holds heaven1 and earth1
 and main40         --,pope1 ,il4 viii4 
#bf4  #bd4 ,an argument where one       
proposition is accumulated upon another1
 from the ,greek 1 a heap4  #be4        
,alluding to the second                 
triumvirate--that of ,augustus1 ,antony1
 and ,lepidus4 ,florus says of it1      
8,respublica convulsa est lacerataque40 
#bf4 ,ochinus4 ,he was first a monk1    
then a doctor1 then a ,capuchin friar1  
then a ,protestant3 in #aedg he came to 
,england1 and was very active in the    

,reformation4 ,he was afterwards made   
,canon of ,canterbury4 ,the ,socinians  
claim him as one of their sect4  #bg4   
,the father of ,pantagruel4 ,his        
adventures are given in the first book  
of ,rabelais1 ,sir ,bevys of ,hampton1 a
 metrical romance1 relating the         
adventures of ,sir ,bevys with the      
,saracens4--,wright and ,halliwell's    
,reliqui ,antiqu1 ii4 #ei4  #bh4        
,contradictions between two laws4  #bi4 
,on his arrival at ,paris1 ,pantagruel  
visited the library of ,st ,victor3 he  
states a list of the works he found     
there1 among which was 8,tartaretus40   
,pierre ,tartaret was a ,french doctor  
who disputed with ,duns ,scotus4 ,his   
works were republished at ,lyons1 #afba4
  #cj4 ,deucalion was king of ,thessaly 
at the time of the deluge4 ,he and his  
wife ,pyrrha1 with the advice of the    
oracle of ,themis1 repeopled the earth  
by throwing behind them the bones of    
their grandmother1--i4e41 stones of the 
earth4--,see ,ovid1 ,met4 lib4 i4 fab4  

#g4  #ca4 ,st ,augustine 7,de ,civ4     
,dei1 xvi4 #g74  #cb4  7,st ,matt4      
xxvii4 #e7 means death by choking4      
,erasmus translates it1 8abiens laqueo  
se suspendit40  #cc4 ,burnt by order of 
the ,caliph ,omar1 ,a4,d4 #fdj4 ,it     
contained #gjj1jjj volumes1 which served
 the city for fuel instead of wood for  
six months4  #cd4 ,enoch being informed 
by ,adam the world was to be drowned and
 burnt1 made two pillars1 one of stone  
to withstand the water1 and one of brick
 to withstand the fire1 and inscribed   
upon them all known knowledge4--,see    
,josephus1 ,ant4 ,jud4  #ce4 ,a         
,franciscan friar1 counsellor to the    
,inquisition1 who visited the principal 
libraries in ,spain to make a catalogue 
of the books opposed to the ,romish     
religion4 ,his 8index novus librorum    
prohibitorum0 was published at ,seville 
in #afca4  #cf4 ,printing1 gunpowder1   
clocks4  #cg4 ,the ,targums and the     
various ,talmuds4  #ch4 ,pagans1        
,mahometans1 ,jews1 ,christians4  #ci4  

,valour1 and death in battle4  #dj4     
,held #adad-adah4  #da4 ,vergilius1     
bishop of ,salzburg1 having asserted the
 existence of ,antipodes1 the           
,archbishop of ,metz declared him to be 
a heretic1 and caused him to be burnt4  
#db4 ,on searching on ,mount ,calvary   
for the true cross1 the empress found   
three4 ,as she was uncertain which was  
the right one1 she caused them to be    
applied to the body of a dead man1 and  
the one that restored him to life was   
determined to be the true cross4  #dc4  
,the critical time in human life4  #dd4 
,oracles were said to have ceased when  
,christ came1 the reply to ,augustus on 
the subject being the last--      8,me  
puer ,hebrus divos ,deus ipse gubernans 
,cedere sede jubet tristemque redire sub
 ,orcum     ,aris ergo de hinc tacitus  
discedito nostris40  #de4 ,an historian 
who wrote 8,de ,rebus ,indicis40 ,he is 
cited by ,pliny1 ,strabo1 and ,josephus4
  #df4 ,alluding to the popular         
superstition that infant children were  

carried off by fairies1 and others left 
in their places4  #dg4 ,who is said to  
have lived without meat1 on the smell of
 a rose4  #dh4 8,essenti rationalis     
immortalis40  #di4 ,st ,augustine1 ,de  
,civ4 ,dei1 lib4 x41 cc4 #i1 #ai1 #cb4  
#ej4 ,that which includes everything is 
opposed to nullity4  #ea4 ,an inversion 
of the parts of an antithesis4  #eb4 ,st
 ,augustine--8,homily on ,genesis40     
#ec4 ,sir ,t4 ,browne wrote a dialogue  
between two twins in the womb respecting
 the world into which they were going6  
#ed4 ,refinement4  #ee4 ,constitution   
another form of temperament4  #ef4 ,the 
,jewish computation for fifty years4    
#eg4 ,saturn revolves once in thirty    
years4  #eh4 ,christian ,,iv41 of       
,denmark1 who reigned from #aehh-afdg4  
#ei4 son was the father of ,jason4 ,by  
bathing in a bath prepared for him by   
,meda with some magic spells1 he became 
young again4 ,ovid describes the bath   
and its ingredients1 ,met41 lib4 vii4   
fab4 #b4  #fj4 ,alluding to the         

rabbinical tradition that the world     
would last for #fjjj years1 attributed  
to ,elias1 and cited in the ,talmud4    
#fa4 ,zeno was the founder of the       
,stoics4  #fb4 ,referring to a passage  
in ,suetonius1 ,vit4 ,j4 ,csar1 sec     
#hg3--8;,aspernatus tam lentum mortis   
genus subitam sibi celeremque           
optaverat40  #fc4 ,in holding           
8,mors ultima pna est1     ,nec metuenda
 viris40  #fd4 ,the period when the moon
 is in conjunction and obscured by the  
sun4  #fe4 ,one of the judges of hell4  
#ff4 ,to select some great man for our  
ideal1 and always to act as if he was   
present with us4 ,see ,seneca1 lib4 i4  
,ep4 #aa4  #fg4 ,sir ,t4 ,browne seems  
to have made various experiments in this
 subject4 ,d',israeli refers to it in   
his 8,curiosities of ,literature40 ,dr  
,power1 a friend of ,sir ,t4 ,browne1   
with whom he corresponded1 gives a      
receipt for the process4  #fh4 ,the     
celebrated ,greek philosopher who taught
 that the sun was a mass of heated      

stone1 and various other astronomical   
doctrines4 ,some critics say ,anaxarchus
 is meant here4  #fi4 ,see ,milton's    
8,paradise ,lost10 lib4 ,i4 #bed--      
8,the mind is its own place1 and in     
itself     ,can make a heaven of hell1 a
 hell of heaven40  ,and also            
,lucretius--      8,hic ,acherusia fit  
stultorum denique vita40--iii4 #ajbc4   
#gj4 ,keck says here--8,so did they all1
 as ,lactantius has observed at large4  
,aristotle is said to have been guilty  
of great vanity in his clothes1 of      
incontinency1 and of unfaithfulness to  
his master1 ,alexander ,,ii40  #ga4     
,phalaris1 king of ,agrigentum1 who1    
when ,perillus made a brazen bull in    
which to kill criminals1 placed him in  
it to try its effects4  #gb4 ,their     
maxim was      8,nihil sciri siquis     
putat id quoque nescit1     ,an sciri   
possit quod se nil scire fatetur40  #gc4
 ,pope ,alexander ,,iii41 in his        
declaration to the ,doge1 said1--8,que  
la mer vous soit soumise comme l'epouse 

l'est  son epoux puisque vous in avez   
acquis l'empire par la victorie40 ,in   
commemoration of this the ,doge and     
,senate went yearly to ,lio1 and        
throwing a ring into the water1 claimed 
the sea as their bride4  #gd4           
,appolonius ,thyaneus1 who threw a large
 quantity of gold into the sea1 saying1 
8,pessundo divitias ne pessundare ab    
illis40  #ge4 ,the technical term in    
fencing for a hit--      8,a sweet      
touch1 a quick venew of wit40           
,love's ,labour ,lost1 act v4 sc4 #a4   
#gf4 ,strabo compared the configuration 
of the world1 as then known1 to a cloak 
or mantle 7chalmys74  #gg4 ,atomists or 
familists were a ,puritanical sect who  
appeared about #aege1 founded by ,henry 
,nicholas1 a ,dutchman4 ,they considered
 that the doctrine of revelation was an 
allegory1 and believed that they had    
attained to spiritual perfection4--,see 
,neal's ,hist4 of ,puritans1 i4 #bgc4   
#gh4 ,from the #abfth psalm ,st         
,augustine contends that ,solomon is    

damned4 ,see also ,lyra in #b ,kings    
vii4  #gi4 ,from the ,spanish 8,dorado10
 a gilt head4  #hj4 ,sir ,t4 ,browne    
treats of chiromancy1 or the art of     
telling fortunes by means of lines in   
the hands1 in his 8,vulgar ,errors10    
lib4 v4 cap4 #bc4  #ha4 ,gypsies4  #hb4 
,s4 ,wilkin says that here this word    
means niggardly4  #hc4 ,in the dialogue1
 8judicium vocalium10 the vowels are the
 judges1 and  complains that ,t has     
deprived him of many letters that ought 
to begin with 4  #hd4 ,if ,jovis or     
,jupitris4  #he4 ,the celebrated ,roman 
grammarian4 ,a proverbial phrase for the
 violation of grammar was 8,breaking    
,priscian's head40  #hf4 ,livy says1    
,actius ,nevius cut a whetstone through 
with a razor4  #hg4 ,a kind of lizard   
that was supposed to kill all it looked 
at--            8,whose baneful eye     
,wounds at a glance1 so that the        
soundest dye40         --,de ,bartas1   
#fme jour #ame sem4  #hh4 ,epimenides   
7,titus x4 #ab7--   8      40  #hi4     

,nero having heard a person say1 8,when 
,i am dead1 let earth be mingled with   
fire10 replied1 8,yes1 while ,i         
live40--,suetonius1 ,vit4 ,nero4  #ij4  
,alluding to the story of the ,italian1 
who1 having been provoked by a person he
 met1 put a poniard to his heart1 and   
threatened to kill him if he would not  
blaspheme ,god2 and the stranger doing  
so1 the ,italian killed him at once1    
that he might be damned1 having no time 
to repent4  #ia4 ,a rapier or small     
sword4  #ib4 ,the battle here referred  
to was the one between ,don ,john of    
,austria and the ,turkish fleet1 near   
,lepanto1 in #aega4 ,the battle of      
,lepanto 7that is1 the capture of the   
town by the ,turks7 did not take place  
till #afgh4  #ic4 ,several authors say  
that ,aristotle died of grief because he
 could not find out the reason for the  
ebb and flow of the tide in ,epirus4    
#id4 ,who deny that there is such a     
thing as science4  #ie4 ,a motto on a   
ring or cup4 ,in an old will1 #afee1    

there is this passage3 8,i give a cup of
 silver gilt to have this posy written  
in the margin3--      8,when the drink  
is out1 and the bottom you may see1     
,remember your brother ,i4 ,g40  #if4   
,the opposition of a contrary quality1  
by which the quality it opposes becomes 
heightened4  #ig4 ,adam as he was       
created and not born4  #ih4 ,meaning a  
world1 as ,atlas supported the world on 
his shoulders4  #ii4 ,merriment4        
,johnson says that this is the only     
place where the word is found4  #ajj4   
,said to be a cure for madness4  #aja4  
,patched garments4  #ajb4 ,a game4 ,a   
kind of capping verses1 in which1 if any
 one repeated what had been said before1
 he paid a forfeit4     ,,notes ,,to    
,,hydriotaphia4   #ajc4 ,just4  #ajd4   
,destruction4  #aje4 ,a chemical vessel 
made of earth1 ashes1 or burnt bones1   
and in which assay-masters try their    
metals4 ,it suffers all baser ones when 
fused and mixed with lead to pass off1  
and retains only gold and silver4  #ajf4

 ,this substance known to ,french       
chemists by the name 8adipo-cire10 was  
first discovered by ,sir ,thomas        
,browne4  #ajg4 ,from its thickness4    
#ajh4 ,euripides4  #aji4 ,greek1 ,latin1
 ,hebrew1 ,egyptian1 ,arabic defaced by 
the ,emperor ,licinius4     ,,notes ,,to
 ,,letter ,,to ,a ,,friend4   #aaj4     
,will not survive until next spring4    
#aaa4 ,wasting4  #aab4 ,an eminent      
,italian ,physician1 lecturer in the    
,university of ,pavia1 died #aegf4 ,he  
was a most voluminous medical writer4   
#aac4 ,an eminent doctor and scholar who
 passed his time at ,venice and ,padua  
studying and practising medicine1 died  
#aefh4  #aad4 ,charles ,v4 was born     
#bdth ,february1 #aejj4  #aae4 ,francis 
,i4 of ,france was taken prisoner at the
 battle of ,pavia1 #bdth ,february1     
#aebe4  #aaf4 ,one of the greatest      
,protestant generals of the seventeenth 
century4 ,he died at ,zara1 #afbf4      
#aag4 ,an inflation1 or swelling1 from  
the ,french bouffe4  #aah4 ,august      

#bjth1 #aebf4 ,he was defeated by       
,solyman ,,ii41 and suffocated in a     
brook1 by a fall from his horse1 during 
the retreat4  #aai4 ,the caul4  #abj4   
,money-seeking4  #aba4 ,cacus stole some
 of ,hercules' oxen1 and drew them into 
his cave backward to prevent any traces 
being discovered4 ,ovid ,fast1 #a4 #eed4
  #abb4 ,narrow1 like walking on a rope4
  #abc4 ,a ,greek philosophical writer4 
,this  is a representation of a table   
where the whole human life with its     
dangers and temptations is symbolically 
represented4  #abd4 ,picture4  #abe4    
,the course taken by the ,spanish       
,treasure ships4 ,see ,anson ,voyages4  
#abf4 ,a recommencement4                
8,dulcique senex vicinus ,hymetto       
,qui partem accept sava inter vincla    
cicut     ,accusatori nollet            
dare10--,juv4 ,sat4 xiii4 #ahe4  #abg4  
,a small revolution made by one planet  
in the orbit of another4                
,,ballantyne ,,and ,,company1           
,,printers1 ,,edinburgh4                

,transcriber's ,note   ,the following   
errata have been corrected3    p4 viii  
coffer of gold4 changed to coffer of    
gold40   p4 #ca ,bevis4 missing endnote 
anchor inserted and           following 
anchor renumbered   p4 #cb ,pantagruel's
 library1 extraneous endnote anchor     
removed   p4 #ef comtemplations4 changed
 to contemplations4   p4 #ic that si    
changed to that is   p4 #aag ,egyptains 
changed to ,egyptians   p4 #abj         
,egyptains changed to ,egyptians   p4   
#adh aprehension changed to apprehension
   p4 #afb viii #hji changed to viii4   
#hji   p4 #agf limped changed to limpid 
p4 #ahj 7note7 ,decernite lethum changed
 to ,decernite letum   p4 #ahj 7note7   
quodcunqne changed to quodcumque   p4   
#ahf ,socrates1 extraneous endnote      
anchor removed   p4 #ahg all things4'   
changed to all things40