The regiment of life, whereunto is added a treatise of the pestilence, with the boke of children, newly corrected and enlarged by T. Phayre

¶The preface to the booke of chyldren.

ALthoughe (as I doubt not) euery good mā will en∣terpret this work to none other en∣de, but to be for y^e comfort of them y^t are dyseased, and wyll esteme no lesse, of me by whom they profyte, then they wil be glad to receiue the benfeytes: Yet forasmuch as it is impossible to auoid the teeth of malicious en∣uye, I thought it not vnnecessary to preuent y^e furies of some▪ which are euer gnawynge and bytynge vpon them that further any godly sciences. To those I proteste, y^t in all my studyes, I neuer entended

nor yet do entēd to satisfy y^e min∣des of any such pikfaultes (which wyll do nothynge but detract and iudge other, snuffynge at all that offendeth the noses of theyr mo∣mishe affeccions, howsoeuer lau∣dable it be otherwayes:) but my purpose is here to doe them good that haue moost nede, y^t is to saye children: and to shewe the reme∣dies that god hath created for the vse of mā, to distribut in Englishe to them that are vnlerned, part of y^e treasure that is in other lāgua∣ges, to prouoke them that are of better lernīg, to vtter theyr know∣lege in such lyke attemptes: final∣ly to declare that to the vse of ma∣ny, whiche ought not to be secrete for lucre of a fewe: and to commu∣nicate the frute of my labours, to

them that wyl gently and thanke∣fully receyue them, which yf any be so proude or supercilious, that they immediatly will despise, I shal frendly desyre them, with the wordes of Horace: Quod si meli∣ora nouisti, Candidus imparti, si non, his vtere mecum. If they knowe better, let vs haue parte: yf they doe not, why repine they at me? why condemne they the thing that they cannot amēd? or yf they can, why dissimule they theyr cō∣nyng? how long would they haue the people ignoraunt? why grutch they phisike to come forth in Eng∣lysshe? wolde they haue no man to knowe but onely they? Or what make they thē selues? Marchaun∣tes of our lyues and deathes, that we shulde bye our healthe onely of

them, and at theyr pryces? no good phisicion is of that mynde. For yf Galene the prynce of thys arte beyng a Greciā wrote in y^e Greke, kynge Auicenne of Arabie in the spech of his Arbyans: Yf Plinius Celsus, Serenus and other of the Latines wrote to the people in the Latyne tonge: Marsilius Ficinus (whome all men assente to be sin∣gulerly learned) disdayned not to wryte in the language of Italy: generally, yf the entent of all that euer set forth any noble studye, haue ben to bee read, of as many as wolde: What reason is it that wee shulde huther muther here among a fewe, the thing that was made to be common vnto all? Chryst sayeth: no man lyghteth a candle to couer it with a bushell,

but setteth it to serue euery mans nede: & these go about, not only to couer it when it is lyghted, but to quench it afore it be kīdled (if they myght by malice:) whych as it is a detestable thynge in any godlye science: so me thynketh in thys so necessarye an arte, it is excedynge damnable and deuylyshe, to de∣barre the fruycion of so inestima∣ble benefytes, which our heauenly father hath prepared for our com∣fort and innumerable vses, wher∣wyth he hath armed our impotent nature against the assaultes of so many sicknesses: whereby his in∣fynyte mercye and aboundaunte goodnesse is in nothyng els more apparauntly cōfessed, by the which benefites, as it were with moste sensible argumentes spokē out of

heauē, he onstraineth vs to thinke vpon our owne weakenes, and to knowledge, that in al flesh is no∣thyng but myserye, sycknesse, so∣rowes, synne, afflicciō, and death, no not so muche strengthe as by oure owne power, to relyeue one member of our bodyes dyseased. As for the knoweledge of medici∣nes, comforte of herbes, mainte∣naunce of health, prosperytie, and life, they be his benefites, & pro∣cede of hym, to the ende that we should in common, helpe one an o∣ther, and so lyue together in hys lawes and commaundementes: in the which doyng we shal declare oure selues, to haue woorthelye employed them, and as frutefull seruauntes, be liberallye rewar∣ded, Otherwyse, vndoutedly the

talente whyche we haue hidden, shall be dygged vp, and distribu∣ted to them that shall be more di∣ligente: a terrible confusyon afore so hie a iustice, and at such a court where no wager of lawe shall be taken, no proctoure lymytted to defende the cause, none excepcion allowed to reproue the wytnes, no councell admytted to qualifye the gloses, the very bare texte shall be ther alleged. Cur non posuisti ta∣lentum in fenus. Whye haste thou not bestowed my talent to the vaū¦tage. These and such other exam∣ples, haue enforced me beyng of∣tentymes exercysed in the studye of phisike, to deriue out of the pu∣rest fountaines of the same facul∣tye, suche holsome remedyes, as are most approued, to the consola∣cion

of them that are afflicted, as farre as God hath gyuen me vn∣derstanding to perceiue: folowing therein, not onlye the famous and excellent authours of antiquitye, but also the mē of highe learning now of our daies, as Manardus, Fuchsius, Ruellius, Musa, Cāpe∣gius, Sebastiā of Austrike, Otho Brimfelsius, Leonellus. &c. wyth diuers other for mine oportunitie, not omyttyng also the good and sure experimentes that are found profitable by the daylye practyse. And where as in the regimente of lyfe, whyche I translated oute of the frenche tonge, it hath appered to some, more curyouse than ne∣deth, by reason of the straunge ingrediens, wherof it often trea∣teth: Ye shall knowe that I haue

in manye places amplyfyed the same, with such commō thinges, as maye be easelye gottē, to satis∣fye the myndes of them that were offended: or els consyderyng that there is no moneye so precyous as helthe, I wolde thinke no spice to dere, for maintenaunce thereof. Notwythstandyng I hope to fre y^e time, whan y^e nature of Simple•• (whyche haue bene hytherto in∣crediblie corrupted) shall bee read in Englishe, as in other lāguages: that is to saye, the perfecte decla∣racion of the qualyties of herbes, seedes, rootes trees, and of all cō∣modytyes that are here amongest vs, shall be earnestely and trulye declared, in once owne natyue speche, by the grace of god. To 〈◊〉〈◊〉 whyche I truste all lerned men

(hauynge a zele to the common wealthe) wyll apply theyr diligēt industries, surely for my parte, I shal neuer cease, durīg my breath, to bestowe my laboure to the fur∣theraūce of it (til it come to passe) euen to the vttermoste of my sim∣ple power. Thus fare ye well gentle readers,

¶Londini, Mense Iunii. M.D.xlvi,