Ripley reviv'd, or, An exposition upon Sir George Ripley's hermetico-poetical works containing the plainest and most excellent discoveries of the most hidden secrets of the ancient philosophers, that were ever yet published / written by Eirenæus Philalethes ...

Which after many colours thou mayst bring To perfect whiteness, by patience easily, And so the Seed in his nature shall mul∣tiply.

SO soon then as thou shalt have black∣ness compleat, know for certain that in this blackness whiteness is really hid∣den, so really as a living Plant in its Seed. But before thou attain to this white∣ness, thou mayst have patience, and pass through many middle changable colours, which will be no small chearing to the Work-man, who must wait with a great deal of Longanimity until the Earth and Heaven be united.

Then shall thy Elements perfectly ac∣cord, and one colour shall cover thy new-married Soul and Body, and that will be like to the most pure Lilly, or

sublimed Salt, sparkling like to a new-slipped Sword in the Sun beams.

In this whiteness is the Multiplicative virtue exalted, and made apparent in its first degree; by this white Soul thou mayst turn either Mercury, or Saturn, or Jupiter, or Venus, or Mars, into most pure refined Silver, in a short time, and that not Sophistically, to apparency, but in reality, inwardly and outwardly to abide all Essays.