To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
Every Physician that desires to cure sick persons well and happily, must be a sound Christian, and truly religious and holy.
FOr true and perfect medicines, and the knowledge of them, can no where be had, but from God, whom we can serve by no other means in this life, but onely by piety, and piety hath included in it fervent and incessant supplications unto
God, hearty and frequent thanksgi∣vings for his gracious and free bene∣fits, with sincere and actuall love to∣wards our Neighbours. God is so infinitely good and kind, that he doth dayly give, and offer both to the good and to the bad, all those things which are necessary both for their sustenance and their health: but that we use those gifts to the glory of God, and the good of our Neigh∣bours, piety alone is the onely cause. Therefore, if thou desirest to select, and extract convenient and effectu∣all Medicines out of those Myriads of Creatures, which by the secret power of their Creator, dayly flow upon thee, & appear about thee, Fear God, and love thy Neighbour as thy selfe. This being done, I affirm it to thee, thou shalt find those things, which will fill thee with joy. Thou maist easily apprehend by what I say, that he is unworthily permitted to be a Physician, whose practise hath
no other aim then Covetousness and Usury, and abuseth the gifts of God (I mean his medicinal favours and discoveries▪) to hoord up for him∣selfe the riches of this world. They are all impostors, and faithlesse Mountebanks, who professe Physick, and its great ornament Chymistry, out of such a sordid, uncharitable, and unjust design.
He must be the servant, not the Ma∣ster of nature, and according to the sentiment of Hippocratesand Calen, he must be a profound Philosopher, and expert, or well vers'd in the Art of healing.
HE must be throughly seen in Phi∣losophy, because there be two sorts of Philosophers. The one (who are in truth but Philosophers by name,) after the common Doctrine of the Schooles, inquire onely into the Elementary qualities of sublu∣nary
bodies: but the other sort (who are the true Philosophers indeed) search into the most secret operations, proprieties, and perfor∣mances of nature: her most private Closers, and Sanctuaries, are ever o∣pen unto these; whence it comes to passe, that they have a perfect expe∣rimentall knowledge by the light of Nature▪ and are indeed true Physi∣cians: For the innate naturall fa∣culty of all productions of the earth, is, by the Chymical dexterity of these latter sort of Philosophers, vindicated from the drossie adheren∣cies of the matter, and united with the firmamentall virtue, or occult quality, which is caused and com∣municated to them, by the influence of the Stars. This Art of refining, and uniting inferiours to their supe∣riours, makes a compleat and a suc∣cessful Physician.
He must be an Alchymist skilfull in all spagirical operations, to sepa∣rate the pure from the impure, the drossie and venemous parts of his medicinall Ingredients, from the usefull and sanative, and one that knowes exactly how to prepare, and when to administer Chymical me∣dicines for the restoration of his Patients.
FOr as Gold is seven times puri∣fied, so a Physician ought to try and refine all his Physicall Materials by the ministry of fire, which se∣parates the good from the bad. Also he ought to have in some things, a certain and confirmed knowledge acquired by long experience, and a diligent daily inspection into the works of nature; for true Philoso∣phy is nothing else, but a Physicall practise or triall, communicating
daily to industrious and learned o∣perators, most usefull and various conclusions and medicines. And af∣ter all the coyl of Academical licen∣ciated Doctors, he onely is the true Physician, created so by the light of Nature▪ to whom Nature her selfe hath taught and manifested her pro∣per and genuine operations by Ex∣perience.