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EPISTLE TO MUSEUS.
“ Thou, O, Mufeus ! whofe mind is high,
“ Obferve my words, and read them with thine eye ;
“ Thefe fecrets in thy facred breaft repone,
“ And in thy journey think of God alone ;
“ The Author of all things, that cannot die ;
“ Of whom we now fhall fpeak ” '
I TELL thee here, Mufeus, to obferve our words, and read them with thine eye, that is, the eye of thine underflanding ; for, know, there are many that hear us fpeak, that read not the meaning- of our words. Where- fore fhouldft thou contemplate thefe mylteries with fo much coiiftancy of mind, if thou didft not perceive in them fome great good molt defirable ? — Litten, then, O, young man, and hear our words ! We will fhew thee the dan- gerous precipice of vanity and head-long defire — we will defcribe to thee the ftubborn and fatal will of our paffions, even with tears of contrition, and heart- felt compaffion for thy inexperience — we will lead thee, as it were, by the hand, through thofe labyrinths of vice, wherewith thou art daily furrounded ; and, however prejudiced thou mighteft be againlt the receiving of our dodtrine, yet, be aifufed, we have in our polfeffion the magical virtue and power of bind- ing thee to our principles, and making thee happy, in fpite of thyfelf. Here is a great fecret ! thou fhalt fay — every man wilhes to be happy — which I grant ; but my anfwer is — molt men prevent their own happinefs they de- ft roy it, by fuffering themfelves to be governed by the outward principle of the flelh, thinking the grealejl good to be in the fatisfying of their carnal appetites, or in the amafling together heaps of wealth, whereby they thrud down the meek and poor, raifing up the dandards of Pride, Envy, and Op- predion. Thefe things every day’s experience confirms ; nay, there are forne fo blind, that, in the pofledion of much wealth, they think there is nothing
beyond
54
EPISTLE TO MUSEUS.
beyond it ; infomuch, that they triumph in ////?, opprejjion , revenge , and con- tumely. Bat how is it, thou wilt fay, that, feeing- man is a reafonable being-, he can poffibly give up his government fo eafily ? — I fay, when man fuffers the unreafonable and beftial part to deprave him, then he immediately be- comes a have, (and the vileft of havery is that which deprives man of his focial virtues -,) for then, although in the pofleffion of great wordly things, fuch as houfes, eftates, and ail other temporal gifts, yet he becomes an immediate infbrument to the Prince of this W orld and the Powers of Darknefs, feeing that thofe riches he inherits are merely given him in this life, to bellow upon others thofe necelfaries and comforts which he himfelf does not feel the want of, and by which he might, if not blinded by his paffions and lulls, fecure liimfelf an eternal and incorruptible treafure. But he who polfeffes treafures without men y, liberality, bounty, charity, &c., robs the Eternal Author of all good, of the honour due unto him, and, in Ihort, is working deltrudlion to his own foul ; his riches, inftead of benefiting himfelf and others, eventually and finally terminates as a curie : while he lives here, he is a fcourge to fociety -, and, after he leaves this, it is plain enough pointed out in the New Tevtament what will be his filiation and condition.
Therefore, thou young man, that hall but a few years to live, lludy how to attain the Hone we teach of : it will protradl the beauty of thy youth, though thou Ihouldlt live for centuries — it will ever fupply thee with the means of comforting the afflidled ; infomuch, that when thou hall attained this truly defirable and moll perfedl talifman, thy life will become foft and plea- fant ; no cares, nor corroding pangs — -no felf-torment will ever invade thy mind -, neither lhalt thou want the means to be happy, in refpedl of the pof- feflfion of the goods of this life, but lhalt have abundantly. Blit how, and from what fource, all this is to proceed — out of what thing or matter thou lhalt attain thy wifhed-for end, — the lludy ing of the enfuing Treatife will fufficiently Ihew.
Thy Friend,
F. B.
TO
55
TO THE READER.
Although we do not, in any point of fcience, arrogate perfection to ourfelves, yet fomething we have attained by dear experience, by diligent labour, and by ftudy, worthy of being communicated for the in- ftrufilion of either the licentious libertine, or the grave ftudent — the obferver of Nature ; and this, our Work, we concentrated into a focus : it is, as it were, a fpiritual eflence drawn from a large quantity of matter ; for we can fay, with propriety, that this little Treatife is truly fpiritual, and elfential to the hap- pinefs of man : therefore, to thofe who with to be happy, with every good intention we commend this Work to be their conftant companion and ftudy, in which, if they perfevere, they fhall not fail of their defires in the attain- ment of the true Philofophers’ Stone.
PART
bS
PART THE FIRST.
or ALCHYMY, ITS DIVINE ORIGIN, &C. DIFFICULTY OF ATTAINING A PEREECTION IN THE
ART WHAT AN ADEPT IS OF THE CABALA THE ROSIE CRUCIANS ADEPT ISTS POS- SIBILITY OF BEING AN ADEPT LIKEWISE, THAT THE LAPIS P II I LOSO PH OR U M EXISTS
IN NATURE, AND THAT PROVED BY SUFFICIENT AUTHORITY, AND THAT THEY ARE NOT
ALL IMPOSTORS WIIO ARE ALCHYMISTS, OR PRETEND TO IT THE MADNESS OF TIIF.
SCHOOLS PROVED, AND THE FOOLISHNESS OF THEIR WISDOM THE TRIUMPH OF CHE-
MICAL PHILOSOPHY, OR THE HERMETIC ART PREFERABLE TO ANY OTHER.
IT is not neceffary here to enter into a long detail of the merits of Alchymical Authors and Philofophers ; fuffice it to fay, that Alchy- my, the grand touch-rflone of natural wifdom, is of Divine origin : it was brought down from Heaven by the Angel Uriel. Zoroafter, the firft philofo- pher by fire, made pure gold from all the feven metals ; he brought the fun ten times brighter from the bed of Saturn, and fixed it with the moon, who thereby copulating, begot a numerous offspring of an immortal nature, a pure living fpiritual fun, burning in the refulgency of its own divin^light, a feed of a fublime and fiery nature, a vigorous progenitor. This Zoroafter was the father of alchymy, illumined divinely from above ; he knew every thing, yet feemed to know nothing ; his precepts of art were left in hieroglyphics, yet in fuch fort that none but the favourites of Heaven ever reaped benefit thereby. He was the firft who engraved the pure Cabala in moll pure gold, and, when he died, refigned it to his Father who liveth eternally, yet begot him not : that Father gives it to his fons, wrho follow the precepts of Wifdom with vigilance, ingenuity, and induftry, and with a pure, chafle, and free mind.
Hermes Trifmegiflus, Geber, Artephius, Bacon, Helmont, Lully, and Bafil Valentine, have written mofl profoundly, yet abftrufely, and all declare not the thing fought for. Some fay they were forbid ; others, that they de- clared it obvioufly and intelligibly, yet fome few little points they kept to
themfelves.
ALCHYMY.