Part I.

ALCHYMY.
65
LESSON VI.
Study day and night, and fupplicate thy Creator that he would be pleafed to grant thee knowledge and underftanding ; and that the pure fpirits may have communication with, and influence, in thee.
lesson yn.
Be not overcome with drunkennefs j for, be affured, that half the evils that befall mankind originate in drunkennefs : for too great a quantity of ftrong liquors deprive men of their reafon ; then, having loft the ufe of the faculty of their judgment, they immediately become the recipient of all evil influences, and are juftly compared to weathercocks, that are driven hither and thither by every guft of wind ; fo thofe who drown the reafonable power, are eafily^per- fuaded to the lighteft and moft frivolous purfuits, and, from thefe, to vices more grofs and reprobate ; for the minifters of darknefs have never fo favour- able an opportunity of infinuating themfelves into the minds and hearts of men, as when they are loft in intoxication. I pray you to avoid this dreadful vice.
LESSON VIII.
Avoid gluttony, and all excefs — it is very pernicious, and from the Devil : thefe are the things that conftantly tempt man, and by which he falls a prey to his fpiritual adverfary ; for he is rendered incapable of receiving any good or divine gift. Befides, the divine and angelic powers or effences delight not to be converfant about a man who is defiled, and ftinking with debauchery and excefs.
lesson ix.
Covet not much gold, but learn to be fatisfied with enough ; for to defire more than enough, is to offend the Deity.