Book I*

All things mnfi be reff ned to ufe.
A Simile from Military af¬ fairs.
The Scurvy from a filthy ftomach infefts the gums and feet .
Kjirus 1. 1*
their ftudies,and direCt ail things to their pleafures, rattier than lor the ufe and good of others, deferve very ill by their ftudics, and do not well advife for the good of the people. Cicero faith,that all Arts are handled one way by thofe that direCt them, for ufe, and to ferve others therewith^ and otherwife by thofe who delight onely to contemplate, and aim at nothing elfe, but that they may know them for their pleafures. For as all vertue, fo all arts are to be commended for the a&ion onely. Since therefore the Art of Phy- fick requires fuch diligence, and unwearied pains, we muft never give over, but we muft diligently fearch out the nature of difeafes, and try how to drive them out. And as in war we fee new ftrata- gems and defigns are invented, and ftrange Engines, Guns, and Ordnance are found out y fo, as new difeafes continually rife, we muft find out new remedies. As we have done lately in the Pox, the contagious Ephemera , or Englifh Sweat, in the black Jaundice, the fymptoms whereof are fore gums, and Scurvcy. Some com¬ plain, that the Earth is exhaufted in former dayes, and will not yield the fame abundance and vigorous plants as formerly for the good of men. Which Columella fo overthrowes, that he retorts it on mens faults and idlcneffe, becaufe they do not till the ground
as formerly. • ' -
I fay the fame of the wits of our men: for our Mother Nature hath denyed them nothing, nor did fhe give all things to Men of former Ages, but fhe gave a portion to pofterity, and would not leave them barren. Wherefore we in our dayes want not wit, if we have but a ckfire ready to learn Arts, and take as much pains as they did formerly. For, as the Proverb is, Ufe can do all things. You fhall fee fome at firft very induftrious to learn ; but fo foon as they grow famous amongft the people, they grow idle, and do their bufinefle carelcfly being hard, refractory, intractable, in¬ humane, and not fo diligent as they were* and from an empty conceit of their own worth, they defpife others, and will endure no man to advife with them. Some of thefe prefently begin to praCkife Phyfick, wanting thofe helps a Phyfitian ought to have, and which they ihould have learned before, and not begin now to learn ; fo that they are called DoCtors before they deferve it. For then they begin to ftudy Phyfick when they arc called to give Phyfick to their Patients. For as Marius faith in Salufl, It is lajl in time to wage war , but prft in ufe ; fo is it in curing difeafes, wc muft know how to cure them before they come. Demojibenes faith* the ^Athenians were of this condition, who did not aCt as other men do after Counfel, but firft they ad, and then advife. So many Men amongft us, they enquire what to do, when difeafes are pre fling and will give no time to confult. What therefore Cicero requires in Military matters, a Phyfitian muft do, to have all his bufinefle ready by premeditation $ that he may maturely perform his work, and never depart from Reafon. Alfo he muft confide* and know what will follow, and fo determine of the event both wayes 5 and he muft not fay afterwards, l did not think * Sotne-
Wtl is preva¬ lent -where it it it fed. >
wM
T r
in lngtirth. Seyntb. i.
L, 1. offje.
In Phyfick it is fclly to fay , I did not think.
Ch. 1 7. and will lofe their forces & form^unlej? they he dye fled continually, 77
times a Phyfitian in a doubtful difeafe that foon baftneth to the ftatc, as a Fencer on the Stage, takes advice as the prefent occafion will fuffer him. Which I remember I formerly did fometime. For when I confidtrcd the difeafe and the fymptoms of it, and was well informed by the feries of words * and by the order of the Medicaments, yet the matter as I faid before, being changed, I was forced to alter the whole fcene* So Terence {peaks learnedly and wifely ;
No man ever knew fo well ,
But Age and Time will more tell * ±And ufe makes perfect, you know Not all what you think you do : &And what you now refpefty A fecond thought will rejeft.
Aielfb. aft, y. See*. 9 .
* * e \ 4
l
; 2 + . , / . . ** fw w * » «> * ■ ... * -
The Comedian could never fpeak truer for the whole couffe of a man’s life, and chiefly in curing difeafes. For though a man inrtyfuk til long premeditate before he enters upon a bufinefle, and hath exa- b*fm mined all things by rule, how to go to work, what to give firft, fQTi9H*7' what laft, at that very moment he goes about the bufinefle, he is forced to reje& his former thoughts, and take a new courfe as the matter directs him. Wherefore by ufc and pra&ice* and long experience. Men gain prudence , and to do their work as they fhould, and fo come to their defired end with good fuccefle. For Patients that are (ick, eafily oft-times, recover their longed for health, and quickly, if they make ufe of a skilfull Phyfitian, and arc obedient to his preferiptions. For I hold fit, that all Mountc- banks4(fcKjiiack(alvers fhould be banifhed from this Art, who arc nofc fcfraid to venturoon mens lives and bodies 5 and as the Proverb is, to try the ‘Potters Art , by breaking of Pots, as Pliny faith j to learn by others dangers,, and by falfe experiments and con¬ jectures, to kill their Patients. By whofe rafhnefie and errour it comes to pafle, that the Art of healing, (which St* Paul reckoneth 1 cor, 12, amongft the gifts of the Spirit, and which next the facred Oracles is the moft excellent thing amongft men, and moft needfull) toger ther with the Artift$>is deipifed and negle&cd. Not to joyn to thefe the Impudence of old wives, that dare turn Phyfitiansj whom not oncly theuniverfal confcnt of Nations, and Authotity of the An¬ cients hath rcjc&ed from pra&ifing Phyfick: or to fpeak more low¬ ly, from giving Phyfick, but alfo from allpra&ife of theLaw,an4 whom St. Paul hath excluded from preaching, and from bearing office in the Church. For as Perfm faith.
Nature and Lawes of Men forbid w then *
To practice, which we know not how nor when sat. y.
Feafon is clear againfl it , left we fpill fvhat we fhould fave , and not sure but kill .
78
Herbs are fubjeB to change,&c.