y, would
not have yeilded to the common
death of all Mortals, but perhaps
have protracted their Life
until this very Day, Therefore, it
would be the part of a fanatick, and
foolish Man to affirm this, yea of
a most foolish Man, to believe,
and assent to the same, touching
any one Medicament in the things
of Nature.

Physician.

My Friend, whatsoever you have
spoken no less regularly, than fundamentally,
touching the Operation
of the Universal Medicine, I
indeed cherefully, and willingly
grant, but as long as I am ignorant
of preparing the same rightly, I
do no other than attempt to carry
my Boat from a very small Lake,
into the Vast Ocean, because it
will certainly be driven back to the
Shore, without any Fruit. For although
many of those illustrious
Men have written somewhat
touching that laudable preparation,
yet they involved that in such a
Wrapper of shadowed Caution, as
the Footsteps of them latently demonstrated,
can be known by few
or none of the most diligent Readers,
who should follow them so
far, as until they come where they
would be. Also, who is so wealthy,
and well informed, as to be able,
and to know where to buy all
those Books, in which, here, and
there an Hypothesis of this kind is
handled: betides, you may consume
the greatest part of your life, before
you can gather thence any sufficient
knowledge, or the direct
manual Operation. Therefore it
is best for us to abide patiently in
our Laboratory, praying to the
blessed God, according to that Saying:

Ora, ac Labora; & Deus dat omni hora.

Labour, and Pray; God gives alway.

Artist

You argue rightly enough Sir.
For, from the writings of Philosophers,
this Art of Arts is most rarely
learned; but the Sense them
is very well, and clearely understood
by the Manuduction of some
Adept Philosopher. But let us hence
pass to the Transmutative Effect of
this most noble Tincture, touching
which, the possessors, or many of
the Adept, have written many
Books, and the most of their Genuine
Disciples, labouring much
in the Fire, did at length compleatly
attain to the wished End of their
Arcanum,

Physician

I perceive your Mastership takes
pleasure in passing from the use of
the Medicine, to the infinite Transmutation
of Metals. Although I
could easily believe the possibility
of Art, viz. that a Chymical Experiment
of that kind was in the
Adept, as I have also made mention
above, touching that Experiment