LONDON, Printed in the Year MDCLXXXIX.
THE
PREFACE.
Courteous Reader,
That every promise becomes a debt, is reported by a common Proverb or By-word, and therefore to stand to ones word or promise, is a thing which procures a great Ornament or grace no less to Juniors than to Seniors. Since therefore in my Writings I have ingaged my Faith or Credit through the promising of some little Works, and yet have not been able, by reason of the scantiness of time, hitherto to satisfie the expectation and desire of very many, by publishing of the same; yea since greater Discommodities and Impediments being cast in my way, do hinder me from day to day whereby I cannot write more things, although I have nothing more in my desires than that in standing to my promise, I may acquit my credit, and set forth the said little Works; to wit, my Vegetable Work, my Work of Saturn, my Book of Dialogues or Discourse, the fourth part of my Spagyrical Pharmacopœa or Chymical Dispensatory, and my admirable little Book, of the concentring of the Heaven and Earth: truly they being Treatises containing most excellent Arcanums or Secrets, and the most worthy ones whereof Men can be made partakers, notwithstanding I am of necessity destitute of time for the writing of any Treatise peculiarly, and for that cause I am constrained to insist in a nearer path, and for the sake of promoting the publick good, to send forth the said Treatises in publick by a less labour and trouble. The present Treatise notified with the Title of an universal Chest or Cabinet full of Riches, or of a general Appendix of all my Writings hitherto exposed to the publick view performs this, whereby all things which have been either the more briefly and obscurely spoken in them are with a more clear or perspicuous illustration explained, or things that have been wholly omitted are supplied, and by the same endeavour the promised Treatises are added, yet not in that order wherein they ought otherwise to be written down, and the which order here to be observed, would administer very much trouble; but wherein all the secrets have in process of time been made known unto me, and committed to Paper. But it is free for any one to add according to his own Judgment, Medicinal Secrets unto Medicinal ones, Mineral Secrets unto Mineral ones, Chymical Secrets unto Chymical ones, if it shall so please him, and time shall also permit the same, which it in no wise permitteth unto me, every one that acquiesceth and is content with these things may consider, if a certain Cook should set a Dish on the Table filled with the best Meats, as being destitute of time, to put every sort of Meat in a several Dish, whether he could of right be angry with him, or by whisperingly prating, he could dare to say, he was to be blamed as being not skilfull in the affairs of the Kitchin, because collecting so many delicate and such dainty Meats into one Dish, and daring to set them on the Table? I suppose not any one could of right complain of such a deed of any Cook; the Cook, desiring to have it taken in good part, such Meats as he had, such he sets before them; he that refuseth to take of them, may use his own liberty, and may let those Meats alone, which he is not compelled to receive, even as the Cook also may be constrained by none in preparing of the same according to his own will or judgment.
Whatsoever Meat doth not please the Pallate of one, yet will not be ingratefull to the Pallate of another, but on the contrary gratefull, seeing one Food is wont to savour or relish this Man, and another the other, neither is he inordinately affected with the disdain of confused Meats, who taketh of those which relish him, and leaveth the rest for others.
Let every one that blameth these Writings do the same, not in hastily taking them in evil part, but in friendly and courteously excusing me that I have not sent them abroad in a more harmonious order.
They are like unto a certain true and great Cabinet or Chest, filled with very many excellent Secrets, being reduced into my knowledge through a successive diligent search of thirty years and so collected into one heap, that they might either be conserved for my own or at some time be made of publick use or service: out of this Chest every one shall be able to exhaust those Arcanums and Secrets, which shall please him or serve his uses.