Two discourses Charleton, Walter, 1619-1707. 1669 Approx. 168 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 124 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2004-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A32715 Wing C3694 ESTC R7401 12380094 ocm 12380094 60736 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A32715) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 60736) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 653:5) Two discourses Charleton, Walter, 1619-1707. [14], 230 p. Printed by R.W. for William Whitwood ..., London : 1669. Each discourse has special t.p. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. A brief discourse concerning the different wits of men -- The mysterie of vintners, or, A brief discourse concerning the various sicknesses of wines, and their respective remedies, at this day commonly used. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). 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Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Mind and body. Wine and wine making -- Early works to 1800. 2003-09 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-09 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-10 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2003-10 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-12 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion TWO DISCOURSES . I. Concerning the Different WITS of MEN : II. OF THE MYSTERIE OF VINTNERS . LONDON , Printed by R. W. for William Whitwood at the Sign of the Golden-Lion in Duck-Lane , near Smithfield , 1669. A Brief DISCOURSE Concerning the Different WITS of MEN : Written At the Request of a Gentleman , Eminent in Virtue , Learning , Fortune . In the Year 1664. And now Published with Consent of the Author . LONDON , Printed by R. W. for William Whitwood at the Sign of the Golden-Lion in Duck-Lane , near Smithfield , 1669. THE CONTENTS . SECT . I. ARticle 1. The Occasion of this Discourse . 2. The Difficulty , and 3. Usefulness of the Argument . page 1. SECT . II. Art. 1. What is meant by Ingenium . 2. What by Docility , and the three Parts thereof . 3. The Difference betwixt Docility and Wit. 4. The Ambiguous signification of our English Word Wit. 8 SECT . III. Art. 1. The Faculty of the Mind named Judgement , and its proper Act described . 2. Of Imagination , and its difference in respect of Celerity and Tardity . 3. The different proportions of Iudgement and Imagination required in Poets , in Historians , in Panegyrists and Satyrists , in Orators , in Philosophers and Counsellors . 4 A constant Prosecution of their End or Scope , required in all , for prevention of Extravagancy . 5. Wherein Prudence consists . 6. And wherein Cunning and Evasion . 7. The Difference betwixt Natural and Acquired Wit. 18 SECT . IV. Art. 1. The Authors conjecture concerning the Final Cause of the great diversity of Wit observed in Men. 2. The great obscurity of the Natural Causes of that diversity , in respect of our Ignorance of the Oeconomy of the Brain , and of the nature of the Mind . 3. Men of Sanguine and hot constitutions generally Acute , and those of the contrary Temperament , Dull ; upon the auctority of Hippocrates , and of Reason . 35 SECT . V. Art. 1. Why the Author here attempts to describe only the most remarkable Differences of Wit , as the Sources of many Virtues and Vices . 2. The First General difference , or Ready Wit characterised . 3. A subdivision of the same . 4. And its Defects . 52 SECT . VI. Art. 1. The Character of the Ranging Wit , its Vanity and Levity . 2. VVith their proper Remedies . 62 SECT . VII . Art. 1. The Third general Difference , or Slow but Sure VVit , and its Character . 2. The Obscurity to which it is subject . 3. And the way to overcome that obscurity . 74 SECT . VIII . Art. 1. The Fourth general difference , or Ample VVit. 2. And its distinction from the Narrow VVit. 3. The use of that Distinction . 4. An Error of some Learned men , who hold , that no VVit can be great and of Publick use , without the help of Scholastick Erudition . 5. The Refutation of that Error . 6. The Advantages arising to the Ample wit from solid Learning . 7. Self-confidence an impediment to the Best-tempered VVit. 8. And Study a help even to Barren ones . 9. The Finest wits most impatient of Study , and why . 10. The Cure of that impatience . 79 SECT . IX . Art. 1. A character of the sixth general difference , or Malignant VVit , with some of its disingenuous Artifices . 2. Three eminent examples of this Malignant VVit , viz. Cratinus , 3. Aristophanes , 4. And Tacitus . 5. VVhence it comes , that the most abject Spirits are most prone to Malign worthy Men. 6. Malignity of wit derived from Ill-nature or Perversity of Disposition . 7. The difference betwixt Malignity and Festivity ; with a justification of innocen● Jests . 8. The Conclusion . ¶ . 112 OF THE DIFFERENT WITS OF MEN. SECT . 1. ARTICLE 1. Noble Sir , IF I have taken a whole Month to answer your last Letter , it hath been only because I could not so much as shew my willingness to do it in less time : the Command You were pleased therein to send me , being of so abstruse and difficult a nature , that to perform it with accurateness in any proportion correspendent to either its own dignity , or Your Curiosity , would require not one , but many Months , yea Years , though my Abilities were much greater than even the Ignorant and Envious believe them to be . You have , therefore , more of reason to blame me for Haste , than for Delay ; in that I now render You so negligent an account of my diligence in managing the Province You assigned me : and if this Paper bring rather an end to Your Expectation , than satisfaction to Your Judgement ; You are obliged in Equity to look upon on it as a Specimen rather of my Obedience , than of my Learning . For , had I not preferred the suggestions of my Duty , as a friend , to the counsel of my Reason , as an Inquirer into Nature ; You may assure Your self , it would have been very long , before I should have been brought thus freely to expose my Weakness to You , who are so well able to discern it . But my comfort is , though You are sharp-sighted , You are also Good-natured : not more apt to discover than to conceal mens infirmities and failings . Having then the same excuse both for my Tardity and for my Haste ; and confiding intirely in Your Candor : behold , I put into Your hands the following Discourse , to which Your Command gave the first and sole Occasion , and in which I have plainly and briefly delivered both my thin Collections , and present Thoughts , concerning the Different Wits of Men. ART . 2. For , though Wit , or Natural Capacity of Understanding , seems to be the only thing wherein Nature hath been equally bountiful to all Mankind ; every one thinking he hath enough , and even those who in their Appetites and Desires of other things are insatiable , seldom wishing for more of that excellent Endowment : Yet nothing is more evident than this , that some have more Wit than others , and tha● Men are thereby no less distinguishable each from other , than by their several Faces and Tempers . ART . 3. To enumerate , then , all these Differences , would be a work almost infinite ; to define wherein they generally consist , extreamly hard ; to select and describe the most remarkable of them , highly usefull . For , when Men should by the help of such Descriptions be brought to see the Principal and Ruling Inclinations ( for the most part the inseparable Concomitants of their Wits ) that advance or depress their Estimation and Fortunes in the World , reduced to a few Heads or Kinds : it would be no hard matter for them to find out the several Advantages deducible from thence . First , every one might contemplate , as in a Mirrour , some part at least of his own Image , and know in what Classis to rank himself . Then , by observing what is beautiful or deform in the picture of another , he might the better judge of what himself either desires or fears to be . Again , since Virtues and Vices mutually incroach upon each others confines , and that no Ingeny is so propense to Vices , but that it retains a capacity of being kept from Exorbitancy , and by the strict rains of Prudence inflected to their neighbouring Virtues ▪ and on the other side , none is so neerly allied to this or that Virtue , but may by imprudence be corrupted , so as to swerve toward some bordering Vice : it could not be unprofitable to view the Copies of such Inclinations , attended by their good or evil Consequents , and from thence to collect how far they might benefit or hurt , if followed . In fine , by such general Characters , we might learn how to moderate our Praises of some Persons , and our causeless Aversation from others ; than which nothing is more necessary in Conversation , especially in election of a Friend . But , alas ! Sir , such a Work as this doth yet remain among the Desiderata in Philosophy , and so is likely ever to do for me , who am so conscious of the many Herculean Difficulties therein to be encountred and overcome ; that I find my self more inclined to wish , than capable to perform it . You ought not , therefore , to wonder , if instead thereof I adventure to present You this rude Essay . SECT . II. ART . 1. THat Faculty of the Mind , which is commonly understood by the word WIT , being a thing whereof Men have formed to themselves various Conceptions , and for which they have accordingly invented various Names ; it must needs be difficult to determine what is thereby meant , and what denomination is most agreeable and proper thereunto . Nor is it less difficult to investigate the Nature thereof , and wherein it doth chiefly consist : the Oeconomy of the Brain of Man being one of those Arcana of Nature , whose knowledge the wise Creator seems to have reserved to Himself . As for the several Names or Words by which it is most usually expressed ; I am obliged to recount and explain them to you briefly , that so being delivered from Ambiguity ( one of the greatest impediments to Science ) you may soon be able to judge which of them is Equivocal , which Adaequate and proper . The Latin word , Ingenium , though sometimes used even by the best and most accurate Writers , and who lived in the Golden Age of that Language , to signifie the power of Understanding proper to Mankind ; as may be instanced in that memorable sentence of Sallust , ( in initio Belli Catilinarii ) Mihi rectius esse videtur , ingenij , quàm virium opibus gloriam quaerere : Yet we find it most frequently used to denote a mans natural Inclination or Propension to some things or actions more than to others , whether virtuous or vicious ; as may appear , among a thousand other instances , from that saying of the same judicious Historian , in his Character of Catiline ; Fuit magnâ vi & animi & corporis , sed ingenio malo , & pravo ; and from that of Suetonius , relating that Tiberius connived at some youthful debaucheries of Caligula , Si per has mansuefieri posset ●erum ejus ingenium . ART . 2. Sometimes by Wit is understood Aptness to Discipline , or Promptitude to learn : which the ancient Graecians , both Philosophers and Orators , called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; the Latines , Docilitas , & bona indoles , to which our Language hath no word answerable , but Towardliness , now almost obsolete . If you enquire wherein this happy Faculty doth consist , they tell you , that it is not simple , but composed of three others . The First of which is named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Acumen , & ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) celeritas discendi , or , as Xenophon , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a quick or nimble apprehension of what is taught : though I remember the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be not seldom applyed to Acerbity and Cruelty of disposition ; as by Arrianus in that phrase , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . The Second , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , propè , & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , animad verto , cogito , inspicio ) which is defined to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a Faculty whereby a man , from what he hath learned , hunts after what he hath not learned : the same with that the Romans termed Sagacitas , and our incomparable Mr. Hobbs renders Ranging . The Third , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Memoria ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Retention of what is learned . ART . 3. Here , Sir , You have both the true Notion and Parts of Docility conveniently expressed ; but yet you are to seek , whether Wit and Docility be alwaies one and the same thing . For , Docility , if restrained only to Arts and Sciences , though it necessarily implyes a good capacity of understanding in the Person , by the bounty of Nature , therewith enriched : yet can it not be thence inferred , that all men who want this Docility , want also wit ; because then none could have wit , but Scholars alone , and because Experience sufficiently demonstrates that many laudable Wits are naturally averse from the study of Letters , and in that respect perhaps also incapable of proficiency in them . So that what Anatomists generally say of the signs of Virginity , namely that the appearance of them is a certain evidence of the Brides Chastity ; but the non-appearance , no proof of her deflowerment before Marriage ; may with equal truth be said of this Docility ; it cannot be without a good Wit , but a good Wit may sometimes be without that . Learning , You know , is but Wit cultivated ; the seeds thereof are Natural , and grow up of themselves , and many times bring forth fruits both pleasant and useful , without the help of Art , especially where their Luxuriancy is prevented by virtuous education , and their maturity promoted by ingenious conversation . If wit , then , may subsist without Learning , certainly it may subsist without Docility , i.e. a facility of learning Arts and Sciences . Besides , if we divide Docility into its three parts newly described , and distribute them among three Men , allowing to one quickness of Apprehension , to the second Sagacity in hunting after consequences , and strength of Memory to the third : this will not be sufficient to direct us to make a judgement , which of the three ought to have the praise of the best Wit : because therein they may all be Equal . For , we want not the testimony of daily observation , that many excellent Wits have but weak Memories ; and as many of admirable Memories are yet dull of Apprehension ; and again many , who are good at Ranging after Co●sequences , though it be necessary that they remember well ( because it is from the reminiscence of what they have known , that they infer what they seek ) are yet but slow of Conception Hereupon I am of opinion , that Wit and Docility , though frequently Concomitant , are yet distinct Faculties , and therefore require both Names and Notions distinct . Many other words there are used also by the Romans to signifie Wit ; as perspicacia , solertia , subtilitas , dexteritas , felicitas ingenij , &c. but these being all Metaphorical , are therefore Ambiguous , nor worthy a particular examination . ART . 4. Nor is our English word , Wit , ( which some of our Glossaries derive from the Teutonic Witz , to understand ; and others from the Latine Videlicet contracted into viz. because instead thereof we say to witt ) altogether exempt from Ambiguity : as being indifferently used to signifie either the Faculty of understanding it self , or the Act or Effect of that Faculty , in the former sense , when we say , such a man hath a great Wit : in the latter , when we give the name of Wit to a jest , pleasant conceipt , or facete expression , such as the Latins call sales , lepores , facetiae ; the Italians , Scherzo , giuoco , burla ; and the French , raillerie and gaudisserie . SECT . III. ART . 1. FRom the recital of the Names , we pass to the consideration of the Nature of Wit. The Understanding of a Man ( You know , Sir ) is commonly measured either by the rectitud● of his Iudgement , or the celerity of his Imagination . By Iudgement , we distinguish subtilty in objects neerly resembling each other , and discerning the real dissimilitude betwixt them , prevent delusion by their apparent similitude . This Act of the Mind the Grecians term 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the Latins , Iudicium and Dignotio ; and we , Discretion . The Faculty it self , Aristotle ( Ethic. 6. c. 7. ) names ' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the Latins , subtilitas ingenij ; from them the Italians , sottigliezza , and sottilitá ; the French , subtilitè ; and we , subtilty , which is no other but a certain perspicacity of the Mind , whereby it is able to compare things one with another , ' and discern the difference betwixt them , notwithstanding they appear very much alike . Herein Old men ( caeteris paribus ) usually excel Young ; because by long Experience ( which is nothing else but Remembrance of what Antecedents have been followed by what Consequents ) they have learned the Marks or sings , by which things are to be compared and distinguished : and Men of nimble Apprehension ( caeteris paribus ) have the advantage of those who are of slow ; because they observe more signs of difference in less time . ART . 2. By Imagination , on the contrary , we conceive some certain similitude in objects really unlike and pleasantly confound them in discourse : Which by its unexpected Fineness and allusion , surprising the Hearer , renders him less curious of the truth of what is said . This is very evident in the use of Simile's , Metaphors , Allegories and other Tropes and Figures of Rhetorick ; which are therefore called the Ornaments of speech , serving rather for plausibility , than for demonstration . And , indeed , their power over the Affections of the greatest part of Mankind , whether by the word Affection we understand what the Grecians call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Passion , or what they term 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mores , Manners ; is so great , that the whole Art of Oratory is grounded thereupon , and he is the most Excellent in that Art , who by the help of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Images , of things absent formed in his Imagination , doth represent them in so lively colours , that they appear present . Hereupon doubtless it was , that Quintilian ( institut . Orator . lib. 6. cap. 11. ) saith , a good Orator must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui sibires , voces , actus , secundum verum optimè fingat . Now the Imagination be in common to all Men ( yea and to Brute Animals also ) yet is it not equal in all Men. Some are naturally endowed Celeritate imaginandi , with a quickness of imagination , that is , an easie succession of one thought upon another others are but slow of imagination , which defect of the Mind is called Tarditas ingenij , dulness and if great , stupor , stupidity or sottishness . From Celerity of Imagination there ariseth a twofold difference of Wit. Some are naturally inclined to indulge their thoughts the liberty of Ranging , and love not to confine them : Others delight in fixing their mind upon one object , and narrowly examining it . The former sort are allowed to have Laudabilem Phantasiam ; and have a Genius disposed to Poësy and Invention : unless their Phansie be immoderately quick and ranging ; for then it passes into Folly , such as theirs , who are not able to finish the discourse they have begun , being suddenly taken off and carryed away by new thoughts altogether impertinent . Which undecent shifting of thoughts is properly named Extra vagancy . The Latter are said to have Iudicium probabile ; and therefore are fit to study Philosophy , Civil Law , and Controversies . ART . 3. For the most part both these Virtues of the Mind are indeed conjoyned in the same Persons ; but seldom equally eminent and the several degrees of pre-dominion of the one over the other , constitute the chief differences of Men , as to Wit or Understanding . Phansie without moderation of Judgement , seldom attains to commendation but judgement or Discretion though unassisted by Phansie , alwayes deserves praise . In Poets , both Phansie and Judgement are required ; but Phansie ought to have the upper hand , because all Poems , of what sort soever , please chiefly by Novelty . In Historians , Judgement ought to have the chair ; because the Virtue of History consisteth in Method , Truth , and Election of things worthy narration : nor is there need of more Phansie , than what may serve to adorn the stile with elegant language . In Panegyries , and Invectives , Phansie ought to take place ; because they have for their end not truth , but praise or dispraise which are effected by comparisons illustrious , or vile or ridiculous : and Judgement doth only suggest Circumstances , by whic● the action is rendred laudable o● blameable . In Hortatives and Pleadings of Causes , according as verity or simulation doth principally conduce to the advantage of the Argument ; so Judgement , o● Phansie is to have preheminence . In Demonstration , in Counsel , and in all severe investigation of Truth , only Judgement is required ; unless perhaps sometimes there be occasion for some convenient similitude , to illustrate what is alledged . But as for Metaphors , they are wholly to be excluded , as equivocal and ●ntroductory to fallacy : and herefore to admit them in grave Counsel , or strict Ratiocination , is no less than manifest folly and impertinency . In all serious discourse , if there appear want of Discretion , however pleasant Phansie shall shew it self , yet Wit will be defective : but if Judgement be manifest , though the Phansie be but vulgar , the Wit shall be commended . ART . 4. But in all , besides that discretion of times , places and persons , which renders Phansie commendable , and wherein Civil prudence and the good Menage o● affairs doth principally consist● there is required also Constant Pr●secution of the Scope or End pr●posed , that is frequent applica●●on of our thoughts to the subje●● about which we are conversa●● For , so there will occur to us a● similitudes , such as will not on● illustrate , but also adorn o● discourse , and excite pleasure 〈◊〉 the hea●ers by the rarity of the invention . Whereas if there 〈◊〉 not a constant regulation 〈◊〉 thoughts to some certain En● the more we are conducted 〈◊〉 heat of Phansie , the nearer 〈◊〉 come to Extravagancy , which is degree of Madness ; such as is o●served in those Rambling 〈◊〉 who ( as we said even now ) h●ving entred into discourse of o● ●hing , are by every new hint , however remote and impertinent , transported from their sub●ect into so many digressions and Parentheses , that not recovering what at first they intended to speak , they lose themselves , as in a Labyrinth . The Reason of which Errour seems to be grounded upon defect of Experience , which makes them imagine that to be new and remarkable , which to more knowing heads is really stale and trivial ; and that to be great and considerable , which to others of more observation is not so . For , whatever is new , great and memorable , if it occurr to the Mind of one speaking of another subject , is wont to seduce him from his purpose . ART . 5. When a man , therefore , hav●ing proposed to himself som● certain End , and in his thought running over a multitude o● things , as means conducibl● thereunto , doth quickly perceiv●● which of them is most probable and how it may be brought to effect his design : this man is said to have a good Wit , and the Habi● hereof is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prudence . Which depends upon Experience and Remembrance of many the like Antecedents , with the like Consequents . But herein men differ not one from another so much as in Judgement and Phansy ; because men of equal age , may not be very unequal in Experience , as to the quantity , though one hath more of experience in some things , and another in others ; since every one hath his particular affairs , concernments and wayes of managing them : and a Husband-man , though rude and illiterate , is yet wiser in his own business , than a Philosopher in another mans . Whence that rule , Cuique in sua arte credendum . ART . 6. To this Prudence if there be conjoyned the use of Means unjust , or dishonest , such as Fear , or Poverty doth too often suggest : then it degenerates into that si●istre Prudence , which is called Astutia , Craft or Cunning ; which is for the most part a sign of Pusillanimity or poorness of Spirit ▪ For , a great Mind scorns unjust and dishonest helps to bring him to his aimes . There is also another sort of Cunning , called Versutia , Evasion ; which is deferring or putting off for a little time some danger o● incommodity impendent , by running into worse : and th● word seems a derivative from Versura , which signifies borrowing of one , to pay another . Having given You , Noble Sir this short and imperfect accoun●● of what I have collected concerning the Nature and diver● Notions of those Intellectual Faculties , which are vulgarly comprehended under the name of Wit ; and deduced , according to probability , the principal Differences thereof from the various degrees of Eminency of Iudgement and Phansy : the remaining part of the Task You have been pleased to assign me , is to enquire briefly into the Causes of those Differences , as well Final as Efficient ; and then describe each of them singly with as much truth and evidence , as my small observation , and less Learning shall enable me to do . ART . 7. But , to prevent mistake , I am obliged first to advertise You ( what I had almost forgotten ) that by the Wit I have hitherto spoken of , I mean that which is Natural , or which grows up together with us , accrewing only from Use and Experience , without the help of Method , culture or Doctrine . For , as to that which they call Ingenium Acquisitum , acquired by study of Learning and polite Education ; I conceive i● to be no other but Reason , which arising from the right use o● speech , produces Arts and Sciences ; and seems to be only an Effect or Product of the forme● cultivated by industry . SECT . IV. THus freed from all Ambiguity of Words and Notions commonly applyed to Wit , which otherwise might perhaps have led us out of our right way , or at least darkned the prospect of our Reason ; let us proceed in our Disquisition softly and fairly to prevent stumbling : following the conduct of the Method newly proposed . Which brings us in the next place to consider the Final Cause of the great Diversity of Wits observed in Men. ART . 1. What was the End , which the Omniscient Creator designed to Himself , when He was pleased to constitute this so great and admirable variety ; You , Sir , ( I know ) are too wise , too conscious of the immense disparity betwixt a Finite Nature and an Infinite , to expect I should be able to determine : all His Counsels being to us , poor ignorant things , impervestigable , as Hi● Perfections are incomprehensible . However , since we are not forbidden with due reverence to conjecture ; You ( I hope ) will not refuse to hear my foolish sentiments concerning this problem : especially while I offe● them rather to Your Examination , than to Your belief . When , therefore , I observe that Men are no less discriminable each from other by the various Inclinations , Affections and Capacities of their Minds , than by the dissenting features , lines and aires of their Faces ; I am apt to perswade my self , that God Almighty , in making so vast dissimilitude , and in that distribution of His several Donatives among Individuals of the same Species , intended thereby to accommodate Mankind to a Civil life : it being no more possible for a Society of Men , or Common-wealth , to be composed of Members all of the like endowments of Mind ; than it is for an Animal to exercise various Functions with many Organs all of the same parts , shape and fabrick ; or for Musical Harmony to result from a multitude of Unisons . I am not ignorant , that even the best Philosophers , when they contemplate the diversity of Natures Endowments , and the most probable Reason thereof modestly bound their Curiosity with this clause , that Nature delights her self in variety , as well i● this as in all other kinds . Nor do deny what they here say to b● thus far true , that Nature , as being the Art of God , can have no other perfection , but what is derived from her Author and Governour , whose Goodness canno● be terminated but in it self ; and consequently all Emanation and Effects of that Goodnes● must redound to the delight o● their first Fountain . Yet th●● ( methinks ) doth not oblige 〈◊〉 to acquiesce in that consideratio● alone , without all reflection upon our selves ; there being perhaps some other Reason or End of such Variety , wherein Mankind may be highly concerned . I conceive , then , that the Creator having one Eye directed to the pleasure redounding to Him from the manifestation of His Power and Goodness ; aimed with the other at some general benefit and favour to Man , to whom He purposed to be singularly indulgent and gracious in all things : and that fore-seeing how much more securely , commodiously and happily Men might live in Societies , than single and dispersed , as wild Beasts ; He ordained this great diversity of Ingenies among them , as a means to accommodate them to mutual assistance and association . But this I deliver as only probable , not definitive : and leaving it to Your better judgement to be approved or rejected , I pass on to the Natural Causes of the diversity under enquiry . ART . 2. Wherein I meet with no less obscurity , than in the former . For , though it be sufficiently evident , especially to Physicians conversant about diseases of the Head , that the Seat and principal Organ of the Intellectual Faculties is the Brain ; and that they are more or less perfect in their Operations , according to the divers temperament , magnitude , figure and schematism of that noblest Organ ; and to the greater or less Mobility of the Animal spirits ( if any such there be ) contained and exercised therein : though thus much ( I say ) be sufficiently manifest , yet what temperament , what magnitude , figure and Schematisme of the Brain produceth Acuteness of Wit , and what causeth Dulness , is hitherto unknown . Nor have Anatomists , even in this dissecting and most curious Age , been yet able certainly to inform themselves , in what part of the Brain that Coelestial Guest , the reasonable Soul , keeps her Court of Judicature ; what part she makes use of in Sensation , what in Imagination , what for Memory , or what for Ratiocination . Vesalius ( I remember ) the Prince of Anatomists in the last Age , expresly nor without derision of those who believed and taught the contrary , affirms , that the Fabrick of Mans Brain is not in the least different from that of th● Brains of Brutes . The Tex● is remarkable , the great Authority of the Man considered and therefore I will here transcribe it . ( de Corpor. Human. fabric . lib. 7. cap. 1. ) Qui in Imaginatione , Ratiocinal●one , Cogitatione , Memoria , Cerebru●● suo fungatur munere ; haudquaqua● ex sententia apprehendo : neque qu● quam insuper ab Anatomico , 〈◊〉 Theologorum omnem rationis vim , ● totam ferè Principis nobis voca● Animae facultatem , Brutis Anima●●bus adimentium occasione , indag●dum puto . Quum Cerebri nimirum constructione Simia , Canis , Equus , Felis & Quadrupeda quae hactenus vidi omnia , & Aves etiam universae , plurimaque Piscium genera , omni propemodum ex parte Homini correspondeant : neque ullum secanti occurrat discrimen , quod secus de Hominis quàm de illorum Animalium functionibus statuendum esse praescribat . To this You 'l answer perhaps , that such indeed was the judgement of Vesalius ; but You are not obliged to acquiesce therein , because You have lately not only read a certain Book , de Proprietatibus Cerebri Humani , wherein the Author observes many considerable Differences betwixt the Humane Brain , and those of all other Animals ; but also with Your own eyes behold those Differences demonstrated by the same Author , in some Dissections for that end made by him at the command of the Royal Society : and that therefore You hope , if Anatomists proceed in their discoveries , with the same accurate scrutiny , and the like happy success , as of late Years they have done ; some one of them may at length be so fortunate , as to find out the true uses of all the several parts of the Brain of Man , and so solve all the difficulties that now amuse those , who profoundly consider the wonderful Oeconomy thereof . I reply , therefore ; that granting Vesalius to have been much mistaken in that his Opinion concerning the Brain ; and that there really are those Differences betwixt Man and all other Animals , which the Book you mention declares : Yet ( Sir ) what I have here said concerning the abstrusity of the Nature , immediate Instruments , and wayes of operation of the Intellectual Faculties , is nevertheless too true . For , You cannot but remember , that even the Author of that Treatise himself doth in the end of it ingenuously confess , that notwithstanding his frequent observation of those Differences , he was still as ignorant of the principal seat of the soul , and what parts she made use of in her several Functions , as before he first entred into the Anatomick Theatre . And were it not a Parergon , I could collect , and here recount many observations , recorded by Eminent Physicians , of such , who retained the use of their Senses , Imagination , Memory and Reason , without any the least defect , even to the last minute of life ; and yet in thei● Heads opened after death , ther● was found ( as in most Fishes ) but very little of Brain , and tha● little altogether confounded and dissolved in Water . For a memorable Example of this astonishing Phaenomenon , I take liberty to refer You to lib. 1. cap. 24. of th● Medical observations of Nich● Tulpius , a late learned and judicious Physician , and Senator o● Amsterdam : who relating th● various Conjectures of some of his Colleagues thereupon , gravely concludes with this free confession of his ignorance ; Quan●um est , quod nescimus ! Velut namque●n aliis , sic certè credibile est , potissi●nùm nos coecutire in genuino Cerebri ●egimine : c●jus opera multo fortassis ●unt diviniora , quàm quispiam hacte●us suo comprehendit captu . As for Your expectation of further discoveries from Anatomy , that may afford more light to direct ●he Virtuosi in their researches ●nto this dark Argument ; I cannot indeed divine what time may ●ring forth : but am of Opinion , that there is less reason for Your Hope , than for Your Wish ●or any such discovery ; the na●ure of Mans Mind being such , ●hat it cannot understand it self . Adeò Animo non potest liquere de ca●teris rebus , ut adhuc ipse se quaerat● Senec. Natur. Quaest. lib. 7. cap. 24. ART . 3. You are not then to wonder , i● I acknowledge my self unable t● define from what various Constitutions of the Brain the Differences of Wit arise , as from thei● proxime Causes . All I dare observe to You , concerning tha● Aenigma , is only this ; that for th● most part Men of hot and san●●guine Constitutions , caeteris par●●bus , are more ingenious an● acute ; and those of cold , gros● and Phlegmatick , are more dul● and slow of Imagination . 〈◊〉 for this You require Authority , can alledge that of Hippocrat● himself , who hath two texts expresly favourable and pertinent to the same : one concerning the Sanguine ; the other , the Phlegmatick Temperament . The first is this ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod humidissi●num est in igne , & siccissimum in a●ua , si in corpore temperamentum ●cceperint , sapientissima sunt . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 1. sect . 29. The other , this , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 porro si in aliqua Ani●ia defectuosiorem vim ignis accipiat ●uàm aqua , eamtardiorem esse necesse ●st , & appellantur tales Stolidi . Ibi●em Sect. 32. If Reason ; it is ●bvious , that the Blood being ●he fountain of Natural Heat , and in truth the only Calidum innatum , by which all parts of the body are perpetually warmed enlivened and invigorated ; and out of whose purest and agile● parts the Animal Spirits are supposed to be extracted : by ho● much more copious and pu●● the Blood is , by so much more of heat is thence communicated to the Brain and its Appendix of Nerves ( thereby ma● more firm and apt both to receiv● and retain the Images or impressions of external Objects ; an● more pervious to the Anim●● spirits ) and a greater supply 〈◊〉 Spirits generated out of it , for th● uses of the Animal Faculti●● therein residing , and thereon d●pending , and è contra . Hen●● doubtless it was , that Empedo●● held the Blood to be both the seat and cause of Sapience : and that Dr. Har●vey , somewhere in his Book of the Generation of Animals , affirms it to be of no small advantage to the Brain , that Students and contemplative Men preserve their mass of Blood pure and uncorrupt . But I remember that my present task belongs rather to Morals than to Physick , and therefore superseding all further enquiry concerning the diversity of constitutions from whence the diversity of Wits may arise ; and remitting You to the serious consideration of what that Excellent Man , Mr. Hobbes hath delivered ( lib. de Homine , cap. 13. ) concerning the Mutation of Mens Ingenies by Passions , Custome , Experience , the goods of Fortune , Opinion of ones self , &c. I pas● to the principal Differences themselves , and their Descriptions ; which animated by Your Command , I proposed to my self chiefly to handle in this hasty exercise of my blunt and unequal Pen. SECT . V. ART . 1. TO go about to describe th● great variety of Ingen●●● among Men , though of b●● one and the same Nation● were an attempt equally vai● with his , who should endeavo●● to number the Sands ; nor 〈◊〉 impossible than for a Painter 〈◊〉 pourtrey all the several faces in an Army upon one table . As it is sufficient , therefore , to a well-drawn Landskip , to contain the most eminent hills , buildings , trees and other objects situate in the prospect of the Eye within that Horizon : so may it be some satisfaction to You , if among a vast number of different Wits I select the most Eminent , such as appear to be the springs or Sources of many Virtues , and not fewer Vices ; and then represent them in Colours so suitable to their several Natures , that You may be able to discern and distinguish each from the rest , notwithstanding the neer affinity and resemblance , which some of them have with others . I call them the Sources of many Virtues and Vices ; because this may pass for a Maxime , Ingenia quando assuescendo it● confirmata sunt , ut facilè , nec reluctant● ratione , suas edant actiones , dicuntu● Mores : qui si boni sunt , Virtutes sin mali , Vitia appellantur . ART . 2. To address then to their Descriptions . That which occu● in the first place is the READY 〈◊〉 nimble Wit. Wherewith su●● as are endowed have a certai● Extemporary acuteness of co●ceipt , accompanied with a qui● delivery of their thoughts , so 〈◊〉 they can at pleasure entertai● their Auditors with facetious pa●sages , and fluent discourses ev●● upon very light occasions . The● have indeed much of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spve habilitas in promptu excogitandi quid dicto sit opus , formerly described ; and are therefore excellent at suddain Repartés : but being generally impatient of second thoughts and Deliberation , they seem fitter for pleasant Colloquies and Drollery , than for Counsel and Design . Like Fly-boats , good only in fair weather and shallow waters : and then too more for pleasure , than traffick . If they be , as for the most part they are , narrow in the Hold , and destitute of Ballast sufficient to counterpoize their large Sails ; they ●eel with every blast of Argument , and are often driven upon the sands of a Non-plus : but where favoured with the breath of common Applause , they sail smoothly and proudly , and , like the City Pageants , discharg● whole Volleys of Squibbs and Crackers , and skirmish most furiously . ART . 3. Of these You meet with tw● sorts . Some carry away the bel● in Table-talk and familiar conversation , with short , but pi●●quant touches of Phansie , such a● playes chiefly upon the defect● or misfortunes of others in th● company , yet without gall● their teeth are sharp , but not ve●nemous : and they rather nib●ble , than bite . Others , approaching nearer to the dignity of Elo●quence , are provided , whenever they please to imploy the●● talent , either in publick or pri●vate , to speak volubly , and to the purpose ; yet not so much from solidity of Judgement ; as strength of Memory , which instantly supplies them with whatever they have heard or read agreeable to their Theme . The fine descants and poinant remarks of both sorts are commonly admired not only by ignorant Ears , but also by some of Scholastick Erudition ; who observing the facility of their vein in breaking sharp jests , and pouring forth a torrent of not undecent expressions , are apt to grow out of love with themselves , and to be offended with their own flowness of Conception , which permits them not to do the like without premeditation and pumping . And they have reason . For , what can You imagine more speciously resembling true industry , and gracefull Elocution , than the opportune and pertinent . Hitts of these facetious Spirits ? what more Elegant , than to make acute reflections upon every occurrent ; and to give hometouches with gentleness ; which are the less resented , because they appear suddain and jocular . I● to this Promptness and Iocundity o● Wit , either Nature hath been so● liberal as to add comeliness o● Person , or Fortune so propitious as to conjoyn dignity of Condition ; especially if it be animated by great and secure Confidence : then● is their liberty of jesting as it● were authorized in all places , nor ungrateful to those whom it provokes : yea oftentimes , by its very Galliardise , it wins the Palm from solid and exact Prudence , if lodged in Men of excellent abilities , but slow Expression . Of the advantages redounding to a ready Wit from that Gracefulness of Person , which the Grecians termed Tò 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and the Latins , dignitas oris ; You have an eminent Example in Dion the Syracusan , who thereby much ingratiating himself to the people , was so prosperous in his ambition , that he ruined Dionysius , and succeeded him in the Soveraignyy of Sicily : and Corn. Nepos puts the same in his Character ; where among his natural Endowments he reckons as chief , ingenium docile & come ; magnamque corporis dignitatem , quae non minimum commendatur . ART . 4. But this so charming swiftness of both Phansie and Tongue i● not exempt from its Failings , and those shamefull ones too sometimes . For , take them from their familiar and private conversation , into grave and severe Assemblies , whence all extemporary flashes of Wit , all Phantastick allusions , all Personal reflections are excluded ; and there engage them in an Encountre● with solid Wisdom , not in light skirmishes , but a pitcht field of long and serious debate concerning any important question : and then You shall soon discover their weakness , and contemn that barrenness of understanding which is uncapable of struggling with the difficulties of Apodictical knowledge , and the deduction of truth from a long series of Reasons . Again , if those very concise sayings , and lucky Repartés ( for the Court hath now naturaliz'd that Word ) wherein they are so happy , and which at first hearing were entertained with so much of pleasure and admiration ; be written down , and brought to a strict examination of their Pertinency , Coherence and Verity : how shallow , how frothy , how forced will they be found ! how much will they lose of that Applause , which their tickling of the ear , and present flight through the Imagination had gain'd ! In the greatest part therefore of such Men You ought to expect no deep and continued River of Wit ; but only ● few Plashes , and those too not altogether free from mudd an● putrefaction . SECT . VI. ART . 1. IN the second place comes th● RANGING Wit , whose Pregnancy is so diffused , that it flie● at all things ; and commonly assisted with prolix Eloquenc●● discourseth copiously rather tha● closely ; without premeditatio● supplying it self with words an● sentences , as out of a treasury in● exhaustible . Men of this Talent are usually in high esteem with the People , if of such Professions as give them opportunities to shew their Copiousness in publick Assemblies or Councils : nor ungrateful in private Conversation , at least when once they have learned as well to be silent at some times , as to speak profusely at others . Which they cannot easily do . For , as all Brute Animals know , by natural instinct , in what part their chief power lies , and delight in the frequent use of that part above all the rest of their members : so these Men , highly delighted with their faculty of Eloquence , wherein alone they excell , are hardly brought to observe Decorum , and opportunities when to contract or expa●iate , when to speak or hold their peace ; but carryed violently o● by an itch of declaiming on every subject , how trivial or impertinent soever , often entangle themselves in Arguments above their understanding , and so satiate , but not satisfie their Hearers . So that even a Wise ma● may justly wonder , their imprudence considered , how they ar● able to speak so much and so little at once , so well and to s● little purpose . Having at length ended ( not finished ) their fin● Harangues , they scarcely refrai● from openly applauding themselves : and if their Auditor●● shew any signs of Complacenc● and good Humour , they are ap● to refer it only to a satisfaction of judgement resulting from the Elegancy of their discourses , though the same ariseth rather from Joy that they are at length delivered from the importunity of them . Notwithstanding this Vanity it must be confessed , these Wits have long wings , and in●cited by a secret impetus of Nature , delight to flye abroad , and range over the whole field of Sciences : but then again such is their speed and praecipitancy , they stay no where long enough ●o examine , select and gather ; like Bees in a windy day , they take only a superficial taste of vari●us flowers , and return to their ●ives unloaded . Whence it comes , that while they are discoursing of one part of Learning , ●f a new hint chance to arise and ●ntrude it self into their Imagination , instantly quitting their former Theme , they as ardently pursue the new one ; and so often divert to fresh Arguments ▪ till they have wholly forgotten the question first started ; as unstanch Hounds , meeting with 〈◊〉 new scent , follow it with ful● cry , and lose the Beast first cha●sed . And this is that Defect o● Mind , which is commonly called Levity : arising perhaps chiefly from an excessive Mobility of th● Animal spirits in the seat o● Imagination . No wonder , then , if thes● Rambling Heads be so far fro● attaining to sublime and extra●ordinary Wisdom , that for th● most part they come short 〈◊〉 even Vulgar ones in orderin● their affairs according to the rules of Domestick Prudence . Some of them becloud themselves with the Vapours of Philauty , self-love , and over-valuation of their own Opinions , and hunting after Praise : Others lose their credit by too-visible Affectation : Others attempt things above their reach , and sink themselves by aspiring : and Most prove wanting to themselves and Friends in such offices , where constant sedulity , and steady adherence to one purpose is required . For , they are naturally light , unconstant even to their own Hopes , variable in their Designs , fixt to nothing but their own Opinions , in which they so absolutely confide , that they look not into the advantages of others proposals and counsels . And yet for all this some of them so dazel weaker Eyes with the polish and lustre of their superficial Parts , that they pass for Accomplished Persons , and are at length admitted to reap that harvest of Fame and Wealth ▪ which ought to be the reward of solid and profound Abilities 〈◊〉 especially when they have acquired the Art of understanding as well how to conceal their Defects , as how to set forth their good Qualities . ART . 2. This Art consisteth principally in moderating their fervency of speaking ; in frequent chang● of Arguments ; and alwaye● choosing such , in which they may most easily impose upon their Hearers . For instance ; among Military men , let them discourse of matters of Religion , of the rites and customs of the Ancients , of the Origines and Migrations of Nations , and such like Themes , wherein Souldiers generally have but little knowledge , among men bred up in the shades of the Schools , and unconversant in Polities ; let them discourse of the foundations and periods of Empires , of the Fates of Kingdoms , of the revolutions in Commonwealths , of the Virtues and great actions of particular Princes , of State Maxims , &c. In a word , Let them provoke none in his own Way or Art. For , in familiar conferences , and sociable Colloquies , it is not ungrateful , so it be dextrously done , to divert to things of which the Company is ignorant : both because Errours then escape discovery , and because Novelty begets pleasure , and by how much more we esteem things of which we never heard before , by s● much more do we admire him who delivered them . But abov● all let them take heed of Writing ▪ which to Roving and Superfici●al Wits is as difficult , as thei● Gift of speaking fluently is easie● and for the most part proves n● less destructive to their Fame than their ex tempore Oratory hat● been favourable . For , tha● which gives due sharpness an● grace to the Stile of a Writter , an● recommends it to the presen● and succeeding Ages , is exquisite and elaborate Iudgement ; which is very rarely conjoyn'd with natural fluency of speech . The Reason may be this ; that a prompt , but turbulent Mind , when in retirement ( which all know to be necessary to a Writer ) it comes once to reflect upon it self , and examine its own strength ; burdened with multiplicity of things together offering themselves , and confounded with variety of thoughts , soon faints under the weight : and having neither judgement to select , nor patience to digest , falls at length into Distraction , or Despondency . In fine , the Faculty of writing well is so different from that of talking volubly , and requires so much more of both Attention and Deliberation ; that most of your Fine Speakers , when once they find the wings of their Phansie clipt , and their understanding intangled in strong and knotty Reasonings , are miserably at a loss how to extricate themselves , and despairing of success , return to their former liberty . Yet some of this Classis , either blinded with self-conceit , or deluded by adulation of their Admirers , have adventured to publish Books ; and out of vain Ambition to enlarge and eternize their Reputation by their Pen , have utterly ruined what they had acquired by the nimbleness of their Tongue . My advice , therefore , to such shall be this ; that they raise ●n the World an Expectation of some considerable Volume from them , and keep that expectation alive as long as they can : but be so wise as never to satisfie it with so much as a single Sheet . But Wits of this temper are commonly too Hot to moderate their Efforts ; too opinionated to take caution from the Counsel of even their truest Friends : and therefore I leave them to please themselves . SECT . VII . ART . 1. YOu have beheld the Ready , and the Roving Wits , together with their Advantages and Defects ; be pleased now to remove Your eye to the Image of a Third sort , which seeming contrary to both , and yet more usefull than either , may therefore not unfitly be called the SLOW , but SURE Wit. Some Heads there are of a certain close and reserved Constitution , which makes them at first sight to promise as little of the Virtue● wherewith they are endowed ▪ as the former appear to be above the Imperfections to which they are subject . Somewhat Slo● they are indeed of both Conception and Expression ; yet no whic● the less comparated to solid Prudence . When they are ingaged to speak , their Tongue doth not readily interpret the dictates o● their Mind ; so that their Language comes as it were dropping from their lipps , even where they are encouraged by familiar entreaties , or provoked by the smartness of jests , which suddain and nimble Wits have newly darted at them . Costive they are also in their Invention ; so that when they would deliver somewhat solid and remarkable , they are long in seeking what is fit , and as long in determining in what manner and words to utter it . But , after a little consideration , they penetrate deeply into the substance of things , and marrow of business , and conceive proper and Emphatick words , by which to express their Sentiments . Barren they are not , but a little Heavy and Retentive . Their Gifts lye deep and concealed ; being furnished with Notions , not aëry and umbratil ones , borrowed from the Pedantism of the Schools , but true and usefull : and if they have been manured with good Learning , and the habit of exercising their Pen ; oftentimes they produce many excellent Conceptions worthy to be transmitted to Posterity . ART . 2. Though they have no reason to accuse Nature of any unkindness to them ; yet they have just cause to complain of the iniquity of Fortune , in this respect ; that having an Aspect very like to narrow and dull Capacities , at first sight most Men take them to be really such , and strangers look upon them with the eyes of neglect and contempt . Hence it comes , that Excellent Parts remaining unknown , often want the favour and patronage of Great Persons , whereby otherwise they might be redeemed from obscurity , and raised to imployments answerable to their Faculties , and crowned with honours proportionate to their Merits : as the most precious wares seldom invite buyers , if kept in darksome corners , nor decently exposed , and adorned with splendid titles . ART . 3. The best course● , therefore , for these to overcome that E●clipse , which prejudice usually brings upon them , is to conten● against their own Modesty , and ei●ther by frequent converse wit● noble and discerning spirits , 〈◊〉 enlarge the Windows of thei● Minds , and dispel those cloud● of Reservedness , that darken th● lustre of their Faculties : or b● Writing on some new and useful● subject , to lay open their Ta●lent , that so the World ma● be convinced of their intrinsic● value . SECT . VIII . ART . 1. IN the middle betwixt the two Opposites , too much Heaviness , and too much Lightness , Nature seems to have placed the most happy Indoles or AMPLE Wit : which is seldom out of love with it self , yet never too indulgent to it self , and often advanceth its possessors to the highest honours and dignities , of which Subjects are capable . This usually is attended with no more of Eloquence than decency allows , or occasion requires ; and that , if cultivated by Erudition , or matured by Time , is always neat and gracefull even in familiar Conversation ; neither precipitate , nor slow● in delivery : as guided by 〈◊〉 Judgement , though not sharp o● the suddain , yet strong and solid● after a little recollection . I● fine , this is the Man most fit to harbour all Virtues ; as by Natures benignity comparated to great Prudence , as well Publick a● Private : and if toucht with a Temperamental Propensity to some certain Vice , yet seldom tainted with any evil Habit. ART . 2. Betwixt these Ample Wits and the Narrow ones , Nature her sel● hath a certain Criterion or Character of Distinction , easily discernable : and it is this . The Former , being duly conscious of their own dignity , do all things with a Bon Mine or good Grace , and becoming Freedom , far from the vices of Affectation and Constrained . Formality : as being actuated by Spirits not bold , but Generous and Erect , alwayes addressed to noble Ends , and contemplating somewhat diffusive and above vulgar aims . And this is that Semi-divine Temper of the Mind , which Aristotle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the Latins , Felicitas inge●ii ; and we , an Universal Capa●ity . On the contrary , Narrow and Groveling Wits condemn themselves to abject Cogitations and low Counsels , never ●aring to aspire above the common suggestions of their pusilla●imous Humility : yet in little matters , and such as transcend not the Sphere of their Capacity , they often proceed with exact diligence , and sometimes also with good success ; there being annexed to them a certain Astutia , sinistre or spurious Wisdome called Cunning an● Wisdom for ones self , such as i● common also to weak and timorous Animals , which keeps their intent wholly upon their ow● safety , and ( as we have before deduced it ) ariseth only from diffidence of sufficiency in themselves than which there can be n● greater Enemy to noble and generous Undertakings . Beside● if they at any time ( as sometimes , puft up with prosperity 〈◊〉 their Crafty and underminin● designs , they will ) offer at ingenuity ; it is with so much constraint , formality and starch'dness , that they expose themselves to the smiles and contempt of Judicious Men. ART . 3. This Thau or Mark of difference is well worthy Your observation , because these Half-witted or Cunning Men for the most part make advantage of even their Inability , building rather upon deceiving others , who confide in them , than upon any soundness of their own proceedings : and because ( as ●he Lord Chancellor Bacon most ●udiciously observes ) nothing doth more harm in a State , than that Cunning men pass for Wise men ; like Empiricks in Physick , they may indeed have a great Collection of Experiments , but not knowing the right and seasonable use of them , pervert them to base and sinister Ends. Leaving them therefore as unworthy further consideration ▪ let us return to our Bon. Esprit ▪ and for a few minutes entertai● our selves with contemplatin● the excellency thereof . ART . 4. There are among the Literat● who misled either by too muc● favour to their own Disciplines , 〈◊〉 by an immoderate esteem of th● advantages of Scholastick Sciences ( which were never denyed to be very great by any but the Barbarous ) allow no Wit to be Happy and of Publick use , but that which is not only capable of , but also naturally addicted to Letters ; none to have attained to the just height of Prudence , that was not advanced thereto by the Scale of various Learning . Thus Men eminently fruitful in Publick Virtues , and as it were constellated for Politie or the great Art of Governing the Multitude , they exclude from the Senate , and from true Greatness , by a Prejudice more allyed to Envy than to Discretion . For , ART . 5. On the contrary , it is much more reasonable to hold , tha●● none are so fit for affairs of State , as those blest Favourites of Nature , upon whom she hath accumulated her noblest and riche●● Donatives : Since that Sagaci●● of Spirit which enableth a Ma● not only to know the Resor●● and Opportunities of Business but also to sink into the Main o● it ; and then to form Counse●● both for Conduct and Dispat●● ( the two Principal Virtues in 〈◊〉 States-man ) is rather the fre●● Gift of Heaven , than the pu●●chase of Labour and Stu●●y Which seems to be no more tha●● what the great Roman Orat●● averrs , upon his own observation . Ego multos homines ( saith he ) in Orat. pro Archia Poëta ) excellenti animo ac virtute fuisse , & sine doctrina , naturae ipsius habitu propè divino , per seipsos & moderatos & graves extitisse fateor : & illud adiungam , soepius ad laudem , atque Virtutem naturam sine doctrina , quàm sine natura valuisse doctrinam . Again , Time hath furnished us with Examples of some , who had acquired high estimation in the Schools by extraordinary acuteness in sundry kinds of Learning , and yet proved very weak , when they were transplanted into the more subtile and fine region of Princes Courts and Councils : their Reason then confessing it self too dull-sighted to discern the Finesses of Civil Prudence , to which all other Learning must give place . You will not , Sir , I presume , be long in determining which is the truer Wisdom , his , who can foresee discontents and Motions of a Nation , and provide seasonable and safe Remedies for them , or his , who , after long contemplation , is able to predict Eclipses of the Sun and Moon , and to calculate the journeys and returns of all the Planets ; but cannot presage what dangers threaten the Commonwealth , what Changes and Revolutions are impendent over the State. Besides , those very Men , who thus cry up the usefulness of Languages and Sciences , restrain not ●he title of Learned and Polite to him alone , who hath with equal felicity run through the whole Encyclopedic or Round of Arts and Sciences : but think it sufficient , if a Man acquire excellency in any one of them : for instance , if an Orator singularly dextrous in managing Arguments , and happy in all the Exornations of speech , be yet dull and heavy in comprehending the secrets of Natural Philosophy ; or if a profound Philosopher be yet destitute of Eloquence , or unconversant in History , and Politicks and other parts of Learning ; they nevertheless deny him not the Honour of an Eminent Wit. That Preheminence therefore , which is due from any one part of Learning , why are they so partial , so unjust , as to detract from that Science , which is conversant in the regulation of whole Societies of Men , and which in that very respect ought to be preferred to all other Human Knowledge ? Think they , that Wisdom speaks to her Disciples only in Greek , or Latin , or Hebrew ; and not rather in a secret Vivacity of Spirit , and a piercing Judgement or Reason that understands all Languages ▪ To be born with a pregnant Wit , is no such high indulgence of Nature , if no more be required therein , than a Propension to , and Capacity of Erudition Scholastick . Those of the Ancients , whom we acknowledge to have been the Patriarchs of Sciences , and great Examples of Wisdom , never consumed much of oyl and sweat in the shades of the Shools : and yet certainly they were born under Stars highly propitious . To found Republicks , to make wholsome Laws for conservation of publick Peace , to support their Countrey by wise Counsels , to observe the Constitutions , Rites and Customs of other Nations , and transferr into their own whatever they found worthy imitation ; so far to note and register the motions of Coelestial Bodies , as to keep a a true account of Time , and accommodate their negotiations both at home and abroad to the most convenient seasons of the year , and benefit of the People : This , this was chiefly called Science in those elder and purer Times . To be a little more particular ; while those Primitive Sage●● laboured to reclaim savage and rude Multitudes , and mollifie●● their iron Minds by mansuetud●● and other Virtues necessary to common safety and the maintenance of Right in Civil Societies ; by little and little the●● grew up that Knowledge , which is called Moral Philosophy . And while , being disjoyned by mutual emulation and contention , they endevoured to perswade the People to favour and adhere to one or the other side , they made speeches to them to move their Affections accordingly ; that gave the first beginning and credit to Eloquence or Oratory . In a word , the Monuments of History have conveyed down to us the Prudence and Artifices of those Ancients , so as to be Precedents to our Modern Literati ; at least if they be able to bear the like weight of cares : if not , the best use their weaker Heads can make of such Monuments , will be only to boast of their Reading , by shewing them to others ; as Priests shew Reliques of Saints , but want the power of working Miracles ; or as keepers of antick and magnificent Structures can perhaps name the Founders and Architects , but imitate neither . For , to read History only for Contemplation , is a vain and idle pleasure , that leaves no fruit behind : but to imitate the glorious actions and atchievements of such worthy Patriots , that 's true and noble Erudition . This wa● the use Cicero made of his vas● readings , as appears by that profession of his ( in Orat. pro Archi●● Poëta . ) Quàm multas nobis imagines non solùm ad intuendum , veru● eti● am ad imitandum , fortissimoru● ho●●minum expressas Scriptores & Grae●● & Latini reliquerunt ? quas Ego mi●● semper in administranda Rep. pr●●pones , Animum & mentem mea● ipsa cogitatione Viroum excellentiu●● conformabam , &c. ART . 6. Nevertheless it is not to be doubted , but the most Absolu●● Wit is that , which ( like the First Matter of the Aristoteleans ) is capable of any Form , and can with equal facility employ it self in all kinds of Studies ; having an Universal Acuteness , and strength as well to grasp the difficult and ●lippery Mysteries of State , as to unravel the knotty Methods of Arts and Sciences professed in Universities . For , Studies perfect Nature ; and both are perfected by Experience : natural Abilities being like Fruit-trees , that need proyning and culture by learning ; and Studies themselves giving forth directions too much at large , except they be bounded by Experience . All together make the happiest conjunction , and by mutual assistance advance their Owner to the pinnacle of Humane Wisdom and Honour : that sublime Sagaicty of judgement requisite in a States-man , and conformed to the Genius of the present Age , an● comporting with the constitution of Affairs , so governin●● Learning , as that it can neithe●● degenerate into Pedantism , no●● rust in vain and solitary Specula●●on : and Learning , on the oth●● side , so supporting and enrichin●● the Judgement , as that it nee●● not rely only upon single Experience and Observation of i●● own time , but may have recourse also to the Oracles of al●● former Ages , and furnish it sel●● with Examples out of the treasury of Antiquity . Yet if any Man ( as many such there are ) naturally addicted to Publick business , and fit to serve his Prince and Countrey in quality of a Counsellor , be not equally in favour with the Muses , nor prosperous in Scholastick speculations ; I hope , Sir , You will not stick to allow him to be a Person of a more erect Mind , and nobler Parts , than a meer Contemplative Book-man ; who ●●hough perhaps skilfull in Languages , and Logician enough to ●●nriddle and impose Sophisms , ●●nd to dispute long and formally about Non-entities , is yet too narrow of understanding to measure the vastness of Civil Prudence , which is founded upon mature observation , and built up of so●●id Experiences , squar'd by exact Judgement , and adjusted to pre●ent Emergencies in State. So ●hat I am apt to believe , that Favorinus was in very good ear●est , though he seemed to jest , when he measured the Knowledge of Adrian the Emperour by the greatness of his Power . The Story is in short this . Adrian , not a little ambitious of the fame of extraordinary Learning , accidentally meeting Favorinus , an eminent Philosopher , fell instantly upon him with a whole Volley of Syllogisms , and presse●● him with Sophistical Arguments : to which the war● Philosopher made but sparing and modest answers , such as intimated his being overcome , an●● left the Emperour to please himself with his imaginary victory ▪ Soon after , to his Friends reprehending him for making so wea● defence , he returned this vindication : I were to blame ( said he if I should not grant him to be t●● most learned , who hath daily twenty Legions at his command . Which I understand to be more than a Complement ; the Regiment of so many Millions being a piece of greater skill , and sublimer Science , than to manage a disputation with Dialectical subtlety , and argue in Mode and Figure . Having thus in a short digression , endeavoured to refute the Error of such who hold , that no Wit , however Ample and Happy in its native capacity , can yet attain to solid Prudence , without the improvement of Scholastick Erudition : it follows , that we observe briefly both the Vice , to which even the Best tempered Wits sometimes are prone ; and the principal Remedy thereof . ART . 7. As Pusillanimity or Self-diffidence makes of Narrow Wits Cunning men : so self-confidence , if immoderate , often checks the growth , and hinders the fertility of even the Best Wits . For , some of greatest hopes , too soon trusting to the native pregnancy of their Mind , and desisting from Lecture , Meditation and all other labour of the Brain , as not only unnecessary , but also burdensome , and expensive o● time : thereby clipp their own wings , render themselves unfi● for any generous flight , and eve● after flagg ; so far from aspiring above others , that they com● short even of themselves , an● suffering those igniculi aetherei or Coelestial sparks of Wit , by which they were in their Youth actuated , to languish and go out for want of industry to fan them , degenerate into a barren dulness , so much the more difficult to be overcome , by how much the longer ere acknowledged . Whereas Others , conscious of their native imbecillity , endeavour with labour and sweat to acquire what the austerity of Nature denyed them ; and by continual culture of Study , and ●●ds of good Discipline , so en●●ch the field of their Understanding , that at length they exceed in fertility of Science not only their former selves , but others also to whom Nature hath been much more bountiful . By which it is manifest , that , ART . 8. The proper Remedy for this Obstruction , that not seldom brings an Atrophy or defect of nourishment upon the best tempered Wit , can be no other but constant Study and Meditation , by which the Faculties of the Mind are exercised and kept in vigour . Not that it is requisite Men of this order should over-curiously search into each punctilio or nicety of the thing they contemplate : for , though that be the way to attain exactness in some Particulars ; yet it would at the same time greatly retard their progres● in the Main , and make it long before they advance so far , as to make a liberal and genuine inspection into the whole of that very Science , which they so ambitiously affect . Besides the sam● would habituate them to confine their Cogitations within too narrow a compass ; by impaling their Curiosity upon Notions , though perhaps of great subtlety in speculation , yet of little use in the occurrents of life : nor could they easily let loose their thoughts to other things , which though sometimes of an inferiour nature , yet may be more necessary to be lookt into . To these therefore I am bold to prescribe Study as a daily Exercise , not as their sole imployment . ART . 9. Nor do I condemn those Fine Wits , that spend most upon the Stock of Nature ; because they have this for excuse , That all Heads are not equally disposed to patience in Study , and diuturnity of labour . For , the finer and acuter the Wit is , by so much the more easily indeed doth it penetrate into things difficult , and divide things involved ; but then again it grows the sooner blunt with length of labour and intention . The Reason perhaps is this ; that Nature doth rarely commit such Fine Wits to the custody of gross and robust Bodies ; but for the most part chooseth to lodge them in delicate and tender Constitutions , such as produce the purest and sublimest spirits : which as by their greater Mobility they conduce to quickness of Apprehension ; so are they for the same cause more prone to Expence or Exhaustion , upon continued intention of the Mind , nor capable of reparation unless after due repose and pleasant divertisement . Again , not only the Labour of these Ethereal Wits , ●ut even their Relaxation and Leasure is therefore precious ; because no sooner are their Brains at liberty , but they acquire new Vigour , and their Acuteness spontaneously ranging abroad , brings in fresh Hints , and reple●ishes them with serious reflections , and useful cogitations : as ●ich ground , when left a while fallow , of its own accord puts forth abundance of Excellent Plants , in nothing inferiour to the best cultivated Gardens . This seems pathetically exprest in that Apothegm of Cosmus de Medicis , the Politick Founder of the flourishing Dukedome of Florence . When in a morning he had lain long in bed , as wholly resigned up to an incurious repose , one of his Favourites coming into his Bed-chamber , salutes him with this Complement ; Sir ( said he ) where is Cosmus th● Great , to whose Vigilance , as to a P●●lot , we have all entrusted the conduc● of our State ? are not his eyes open 〈◊〉 high noon ? I have been abroad so● hours since , and dispatched much b●siness . The Duke smartly returns boast not Your diligence thus , Sir ; 〈◊〉 very Repose is more profitable , than all Your pains and industry . ART . 10. Nor is this Delicacy of Constitution , which hinders the Choicest Wits from undergoing the hardship of constant Study and long watchings , so Universal , but that some are exempted from it . But these are , I confess , very rare , and as the noblest Presents Nature can make to Kingdoms and States , seldom produced by her : being of that most happy temper , that they can stoop their lofty Parts to the anxiety of tedious Meditations , and drudgery of vast Readings and Collections . To this they bring themselves chiefly by Resolution and Custom : whose Effects are no less admirable in the Faculties of the Mind , than in those of the Body . Hence our incomparable Mr. Hobbes ( who was pleased not long since to tell me , that he was in the fortieth Year of his age , when he first began to study with due intention of Mind ) speaking of the power of Custome upon the various Ingenies of Men , hath this remarkable sentence : Quae nova offendunt , eadem saepius iterata natur am●subigunt ; & primo quidem ferre se ▪ mox autem amare cogit . Id quod in regimine corporis maximè , deinde etiam in operationibus Animi perspicuu●est . de natur . Homin . cap. 13. sect . 3. When they have thus conquered themselves , then it is they make the truly Brave Men. When Time , Perseverance in Study , and Experience have brought them to Maturity ; You may worthily call them Living Libraries , walking Epitomes of all Sciences , and Magazins of Knowledge . For , in them may be found the Piety of Divines , the Wisdom of Histories , the Wit of Poëts , the Solidity of the Mathematicks , the depth of Natural Philosophy , the Gravity and Uprightness of Moral , the wariness of Logick , the strength and sweetness of Rhetorick , the distinguishing subtlety of the School-men , the Exactness of Criticks , and the right Use of all . And when they are fixt in Publick imployments , abeunt Studia in mores , they become fit to bare a continual load of cares ; not prone to be confounded with Multiplicity of affairs , no● discomposed with the divers aspects of Occurrents , no● startled at unexpected and cross Events ; but constantly calm , and equally sedulous , and what more can be expected from Humane frailty ? In this rude Draught of the charming Beauties of the Amp● and Studious Wit , more of an● might have been shewn , and better Colours used . But , considering that it contains , tanquam 〈◊〉 compendio , all the several Virtu● that lye dispersed and single in the precedent sorts ; and tha● You ( Noble Sir , ) are so happy as to need no more lively Image thereof , than what You may daily contemplate ( the curtai● of Your great Modesty withdrawn ) by reflecting upon Your Own : I thought my self at liberty to run the same over only with light touches , and a hasty Pencil . Which I now remove to a work much less gratefull both to Your Genius and my own , namely the Character of the Malignant Wit : which I therefore reserved for the last place , that the Deformity thereof might set off the Beauties of those already described ; as Satyrs and Negro's painted by fair Ladies make them appear more amiable . SECT . IX . ART . 1. BY the MALIGNANT Wit , then , I understand that which is indeed quick of Apprehension , but void of Humanity : being prone to exercise it self chiefly in re-searching into the Defects , Errors , and even the Infortunes of Others , such especially who by their Virtues have rendred themselves Conspicuous ; and to delight in both aggravating and publishing them to their dishonour . Wits of this evi● temper may not unfitly be resembled to Chymical Spirits , which are subtle and penetrating , but they also corrode : and the Spirits by which they are actuated , seem to be extracted , not out of the purest parts of their Blood ( as other Mens are ) but from their Gall ; as if they desired to verifie the new opinion of Sylvius de la Boe , that that bitter and acrimonious Excrement is the Natural Ferment of the Blood , and necessary to not only the Vital , but also the Animal actions , in all living Creatures , in which it is found . Out of Self-conceit , they affect to be thought highly Ingenious ; because nothing is more neerly allied to Reason , the proper good of man , than Ingenie : whence that of the Poët , Qui velit ingenio cedere rarus erit . Whereupon Claud. Donatus , relating how one Filistus , a Favourite to Augustus , used to cast reproaches upon Virgil , and carp at all he said , even in the Emperours presence ; adds that he did it , non ut verum dignoseeret , quod Socrates facere cons●●evit ; sed ut eruditior videretur . But conscious of their own Vices , and studious to conceal them ; they endeavour by detraction to make it appear , that others also of greater Estimation in the World , are tainted with the same or greater : as infamous Wo●●● generally excuse their personal debaucheries , by incriminating upon their whole Sex , calumniating the most chast and virtuous , to palliate their own dishonour . To this base end , they rejoyce to expose the secret faults of men any way renown'd : which being no otherwise so easily effected as by the Pen , they addict themselves mostly to Writing , among all Sects choosing that of Criticks , that so under the innocent liberty of judging , they may usurp the most pernicious licence of Censuring . In which inhumane practice they are sure to make use of one , or more of these cunning artifices . Having found an opportunity to mention some evil , whether true or only suspected , in the Person , whose Merits they intend to disparage ; either they industriously pretermit what they know , and ought to conjoyn towards the excuse thereof ; or they pretend ( forsooth ) not to believe it , when yet they revive the memory of it for no other end , but that it may be more firmly believed by others . Where they meet with notorious failings , there they seem to extenuate , and as it were to compensate them with slight Commendations , only to disguise their detraction : as I have heard of a certain Courtier , who desirous to obstruct the preferment of a poor Countrey Vicar , and yet not daring to oppose his Master , King Iames his charitable inclination thereunto ; said to the King , Your Majesty may do well to give him a better Living , for though he hath not much of Learning , he is a very good Fellow , too hard for all his Parishioners at Cudgels , and hath a singular knack in catching Dotrells ▪ Another of their tricks is this ; where they cannot blame the Fact it self , they suggest sinistre Motives or inducements to the doing of it , and deprave the Course and intention . To these may be added one more , no less detestable ; where rumour hath dispersed various conjectures concerning one and the same action of some Eminent Man , omitting or suppressing the more benign and favourable , they select the worse and more derogatory , and largely comment thereupon ; with design to pervert the belief of their Hearers , or Readers , in deteriorem partem . Thus drawing suspicions from the crooked rule of their own insincere Mind and depraved inclinations ; they labour to perswade themselves and others , that there is among Men no such thing as true Virtue , but only a Shadow or artificial representation of it : thereby vainly promising to themselves the reputation of singular acuteness of judgement , and more than vulgar Wisdom . If they can Eclipse the glory of Worthy Men , by fomenting obscure and uncertain rumours concerning their Atchievements , or by malitiously ascribing the same , not to prudent Counsels and honourable Motives , but to Ambition , or Avarice , or Hypocrisie , or Simulation ; or Captation of popular favour , or any the like sinistre aims : they then imagine they have raised to themselves a Monument of Honour out of the ruines of theirs , whom they that inhumanly calumniate . ART . 2. To this Classis may be referred all the ill-natur'd Disciples of Momus , Derisores , Scoffers , such who , like Beetles , seem hatch'd in dung , or Vermine bred out of Ulcers ; perpetually feeding upon the frailties and imperfections of Human nature . Nor will it be easie for Satyrists and Comical Poets , those especially of the more licentious and railing sort , to exempt themselves from the same Tribe . This Sir , perhaps You 'l think to be a little severe : but it is not my judgement alone ; for among the ancient Comical Wits of Greece , You may find more than one deservedly accused , and clearly convicted of uncivil obtrectation . In one or two of the most famous I shall instance , for justification of what I here say . Cratinus , one of the Trium●virate , which first reformed Comedy from its primitive rudeness , and began to purge the Stage from obscenity and personal invectives ; is nevertheless noted by the Great Scaliger ( Poëtices lib. 1. cap. 7. ) to have been not only sharply censorious , but bitterly Malignant also , and grosly inurbane : insomuch that at last in cost him his life . For , having in one of his Comedies , intituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( unduly ascribed to Eu●polis , by Politian , Miscellan . cap. 10. ) too palpably inveighed against and personated some of eminent Quality , and exposed them to the derision of their Fellow-citizens , the Athenians ( described by Aelian ( 2. variar . Historiar . cap. 13. ) to have been naturâ in vidiosi , & ad detractandum optimis quibusque proclives ) he thereby so far provoked them , that in revenge they bound him hand and foot , and cast him into the Sea , in the manner of his Death alluding to the Title of his Play , which signifies one drencht or dipp'd in water . An Example well worthy to be remembred by his Sectators in this uncharitable Age. ART . 3. To this Cratinus I take liberty to conjoyn another of the same Triumvirate , his Equal , the so much celebrated Aristophanes ● and this I do , as well because of his most inhuman persecution of the Divine Socrates , both 〈◊〉 that Fable , which he called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the Clouds , and which he invented only to render that best and wisest of Mortals odious to the base Vulgar ; as because he wa● one of the Conspirators against his life : being thereto suborned partly by private Hate ( because Socrates frequented and applaued the Tragoedies of Euripides , but would hardly be brought to honour with his presence any one of Aristophanes his Satyrical Comedies ) partly by Anitus and Melitus , who not long after by false accusations robb'd the innocent Philosopher of his life and the world of its richest Treasure . Again , all the rest of Aristophanes Comedies are more or less besprinkled with the venome of Detraction and Dicacity . It was not then without just cause , that Plutarch , a most grave and judicious Philosopher , in his Comparation of Aristophanes with Menander , among many other Criminations of the former , gives him this Character : Aristophanis Sales amari sunt & asperi ; acrem & mordentem , adeoque exulcer antem vim habent . — Nulli enim moderato videtur is homo su●um poëma scripsisse , sed turpia & libidinos a intemper antibus , maledica & acerba in vidis atque malignis hominibus , &c. Nor doth that most Learned Man , Nicodemus Frischlinus , who wrote his Life , together with a defence of him against the faults objected by Plutarch ▪ vindicate him from inhonest Acerbity and Malignity ; otherwise than by transferring it upon the licentiousness of the Time● in which he wrote , and use of ancient Comedy : his words are these , Equidem non inficior , re●●●ita esse , ut ille [ Plutarchus ] dicit Sed vitio temporum illorum potiu● quàm Poëtae hoc , quicquid reprehensionis est , ascribi debet ; & ita fereb●● Comoediae veteris consuetudo , ut omi●● argumenta essent salsa , festiva , mordacia , maledica ; nec quicquam diceretur à quoquam , quod non ad perniciem alicujus accommodaretur . Which You have the more reason to believe , because in Your travell● You have sometimes resided in a certain City , much more populous , under a better Government and more civilized than ever Athens was , yea more inhabited by such as make profession of Christianity ; in which notwithstanding that scandalous Licence of exposing well-deserving and honourable Men upon the publick Stage , and dashing even Virtue it self out of Countenance , by the scurrilous reproaches and mimical actions of Comedians , seems to be revived ; so many Ages after it hath been condemned by Wise Princes , po●ite Nations , and by the best of Modern Comical Poëts themselves , as a thing not only inconsistent with Humanity and Christian Charity , but pernicious to ●he publick peace of Societies , by raising discontent , animosi●ies , quarrels and factions . But being long since returned into your own native Countrey , You are here out of danger of suffering by any such undecent licence our Theatres being regulated by stricter Laws , and our Poëts for the most part Gentlemen of liberal Education . In this short reflection upon the Malevolence of some Mode●● Poëts , I have rather stood still ● while , than gone out of my way● their Example serving no less to justifie my ascribing Wits immoderately Satyrical to this Order● whereof I am now treating , than those of the Grecians I have nam'd However , that I may hasten to the end of our walk , especially now You are tired with the unevenes● of the way , and my dull company ; I proceed . This virulent Humour of disgracing the Merits of Others , seems to have poysoned the Pens , not only of some Poëts , but many also of other sorts of Writers , who yet had not so specious a pretext for the liberty they therein took ; and who undertook by their Works to teach Men good Manners and Civility . So that I might , without much exercise of my Memory , call to mind Examples ●hereof among Authors of no obscure fame in all Arts and Scien●es ; not excepting the graver , even Historians , Philosophers and Divines . But left , by making a Catalogue of such , I should bring my self also under the same condemnation ; I leave them to Your own Collection . ART . 4. Only I think it no offence briefly to observe , that even Tacitus himself , esteemed the Prince● of Latine Historians , and the Orac● of Polititians , hath been accused of Malignity , in not only censuring the Counsels and Affections of all Great Men , whose most memorable Actions , together with their several Successes and Events , he recordeth in his Histories ; but also in interpreting th● same according to his private Conjectures , and wresting them for the most part to sinistre an● ungenerous ends or intentions thereby depriving those Heroes o● the best part of their Glory Virtue ; and leaving to Posterit● both Maxims and Precedents rather of Cunning and Violence , than of true Wisdom and sound Policy . Whether this Venerable Author , to whom the World is in other things so highly obliged , hath deserved this accusation , or not ; I leave to Your judgement , who are sufficiently conversant in his Writings to direct mine . In the mean time , I am obliged , in my own defence , to produce one of his Accusers at least . Permit me , then , to referr You to that famous Critick , and excellent Grammarian , Gaspar Scioppius , who in many parts of his Writings , but more expresly in his Dissertation de Historici Officio , delivers a charge against Tacitus of this among other faults . You 'll object perhaps , that Scioppius himself is generally condemned for the same Vice of Malignity : and I think not without desert ; but yet you cannot deny him to have been a man of admirable acuteness in discerning the faults , errours and lapses of other Writers ▪ nor have I any where observe● him to want reason for hi● Animadversions . So that though I am alwayes offended at his bitter invectives , yet I confess , I am often pleased with the Sagacity of his Criticisms . ART . 5. Now if such Men , who ha● ground enough within the compass of their own great Part whereon to build to themselve● perpetual Monuments of Fame were not altogether free from this malignant Humor ; what may we think of those poorer Spirits , those Sons of Earth , who dream of erecting Obelisks to their own obscure Names , only out of the ruines of others ? and like the Souldier Crabb , which Aldrovand calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and Eremita , have no Mansion for their credit , but that from whence they have extruded the right owner ? These certainly have the Cancer of Envy rooted in their very breast : it being an Aphorism of daily Experience ; that the more imperfect men are in themselves , the more prone they are to defame and scoff at others . The Reason of which , because I know You to be a great lover of the Philosophy of Monsieur Des Cartes , I shall give You in his Words quia cupiunt caetoros omnes in pa●● secumgradu videre ; since they all unable to raise themselves to the height of their Superiours in Virtue and honour , they endeavour by calumny and derision , to bring them down to the same ignoble level with themselves . ART . 6. This disease , therefore , of th● Mind being almost Epidemick ; an● the Cause thereof consisting in a certain Perversity of disposition whereby the Patient is strongly inclined to be inwardly vexed and troubled at the Virtues o● Felicities of others , and to do al● he can to diminish their credi● and estimation : the Cure o● it , I fear , is above the Art which I profess . ART . 7. By this , Sir , You plainly discern the great Difference betwixt Malignity , and Festivity of Wit. For , as to this latter , which the Greeks name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the French , Raillerie , and we Iesting ; whereby a Man modestly and gently touches upon the Errours , Indecencies , or Infirmities of another , without any suspicion of hate or contempt of his Person , pleasantly representing them as only ridiculous , not odious : I do not think it ought to be condemned as a vice of the Mind , but allowed as a Quality consistent both with Honesty and good Manners , as denoting the Alacrity of his Disposition , and Tranquillity of his Spirit ( both signs of Virtue ) and often also the Dexterity of his Wit , in that he is able to give a delightful and new colour to the absurdity at which he moves his company to smile . Nor is it disingenuous to laugh , when we hear the Jests of others ▪ nay some jests are so facete and abstracted from Persons , that it would savour of too much dulness or Morosity , not to be affected with their elegancy . But when we our selves break a jest it is more decent to abstain from Laughter , as well lest what we say seem to occurr to our imagination unexpectedly , and by chance rather than choice ; a● lest we be thought to admire th● felicity of our own Wit , in finding out that allusion , which had escaped the notice of others present : both which are obnoxious to dispraise ; the former , as a mark of slowness of Conception ; the latter , as an evidence of Self-love . To which may be added two other Reasons . First , whoever ●aughs at his own jest spoils it , by rendring it less apt to surprise the Hearers . Then again he puts all the company into jealousie and examination of themselves . Besides all this ( as Mr. Hobbes excellently observes , in his Book of Humane Nature ) it is Vain-glory , and an argument of little worth , to think the infirmity of another sufficient matter for his Triumph . ART . 8. But I have too long detained Your curious Eyes upon an object , in which You can take no other delight , but what must redound to You from Your observation of the vast disparity betwixt the Deformities of it , and the charming beauties of Your own Candid and sweet Disposition . And being ashamed , that ● have led you all this while in a path so much trodden by others ; I wish , the Province You were pleased to assign me , had lain somewhat farther from the road , wherein most Philosophers have travelled before me , that I might have entertained You with remarks less obvious and common ; whereas now I have been rather Your Remembrancer than Guide . Having at length waited on You to the End of it , good Manners oblige me , without desiring You to turn about and review the little things observed as You passed along ( for that were to disparage Your excellent Memory , as well as to abuse Your Patience ) to resign You up to Your own more usefull speculations , and the pursuit of that Generous Emulation , which incites You to Studies worthy Your choice , native Endowments , the Eminency of Your Condition , and the Place to which not Fortune , nor popular Favour , but Your own great Merits have raised You in the grand Council of this Kingdom . THE END . THE MYSTERIE OF VINTNERS . OR A Brief Discourse concerning the various Sicknesses of WINES , and their respective Remedies , at this Day commonly used . Delivered to the ROYAL SOCIETY , Assembled in Gresham-Colledge on the 26 of November , Anno Dom. 1662. LONDON , Printed for William Whitwood at the Sign of the Golden-Lion in Duck-Lane , near Smithfield , 1669. THE MYSTERIE OF VINTNERS . EVidence ( You all know ) is the life of Truth , and Method the life of Discourse : the former being requisite to convince the Understanding ; the latter , to facilitate the searches of it . In this short accompt , therefore , of my Collections and Observations concerning Alterations of WINES , both Natural and Artificial , which according to Your command I now bring to You ; I am obliged to use Plainness and Order : this , to avoid confusion ; that , left I increase the obscurity of my Subject . My Argument , then , I divide into Four Parts , to which as to Generals or Heads , all considerables thereunto belonging seem naturally to referr themselves Of these , The First , is the Natural Purification or Clarification of Wines , whereby of themselves they pass from the state of Crudity and turbulency , to that of Maturity ; by degrees growing clear , fine and portable . The Second , the unseasonable Workings , Frettings and other Sicknesses , to which , from either internal or external Accidents , they are afterward subject . The Third , their state of Declination or decay , wherein they degenerate from their goodness and pleasantness , becoming pall'd , or turning into Vinegar . The last , the several Artifices used to them , in each of these States or conditions . In the FIRST of these Heads , viz. the Natural Clarification of new Wines , two things occurr , not unworthy consideration ; the Manner how , and the Cause by which the same is effected . As for the Manner ; give 〈◊〉 leave to observe , that Win●● while yet in the Must , is usually put into open vessels ; the abundance and force of the Spirits i. e. the more subtle and acti●● parts therein contained , bein● then so great , as not to end●● imprisonment in close ones , 〈◊〉 which time it appears trouble● thick and feculent : all parts o● Elements of it being violentl● commoved and agitated , so th●● the whole mass of liquor seen● to boyl , like water in a Cauldro● over the fire . This tumult be●ing in ●ome degree composed and the Gas Sylvestre ( as Helin●● barbarously calls it ) or wilder Spirit sufficiently evaporated ; they then pour the Must into close vessels , there to be farther defecated , by continuance of the same motion of Fermentation : reserving the Froth or Flower of it , and putting the same into small ●asks , hooped with iron , lest otherwise the force of it might break them . This Flower thus ●●parated , is what they name STUM , either by transposition of the letters into the word ●ust , or from the word Stum , which in High-Dutch signifies Mute , because this liquor ( forsooth ) is hindred from that Ma●urity , by which it should speak ●s goodness and wholesomness . This done , they leave the rest of ●he Wine to finish its Fermentation ; during which it is probable , that the spiritual parts impell and diffuse the grosser and feculent up and down , in a confused and tumultuous manner , untill all being disposed into their proper regions , the liquor beomes more pure in substance , more transparent to the eye , more piquant and gustful to the Palate , more agreeable to the Stomach , more nutritive to the Body . The Impurities thus separated from the Liquor , are , upon Chymical examinations , found to consist of Salt , Sulphur ( each o● which is impregnate with som● Spirits ) and much Earth . Which being now dissociated from th● purer Spirits , either mutually cohaere , coagulate and affix themselves to the sides of the Vessel , in form of a stony Crust , which is called Tartar and Argol ; or sink to the bottom in a muddy substance , like the Grounds of Ale or Beer , which is called the Lees of Wine . And this in short I conceive to be the process of Nature in the Clarification of all Wines , by an orderly Fermentation . As for the Principal Agent , or Efficient Cause of this operation ; I perswade my self , You will easily admit it to be no other but the Spirit of the Wine it self . Which , according to the Mobility of its nature , seeking after liberty , restlesly moving every way in the mass of liquor , thereby dissolves that common tye of mixture , whereby all the Heterogeneous parts thereof were combined and blended together ; and having gotten it self free , at length abandons them to the tendency of their gravity and other proprieties . Which they soon obeying , each kind consorts with their like , and betaking themselves to their several places or regions , leave the liquor to the possession and government of its noblest principle , the spirit . For , this spirit , as it is the life of the Wine , so doubtless it is also the cause of i● Purity and Vigour , in which the perfection of that life seems to consist . ¶ . From the natural Fermentation of Wines we pass to the Accidental ; from their state of Soundness , to that of their Sickness : which is our SECOND General Head. We have the testimony of daily Experience , that many times even good and generous Wines are invaded by unnatural and sickly commotions , or ( to speak in the dialect of Wine-coopers ) Workings ; during which they are turbulent in motion , thick of consistence , unsavory in taste , unwholsome in use ; and after which they undergoe sundry Alterations to the worse . The Causes hereof may be either Internal , or External . Among the Internal , I should assign the chief place to the excessive quantity of Tartar , or of Lees ; which containeth much of Salt and Sulphur ( as hath already been hinted ) continually send forth into the liquor abundance of quick and active particles , that , like Stum or other adventitious Ferment , put it into a fresh tumult or confusion . Which if not in time allayed , the wine either grows Rank o● Pricking , or else turns Sour : by reason that the Sulphur , being overmuch exalted over the rest of the Elements or ingredients , predominates over the pure Spirits , and infects the whole mass of liquor with Sharpness o● Acidity : or else it comes to pass , that the Spirits being spent and flown away , in the commotion ; and the Salt dissolv'd and set afloat , obtains the mastery over the other similar parts , and introduceth Rankness or Ropiness . Yea , though these Commotions chance to be suppressed before the Wine is thereby much depraved : yet do they alwayes ●eave such evil impressions , as more or less alienate the Wine ●rom the goodness of its former ●tate , in colour , consistence and ●aste . For hereby all Wines ac●uire a deeper tincture , i. e. à ●hicker body or consistence ; Sacks and White-Wines changing ●rom a clear White to a cloudy Yellow ; and Claret losing its ●right red for a duskish Orange-●olour , and sometimes for a Tawny . In like manner they degenerate also in Taste , and affect the palate with foulness , roughness , and raucidity very unpleasant . Among the External ; are commonly reckoned the too frequent , or violent motion of Wines , after their settlement in their vessels ; immoderate Heat , Thunder or the report of Canons , and the admixture of any exotick body , which will not symbolize or agree , and incorporate with them , especially the flesh of Vipers . Which I have frequently observed to induce a very great Acidity upon even the sweetest and fullest-bodied Malago and Canary Wines . Yet , under favour , I should think all these forein Accidents to be rather Occasions than Causes of the evil Events that follow upon them ; because these Events seem to arise immediately and principally from the commotion and diffusion of the Sulphureous , or Saline impurities formerly separated from the liquor , and kept in due subjection by the genuine and benign Spirits . But this is no place , nor is it my inclination , to insist upon nicety of Terms , which might indeed start matter of subtle speculations , but can afford little or nothing of profit to our present Enquiry . Which brings us in the next place to our , THIRD praevious Considerable , viz. the Palling or Flatting of Wines , and their declination toward Vinegar , before they have attained to the State of Maturity and perfection . Of this the grand and proxime Cause seems to be their jejuness and poverty of spirits , either native , or adventitious . Native , when the Grapes themselves are of a poor and hungry kind , or gathered unripe , or nipt by early Frosts , or half-starved in their growth , by a dry and unkindly season , &c. Adventitious , when the liquor , rich perhaps and generous enough at first , comes afterward to be impoverished by loss of Spirits , either by oppression , or by exhaustion . The Spirits of Wine may be ●ppressed , when the quantity of ●mpurities , or dreggs , with which they are combined , is so great , and their crudity , viscosity and ●enacity so contumacious , that they can neither overcome them , ●or deliver themselves from their ●dhaesion ; but are forced to ●ield to the obstinacy of the matter on which they should operate , and so to remain unactive and clogg'd . As may be exemplified in the course Wines of Moravia ; which by reason of their great austerity and roughness , seldom attain to a due exaltation of their Spirits , but still remain turbulent , thick , and in the state of Crudity , and therefore easily pall , in which respect they are condemned by some German Physicians , and more expresly by Sennertus ( lib. de Scorbut . cap. 2. ) as infamous for generating the Scorbute , and administring matter for the Stone and Gout : they yielding more of Tartar than any other Wines . The Spirits of Wine may be Exhausted or consumed either suddainly , or by degrees . Suddainly by Lightning ; which doth spoi● wine ( as I conceive , at least ) not by Congelation or Fixation of its Spirits ; for , then such wine● might be capable of restoration by such means as are apt to reinforce and volatilize the Spirit● again , contrary to what hath been found by Experience : bu● perhaps by Disgregation and putting them to flight , so as to leave the liquor dead , pall'd , and never to be revived by any new supply . By Degrees , two wayes ; viz. by unnatural Fermentation , of whose evil effects something hath already been said : or by Heat from without ; of which we have an instance in the making of Vinegar . Which commonly is done by setting the vessels of Wine against the hot Sun ; which beating upon the mass of liquor , and rarefying the finer parts thereof , gives wings to the fugitive Spirits to flye away , together with the purer and more volatil Sulphur ; leaving the remainder to the dominion of the Salt , which soon debaseth and infecteth it with Sourness . This being the common manner of turning Wine into Vinegar , and practised ( for ought I could ever learn to the contrary ) in all Ages , and all Countries ; I make a doubt , whether Spirit of wine may be drawn out of Vinegar , notwithstanding it hath been delivered as practicable , even by the grave and learned Sennertus himself , in . lib. de consens . Chymicor . cum ▪ Galen . and heartily wish You would be pleased to resolve tha● my doubt , by some Experimen● of Your own . The times of the Year when wine● are observed to be most pro● to ferment and fret , and the● to grow Qually ( as they call it that is turbulent and foul , an● Midsummer and Alhallontide : whe● our Vintners use to rack them from their gross Lees , especially Renish , which commonly grows sick in Iune , if not rack'd ; and they choose to do it in the wane of the Moon , and fair weather , the wind being Northerly . ¶ . Having thus succinctly recounted the most remarkable Distempers of Wines , guessed at their respective Causes , and touched upon the times : it is seasonable for me to proceed to their usual Remedies , such at least as I have been able to collect from Wine-coopers and Vintners ; which is the Fourth and last part of my Argment . To begin therefore with some of the Artifices used to Wines when yet in the Must ; it is observable , that although to the raising a Fermentation in them , at that time , there be not so much need of any additional Ferment , as there is in the woo●● of Ale , Beer , Hydromel , Metheglin , and other sorts of drinks familiar to us in England ; because the juice of the Grape is replenished with generous Spirits sufficient of themselves to begin th●● work : yet it is usual in some Countries to put quick Lime either upon the Grapes , when they are pressing , or into the Must , to the end that by the force and quickness of its Saline and fiery particles , the liquor may be both accelerated and assisted in working . For the same reason perhaps it is , that the Spaniards mix with their Wines , while they are yet flowing from the Press , a certain thing they call Giesso , which I guess to be a kind of Gypsum or Plaistre ; whereby the Wines are made more durable , of a paler colour , and more pleasant taste . Others put into the Cask shavings of Firr , Oak or Beech , for the same purpose ; and others Vinegar . Again , though the first Fermentation succeeds generally well , so that the whole mass of liquor is thereby delivered from the gross Lee ; yet sometimes it happens , either through scarcity of Spirits at first , or through immoderate cold , that some part of ●hose impurities remain confused and floating therein . Now in this case , Wine-coopers put into the Wine certain things to hasten and help its Clarification ; such as being of gross and viscous parte , may adhere to the floating Lee , and sinking carry it with them to the bottom ; of which sort are Isinglass and the Whites of Eggs : or such as meeting with the grosser and earthly particles of the Lee , both dissociate , and sink them by their gravity ; of whic● kind are the powders of Alabast●● calcin'd Flints , white Marble , Ro●● Alum , &c. The Clarification of Ippocras usually expedited by putting in to it new Milk , which after short space of time separates an● sinks of it self , carrying with it th● powders of the spices and gross●● parts of the Wine ; after the manner of things that clarifie liquors by way of Adhaesion . The Graecians at this day have a peculiar way of spurring Nature , and causing her to mend her pace , in fining and ripening their strongest and most generous Wines : and it is by adding to them , when they begin to work , a proportionate quantity of Sulphur and Alum ; not ( as I think ) to prevent their suming up to the head and inebriating , according to the conjecture of that great Man , the Lord St. Albans , in his Nat. Hist. For , notwithstanding this mixture , they cause drunkenness as soon , if not sooner than other Wines , nor are men intoxicated by the vapours of Wine flying up immediately from the stomack into the Brain : but only to excite and promote their Fermentation , and hasten their Clarification ensuing thereupon ; the Sulphur perhaps helping to attenuate and divide those gross and viscid parts , wherewith Greek wines abound ; and the Alum conducing to the speedier praecipitation of them afterward . And it is reported by a learned Traveller ( Zimar . in Antr. Magic . Medic. T. 1. lib. 7. pag. 510. ) that some Merchants put into every Pipe of their Greek Wine , a Gill or thereabouts of the Chymical Oyl of Sulphur , in order to the longer preservation of it clear and sound Which though I easily believ● because the Acid spirit of Sulph●● is known to resist putrefaction i● liquors : yet I should decline the use of Wines so preserved , unless in time of Pestilential infection ; remembring that old distich ; Qui bibit ingrato foedatum Sulphure Bacchum , Praeparet ad diri se Phlegetontis aquam . But of all wayes of hastening ●he Clarification and Ripening of new Wine , none seems to me ●o be either more easie , or more ●nnoxious , than that borrowed from one of the Ancients by the Lord Chancellor Bacon , and mentioned in his Sylva Sylvarum . cen●ur . 7. Experim . 679. which is by putting the wine into vessels well ●topped , and letting it down into ●he Sea. Hence I am apt to derive the use of that antique Epither given to wine thus ripened , Vinum Thalassites . But how shall we reconcile this Experiment to that common practice of both the Ancients and Moderns , of keeping Wine in the Must a whole Year about , only by sinking the Cask , for 30. or 40. dayes , in a well or deep river ? That the use hereof is very Ancient , is manifest from that discourse of Plutarch ( quaestion . natur . 27. ) about the efficacy of Cold upon Must , whereof he gives thi● reason ; that Cold not suffering the Must to ferment , by suppressing the activity of the Spirit therein contain'd , conserveth th● sweetness thereof a long tim● Which is not improbable , because Experience teacheth , that such who make their Vintage in a rainy season , cannot get their Must to ferment well in a Vault , unless they cause great fires to be made neer the Casks ; the rain mixed with the Must , together with the ambient cold , impeding the motion of Fermentation , which ariseth chiefly from Heat . That the same is frequent at this day also , may be collected from what Noble Mr. Boyl hath been pleased to observe in his incomparable History of Cold , on the relation of a French man : viz. that the way to keep wine long in the Must ( in which state the sweetness makes many to desire it ) is to tunn it up immediately from the Press , and before it begins to work , to let down the Vessels , closely and firmly stopped , into a Well or deep River , there to remain for 6. or 8. weeks . During which time , the liquor will be so confirmed in its state of Crudity , as to retain the same , together with its sweetness , for many months after , without any sensible Fermentation . But ( as I said ) how can these two so different Effects , the Clarification of new Wine , and the conservation of Wine in the Must , be derived from one and the same Cause , the Cold of the Water ? without much difficulty , as I conjecture . For , it seems not unreasonable , that the same Cold , which hinders Must from fermenting , should yet accelerate and promote the Clarification of Wine after fermentation : in the first , by giving checque to the spirit before it begins to move and act upon the crude mass of liquor , so that it cannot in a long time after recover strength enough to work ; in the Latter , by keeping in the pure and genuine spirit , otherwise apt to exhale , and rendring the flying lee more prone to subside , and so making the wine much sooner clear , fine and potable . And thus much concerning the Helps of New wine . ¶ For the Praeternatural , or sickly commotions incident to wines after their first Clarification , and tending to their impoverishment or decay ; the general and principal Remedy is Racking , i. e. drawing them from their Lees into fresh vessels . Which yet being sometimes insufficient to preserve them , Vintners find it necessary to pour into them a large quantity of new Milk , as well to blunt the sharpness of the Sulphureous parts now set afloat and exalted , as to precipitate them and other impurities to the bottom , by adhesion . But taught by experience , that by this means , the Genuine Spirits of the Wine also are much flatted and impaired ( for , the Lee , though it makes the liquor turbid , doth yet keep the wine in heart , and conduce to it● duration ) therefore , lest such wines should pall and dye upon their hands , as of necessity they must , they draw them forth fo● sale as fast as they can vent them . For the same disease they have divers other Remedies , particularly accommodated to the nature of the Wine that needs them ; to instance in a few , For Spanish Wines disturbed by a Flying Lee ; they have this receipt . Make a Parell ( give me leave to use their Phrase ) of the Whites of Eggs , bay Salt , Milk and conduit Water ; beat them well together in a convenient Vessel ; then pour them into the Pipe of wine ( having first drawn out a gallon or two , to make room ) and blow off the froth very clean . Hereby the tumult will in 2. or 3. dayes be recomposed , the liquor refined , and the Wine drink pleasantly , but will not continue to do so long ; and therefore they counsel to rack it from the Milky bottom , after a weeks settlement , lest otherwise it should drink foul , and change colour . And this , If Your Sacks or Canary Wines chance to boyl over , draw off 4. or 5. Gallons ; then putting into the Wine 2. Gallons of Milk from which the Cream hath been skimm'd , beat them till they be throughly commix'd ; adding a pennyworth of Roch Allum , dryed in a fire-shovel , and beaten to powder , and as much of white starch : after this , take the whit●● of 8. or 10. Eggs , a handfull of bay-salt , and having beaten them together in a Tray , put them also into the Wine , filling up the Pipe again , and letting the wine stand 2 or 3 dayes ; in which time , the wine will recover to be fine and bright to the Eye , and quick to the taste : but be sure You draw it off that bottom soon , and spend it as fast as you can . For Claret in like manner distempered with a Flying Lee , they have this artifice . They take two pound of the powder of Pebble-stones , bak'd ●n an Oven , the whites of ten or ●welve Eggs , a handfull of bay●●lt ; and having beaten them well together in two gallons of ●he Wine , they mix them with that in the Cask ; and after two or three dayes draw off the wine from that bottom . The same Parell serves also for White Wines upon the Frett , by the turbulency and rising of their Lee. To cure Rhenish of its Fretting ( to which it is most prone a little after Midsummer , as was before observed ) they seldom use any other art , but giving it vent , an● covering the open Bung with 〈◊〉 Tile or Slate ; from which the● are carefull to wipe off the fi lt purged from the wine by exhalation : and after the Commotio● is by this means composed , a● much of the fretting matter ca● forth , they observe to let it remain quiet for a fortnight or thereabout , and then rack it into a fresh Cask , newly fumed with a Sulphurate Match , call'd in Latine tela Sulphurata , in High-Dutch Einschlag . ¶ . As for the various Accidents , that frequently ensue and vitiate Wines after those forementioned Reboylings , notwithstanding their suppression before they were incurable ; You may please to remember , I referr'd them all to such as alter and deprave Wines either in Colour , or Consistence , or Taste , or Smell . Now for each of these Maladies our Vintners are provided of a Cure. ●n particular , To restore Spanish and Austrian wines grown Yellow or Brownish , they add to them sometimes Milk alone , sometimes Milk and Isinglass well dissolved therein , sometimes Milk and White Starch : by which they force the exalted Sulphur to separate from the liquor , and sink to the bottom ; so reducing the wine to its former clearness and whiteness . The same Effect they produce with a composition of Flower-●eluce roots , and Salt-petre , ana . 4● or 5 ounces ; the whites of 8 or 10 Eggs , and a competent quantity of common Salt ; mixt and beaten in the wine . To amend Claret decayed i● Colour , first they rack it upon 〈◊〉 fresh Lee either of Alicant , or R● Bordeaux wine ; then the● take 3 pound of Turnsol , steep it in all night in two or three gallons of the same wine , and having strained the infusion through a bagg , pour the tincture into the Hoggshead ( sometimes they suffer it first to fine of it self in a Rundler ) and then cover the bung-hole with a tile , and so let it stand for 2 or 3 dayes ; in which time the wine usually becomes well-coloured and bright . Some use only the tincture of Turnsol . Others take half a bushel of full-ripe Elder-berries , pick them from their stalks , bruise them , and put the strain'd juice into a hoggs-head of discoloured Claret ; and so make it drink brisk , and appear bright . Others , if the Claret be otherwise sound , and the Lee good , overdraw 3 or 4 gallons ; then replenish the vessel with as much good Red Wine , and rowl him upon his bed , leaving him reversed all night : next morning turn him again so as the bung-hole may be uppermost , which stopt , they leave the wine to fine . But in all these cases they observe to set such newly recovered wines abroach , the very next day after they are fined , and to draw them for sale speedily . To correct wines faulty in Consistence , i. e. such as are lumpish , foul , or Ropy ; they generally make use of the powders of burnt Alum , Line , Chalk , Plaistre , Spanish White , Calcined Marble , bay Salt , and other the like bodies , which cause a precipitation of the gross and viscid parts of the wine then afloat . For Example , For the Attenuation of Spanish Wines , that are foul and lumpish ; having first rack'd them into a newly scented Cask , they make a Parell of burn'd Alum , bay Salt , and conduit Water : then they add thereto a quart of Bean-Flower , or powder of Rice ( and if the wine be also brown and dusky , Milk , otherwise not ) and beating all these well together with the wine , blow off the froth , and cover the bung with a clean ●ile-stone . Lastly , they again rack the wine after a few dayes , and put it into a Cask well Scented . Here perhaps some , not well understanding what is meant by this Scenting of Casks , will pardon me if I make a short stand to explain it . They take of Brimstone 4 ounces , of burn'd Alum 1 ounce , of Aqua vitae , 2 ounces ; these they put together in an earthen pan , or pipkin ; and hold them over a a Chausing dish of glowing coals ▪ till the Brimstone is melted and runs , then they dipp therein a little piece of new Canvas , and instantly sprinkle thereon the powders of Nutmeggs , Cloves , Coriandre and Anise seeds . This Canvas they fire , and let it burn out in the bung-hole , so as the fume may be received into the vessel ; And this , as I have been credibly informed , is the best scent for all Wines . Nor is it a Modern invention ; both Canterarius ( cap. 8. membr . sect . 23. ) and Levinus Lemnius ( Occult. lib. 2. cap. 48. ) taking notice of the like use among the Ancients , of fuming their Casks with Sulphur , Ut vasa à putredine defenderentur , vinum ▪ ipsum majorem calorem , aut Spiritus acriores acquireret . To prevent the foulness and ropiness of Wines , the old Roman Vindemiatores used to mix Sea-water with the Must , Ut suo calore , ne Vina lentescerent , pendulaque fierent , conservaret , & dum pondere suo in vase subsideret , faeces secum ad fundum deferret . Cato de R. R. cap. 104. & Langius 2. Epist. 32. To cure the Ropiness of Claret , the Vintners as well French as English have many Remedies , among which I have selected two or three , as most memorable , because most usual . One is this , First , they give the Wine a Parell , then draw it from the Lee , after the clarification by that Parell ; this done , they infuse 2 pound of Turnsol in good Sack all night , and the next day putting the strain'd infusion into a hoggshead of the Wine , with a spring funnel , leave it to fine , and after draw it for excellent Wine . Another this , They make a Lee of the ashes of Vine-branches , or of Oaken leaves , and pour it into the wine hot , and after stirring leave it to settle . The quantity , a quart of Lee , to a Pipe of Wine . A third is only Spirit of Wine , which put into muddy Claret , serves to the refining it effectually and speedily : the proportion being a pint of Spirit to a hoggs-head . But this is not to be used in sharp and eagre Wines . When White wines grow foul and tawny , they only rack them on a fresh Lee , and give them time to fine . For the Emendation of Wines offending in Taste , Vintners have few other Correctives , but what conduce to Clarification . Nor do they indeed much need variety in the case ; seeing all Unsavouriness of Wines whatever seems to proceed from their impurities set afloat , and the dominion of either their Sulphureous , or Saline parts over the finer and sweeter ; which causes are removed chiefly by Precipitation . For , all Clarification of liquors may be referred to one of these three causes : ( 1. ) Separation of the grosser parts of the liquor from the finer ; ( 2. ) The equal distribution of the Spirits of the liquor , which alwayes rendreth bodies clear and untroubled ; ( 3. ) The refining of the Spirit it self . And the two latter are consequents of the first , which is effected chiefly by Precipitation , the instruments whereof are weight and viscosity of the body admixt , the one causing it to cleave to the gross parts of the liquor flying up and down in it , the other sinking them to the bottom . But this being more than Vintners commonly understand , they rest not in Clarification alone ; having found out certain Specifics as it were , to palliate the several Vices of Wines of all sorts , which make them disgustfull . Of these likewise I shall recite two or three , of greatest use and esteem among them . To correct Rankness , Eagerness and Pricking of Sacks and other sweet Wines , they take 20 or 30 of the whitest Lime-stones , and slack them in a gallon of the wine ; then they add more wine , and stir them together in a Half-tubb , with a Parelling-staff ; next they pour this mixture into the Hoggshead , and having again used the Parelling instrument , leave the Wine to settle , and then rack it . This Wine I should guess to be no ill drink for gross bodies and rheumatick Brains ; but hurtfull to Good Fellows of hot and dry constitutions , and meagre habits . Against the Pricking of French Wines , they prescribe this easie and cheap composition . Take of the powder of Flanders Tile 1 pound , of Roch Alum half a pound , mix them and beat them well with a convenient quantity of the Wine , then put them into the hoggshead , as the former . When their Rhenish Wines prick , they first rack them into a clean and strongly-scented Cask or Vate ; then add to the wine 8 or 10 gallons of clarified Hony , with a gallon or two of skim - milk , and beating all together , leave them to settle . Sometimes it happens , that Claret loseth much of its briskness and Picquantness ; and in such case they rack it upon a good Lee of Red Wine , and put into it a gallon of the juice of Slows or Bullies , which , after a little fermentation and rest , makes the wine drink brisk and rough . The like hath been sometimes done , as I have been told by a Drawer , with Virginian Pears , call'd Metaguesunaux . Which seems highly probable , because that Fruit is of colour deeply sanguine , and very austere and rough of taste , as I observed in some that were given me some years since . To meliorate the taste of Hungry and too Eagre White-Wines , they draw off 3 or 4 gallons of the Wine , and infusing therein as many pounds of Malago Raisins , stoned and bruised in a stone Mortar , till the Wine hath sufficiently imbibed their sweetness and tincture ( which it will do in a dayes time ) they run it through an Hippocras bagg , then put it into a fresh Cask , well scented , together with the whole remainder of the wine in the hoggshead , and so leave it to fine . To help Stinking wines , the general Remedy is Racking them from their old and corrupt Lee. Besides which , some give them a fragrant smell or Flavor , by hanging in them little baggs of spices , such as Ginger , Zed●●ry , Cloves , Cinnamon , Orras roots , Cubebs , Grains of Paradise , Spiknard , &c. Aromaticks . Others boyle some of these Spices in a Pottle of good sound wine of the same sort , and turn up the dec●tion hot . Others correct the ill savour of rank-leed French wine with only a few Cinnamon canes hung in them . Others again for the same end use Elder Flowers , and topps of Lavender . ¶ . Having thus run over three parts of the Vintners Dispensatory , and transcribed many of their principal Secrets for the cure of the Acute diseases of wines ; we are arrived now at the FOURTH , which contains Medicaments proper for their Chronic distempers , viz. loss of Spirits , and decay of Strength . Concerning these , therefore it is observable , that as whe● Wines are in praeternatural Commotions , from an excess and predomination of their Sulphureous parts , the grand Medicine is to Rack them from their Lee : so , on the contrary , when they decline and tend toward Palling , by reason of the scarcity of their Spirits and Sulphur ; the most effectual Preservative is to rack them upon other Lees , richer and stronger than their own ; that being from thence supplyed with new Spirits , they may acquire somewhat more of vigour and quickness . I say Preservative ; because there is , in truth , no Restoring of wines after they are perfectly pall'd and dead , for nothing that is past perfection , and hath run its natural race once , can receive much amendment . But besides reinforcing of impoverished wines by new and more generous Lees , there are sundry Confections , by which also , as by Cordials , the languishing spirits of them may be sustained , and to some degree recruited ▪ Of which I here bring two or three particular examples . When Sacks begin to languish ( which doth not often happen , especially in this City , where are so many Sack-drinkers ) they refresh them with a Cordial syrup ▪ made of most generous Wine , of Sugar and Spices . For Rhenish and White wines , a simple decoction of Raisins of the Sun , and a strong-scented Cask , usually serve the turn . For Claret inclining to a Consumption ; they prescribe a new and richer Lee , and the shaving● of Firr wood ; that he Spirits being recruited by the additional Lee , may be kept from exhaling , by the unctuous substance of the Turpentine . Which artifice I have often observed , at the time of my being at Paris , to be used in the most delicate and thin-bodied Wines of France : and seems to me , no improbable cause of that exceeding dulness and pain of the head , which alwayes attends upon Debauches made with such Wines . Nor is it a Modern invention , but well known to , and frequently put in use by the old Romans , in times of their greatest wealth and luxury . For , Pliny ( Hist. nat . lib. 14. cap. 2. ) takes singular notice of the custome of the Italian Vintners , in mixing with their Wines Turpentine of several sorts . Some of his words are these , Ratio autem condiendi Musta , in primo fervore , qui novem diebus cumplurimum peragitur , aspersu Picis ; ut odor vino contingat , & saporis quaedam acumina . Vehementius id fieri arbitrantur , crudo flore Resinae , excitarique lenitatem , &c. Yea , the Graecians long afore had their Vina Picata & Resinata ; as is evident from the commendation of such wines by Plutarch ( 5. Sympos . probl . 3. ) and the prescription of them to women , in some cases , by our great Master , Hippocrates ( 1. de Morb. Mulier . ) : and were so much delighted with their Vinum Pissites , that they consecrated the Pich tree to Bacchus . You have heard the summe of what I have my self observed , and what I have transcribed from the Manuscripts of some very skilfull Vintners , which I had the good luck to peruse ; concerning the Remedies of the various sicknesses , to which Wines are obnoxious . It remains only , that I entertain Your patience , a minute or two longer , with a taste of the more disingenuous practices of Vintners , in the Transmutation or Sophistication of Wines , which they call Trickings or Compassings . They transform poor Rochel and Cogniak White wines into Rhenish ; Rhenish into Sack ; the Laggs of Sacks and Malmsies into Muskadels . The counterfeit Raspic-wine , with Flower de Luce roots ; verdea , with decoctions of Raisins ; they sell decayed Xeres , vulgarly Sherry , for Lusenna wine : in all these impostures deluding the palate so neatly , that few are able to discern the fraud ; and keeping these Arcana Lucrifera so close , that fewer can come to the knowledge of them . So that we may say , as Pliny did , in the close of his chapter touching the Sophistication of wines , in his dayes ; tot veneficiis placere cogitur , & miramur noxium esse vinum ? As for their metamorphosis of White into Claret , by dashing it with Red ; nothing is more commonly either done or known . For their conversion of White into Rhenish ; they have several artifices to effect it , among which this is most usual . They take a hogshead of Rochel , or Cogniak , or Nants White wine ; rack it into a fresh Cask , strongly scented ; then give the white Parell : put into it 8 or 10 gallons of clarified Hony , or 40 pounds of cours Sugar , and beating it well , leave it to clarifie . To give this mixture the delicate Flavour , they sometimes add a Decoction of Clary seeds , or Gallitricum ; of which Druggs there is an incredible quantity used yearly at Dort , where now is the Staple of Rhenish wines . And this is that Drink , wherewith our English Ladies are so much delighted , under the specious name of Rhenish in the Must. The manner of making adulterate Bastard , is this . Recipe , Four gallons of White wine , three gallons of old Canary , five pounds of Bastard Syrup , beat them well together ; put them into a clean Rundlet , well scented ; and give them time to fine . Sack is made of Rhenish , either by strong Decoctions of Malago Raisins , or by a Syrupe of Sack , Sugar and Spices . Muskadel is sophisticated with the Laggs of Sack , or Malmsey thus . They dissolve in a convenient quantity of Rose-water , of Musk 2 ounces , of Calamus Aromaticus powder'd 1 ounce , of Coriander seed beaten half an ounce ; and while this infusion is yet warm , they put it into a Rundlet of old Sack , or Malmsey ; and this they call , a Flavour for Muskadel . Many other wayes there are of Adulterating Wines , daily practised even in this our ( otherwise well govern'd ) City : but in respect they all tend to the above-mentioned Alterations , and are less General ; therefore I pass them over in silence . ¶ . Nor have I at present any thing more to add to this Essay toward a History of Wines , but my humble request to Your Lordship , and the honour'd Fellows of this ROYAL SOCIETY , that You would be pleas'd to pardon the many defects of it ; and that if the Enquiries therein made come short of your expectation ▪ You would suspend Your Curiosity untill my Copartner in this Province , the Learned Dr. Merret , shall have brought in his Observations concerning the same subject . For , I doubt not but the fulness of his Papers will supply the emptiness of mine . ¶ . THE END . SOME OBSERVATIONS Concerning the ORDERING OF WINES . By Dr. Merret . THe Mysterie of Wines consists in the making and meliorating of Natural Wines . Melioration is either of sound or vitious Wines . Sound Wines are bettered , 1. By preserving . 2. Timely fining . 3. by mending Colour , Smell or Taste . To preserve Wines , care must be taken , that , after the Pressing , they may ferment well : for without good Fermentation , they become qually ( i. e. ) cloudy , thick and dusky , and will never fine of themselves as other Wines do : and when they are fined by Art , they must be speedily spent , or else they will become qually again , and then by no Art recoverable . The Principal Impediments of the Fermentation of Wines , after pressing the Grapes , are either their Unripeness when gathered , or the mixture of Rain water with them , as in wet Vintages ; or else through the addition of Water to rich Grapes . The Spaniards use Giesso to help the Fermentation of their Canary Wines . To preserve Spanish Wines , and chiefly Canary , and thereof principally that which is Razie , which will not keep so long ; they make a Layer of Grapes and Giesso , whereby it acquires a better durance and taste , and a whiter Colour , most pleasing to the English. Razie wine , is so called , because it comes from Rhenish-wine slips , sometimes renewed . The Grape of this Wine is fleshy , yielding but a little juice . French and Rhenish wines are chiefly and commonly preserved by the Match , thus , used at Dort in Holland : Take Brimstone 20 or 30 pounds , rack , into it melted , Spices , as Cloves , Cinnamon , Mace , Ginger and Coriander-seeds and some to save charges use the reliques of the Hippocras bag ; and having mixed these well with the Brimstone they draw through this Mixture , long , square , narrow pieces of Canvas , which pieces thus drawn through the said mixture , they light and put into the Vessel at the Bung-hole , and presently stop it close : Great care is to be had in proportioning the Brimstone to the quantity and quality of the wine ; for too much makes it rough ; this smoaking keeps the wine long , white , and good , and gives it a pleasant taste . There 's another way for French and Rhenish wines , viz. Firing it : 't is done in a stove , or else a good fire made round about the Vessel , which will gape wide , yet the wine runs not out ; 't will boyle , and afterwards may soon be rack'd . Secondly , For timely fining of wines . All Wines in the Must are more opacous and cloudy . Good wine soon fines , and the gross Lees settle quickly and also the flying Lee in time . When the grosser Lees are setled , they draw off the Wine , called Racking . The usual times for Racking , are Midsommer and Alhallontide . The practice of the Dutch and English to rid the wine of the flying Lees speedily , and serves most for French and Spanish wine , is thus performed : Take of Isinglass half a pound , stop it in half a pint of the hardest French wine that can be got , so that the wine may fully cover it . Let them then stand 24 hours , then pull and beat the Isinglass to pieces , and add more wine , and 4 times a day squeez it to a gelly , and as it thickens add more wine . When 't is fully and perfectly gellyed , Take a Pint or Quart to a Hogshead and so proportionably : then overdraw 3 or 4 Gallons of that wine you intend to fine , which mix well with the said quantity of gelly , then put this mixture to the piece of wine and beat it with a staffe , and fill it top-full . Note that French-wines must be bunged up very close , but not the Spanish ; and that Isinglass raiseth the Lees to the top of strong wines , but in weaker precipitateth it to the bottom . They mend the Colour of sound Clarets by adding thereto Red-wine , Tent or Alicant , or by an infusion of Turnsole made in 2 or 3 Gallons of wine , and then putting it into the Vessel , to be then ( being well stopt ) rowled for a quarter of an hour . This infusion is sometimes twice or thrice repeated according as more Colour is to be added to the wine ; some 3 hours infusion of the Turnsole is sufficient , but then it must be rubbed and wringed . What Turnsole is , see the Notes on the Art of Glass . Claret over-red , is amended with the Addition of White-wines . White wines coming over sound but brown , thus remedied : Take of Alablaster-powder , over-draw the Hogshead 3 or 4 Gallons , then put this powder into the Bung , and stir and beat it with a staff , and fill it top-full . The more the wine is stirred , the finer it will come upon the Lee , that is , the finer it will be . To colour Sack white ; Take of white Starch 2 pounds , of Milk 2 Gallons , boyle them together 2 hours , when cold beat them well with a handfull of white Salt , and then put them into a clean and sweet Butt , beating them with a staff , and the wine will be pure and white . One pound of the aforementioned gelly of Isinglass takes away the browness of French and Spanish wines , mix'd with 2 or 3 gallons of wine , accoriding as 't is brown and strong , more or less to be used . Then overdraw the peice of wine about 8 gallons , and use the Rod , and then fill the Vessel full , and in a day or two 't will fine and be white , and mend if qualley . The first Buds of Ribes nigra infused in wines , especially Rhenish , makes it diuretick and more fragrant in Smell and Taste , and so doth Clary . The inconvenience is , that the Wine becomes more heady : a Remedy whereof is Elder-flowers added to the Clary ; which also betters the fragrancy thereof , as 't is manifest in Elder-vinegar . But these flowers are apt to make the wine Ropy . To help brown Malago's and Spanish wines ; Take powder of Orras-roots and Salt-peter of each 4 ounces , the whites of 8 eggs , whereto add as much Salt as will make a brine , put this mixture into the Wine , and mix them with a Staff. To meliorate Muddy and Tauny Clarets ; Take of Rain-water 2 pints , the Yelks of 8 Eggs , Salt an handfull , beat them well , let them stand 6 hours before you put them into the Cask , then use the Rod , and in 3 dayes it will come to it self . To amend the Taste and Smell of Malago . Take of the best Almonds 4 pounds , make therewith , and with sufficient quantity of the wine to be cured , an Emulsion ; then take the whites and yelks of 12 Eggs , beat them together with Salt an handfull , put them into the Pipe , using the Rod. To amend the smell and taste of French and Rhenish which are foul . Take , to an Auln of the Wine , of honey one pound , of Elder-flowers a handfull , Orras powder an ounce , one Nutmeg , a few Cloves , boyle them in sufficient quantity of the wine to be cured , to the consumption of half , when 't is cold , strain and use it with the Rod : some add a little Salt. If the wine be sweet enough , add of spirits of Wine one pound to a hoggshead , and give the Cask a strong scent . Spirit of Wine makes any wine brisk , and fines it without the former mixture . A lee of the Ashes of Vine-branches , viz. a quart to a Pipe , being beaten into the wine , cures the ropiness of it ; and so infallibly doth a Lee of Oaken Ashes . For Spanish ropy wine , rack it from its Lees into a new scented Cask , then take of Alum one pound , Orras roots powdered half a pound , beat them well into the wine with a staff . Some add fine and well-dryed sand , put warm to the wine . If the wine besides prove brown , add 3 pottles of Milk to a Pipe. Alias , the Spaen cures ropy wine , used before it begins to fret . Herrings Roes preserve any Stum wines . To order Rhenish wines when fretting . Commonly in Iune that Wines begin to ferment and grow sick , then have a special care not to disturb it , either by removing , filling the Vessel , or giving it Vent , only open the Bung , which cover with a slate , and as often as the slate is foul , cleanse it and the bung from their filth , and when the fermentation is past , which you shall know by applying your Ear to the Vessel , then give it rest 10 or 12 dayes that the grosser Lees may settle , then rack it into a fresh scented Cask . This mixture meliorates vitious wines both in smell and taste ; especially French. Take of the best honey one part , of Rain-water two parts and one third of sound old wine of the same kind ; boyle them on a gentle fire to a third part , scumming them often with a clean Scummer ( to which purpose they have a payle of fair water standing by to rince it in ) then put this mixture hot into a Vessel of fit capacity , and let it stand unbunged till cool . Some , to better this , put in a bag of Spices . This mixture , called by the Dutch Soet , will serve also to fine any Wine new or old . 2. 'T will mend the hard taste of wine ( i. e. ) putting a gallon thereof to a hogshead , and using the Rod , and then let it rest 5 or 6 dayes at the least , but if mild enough , add white mustardseed bruised . To mend and preserve the Colour of Clarets . Take red Beet-roots q. s. scrape them clean and cut them into small pieces , then boyle them in q. s. of the same wine , to the consumption of a third part , scum it well , and when cool , decant off what 's clear , and use the Rod. Alias , Take of the wine and honey of each 2 pounds , Rain-water a pottle . 12. Beet-roots , ripe Mulberries 4 or 5 handfulls , boyle them to half , and when cool decant , &c. ut suprà . To preserve Claret rack'd from its Lees. Take to a Tierce 10 Eggs , make a small hole in the top of the shells , then put them into the wine , and all will be consumed . To prevent souring of French wines . Take Grains of Paradise q. s. beat them in a pan , and hang them or put them loose into a vessel . Some use Lavender tops . To help sour French wine . Take of the best wheat 4 ounces boyled in fair water till it break , and when cold put it into a Vat in a bag , and use the Rod. Alias , Take 5 or 6 Cinnamon canes , bung them up well . To help Spanish sour wines . First rack the wine into a clean Cask , and fill it up with two or three Gallons of water , and add thereto of burnt Chalk 4 ounces , and after 3 or 4 dayes it must be rackt and filled up again with rain water , if the first time doth not do it . Some use Loam or Plastering . If these Ingredients make the Wine bitter , correct the fault with Nutmegs and Cloves . To help stinking wines . Take Ginger half an ounce , Zedoary 2 drachms , powder and boyle them in a pottle of good wine , which put scalding hot into the Vat : bung it up and let it lye ; the species of Diambrae and Diamoscu Dulc do the same ; and so Nutmegs and Cloves which also give a kind of Raziness . To help Wine that hath an ill savour from the Lees. First , rack it into a clean Cask , and if Red or Claret , give him a fresh Lee of the same kind : Then take of Cloves , Ginger and Cinnamon 2 ounces , Orras-root 4 ounces ; powder them grosly , hang them in a bag , and taste the wine once in 3 dayes , and when 't is amended take out the bagg . Some do it thus , Take of Cloves half a pound , Mastick , Ginger , Cubebs , of each 2 ounces , Spica nardi 3 drachms , Orras root half a pound , make thereof a fine powder , which put loose into the Vat , and use the Rod , then make a good fire before it . Firing of Wines in Germany is thus performed : they have in some Vaults 3 or 4 Stoves , which they heat very hot ; others make fires almost before every Vat ; by this means the Must fermenteth with that Vehemency , that the wine appears between the staves ; when this Ebullition , fermentation and working ceaseth , let the Wine stand some dayes , and then rack it . This firing is only used in cold years , when the wine falls out green . Stum is nothing else but pure wine kept from fretting by often racking and matching it in clean Vessels and strongly scented ( i. e. ) new matched , by means whereof it becomes as clear or clearer than any other Wine , preserving it self from both its Lees by precipitation of them : But if through neglect it once fret , it becomes good Wine . The Bung of the Vessel must be continually stopt , and the Vessels strong left they break . A little Stum put to Wine decayed , makes it ferment afresh , and gives life and sweetness thereto , but offends the head and stomach , torments the guts , and is apt to cause loosnesses , and some say Barrenness in Women . To Fine Wine presently ▪ Fill a Cask with shavings or chips of Beech or Oak ( which are best ) this is to be done with much art , or else it seldome hits right , but lasteth long : put these chips into a Cask which is called by the Dutch een Spaen ( i. e. ) a Chip , into which they pour in as much Wine as the Cask will hold , and in 24 hours the wine will be fine . Or a quart of Vinegar in three dayes will fine a hogshead of Wine . To set old Wine a fretting being deadish and dull in taste . Take of Stum 2 Gallons , to a hogshead , put it hot upon the wine , then set a pan of fire before the hogshead , which will then ferment till all the sweetness of the Stum is communicated to the wine , which thereby becomes brisk and pleasant . Some use this Stumming at any time , some in August only , when the wine hath a Disposition to fret of it self , more or less Stum to be added , as the wine requires . The best time to rack wine is the decrease of the Moon , and when the wine is free from fretting ; the wind being at North-east or North-west , and not at South , the Sky serene , free from Thunder and Lightning . Another Match for French Clarets and Spanish wines . Take Orras-roots , Mastick and Brimstone , of each 4 ounces , Cloves 2 ounces ; ordering it ut suprà in Matching wines . This will serve for all wines , adding if you please Nutmegs , Ginger , Cinnamon and other Spices . Double the quantity of Orras root is to be used for Spanish wines . To help Malago's which will not fine . Take of crude Tartar powdered , sifted and dryed , 2 pounds , mix it with the whites of 6 Eggs : dry , powder and sift them again , then overdraw the Pipe as much as will serve to mix with this powder , and fill the Pipe therewith , beating it with a Staff as before , and this wine will be Fine in ten dayes . Another speedy way to fine French wines . Hang a piece of scent in the Cask , and when 't is burnt out , put in a pint of the best Spirit of Wine , and stir it about . Some add , a little salt well dryed . This fines the wine in 24 hours . To keep Must a Year . Take Must , put it into a Cask pitcht within and without , half full , stop the bung close with morter . Others few the Cask in Skins , and sink it for 30 dayes into a Well or River . Or else a Garland of Polium Montanum hung in the Vessel . Or rub the inside of the Vessel with Cheese : all these preserve Rhenish Must , As the Scholiast on Dodonaus in Dutch. Alum put into a hogs-bladder , keeps wine from turning flat , faint or brown and beaten with the whites of Eggs removes its ropiness . Flat Wines recovered with spirit of Wine , Raisins and Sugar or Melosses ; and Sacks , by drawing them on fresh Lees. Our Wine-Coopers of latter times use vast quantities of Sugar and Melosses to all sorts of Wines , to make them drink brisk and sparkling , and to give them Spirits , as also to mend their bad tastes , all which Raisins and Cute and Stum perform . Countrey Vintners feed their fretting Wines with raw Beef ; and here , their Canaries with Malago , which is added more or less to all Canaries . The Composition of Wines is manifold , the Vintners usually drawing out of 2 or 3 Casks , for one Pint , to accommodate it to the Palate of those that drink it . Most of the Canary is made with Malago and Zerez Sack. I shall conclude with two common compunded Wines , Muscaden and Hippocrass : the former usually made with 30 Gallons of Cute ( which is Wine boyled to the consumption of half ) to a Butt of Wine . Or the Lees and droppings boyl'd and clarified ; its Flavour is made of Coriander seeds prepared and shavings of Cyprus wood . Some instead of Cute , make it of Sugar , Melosses and Honey , or mix them with the Cute . This following is an Hypocrass of my own making , and the best I have tasted . Take of Cardamoms , Carpobalsamus of each half an ounce , Coriander seeds prepared , Nutmegs , Ginger , of each 2 ounces , Cloves 2 drachms ; bruise and infuse them 48 hours in Zerez and White wine , of each a Gallon , often stirring them ; then add thereto of Milk 3 pints , strain through an Hippocrass bag , and sweeten it with a pound of Sugar-candy . THE END . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A32715-e1440 Lib. de Passion . part . 3. art . 199.