If therefore thou dost not understand, or beleeve the truth, doe not blame me, but thy self; and perswade thy selfe that God was unwilling to reveal this secret to thee: Be therefore earnest with him by prayer, and with serious meditation read over this book oftentimes, especially the Epilogue of these twelve Treatises: alwaies considering the possibility of Nature, and the actions of the Elements, and which of them is the chiefest in those actions, and especially in the rarefaction of water, or aire, for so the heavens are created, as also the whole world. This I was willing to signifie to thee, as a father to his son. Doe not wonder that I have wrote so many Treatises, for I did not make them for my own sake, seeing I lack not books, but that I might advertise many, that work in fruitlesse things, that they should not spend their costs in vain. All things indeed might have been comprehended in few lines, yea in few words: but I was willing to guide thee to the knowledge of Nature by Reasons, and Examples; that thou mightest in the first place know, what the thing is thou seekest after, whether the first, or second matter, also that thou mightest have Nature, her light, & shadow discovered to thee. Be not displeased if thou meetest sometimes with contradictions in my Treatises, it being the custome of Philosophers to use them; thou hast need of them, if thou understandest them, thou shall not find a rose without prickles. Weigh diligently what I have said before, _viz._ how four Elements distill into the Center of the earth a radicall moisture, and how the Centrall Sun of the earth, by its motion bringeth it forth, and sublimeth it to the superficies of the earth. I have said also that the Celestiall Sun hath a correspondency with the Centrall Sun: for the Celestiall Sun, and the Moon have a peculiar power, and vertue of distilling into the earth by vertue of their beams: for heat is easily joined to heat, and salt to salt. And as the Centrall Sun hath its sea, and crude water, that is perceptible; so the Celestiall Sun hath its sea, and subtill water that is not perceptible. In the superficies the beams of the one, are joined to the beams of the other, and produce flowers, and all things. Therefore when there is raine made, it receives from the aire that power of life, and joins it with the salt-nitre of the earth (because the salt-nitre of the earth is like calcined Tartar, drawing to it self by reason of its drynesse the aire, which in it is resolved into water: such attractive power hath the salt-nitre of the earth, which also was aire, and is joined to the fatnesse of the earth) and by how much the more abundantly the beams of the Sun beat upon it, the greater quantity of salt-nitre is made, and by consequence the greater plenty of Corn grows, and is increased, and this is done daily. Thus much I thought good to signifie to the ignorant of the correspondency, or agreement