wise men haue obserued from the beginning, who by many meanes haue hidden the secrets of wisedome from the common people. For some haue vsed Characters and verses, and diuerse others riddles and figuratiue speeches, as _Aristotle_ witnesseth in his book of Secrets, where hee thus speaketh. O _Alexander_, I will shew thee the greatest secret in the world, God grant thou maiest keepe it close, and bring to passe the intention of the Art of that stone which is no stone, and is in euery man, & in euery place, and at all seasons, and is called the end of all Philosophers. And an infinite number of thinges are founde in many bookes and sciences obscured with such darke speeches, so that no man can vnderstand them without a teacher. Thirdly, some haue hidden their secretes by their maners of writing, as namely by consonants only: so that no man can reade them, without he knowe the signification of the words: and this is vsual among the Iewes, Chaldeans, Syrians, and Arabians, yea, and the Grecians too: and therefore there is a great concealing with them, but especially with the Iewes: for _Aristotle_ sayth in the aboue named booke, that God gaue them all maner of wisedome, before there were any Philosophers, and all nations borrowed the principles of Philosophy of them. And thus much we are plainly taught by _Albumasar_ in his booke named the larger Introductory, and other Philosophers, and by _Iosephus_ in his eight booke of Antiquities. Fourthly, things are obscured by the admixtion of letters of diuerse kinds, & thus hath _Ethicus_ the Astronomer cõcealed his wisdome, writing the same with Hebrew, Greeke & Latin letters, all in a row. Fiftly, they hide their secrets, writing them in other letters then are vsed in their owne country, to wit, when they take letters that are in vse in forreine nations, and feigne them according to their own pleasures. This is a very great impediment, vsed by _Artephius_ in his booke of the Secrets of Nature. Sixtly, they make certain formes, not of letters, but such as are vsed by diuiners and enchanters, which according to the diuersitie of pricke and notes, haue the power of letters: and these likewise hath _Artephius_ vsed in his science.