Religio medici with Observations thereon / by Sir Kenelm Digby. To which is added, Hydriotaphia, or Urn-burial, a discourse on sepulchral urns; and also Christian morals ; by Sir Thomas Browne.

  • Browne, Thomas, Sir, 1605-1682.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Religio medici with Observations thereon / by Sir Kenelm Digby. To which is added, Hydriotaphia, or Urn-burial, a discourse on sepulchral urns; and also Christian morals ; by Sir Thomas Browne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    My winter’s o’er, my drooping spirits sing, And every part revives into a spring. But if thy quick’ning beams awhile decline, And with their light bless not this orb of mine, A chilly frost surpriseth every member, And in the midst of June I feel December. O how this earthly temper doth debase The noble soul, in this her humble place ! Whose wingv nature ever doth aspire To reach that place whence first it took its fire. These flames I feel, which in my heart do dwell, Are not thy beams, but take their fire from hell. O quench them all, and let thy light divine, Be as the sun to this poor orb of mine: And to thy sacred spirit convert those fires, Whose earthly fumes choke my devout aspires. Therefore for spirits, I am so far from denying their existence, that I could easily believe, that not only whole countries, but particular persons have their tutelary and guardian angels: it is not a new opinion of the church of Rome, but an old one of Pythagoras and Plato; there is no heresy in it, and if not manifestly defined in Scripture, yet is an opinion of a good and wholesome use in the course and actions of a man’s life, and would serve as an hypothesis to solve many doubts, whereof common philosophy affordeth no solution. Now, if you demand my opinion and metaphysics of their natures, I confess them very shallow, most of them in a negative way, like that of God ; or in a com- parative, between ourselves and fellow-creatures; for there is in this universe a stair, or manifest scale of creatures, rising not disorderly, or in con- fusion, but with a comely method and proportion. Between creatures of mere existence and things of