Basil Valentine: Last Will & Testament (1671)

The Preface.

which now, O Lord, lies in your power. I beseech you, for the dear merits of Jesus Christ, come now when you please, enclose my heart, and receive my Soul into your heavenly throne of grace. Let her be recommended unto you graciously, O you faithful God, who have redeemed her on the holy Cross with the most precious tincture In alchemy, the 'tincture' refers to the Philosopher's Stone, which transmutes base metals into gold or heals the body. of the true blood of your holy body. Then is my life well ended on this earth; grant to the body a quiet rest, until at the last day, body and soul join again and are of a heavenly composition. For now, my only desire is to be dissolved and to be with my Lord Christ. Which you, Almighty, Holy, and Heavenly Trinity, grant to me and all good Christian believers. Amen.

That I may come to the work intended and make a beginning of the work in hand: if God is pleased to let this book come to your hands, before all things incessantly return hearty and unfeigned thanks for it. In the next place, I beseech Him to bestow on you also grace and blessing, and a healthful body, successfully to accomplish all the points set down here, which tend to the welfare and benefit of your neighbour, and to prepare them according to the manuals which, to that end, I set down and prescribe. You may happily and successfully begin the work, provided the middle and end are correspondent thereunto. Then, do not be flap-tongued Loose-lipped or prone to gossip., and resolve absolutely in your heart not to entrust these mysteries to any malicious, ungrateful, and false men; much less should you make them partakers thereof. For if Almighty God would bestow it on others, He could do it immediately and grant the same by other means and ways without you. Therefore, look to it; tempt not the Lord your God, for He will not be mocked. Be silent and reserved; be meditating on God’s punishment, which no