Dedicatory Letter, 1592-09-01, by Hieronymus Reusner
| Author: | Hieronymus Reusner |
| Type: | Dedicatory Letter |
| Date: | 1 September 1592 |
| Place: | Basel |
| Pages: | 10 |
| Language: | Latin |
| Quote as: | https://www.theatrum-paracelsicum.com/index.php?curid=5895 |
| Editor: | Edited by Julian Paulus |
| Source: | Jodocus Willich, Vrinarum probationes, ed. Hieronymus Reusner, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri 1582, sig. α2r-α6v [BP.Reusner.1582-01]
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| Translation: | Raw translation see below |
| Abstract: | Reusner begins by referencing Aristotle, highlighting the philosopher's insights into human nature and governance. He draws parallels between Aristotle's observations on Spartan society and the tendencies of contemporary philosophers, noting how easy acceptance and leniency can lead to arrogance and complacency. Reusner criticizes the state of academic and intellectual discourse, lamenting that many scholars have become content with superficial understanding and have ceased to pursue deeper truths. He argues that this intellectual stagnation has led to a neglect of rigorous analysis and the blind acceptance of established ideas without further exploration or challenge. The dedication also delves into the realm of medicine, specifically addressing the controversial use of substances like antimony and vitriol. Reusner argues against their misuse and advocates for a more enlightened and careful approach to medical practice, drawing upon the work of Paracelsus and Galen. He emphasizes the importance of separating truth from falsehood in medical science, advocating for a more thoughtful and refined methodology. Reusner expresses concern about his own position in the intellectual community, fearing that his unconventional ideas might lead to his ostracization. He draws upon personal experience and the broader context of philosophical and medical debate to underscore the challenges faced by those who question established norms. Finally, Reusner dedicates his work to the Council and Senate, seeking their protection and support. He acknowledges his indebtedness to them, both personally (through his father Christoph Reusner) and professionally, and expresses his hope that his work will contribute to the greater good. (generated by Chat-GPT) |
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[sig. α2r] Amplissimis et prvdentissimis viris, Consvli, Cæterisq́ue Reipub[licae] Leobergensis Elysiorvm Senatoribus: Dominis ac Patronis suis, perpetua obseruantia colendißimis. S[alutem] P[lurimam] D[icit].
Aristoteles, nunquam satis laudatus Philosophorum Caryphæus, 2. Politicor[um] cap[ite] 7. de Lacedæmoniorum repub[licae] sic scribit: si in conuersatione remissè erga illos te geras: superbiunt illi, ac se pares dominantibus existimant: sin asperè tractentur: insidiantur, atque odio habent. Hoc in quosdam nostræ memoriæ philosophos, optimè torqueri posse, dies hæc testatur. Fœcundæ enim multorum hypo- [sig. α2v] theses, tanto cum applausu, in Machaonias prouincias, hactenus irrepserunt: ut nemo non ante uictoriam, & extra aciem, laurum sibi pollicitus fuerit. Quæ res, socordiæ ansam præbuit non mediocrem. Discipuli in istis Compendijs, & edictis Prætorijs, tanquam in asylo requieuerunt: nullus præceptorum obseruationibus, ac methodo instructus, nouas adiecit consultationes: nullus ueritatem priorum confirmauit: nullus obscuritatem illustrauit: nullus angustiam copiosa supellectile dilatauit. Inter hos nomen quicunque profitetur suum: illum laudibus ad cœlum usque cœlorum efferunt: utpote, qui Authenticis insistat maiorum uestijs: nec præceptoribus mendacij, erroris maculam inurere tentet. Quod à pietate iuxta ipsos, [sig. α3r] & gratitudine abhorret longè. Qui uerò res, ab imo naturæ sinu, non minùs animo, quàm corporeis oculis liberè intuetur: imitationeq́ue illius tanquam Thesei filo ductus, Labyrinthum naturæ ingreditur: nec non pedem ponit in illa arena, qua impressa præclarorum Philosophorum uestigia conspicit: hunc momentò Diris deuoruent. Talem enim Oestro horrendo percitum, principia euertere, uociferantur: & contra negantem principia non esse disputandum, sciunt.
Exempla in promptu sunt. Veritas enim ubiuis terrarum odium parit. Et ut mel exulcerata mordicat, secundùm autem naturam affectis, suaue est: ita quoque Philosophicae orationes: inquit rectè Aristonymus. Quis hactenùs non extrema quæq́ue mina- [sig. α3v] tus est Ramo artifici certè summo: qui cùm abstrusos Commentatorum thesauros, lapide Lydio probaret, plus ibi terræ lutos, quàm auri generosi inuenit? Quas fallacias cum incautæ iuuentuti quotidiè obtrudi uideret Ramvs: pio zelo motus, aurum uerum à fœcibus terræ, tanta dexteritate, igne Promethei, separauit: ut iam mellitissimam ueritatis γλυκυπίκρου ambrosiam, cyathis ex auro Obryzo paratis, quilibet haurire possit: qui modò animaduertere cupit: quantùm distent æra lupinis. Eandem fortunam experiuntur hoc sæculo, non dico Rami, sed ipsius ueritatis asseclæ. In omnibus enim scholis hi adeò suspecti sunt: ut Aristotelici professores, (quod utinam nomen tuerentur,) omnem lapidem moueant: quò illi in exilium, [sig. α4r] ad extremos usque Garamanthas, mittantur.
Idem de ijs, qui Theophrasti illius Paracelsi doctrinam methodo Galenica moderantur, dicere possum: quos non solúm uulgus, uerùmetiam ex sapientioribus Medicis plurimi, cane peiùs & angue fugiuntm atque execrantur. Quod malum solis circumforaneis & agyrtis, acceptum refero: qui famoso Antimonij uitro, temeraria Mercurij Præcipitatione, intempestiua Turbith mineralis præparatione, & erodente Vitrioli oleo, multos è medio sustulerunt. Absit uitrum Antimonij: quod fusionem duntaxat uitrificatoriam admisit: neque meram ac ueram puri ab impuro separationem sortitum est. Fusiones spirituales, & Sulphur Antimonij, [sig. α4v] Philosophi requirunt: quod uarios morbos, unius atque alterius horæ spacio, absque ulla corporis humani noxa, extirpat.
Absit oleum Vitrioli: quod ignea sua acrimonia, uel uestes corrodere potest. Spiritum Vitrioli desiderant Medici: qui omnis sensibilis corrosionis, & tardæ austeritatis est expers: quid odoris Violæ suauitatem, aliquot in igne destillationibus & circultationibus acquisiuit: qui ad illam dulcis aciditatis gratiam reductus est, ut ab omnib[us] tutò & iocundè sumi possit.
Ad eundem scopulum, Viri Amplissimi, & me, fluctibus hisce Orionijs, impingere posse, uereor: qui posthabitis communibus, tritisqúe Medicorum opinionibus, quæ genio meo non satisfaciunt, principia Vroscopiæ ad Philoso- [sig. α5r] phiæ principia, paulò accuratiùs, quàm hactenùs factum sit, reuoco. Qua in re plurimùm mihi profuit liber D[octoris] Iodoci Vvilichii Reselliani, Philosophi & Medici ubiuis locorum notissimi: de vrinarvm ivdiciis, sive probationibvs, parte medicinæ, quæ de signis agit, facilè præcipua.
Etsi autem hoc meum institum non omnibus Galenicis adridebit: propter communem tamen utilitatem, & assiduas quorundam amicorum flagitationes, passus sum, à me librum hunc aureum cum Scholis meis philosophicis extorqueri: qui si illorum duntaxat expectatio ni satisfecerit, Crœso me ditiorem ducam. Rectè enim & uerè hæc in tumulo Viri summi, D[octoris] Adami [sig. α5v] à Bodenstein hîc in Cæmiterio Diui Petri leguntur:
nec omnia, nec omnes mihi placvere: qvínam ego omnibvs? non omnibvs Covs senex: non Eeremita Spagirvs. nvm tv Viator omnibvs? deo placere cvra. abei.
Quem finem, ut eò citiùs adsequerer: duxi V[estrae] A[ltitudines] Viri Prudentissimi & Patroni colendissimi, has meas primitias consecrare: partim, ut fœtum hunc tenellum in V[estrum] A[ltitudinum] tutelam contra epidemicas aëris huius sæculi iniurias, benignè susciperetis: partim uerò, ut uerecundi animi uenerationem, aliquo saltem argumento declararem: ac A[ltitudinum] V[estrum] fauorem ac officia, quorum in me meosq́ue extant quàm plurima, grata uoluntatis significatione celebrarem. Quantùm V[estris] [sig. α6r] A[ltitudinibus] parens meus, piæ memoriæ, M[agister] Christophorvs Revsnervs, Syndicus olim Reipublicæ debeat: me non fugit. Cùm uerò in memoriam reuoco: quàm arcto pietatis uinculo V[estris] A[ltitudinibus] ego obstrictus sim: admodum doleo, res meas eò redactas: ut nullo satis digno officio, animum gratum V[estris] A[ltitudinibus] hactenus testatum facere potuerim. Sed sat citò, si sat benè: & sat benè, si sat citò.
Accipite igitur, Domini obseruandissimi: accipite placido uultu impolita hæc lucubrationum mearum rudimenta, perpetuum meæ gratitudinis testimonium. Plura enim offerre iam nequeo. Me præterea, meosq́ue V[estris] A[ltitudinibus] etiam atque etiam commendo: & planè mihi persuadeo: non tam ipsum munus, quod sanè per exiguum est, quàm offeren- [sig. α6v] tis animum, ab A[ltitudinibus] V[estris] pensitatum iri. Deus Opt[imvs] Max[imvs] V[estras] A[ltitudines] quàm diutissimè, superstitem ac florentem, patriæ suauissimæ, ac mihi, meisq́ue conseruet: & consilia suppeditet: ut sopitis omnibus discordijs atque digladiationibus, tàm in Ecclesia, quàm Politia, optata tranquillitas & pax floreat. Idem Musæ nostræ Basileenses, crebris suspirijs iamdudum exoptant. Basileæ Rauricorum, Calend[is] Septembris. Anno Christianæ æræ. CIↃ. IↃ. XXCII.
V[estrum] A[ltitudinum] Addictiss[imus] Hieron[ymvs] Revsnervs D[octor].
English Raw Translation
Generated by ChatGPT-4 on 24 January 2024. Attention: This translation is a machine translation by artificial intelligence. The translation has not been checked and should not be cited without additional human verification.
To the most distinguished and wisest men, the Council, and the other Senators of the Republic of Löwenberg, of the Elysians [i.e. Silesians], to their lords and patrons, most worthy of perpetual respect. Sends many greetings.
Aristotle, the never sufficiently praised leader of philosophers, writes in the second book of his 'Politics', chapter 7, about the Spartan republic: 'If you behave too leniently in their company, they will become arrogant and consider themselves equal to their rulers; but if treated harshly, they will plot against you and bear hatred.' This can be very well applied to certain philosophers of our memory, as this day proves. For the fertile hypotheses of many have crept into the Machaonian provinces with so much applause, that everyone promised themselves a laurel before victory, and outside the battle. This gave rise to no small degree of negligence. Students in these Summaries and Praetorian edicts have rested as in an asylum: no one, instructed in the observations and method of the teachers, has added new consultations: no one has confirmed the truth of the former: no one has illustrated obscurity: no one has expanded narrowness with abundant supply. Among these, whoever professes their own name, they exalt to the heavens with praises: as one who stands on the authentic footsteps of the ancestors, and does not attempt to brand the teachers with the stain of lies and error. Which, according to them, is far from piety and gratitude. But he who, with no less spirit than bodily eyes, freely looks at things from the very bosom of nature, and following its imitation as if guided by the thread of Theseus, enters the labyrinth of nature, and also steps on that sand, where he sees the footprints of eminent philosophers: him they immediately devour with curses. For they shout that such a person, driven by a terrible frenzy, overturns principles, and they know: 'Against one denying principles, there is no dispute.'
Examples are at hand. For truth everywhere breeds hatred. And as honey irritates ulcers, according to its nature, it is sweet to those affected: so are philosophical speeches: says rightly Aristonymus. Who has not so far threatened the utmost to Ramus, a certainly great artist: who, when he tested the hidden treasures of the Commentators with the Lydian stone, found there more muddy earth than noble gold? When Ramus saw these fallacies being thrust upon the unwary youth every day, moved by pious zeal, he separated the true gold from the dregs of the earth with such dexterity, with the fire of Prometheus, that now the most sweet ambrosia of truth, γλυκυπίκρου, can be drawn by anyone from cups made of Orichalcum gold: who just wishes to notice: how much copper differs from lupines. The same fortune is experienced in this century, not I say by the followers of Ramus, but by the followers of truth itself. For in all schools they are so suspect: that Aristotelian professors, (which name I wish they would protect,) move every stone: so that they may be sent into exile, to the farthest Garamantes.
I can say the same about those who moderate the doctrine of that Theophrastus Paracelsus with the Galenic method: whom not only the common people, but also many of the wiser doctors, flee and abhor worse than a dog and a snake. I attribute this evil to the itinerant quacks and charlatans, who have removed many from the midst with the infamous glass of Antimony, the reckless Precipitation of Mercury, the untimely preparation of Turbith mineral, and the eroding oil of Vitriol. Let the glass of Antimony be absent: which only admitted vitrification fusion: and did not achieve a true and pure separation from the impure. Philosophers require spiritual fusions, and the Sulphur of Antimony, which eradicates various diseases within the space of one or two hours, without any harm to the human body.
Let the oil of Vitriol be absent: which with its fiery acrimony, can even corrode clothes. Doctors desire the spirit of Vitriol: which is free of all sensible corrosion, and slow austerity: which has acquired the sweetness of the smell of Violets, by several distillations and circulations in fire: which has been reduced to that sweetness of mild acidity, so that it can be safely and pleasantly taken by all.
To the same rock, Most Distinguished Men, I fear that I, too, may crash against these Orion waves: who, putting aside the common and worn-out opinions of doctors, which do not satisfy my genius, I recall the principles of Uroscopy to the principles of Philosophy, a little more accurately than has hitherto been done. In this matter, the book of Doctor Jodocus Willich of Reszel, a philosopher and doctor well-known everywhere, about the judgments of urine, or tests, easily the most important part of medicine that deals with signs, has been of great use to me.
Although this my endeavor will not please all Galenists: for the sake of common utility, and at the insistence of certain friends, I have allowed this golden book to be wrested from me along with my philosophical schools: which if it only meets their expectation, I will consider myself richer than Croesus. For rightly and truly, these words are read on the tomb of that great man, Doctor Adam von Bodenstein, here in the Cemetery of Saint Peter:
'Not everything, not everyone pleased me:
Who am I that everyone should please?
Not everyone a Cousen old man:
Not Eremita a Spagyrist.
Are you, Traveler, pleasing to everyone?
Care to please God. Go away.'
In order to achieve this end more quickly: I have decided, Most Wise Men and Most Honorable Patrons, to dedicate these my first fruits to Your Highnesses: partly, so that you would kindly accept this tender offspring under Your Highnesses' protection against the epidemic injuries of this century's air: partly, however, to declare the reverence of a modest mind, by some argument at least: and to celebrate Your Highnesses' favor and services, of which there are very many towards me and mine, with a grateful sign of will. How much my father, of pious memory, Master Christoph Reusner, once Syndic of the Republic, owes to Your Highnesses, I am not unaware. But when I recall how tightly I am bound to Your Highnesses by the bond of piety: I am very sorry that my affairs have been brought to such a point: that I have not been able to make known a grateful mind to Your Highnesses with any sufficiently worthy service so far. But soon enough, if well enough: and well enough, if soon enough.
Therefore, accept, Most Honorable Lords: accept with a placid face these unpolished beginnings of my studies, a perpetual testimony of my gratitude. For I can now offer no more. Moreover, I commend myself and mine to Your Highnesses again and again: and I fully persuade myself: not so much the gift itself, which is certainly very small, but the mind of the giver, will be weighed by Your Highnesses. May God the Best and Greatest preserve Your Highnesses for as long as possible, surviving and flourishing, to your sweetest country, and to me and mine: and provide counsel: so that with all discords and battles put to rest, both in the Church and in the State, desired tranquility and peace may flourish. The same our Basel Muses have long since desired with frequent sighs. In Basel, on the Kalends of September. In the Christian era. 1582.
Your Highnesses' Most Devoted Jerome Reusner, Doctor.
