appetere vt non metuas sunt animi pusilli diffidentis And it seemeth to me that most of the doctrines of the Philosophers are more fearefull and cautionary then the Nature of things requireth So haue they encreased the feare of death in offering to cure it For when they would haue a mans whole life to be but a discipline or preparation to dye they must needes make men thinke that it is a terrible Enemy against whom there is no end of preparing Better saith the Poet Qui sinem vitae extremum inter Munera ponat Naturae So haue they sought to make mens minds to vniforme and harmonicall by not breaking them sufficiently to cōtrary Motions the reason whereof I suppose to be because they themselues were men dedicated to a pri uate free and vnapplied course of life For as we see vpon the lute or like Instrument a Ground though it be sweet and haue shew of many changes yet breaketh not the hand to such strange and hard stoppes and passages as a Set song or Voluntary much after the same Manner was the diuersity betweene a Philosophicall and a ciuile life And therefore men are to Imitate the wisedome of Iewellers who if there be a graine or a cloude or an I se which may be ground forth without taking to much of the stone they help it but if it should lessen and abate the stone to much they will not meddle with it So ought men so to procure Serenity as they destroy not magnanimity Hauing therefore deduced the Good of Man which is priuate particular as far as seemeth fit wee will now returne to that Good of man which respecteth and be beholdeth Society which we may terme Duty bicause the term of duty is more propper to a minde well framed disposed towards others as the terme of vertue is applyed to a mind well formed cōposed in it selfe though neither can a man vnderstand vertue without some relation to Society nor duety without an inwarde disposition This part may seem at first to pertaine to Science Ciuile and Politicke but not if it be wel obserued For it concerneth the Rcgimēt gouernment of euery man over himself not ouer others And as in architectur the directiō of framing the postes beames other parts of building is not the same with the maner of ioyning them and erecting the building And in mechanicalls the direction how to frame an Instrument or Engyne is not the same with the manner of setting it on woorke and imploying it and yet neuerthelesse in expressing of the one you incidently expresse the Aptnesse towardes the other So the doctrine of Coniugation of men in Socyety differereth from that of their conformity therevnto This part of Duty is sudiuided into two parts the common duty of euery man as a Man or member of a State The other the respectiue or speciall duty of euery man in his prosession vocation and place The first of these is extāt wel laboured as hathbeen said The secōd like wise I may report rather dispersed thē dcficiēt which maner of dispersed writing in this kind of Argumēt I acknowledge to be best For who cā take vpō him to write of the proper duty vertue cha and right of euery seuerall vocation profession and place For although sometimes a Looker on may see more then a gamester and there be a Prouerb more arrogant theu sound That the vale best discouereth the hill yet there is small doubt but that men can write best and most really materialy in their owne professions that the writing of speculatiue men of Actiue Matter for the most part doth seeme to men of Experience as Phormioes Argument of the warrs seemed to Hannibal to be but dreames and dotage Onely there is one vice which accompanieth them that write in their own professions that they magnify thē in excesse But generally it were to be wished as that which wold make learning indeed solide fruit ful that Actiue men woold or could become writers In which kind I cannot but mencion Honoris causa your Maiesties exellent book touching the duty of a king a woorke ritchlye compounded of Diuinity Morality and Policy with great aspersion of all other artes being in myne opinion one of the moste sound healthful writings that I haue read not distempered in the heat of inuention nor in the Couldnes of negligence not sick of Dusinesse as those are who leese themselues in their order nor of Convulsions as those which Crampe in matters impertinent not sauoring of perfumes paintings as those doe who seek to please the Reader more then Nature beareth and chiefelye wel disposed in the spirits thereof beeing agreeable to truth and apt for action and farre remooued from that Naturall insirmity whereunto I noted those that write in their own professions to be subiect which is that they exalt it aboue measure For your Maiesty hath truly described not a king of Assyria or Persia in their extern glory but a Moses or a Dauid Pastors of their people Neither can I euer leese out of my remembraunce what I heard your Maiesty in the same sacred spirite of Gouernment deliuer in a great cause of Iudicature which was That Kings ruled by theyr lawes as God did by the lawes of Nature and ought as rarely to put in vse theyr supreme Prerogatiue as God doth his power of working Miracles And yet notwithstandiug in your book of a free Monarchy you do well giue men to vnderstand that you know the plenitude of the power and right of a King as well as the Circle of his office and duty Thus haue I presumed to alledge this excellent writing of your Maiesty as a prime or eminent example of Tractates concerning speciall respectiue dutyes wherin I should haue said as much if it had beene written a thousand yeares since Neither am I mooued with cer tain Courtly decencyes which esteeme it flattery to prayse in presence No it is flattery to prayse in absence that is when eyther the vertue is absent or the occasion is absent and so the prayse is not Naturall but forced either in truth or in time But let Cicerobe read in his Oration pro Marcello which is nothing but an excellent Table of Caesars vertue and made to his face besides the example of many other excellent per sons wiser a great deale then such obseruers and we will neuer doubt vpon a full occasion to giue iust prayses to present or absent But to return there belongeth further to the handling of this partie touching the duties of professions and vocations a Relatiue or opposite touching the fraudes cautels impostures vices of euery profession which hath been likewise handled But howe rather in a Satyre Cinicaly then seriously wisely for men haue rather sought by wit to deride and traduce much of that which is good in professions then with Iudgement to discouer and seuer that which is corrupt For
vpon and not to be lightly passed ouer for if any man shall thinke by view and enquiry into these sensible and material things to attaine that light whereby he may reueale vnto himselfe the nature or will of God then indeed is he spoyled by vaine Philosophie for the contemplation of Gods Creatures and works produceth hauing regard to the works and creatures themselues knowledge but hauing regard to God no perfect knowledg but wonder which is brokē knowledge And therefore it was most aptly sayd by one of Platoes Schoole That the sence of man caryeth a resemblance with the Sunne which as we see openeth and reuealeth all the terrestriall Globe but then againe it obscureth and concealeth the stars celestiall Globe So doth the Sence discouer naturall thinges but it darkeneth and shutteth vp Diuine And hence it is true that it hath proceeded that diuers great learned men haue beene hereticall whilest they haue sought to flye vp to the secrets of the Deitie by the waxen winges of the Sences And as for the conceite that too much knowledge should encline a man to Atheisme and that the ignorance of second causes should make a more deuoute dependance vppon God which is the first cause First it is good to aske the question which Iob asked of his friends Will you lye for God as one man will doe for another to gratifie him for certaine it is that God worketh nothing in Nature but by second causes and if they would haue it otherwise beleeued it is meere imposture as it were in fauour towardes God and nothing else but to offer to the Author of truth the vncleane sacrifice of a lye But further it is an assured truth and a conclusion of experience that a little or superficiall knowledge of Philosophie may encline the minde of Man to Atheisme but a further proceeding therein doth bring the mind backe againe to Religion for in the entrance of Philosophie when the second Causes which are next vnto the sences do offer themselues to the minde of Man if it dwell and stay there it may induce some obliuion of the highest cause but when a man passeth on further and seeth the dependance of causes and the workes of prouidence then according to the allegorie of the Poets he will easily beleeue that the highest Linke of Natures chaine must needes be tyed to the foote of Iupiters chaire To conclude therefore let no man vppon a weake conceite of sobrietie or an ill applyed moderation thinke or maintaine that a man can search too farre or bee too well studied in the Booke of Gods word or in the Booke of Gods workes Diuinitie or Philosophie but rather let men endeauour an endlesse progresse or proficience in both only let men beware that they apply both to Charitie and not to swelling to vse and not to ostentation and againe that they doe not vnwisely mingle or confound these learnings together And as for the disgraces which learning receiueth from Politiques they bee of this nature that learning doth soften mens mindes and makes them more vnapt for the honour and exercise of Armes that it doth marre and peruert mens dispositions for matter of gouernement and policie in making them too curious and irresolute by varietie of reading or too peremptorie or positiue by stricktnesse of rules and axiomes or too immoderate and ouerweening by reason of the greatnesse of examples or too incompatible and differing from the times by reason of the dissimilitude of examples or at least that it doth diuert mens trauailes from action and businesse and bringeth them to a loue of leasure and priuatenesse and that it doth bring into States a relaxation of discipline whilst euerie man is more readie to argue than to obey and execute Out of this conceit Cato surnamed the Censor one of the wisest men indeed that euer liued when Carneades the Philosopher came in Embassage to Rome and that the young men of Rome began to flocke about him being allured with the sweetnesse and Maiestie of his eloquence and learning gaue counsell in open Senate that they should giue him his dispatch with all speede least hee should infect and inchaunt the mindes and affections of the youth and at vnawares bring in an alteration of the manners and Customes of the State Out of the same conceite or humor did Virgill turning his penne to the aduantage of his Countrey and the disaduantage of his owne profession make a kind of separation betweene policie and gouernement and betweene Arts and Sciences in the verses so much renowned attributing and challenging the one to the Romanes and leauing yeelding the other to the Grecians Turegere imperio populos Romane mem◅to Hae tibi erūt artes c. so likewise we see that Anytus the accuser of Socrates layd it as an Article of charge accusation against him that he did with the varietie and power of his discourses and disputations withdraw young men from due reuerence to the Lawes and Customes of their Countrey and that he did professe a dangerous and pernitious Science which was to make the worse matter seeme the better and to suppresse truth by force of eloquence and speech But these and the like imputations haue rather a countenance of grauitie than any ground of Iustice for experience doth warrant that both in persons and in times there hath beene a meeting and concurrence in learning and Armes flourishing and excelling in the same men and the same ages For as for men there cannot be a better nor the like instance as of that payre Alexander the Great and Iulius Caesar the Dictator whereof the one was Aristotles Scholler in Philosophie and the other was Ciceroes Riuall in eloquence or if any man had rather call for Schollers that were great Generals then Generals that were great Schollers let him take Epaminondas the Thebane or Xenophon the Athenian whereof the one was the first that abated the power of Sparta and the other was the first that made way to the ouerthrow of the Monarchie of Persia And this concurrence is yet more visible in times than in persons by how much an age is greater obiect than a Man For both in Aegypt Assyria Persia Grecia and Rome the same times that are most renowned for Armes are likewise most admired for learning so that the greatest Authors and Philosophers and the greatest Captaines and Gouernours haue liued in the same ages neither can it otherwise be for as in Man the ripenesse of strength of the bodie and minde commeth much about an age saue that the strength of the bodie commeth somewhat the more early So in States Armes and Learning whereof the one correspondeth to the bodie the other to the soule of Man haue a concurrence or nere sequence in times And for matter of policie and gouernement that Learning should rather hurt than inable thereunto is a thing verie improbable we see it is accounted an errour to commit a naturall bodie to Emperique Phisitions which commonly haue a
fewe pleasing receits whereupon they are confident and aduenturous but know neither the causes of diseases nor the complexions of Patients nor perill of accidents nor the true methode of Cures We see it is a like error to rely vpon Aduocates or Lawyers which are onely men of practise and not grounded in their Bookes who are many times easily surprised when matter falleth out besides their experience to the preiudice of the causes they handle so by like reason it cannot be but a matter of doubtfull consequence if States bee managed by Emperique Statesmen not well mingled with men grounded in Learning But contrary wise it is almost without instance contradictorie that euer any gouernement was disastrous that was in the hands of learned Gouernors For howsoeuer it hath beene ordinarie with politique men to extenuate and disable learned men by the names of Pedantes yet in the Records of time it appeareth in many particulers that the Gouernements of Princes in minority notwithstanding the infinite disaduantage of that kinde of State haue neuerthelesse excelled the gouernement of Princes of mature age euen for that reason which they seek to traduce which is that by that occasion the state hath been in the hands of Pedantes for so was the State of Rome for the first fiue yeeres which are so much magnified during the minoritie of Nero in the handes of Seneca a Pedanti So it was againe for ten yeres space or more during the minoritie of Gordianus the younger with great applause and contentation in the hands of Misiâ—…heus a Pedanti so was it before that in the minoritie of Alexander Seuerus in like happinesse in hands not much vnlike by reason of the rule of the women who were ayded by the Teachers and Preceptors Nay let a man looke into the gouernement of the Bishops of Rome as by name into the gouernement of Pius Quintus and Sexâ—… Quintus in out times who were both at their entrance esteemed but as Pedanticall Friers and he shall find that such Popes doe greater thinges and proceed vpon truer principles of Estate than those which haue ascended to the Papacie from an education breeding in affaires of Estate and Courts of Princes for although men bred in Learning are perhaps to seeke in points of conuenience and accommodating for the present which the Italians call Ragioni di 〈◊〉 whereof the same Pius Quintus could not heare spoken with patience tearming them Inuentions against Religion and the morall vertues yet on the other side to recompence that they are perfite in those same plaine grounds of Religion Iustice Honour and Morall vertue which if they be well and watchfully pursued there will bee seldome vse of those other no more than of Phisicke in a sound or well dieted bodie neither can the experience of one mans life furnish examples and presidents for the euents of one mans life For as it happeneth sometimes that the Graund child or other descendent resembleth the Ancestor more than the Sonne so many times occurrences of present times may sort better with ancient examples than with those of the later or immediate times and lastly the wit of one man can no more counteruaile learning than one mans meanes can hold way with a common purse And as for those particular seducements or indispositions of the minde for policie and gouernement which learning is pretended to insinuate if it be graunted that any such thing be it must be remembred withall that learning ministreth in euery of them greater strength of medicine or remedie than it offereth cause of indisposition or infirmitie For if by a secret operation it make men perplexed and irresolute on the other side by plaine precept it teacheth them when and vpon what ground to resolue yea and how to carrie thinges in suspence without preiudice till they resolue If it make men positiue and reguler it teacheth them what thinges are in their nature demonstratiue what are coniecturall and aswell the vse of distinctions and exceptions as the latitude of principles and rules If it mislead by disproportion or dissimilitude of Examples it teacheth men the force of Circumstances the errours of comparisons and all the cautions of application so that in all these it doth rectifie more effectually than it can peruert And these medicines it conueyeth into mens minds much more forcibly by the quicknesse and penetration of Examples for let a man looke into the errours of Clement the seuenth so liuely described by Guicciardine who serued vnder him or into the errours of Cicero painted out by his owne pensill in his Epistles to Atticus and he will flye apace from being irresolute Let him looke into the errors of Pâ—…ion and he will beware how he be obstinate or inflexible Let him but read the Fable of Ixion and it will hold him from being vaporous or imaginatiue let him look into the errors of Cato the second and he will neuer be one of the Antipodes to tread opposite to the present world And for the conceite that Learning should dispose men to leasure and priuatenesse and make men slouthfull it were a strange thing if that which accustometh the minde to a perpetuall motion and agitation should induce slouthfulnesse whereas contrariwise it may bee truely affirmed that no kinde of men loue businesse for it selfe but those that are learned for other persons loue it for profite as an hireling that loues the worke for the wages or for honour as because it beareth them vp in the eyes of men and refresheth their reputation which otherwise would weare or because it putteth them in mind of their fortune and giueth them occasion to pleasure and displeasure or because it exerciseth some faculty wherein they take pride and so entertaineth them in good humor and pleasing conceits toward themselues or because it aduanceth any other their ends So that as it is sayd of vntrue valors that some mens valors are in the eyes of them that look on So such mens industries are in the eyes of others or at least in regard of their owne designements onely learned men loue businesse as an action according to nature as agreable to health of minde as exercise is to health of bodie taking pleasure in the action it selfe not in the purchase So that of all men they are the most indefatigable if it be towards any businesse which can hold or detaine their minde And if any man be laborious in reading and study and yet idle in busines action it groweth froÌ„ some weakenes of body or softnes of spirit such as Seneca speaketh of Quidam tam sunt vmbratiles vt putent in turbido esse quicquid in luce est and not of learning wel may it be that such a point of a mans nature may make him giue himselfe to learning but it is not learning that breedeth any such point in his Nature And that learning should take vp too much time or leasure I answere the most actiue or busie man that hath
tender sence and ◅ast obligation of dutie which learning doth endue the minde withall howsoeuer fortune may taxe it and many in the depth of their corrupt principles may despise it yet it will receiue an open allowance and therefore needes the lesse di◅proofe or excusation Another fault incident commonly to learned men which may be more probably defended than truely denyed is that they fayle sometimes in ap◅lying themselus to particular persons which want of exact application ar◅eth from two causes The one because the largenesse of their minde can hardly confine it selfe to dwell in the exquisite obseruation or examination of the nature and customes of one person for it is a speech for a Louer not for a wise man Satis magnum alter alteri Theat◅um sumus◅ Neuerthelesse I shall yeeld that he that cannot contract the sight of his minde aswell as disperse and dilate it wanteth a great sacultie But there is a second cause which is no inabilitie but a rejection vpon choise and iudgement For the honest and iust bounds of obseruation by one person vpon another extend no further but to vnderstand him sufficiently whereby not to giue him offence or wherby to be able to giue him faithfull Counsel or wherby to stand vpon reasonable guard and caution in respect of a mans selfe But to be speculatiue into another man to the end to know how to worke him or winde him or gouerne him proceedeth from a heart that is double and clouen and not entire and ingenuous which as in friendship it is want of integritie so towards Princes or Superiors is want of dutie For the custome of the Leuant which is that subiects doe forbeare to gaze or fixe their eyes vpon Princes is in the outward Ceremonie barbarous but the morall is good For men ought not by cunning and bent obseruations to pierce and penetrate into the hearts of Kings which the scripture hath declared to be inscrutable There is yet another fault with which I will conclude this part which is often noted in learned men that they doe many times fayle to obserue decencie and discretion in their behauiour and carriage and commit errors in small and ordinarie points of action so as the vulgar sort of Capacities doe make a Iudgement of them in greater matters by that which they finde wanting in them in smaller But this consequence doth oft deceiue men for which I doe referre them ouer to that which was sayd by Themistocles arrogantly and vnciuily being applyed to himselfe out of his owne mouth but being applyed to the generall state of this question pertinently and iustly when being inuited to touch a Lute he sayd He could not fiddle but he could make a small Towne a great state So no doubt many may be well seene in the passages of gouernement and policie which are to seeke in little and punctuall occasions I referre them also to that which Plato sayd of his Maister Socrates whom he compared to the Gally-pots of Apothecaries which on the out side had Apes and Owles and Antiques but contained with in soueraigne and precious liquors and confections acknowledging that to an externall report he was not without superficiall leuities and deformities but was inwardly replenished with excellent vertues and powers And so much touching the point of manners of learned men But in the meane time I haue no purpose to giue allowance to some conditions and courses base and vnworthy wherein diuers Professors of learning haue wronged themselues and gone too farre such as were those Trencher Philosophers which in the later age of the Romane State were vsually in the houses of great persons being little better than solemne Parasites of which kinde Lucian maketh a merrie description of the Philosopher that the great Ladie tooke to ride with her in her Coach and would needs haue him carie her little Dogge which he doing officiously and yet vncomely the Page scoffed and sayd That he doubted the Philosopher of a Stoike would turne to be a Cynike But aboue all the rest the grosse and palpable flatterie whereunto many not vnlearned haue abbased abused their wits and pens turning as Du Bartas saith Hecuba into Helena and Faustina into Lucretia hath most diminished the price and estimation of Learning Neither is the morall dedications of Bookes and Writings as to Patrons to bee commended for that Bookes such as are worthy the name of Bookes ought to haue no Patrons but Truth and Reason And the ancient custome was to dedicate them only to priuate and equall friendes or to intitle the Bookes with their Names or if to Kings and great persons it was to some such as the argument of the Booke was fit and proper for but these and the like Courses may deserue rather reprehension than defence Not that I can taxe or condemne the morigeration or application of learned men to men in fortune For the answere was good that Diogenes made to one that asked him in mockerie How it came to passe that Philosophers were the followers of rich men and not rich men of Philosophers He answered soberly and yet sharpely Because the one sort knew what they had need of the other did not And of the like nature was the answere which Aristippus made when hauing a petition to Dionisius and no eare giuen to him he fell downe at his feete wheupon Dionisius stayed and gaue him the hearing and graunted it and afterward some person tender on the behalfe Philosophie reprooued Aristippus that he would offer the Profession of Philosophie such an indignitie as for a priuat Suit to fall at a Tyrants feet But he answered It was not his fault but it was the fault of Dionisius that had his eares in his feete Neither was it accounted weakenesse but discretion in him that would not dispute his best with Adrianus Caesar excusing himselfe That it was reason to yeeld to him that commaunded thirtie Legions These and the like applications and stooping to points of necessitie and conuenience cannot bee disallowed for though they may haue some outward basenesse yet in a Iudgement truely made they are to bee accounted submissions to the occasion and not to the person Now I proceede to those errours and vanities which haue interueyned amongst the studies themselues of the learned which is that which is principall and proper to the present argument wherein my purpose is not to make a iustification of the errors but by a censure and separation of the errors to make a iustificatiō of that which is good sound and to deliuer that from the aspersion of the other For we see that it is the manner of men to scandalize and depraue that which retaineth the state and vertue by taking aduantage vpon that which is corrupt and degenerate as the Heathens in the primitiue Church vsed to blemish and taynt the Christians with the faults and corruptions of Heretiques But neuerthelesse I haue no meaning at this time to make any exact animaduersion of
owne times yet so as the impression of her good gouernement besides her happie memorie is not without some effect which doth suruiue her But to your Maiestie whom God hath alreadie blessed with so much Royall issue worthie to continue and represent you for euer and whose youthfull and fruitfull bedde doth yet promise manie the like renouations It is proper and agreeable to be conuersant not only in the transitory parts of good gouernment but in those acts also which are in their nature permanent perpetuall Amongst the which if affection do not transport mee there is not any more worthie then the further endowement of the world with sound and fruitfull knowledge For why should a fewe receiued Authors stand vp like Hercules Columnes beyond which there should be no sayling or discouering since wee haue so bright and benigne a starre as your Ma to conduct and prosper vs To returne therefore where wee left it remaineth to consider of what kind those Acts are which haue bene vndertaken performed by Kings and others for the increase and aduancement of learning wherein I purpose to speake actiuely without digressing or dylating Let this ground therfore be layd that all workes are ouercōmen by amplitude of reward by soundnesse of direction and by the coniunction of labors The first multiplyeth endeuour the second preuenteth error and the third supplieth the frailty of man But the principal of these is direction For Claudus in via antevertit cursorem extra viam And Salomon excellently setteth it downe If the Iron be not sharpe it requireth more strength But wisedome is that which preuaileth signifying that the Inuention or election of the Meane is more effectuall then anie inforcement or accumulation of endeuours This I am induced to speake for that not derogating from the noble intention of any that haue beene deseruers towards the State of learning I do obserue neuerthelesse that their workes and Acts are rather matters of Magnificence and Memorie then of progression and proficience and tende rather to augment the masse of Learning in the multitude of learned men then to rectifie or raise the Sciences themselues The Works or Acts of merit towards learning are conversant about three obiects the Places of learning the Bookes of learning and the Persons of the learned For as water whether it be the dewe of heauen or the springs of the earth doth scatter and leese it selfe in the ground except it be collected into some Receptacle where it may by vnion comfort and sustaine it selfe And for that cause the Industry of Man hath made framed Spring heads Conduits Cesternes and Pooles which men haue accustomed likewise to beautifie and adorne with accomplishments of Magnificence and State as wel as of vse and necessitie So this excellent liquor of knowledge whether it descend from diuine inspiration or spring from humane sense would soone perishe and vanishe to oblyuion if it were not preserued in Bookes Traditions Conferences and Places appoynted as Vniuersities Colledges and Schooles for the receipt comforting of the same The works which concerne the Seates and Places of learning are foure Foundations and Buyldings Endowments with Reuenewes Endowmēts with Franchizes and Priuiledges Institutions and Ordinances for gouernment all tending to quietnesse and priuatenesse of life and discharge of cares and troubles much like the Stations which Virgil prescribeth for the hyuing of Bees Principio sedes Apibus statioque petenda Quo neque sit ventis aditus c. The workes touching Bookes are two First Libraries which are as the Shrynes where all the Reliques of the ancient Saints full of true vertue and that without delusion or imposture are preserued and reposed Secondly Newe Editions of Authors with more correct impressions more faithfull translations more profitable glosses more diligent annotations and the like The workes pertaining to the persons of learned men besides the aduancement and countenancing of them in generall are two The reward and designation of Readers in Sciences already extant and inuented and the reward and designation of Writers and Enquirers concerning any partes of Learning not sufficiently laboured and prosecuted These are summarilie the workes and actes wherein the merites of manie excellent Princes and other worthie Personages haue beene conuersant As for any particular commemorations I call to minde what Cicero saide when hee gaue generall thanks Di◅ffcile non aliquem ingratum quenquam praeterire Let vs rather according to the Scriptures looke vnto that parte of the Race which is before vs then looke backe to that which is alreadie attained First therfore amongst so many great Foundations of Colledges in Europe I finde strange that they are all dedicated to Professions and none left free to Artes and Sciences at large For if men iudge that learning should bee referred to action they iudge well but in this they fall into the Error described in the ancient Fable in which the other parts of the body did suppose the stomache had beene ydle because it neyther performed the office of Motion as the lymmes doe nor of Sence as the head doth But yet notwithstanding it is the Stomache that digesteth and distributeth to all the rest So if any man thinke Philosophie and Vniuersalitie to be idle Studies hee doth not consider that all Professions are from thence serued and supplyed And this I take to bee a great cause that hath hindered the progression of learning because these Fundamental knowledges haue bene studied but in passage For if you will haue a tree beare more fruite then it hath vsed to do it is not any thing you can do to the boughes but it is the styrring of the earth and putting newe moulde about the rootes that must worke it Neyther is it to bee forgotten that this dedicating of Foundations and Dotations to professory Learning hath not onely had a Maligne aspect and influence vpon the growth of Scyences but hath also beene preiudiciall to States and gouernments For hence it proceedeth that Princes find a solitude in regard of able men to serue them in causes of estate because there is no education collegiate which is free wher such as were so disposed mought giue themselues to Histories moderne languages bookes of pollicie and ciuile discourse and other the like inablements vnto seruice of estate And because founders of Colledges doe plant and founders of Lectures doe water it followeth wel in order to speake of the defect which is in Publique Lectures Namely in the smalnesse and meanesse of the salary or reward which in most places is assigned vnto them whether they be Lectures of Arts or of Professions For it is necessary to the progression of Scyences that Readers be of the most able and sufficient men as those which are ordained for generating and propagating of Scyences and not for transitorie vse This cannot be except their condition endowmēt be such as may cōtent the ablest man to appropriate his whole labour and continue his whole age in that
vppon common and familiar examples The other because from the Wonders of Nature is the neerest Intelligence and passage towardes the Wonders of Arte For it is no more but by following and as it were hounding Nature in her wandrings to bee able to leade her afterwardes to the same place againe Neyther am I of opinion in this HISTORY of MARVAILES that superstitious Narrations of Sorceries Witchecraftes Dreames Diuinations and the like where there is an assurance and cleere euidence of the fact be altogether excluded For it is not yet knowne in what cases and how farre effectes attributed to superstition do participate of Naturall causes and therefore how-soeuer the practise of such things is to bee condemned yet from the Speculation and sideration of them light may be taken not onely for the discerning of the offences but for the further disclosing of Nature Neither ought a Man to make scruple of entring into these things for inquisition of truth as your Maiestie hath shewed in your owne example who with the two cleere eyes of Religion and naturall Philosophy haue looked deepely and wisely into these shadowes and yet proued your selfe to be of the Nature of the Sunne which passeth through pollutions and it selfe remaines as pure as before But this I hold fit that these Narrations which haue mixture with superstition be sorted by themselues and not to be mingled with the Narrations which are meerely and sincerely naturall But as for the Narrations touching the Prodigies and Miracles of Religions they are either not true or not Naturall and therefore impertinent for the Storie of Nature For HISTORY of NATVRE WROVGHT or MECHANICALL I finde some Collections Made of Agriculture and likewise of Manuall Arts but commonly with a reiection of experiments familiar and vulgar For it is esteemed a kinde of dishonour vnto Learning to descend to enquirie or Meditation vppon Matters Mechanicall except they bee such as may bee thought secrets rarities and speciall subtilties which humour of vaine and supercilious Arrogancie is iustly derided in Plato where hee brings in Hippias a vanting Sophist disputing with Socrates a true and vnfained inquisitor of truth where the subiect beeing touching beautie Socrates after his wandring manner of Inductions put first an example of a faire Virgine and then of a faire Horse and then of a faire pot well glazed whereat Hippias was offended and said More then for curtesies sake hee did thinke much to dispute with any that did alledge such base and Sordide instances whereunto Socrates answereth you haue reason and it becomes you well beeing a man so trimme in your vesâ—…ments c. and so goeth on in an Ironie But the truth is they bee not the highest instances that giue the securest information as may bee well expressed in the tale so common of the Philosopher that while he gazed vpwardes to the Starres fell into the water for if hee had looked downe hee might haue seene the Starres in the water but looking aloft hee coulde not see the water in the Starres So it commeth often to passe that meane and small things discouer great better then great can discouer the small and therefore Aristotle noteth well that the nature of euery thing is best seene in his smallest portions and for that cause hee enquireth the nature of a Common-wealth first in a Family and the Simple ConiugatioÌ„s of Man and Wife Parent and Child Maister and Seruant which are in euery Cottage Euen so likewise the nature of this great Citie of the world and the policie thereof must bee first sought in meane concordances and small portions So we see how that secret of Nature of the turning of Iron touched with the Loadestone towardes the North was found out in needels of Iron not in barres of Iron But if my iudgement bee of any waight the vse of HISTORIEMECHANICAL is of all others the most radicall and fundamentall towardes Naturall Philosophie such Naturall Philosophie as shall not vanish in the fume of subtile sublime or delectable speculation but such as shall bee operatiue to the endowment and benefit of Mans life for it will not onely minister and suggest for the present Many ingenious practizes in all trades by a connexion and transferring of the obseruations of one Arte to the vse of another when the experiences of seuerall misteries shall fall vnder the consideration of one mans minde But surder it will giue a more true and reall illumination concerning Causes and Axiomes then is hetherto attained For like as a Mans disposition is neuer well knowen till hee be crossed nor Proteus euer chaunged shapes till hee was straightened and held fast so the passages and variations of Nature cannot appeare so fully in the libertie of Nature as in the trialls and vexations of Art FOr CIVILE HISTORY it is of three kinds not vnfitly to be compared with the three kinds of Pictures or Images for of Pictures or Images wee see some are Vnfinished some are parfite and some are defaced So of Histories wee may finde three kindes MEMORIALLS PARFITE HISTORIES and ANTIQVITIES for MEMORIALLS are Historie vnfinished or the first or rough draughts of Historie and ANTIQVITIES are Historie defaced or some remnants of History which haue casually escaped the shipwrack of time MEMORIALLS or PREPARATORY HISTORY are of two sorts wherof the on may be tearmed COMMENTARIES the other REGISTERS COMMENTARIES are they which set downe a continuance of the naked eueÌ„ts actioÌ„s without the motiues or designes the counsells the speeches the pretexts the occasions and other passages of action for this is the true nature of a commentarie though Caesar in modestie mixt with greatnesse did for his pleasure apply the name of a commentarie to the best Historie of the world REGISTERS are collectioÌ„s of Publique Acts as Decrees of counsell Iudiciall proceedings Declarations and Letters of estate Orations and the like without a perfect continuance or contexture of the threed of the Narration ANTIQVITIES or Remnants of History are as was saide tanquam Tabula Naufragij when industrious persons by an exact and scrupulous diligence and obseruation out of MonumeÌ„ts Names Wordes Prouerbes Traditions Priuate Recordes and Euidences Fragments of stories Passages of Bookes that concerne not storie and the like doe saue and recouer somewhat from the deluge of time In these kindes of vnperfect Histories I doe assigne no deficience for they are tanquam imperfectè Mista and therefore any deficience in them is but their nature As for the CorruptioÌ„s and Mothes of Historie which are Epitomes the vse of them deserueth to be banisht as all men of sound Iudgement haue confessed as those that haue fretted and corroded the sound bodies of many excellent Histories and wrought them into base and vnprofitable dregges HISTORY which may be called IVST and PARFITE Historie is of three kinds according to the obiect which it propoundeth or pretendeth to represent for it either represeÌ„teth a TIME or a PERSON or an ACTION The first we call CHRONICLES
because reason cannot bee so sensible nor examples so fit But there remaineth yet another vse of POESY PARABOLICAL opposite to that which we last mentioned for that tendeth to demonstrate and illustrate that which is taught or deliuered and this other to retire and obscure it That is when the Secrets and Misteries of Religion Pollicy or Philosophy are inuolued in Fables or Parables Of this in diuine Poesie wee see the vse is authorised In Heathen Poesie wee see the exposition of Fables doth fall out sometimes with great felicitie as in the Fable that the Gyants beeing ouerthrowne in their warre against the Gods the Earth their mother in reuenge thereof brought forth Fame Illam terra Parens ira irritata Deorū Progenuit Extremam vt perhibent Coeo Enceladoque Sororem expounded that when Princes Monarchies haue suppressed actuall and open Rebels then the malignitic of people which is the mother of Rebellion doth bring forth Libels slanders and taxatiōs of the states which is of the same kind with Rebellion but more Feminine So in the Fable that the rest of the Gods hauing conspired to binde Iupiter Pallas called Briareus with his hundreth hands to his aide expounded that Monarchies neede not feare any courbing of their absolutenesse by Mightie Subiects as long as by wisedome they keepe the hearts of the people who will be sure to come in on their side So in the fable that Achilles was brought vp vnder Chyron the Centaure who was part a man part a beast expounded Ingenuously but corruptly by Machiauell that it belongeth to the education and discipline of Princes to knowe as well how to play the part of the Lyon in violence and the Foxe in guile as of the man in vertue and Iustice. Neuerthelesse in many the like incounters I doe rather think that the fable was first and the exposition deuised then that the Morall was first thereupon the fable framed For I finde it was an auncient vanitie in Chrisippus that troubled himselfe with great contention to fasten the assertions of the Stoicks vpon fictions of the ancient Poets But yet that all the Fables and fictions of the Poets were but pleasure and not figure I interpose no opinion Surely of those Poets which are now extant euen Homer himselfe notwithstanding he was made a kinde of Scripture by the later Schooles of the Grecians yet I should without any difficultie pronounce that his Fables had no such inwardnesse in his owne meaning But what they might haue vpon a more originall tradition is not easie to affirme for he was not the inuentor of many of them In this third part of Learning which is Poesie I can report no deficience For being as a plant that commeth of the lust of the earth without a formall seede it hath sprung vp and spread abroad more then any other kinde But to ascribe vnto it that which is due for the expressing of affections passions corruptions and customes we are beholding to Poets more thē to the Philosophers workes and for wit and eloquence not much lesse then to Orators harangues But it is not good to stay too long in the Theater let vs now passe on to the iudicial Place or Pallace of the Mind which we are to approach and view with more reuerence and attention The knowledge of Man is as the waters some descending from aboue and some springing from beneath the one informed by the light of Nature the other inspired by diuine reuelation The light of Nature consisteth in the Notions of the minde and the Reports of the Sences for as for knowledge which Man receiueth by teaching it is Cumulatiue and not Originall as in a water that besides his own spring-heade is fedde with other Springs and Streames So then according to these two differing Illuminations or Originals Knowledge is first of al deuided into DIVINITIE and PHILOSOPHIE In PHILOSOPHY the contemplations of Man doe either penetrate vnto God or are circumferred to Nature or are reflected or reuerted vpon himselfe Out of which seuerall inquiries there doe arise three knowledges DIVINE PHILOSOPHY NATVRAL PHILOSOPHY and HVMANE PHILOSOPHY or HVMANITIE For all things are marked and stamped with this triple Character of the power of God the difference of Nature and the vse of Man But because the distributions and partitions of knowledge are not like seuerall lines that meete in one Angle and so touch but in a point but are like branches of a tree that meete in a stēme which hath a dimension and quantitie of entyrenes and continuance before it come to discontinue break it self into Armes and boughes therfore it is good before wee enter into the former distribution to erect constitute one vniuersal Science by the name of PHILOSOPHIA PRIMA PRIMITIVE or SVMMARIEPHILOSOPHIE as the Maine and common way before we come where the waies part and deuide themselues which Sciēce whether I should report as deficient or noe I stand doubtfull For I finde a certaine Rapsodie of Naturall Theologie and of diuers parts of Logicke And of that part of Naturall Philosophie which concerneth the Principles and of that other part of Naturall Philosophy which concerneth the Soule or Spirit all these strangely commixed and confused but being examined it seemeth to mee rather a depredation of other Sciences aduanced and exalted vnto some height of tearmes then any thing solide or substantiue of it selfe Neuerthelesse I cannot bee ignorant of the distinction which is currant that the same things are handled but in seuerall respects as for example that Logicke considereth of many things as they are in Notion this Philosophy as they are in Nature the one in Apparance the other in Existence But I finde this difference better made then pursued For if they had considered Quantitie Similitude Diuersitie and the rest of those Externe Characters of things as Philosophers and in Nature their inquiries must of force haue beene of a farre other kinde then they are For doth anie of them in handeling Quantitie speake of the force of vnion how and how farre it multiplieth vertue Doth any giue the reason why some things in Nature are so common and in so great Masse and others so rare and in so small quantitie Doth anie in handling Similitude and Diuersitie assigne the cause why Iron should not mooue to Iron which is more like but mooue to the Loadestone which is lesse like why in all Diuersities of things there should bee certaine Participles in Nature which are almost ambiguous to which kinde they should bee referred But there is a meere and deepe silence touching the Nature and operation of those Common adiuncts of things as in Nature and onely a resuming and repeating of the force and vse of them in speeche or argument Therefore because in a Wryting of this Nature I auoyde all subtilitie my meaning touching this Originall or vniuersall Philosophie is thus in a plaine and grosse description by Negatiue That it bee a Receptacle for all such
reserue for the last of all as the Hauen and Sabbath of all Mans contemplations wee will nowe proceede to NATVRALL PHILOSOPHIE If then it bee true that Democritus sayde That the truthe of Nature lyeth hydde in certaine deepe Myâ—… and Caues And if it bee true likewise that the Alchymists doe so much inculcate That Vulcan is a second Nature and imitateth that dexterouslie and compendiouslie which Nature worketh by ambages length of time It were good to deuide Naturall Phylosophie into the Myne and the Fornace and to make two professions or occupations of Naturall Philosophers some to bee Pionners and some Smythes some to digge and some to refine and Hammer And surely I doe best allowe of a diuision of that kinde though in more familiar and scholasticall tearmes Namely that these bee the two parts of Naturall Philosophie the INQVISITION OF CAVSES and the PROâ—…VCTION OF EFFECTS SPECVLATIVE and OPERATIVE NATVRALL SCIENCE and NATVRALL PRVDENCE For as in Ciuile matters there is a wisedome of discourse and a wisedome of direction So is it in Naturall And heere I will make a request that for the latter or at least for a parte thereof I may reviue and reintegrate the misapplyed and abused Name of NATVRALL MAGICKE which in the true seâ—…se is but NATVRALL WISEDOME or NATVRALL PRVDENCE taken according to the ancient acception purged from vanitie superstition Now although it bee true and I know it well that therâ—… is an entercourse betweene Causes and Effâ—… so as both these knowledges 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great connexion betweene themselues yet because all true and frutefull NATVRALL PHILOSOPHIE hath A double Scale or Ladder Ascendent and Descendent ascending from experiments to the Inuention of causes and descending from causes to the Inuention of newe experiments Therefore I iudge it most requisite that these two parts be seuerally considered and handled NATVRALL SCIENCE or THEORY is deuided into PHISICKE and METAPHISICKE wherein I desire it may bee conceiued that I vse the word METAPHISICKE in a differing sense from that that is receyued And in like manner I doubt not but it will easilie appeare to men of iudgement that in this and other particulers wheresoeuer my Conception Notion may differ from the Auncient yet I am studious to keepe the Auncient Termes For hoping well to deliuer my selfe from mistaking by the order and perspicuous expressing of that I doe propounde I am otherwise zealous and affectionate to recede as little from Antiquitie either in tearms or opinions as may stand with truth the proficience of knowledge And herein I cannot a little maruaile at the Philosopher Aristotle that did proceede in such a Spirit of difference contradiction towards all Antiquitie vndertaking not only to frame new wordes of Science at pleasure but to confound and extinguish all ancient wisedome insomuch as hee neuer nameth or mentioneth an Ancient Author or opinion but to confute and reproue wherein for glorie and drawing followers and disciples he tooke the right course For certainly there commeth to passe hath place in humane truth that which was noted and pronounced in the highest truth Veni in nomine Patris nec recipitis Me Si quis venerit in nomine suo eum recipietis But in this diuine Aphorisme considering to whom it was applied Namely to Antichrist the highest deceiuer wee may discerne well that the comming in a Man 's owne name without regard of Antiquitie or paternitie is no good signe of truth although it bee ioyned with the fortune and successe of an Eum recipietis But for this excellent person Aristotle I will thinke of him that hee learned that humour of his Scholler with whom it seemeth hee did emulate the one to conquer all Opinions as the other to conquer all Nations Wherein neuerthelesse it may bee hee may at some mens hands that are of a bitter disposition get a like title as his Scholler did Foelix terrarum Praedo non vtile mundo Editus exemplum c. So Foelix doctrinae Praedo But to me on the other side that do desire as much as lyeth in my Penne to ground a sociable entercourse betweene Antiquitie and Proficience it seemeth best to keepe way with Antiquitie vsque ad aras And therefore to retaine the ancient tearmes though I sometimes alter the vses and definitions according to the Moderate proceeding in Ciuill gouernment where although there bee some alteration yet that holdeth which Tacitus wisely noteth Eadem Magistratuum vocabula To returne therefore to the vse and acception of the tearme METAPHISICKE as I doe nowe vnderstand the word It appeareth by that which hath bene alreadie saide that I intend PHILOSOPHIA PRIMA SVMMARIE PHILOSOPHIE and METAPHISICK which heretofore haue beene confounded as one to bee two distinct things For the one I haue made as a Parent or common Auncestor to all knowledge And the other I haue now brought in as a Branch or descendent of NATVRALL SCIENCE It appeareth likewise that I haue assigned to SVMMARIEPHILOSOPHIE the common principles and Axiomes which are promiscuous and indifferent to seuerall Sciences I haue assigned vnto it likewise the inquirie touching the operation of the Relatiue and aduentiue Characters of Essences as Quantitie Similitude Diuersitie Possibilitie and the rest with this distinction and prouision that they bee handled as they haue efficacie in Nature and not logically It appeareth likewise that NATVRAL THEOLOGIE which hereto fore hath beene handled confusedly with METAPHISICKE I haue inclosed and bounded by it selfe It is therefore now a question what is left remaining for METAPHISICKE wherein I may without preiudice preserue thus much of the coÌ„ceit of Antiquitie that PHISICKE should contemplate that which is inherent in Matter therefore transitorie and METAPHISICKE that which is abstracted fixed And againe that PHISICKE shoulde handle that which supposeth in Nature onely a being and mouing and METAPHISICKE should handle that which supposeth furder in Nature a reason vnderstanding and platforme But the difference perspicuously expressed is most familiar and sensible For as wee deuided NATVRALL PHILOSOPHY in GENERALL into the ENQVIRIE of CAVSES PRODVCTIONS of EFFECTS So that part which concerneth the ENQVIRIE of CAVSES wee doe subdiuide according to the receiued and sound diuision of CAVSES The one part which is PHISICKE enquireth and handleth the MATERIALL EFFICIENT CAVSES the other which is METAPHISICKE handleth the FORMAL and FINALCAVSES PHISICKE taking it according to the deriuation not according to our Idiome for MEDICINE is scituate in a middle tearme or distance between NATVRALL HISTORY METAPHISICKE For NATVRAL HISTORY describeth the varietie of things PHISICKE the CAVSES but VARIABLE or RESPECTIVE CAVSES and METAPHISICKE the FIXED and CONSTANT CAVSES Limus vt hic durescit haec vt Cara liquescit Vno eodemque igni Fire is the cause of induration but respectiue to clay Fire is the cause of colliquatioÌ„ but respectiue to Waxe But fire is noe constant cause either of induration or colliquation So
waies of sapience are not much lyable either to particularitie or chance The 2. part of METAPHISICKE is the ENQIRY of FINAL CAVSES which I am moued to report not as omitted but as misplaced And yet if it were but a fault in order I would not speake of it For order is matter of illustration but pertaineth not to the substance of Sciences But this misplacing hath caused a deficience or at least a great improficience in the Sciences themselues For the handling of finall causes mixed with the rest in Phisicall enquiries hath intercepted the seuere and diligent enquirie of all reall and phisicall causes and giuen men the occasion to stay vpon these satisfactorie and specious causes to the great arrest and preiudice of furder discouerie For this I finde done not onely by Plato who euer ancreth vppon that shoare but by Aristotle Galen and others which doe vsually likewise fall vppon these flatts of discoursing causes For to say that the haires of the Eye-liddes are for a quic-sette and fence about the Sight Or That the firmenesse of the Skinnes and Hides of liuing creatures is to defend them from the extremities of heate or cold Or That the bones are for the columnes or beames whereupon the Frame of the bodies of liuing creatures are built Or That the leaues of trees are for protecting of the Fruite Or That the cloudes are for watering of the Eearth Or That the solidnesse of the Earth is for the station and Mansion of liuing creatures and the like is well inquired collected in METAPHISICKE but in PHISICKE they are impertinent Nay they are indeed but Remoraes and binderances to stay and slugge the Shippe from furder sayling and haue brought this to passe that the search of the Phisicall Causes hath beene neglected and passed in silence And therefore the Natural Philosophie of Democritus and some others who did not suppose a Minde or Reason in the frame of things but attributed the form thereof able to maintaine it self to infinite essaies or proofes of Nature which they tearme fortune seemeth to mee as farre as I can iudge by the recitall and fragments which remaine vnto vs in particularities of Phisicall causes more reall and better enquired then that of Aristotle and Plato whereof both intermingled final causes the one as a part of Thelogie and the other as a part of Logicke which were the fauourite studies respectiuely of both those persons Not because those finall causes are not true and worthy to bee inquired beeing kept within their owne prouince but because their excursions into the limits of Phisicall causes hath bred a vastnesse and solitude in that tract For otherwise keeping their precincts and borders men are extreamely deceiued if they thinke there is an Enmitie or repugnancie at all betweene them For the cause rendred that the haires about the Eye liddes are for the safegard of the sight doth not impugne the cause rendred that Pilositie is incident to Orisices of Moisture Muscosi fontes c. Nor the cause rendred that the firmenesse of hides is for the armour of the body against extremities of heate or cold doth not impugne the cause rendred that contraction of pores is incident to the outwardest parts in regard of their adiacence to forreine or vnlike bodies and so of the rest both causes beeing true and compatible the one declaring an intention the other a consequence onely Neither doth this call in question or derogate from diuin◅ Prouidence but highly confirme and exalt it Fo◅s in ciuill actions he is the greater and deeper pollitique that can make other men the Instruments of his will and endes and yet neuer acquaint them with his purpose So as they shall doe it and yet not knowe what they doe then hee that imparteth his meaning to those he employeth So is the wisdome of God more admirable when Nature intendeth one thing and Prouidēce draweth forth another then if hee had communicated to particular Creatures and Motions the Characters and Impressions of his Prouidence And thus much for METAPHISICKE the later part wherof I allow as extant but wish it confined to his proper place Neuerthelesse there remaineth yet another part of NATVRALL PHILOSOPHIE which is commonly made a principall part and holdeth ranke with PHISICKE speciall and METAPHISICKE which is Mathematicke but I think it more agreable to the Nature of things and to the light of order to place it as a Branch of Metaphisicke For the subiect of it being Quantitie not Quantitie Indefinite which is but a Relatiue and belongeth to Philosophia Prima as hath beene said but Quantitie determined or proportionable it appeareth to bee one of the essentiall formes of things as that that is causatiue in Nature of a number of Effects insomuch as wee see◅ the Schooles both of Democritus and of Pithagoras that the one did ascribe Figure to the first seedes of things and the other did suppose numbers to bee the principalles and originalls of things And it is true also that of all other formes as wee vnderstand formes it is the most abstracted and separable from matter and therefore most proper to Metaphisicke which hath likewise beene the cause why it hath beene better laboured and enquired then any of the other formes which are more immersed into Matter For it beeing the Nature of the Minde of Man to the extreame preiudice of knowledge to delight in the spacious libertie of generalities as in a champion Region and not in the inclosures of particularitie the MATHEMATICKS of all other knowledge were the goodliest fieldes to satisfie that appetite But for the placing of this Science it is not much Materiall onely we haue endeuoured in these our Partitions to obserue a kind of perspectiue that one part may cast light vpon another The MATHEMATICKS are either PVRE or MIXT To the PVRE MATHEMATICKS are those Sciēces belonging which handle Quantitie determinate meerely seuered from any Axiomes of NATVRALL PHLOSOPHY and these are two GEOMETRY and ARITHMETICKE The one handling Quantitie continued and the other disseuered MIXT hath for subiect some Axiomes or parts of Naturall Philosopie and considereth Quantitie determined as it is auxiliarie and incident vnto them For many parts of Nature can neither be inuented with sufficient subtiltie nor demonstrated with sufficient perspicuitie nor accommodated vnto vse with sufficient dexteritie without the aide and interueyning of the Mathematicks of which sorte are Perspectiue Musicke Astronomie Cosmographie Architecture Inginarie and diuers others In the Mathematicks I can report noe deficience except it be that men doe not sufficiently vnderstand the excellent vse of the pure Mathematicks in that they doe remedie and cure many defects in the Wit and Faculties Intellectuall For if the wit bee to dull they sharpen it if to wandring they fix it if to inherent in the sense they abstract it So that as Tennis is a game of noe vse in it selfe but of great vse in respect it maketh a quicke Eye and a bodie readie to put it selfe
first digestion And therefore it was not without cause that so many excellent Philosophers became Sceptiques and Academiques and denyed any certaintie of Knowledge or Comprehension and held opinion that the knowledge of man extended onely to Appearances and Probabilities It is true that in Socrates it was supposed to be but a fourme of Irony Scientiam dissimulando simulauit For hee vsed to disable his knowledge to the end to inhanse his Knowledge like the Humor of ◅iberius in his beginnings that would Raigne but would not acknowledge so much And in the later Academy which Cicero embraced this opinion also of Acatalepsia I doubt was not held sincerely for that all those which excelled in Copie of speech seeme to haue chosen that Sect as that which was fittest to giue glorie to their eloquence and variable discourses being rather like Progresses of pleasure than Iourneyes to an end But assuredly many scattered in both Academyes did hold it in subtiltie and integritie But heere was their cheefe ◅rrour They charged the deceite vppon the THE SENCES which in my Iudgement notwithstanding all their Cauillations are verie sufficient to certifie and report truth though not alwayes immediately yet by comparison by helpe of instrument and by producing and vrging such things as are too subtile for the sence to some effect comprehensible by the sence and other like assistāce But they ought to haue charged the deceit vpon the weaknes of the intellectual powers vpon the maner of collecting concluding vpon the reports of the sences This I speake not to disable the minde of man but to stirre it vp to seeke helpe for no man be he neuer so cunning or practised can make a straight line or perfect circle by steadinesse of hand which may bee easily done by helpe of a Ruler or Compasse This part of Inuention concerning the Inuention of Sciences I purpose if God giue mee leaue hereafter to propound hauing digested it into two partes whereof the one I tearme Experientia literata and the other Interpretatio Naturae The former being but a degree and rudiment of the later But I will not dwell too long nor speake too great vpon a promise The Inuention of speech or argument is not properly an Inuention for to Inuent is to discouer that we know not not to recouer or resūmon that which wee alreadie knowe and the vse of this Inuention is no other But out of the Knowledge whereof our minde is alreadie possest to drawe foorth or call before vs that which may bee pertinent to the purpose which wee take into our consideration So as to speake truely it is no Inuention but a Remembrance or Suggestion with a Application Which is the cause why the Schooles doe place it after Iudgement as subsequent and not precedent Neuerthelesse because wee doe account it a Chase aswell of Deere in an inclosed Parke as in a Forrest at large and that it hath alreadie obtayned the the name Let it bee called Inuention so as it be perceyued and discerned that the Scope and end of this Inuention is readynesse and present vse of our knowledge and not addition or amplification thereof To procure this readie vse of Knowledge there are two Courses PREPARATION and SVGGESTION The former of these seemeth scarcely a part of Knowledge consisting rather of Diligence than of any artificiall erudition And heerein Aristotle wittily but hurtfully doth deride the Sophists neere his time saying They did as if one that professed the Art of Shooe-making should not teach howe to make vp a Shooe but onely exhibite in a readin◅sse a number of Shooes of all fashions and Sizes But yet a man might reply that if a Shooe-maker should haue no Shooes in his Shoppe but onely worke as hee is bespoken hee should bee weakely customed But our Sauiour speaking of Diuine Knowledge sayth That the Kingdome of Heauen is like a good Ho◅sholder that bringeth foo◅th both n◅we and ould store And wee see the ancient Writers of Rhetoricke doe giue it in precept That Pleaders should haue the Places whereof they haue most continuall vse readie handled in all the varietie that may bee as that To speake for the literall Interpretation of the Lawe against Equitie and Contrarie and to speake for Presumptions and Inferences against Testimonie and Contrarie And Cicero himselfe being broken vnto it by great experience deliuereth it plainely That whatsoeuer a man shall haue occasion to speake of if hee will take the paines he may haue it in effect premeditate and handled in these So that when hee commeth to a particular he shall haue nothing to doe but to put too Names and times and places and such other Circumstances of Indiuiduals We see likewise the exact diligence of Demosthenes who in regard of the great force that the entrance and accesse into causes hath to make a good impression had readie framed a number of Prefaces for Orations and Speeches All which Authorities and Presidents may ouer way Aristotles opinion that would haue vs chaunge a rich Wardrobe for a paire of Sheares But the Nature of the Collection of this Prouision or Preparatorie store though it be common both to Logicke and Rhetoricke yet hauing made an entrye of it heere where it came first to be spoken of I thinke fitte to referre ouer the further handling of it to Rhetoricke The other part of INVENTION which I terme SVGGESTION doth assigne and direct vs to certaine Markes or Places which may excite our Minde to returne and produce such Knowledge as it hath formerly collected to the end wee may make vse thereof Neither is this vse truely taken onely to furnish argument to dispute probably with others But likewise to Minister vnto our Iudgement to conclude aright within our selues Neither may these places serue onely to apprompt our Inuention but also to direct our enquirie For a facultie of wise interrogating is halfe a knowledge For as Plato saith Whosoeuer seeketh knoweth that which he seeketh for in a generall Notion Else how shall he know it when he hath found it And therfore the larger your Anticipation is the more direct and compendious is your search But the same Places which will help vs what to produce of that which we know alreadie will also helpe vs if a man of experience were before vs what questions to aske or if we haue Bookes and Authors to instruct vs what points to search and reuolue so as I cannot report that this part of Inuention which is that which the Schooles call Topiques is deficient Neuertheles Topiques are of 2. sorts general speciall The generall we haue spokē to but the particular hath ben touched by some but reiected generally as inartificial variable But leauing the humor which hath raigned too much in the Schooles which is to be vainly subtile in a few thinges which are within their command and to reiect the rest I doe receiue particular Topiques that is places or directions of Inuention and Inquirie
negatiue or Priuatiue So that a fewe times hitting or presence counteruayles oft times fayling or absence as was well answered by Diagoras to him that shewed him in Neptunes Temple the great number of pictures of such as had scaped Shippe-wracke and had paide their Vowes to Neptune saying Aduise nowe you that thinke it folly to inuocate Neptune in tempest Yea but sayth Diagoras where are they painted that are drowned Lette vs behould it in another instance namely That the spirite of man beeing of an equall and vnifourme substance doth vsually suppose and faine in Nature a greater equalitie and vniformitie than is in truth Hence it commeth that the Mathematitians cannot satisfie themselues except they reduce the Motions of the Celestiall bodyes to perfect Circles reiecting spirall lynes and laboring to be discharged of Eecentriques Hence it commeth that whereas there are many thinges in Nature as it were Monodica sui Iuris Yet the cogitations of Man doe fayne vnto them Relatiues Parallelles and Coniugates whereas no such thinge is as they haue fayned an Element of Fire to keepe square with Earth Water and Ayre and the like Nay it is not credible till it bee opened what a number of fictions and fantasies the similitude of humane Actions Arts together with the making of Man Communis Mensura haue brought into naturall Philosophie not much better than the Heresie of the Anthropomorphites bredde in the Celles of grosse and solitarie Monkes and the opinion of Epicurus answearable to the same in heathenisme who supposed the Gods to bee of humane Shape And therefore Velleius the Epicurian needed not to haue asked why God should haue adorned the Heauens with Starres as if he had beene an Aedilis One that should haue set foorth some magnificent shewes or playes for if that great Worke master had beene of an Humane disposition hee woulde haue caste the starres into some pleasant and beautifull workes and orders like the frettes in the Roofes of Houses whereas one can scarce finde a Posture in square or triâ—…angle or streight line amongest such an infinite numbers so differing an Harmonie there is betweene the spirite of Man and the spirite of Nature Lette vs consider againe the false appearances imposed vpon vs by euerie Man 's owne indiuiduall Nature and Custome in that fayned supposition that Plato maketh of the Caue for certainely if a childe were continued in a Grotte or Caue vnder the Earth vntill maturitie of age and came suddainely abroade hee would haue strange and absurd Imaginations So in like manner although our persons liue in the view of Heauen yet our spirites are included in the Caues of our owne complexions and Customes which minister vnto vs infinite Errours and vaine opinions if they bee not recalled to examination But heereof wee haue giuen many examples in one of the Errors or peccant humours which wee ranne briefely ouer in our first Booke And lastly lette vs consider the false appearances that are imposed vpon vs by words which are framed and applyed according to the conceit and capacities of the Vulgar sorte And although wee thinke we gouerne our wordes and prescribe it well Loquendum vt Vulgus sentiendum vt sapientes Yet certaine it is that wordes as a â—…artars Bowe doe shoote backe vppon the vnderstanding of the wisest and mightily entangle and pernert the Iudgement So as it is almost necessarie in all controuersies and disputations to imitate the wisedome of the Mathematicianâ—… in setting downe in the verie beginning the definitions of our wordes and termes that others may knowe howe wee accept and vnderstand them and whether they concurre with vs or no. For it commeth to passe for want of this that we are sure to end there where wee ought to haue begun which is in questions differences about words To conclude therefore it must be confessed that it is not possible to diuorce our selues from these fallacies and false appearances because they are inseparable from our Nature and Condition of life So yet neuerthelesse the Caution of them for all Elenches as was saide are but Cautions doth extreamely importe the true conducte of Humane Iudgement The particular Elenches or Cautions against these three false appearances I finde altogether deficient There remayneth one parte of Iudgement of great excellencie which to mine vnderstanding is so sleightly touched as I maye reporte that also deficient which is the application of the differinge kindes of Proofes to the differing kindes of Subiects for there beeing but foure kindes of demonstrations that is by the immediate consent of the Minde or Sence by Induction by Sophisme and by Congruitie which is that which Aristotle calleth Demonstration in Orbe or Circle and not a Notioribus euerie of these hath certaine Subiects in the Matter of Sciences in which respectiuely they haue chiefest vse and certaine other from which respectiuely they ought to be excluded and the rigour and curiositie in requiring the more seuere Proofes in some thinges and chiefely the facilitie in contenting our selues with the more remisse Proofes in others hath beene amongest the greatest causes of detryment and hinderance to Knowledge The distributions and assignations of demonstrations according to the Analogie of Sciences I note as deficient The Custodie or retayning of Knowledge is either in WRITING or MEMORIE whereof WRITINGE hath twoo partes The Nature of the CHARACTER and the order of the ENTRIE for the Art of Characters or other visible notes of Wordes or thinges it hath neerest coniugation with Grammar and therefore I referre it to the due place for the Disposition and Coâ—…ocation of that Knowledge which wee preserue in Writing It consisteth in a good Digest of Common Places wherein I am not ignorant of the preiudice imputed to the vse of Common-Place Bookes as causing a retardation of Reading and some sloth or relaxation of Memorie But because it is but a counterfeit thing in Knowledges to be forward and pregnant except a man bee deepe and full I hould the Entrie of Common places to bee a matter of great vse and essence in studying as that which assureth copie of Inuention and contracteth Iudgment to a strength But this is true that of the Methodes of Common places that I haue seen there is none of any sufficient woorth all of them carying meerely the face of a Schoole and not of a World and referring to vulgar matters and Pedanticall Diuisions without all life or respect to Action For the other Principall Parte of the Custodie of Knowledge which is MEMORIE I finde that facultie in my Iudgement weakely enquired of An Art there is extant of it But it seemeth to me that there are better Precepts than that Art and better practises of that Art than those receiâ—…ed It is certaine the Art as it is may bee raysed to points of ostentation prodigious But in vse as it is nowe mannaged it is barrein not burdensome nor dangerous to Naturall Memorie as is imagined but barren that is not
that other that monies weretl◅e sinews of the warres wheras saith he the true sinews of the warres are the sinews of mens Armes that is a valiant populous and Military Nation he voucheth aptly the authority of Solon who when Craesus shewed him his treasury of goalde saide to him that if another came that had better Iron he woulde be maister o◅ his Gould In like manner it may be truly affirmed that it is not monies that are the sinews of fortune but it is the sinews and steele of mens Mynds Witte Courage Audacity Resolution Temper Industry and the like In thirde place I set down Reputation because of the peremptory Tides Currants it hath which if they bee not taken in their due time are sildome recouered it beinge extreame harde to plaie an after game of reputation And lastly I place honoure which is more easily wonne by any of the other three much more by all then any of them can bee purchased by honour To conclude this precepte as there is order and priority in Matter so is there in Time the proposterous placing whereof is one of the commonest Errors while men fly to their ends when they shoulde intend their beginninings and doe not take things in order of time as they come on but marshall them according to greatnes and not according to instance not obseruing the good precepte Quod nunc instat agamus Another precept of this knowledge is not to imbrace any matters which doe occupie to great a quantity of time but to haue that sounding in a mans eares Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus and that is the cause why those which take their course of rising by professions of Burden as Lawyers Orators painefull diuines and the like are not commonlie so politique for their owne fortune otherwise then in their ordinary way because they want time to learne particulars to waite occasions and to deuise plottes Another precept of this knowledge is to imitate nature which doth nothing in vaine which surely a man may do if he do well interlace his businesse and bend not his mind too much vpon that which he prin cipally intendeth For a man ought in euery particular action so to carry the motions of his mind and so to haue one thing vnder another as if he cannot haue that he seeketh in the best degree yet to haue it in a second or so in a third and if he can haue no parte of that which he purposed yet to turn the vse of it to sōwhat els and if he cannot make any thing of it for the present yet to make it as a seed of somwhat in time to come and if he can contriue no effect or substaunce from it yet to win som good opinion by it or the like so that he should exact an account of himself of euery action to reape somwhat and not to stand amazed and confused if he saile of that he chiefly meant for nothing is more impollitique then to mind actions wholly one by one For he that dooth so leeseth infinite occasions which enterveine and are many times more proper and propitious for somewhat that he shall need afterwards then for that which he vrgeth for the present and therfore men must be parfite in that rule Haec oportet facere illa non omittere Another precept of this knowledge is not to ingage a mans selfe peremptorily in any thing though it seem not liable to accident but euer to haue a window to flie out at or away to retyre following the wisedom in the ancient fable of the two frogs which consulted when their plash was drie whether they should go and the one mooued to go down into a pit because it was not likely the water would dry there but the other answered True but if it do how shall we get out againe Another precept of this knowledge is that ancient precept of Bias construed not to any point of perfidiousnesse but only to caution and moderation Et ama tanquam inimicus suturus odi tanquam amaturus For it vtterly betraieth al vtility for mē to imbarque them selues to far into vnfortunate friendships troublesom spleans childish humorous enuies or aemulatiōs But I continue this beyond the measure of an example led because I wold not haue such knowledges which I note as deficient to be thought things Imaginatiue or in the ayre or an obseruation or two much made of but thinges of bulke and masse whereof an end is hardlier made then a beginning It must be likewise conceiued that in these pointes which I mencion and set downe they are far from complete tractates of them but onelye as small peeces for patternes And lastlye no man I suppose will thinke that I meane fortunes are not obteyned without all this adoe For I know they come tumblinge into some mens lappes and a nomber obtaine good fortunes by dilligence in a plaine way Little intermedlinge and keeping themselues from grosse errors But as Cicero when he setteth down an Idea of a parfit Orator doth not mean that euery pleader should be such and so likewise when a Prince or a Courtier hath been described by such as haue handled those subiects the mould hath vsed to be made accordinge to the perfectiō of the Arte and not according to cō mon practise So I vnderstand it that it ought to be done in the description of a Pollitique man I meane pollitique for his owne fortune But it must be remembred al this while that the precepts which we haue set down are of thatkind which may be coūted called Bonae Artes as for euill arts if a man would set down for himselfe that principle of Machiauel That a man seeke not to attaine vertue it selfe But the apparance onely thereof because the credite of vertue is a helpe but the vse of it is cumber or that other of his principles That he presuppose that men are not fitly to be wrought otherwise but by feare and therefore that he seeke to haue euery mā obnoxius lowe in streight which the Italiās cal seminar spine to sowe thornes or that other principle cōteined in the verse which Cice ro cyteth cadant amici dūmodo Inimici intercidāt as the Trium virs which fould euery one to other the liues of their friends for the deaths of theire enemiees or that other protestation of L. Catilina to set on fire trouble states to the end to fish in droumy waters to vnwrappe their fortunes Ego si quid in fortunis meis excitatum sit incendium id non aqua sed ruina restinguam or that other principle of Lysāder That childrē are to be deceiued with cōfittes men with othes the like euil and corrupt positions whereof as in al things there are more in number then of the good Certainly with these dispensations from the lawes of charity integryty the pressing of a mans fortune may be more ha sty and compendious But it
is in life as it is in ways The shortest way is comonly the fowlest surely the fairer way is not much about But men if they be in their own power doe beare sustaine themselues and bee not caryed awaye with a whirle winde or tempest of ambition oughte in the pursute of their owne fortune to set before their eies not only that general Map of the world That al things are vanity vexatioÌ„ of spirit but many other more par ticular Cards directioÌ„s cheefly that That Being without wel being is a curse the greater being the greater curse And that all vertue is most rewarded al wickednesse most punished in it selfe according as the Poet saith excellently Quae vobis que digna viri pro laudibus istis Premia posse rear solui pulcherrima primum Dij moresque dabunt vestri And so of the contrary And secondly they oughte to looke vp to the eternal prouidence and diuine iudgemente which often subuerteth the wisdome of euyll plots imaginations according to that scripture He hath conceiued mischiefe shal bring soorth a vainething And although men should refraine themselues from iniury and euil artes yet this incessant Sabbathlesse pursute of a mans fortune leaueth not tribute which we owe to God of our time who we see demandeth a tenth of our substaÌ„ce a seauenth which is more strict of our time and it is 〈◊〉 to smal purpose to haue an erected face towards heaueÌ„ a perpetual groueling spirit vpon earth eating dust as doth the serpent Atque affigit humo Diuinae particulam aurae And if any maÌ„ flatter himself that he will imploy his fortune wel though he shold obtain it ill as was said concerning Aug. Caesar after of Septimius Seuerus That either they shold neuer haue bin born or else they shold nener haue died they did so much mischief in the pursut asceÌ„tof their greatnes so much good when they were established yet these coÌ„pensations satisfactions are good to be vsed but neuer good to be purposed And lastly it is not amisse for meÌ„ in their race toward their fortuneto cooll theÌ„selues a litle with that coÌ„ceit which is elegaÌ„t ly expressed bythe Emperor Charls the 5. in his instruc tioÌ„s to the K. his son That fortune hath sowhat of the nature of a womaÌ„ that if she be too much woed she is the farder of But this last is but a remedy for those whose Tasts are corrupted let meÌ„ rather build vpo that fouÌ„dation which is as a cornerstone of diuinity and philosophie wherein they ioyne close namely that same Primum quaerite For diuinity sayth Primum quaerite regnuÌ„ Dei ista omnia adâ—…icieÌ„tur Vobis Philosophy saith PrimuÌ„ quaerite bona animi coetera aut aderunt aut non oberunt And although the humane foundation hath somewhat of the same as we see in M Brutus when hee brake forth into that speech Te colui Virtus vt rem ast tu nomen inane es Yet the diuine foundation is vpon the Rocke But this may serue for a Tast of that knowledge which I noted as deficient Concerning gouernment it is a part of knowledge secret and retyred in both these respects in which things are deemed secret for some things are secret because they are hard to know and some because they are not fit to vtter wee see all gouernments are obscure and inuisible Totamque infusa per artus Mens agitat molem magno corpore miscet Such is the description of gouernments we see the gouernmeÌ„t of God ouer the world is hidden insomuch as it seemeth to participate of much irregularitie and confusion The gouernment of the Soule in moouing the Body is inward and profound and the passages therof hardly to be reduced to demonstration Againe the wisedome of Antiquitie the shadowes whereof are in the Poets in the description of torments and paines next vnto the crime of Rebellion which was the Giants offence doth detest the offence offacilitie as in Sysiphus and Tantalus But this was meant of particulars Neuerthelesse euen vnto the generall rules and discourses of pollicie and gouernment there is due a reuerent and reserued handling But contrariwise in the gouernors towards the gouerned all things ought as far as the frailtie of Man permitteth to be manifest reuealed For so it is expressed in the Scriptures touching the gouernment of God that this Globe which seemeth to vs a dark and shady body is in the view of God as Christall Et in conspectu sedis tanquaÌ„ mare vitreuÌ„ simile christallo So vnto Princes and States and specially towardes wise Senats and Councels the natures and dispositions of the people their conditions and necessities their factions and combinations their animosities and discontents ought to be in regard of the varietie of their Intelligences the wisedome of their obseruations and the height of their station where they keepe Centinell in great part cleare and transparent wherefore considering that I write to a king that is a maister of this Science and is so wel assisted I thinke it decent to passe ouer this part in sileÌ„ce as willing to obtaine the certificate which one of the ancient Philosophers aspired vnto who being silent when others contended to make demonstration of their abilities by speech desired it mought â—…e certified for his part that there was one that knewe how to hold his peace Notwithstanding for the more publique part of Gouernment which is Lawes I think good to note onley one deficience which is that all those which haue writteÌ„ of Lawes haue written either as Philosophers or as lawiers none as Statesmen As for the Philosophers they make imaginary Lawes for imaginary coÌ„mon-wealths their discourses are as the Stars which giue little light because they are so high For the Lawyers they write according to the States where they liue what is receiued Law not what ought to be Law For the wisedome of a Law-maker is one of a Lawyer is another For ther are in Nature certaine fountaines of Iustice whence all Ciuil Lawes are deriued but as streames like as waters doe take tinctures and tastes from the soyles through which they run So doe ciuill Lawes vary according to the Regions and gouernments where they are plaÌ„ted though they proceed from the same fountaines Againe the wisedome of a Lawmaker consisteth not onely in a platforme of Iustice but in the application thereof taking into consideration by what meanes Lawes may be made certaine and what are the causes remedies of the doubtfulnesse and incertaintie of Law by what meanes Lawes may be made apt and easie to be executed and what are the impediments and remedies in the execution of lawes what influence lawes touching priuate right of Meum Tuum haue into the publike state and how they may be made apt and agreable how lawes are to be penned and deliuered whether in Texts or in Acts briefe or large with
preambles or without howe they are to bee pruned and reformed from time to time and what is the best meanes to keepe them frō being too vast in volumes or too ful of multiplicitie crosnesse how they are to be expounded When vpon causes emergent and iudicially discussed and when vpon responses and conferences touching generall points or questions how they are to be pressed rigorously or tenderly how they are to be Mitigated by equitie and good conscience and whether discretion and strict Lawe are to be mingled in the same Courts or kept a part in seuerall Courts Againe how the practise profession and erudition of Lawe is to be censured and gouerned and many other points touching the administration and as I may tearme it animation of Lawes Vpon which I insist the lesse because I purpose if God giue me leaue hauing begunne a worke of this Nature in Aphorismes to propound it hereafter noting it in the meane time for deficient And for your Maiesties Lawes of England I could say much of their dignitie and somewhat of their defect But they cannot but excell the ciuill Lawes in fitnesse for the gouernment for the ciuill Law was non hos quaesitum munus in vsus It was not made for the countries which it gouerneth hereof I cease to speake because I will not intermingle matter of Action with matter of generall Learning THus haue I concluded this portion of learning touching Ciuill knowledge with Ciuill knowledge haue concluded HVMANE PHILOSOPHY and with Humane Philosophy PHILOSOPHY in GENERAL and being now at some pause looking backe into that I haue passed through This writing seemeth to me Si nunquam sailit imago as farre as a man can iudge of his owne worke not much better then that noise or sound which Musitiās make while they are in tuning their Instrumēts which is nothing pleasāt to hear but yet is a cause why the Musique is sweeter afterwardes So haue I beene content to tune the Instruments of the Muses that they may play that haue better hands And surely when I set before me the condition of these times in which learning hath made her third visitation or circuite in all the qualities thereof as the excellencie and viuacitie of the wits of this age The noble helpes and lights which we haue by the trauailes of ancient writers The Art of Printing which communicateth Bookes to men of all fortunes The opēnesse of the world by Nauigation which hath disclosed multitudes of experiments and a Masse of Naturall History The leasure wherwith these times abound not imploying men so generally in ciuill businesse as the States of Graecia did in respect of their popularitie and the State of Rome in respect of the greatnesse of their Monarchie The present disposition of these times at this instant to peace The consumption of all that euer can be said in controuersies of Religiō which haue so much diuerted men from other Sciences The perfection of your Maj learning which as a Phoenix may call whole volyes of wits to followe you and the inseparable proprietie of Time which is euer more and more to disclose truth I cannot but be raised to this perswasion that this third period of time will farre surpasse that of the Graecian and Romane Learning Onely if men will know their own strength and their owne weakenesse both and take one from the other light of inuention and not fire of contradiction and esteeme of the Inquisition of truth as of an enterprise not as of a qualitie or ornament imploy wit and magnificence to things of worth excellencie not to things vulgar and of popular estimation As for my labors if any man shall please himselfe or others in the reprehension of them they shall make that ancient and patient request ver bera sed audi Let men reprehend them so they obserue and waigh them For the Appeale is lawfull though it may be it shall not be needefull from the first cogitations of men to their second from the neerer times to the times further of Now let vs come to that learning which both the former times were not so blessed as to knowe Sacred inspired Diuinitie the Sabaoth and port of all mens labours and peregrinations THe prerogatiue of God extendeth as well to the reason as to the will of Man So that as we are to obey his law though we finde a reluctatiō in our wil◅ So we are to belieue his word though we finde a reluctation in our reason For if we beleeue onely that which is agreeable to our sence we giue consent to the matter and not to the Author which is no more then we would doe towards a suspected and discredited witnesse But that faith which was accounted to Abraham for righteousnesse was of such a point as where at Sarah laughed who therein was an Image of Naturall Reason Howbeit if we will truly consider of it more worthy it is to belieue then to knowe as we now know For in knowledge mans mind suffereth from sence but in beliefe it suffereth from Spirit such one as it holdeth for more authorised then it selfe so suffereth from the worthier Agent otherwise it is of the state of man glorified for then faith shal cease we shall knowe as we are knowne Wherefore we conclude that sacred Theologie which in our Idiome we call Diuinitie is grounded onely vpon the word oracle of God and not vpon the light of nature for it is written Caelienarrāt gloriam Dei But it is not written Caelienarrant voluntatem Dei But of that it is said Ad legem testimonium si non fecerint secundū verbum istud c. This holdeth not onely in those points of faith which concerne the great misteries of the Deitie of the Creation of the Redemption but likewise those which concerne the law Moral truly interpreted Loue your Enemies doe good to thē that hate you Be like to your heauenly father that suffereth his raine to fal vpon the Iust Vniust To this it ought to be applauded Nec vox hominē sonat It is a voice beyond the light of Nature So we see the heathen Poets when they fall vpon a libertine passion doe still expostulate with lawes and Moralities as if they were opposite and malignant to Nature Et quod natura remitti◅ invida Iura negant So said Dendamis the Indian vnto Alexanders Messengers That he had heard somewhat of Pythagoras and some other of the wise men of Graecia and that he held them for excellent Men but that they had a fault which was that they had in too great reuerence and veneration a thing they called Lawe and Manners So it must be confessed that a great part of the Lawe Morall is of that perfection whereunto the light of Nature cannot aspire how then is it that man is saide to haue by the light and lawe of Nature some Notions and conceits of vertue and vice iustice wrong good