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
ordinances As in the lawe of the Leprousie where it is sayd If the whitenesse hauâ—… ouer spread the flâ—…sh the Patient may passe abroad for clean But if there be any whole flâ—…sh remayning he is to be shut vp for vncleane One of them noteth a principle of nature that putrefaction is more contagious before maturitie than after And another noteth a position of morall Philosophie that men abandoned to vice doe not so much corrupt manners as those that are halfe good and halfe euill so in this and verie many other places in that lawe there is to bee found besides the Theologicall sence much aspersion of Philosophie So likewise in that excellent Booke of Iob if it be reâ—…olued with diligence it will be found pregnant and swelling with naturall Philosophie as for example Cosmographie and the roundnesse of the world Qui extendit aquilonem super vacuum appendit terram super nihilum wherein the pensilenesse of the earth the pole of the North and the finitenesse or conuexitie of Heauen are manifestly touched So againe matter of Astronomie Spiritus eius ornauit coelos obstetricante manu eius eductus est coluber tortuosus And in another place Nunquid coniungere valebis micantes stellds pleyadas aut gyrum arcturi poteris dissipare where the fixing of the starres euer standing at equall distance is with great elegancie noted And in another place Qui faâ—…arcturum â—…ona hyadas interiora austri where againe hee takes knowledge of the depression of the Southerne pole calling it the secrets of the South because the southerne starres were in that climate vnseene Matter of generation Annon si ut lac mulsisti me sicut caseum coagulasti me c. Matter of Mynerals Habet argentum venarum suarum principia aurolocus est in quo conâ—…latur ferrâ—…m de tâ—…rra tollitur lapis solutus calore in 〈◊〉 vertiâ—…r and so forwards in that Chapter So likewise in the person of Salomon the King wee see the guist or endowment of wisedome and learning both in Salomons petition and in Gods assent thereunto preferred before all other terrene and temporall selicitie By vertue of which grant or donatiue of God Salomon became inabled not onely to write those excellent Parables or Aphorismes concerning diuine and morall Philosophie but also to compile a naturall Historie of all verdor from the Cedar vpon the Mountaine to the mosse vppon the wall which is but a rudiment betweene putrefaction and an hearbe and also of all things that breath or moone Nay the same Salomon the King although he excelled in the glorie of treasure and magnificent buildings of shipping and Nauigation of seruice and attendance of same and renowne and the like yet hee maketh no claime to any of those glories but onely to the glorie of Inquisition of truth for so he sayth expressely The glorie of God is to conceale a thing But the glorie of the King is to find it out as if according to the innocent play of Children the diuine Maiestie tooke delight to hide his workes to the end to haue them sound out and as if Kinges could not obtaine a greater honour than to bee Gods play-fellowes in that game considering the great commaundement of wits and meanes whereby nothing needeth to be hidden from them Neither did the dispensation of God varie in the times after our Sauiour came into the world for our Sauiour himselfe did first shew his power to subdue ignorance by his conference with the Priests and Doctors of the lawe before he shewed his power to subdue nature by his miracles And the comming of the holy spirite was chiefely figured and expressed in the similitude and guist of tongues which are but Vehicula scientiae So in the election of those Instruments which it pleased God to vse for the plantation of the faith notwithstanding that at the first hedid employ persons altogether vnlearned otherwise than by inspiration more euidently to declare his immediate working and to abbase all humane wisedome or knowledge yet neuerthelesse that Counsell of his was no sooner perfourmed but in the next vicissitude and succession he did send his diuine truth into the world wayted on with other Learnings as with Seruants or Handmaides For so we see Saint Paule who was only learned amongst the Apostles had his penne most vsed in the scriptures of the new Testament So againe we finde that many of the ancient Bishops and Father of the Church were excellently redde studied in all the learning of the Heathen insomuch that the Edict of the Emperour Iulianus whereby it was interdicted vnto Christians to bee admitted into Schooles Lectures or exercises of learning was esteemed and accounted a more pernitious engine and machination against the Christian faith than were all the sanguinarie prosecutions of his Predecessors Neither could the emulation and Iealousie of Gregorie the first of that name Bishop of Rome euer obtaine the opinion of pietie or deuotion but contrarywise receiued the censure of humour malignitie and pusillanimitie euen amongst holy men in that he designed to obliterate and extinguish the memorie of Heathen antiquitie and Authors But contrarewise it was the Christian Church which amidst the inundations of the Scythians on the one side from the Northwest and the Saracens from the East did preserue in the sacred lappe and bosome thereof the pretious Reliques euen of Heathen Learning which otherwise had beene extinguished as if no such thing had euer beene And wee see before our eyes that in the age of our selues and our Fathers when it pleased God to call the Church of Rome to account for their degenerate manners and ceremonies and sundrie doctrines obnoxious and framed to vphold the same abuses At one and the same time it was ordayned by the diuine prouidence that there should attend withall a renouation and new spring of all other knowledges And on the other side we see the Iesuites who partly in themselues and partly by the emulation and prouocation of their example haue much quickned and strengthned the state of Learning we see Isay what notable seruice and reparation they haue done to the Romane Sea Wherefore to conclude this part let it bee obserued that there be two principall duties and seruices besides ornament illustration which Philosophie and humane learning doe perfourme to faith and Religion The one because they are an effectuall inducement to the exaltation of the glory of God For as the Psalmes and other Scriptures doe often inuite vs to consider and magnifie the great and wonderfull workes of God so if we should rest onely in the contemplation of the exterior of them as they first offer themselues to our sences we should do a like iniurie vnto the Maiestie of God as if wee should iudge or construe of the store of some excellent Ieweller by that onely which is set out toward the streete in his shoppe The other because they minister a singuler helpe and preseruatiue against
Sonne and in the application to the Holy spirit for by the Holy Ghost was Christ conceiued in flesh and by the Holy Ghost are the Elect regenerate in spirite This worke likewise we consider either effectually in the Elect or priuately in the reprobate or according to apparance in the visible Church For manners the Doctrine thereof is contained in the lawe which discloseth sinne The lawe it selfe is deuided according to the edition thereof into the lawe of Nature the lawe Morall and the lawe Positiue and according to the stile into Negatiue and Affirmatiue Prohibitions and Commandements Sinne in the matter and subiect thereof is deuided according to the Commandements in the forme thereof it referreth to the three persons in deitie Sinnes of Infirmitie against the father whose more speciall attribute is Power Sinnes of Ignorance against the Sonne whose attribute is wisedome and sinnes of Malice against the Holy Ghost whose attribute is Grace or Loue. In the motions of it it either mooueth to the right hand or to the left either to blinde deuotion or to prophane libertine transgressiō either in imposing restraint where GOD granteth libertie or in taking libertie where GOD imposeth restrainte In the degrees and progresse of it it deuideth it selfe into thought word or Act. And in this part I commend much the diducing of the Lawe of GOD to cases of conscience for that I take indeede to bee a breaking and not exhibiting whole of the bread of life But that which quickneth both these Doctrines of faith and Manners is the eleuatition and consent of the heart whereunto appertaine bookes of exhortation holy meditation christian resolution and the like For the Lyturgie or seruice it consisteth of the reciprocall Acts betweene GOD and Man which on the part of GOD are the Preaching of the word and the Sacraments which are seales to the couenant or as the visible worde and on the part of Mans Inuocation of the name of GOD and vnder the law Sacrifices which were as visible praiers or confessions but now the adoration being in Spiritu veritate there remaineth only vituli labiorum although the vse of holy vowes of thankefulnesse and retribution may be accounted also as sealed petitions And for the Gouernment of the Church it consisteth of the patrimonie of the church the franchises of the Church and the offices and iurisdictions of the Church and the Lawes of the Church directing the whole All which haue two considerations the one in them selues the other how they stand compatible and agreeable to the Ciuill Estate This matter of Diuinitie is handled either in forme of instruction of truth or in forme of confutation of falshood The declinations from Religion besides the primitiue which is Atheisme and the Branches thereof are three Heresies Idolatrie and Witch-craft Heresies when we serue the true GOD with a false worship Idolatrie when wee worship false Gods supposing them to be true and Witch-craft when wee adore false Gods knowing them to be wicked and false For so your Maiestie doth excellently well obserue that Witch-craft is the height of Idolatry And yet we see thogh these be true degrees Samuel teacheth us that they are all of a nature when there is once a receding from the word of GOD for so he saith Quasi Peccatum ariolandi est repugnare quasi scelus Idololatriae nolle acquiescere These thinges I haue passed ouer so briefely because I can report noe deficience concerning them For I can finde no space or ground that lieth vacant and vnsowne in the matter of Diuinitie so diligent haue men beene either in sowing of good seede or in sowing of Tares Thus haue I made as it were a small Globe of the Intellectuall world as truly and faithfully as I coulde discouer with a note and description of those parts which seeme to mee not constantly occupate or not well conuerted by the labour of Man In which if I haue in any point receded from that which is commonly receiued it hath beene with a purpose of proceeding in melius and not in aliud a minde of amendment and proficience and not of change and difference For I could not bee true and constant to the argument I handle if I were not willing to goe beyond others but yet not more willing then to haue others goe beyond mee againe which may the better appeare by this that I haue propounded my opinions naked and vnarmed not seeking to preoccupate the libertie of mens iudgements by confutations For in any thing which is well set downe I am in good hope that if the first reading mooue an obiection the second reading will make an answere And in those things wherein I haue erred I am sure I haue not preiudiced the right by litigious arguments which certainly haue this contrarie effect and operation that they adde authoritie to error and destroy the authoritie of that which is well inuented For question is an honour and preferment to falshood as on the other side it is a repulse to truth But the errors I claime and challenge to my selfe as mine owne The good if any bee is due Tanquam adeps sacrificij to be incensed to the honour first of the diuine Maiestie and next of your Maiestie to whom on earth I am most bounden Historia Literarū Historia Naturae Errantis Historia Mechanica Historia Prophetica Metaphisica siue De formis F◅bus Rerū Naturalis Magiasiue Phisica Operatiua Maior Inuentarium Opum bumanarum Continuatio Problematum in Natura Catalogus Falsitatū grassantiū in historia Naturae De Antiquis Philosophijs Narrationes Medicinales Anatomia comparata Inquisitio vlterior de Morbis insanabisibus De Euthanasia exteriore Medicinae experimentales Imitatio Naturae in Balneis Aquis Medicinalibus Filum Medicinale siue de vicibus Medicinarum Experientia literata interpretatio Naturae Elenchi magni s◅e d◅ Idolis animi humani natiuis aduentitijs De Analogia Demonstrationum De Notis Rerum De Methode syncera siue ad filios Scientiarum De prudentia Traditionis De Productione Axiomatum Deprudentia sermonis priuati Colores boni mali simplicis comparati Antitheta rerum De cultura Animi Faber Fortunae siue de Am. bitu vitae De prudētia legislatoria fiue de fontibus Iuris De vsu legittimo rationis humanae in diuinis Degradibus vnitatis in Ci◅itate Dei Emanationes Scripturarum in doctrinas Positiuas
with any vaine or fayned matter and yet on thother saâ—…e hath cast all prodigious Narrations which he thought worthy the recording into one Booke excellently discerning that matter of manifest truth such wherevpon obseruation and rule was to bee built was not to bee mingled or weakened with matter of doubtfull credite and yet againe that rarities and reports that seeme vncredible are not to be suppressed or denyed to the memorie of men And as for the facilitie of credite which is yeelded to Arts opinions it is likewise of two kinds either when too much beleefe is attributed to the Arts themselues or to certaine Authors in any Art The Sciences themselues which haue had better intelligence and confederacie with the imagination of man than with his reason are three in number Astrologie Naturall Magicke and Alcumy of which Sciences neuerthelesse the ends or pretences are noble For Astrologie pretendeth to discouer that correspondence or concatenation which is betweene the superiour Globe and the inferiour Naturall Magicke pretendeth to cal reduce natural Philosophie from variety of speculations to the magnitude of works And Alcumy pretendeth to make separation of all the vnlike parts of bodies which in mixtures of nature are incorporate But the deriuations and prosecutions to these ends both in the theories and in the practises are full of Errour and vanitie which the great Professors themselues haue sought to vaile ouer and conceale by euigmaticall writings and referring themselues to auricular traditions and such other deuises to saue the credite of Impostures and yet surely to Alcumy this right is due that it may be compared to the Husband man whereof Aesope makes the Fable that when he died told his Sonnes that he had left vnto them gold buried vnder ground in his Vineyard and they digged ouer all the ground and gold they found none but by reason of their stirring and digging the mold about the rootes of their Vines they had a great Vintage the yeare following so assuredly the search and stirre to make gold hath brought to light a great number of good and fruitfull inuentions and experiments as well for the disclosing of Nature as for the vse of mans life And as for the ouermuch credite that hath beene giuen vnto Authors in Sciences in making them Dictators that their wordes should stand and not Counsels to giue aduise the dammage is infinite that Sciences haue receiued thereby as the principall cause that hath kept them lowe at a stay without groweth or aduancement For hence it hath comen that in arts Mechanicall the first deuiser coms shortest and time addeth and perfecteth but in Sciences the first Author goeth furthest and time leeseth and corrupteth So we see Artillerie sayling printing and the like were grossely managed at the first and by time accommodated and refined but contrary wise the Philosophies and Sciences of Aristotle Plato Democritus Hypocrates Euclidâ—…s Archimedes of most vigor at the first and by time degenerate and imbased whereof the reason is no other but that in the former many wits and industries haue 〈◊〉 contributed in one and in the later many wits and industries haue ben spent about the wit of some one whom many times they haue rather depraued than illustrated For as water will not ascend higher than the leuell of the first spring head from whence it descendeth so knowledge deriued from Aristotle and exempted from libertie of examination will not rise againe higher than the knowledge of Aristotle And therfore although the position be good Oportet discentem credere yet it must bee coupled with this Oportet edoctum iudicare for Disciples doe owe vnto Maisters onely a temporarie beleefe and a suspension of their owne iudgement till they be fully instructed and not an absolute resignation or perpetuall captiuitie and therefore to conclude this point I will say no more but so let great Authors haue theire due as time which is the Author of Authors be not depriued of his due which is furder and furder to discouer truth Thus haue I gone ouer these three diseasses of learning besides the which there are some other rather peccant humors then fourmed diseases which neuertheles are not so secret and intrinsike but that they fall vnder a popular obseruation and traducement and therefore are not to be passed ouer The first of these is the extreame affecting of two extreamities The one Antiquity The other Nouelty wherein it seemeth the children of time doe take after the nature and mallice of the father For as he deuowreth his children so one of them seeketh to deuoure and suppresse the other while Antiquity enuieth there should be new additions and Nouelty cannot be content to add but it must deface Surely the aduise of the Prophet is the true direction in this matter State super vias antiquas videte quaenam sit via recta bona ambulate in ea Antiquity deserueth that reuereÌ„ce that men should make a stand thereupon and discouer what is the best way but when the discouery is well taken then to make progression And to speake truly Antiquita seculi Iuuentus Mundi These times are the ancient times when the world is ancient not those which we count antient Ordine retrogrado by a computacion backward from our selues Another Error induced by the former is a distrust that any thing should bee now to bee found out which the world should haue missed and passed ouer so long time as if the same obiection were to be made to time that Lucian maketh to Iupiter and other the heathen Gods of which he woondreth that they begot so many Children in old time and begot none in his time and asketh whether they were become septuagenarie or whether the lawe Pappia made against old mens mariages had restrayned them So it seemeth men doubt least time is become past children and generation wherein contrary wise we see commonly the leuitie and vnconstancie of mens iudgements which till a matter bee done wonder that it can be done and assoone as it is done woonder againe that it was no sooner done as we see in the expedition of Alexander into Asia which at first was preiudged as a vast and impossible enterprize and yet afterwards it pleaseth Liuye to make no more of it than this Nil aliud quam bene ausus vana contemnere And the same happened to Columbus in the westerne Nauigation But in intellectuall matters it is much more common as may be seen in most of the propositions of Euclyde which till they bee demonstrate they seeme strange to our assent but being demonstrate our mind accepteth of them by a kind of relation as the Lawyers speak as if we had knowne them before Another Errour that hath also some affinitie with the former is a conceit that of former opinions or sects after varietie and examination the best hath still preuailed and suppressed the rest So as if a man should beginne the labour of a newe search hee were but like
drawe vse of knowledge insomuch as that which if doubts had not preceded a man should neuer haue aduised but passed it ouer without Note by the suggestion and sollicitation of doubts is made to be attended and applied But both these commodities doe scarcely counteruaile an Inconuenience which wil intrude it selfe if it be not debarred which is that when a doubt is once receiued men labour rather howe to keepe it a doubt still then howe to solue it and accordingly bend their wits Of this we see the familiar example in Lawyers and Schollers both which if they haue once admitted a doubt it goeth euer after Authorized for a doubt But that vse of wit and knowledge is to be allowed which laboureth to make doubtfull thinges certaine and not those which labour to make certaine things doubtfull Therefore these Kalenders of doubts I commend as excellent things so that there be this caution vsed that when they bee throughly sifted brought to resolution they bee from thence forth omitted decarded and not continued to cherish and encourage men in doubting To which Kalender of doubts or problemes I aduise be annexed another Kalender as much or more Materiall which is a Kalender of popular Errors I meane chiefly in naturall Historie such as passe in speech conceit and are neuerthelesse apparantly detected cōuicted of vntruth that Mans knowledge be not weakened nor imbased by such drosse and vanitie As for the Doubts or Nonliquets generall or in Totall I vnderstand those differences of opinions touching the principles of Nature and the fundamentall points of the same which haue caused the diuersitie of Sects Schooles and Philosophies as that of Empedocles Pythagoras Democritus Parmenides and the rest For although Aristotle as though he had bin of the race of the Ottomans thought hee could not raigne except the first thing he did he killed all his Brethren yet to those that seeke truth and not Magistralitie it cannot but seeme a Matter of great profit to see before them the seueral opinions touching the foundations of Nature not for any exact truth that can be expected in those Theories For as the same Phenomena in Astronomie are satisfied by the receiued Astronomie of the diurnall Motion and the proper Motions of the Planets with their Eccentriques and Epicicles and likwise by the Theorie of Copernicus who supposed the ◅arth to moue the Calculations are indifferently agreeable to both So the ordinarie face and viewe of experience is many times satisfied by seuerall Theories Philosophies whereas to finde the reall truth requireth another manner of seueritie attention For as Aristotle saith that children at the first will call euery woman mother but afterward they come to distinguish according to truth So Experience if it be in childhood will call euery Philosophie Mother but when it commeth to ripenesse it will discerne the true Mother So as in the meane time it is good to see the Seuerall Glosses and Opinions vpon Nature wherof it may bee euery one in some one point hath seene clearer then his fellows Therfore I wish some collection to be made painfully and vnderstandingly de Antiquis Philosophijs out of all the possible light which remaineth to vs of them Which kinde of worke I finde deficient But heere I must giue warning that it bee done distinctly and seuerely The Philosophies of euery one throughout by themselues and not by titles packed and fagotted vp together as hath beene done by Plutarch For it is the harmonie of a Philosophie in it selfe which giueth it light and credence whereas if it bee singled and broken it will seeme more forraine and dissonant For as when I read in Tacitus the Actions of Nero or Claudius with circumstances of times inducements and occasions I finde them not so strange but when I reade them in Suetonius Tranquillus gathered into tytles and bundles and not in order of time they seeme more monstrous and incredible So is it of any Philosophy reported entier and dismembred by Articles Neither doe I exclude opinions of latter times to bee likewise represented in this Kalender of Sects of Philosophie as that of Theophrastus Paracelsus eloquently reduced into an harmonie by the Penne of Seuerinus the Dane And that of Tylesius and his Scholler Donius beeing as a Pastorall Philosophy full of sense but of no great depth And that of Fracastorius who though hee pretended not to make any newe Philosophy yet did vse the absolutenesse of his owne sense vpon the olde And that of Gilbertus our countreyman who reuiued with some alterations and demonstrations the opinions of Xenophanes and any other worthy to be admitted Thus haue we now dealt with two of the three beames of Mans knowledge that is Radius Directus which is referred to Nature Radius Refractus which is referred to God and cannot report truely because of the inequalitie of the Medium There resteth Radius Reflexus whereby Man beholdeth and contemplateth himselfe WE come therefore now to that knowledge whereunto the ancient Oracle directeth vs which is the knowledge of our selues which deserueth the more accurate handling by howe much it toucheth vs more neerely This knowledge as it is the end and Terme of Naturall Philosophy in the intention of Man So notwithstanding it is but a portion of Naturall Philosophy in the continent of Nature And generally let this be a Rule that all partitions of knowledges be accepted rather for lines veines then for sections and separations and that the continuance and entirenes of knowledge be preserued For the contrary here of hath made particular Sciences to become barren shallow erronious while they haue not bin N◅urished and Maintained from the cōmon fountaine Sowe see Cicero the Orator complained of Socrates and his Schoole that he was the first that separated Philosophy and Rhetoricke whereupon Rhetorick became an emptie verball Art So wee may see that the opinion of Copernicus touching the rotation of the earth which Astronomie it self cānot correct because it is not repugnant to any of the Phainomena yet Naturall Philosophy may correct So we see also that the Science of Medicine if it be destituted forsaken by Natural Philosophy it is not much better then an Empeirical practize with this reseruation therefore we proceed to HVMANE PHILOSOPHY or HVMANITIE which hath two parts The one considereth Man segregate or distributiuely The other congregate or in societie So as HVMANE PHILOSOPHY is either SIMPLE and PARTICVLAR or coniugate and Ciuile HVMANITIE PARTICVLAR consisteth of the same parts whereof Man consisteth that is of KNOVVLEDGES WHICH RESPECT THE BODY of KNOVVLEDGES THAT RESPECT THE MIND But before we distribute so far it is good to constitute For I doe take the consideration in generall and at large of HVMANE NATVRE to be fit to be emancipate made a knowledge by it self Not so much in regard of those delightfull and elegant discourses which haue bin made of the dignitie of Man of his
miseries of his state and life and the like Adiuncts of his common and vndeuided Nature but chiefely in regard of the knowledge concerning the SYMPATHIES AND CONCORDANCES BETVVEENE THE MIND AND BODY which being mixed cannot be properly assigned to the sciences of either This knowledge hath two branches for as all leagues and Amities consist of mutuall Intelligence and mutuall Offices So this league of mind and body hath these two parts How the one discloseth the other and how the one worketh vpon the other Discouerie Impression The former of these hath begottē two Arts both of Predictiō or Prenotion where of the one is honoured with the enquirie of Aristotle the other of Hippocrates And although they haue of later time beene vsed to be coupled with superstitious and fantasticall arts yet being purged and restored to their true state they haue both of them a solide ground in nature and a profitable vse in life The first is PHYSIOGNOMIE which discouereth the disposition of the mind by the Lyneaments of the bodie The second is the EXPOSITION OF NATVRALL DREAMES which discouereth the state of the bodie by the imaginations of the minde In the former of these I note a deficience For Aristotle hath verie ingeniously and diligently handled the factures of the bodie but not the gestures of the bodie which are no lesse comprehensible by art and of greater vse and aduantage For the Lyneaments of the bodie doe disclose the disposition and inclination of the minde in generall but the Motions of the countenance and parts doe not onely so but doe further disclose the present humour and state of the mind will For as your Maiestie sayth most aptly and elegantly As the Tongue speaketh to the Eare so the gesture speaketh to the Eye And therefore a number of subtile persons whose eyes doe dwell vpon the faces and fashions of men doe well know the aduantage of this obseruation as being most part of their abilitie neither can it bee denied but that it is a great discouerie of dissimulations and a great direction in Businesse The later Braunch touching IMPRESSION hath not beene collected into Art but hath beene handled dispersedly and it hath the same relation or Antistrophe that the former hath For the consideration is double EITHER HOVV AND HOVV FARRE THE HVMOVRS AND A◅FCTS OF THE BODIE DOE ALTER OR WORKE VPON THE MIND or againe HOVV AND HOVV FARRE THE PASSIONS OR APPREHENSIONS OF THE MINDE DOE ALTER OR WORKE VPON THE BODIE The former of these hath beene enquired and considered as a part and appendix of Medicine but much more as a part of Religion or superstition For the Phisitian prescribeth Cures of the minde in Phrensies and melancholy passions and pretendeth also to exhibite Medicines to exhilarate the minde to confirme the courage to clarifie the wits to corroborate the memorie and the like but the scruples and superstitions of Diet and other Regiment of the body in the sect of the Pythagoreans in the Heresy of the Manicheas and in the Lawe of Mahumet doe exceede So likewise the ordinances in the Ceremoniall Lawe interdicting the eating of the blood and the fatte distinguishing between beasts cleane and vncleane for meat are many and strict Nay the faith it selfe being cleere and serene from all cloudes of Ceremonie yet retaineth the vse of sastings abstinences and other Macerations and humiliations of the bodie as things reall not figuratiue The roote and life of all which prescripts is besides the Ceremonie the consideration of that dependancie which the affections of the mind are submitted vnto vpon the state and disposition of the bodie And if any man of weake iudgement doe conceiue that this suffering of the minde from the bodie doth either question the Immortalitie or derogate from the soueraigntie of the soule hee may be taught in easie instances that the Infant in the mothers wombe is compatible with the mother and yet separable And the most absolute Monarch is sometimes ledde by his seruants and yet without subiection As for the reciprocall knowledge which is the operation of the conceits and passions of the minde vppon the bodie We see all wise Phisitians in the prescriptions of their regiments to their Patients doe euer consider Accidentia animi as of great force to further or hinder remedies or recoueries and more specially it is an inquirie of great depth and worth concerning IMAGINATION how and howe farre it altereth the bodie proper of the Imaginant For although it hath a manifest power to hurt it followeth not it hath the same degree of power to helpe No more than a man can conclude that because there be pestilent Ayres able sodainely to kill a man in health therefore there should bee soueraigne ayres able sodainly to cure a man in sicknesse But the inquisition of this part is of great vse though it needeth as Socrates sayd A Delian diuer being difficult profound But vnto all this knowledge DE COMMVNI VINCVLO of the Concordances betweene the Mind and the bodie that part of Enquirie is most necessarie which considereth of the Seates and Domiciles which the seuerall faculties of the minde doe take and occupate in the Organs of the bodie which knowledge hath been attempted and is controuerted and deserueth to bee much better inquired For the opinion of Plato who placed the Vnderstanding in the Braine Animositie which hee did vnfitly call Anger hauing a greater mixture with Pride in the Heart and Concupiseence or Sensualitie in the Liuer deserueth not to bee despised but much lesse to be allowed So then we haue constituted as in our own wish and aduise the inquirie TOVCHING HVMANE NATVRE ENTYER as a iust portion of knowledge to be handled apart The knowledge that concerneth mans bodie is diuided as the good of mans bodie is diuided vnto which it referreth The good of mans body is of foure kindes Health Beautie Strength and Pleasure So the knowledges are Medicine or Art of Cure Art of Decoration which is called Cosmetike Art of Actiuitie which is called Athletike and Art Voluptuarie which Tacitus truely calleth Eruditus Luxus This Subiect of mans bodie is of all other thinges in Nature most susceptible of remedie but then that Remedie is most susceptible of errour For the same Subtilitie of the subiect doth cause large possibilitie and easie fayling and therefore the enquirie ought to be the more exact To speak therfore of Medicine to resume that we haue sayd ascending a litle higher The ancient opinion that Man was Microcosmus an Abstract or Modell of the world hath beene fantastically streyned by Paracelsus and the Alchimists as if there were to be found in mans body certaine correspondences parallells which shold haue respect to all varieties of things as starres planets minerals which are extant in the great world But thus much is euidently true that of all substances which Nature hath produced mans bodie is the most extreamly compounded For we see hearbs plants are
other bodies than the bodie of the Imaginant for of that we spake in the proper place wherein the Schoole of Paracelsus and the Disciples of pretended Naturall Magicke haue beene so intemperate as they haue exalted the power of the imagination to be much one with the power of Miracle-working faith others that drawe neerer to Probabilitie calling to their view the secret passages of things and specially of the Contagion that passeth from bodie to bodie doe conceiue it should likewise be agreeable to Nature that there should be some transmissions and operations from spirit to spirit without the mediation of the sences whence the conceits haue growne now almost made ciuile of the Maistring Spirite the force of confidence and the like Incident vnto this is the inquirie how to raise and fortifie the imagination for if the Imagination fortified haue power then it is materiall to know how to fortifie and exalt it And herein comes in crookedly and dangerously a palliation of a great part of Ceremoniall Magicke For it may bee pretended that Ceremonies Characters and Charmes doe worke not by any Tacite or Sacramentali contract with euill spirits but serue onely to strengthen the imagination of him that vseth it as Images are said by the Romane Church to fix the cogitations and raise the deuotions of them that pray before them But for mine owne iudgment if it be admitted that Imagination hath power and that Ceremontes fortifie Imagination that they be vsed sincerely intentionally for that purpose yet I should hold them vnlawfull as opposing to that first edict which God gaue vnto man In sudore vultus comedes Panem tuum For they propound those noble effects which God hath set foorth vnto man to bee bought at the price of Laboure to bee attained by a fewe easie and slothful obseruances Deficiences in these knowledges I wil report none other than the generall deficience that it is not knowne how much of them is veritie and how much vanitie THE KNOVVLIDGE WHICH RESPECTETH THE FACVLTIES OF THE MINDE OF MAN is of two kinds The one respecting his VNDERSTANDING and REASON and the other his WILL APPETITE AFFECTION wherof the former produceth POSITION or DECREE the later ACTION or EXECVTION It is true that the Imagination is an Agent or Nuntius in both Prouinces both the Iudiciall and the Ministeriall For Sence sendeth ouer to Imagination before Reason haue iudged and Reason sendeth ouer to Imagination before the Decree can be acted For Imagination euer precedeth Voluntary Motion Sauing that this Ianus of Imagination hath differing faces for the face towards Reason hath the print of Truth But the face towards Action hath the print of Good which neuerthelesse are faces Quales decet esse sororum Neither is the Imagination simply and onely a Messenger but is inuested with or at least wise vsurpeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no small authoritie in it selfe besides the duty of the Message For it was well sayd by Aristotle That the minde hath ouer the Bodie that commaundement which the Lord hath ouer a Bond-man But that Reason hath ouer the Imagination that Commandement which a Magistrate hoth ouer a free Citizen who may come also to rule in his turne For we see that in matters of Faith Religion we raise our Imagination aboue our Reason which is the cause why Religion sought euer accesse to the Minde by Similitudes Types Parables Visions Dreames And againe in all perswasions that are wrought by eloquence and other impression of like Nature which doe paint and disguise the true appearance of thinges the cheefe recommendation vnto Reason is from the Imagination Neuerthelesse because I finde not any Science that doth properly or fitly pertaine to the. IMAGINATION I see no cause to alter the former diuision For as for Poelie it is rather a pleasure or play of imagination than a worke or dutie thereof And if it be a worke wee speake not nowe of such partes of learning as the Imagination produceth but of such Sciences as handle and consider of the Imagination No more than wee shall speake nowe of such Knowledges as reason produceth for that extendeth to all Philosophy but of such Knowledges as doe handle and enquire of the facultie of Reason So as Poesie had his true place As for the power of the Imagination in nature and the manner of fortifying the same wee haue mentioned it in the Doctrine De Anima whervnto most fitly it belongeth And lastly for Imaginatiue or Insinuatiue Reason which is the subiect of Rhetericke wee thinke it best to referre it to the Arts of Reason So therefore we content our selues with the former diuision that Humane Philosophy which respecteth the faculties of the minde of man hath two parts RATIONALL and MORALL The part of humane Philosophie which is Rationall is of all knowledges to the most wits the least delightfull and seemeth but a Net of subtilitie and spinositie For as it was truely sayd that Knowledge is Pabulumanimi So in the Nature of mens appetite to this foode most men are of the tast and stomach of the Israelites in the desert that would faine haue returned Adollas carnium and were wearie of Manna which though it were celestiall yet seemed lesse nutritiue and comfortable So generally men tast well knowledges that are drenched in flesh and blood Câ—…ile Historie Moraâ—…litie Policie about the which mens affections praises fortunes doe turne and are conuersant But this same Lumensiccum doth parch and offend most mens watry and soft natures But to speake truly of thinges as they are in worth RATIONALL Knowledges are the keyes of all other Arts For as Aristotle sayth aptly and elegantly That the hand is the Instrument of Instruments and the minde is the Fourme of Fourmes So these be truely said to be the Art of Arts Neither do they onely direct but likewise confirme and strengthen euen as the habite of shooting doth not onely inable to shoote a neerer shoote but also to draw a stronger Bowe The ARTS INTELLECTVALL are foure in number diuided according to the ends whereunto they are referred for mans labour is to inuent that which is sought or propounded or to iudge that which is inuented or to retaine that which is iudged or to deliuer ouer that which is retained So as the Arts must bee foure ARTE of ENQVIRIE or INVENTION ART of EXAMINATION or IVDGEMENT ART of CVSTODIE or MEMORIE and ART of ELOCVTION or TRADITION INVENTION is of two kindes much differing The one of ARTS and SCIENCES and the other of SPEECH and ARGVMENTS The former of these I doe report deficient which seemeth to me to be such a deficience as if in the making of an Inuentorie touching the State of a defunct it should be set downe That there is no readie money For as money will fetch all other commodities so this knowledge is that which should purchase all the rest And like as the West Indies had neuer been discouered if the vse of the Mariners
tied In these thinges therefore it is left vnto vs to proceede by application Vincenda est omnis fortuna serendo and so likewise vincenda est omnis Natura serendo But when that wee speake of sufferinge wee doe not speake of a dull and neglected sufferinge but of a wise and industrious sufferinge which draweth and contriueth vse and aduantage out of that which seemeth aduerse and contrary which is that property which we cal Accomodating or Applying Now the wisedome of Application resteth principally in the exact distinct knowledge of the precedent state or disposition vnto which we do apply for we cannot fit a garment except wee first take measure of the Body So then the first Article of this knowlede is to set downe Sound and true distributions and descriptions of the seueral characters tempers of mens Natures and dispositions specially hauing regard to those differences which are most radicall in being the fountayns and Causes of the rest or most frequent in Concurrence or Commixture wherein it is not the handling of a fewe of them in passage the better to describe the Mediocrities of vertues that can satisfie this intention for if it deserue to be considered That there are minds which are proportioned to great mattes others to smal Which Aristotle handleth or ought to haue handled by the name of Magnaminity doth it not deserue as well to be Considered That there are mindes proportioned to intend many matters and others to few So that some can deuide them selues others can perchance do exactly wel but it must bee but in fewe things at once And so there cometh to bee a Narrownes of mind as wel as a Pusillanimity And againe That some mindes are proportioned to that which may bee dispatched at once or within a short return of time others to that which begins a farre of and is to be won with length of pursute Iam tuÌ„ tenditque foâ—…etque So that there may be fitly said to be a long animity which is Comonly also ascribed to God as a Magnanimity So further deserued it to be consideted by Aristotle That there is a disposition in Conuersation supposing it in things which doe in no sort tonch or concerne a mans selfe to soothe and please And a disposition contrary to Contradict and Crosse And deserueth it not much better to be considered That there is a disposition not in conuersation or talke but in matter of mere serious Nature and supposing it still in things meerly indifferent to take pleasure in the good of another and adisposition contrarywise to take distast at the good of another which is that properly which we call good Nature or ill Nature benignity or Malignity And therefore I cannot sufficiently Maruayle that this parte of knowledge touching the seuerall Characters of Natures and dispositions should bee omitted both in Morality and policy considering it is of so great Ministery and suppeditation to them both A man shall find in the traditions of Astrology som prety and apt diuisions of mens Natures according to the predominances of the Planets Louers of Quiet Louers of action louers of victory louers of Honour louers of pleasure louers of Arts louers of Change and so forth A man shall find in the wisest sort of these Relations which the Italians make touching Conclaues the Natures of the seuerall Cardinalls handsomlye and liuely painted fourth A man shall meete with in euery dayes Conference the denominations of Sensitiue dry formall reall humorous certayne Humo di Prima impressione Huomo di vltima impressione and the like and yet neuerthelesse this kind of obseruations wandreth in wordes but as not fixed in Enquiry For the distinctions are found many of them but we conclude no precepts vpon them wherein our faulte is the greater because both History Poesye and daylie experience are as goodly fields where these obseruations grow whereof wee make a few poesies to hould in our hands but no man bringeth them to the confectionary that Receits mought be made of them for vse of life Of much like kinde are those impressions of Nature which are imposed vpon the Mind by the Sex by the Age by the Region by health and sicknesse by beauty and deformity and the like which are inherent and not externe and again those which are caused by extern fortune as Soueraygnty Nobility obscure birth ritches want Magistracye priuatenesse prosperity aduersity Constant fortune variable fortune rising per saltum per gradus and the like And therefore we see that Plautus maketh it a wonder to see an oulde man beneficent Benignitas huius vt adolescentuli est Saint Paul concludeth that seuerity of discipline was to be vsed to the Cretans Increpa eos durè vpon the disposition of their Country Cretenses semper mendaces malae Bestiae ventres pigri Salust noteth that it is vsuall with Kinges to desire Contradictoryes sed plerunque Regiae voluntates vt vehementes sunt fic mobiles saepeque ipsae sibi aduersae Tacitus obserueth how rarely-raising of the fortune mendeth the disposition solus Vespasâ—…anus mutatus in melius Pindarus maketh an obseruation that greate and suddaine fortune for the most parte defeateth men Qui magnam foelicitatem concoquere non possunt So the Psalme sheweth it is more easie to keep a measure in the enioying of fortune then in the increase of fortune Diuitiae si affluant nolite Cor apponere These obseruations and the like I denye not but are touched a little by Aristotle as in passage in his Rhetoricks and are handled in some scattered discourses but they were neuer incorporate into Morall Philosophy to which they doe essentiallye appertayne as the knowledg of the diuersitye of groundes and Mouldes doth to Agriculture and the knowledge of the diuersity of Complexions and Constitutions doth to the Phisition except we meane to follow the indiscretion of Empe riques which minister the same medicines to all patients Another Article of this knowledge is the Inquirye touching the affections for as in Medicining of the body it is in order first to know the diuers Complexions and constitutions secondlye the diseases and lastlye the Cures So in medicining of the Minde after knowledge of the diuers Characters of mens natures it foloweth in order to know the diseases and infirmites of the mind which ar no other theÌ„ the perturbations distempers of the affections For as the aunciente in politiques in populer Estates were woont 〈◊〉 to Compare the people to the sea and the Orators to the winds because as the sea would of it selfe be caulm and quiet if the windes did not mooue and trouble it so the people would be peaceable and tractable if the seditious ora tors did not set them in working and agitation So it may be fitly said that the mind in the nature thereof would be temperate and stayed if the affections as winds did not put it into tumulte and perturbation And here againe I find straunge as before that Aristotle shoulde haue written
till they haue beene throughly seasoned in religion Morality least their Iudgementes be corrupted and made apt to thinke that there are no true Differences of things but according to vtility and fortune as the verse describes it Prosperum et Foelix scelus virtus vocatur And Againe Ille crucem pretium sceleris tulit Hic diadema which the Poets do speak satyrically and in indignation on vertues behalfe But books of pollicre doe speake it seriously and positiuely for so it pleaseth Machiauell to say That if Caesar had bene ouerthrowne he woulde haue beene more odious then euer was Catiline as if there had beene noe difference but in fortune between a very fury of lust bloud and the most excellēt spirit his ambiciō reserued of the world Again is there not a Caution likewise to be giuen of the doctrines of Moralities thēselues some kindes of thē leaste they make men too precise arrogāt incōpatible as Cicero saith of Cato in Marco Catone Haec bona quae videmus diuina egregia ipsius scitote esse propria quae nonnunquam requirimus ea sunt omnia non a naturâ sed a Magistro Many other Axiomes aduises there are touching those proprieties effects which studies doe infuse instil into maners And so likewise is there touchinge the vse of all those other points of Company fame lawes and the rest which we recited in the beginning in the doctrine of Morality But there is a kind of CVLTVRE of the MIND that semeth yet more accurate elaborate thē the rest is built vpon this ground That the minds of all men are at some times in a state more perfite and at oother tymes in a state more depraued The purpose therfore of this practise is to fixe and cherishe the good howers of the mind and to obliterate and take fourth the Euil The fixing of the good hath bene practised by two meanes vowes or Constant resolutions and obseruances or exercises which are not to be regarded so much in themselues as because they keepe the mynd in continual obedience The obliteratiō of the Euill hath been practised by two Meanes some kind of Redemption or expiation of that which is past and an Inception or account de Nouo for the time to come but this part seemeth sacred and religious and Iustly for all good Morall Philosophy as was said is but an handmaide to Religion Wherefore we will conclude with that last pointe which is of all other meanes the moste compendious and summarye and againe the moste noble and effectual to the reducing of the minde vnto vertue and good estate which is the electing and propounding vnto a mans selfe good vertuous ends of his life such as may bee in a reasonable sorte within his Compas to attaine For if these two things be sup osed that a maset before him honest Good ends and againe that he bee resolute Constant and true vnto them it will follow that hee shall Moulde himselfe into al vertue at once and this is indeede like the worke of nature whereas the other course is like the worke of the hand For as when a caruer makes an image hee shapes onely that parte whereupon hee worketh as if hee bee vpon The face that parte which shal bee the body is but a rude stone stil til such times as hee comes to it But contrarywise when Nature makes a flower or liuing creature shee fourmeth rudiments of all the parts at one time so in obtaining ver tue by habite while a man practiseth Temperance he doth not profit much to fortitude nor the like But when he dedicateth applyeth himselfe to good ends loke what vertue soeuer the pursute and passage towards those ends doth commend vnto him he is inuested of a precedent disposition to conforme himselfe thereunto which state of mind Aristotle doth exexcellently expresse himself that it ought not to bee called vertuous but Diuine his words are these Immanitati autem consentaneum est opponere eam quae supra humanitatem est heroicā siue diuinam virtutem And a little after Nā vt ferae neque vitiū neque virtus est sic neque Dei. Sed hic quidē status altius quiddā virtute est ille aliud quiddā a vitio And therfore we may see what Celsitud of honor Piinius secundus attributeth to Traiane in his funerall oration where he said That men needed to make noe other praiers to the Gods but that they woulde Continue as good Lords to them as Traiaine had beene as if he had not beene onely an Imitation of diuine nature but a patterne of it But these be heathen prophane passages having but a shadowe of that diuine state of mind which Religion and the holy faith doth conduct men vnto by imprinting vpon their soules Charity which is exellētly called the bond of Perfectiō bicause it cōprehēdeth fastneth al vertues together And it is elegantly said by Menander of vaine loue which is but a false Imitation of diuine loue Amor melior Sophista Lauo ad humanam vitam that Loue teacheth a man to Carry himselfe better then the Sophist or Praeceptor which he calleth Left handed because with all his rules preceptiōs he cannot form a man so Dexteriously nor with that facility to prize himself gouern himself as loue cā do So certainly if a mās mind be truly inflamd with charity it doth work himsodainly into greter perfectiō then al the Doctrin of moralitye can doe which is but a sophist in comparison of the other Nay furder as Xenophon observed truely that all other affections though they raise the minde yet they doe it by distorting and vncomlinesse of extasies or excesses but onely Loue doth exalt the mind and neuerthelesse at the same instant doth settle and Compose it So in all other excellencyes though they aduance nature yet they are subiect to Excesse Onely Charity admitteth noe Excesse for soe we see aspiring to be like God in power the Angells transgressed and fel Ascendam ero simitis altissimo By aspiringe to be like God in knowledge man transgressed and fell Eritis sicut Dii scientes bouum malum But by aspiring to a similitude of God in goodnesse or loue neyther Man nor Angell euer transgressed or shall transgresse For vnto that imitation wee are called Diligite inimicos vestros Benefacite eis qui odernut vos orate pro persequentibus Calumniantibus vos vt sitis filii patris vestri qui in coelis est qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos malos pluit super iustos iniustos So in the first platfourme of the diuine Nature it self the heathē Religion speaketh thus Optimus Maximus and the sacred scriptures thus Misericordia eius super omnia opera eius Wherefore I doe conclude this part of Morall knowledge concerning the Culture and Regiment of the Mind wherin if any man considering the parts therof which I haue enumerated doe
virtuti nullaest via and the like being takē and vsed as spurs to Industry and not as stirops to insolency rather for resolution then for the presumption or outwarde declaration haue beene euer thoughte sounde and good and are no question imprinted in the greatest mindes who are so sensible of this opinion as they causcarce containe it within As we see in Augustus Caesar who was rather diuerse from his vncle then inferiour in vertue how when he died he desiered his friénds aboute him to giue him a Plaudite as if hee were consciente to himselfe that he had played his parte wel vpon the stage This parte of knowledge we doe reporte also as deficient not but that it is practised too much butit hath not beene reduced to writinge And therefore least it shoulde seme to any that it is not comprehensible by Axiome It is requisite as wee did in the former that wee set down some heads or passages of it Wherein it maye appeare at the first a newe and vnwoonted Argumente to teach men how to raise and make theire fortune a doctrine wherein euery man perchance will bee ready to yeeld himselfe a disciple til he seethe difficulty for fortune layeth as heauy impositions as vertue and it is as harde and severe a thinge to bee a true Pollipolitique as to be truelye morall But the handlinge hereof concerneth learning greatly both in honour and in substance In honour because pragmaticall men may not goe away with an opinion that learning is like a Larke that can mount and singe and please her selfe and nothing else but may knowe that she houldeth as well of the hauke that can soare aloft and can also descend and strike vpon the pray In substance because it is the perfite lawe of enquiry of trueth That nothing bee in the globe of matter which should not be likewise in the globe of Crystall or Fourme that is that there be not any thing in being action which should not bee drawne and collected into contemplation and doctrine Neyther doth learning admire or esteeme of this Architecture of fortune otherwise then as of an inferiour worke For no mans fortune can be an end woorthy of his being and many times the woorthiest men doe abandon theyr fortune willingly for better respects but neuerthelesse fortune as an organ of vertue and merit deserueth the consideration First therefore the precept which I conceiue to bee most summary towardes the preuayling in fortune is to obtaine that windowe which Momus did require who seeing in the frame of mans heart such Angles and recesses sounde fault there was not a windowe to looke into them that is to procure good informacions of particulars touching persons their Natures their desires ends their customs and fashions theyr helpes and aduantages and wherby they cheesly stand so againe their weaknesses and disaduantages and where they lye most open and obnoxious their friendes factions dependaunces and againe theyr opposites enuiors competitors theyr moods and times Sola viri molles adytus tēporanoras theyr principles rules and obseruacions and the like And this not onely of persons but of actions what are on foote from time to time and how they are con ducted fauoured opposed and how they importe and the like For the knowledge of present Actions is not onely materiall in itselfe but without it also the knowledge of persons is very erronious for men chaunge with the actions and whiles they are in pursuite they are one and when they retourne to theyr Nature they are another These Informations of particulars touching persons and actions are as the minor propositions in euery actiue syl logisme for no excellencye of observacions which are as the maior propositions can suffice to ground a conclusion if there be error and mistaking in the minors That this knowledge is possible Salomon is our surety who sayeth Consilium in corde viri tanquam aqua profunda sed vir prudens exhauriet illud And although the knowledge it selfe falleth not vnder precept because it is of Indiuiduals yet the Instructions for the obtaining of it may We will beginne therefore with this precept according to the aunciente opinion that the Synewes of wisedome are slownesse of beleefe and distrust That more trust bee giuen to Countenances and Deedes then to wordes and in wordes rather to suddaine passages and surprised wordes then to set and purposed wordes Neither let that be feared which is sayde fronti nulla fides which is meant of a generall outward behauiour and not of the priuate and subtile mocions and labours of the countenance and gesture which as Q. Cicero elegantly sayth is Animi Ianua the gate of the Mynd None more close then Tyberius and yet Tacitus sayth of Gallus Etenim vultu offersionem coniectauerat So againe noting the disfering Character and manner of his commending Germanicus and Drusus in the Senate he sayeth touching his fashion wherein hee carried his speeche of Germunicus thus Magis in fpeciem adornatis verbis quam vt penitus sentire crederetur but of Drusus thus Paucioribus sed intentior fida oratione and in another place speaking of his character of speech when he did any thing that was gratious and populer he sayeth That in other thinges hee was velut eluctantium verborum but then againe Solutius loquebatur quando subueniret So that there is no such artificer of dissimulation nor noe such commaunded countenaunce vulius tussus that can seuer from a fained tale some of these fashions either a more sleight and carelesse fashion or more set sormall or more tedious and wandring or comming from a mā more drily and hardly Neither are Deedes such assured pledges as that they may be trusted without a iudicious cōsideraciō of their magnitude and nature Fraus sibi in paruis fidem praestruit vt maiore emolumento sallat and the Italian thinketh himselfe vpon the point to be bought and sould when he is better vsed then he was woont to be without manifest cause For small fauoures they doe but lull men a sleepe both as to Caution and as to Industry and are as Demosthenes calleth them Alimenta socordiae So againe we see how false the nature of some deeds are in that particular which Mutianus practised vpon Antonius Primus vpon that hollowe and vnfaithfull reconcilement which was made between them whereupon Mutianus aduanced many of the friends of Antonius Simul amicis eius praesecturas tribunatus largitur wherein vnder pretence to strengthen him he did desolate him and won from him his dependances As for words though they be like waters to Phisitions ful of flattery and vncertainty yet they are not to be dispised specially with the aduantage of passion and affection For so wee see Tyberius vpon a stinging and incensing speech of Agrippina came a step foorth of his dissimulacion when he sayd You are hurt because you doc not raigne of which Tacitus sayeth Audita hec raram occulti pectoris
nature Poyson is that which worketh wholy vpon Nature without that that nature can in any part worke vpon it So in the minde whatsoeuer knowledge reason cannot at all worke vpon conuert is a meere intoxication and indangereth a dissolution of the minde vnderstanding But for the latter it hath beene extreamely set on foote of late time by the Schoole of Paracelsus and some others that haue pretended to finde the truth of all naturall Philosophy in the Scriptures scandalizing and traducing all other Philosophie as Heathenish and Prophane But there is noe such enmitie betweene Gods word and his workes Neither doe they giue honour to the Scriptures as they suppose but much imbase them For to seeke heauen and earth in the word of God Whereof it is saide Heauen and Earth shall passe but my worde shall not passe is to seeke temporary things amongst eternall And as to seeke Diuinitie in Philosophy is to seeke the liuing amongst the dead So to seeke Philosophy in Diuinitie is to seek the dead amongst the liuing Neither are the Pots or Lauers whose place was in the outward part of the Temple to be sought in the holiest place of all where the Arke of the testimonie was seated And againe the scope or purpose of the spirit of God is not to expresse matters of Nature in the Scriptures otherwise then in passage and for application to mans capacitie and to matters morall or Diuine And it is a true Rule Authoris aliud agentis parua authoritas For it were a strange conclusion if a man should vse a similitude for ornament or illustration sake borrowed from Nature or historie according to vulgar conceit as of a Basiliske an Vnicorne a Centaure a Briareus an Hydra or the like that therefore hee must needes bee thought to affirme the matter thereof positiuely to be true To conclude therefore these two Interpretations the one by reduction or Aenigmaticall the other Philosophicall or Phisicall which haue beene receiued and pursued in imitation of the Rabbins and Cabalists are to be confined with a Noli altum sapere sed time But the two later points knowne to God and vnknowne to Man touching the secrets of the heart and the successions of time doth make a iust and sound difference betweene the manner of the exposition of the Scriptures and all other bookes For it is an excellent obseruation which hath beene made vpon the answeres of our Sauiour Christ to many of the questions which were propounded to him how that they are impertinent to the state of the question demanded the reason whereof is because not being like man which knowes mans thoughts by his words but knowing mans thoughts immediately hee neuer answered their words but their thoughts much in the like manner it is with the Scriptures which being written to the thoughts of men and to the succession of all ages with a foresight of all heresies coatradictions differing estates of the Church yea and particularly of the elect are not to be interpreted only according to the latitude of the proper sense of the place and respectiuely towardes that present occasion whereupon the wordes were vttered or in precise congruitie or contexture with the wordes before or after or in contemplation of the principall scope of the place but haue in themselues not onely totally or collectiuely but distributiuely in clauses and wordes infinite springs and streames of doctrine to water the Church in euerie part and therefore as the literall sense is as it were the maine streame or Riuer So the Morall sense chiefely and sometimes the Allegoricall or Typicall are they whereof the Church hath most vse not that I wish men to be bold in Allegories or Indulgent or light in Allusions but that I doe much condemne that Interpretation of the Scripture which is onely after the manner as Men vse to interprete a prophane booke In this part touching the exposition of the Scriptures I can report noe deficience but by way of remembrance this I will adde In perusing Bookes of Diuinitie I finde many Bookes of controuersies and many of common places and treatises a masse of positiue Diuinitie as it is made an Arte a number of Sermons and Lectures and many prolixe commentaries vpon the Scriptures with harmonies and concordances but that forme of writing in Diuinitie which in my Iudgement is of all others most rich and precious is positiue Diuinitie collected vpon particular Texts of Scriptures in briefe obseruations not dilated into common places not chaseing after controuersies not reduced into Methode of Art a thing abounding in Sermons which will vanish but defectiue in Bookes which wil remaine and a thing wherin this age excelleth For I am perswaded and I may speake it with an Absit invidia verbo and no waies in derogation of Antiquitie but as in a good emulation betweene the vine and the oliue That if the choise and best of those obseruations vpon Texts of Scriptu◅es which haue beene made dispersedly in Sermons within this your Maiesties Ilands of Brittanie by the space of these fortie yeares and more leauing out the largenesse of exhortations and applications thereupon had beene set downe in a continuance it had beene the best worke in Diuinitie which had beene written since the Apostles times The matter informed by Diuinitie is of two kinds matter of beliefe and truth of opinion and matter of seruice and adoration which is also iudged and directed by the former The one being as the internall soule of Religion the other as the externall body thereof therfore the heathen Religion was not onely a worship of Idolls but the whole Religion was an Idoll in it selfe for it had noe soule that is no certaintie of belief or confession as a man may well thinke considering the chiefe Doctors of their Church were the Poets and the reason was because the heathen Gods were noe Iealous Gods but were glad to be admitted into part as they had reasō Neither did they respect the purenesse of hart so they mought haue externall honour and rites But out of these two doe result and issue foure maine branches of Diuinitie Faith Manners Lyturgie and Gouernment Faith containeth the Doctrine of the Nature of GOD of the attributes of GOD and of the workes of GOD The nature of GOD consisteth of three persons in vnitie of GOD-head The attributes of GOD are either common to the deitie or respectiue to the persons The workes of GOD summarie are two that of the Creation and that of the Redemption And both these workes as in Totall they appertaine to the vnitie of the God-head So in their parts they referre to the three persons That of the Creation in the Masse of the Matter to the father in the disposition of the forme to the Sonne and in the continuance and conseruation of the being to the Holy spirit So that of the Redemptiō in the election and counsell to the Father in the whole Act and consūmation to the