Deities by them adored with all possible reverence were dogges and cats toades and crocodiles and the like Of whom among others the Latin Satyrist vvorthily Quis nescit Volusi Bithinica qualia demens Aegyptus portenta colat crocodilon adorat Pars haec illa pavet staturam serpentibus ibim Effigies sacri nitet aurea cercopitheci c. How they came first to resolve upon such horrible worship they that have most curiously searched into it as Diod. Siculus and others could never though they purposely conferred with the most learned Aegyptians of those dayes find out certainely It is most likely that they were at first compelled unto it by their princes and governours for some politick ends and considerations But in after ages when this worship how strange and uncouth soever at first was once become customarie and hereditary unto them with what approbation of judgement and affection of heart to the ready forsaking of their goods lives and liberties for it they then did embrace and practise it ancient histories such as cannot by any sober man bee questioned beare record unto this day I will not bring here what we read in some of them because it may be questioned with more colour of great advantages in wars wittingly and willingly forgone by the Aegyptians by reason of their superstition yea how they have chosen rather to yeeld themselves unto their enemies when they might have had the best of it then to violate though but the bare signes and pictures of those beasts which were sacred unto them But the testimonie of Diod. Siculus whose words among others are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. This superstition of theirs cleaveth so fast unto their soules or is so penetratively infused into their very soules and so immoovably bent and affected are they every one of them to the worship of these creatures c. and those instances that hee brings whereof he was an eye witnesse of their zeale to their religion no man can question with any colour of reason And Tullie speakes of it as of a thing known to all the World and whereof examples were obvious in his dayes Aegyptiorum morem saith he and marke by the way that hee cals it morem by which word he closely adscribes it unto custome quis ignorat quorum imbutae mentes pravitatis erroribus quamvis carnificinam priùs subierint quà m ibim aut aspidem aut felem aut canem aut crocodilum violent quorum etiam si imprudentes quippiam fecerint paenam nullam recusent Such was their zeale to their religion against nature reason and common sense grounded upon custome onely whereby it may appeare that bare zeale without due observation of other circumstances is but a weake and uncertaine triall of the Truth Now to instance as I have formerly in some things of our dayes likewise and in our owne practise it will bee hard for me to find an instance that will be generally thought so pertinent because though the matter bee of itselfe never so strange yet custome having made it familiar it will not seeme strange unto ordinary men whose understanding though they know it not is blinded by it the more dangerously blinded the lesse they suspect it to be so But to them that are yet free or at least will hereafter use the meanes to vindicat themselves into the libertie of a sound judgement according to truth and reason to them I dare boldly say that it is not more strange not more strange I say no more either that some people of the World should worship no God at all or that some should with those ancient Aegyptians whom we have spoken of worship dogs and cats for their Gods then that Christians contrarie not onely to reason and even common sense it selfe but also to the direct example of Christ the founder of their religion should behave themselves so prophanely in their Churches erected to the honour of their God and make so little reckoning of them as they doe in many places of Europe and not onely doe it but in some places which is strangest of all thinke themselves the purer and sounder Christians that they doe so Were it but for the sake of Iewes and Gentiles who cannot but abhorre that Religion that allowes of such profanesse in and about places dedicated to the worship of God were there no more in it then so Yet it is apparantly against the lawes of true Christianitie which of all others are most severe against all wilfull scandals that such irreverence should be allowed I am the bolder to say that it is against true Christianitie because I know it was not so when true Christianitie did most flourish And truely he that should have seene in the times of the primitive Church devout Christians not daring so much as to touch a Bible without first washing of their hands in token of reverence and in their Churches in great humilitie stooping sometimes to the very ground whence as I take it are those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 salutations or kissings of the holy pavements mentioned in the Ius Orientale yea directly terramfronte concutientes as Saint Augustine speakes in a place or as Saint Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prostrating themselves quite downe and beating the ground with their foreheads which though it were not absolutely required of any but such as were either to bee baptized or did solemne penance whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for prostratio as Billius hath long agoe taught us yet was voluntarily performed by them of the devouter sort as appeares by Saint Chrysostome tom vi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who cals them there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that did it in opposition to cold careles worshippers and the like And should now see holy Bibles prophanely tossed up and downe as they are ordinarie men entring into Churches with such gesture and countenance rather as if they entred with authoritie to dispossesse God then to humble themselves before him and in time of divine service carrying themselves in them accordingly moreover divers making no conscience to doe that about and against consecrated walls of Churches which common civilitie doth prompt us to forbeare about private houses those of our betters at lest certainely he would hardly be brought to beleeve that things so contrary could proceed from men of the same Religion or rather indeed to beleeve that men that had any sense of any religion at all be it what it will could be so securely and senselesly prophane However though it bee not unlikely in this atheisticall age that many doe it because they have said in their hearts that there is no God and in this sacrilegious age of purpose because it concernes their profit and ungodly designes that consecrated places bee made common and profaned Yet God forbid wee should judge so uncharitably of all that offend in this kind but rather judge and beleeve that it is nothing else but the power of custome and the want of due consideration that
otherwise would be due unto it Now the knowledge of Truth being a matter of such moment to happinesse as wee have said it is much to bee lamented that the search of it should bee so difficult as it is so beset with sundry rubbes and impediments so shadowed with many false colours and lineaments as it is to bee feared that many men after no small paines and studie to find out what Truth is in stead of finding what might satisfie them concerning the nature of Truth begin to doubt whether there be any such thing in rerum natura and by consequent whether any such thing truely and really as Vertue and Iustice according to that miserable complaint though uttered by him upon another occasion of dying Brutus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O wretched vertue hitherto have I carefully exercised thee as a thing true and reall but now I see that thou art meere words and wind And in very truth if a man shall as it were from some higher place raised with the wings of philosophicall contemplation as an indifferent judge or but spectator take a generall view of the surface of the earth diligently observe and looke into the actions and endeavours of mortall men hee shall cleerely see that that which all ingenuous men aime at and most even wretched worldlings doe pretend unto is truth but that truth so generally professed both by the one and by the other for truth in some whose grosse and earthly temperature is most uncapable of heavenly both thoughts and hopes to bee nothing else but meere policie and private secular interests in many others of a purer mould or metall whose meaning is good and sincere nothing else in effect but meere partialitie prejudice presumption resolute obstinacie and the like being all the fruits and effects of either blind ignorance the more blind the more confident alwaies in too much heate and eagernesse the naturall distemper of most men or lastly if not of all these together yet of some one of them especially of long use and custome Shewes and colours and appearances and pretences of truth in great store every where reall and solid truth hee shall see but little any where and that too in many places either silenced or forced by unjust violence into corners Vpon one of these impediments that I have mentioned I purpose at this time to fixe my contemplation being one of the chiefest if I bee not much mistaken my selfe of those many things that cause truth to bee mistaken by men and that is Custome That men both in their actions and in their judgements are most swaied by custome hath beene the observation of many wise men of old and is most apparant by daily experience to them that shall observe it with diligence Non ratione componimur sed consuetudine saith Seneca Epist 123 and elsewhere speaking of the actions of men As those things are which men are used unto so are their judgements saith Aristotle in his Metaphysicks lib. 1. parte 2. c. 3. Rabbi Ben Maimon commonly called Rambam the most judicious Rabbin that ever was known to the Christian World in his excellent booke called More Nevokim having insisted out of Alexander Aphrodisaeus as he professeth himselfe of three maine particulars which usually hinder men from the knowledge of truth addes a fourth of his owne observation as considerable in his judgement if not more then any of the former and that is saith hee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Custome and Education What word was used by the Author himselfe I know not For he wrote this booke in Arabick and the Hebrew is but a translation But the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used by the Hebrew translator for custome is very proper in this place comming from a simple Verbe which among other things signifieth fallere dolosè agere which is the very thing the Author doth here charge custome of Amant enim homines saith he naturâ id ad quod sunt assuefacti propendent ad illud And then after some instances taken from daily experience goes on thus as the late Latin Translator renders him Idem planè accidere solet homini insententiis opinionibus quibus innutritus est ut pro amore illarum ab illis dimoveri nequeat Quae causa est ut homo saepe non possit apprehendere veritatem quia scilicet illa sequitur quibus assuefactus est c. Neither is there want of many plausible pretences to make this power or tyranny rather as Saint Chrysostome doth usually stile it of custome to seeme as reasonable as it is generall For first Naturalists tell us that Consuetudo tanquam altera natura so Aristotle and Gallen elegantly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Custome is an adscititious Nature Both Civilians and Canonists tell us not onely that consuetudo optima legis interpres that is much that it should be so but plainly that consuetudo derogat legi abrogat legem yea some of them that consuetudo illicita licita facit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the resolution of the Councell of Nice in matters of the Church and to enquire of the former age and to stand upon the wayes and there to looke for the good old wayes is the way that the Prophet doth teach us both to truth and righteousnesse to wit to consult with Antiquitie which is nothing else but a continued custome as custome is nothing else but actus saepius multiplicati as it is defined by Lawyers and Schoole-men Besides Philosophers tell us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is in being and that wee call Truth are all one And what is custome but that which is in being And if any to shew a difference shall adde that Truth is that which is hath beene and shall bee which is as much as to say that it is eternall wise Salomon seemes to say as much of custome when intreating of the varietie of mens labours and actions hee useth these words The thing that hath beene is that which shall bee and that which is done is that which shall be done and there is no new thing under the Sunne Is there any thing whereof it may he said See this is new It hath beene already of old times which was before us So another a King too and as wise a King of a heathen as Salomon He saith he that seeth the things that are now hath seene all that either was ever or ever shall bee For all things are of one kind and all like one unto another And in another place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What ever it bee that is now done here is the same that hath alwayes beene and ever shall be and is now done in all places which is spoken by him as appeares there not of things naturall lest any man should mistake but of mens actions and fashions Anto. vi 34.x.12 To these things if any shall reply that consuetudo quae non est rationabilis is not properly consuetudo but corruptela and
mingle mangle or what ever they will of sublunarie things had they well viewed it with more rationall eyes then they did as Plinie well in a place speaking of the gnat If my memory faile me not nusquam natura magis tota quà m in minimis that the power of Nature was greatest in her lest workes so would they with admiration have said of it that nusquam potentior natura quà m in maximé fragilibus or if you will have it in the words of Saint Paul that ye may know God to be the same God in things naturall as hee is in things spirituall as in truth there is but one truth both of things spirituall and naturall that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it is the heighth and perfection of the divine power to shew it selfe most powerfull in those things that are most weake Thirdly it is further to be considered that where custome makes an alteration and becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ascititious nature yet doth it seldome so overcome nature originall but that it hath some force and secret operation in and upon the subject the lesse visible the more powerfull yea the more dangerous as it prooves oftentimes So through custome a man may bring himselfe to an habite of intemperance that it shall not bee in his power nor safe for his body perchance to returne unto sobrietie Yet neither is it at first without danger it is death unto many to attempt it and if Gallen may be credited it is a great chance if at the last though the inconvenience of it bee not presently perceived it doe not proove some way or other pernicious What if some intemperate men attaine to 60. or 80 They may thank the strength of their nature for it which bad custome could no sooner overthrow and had they beene sober men it is more then likely their life how long soever might have beene longer by 20. yeares at lest So a man through continuall labour and industrie may doe much in the pursuite of some art or science yet if hee have not a genius to it a naturall aptitude and disposition he shall never attaine be his labour never so great to any great perfection whereas lesse labour in a way more sutable to his nature might have made him excellent Hence is that Praecept of the Poet Tu nihil invita dices faciesque Minerva that we doe nothing invita Minerva that is as Tullie doth interpret it in his first de Offic. adversante repugnante natura I omit many pregnant passages to this purpose of the two great Naturalists Hipocrates and Gallen which you may read either in themselves or if that will serve your turne in Huart his Examen des Ingenios They are all for originall nature and without it they thinke all labour is lost So saith Seneca too Inclinandum quò te vis ingenii defert Malè enim respondent coacta ingenia reluctante natura irritus labor est I must confesse I am not altogether of their opinion neither was Plutarch I am sure and examples there be if wee were now to argue the case good store to the contrary Neverthelesse their admonitions I acknowledge are to good purpose that Parents and Masters should carefully observe the naturall inclination of youths before they designe them to any particular profession This for the most part is the safest way That 's enough though we say no more Fourthly besides in many things when a man hath done all that art can and industrie yet cannot he bee secure but that nature Originall may returne and shew her selfe upon the suddaine and that to his cost as it may proove As for example wee read of divers that have taken great paines to tame wild beasts that they might use them as familiarly as wee doe commonly those which are tame by nature And we read withall of divers who have found by wofull experience that forced nature is of those things which by a wise man may not be trusted Witnesse hee of whom Martiall speakes ii 75 Verbera securi solitus Leo ferre magistri Insertamque pati blandus in ora manum Dedidicit pacem subito feritate reversa Quanta nec in Lybicis debuit esse jugis and de spectac x. Laeserat ingrato Leo perfidus ore magistrum Ausus tam notas contemerare manus c. The Poet therefore had some reason though it hold not in all things equally when he said Naturam expellas furca licet usque recurret Et mala perrumpet furtim fastidia victrix Fifthly it hath beene observed of some free stones that when they are used in a building if they bee laid in that proper posture which they had naturally in their quarries they grow very hard and durable against both time and weather if that be changed that they consume and moulder away in a short time Certainely art may doe much and custome much but to follow nature where nature herselfe hath not degenerated is alwaies both the surer and most commendable And so I shall conclude this part of the power of custome in things naturall with the words of a Heathen but such as may become a Christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O nature from thee are all things in thee all things subsist and to thee all tend What ever it be that fits thee well fits me likewise as being part of thee Nothing that thy seasons beare is to me as either too forward or too backeward unseasonable c. THe ancient Greeke Philosophers said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This world is but a change and the Apostle speaking of the World very elegantly and emphatically cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intimating thereby that this World to speake of it truely and properly is rather a matter of fashion then of substance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Theophylact upon the place lately most elegantly printed in London as the happy first fruits of a greater harvest of Greeke Manuscripts to bee set out here in England to the great honour of this Realme and the no lesse contentment of all true lovers of learning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hee cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or fashion to teach us that all the things of this present world are but objects of the eye onely and serve but for a shew as things meerely superficiall without any either stabilitie or substance in themselves It is so if wee consider those things which both in regard of their forme and matter are meerely naturall and it is so if wee consider those which have their existence in and from the will of man The body of man is not so mutable as his will is nor the persons and outward features of men so different one from another as their minds Nova vita novos mores postulat saith the Comick Wee have more reason to say Novus dies novos mores And yet that is more then wee can truely say of many
any booke of what subject soever it be or purposely speake of how well they fit and sute to the time and place that is pretended Take away these two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of words and customes and it will bee a hard taske for any man to discover and evict the supposititiousnes of any writing Hence it is that in the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament by Gods great providence all things for the most part bee so punctually set downe with all kind of circumstances at large which though illiterate men perchance passe over by reason of their ignorance yet men of learning to whom the state of the World from the beginning with the severall periods alterations and revolutions of it as farre as it can be knowne by ancient bookes and Records is not unknowne receive marveilous satisfaction from them both for the better confirmation of their faith and the greater contentment of their minds For this cause men of judgement that would gladly make use of their owne eyes to see the way that leades unto truth and not altogether to depend from the abilitie both and fidelitie of others have taken so much paines about words as also to bee well verst in the rites and customes of all ages and places Neither can it be denyed by men of understanding but that this way of studie hath beene next under God the chiefest meanes of this blessed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or new birth of learning which begun not much above a hundred yeares agoe And I must confesse I have wondred with my selfe sometimes that this kind of learning being come to that heighth or perfection as it is in our dayes no man hath yet laboured for the ease of others to reduce it to some certaine Method and rules of art as it were as by setting downe the proper words and rites of every age and place whereby they are discernable from another by the help whereof even men of ordinary learning might give a good guesse at the age of every Author that they have occasion to use nor be altogether so lyable to the impostures or falsaries as they are Which certainely is feasable enough if not to perfection yet to a good degree of publicke utilitie But on the other side when I call to mind that Impostors would bee the first that would make use of this art to make their forgeries the more passable as certainely they would then I thinke it very happy that it is not neither of it selfe more easie to attaine unto nor made more common by the labour of others then it is What I have said of the knowledge of old customes and the use thereof in matter of bookes is as true in matter of old writings and evidences of what kind soever True it is that nothing should bee more sacred and inviolable amongst men then publicke instruments and evidences whose onely end and use is to be witnesses unto the truth and to protect it from her many enemies as malice favour partialitie and the like Yet how rightly Seneca said Nihil esse tam sacrum quod sacrilegum non inveniat may appeare even in this particular For it is well knowne that even of old many evidences have beene forged to abuse the World withall and that sometimes not by one or two secretly combining but even by many unanimously conspiring together against the Truth For example I find that about some foure hundred yeares agoe Gregorie the ninth being then Pope of Rome and Saint Edmond Archbishop of Canterburie the Monkes of Canterburie were convicted to have counterfeited or adulterated a certaine Charter of Thomas of Becket by which they claimed certaine priviledges For which abominable fact and other enormities that worthy pious Prelate intended great and severe punishments upon the whole Convent But they having made Otho the Popes Legate and Edmunds great enemy their friend prevailed with the Pope that the cause might bee referred to the said Otho And in conclusion but three of the whole Convent were found guiltie by Otho And upon this favourable information and friendly mediation withall of the Legate the Pope sent a dispensation unto the Monasterie by which hee did acquit them both from present further troubles and from future deserved infamie for such an infamous Act. Even those three that were found guilty it was judged they had done it in Spiritu simplicitatis so runnes the Dispensation and for this their simplicitie forsooth they were not exiled but confined to certaine places to doe penance No wonder if others have made bold in that kind since if the imputation of simplicitie was the worst that would come of it Simplicitas digna favore fuit saith one of the old Poets If wee looke backe unto better and purer ages wee shall not find I am sure that Simplicitie was ever objected unto any as a crime but in Monckes especially that once it was thought their chiefest commendation I find in many Fathers But since it is as it is wee may thanke God that evidences and old writings as well as other things have had their proper customes in almost all ages by the knowledge and consideration whereof the true for the most part if the Impostor hath not beene very cunning may bee easily knowne from the counterfeit For not to speake here either of the words themselves or forme of writing or manner of orthographie as well considerable in these as in bookes besides these there are divers other things that are observable There have beene times when Seales have beene in use and times when they were not when such and such seales and such and such dates when such and such subscriptions and superscriptions and sundry such particulars much differing one from another all of them according to their severall times and places Those therefore take a very good course who when they have occasion to set out any ancient Records and evidences keepe to their originals in all points as neere as may be to give the better satisfaction unto the learned which is the course I see and am heartily glad to see it that Sir Henrie Spilman Knight that learned and painefull Antiquarie does take in the publication of the English Synods which for the good and honour of our English Church he is now about For in very truth a very small alteration is enough sometimes to make a true Record suspected As for example That those small Arithmeticall figures which wee had from the Maures or Arabs as they from the Indians have not beene knowne or in use amongst us Christians scarce yet foure hundred yeares hath beeene observed by men perfectly well versed in the knowledge both of ancient times and writings They were much to blame therefore who setting out some writings of above seven hundred yeares antiquitie and professing to follow the Originalls very exactly and punctually in all circumstances of writing made no scrupule in lieu of those Roman figures then in use to put these small ones so lately
simplicitie His words are consuetudo initium ab aliquâ ignorantiâ vel simplicitate sortita in usum per successionem corroboratur de virgin vel c. i. Hee might have added which is added by others another ground of many Lawes and customes which is wilfull injustice and want of a good conscience the rarest thing of the world though nothing bee more commonly pretended It doth therefore much concerne every particular man them especially that take upon them to bee men of judgement and understanding as not to controle the received Lawes and customes of their countries the alteration whereof belongeth not unto them So to understand as neere as they may what Lawes and customes are absolutely good and warrantable in themselves and which are tolerated and maintained onely for the peace and concord of the Commonwealth Here therefore is a maine difference to be made betweene those things that the Law doth command and doth oblige us unto and those things which if wee doe the Law doth allow but not command betweene those things that wee doe as good subjects unto the King and his Lawes and those that wee doe of our owne inclination taking the advantage of the Law What Christ once said unto his Disciples If your righteousnesse exceed not the righteousnes of the Scribes and Pharises the strictest men for their old lawes and customes that ever were you shall never enter into the Kingdome of Heaven is in this sense applyable unto all men Such a Legall life will never bring them unto Heaven Therefore the Canonists teach us that consuetudo may liberare à paenis civilibus indeed but cannot à paenis gehennae if in itselfe it bee unconscionable and unreasonable And they are not the Canonists onely that teach us this doctrine but even our owne Lawyers that have taken the greatest paines to uphold the credit and maintaine the Iustice of our Lawes Many unlearned persons saith one of them beleeve that it is lawfull for them to doe with good conscience all things which if they doe them they shall not bee punished therefore by the Law though the Law doth not warrant them c. and so goes on setting downe for example some particular cases of those things which a conscionable Christian is bound unto to save his soule though hee cannot be compelled unto it by the Law D r. and Stud. lib. 1. c. 19. And in such cases saith the same Author in another place he is in conscience as well bound if he will save his soule as hee were if hee were compelled thereto by the Law c. If there bee not then besides the Law of the Land a law of reason and conscience to regulat our actions by we are certainely but in bad case in point of eternall salvation HAving treated hitherto in this second part of the Varietie first then of the power and validitie of custome in things civill it will not be improper that I adde somewhat of words also and of the power that custome hath in matter of words and speeches For though many men for want of knowledge and experience thinke that words are but wind and therefore account no subject that is about words to bee very materiall or worthy the studie of a serious man yet wiser men know full well that in very truth there is nothing that setteth men on worke so much or causeth so much stirre in the World as words meere words doe and have alwayes done that words have beene the occasion of many warres by which many great Cities and Countries have beene overthrowne that words have caused bloudy strifes and persecutions even in the Church not words onely as they were intended and should have beene understood but even mistaken through ignorance It was once said of some ancient Philosophers Sentit idem Aristo quod Xenocrates quod Aristoteles loquitur alio modo ex hac autem non rerum sed verborum discordiâ controversia nata est c. A happy thing it were for the World that words were well understood every where and all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all strifes and contentions about words quite taken away But that will not bee as long as the World indures it is in vaine to wish it though not to wish it be the part of either an ignorant or uncharitable man But I have nothing to doe with words here but as custome my present subject hath to doe with them to wit to shew the power of custome upon words and some remarkable effects of this power A. Gellius saith well in a place consuetudo omnium rerum domina sed maximè verborum and Quintillian yet more fully that consuetudo est certissima loquendi magistra utendumque plane sermone ut numo cui publica forma est and againe Ridiculum malle sermonem quo locuti sunt homines quam quo loquuntur sane quid est aliud vetus sermo quà m vetus loquendi consuetudo So Horace and divers others who all agree in this that vvords and all right speaking goes by custome and whereas in other things custome as hath beene shewed is an usurper upon right here her soveraigntie is acknowledged to bee naturall right and custome in matter of words and language being in the judgement of wisest men but one thing for the most part Now therefore to speake of it somewhat more distinctly First custome makes vvords that were but sounds before to bee vvords that is to signifie somewhat As for example it makes the sound that those three letters G. o. and d. being put together doe make to signifie unto us of this nation the Lord and maker of all things For of itselfe vvhy these three letters should represent such a thing there is no ground in nature but custome It is true the Stoicks of old were of another opinion and it became a great controversie among Philosophers vvhether vvords vvere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by nature or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by imposition at pleasure Origin in few vvords states the question thus Aristoteles sentit positu nomina Stoici putant Naturâ esse indita imitantibus primis editis vocibus res ipsas ad quas nomina imposita sint qua ratione Etymologias inducunt And A. Gellius to the same purpose Nomina verbaque non posita fortuito sed quadam vi ratione naturae facta esse P. Nigidius in Grammaticis Commentariis docet rem sane in Philosophiae dissertationibus celebrem Queri enim solitum apud philosophos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Saint Augustine handles it at large in his de Dialectica to whom and to Gellius I referre them that would know more of it Hereupon the Stoicks did earnestly bestirre themselves to find out and penetrat into the Etymologie of every word and to shevv the reason of it in nature but to speake truth their labour tended rather to make sport unto the idle then to give satisfaction unto the soberly curious Yet the
Stoicks were tolerable in comparison of some both of old and of late too who have proceeded further laying this for their foundation that vvords and syllables are of great power and efficacie and have some say I know not what affinitie and hidden correspondence with starres and planets Hereupon some by a certaine art which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 undertake in the name of every man to read his fortune and to foretell great matters I could not but mention such comming so in my way but I will no more then mention them their opinions being so apparantly absurd But vvhy then doth Aristotle vvho determines it so peremptorily that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that no words are by nature in many places stand upon vvords so much himselfe and examine their Etymologies so carefully To this I say that though generally vvords goe by custome yet sometimes they may bee said to bee from nature or naturall in some sense that is set of purpose to set out unto us the nature of such and such a thing There be many vvords of that nature it cannot be denyed in some languages more then others but in all some and in this case to understand the right Etymologie of a vvord conduces much to the understanding of the thing itselfe Of the nature of it I meane but not to foretell or foresee by it any thing future not more then can bee knowne by the naturall knowledge of the thing itselfe Some vvords againe may bee called naturall because they doe when they are uttered and pronounced imitate the nature of the thing itselfe which they signifie So for example when wee say in Latin aeris tinnitum equorum hinnitum ovium balatum tubarum clangorem stridorem catenarum Perspicis saith Saint Augustine haec verba ita sonare ut res quae his verbis significantur So most of them that they call voces animalium propriae for the most part both in Greeke and Latin are naturall Againe custome doth make some words naturall in that it gives unto them the power and efficacie of things that are naturall to produce some naturall effects Such are those words and sounds whereby dumme creatures are governed which though of themselves they be but invalid words and sounds yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plutarch of them in a place through custome and skilfull education become so powerfull that what can bee done upon dum creatures with blowes or whips or any other kind of violence may bee done with them and sometimes more So a man may use himselfe to tremble or weepe or laugh and the like at certaine words and sounds which in time shall have that power over his body that it shall not be in the power of his will to forbeare Even as the sight of whips and scourges as wee read in ancient stories hath beene more powerfull upon slaves in warres then the sight of more dreadfull and mortall weapons because the smart of those which they often felt as slaves made them in time to abhorre naturally and irresistibly the very sight of them so words also Long use and custome may turne them into charmes to make them operative upon nature though of themselves they have no naturall power at all All these things granted whereof to discourse at large is not my present purpose it holds still neverthelesse as we affirmed at first that generally and for the most part words are words that is are significant by custome Secondly all difference of words and phrases in point of elegancie or barbarisme is altogether from custome Hence it is that those expressions which in some language are most proper and elegant in another are most ridiculous and barbarous neither is there any reason at all for the most in nature either for the one or for the other but that use and custome hath so determined it whose will and pleasure stands for reason in these cases It is true that Grammarians have taken great paines to reduce ordinarie words and speeches to some certaintie of analogie without which Grammar is no Art and somewhat it is that they have done in this kind for the easier teaching and learning of languages Yet doth custome herein maintaine the power of her soveraigntie upon words and speeches in that when shee pleases she breakes the rules and strictest bonds of best approoved Analogie and suffers no rule of Grammar to passe without an exception All matter of elegancie then or babarisme being but a matter of custome as it is no wonder to see silly people for want of knowledge either to vvonder or to scoffe at the expressions of other languages vvhen they heare strangers speake the vvords of the Countrey perchance but use their owne phrases and expressions So I cannot but wonder that in all ages men that have beene most ambitious to be thought learned have stood so much upon elegancie as I find they have done The ancient Heathens Philosophers and others did object many things I know against the Gospel of Christ but I doe not find that any thing generally did in very truth make them so averse from it as the language most of the New Testament being vvritten in Greeke words indeed some few excepted but for the most part in phrases and expressions that are meerely Hebrew and the Latin Translation being a mixture of both both of Hebrew and Greeke phrases rather then Latin that was Latin truely according to the custome of those times So hard a thing it vvas for them that had beene used to Plato and Aristotle and the like to relish such a style much lesse to reverence it A style nevertheles vvhich they would have thought elegant enough had they beene used to it as on the other side that of Plato or Aristotle but course and barbarous had not the power of custome interposed and disposed their eares and palates to it A late writer of Essayes treating of the power of custome after many strange instances brings this as I remember among others as one of the strangest That some certaine people of the World should bee governed by Lavves that are written in a strange unknowne tongue Certainly if the use of a strange tongue in one Countrey in point of Law vvhich would not be much better understood though it were in the vulgar tongue bee a thing so much to bee admired I thinke he might have found somewhat that is done in a strange tongue in many Countreys against all grounds of sense or reason much more to bee wondred at But whereas some others to increase the wonder deride and defame the said tongue as barbarous they rather make themselves an instance of the power of custome that makes them thinke so strange and speake so scornefully of a tongue once thought very sweet and elegant by them that were used unto it then perswade us to wonder at others that make no wonder of it Thirdly custome advanceth or abaseth words at