A Light to Grammar and All Other Arts and Sciences, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
The Scope herein; the excellency of the underſtanding: preparatories thereunto: of what uſe our ſenſes are; what our care over them: To diſcourſe of Generals is to beat the wind.
WEE left at the Grammar, the underſtanding whereof wee gained by way of precognition, whereto our ſenſe gave us great accō modation, ſo alſo to the underſtanding of higher matters, as it will to the knowledge of all Learning: For if Grammar be conveyed into the underſtanding by a naturall Light, and through its owne Gates; much more eaſie it is to carry in all Arts and Sciences by the ſame way; that is out of doubt, if we take the ſtraight and naturall Method thereunto.
And this were a worke fecible in length of time, and by ſuch helpes that are at hand: But of no uſe at all to the Youth, wanting, we ſuppoſe, thoſe Training Principles, which are, as I may ſay, preparatories, even to thoſe precognitions.
My undertaking was in the cloſe of the firſt part, to ennoble the underſtanding what I could; To ſinde it work ſutable to the dignity of ſo high and excellent a faculty. Surely we may ſay of it; it is the great Peripatetick of the World: So wide is its Range, and it hath its Emiſſaries, its Scoutes, and Spies, which it can ſend forth to the very corners of the earth, the depth of the ſeas, and the higheſt of the Heavens alſo. So that wee cannot fit it with any booke ſo genuine and naturall, as is the booke of Nature, which wee called the foreign, for the worlds are its Book, and every creature there its leſſon: And very ſutable to its capacity is all this, of ſo large an extent the underſtanding is. It can contain Philologie, Philoſophie, Theologie, Law, Phyſick, ſo the divers Arts inferiour to them. It can widen it ſelfe even to all, for receiving the Vniverſality, the Encyclopaedi…, a world of Diſciplines. And ſo quick, and expedite it is, that though we, having our pen, ſhould flie (as we purpoſe to doe, though the more haſte the leaſt ſpeed) yet we cannot for all that hold pace with it; ſo faſt will it run through all the Seminaries of Arts, and Sciences, graſping, and catching at all, though all will not fill it up, nor ſuffice, it can contain but its meaſure, which ſerves as a mirrour, onelyonly wherein to view our ignorance; or as a light, enough to diſcover that we are in the dark.
We will take the advantage of the higher ground, and raiſe up the child to the Pinnacle, as was ſaid, and there look about us a little. It will learne us what uſe there is of Generalls to a child, little, or none at all, and then afterwards, haply, to lead the child more wiſely. Therefore thither we will riſe firſt in our imaginations, ſo we may, for indeed In angisſto Ʋiveretur, ſiquidquam eſſet cogitationibus occluſum. Senwe ſhould live pent up in a priſon, (as the Philoſopher ſaith) if our minde were confined as our body is.
Note this for the clearing the way; That we make uſe of the Pinnacle, and our Imaginary there, as in a crowd, and preſſe of people we uſe Lictores, and Viatores, Sergeants, and Whifflers, ad ſummovendans turbam, to keepe off the thronging in of ſingulars. We muſt look upon things at the firſt, (though we over-look them) as he did upon his Army, in one lump and maſſe, as they were once altogether; For in a way ſo various, ſhould I have minced out things into particulars, they would have ſo crouded in upon us, that we ſhould have found our ſelves not in a way, but in a maze. So we will imploy our imaginary in the firſt place, which will quickly run over a large circuit, and let it take ſcope, and range where it will, we ſhall the better ſee what account it will give us at the laſt.
Yet that this travell of the minde may not be wholly fruitleſſe, I will give the childe ſome generall leſſons, which may ſerve us in ſtend of precognitions, of as great uſe as thoſe were, which the old father gave his ſon, about to take his flight.
1. We muſt take our minde with us, The mind ſeeth withcut the eye; the eye never without the mind.we muſt make ſure of that: A great commodity, yet oft-times left behind, or quickly ſlipt away from under our command, when it ſhould doe us moſt ſervice. The minde doth all, it is that which ſees, which heares fforeign Ariſt. de Intel. c. 30., &c. It is the eye, eare, hand of the ſoule, and body both; for if the minde be not preſent we doe not ſee what we look upon; Indeed ſometimes, the ſenſible, that I heare, or ſee, may be ſo vehement, and exceeding, that it will be heard or ſeene whether the minde will or no: but wee need feare no ſuch matter now.
2. We cannot but remember we We do not hold as ſome doe. that there is but one ſenſe and that is Tactus.carry about us our five ſenſes, ſo Organicall or Inſtrumentall are they to the whole body, yea, and to the minde too. We muſt needs minde them, for elſe they will minde us, eſpecially that, which is at the tip of the tongue, and the other which is diſſuſed through the whole body, which is not the out-moſt skin there, for that is as dead as: doore naile, but that which is very near it, of a glutenous and ſinewy ſubſtance, moſt tender alwayes where the ſinewes are moſt, as Tormentors of old knew very well.
Take them all together, and according to the command we take over them, they will evidence us to be eyther beaſts or men. They give us the greateſt accommodation, ſo alſo, for there is no mean, they doe us the greateſt hurt. Some there were who liſted Alexander very high, they made a god of him, as the manner is; ſometime after, this Great one received a great wound, and outguſhed a great deale of blood; Say my flatterers what they will, ſaid he, I ſee plainly what I am, a fraile man, and no other. The Philoſopher reads us a good Lecture upon this, we muſt not contemne what he ſaith: We may be ſo farre gull'd, and befooled, (for no man could be flattered, unleſſe he flattered himſelfe firſt) as that we may think our ſelves wiſe; Alas! nothing leſſe. We ſee, and then we covet things, that will never profit: we ſee, and then we take, that which will doe us certaine hurt. We wiſe? No not ſo wiſe as the beaſts, they know when they have enough, enough meat, enough water; ſo doth not man, becauſe he hath that about him, which ſtill is craving, give, give, and hee gratiſieth himſelfe ſo farre, and ſaith, take, take: So ſenſe is his carver, not reaſon; And this is to walk by ſenſe, and below a beaſt, for this man never ſaith, hee hath enough; But ſo a beaſt ſaith: ſo ſaith the Philoſopher, or to the like Sen. Ep. 59purpoſe. Indeed we may now remember, that one man, and but one, who was led by ſenſe, ſaid, Hee had enough; how enough? A great deale cforeign Much, or a great deal. Gen 33. 9. Eſaus enough.to glut him; it was not ſuch an enough, (I may ſay) as his good brother had, he had enough indeed, God was his portion, and there the ſoule dforeign i. … All things Gen. 33. 11. Iacobse enough.for God is All. I am a very little diverted from my ſcope here, I return, and ſay onelyonly, we have our five wits if we doe not guard them, they will ſpoyle us even of our crowne, and Princely dignity: ſuch a neceſſity there is, if wee will be our owne men, to keepe a ſtrict watch about them, a ſure command over them, ſpecially when we are gadding and gazing abroad. This is our wiſedome, and for this we ſhall be counted underſtanding men.
3. There are(ſay ſome) three inward ſenſes performing the offices of the Animall ſpirit, which uſeth the body as an inſtrument. But theſe three upon the matter are all one, for if we be attent upon a thing, we doe imagine or conſider what it is, and then we can record, or remember it alſo. Theſe are indeed but three diſtinct operations, (common to us with beaſts, but with ſome advantage on mans ſide) of one and the ſame ſpirit, which the minde or ſoule uſeth, and thereby doth exerciſe thoſe great powers of VnderUnder ſtanding, Will, Conſcience: For from diligent attention there is conveyed to a man, the underſtanding of things: from imagination, or dijudication, a chuſing, or refuſing: from remembrance, conſcience, that great and impartiall Judge, for it cannot be bribed, nor ever can it be alone.
4. And now, having theſe helps about us, the higher we ſoare, the better, for the higher, the nearer we come to the higheſt; and the more diſcerning we have there, the more we ſhall diſcerne our ſelves, and our owne vileneſſe, which will cauſe us to walk humbly below, and to avoid the ſnares there.
5. It muſt be conſidered for the cloſing up of the method, elſe there will be a gaping; That I have led the childe through the earth already, and over the deep waters; upthrough this great gulf, the Aire, to the Starry heaven, and above them. I ſhall not doe what is already done, but rather adde thereunto.
In the laſt place, I ſuppoſe the child is ſtill asking queſtions, (ſo he ſhould be aZ foreign,read Aſch. Schoole. p. 7. foreign. Ariſt. Met. 3. 1.) and my ſelfe giving hints thereof, or making anſwer thereunto. So theſe premiſed, we ſuppoſe where we are, upon the Pinnacle of the Temple, for there our proſpect hath the largeſt compaſſe, and beſt fits ſo capacious a ſubject. And here we would behold all the works of God, and operations of His Hand; All Hee hath created, and all that Man hath made; All the works of Nature and of Art upon dry land: We would to Sea alſo; to behold the wonders there; ſpecially the Ship, the oldeſt houſe of the new world; and then to the remoteſt regions of the earth, or aire, to behold all the workes there. And if all this in our Imaginary wee could doe, yet the underſtanding would not bee ſatisfied with all this. One world is not enough, nor, had we ſuch another, could it bee ſufficient. But where abouts are we now in the world, for where the minde is, there are we? In a Maze ſure enough: And by graſping all, we have loſt the benefit of all, that is certain.
It puts me in minde of a very merry fellow and mee thinkes I have done ſomewhat like him; He would ſpend a whole day in fetching a round about Europe, thence ſtepping into Aſia, ſo ſtriding into Africa, thence leaping into America; then home againe to ſupper and to bed; In good time all this, but wee hope his benefit was not much, which hee made of his travell. This is the way to let the under ſtanding remaine confuſed, without fruit, as lyeth the field, where they caſt over much ſeed. Hee that goes with a child in his hand, muſt goe as the child can goe; and he muſt drop-in inſtructions, as the Nurſe fed him, by little ſpoonefuls, and even that little, by little degrees too; for of that little, much goes beſide, in and out, as Nurſes know beſt: But this we ſee very well, as the Nurſe feeds the body, ſo we the underſtanding; Wee muſt bee dropping drop after drop, and many a drop falls by too. Hee that poures altogether upon a child, or gives it him in a lumpe, loſeth all his labour, and choaketh the underſtanding.