The Elements of Logic, Dedication 2
The Authors Epiſtle. TO MY LORD FREDERICK MAVRICE de la Tour, Prince of Sedan; Sonne and heire of the high and mightie Prince HENRY de de Tour, Duke of Bouillon, firſt Marſhall of FRANCE, &c.
MY LORD,
That which the hand is among Inſtruments, the ſame is Logick among other Arts and Sciences. For as the hand is a generall Inſtrument that handleth all other inſtruments: So Logick is a generall Inſtrument, the knowledge whereof ſerveth to handle all other knowledges, and to make a skilfull vſe of them. And as it is the propertie of Art to poliſh and perfect Nature: So it is the propertie of this Art to poliſh and direct naturall reaſon. For there is a certaine naturall Logick, which man vſeth naturally, without any art; even the vnlearned ſort will ſometimes make a Syllogiſme vnawares. But Philoſophie, having ſearched out all the ſecrets of naturall reaſon, hath obſerued the cauſes of a good Diſcourſe, and hath ſet downe rules to that purpoſe,
Wherein appeareth the excellency of this Art aboue the reſt. For ſeeing that man is diſcerned from a beaſt by the vſe of reaſon: other Arts and Sciences frame man as he is a Citizen, or a Magiſtrate, or a Lawyer, or a Phyſician; but Logick frameth man as he is man, and maketh him after a ſort a more reaſonable creature by the right vſe of reaſon.
But this Art hath chanced to fall into bad hands, that hauehave robbed it of her naturall ornaments, and by a ſtrange Metamorphoſis hauehave turned it into a faggot of dry thornes, which pricketh on every ſide; and in ſtead of drawing the rules thereof from naturall reaſon, and fitting them for the vſe of man; they hauehave entangled it with Metaphyſicall queſtions, which are like vntounto Crabs, where there is much pickling, but little meat, and are for no vſe, neither civill, nor religious.
This inveterate evill, which by cuſtome is turned into nature, would require a skilfuller Phyſician, and a quieter minde then mine is now, and a calmer ſeaſon then this wherin we are. Notwithſtanding being caſt vponupon this place by the tempeſt, as a planke of the generall ſhipwracke, and brought to a ſorrowfull reſt, I hauehave beſtowed certaine houres vponupon this Worke, and hauehave endevoured to giuegive a milder looke and countenance to this Art, plucking thoſe thornes from it, which it had gotten in the Schooles; and cloathing it with a French habit, that it might no longer walke in France like a ſtranger. For theſe many Ages paſt it hath beene commonly taught in a moſt barbarous and thornie Latin, as if ſweetneſſe and elegancie could not ſtand together with ſoliditie.
If the publicke receiue any benefit out of this my labour, it ſhall be wholy beholding to my Lord the Duke your Father for it. Who having received mee into his houſe, and given me a favourable entertainment, with all kinde of reſpect and benefits, hath exhorted mee to vndertake this taske, and to teach you the Precepts thereof; wherein I hauehave taken a ſingular delight. For, beſides that it was a great honour to mee to doe you any ſervice, it hath alſo given mee the occaſion to try your wit; which I hauehave obſerued to be endowed with a ſtrong imagination, and a ſolide iudgement, and which is not diſcouraged through difficulties: and by a laudable curioſitie will not be ſatisfied but with reaſon, and where the ſame is not evident enough, mooveth doubts of it ſelfe. Whence it is eaſie to conceiue how great the dexteritie of your wit will be, when time and neceſſitie ſhall giuegive you occaſion to make vſe of it in things of a higher and more important nature.
The feare of God being ioyned to this ſo quick and iudicious a ſpirit, which hath planted in your heart a hatred of vice, and mooved it with a holy ambition, to conſecrate your life to the ſervice of God, what may wee not hope of ſuch a diſpoſition, which God hath ſo great…y favoured? eſpecially conſidering that you are brought vp in a familie, whence all bad examples, and all idle words are baniſhed, and where the ſervice of God is carefully maintained: and hauehave before your eyes the example of my Lord your Father, who among Princes is a notable patterne of wiſedome, of great experience, of ſingular vnderſtanding, and of wiſe governement: whoſe courage rouſeth it ſelfe againſt adverſitie, and whoſe minde is not daunted through affliction. To whom nature hath given more than others hauehave gotten by ſtudie and induſtrie, having a naturall facilitie to compaſſe that, which others by long meditation cannot attaine vntounto. Whoſe words are to you as dai…y leſſons, and his wiſe actions as a continuall patterne.
He it is from whom you hauehave received, that Learning is a goodly ornament to a Prince. Becauſe he that guides others muſt hauehave the clearer ſight; and that hee muſt hauehave moſt knowledge, that hath moſt imployment. There being nothing more vnbeſeeming a Prince, then, to bee inferiour to the moſt part of his Subiects in vnderſtanding and good knowledge, and to owe all the preferment he hath to his birth, and nothing to his vertue; and who to iudge aright of things, muſt ſearch into another mans braine for that which hee ſhould finde in his owne. This happeneth vntounto ſuch Princes as hauehave ſpent all their younger yeares in learning how to manage horſes, rather then to governe the mindes of men, who are creatures a thouſand times more vnruly and vntamed. Whoſe outword behaviour is taught, whileſt their ſoules are left vntaught: who imploy moneths and yeares in hunting after wilde beaſts, whileſt they themſelues are caught by domeſticall beaſts, that is to ſay, by flatterers, that intangle them in vices. Who are taught to liue, as if their Subiects were made for them, whereas they are made for the good of their Subiects; and to remember that they are Princes, but not to call to minde, that they are men ſubiect to the ſame infirmities: and that having received of God more graces then others, they hauehave the greater account to giuegive vp vntounto him; and that being the image of God vponupon earth, they ought to ſtriue to bee like vntounto him, not onelyonly in Iuſtice, clemencie, liberalitie, and fore-ſight; but chiefly in that GOD raigneth over his Subiects, not for his owne good, but for theirs.
Now when I ſpeake of Learning, I doe not meane a laborious knowledge, busying it ſelfe about words or ſwelling Diſcourſes, or about heaping vp of much Latin. But I am of opinion that the true learning of a Prince conſiſteth in the knowledge of God, and of the world, and of himſelfe, and of the affaires of his owne Eſtate and of his neighbours; and to be a Scholar of the dead, I meane, to ſearch in Hiſtories the examples of wiſedome; and to learne the trade of a Prince, which is the hardeſt of all. Becauſe it is a hard matter to walke ſteadily vponupon the top of a very high place, the braine of him eaſily turning that is very high mounted. And alſo becauſe the actions of Princes are moſt controuled, and their life moſt croſſed, and their faults moſt expoſed to view, and that they authorize vices by their example.
Theſe inſtructions, my Lord, are familiar vntounto you, and you want no domeſticall helps. Notwithſtanding I hauehave thought that you would not take it amiſſe, if I endevoured to contribute ſomewhat thereunto: and that by this my labour, as by a ſmall evidence, I ſhould teſtifie my acknowledgment of the honour which I hauehave receiued of my Lord your Father, and how earneſtly I pray vntounto GOD for the proſperitie of your moſt illuſtrious houſe, and more particularly for your ſelfe, my Lord, as being
Your moſt humble and moſt obedient ſervant, DV MOVLIN.