The Obligation of Human Conscience, To the reader
To the Courteous READER.
Friendly Reader whoſoever you are,
BEfore you advance into the Houſe it ſelf, you are …ere in the firſt entrance to be encountred, and deſired in ſome few things to ſuffer your ſelf to be informed of the cauſe that chiefly compelled us to the publiſhing of theſe papers which here we repreſent unto you. I had rather indeed, if others had been of the ſame mind with me, that they ſhould never have ſeen the light; for the proof whereof this may be one Argument, and of force enough, that part of theſe Lectures, written by me ſome y…ars ſince, were never for the space of ten years, and more, reſerved in any Desk, but lay in corners up and down amongſt my rejected, as m…ch as neglected papers; had I not another Argument of far greater force than the former, viz. The Imperfection of the worke, which of it ſelf doth betray it ſelf. For a Writer that underſtands himſelf, and makes proviſion for his Reputation, and Dignity, m…ſt carefully finiſh the work he hath begun,Lib. 2. de Natur. deorum. and not ſo much as think of ſending▪ it abroad before (to ſpeak with Cicero) it be every where apt and poliſhed, and made compleat, and perfect, in all the parts and numbers of it. For in vain from thence you may look for Praiſe, where you may think you come off very handſomely, if, for Praiſe, you deſerve Pardon.
What …h…fore? Were friends the cauſe of it? Who are accuſtomed to encourage and give more rains to thoſe who of their own accord are running into thoſe hazards, and to spur on others who draw back? I will not affirm this neither, for although I may grant that the exhortations, and deſires of friends, (the common refuge of the greateſt part of Scriblers) may ſerve oftentimes for an honeſt excuſe, yet they could never ſeem to me to be the juſt and allowable grounds for ſuch a Cauſe. Nevertheleſs (as moſt frequently it is ſeen) there were not wanting ſome ergodioctiſts, ſome Brain-Exacters who demanded of me, and (that I may uſe the words of Fabius) with daily and reproaching Importunities did efflagitate, that I would preſent thoſe things to the eys of all men to be read, which heretofore in reading were ſo grateful to their ears, but I who was not ignorant how acuter was the judgement of the eye than of the ear did conſtantly deny it; They, on the other ſide, were more inſtant with me, and more vehemently did urge me, and (as oft in like caſes it comes to paſs) they did gently chide me; But I, who was reſolved to be obſtinate, ſtood fixed to my ſelf; for whatſoever they could object unto me▪ I was ready always to anſwer them, that a work begun (and not half of it, nor the third part of it peradventure hardly accompliſhed) was not raſhly to be communicated to the publick; But they again were as ready to reply, Why ceaſe you then? Why do you not ſet your ſelf cloſe unto your ſtudy, and put your laſt hand unto that work which your firſt hand hath ſo happily begun?
What ſhall I ſay for my ſelf in this caſe? I am aſhamed to confeſſe, and I may not be ſilent; I anſwered howſoever, (and what was too true indeed) that unleſs ſome Neceſſity did inforce me, of which I was not then capable (being out of the Readers place) it could not be. As a faint-hearted ſouldier whom only Desperation makes valiant, grows then hot, and is fiercely carryed on unto the Fight when no ſubterfuge is left for him, ſo is my wit, give it leiſure, ſpace, and time, nothing is done;Hotat. Sat. 3. The Quill in vain is vexed, my mind is unſettled, it roams, and rambles, and degenerates into ſloath. Uſe compulſion to it, and check it, it unites, and is entire, it is stirred up and recollecteth ſtrength, and what force it hath, ſince there muſt be care and Induſtry, it puts it all forth at once, and in one word it doth that which is neceſſary to be done; So the Beams of the Sun diffuſed in a free and open air, do ſo gently warm us, that we are hardly ſenſible of it, but being united and contracted into the round of a hollow Glaſſe, as into a Center, they do vehemently burn. Being by long uſe inſtructed from my youth to this age, I have learned how true is that Hemiſtich of Pythogoras —foreign,Pythag. aur Car… ▪ Performance is a near Neighbour, and dwelleth at the next door to Neceſſity.
And although this imperfection of a ſlothful mind may to many men appear to carry before it ſome ſhow of modeſty; yet it ſeems to me that it cannot be handſomely defended, unleſs it be by this excuſe, that it is foreign ſo born and bred up with ſome men (and I am in the ſame number with them) that in vain he laboureth, whoſoever he is, that hopeth by any Art to correct it, or by induſtry to overcome it. But enough, and too much, of ſo unpleaſing a Subject.
Peradventure you will demand (for as yet we are come up to …o certainty, and are returning back ſtill where at firſt we were) If as you ſay, you are ſo ſlow of your ſelf, and ſo contumacious to your friends, from whence at laſt came this Edition? Certainly from nothing elſe but from this very Neceſſity of which but even now was our diſcourſe, and which uſurpeth ſo vaſt a Dominion over the affairs of men.
foreign ▪
foreign.Euripid.
For wiſe men ſpeak it,Helen. and not only we,
Nothing ſo ſtrong as dire Neceſſitie.Act. 2.
But to hold you no longer in ſuſpence; I will in a few words declare the whole buſineſs to you. All this contumacy was broken as it were at one blow, by Mr. James Alle…y▪ Book-ſeller of London, who in his Letter to me, did acquaint me that two Copies of theſe Lectures were brought unto him, and that he had them then in his own cuſtody, in his own houſe; that he who brought them to him was in hand with him, that either by himſelf, or at leaſt by his procurement, they ſhould be printed, which he denyed to do without my conſent; He warned me withal, there being other Copies abroad, i… hardly could be prevented if I neglected it, but that they would be publiſhed by ſome one elſe, I not knowing of it; I did commend, nay I did love in a man, at that time utterly unknown unto me the candour of his mind and his reverent respect to Equity; eſpecially being of their profeſſion, who almoſt do make their gain their only buſineſſe. I therefore wrote back unto him to ſend me one of the Copies, that ſeemed to him to be the faireſt of the two, and the moſt perfect, and in the mean time I would conſider with my ſelf what was needful to be done. To be ſhort, he ſent it I did read it, and examine it, foreign, Every Page was turned over, and nothing was found ſound, nothing perfect; for beſides the innumerable faults of the Tranſcriber, not a few things which in my firſt meditation were written by my ſelf with too haſty a Pen, did ſeem, as they indeed ought, to be called back again to the Anvel and the Hammer. Hence I perceived I was to undergo a troubleſome and tedious task, to write over the whole work anew, which nevertheleſſe was to be endured. I indured it, and wrote it over, and did perfect it as I could, and (if no man be a Debtor beyond his power) as I ought; If not as I would, I require this one thing as reaſonable, (nay as due unto him who doth as much as lies in his power) Pardon.