(Whom we call gods on earth) did prostrate fall. 130 Then darkness Europe's face did overspread From lazy cells where superstition bred, Which, link'd with blind obedience, so increased, That the whole world some ages they oppress'd; Till through these clouds the sun of knowledge brake, And Europe from her lethargy did wake: Then first our monarchs were acknowledged here, That they their churches' nursing fathers were. When Lucifer no longer could advance His works on the false grounds of ignorance, 140 New arts he tries, and new designs he lays, Then his well-studied masterpiece he plays; Loyola, Luther, Calvin he inspires, And kindles with infernal flames their fires, Sends their forerunner (conscious of th'event) Printing, his most pernicious instrument! Wild controversy then, which long had slept, Into the press from ruin'd cloisters leap'd; No longer by implicit faith we err, Whilst every man's his own interpreter; 150 No more conducted now by Aaron's rod, Lay-elders from their ends create their god. But seven wise men the ancient world did know, We scarce know seven who think themselves not so. When man learn'd undefiled religion, We were commanded to be all as one; Fiery disputes that union have calcined; Almost as many minds as men we find, And when that flame finds combustible earth, Thence _fatuus_ fires, and meteors take their birth; 160 Legions of sects and insects come in throngs; To name them all would tire a hundred tongues. So were the Centaurs of Ixion's race, Who a bright cloud for Juno did embrace; And such the monsters of Chimæra's kind, Lions before, and dragons were behind. Then from the clashes between popes and kings, Debate, like sparks from flints' collision, springs: As Jove's loud thunderbolts were forged by heat, The like our Cyclops on their anvils beat; 170 All the rich mines of learning ransack'd are, To furnish ammunition for this war: Uncharitable zeal our reason whets, And double edges on our passion sets; 'Tis the most certain sign the world's accursed, That the best things corrupted are the worst; 'Twas the corrupted light of knowledge hurl'd Sin, death, and ignorance o'er all the world; That sun like this (from which our sight we have), 179 Gazed on too long, resumes the light he gave; And when thick mists of doubts obscure his beams, Our guide is error, and our visions, dreams; 'Twas no false heraldry when madness drew Her pedigree from those who too much knew; Who in deep mines for hidden knowledge toils, Like guns o'ercharged, breaks, misses, or recoils; When subtle wits have spun their thread too fine, 'Tis weak and fragile, like Arachne's line: True piety, without cessation toss'd By theories, the practic part is lost, 190 And like a ball bandied 'twixt pride and wit, Rather than yield, both sides the prize will quit: