'Again, is there not a caution likewise to be given of the doctrines
of moralities themselves, some kinds of them, lest they make men too
_precise, arrogant, incompatible_, as Cicero saith of Cato, in _Marco
Catone_: "Haec bona quae videmus divina et egregia ipsius scitote esse
propria: quae nonnunquam requirimus, ea sunt omnia non a natura, sed a
magistro?"'
And after glancing at the specific subject of remedial agencies which
_are_ within the scope of our revision and renovation, under some
other heads, concluding with that which is of all others the most
compendious and summary, and again the most noble and effectual to the
reducing of the mind unto virtue and good estate, he concludes this
whole part, this part in which the points and outlines of the new
science--that radical human science which he has dared to report
deficient, come out with such masterly grasp and precision,--he
concludes this _whole part_ in the words which follow,--words which it
will take the author's own doctrine of interpretation to open. For
this is one of those passages which he commends to the second
cogitation of the reader, and he knew if 'the times that were nearer'
were not able to read it, 'the times that were farther off' would find
it clear enough.
'Therefore I do conclude this part of Moral _Knowledge_ concerning the
culture and regiment of the Mind; wherein if any man, _considering the
facts thereof which I have enumerated_, do judge that _my labour is_
to COLLECT INTO AN ART OR SCIENCE, that which hath been _pretermitted
by others_, as matters of common sense and experience, he judgeth
well.' The practised eye will detect on the surface here, some marks
of that style which this author recommends in such cases: especially
where such strong pre-occupations exist; already we perceive that this
is one of those sentences which is addressed to the skill of the
interpreter; in which, by means of a careful selection and collocation
of words, two or more meanings are conveyed under one form of
expression. And it may not be amiss to remember here, that this is a
style, according to the author's own description of it elsewhere, in
which the more involved and enigmatical passages sometimes admit of
_several_ readings, each having its own pertinence and value,
according to the mental condition of the reader; and that it is a
style in which even the _delicate, collateral sounds_, that are
distinctly included in this art of tradition, must come in sometimes
in the more critical places, in aid of the interpretation. 'But what
if it be an harangue whereon his life depends?'
l.--If any man considering the parts thereof, which I have enumerated,
do judge that MY LABOUR IS to _collect into an_ ART or SCIENCE that
which hath been PRETER-MITTED by others, _he_ judgeth well.
2.--If any man do judge that my labour is to collect into an ART or
SCIENCE that which hath been pretermitted by others AS MATTERS OF
COMMON SENSE and EXPERIENCE, _he_ judgeth well.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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