The World's Greatest Books — Volume 20 — Miscellaneous Literature and Index
General
The World's Greatest Books — Volume 20 — Miscellaneous Literature and Index
Literature -- Collections
Behold now this vast city--a city of refuge, the mansion house of
liberty, encompassed and surrounded with His protection. The shop of
war hath not there more anvils and hammers waking to fashion out the
plates and instruments of armed justice in defence of beleaguered
truth than there be pens and heads there, sitting by their studious
lamps, musing, searching, revolving new notions and ideas wherewith
to present, as with their homage and their fealty, the approaching
Reformation; others as fast reading, trying all things, assenting
to the force of reason and convincement. What could a man require
more from a nation so pliant and so prone to seek after knowledge?
Where there is much desire to learn, there, of necessity, will be
much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men
is but knowledge in the making. A little generous prudence, a little
forbearance of one another, and some grain of charity might win all
these diligencies to join and unite in one general search after
truth, could we but forego this prelatical tradition of crowding free
consciences and Christian liberties into canons and precepts of men.
Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself
like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks.
Methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youth, and kindling
her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam; purging and unsealing her
long-abused sight at the fountain itself of heavenly radiance; while
the whole noise of timorous and flocking birds, with those also that
love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means, and in
their envious gabble would prognosticate a year of sects and schisms.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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