in the world. They that make uncertainties or errors to be their studies and honourable learning, must keep up the honour of it by living as they learned, and talking vainly for the vanities of their minds.

9. And you are likely hereby to become the chief instruments of Satan, to trouble the church either with heresies, schisms, or persecutions.

10. And truly it should much turn your hearts against it, to know that it is a continual habit or exercise of pride. And pride, the devil's sin, is one of the most heinous and odious to God. If you hate any sin, you should hate pride. And it is one of the worst sorts of pride too. As nature hath three principles, active power, intellect and will, and man three excellencies, greatness, wisdom and goodness; so pride hath these three great objects: men are proud that they are greater, or wiser, or better than others: that is, they think themselves greater, or wiser or better than they are; and they would have others think so too. As for pride of beauty, or clothing, or such like corporeal things and appurtenances; it is the vice of children, and the more shallow and foolish sort of women. But greater things make up a greater sort of pride. O what a number of all ranks and ages do live in this great sin of pride of wisdom, or an overvalued understanding, who never feel or lament it.

11. Moreover, your prefidence prepareth you for scepticism, or doubting the most certain necessary truths: like some of our sectaries, who have been falsely confident of so many religions, till at last they doubt of all religion. He that finds that he was deceived while he was an Anabaptist, and deceived when he was a Separatist, and deceived while he was an Antinomian or Libertine, and deceived when he was a Quaker; is prepared to think also that he was deceived when he was a Christian, and when he believed the immortality of the soul, and the life to come. When have found your understandings oft deceive you, you will grow so distrustful of them, as hardly ever to believe them when it is most necessary. He that often lieth, will hardly be believed when he speaketh truth. And all this cometh from believing your first and slight apprehensions too easily, and too soon, and so filling up your minds with lies, which when they are discovered, make the truth to be suspected. Like some fanciful, lustful youths, who hastily grow fond of some unsuitable,

you

unlovely person, and when they know them, cannot so much as allow them the conjugal affection which they are bound to.

12. Lastly, consider what a shame it is to your understandings, and how it contradicteth your pretence of knowledge. For, how little knoweth that man, who knoweth not his own ignorance! How can it be thought that you are likely to know great matters at a distance, the profundities, sublimities, and subtleties of sciences, who know not yet how little you know.

CHAP. XVI.

Proofs of the little Knowledge that is in the World, to move us to a due Distrust of our Understandings.

IF

If you think this sin of a proud understanding, and pretended knowledge, doth need for the cure of a fuller discovery of its vanity, I know not how to do it more convincingly, than by showing you how little true knowledge is in the world, and consequently that all mankind have cause to think meanly of their understandings.

I. The great imperfection of the sciences, is a plain discovery of it when mankind hath had above five thousand years already to have grown to more perfection; yet how much is still dark, and controverted! And how much unknown in comparison of what we know! But above all, though nothing is perfectly known which is not methodically known; yet how few have a true methodical knowledge! He that seeth but some parcels of truth, or seeth them but confusedly, or in a false method, not agreeable to the things, doth know but little, because he knoweth not the place, and order, and respects of truths to one another, and consequently neither their composition, harmony, strength or use. a philosopher that knew nothing but elements, and not mixed bodies, or animate beings: or like an anatomist that is but an atomist, and can say no more of the body of a man, but that it is made up of atoms, or at most can only enumerate the similar parts: or like a man that knoweth no more of his clock and watch, but as the pieces of it lie on a heap, or at best, setteth some one part out of its place, which disableth the whole engine: or like one that knoweth the chessmen

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only as they are in the bag, or at best in some disorder. Who will make me so happy as to show me one true scheme of physics, of metaphysics, of logic, yea of theology, which I cannot presently prove guilty of such mistake, confusion, disorder, as tendeth to great error in the subsequent parts. I know of no small number that have been offered to the world, but never saw one that satisfied my understanding. And I think I scarcely know any thing to purpose, till I can draw a true scheme of it, and set each compounding notion in its place.

II. And the great diversity and contrariety of opinions, of notions and of methods, proveth that our knowledge indeed is yet but small. How many methods of logic have we! how many hypotheses in physics, yea, how many contentious volumes written against one another, in philosophy and theology itself! What loads of 'Videturs' in the schoolmen! How many sects and opinions in religion! Physicians agree not about men's lives. Lawyers agree not about men's estates; no nor about the very fundamental laws. If there be a civil war, where both sides appeal to the law, there will be lawyers on both sides. And doth not this prove that we know but little!

III. But men's rage and doth discover it yet more. of philosophy and theology; observe their usage of one another, what contempt, what reproach, what cruelties they can proceed to! The Papist silenceth and burneth the Protestant; the Lutheran silenceth and revileth the Calvinist; the Calvinist sharply judgeth the Arminians, and so round: and may I not judge that this wisest part of the world is low in knowledge, when not the vulgar only, but the leaders and doctors are so commonly mistaken in their greatest zeal! And that Solomon erred not in saying, "The fool rageth, and is confident."

confidence in these contrarieties Read their contentious writings

IV. If our knowledge were not very low, the long experience of the world would have long ago reconciled our controversies. The strivings and distractions about them, both in philosophy, politics and theology, have torn churches, and raised wars, and set kingdoms on fire, and should in reason be to us as a bone out of joint, which by the pain should force us all to seek for a cure and surely in so

many thousand years, many remedies have been tried: the issues of such disingenuous-ingenious wars, do furnish men with such experience as should teach them the cure. And yet after so many years' war of wits, to be so witless as to find no end, no remedy, no peace, doth shew that the wit of man is not such a thing to be proud of.

V. The great mutability of our apprehensions doth shew that they are not many things that we are certain of. Do we not feel in ourselves how new thoughts and new reasons are ready to breed new conjectures in us, and that looketh doubtful to us, upon further thoughts, of which long before we had no doubt. Besides the multitudes that change their very religion, every studious person so oft changeth his conceptions, as may testify the shallowness of our minds.

VI. The general barbarity of the world, the few countries that have polite learning, or true civility, or Christianity, do tell us that knowledge in the world is low: when besides the vast unknow regions of the world, all that are of late discovery in the West Indies, or elsewhere, are found to be so rude and barbarous; some little differing from subtle brutes: when the vast regions of Africa, of Tartary, and other parts of Asia, are no wiser to this day. When the Roman Eastern empire so easily parted with Christianity, and is turned so much to barbarous ignorance; this sheweth what we are; for these men are all born as capable as we.

VII. Especially the sottish opinions, which the Heathen and Mahometan world do generally entertain, do tell us how dark a creature man is. That four parts of the whole world (if not much more, that is unknown) should receive all the sottish opinions as they do, both against the light of nature, knowing so little of God, and by such vain conceits of their prophets and petty deities: that above the fifth part of the known world, should receive, and so long and quietly retain, so sottish an opinion as Mahometanism is, and build upon it the hopes of their salvation. If the Greek Church can be corrupted into so gross a foolery, why may not the Latin, and the English, if they had the same temptations? O what a sad proof is here of human folly!

VIII. But in the Latin Church (be it spoken without any comparing Mahometanism with Christianity) the wonder is still greater, and the discovery of the fallaciousness of

man's understanstanding is yet more clear: were there no proof of it, but the very being of Popery in the world, and the reception of it by such and so many, it affordeth the strongest temptation that ever I thought of in the world, to the brutist, to question whether instinct advance not brutes above man! The brutes distrust not their right disposed senses; but the Papists not only distrust them, but renounce them: bread is no bread, and wine is no wine with them, all men's senses are deceived that think otherwise: it is necessary to salvation to believe that God's natural revelations to sense here are false, and not to be believed. Every man that will be saved must believe that bread is no bread, that quantity, locality, colour, weight, figure, are the quantity, locality, colour, weight, figure, of nothing: and God worketh grand miracles by every priest, as frequently as he consecrateth in the mass: and if any man refuse to swear to this renunciation of human sense, and the truth of these miracles, he must be no priest, but a combustible heretic. And if any temporal lord refuse to exterminate all those from their dominions, who will believe their senses, and not think it necessary to renounce them as deceived, he must be excommunicated and dispossessed himself, his subjects absolved from their oaths and allegiance, and his dominions given to another: and this is their very religion, being the decree of a great General Council, questioned indeed by some few Protestants, but not at all by them, but largely vindicated: Later. sub. Innoc. 3. Can. 1.3. The sum is, no man that will not renounce not only his humanity, but his animality, must be suffered to live in any one's dominions, and he that will suffer men in his dominions, must be himself turned out! this is plain truth: and yet this is the religion of popes and emperors, and kings, of lords and counsellors, of prelates and doctors, universities, churches and famous kingdoms; and such as men, all these wise men dare lay their salvation upon; and dare massacre men by thousands and hundred thousands upon, and burn their neighbours to ashes upon; and what greater confidence of certainty can be expressed! And yet shall men be proud of wit? O what is man! How dark, how sottish and mad a thing! All these great princes, doctors, cardinals, universities and kingdoms, are born with natures as capacious as ours. They are in other things as wise: they pity us as heretics, because we will not cease to be men: