78 <Ibe (Barren 



we owe to the mathematics, which is in a man- 

 ner all that seems valuable among the civilized 

 nations, more than those we call barbarous, 

 whether they are so or no, or more so than 

 ourselves. 



How ancient this natural philosophy has been 

 in the world is hard to know ; for we find fre- 

 quent mention of ancient philosophers in this 

 kind, among the most ancient now extant with 

 us. The first who found out the vanity of it 

 seems to have been Solomon, of which discovery 

 he has left such admirable strains in Bcclesi- 

 astes. The next was Socrates, who made it 

 the business of his life to explode it, and intro- 

 duce that which we call moral in its place, to 

 busy human minds to better purpose. And 

 indeed, whoever reads with thought what these 

 two, and Marcus Antoninus, have said upon the 

 vanity of all that mortal man can ever attain to 

 know of nature, in its originals or operations, 

 may save himself a great deal of pains, and 

 justly conclude, that the knowledge of such 

 things is not our game ; and (like the pursuit 

 of a stag by a little spaniel) may serve to amuse 

 and to weary us, but will never be hunted 

 down. Yet I think those three I have named 

 may justly pass for the wisest triumvirate 

 that are left us upon the records of story or 

 of time. 



