IV. 9 ] THE FIRST BOOK. 35 



martyrs, hermits, or monks of the desert, and other holy 

 men, and their relics, shrines, chapels, and images: 

 which though they had a passage for a time by the 

 ignorance of the people, the superstitious simplicity of 

 some, and the politic toleration of others, holding them 

 but as divine poesies ; yet after a period of time, when 

 the mist began to clear up, they grew to be esteemed but 

 as old wives fables, impostures of the clergy, illusions of 

 spirits, and badges of Antichrist, to the great scandal and 

 detriment of religion. 



i o. So in natural history, we see there hath not been 

 that choice and judgement used as ought to have been ; 

 as may appear in the writings of Plinius, Cardanus, 

 Albertus, and divers of the Arabians, being fraught with 

 much fabulous matter, a great part not only untried, 

 but notoriously untrue, to the great derogation of the 

 credit of natural philosophy with the grave and sober 

 kind of wits : N wherein the wisdom and integrity of 

 Aristotle is worthy to be observed ; that, having made j 

 so diligent and exquisite a history of living creatures, 

 hath mingled it sparingly with any vain or .feigned 

 matter : and. yet on the other side hath c^jst all pro 

 digious narrations, which he thought worthy the record- jj 

 ing, into one book : excellently discerning that matter / 

 of manifest ^ruth, such whereupon observation and rule/f 

 was to be built, was not to be mingled or weakenedjj 

 with matter of doubtful credit; and yet again, that^/ 

 rarities and reports that seem uncredible are not to be 

 suppressed or denied to the memory of men. 



ii. And as for the facility of credit which is yielded to 

 arts and opinions, it is likewise of two kinds ; either when 

 too much belief is attributed to the arts themselves, or 

 to certain authors in any art. The sciences themselves, 



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