REFORM Lit. CCCclxV 



patientissimus vcri. He was a reformer not an innovator. 



His desire was to proceed not &quot; in aliud&quot; but &quot; in melius.&quot; 



His motive was not the love of excelling, but the love of 



excellence. He stood on such a height that popular praise 



or dispraise could not reach him. 



He was a cautious reformer: quick to hear, slow to speak. His motive 



&quot;Use Argus s hundred eyes before you raise one o f forrefonu - 



Briareus s hundred hands,&quot; was his maxim. 



He was a gradual reformer. He thought that reform 

 ought to be, like the advances of nature, scarce discernible 

 in its motion, but only visible in its issue. His admo 

 nition was, &quot; Let a living spring constantly flow into the 

 stagnant waters.&quot; 



He was a confident reformer. &quot; I have held up a light Reformer. 

 in the obscurity of philosophy, which will be seen centuries 

 after I am dead. It will be seen amidst the erection of 

 temples, tombs, palaces, theatres, bridges, making noble 

 roads, cutting canals, granting multitude of charters and 

 liberties for comfort of decayed companies and corporations ; 

 the foundation of colleges and lectures for learning and 

 the education of youth; foundations and institutions of 

 orders and fraternities for nobility, enterprize, and obe 

 dience; but above all, the establishing good laws for the 

 regulation of the kingdom and as an example to the 

 world.&quot; 



He was a permanent reformer. He knew that wise reform, Permanent 

 instead of palliating a complaint, looks at the real cause 

 of the malady. He concurred with his opponent, Sir 



thereof, as the eye joyeth to receive light; and not only delighted in 

 beholding the variety of things and vicissitudes of times, but raised also to 

 find out and discern the ordinances and decrees, which throughout all 

 those changes are infallibly observed: for nothing is denied to man s 

 inquiry and invention. The spirit of man is as the lamp of God, wherewith 

 he searcheth the inwardness of all secrets. 



VOL. xv. hh 



