V1I1 PREFACE. 



together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under 

 her wings, and ye would not. (n) 1 



The causes of this antipathy ; the principle 

 upon which the pleasure of associating ourselves 

 with past times depends ; whether it excite some 

 of our best feelings, or is an imaginary extension 

 of our existence, Lord Bacon did not stop to en 

 quire : He seems cautiously to have avoided such 

 speculations, which to him was l spinning out of our 

 selves cobwebs of learning, admirable for the fine 

 ness of their texture, but of no substance or pro 

 fit. (o) He contented himself with the fact that 

 attachment to antiquity is an idol of the under 

 standing : (p) a vain imagination : for the present 

 times are the ancient times, when the world is 

 ancient, and not those which we account ancient 



(n) See note B. at the end, p. [iv.] 



(o) The wit and mind of man, if it work upon matter, which 

 is the contemplation of the creatures of God, worketh according- 

 to the stuff, and is limited thereby ; but if it work upon itself, 

 as the spider worketh his web, then it is endless, and brings 

 forth indeed cobwebs of learning, admirable for the fineness of 

 * thread and work, but of no substance or profit/ Q. Does the 

 knowledge of a country ever rise higher than its metaphysics ? 

 L homme n est que trop souvent inconnu a celui qui le 

 gouverne. Cependant pour diriger les mouvemens de la 

 poupee humaine, il faudroit connoitre les fils qui la meuvent. 

 Prive de cette connoissance, qu on ne s etonne point si les 

 mouvemens sont souvent si contraires a ceux que le legislateur 

 1 en attend. 



(p) Novu m Organum, Aph. 66, &c 



