LIB. I. 125,126. 123 



scalas a conspectu amovisse. Neque aliter factum 

 esse credere certe oportet. Verum nisi quis omnino 

 oblitus fuerit eorum, quoe superius dicta sunt, huic 

 objectioni (aut scrupulo potius) facile respondebit. 

 Formam enira inquirendi et inveniendi apud antiquos 

 et ipsi profitenmr, et scripta eorum prse se ferunt. Ea 

 autem non alia fuit, quam ut ab exemplis quibusdam 

 et particularibus (additis notionibus communibus, et 

 fortasse portione nonnulla ex opinionibus receptis, quae 

 maxime placuerunt) ad conclusiones maxime generales 

 sive principia scientiarum advolarent ; ad quorum veri- 

 tatem immotam et fixam, conclusiones inferiores per 

 media educerent ac probarent; ex quibus artem con- 

 stituebant. Turn demum si nova particularia et ex- 

 empla mota essent et adducta, quse placitis suis refra- 

 garentur ; ilia aut per distinctiones, aut per regularum 

 suarum explanationes, in ordinem subtiliter redigebant ; 

 aut demum per exceptiones grosso modo summove- 

 bant : at rerum particulariurn non refragantium causas 

 ad ilia principia sua laboriose et pertinaciter accommo- 

 dabant 71 . Verum nee historia naturalis et experientia 

 ilia erat, quam fuisse oportebat (longe certe abest), et 

 ista advolatio ad generalissima omnia perdidit. 



CXXVI. 



Occurret et illud ; nos, proptcr inhibitionem quau- 



71 This is an evil against which found in the way in which Astrono- 



Bacon struggled hard. And even mers noticed the perturbations of 



now there is peril from &quot; the spirit Uranus facts which apparently mi- 



of System&quot; men find it so hard to litated against the Laws of Planeta- 



he honest : and when they have ar- ry Motion. They did not explain 



rived at the rest and quiet of a defi- away the fact ; but sought its cause, 



nite Law, the temptation to shut and so discovered Neptune. The 



their eyes against whatever seems induction that had taught men the 



opposed to it, is immense. Of the Law of Gravity was too strong to 



better way of regarding &quot; excep- be overthrown by an apparent &quot; In- 



tions&quot; a very good instance is to be stantia in contrarium.&quot; 



