CHAP. 1.] FOUNDATIONS SHOULD NOT BE UESTfttCTED. 73 



ships in sciences already extant, and in those not yet begun 

 or imperfectly elaborated. 



These are, in short, the institutions on which princes and 

 other illustrious men have displayed their zeal for letters. 

 To me, dwelling upon each patron of letters, that notion of 

 Cicero occurs, which urged him upon his return not to par 

 ticularize, but to give general thanks, &quot; Difficile non ali- 

 quem, in gratum quenquam, prseterire.&quot; c Rather should we, 

 conformably to Scripture, look forward to the course we 

 have yet to run, than regard the ground already behind us. 



First, therefore, I express my surprise, that among so 

 many illustrious colleges in Europe, all the foundations are 

 angrossed by the professions, none being left for the free cul 

 tivation of the arts and sciences. Though men judge well 

 who assert that learning should be referred to action, yet by 

 reposing too confidently in this opinion, they are apt to fall 

 into the error of the ancient fable, d which represented the 

 members of the body at war with the stomach, because it 

 alone, of all the parts of the frame, seemed to rest, and 

 absorb all the nourishment. For if any man esteem philo 

 sophy and every study of a general character to be idle, he 

 plainly forgets that on their proficiency the state of every 

 other learning depends, and that they supply strength and 

 force to its various branches. I mainly attribute the lame 

 progress of knowledge hitherto to the neglect or the inci 

 dental study of the general sciences. For if you want a tree 

 to produce more than its usual burden of fruit, it is not any 

 thing you can do to the branches that will effect this object, 

 but the excitation of the earth about its roots and increasing 

 the fertility of the soil ; nor must it be overlooked that this 

 restriction of foundations and endowments to professional 

 learning has not only dwarfed the growth of the sciences, 

 but been prejudicial to states and governments themselves. 

 For since there is no collegiate course so free as to allow those 

 who are inclined to devote themselves to history, modern 

 languages, civil policy, and general literature ; princes find 

 a dearth of able men to manage their affairs and efficiently 

 conduct the business of the commonwealth. 



Since the founders of colleges plant, and those who endow 



c Apocryphal Orat. post Red it. in Sen. xii. 30 ; cf. pro Tl. xxx. 74. 

 Menenius Agrippa, Livy, ii. 32. 



