68 DE AUOMENT1S SCIENTIARUM 



quae humanum intellectum minimum multiplicitate onerat; 

 quam liquet esse Metaphysicam 1 , quippe quae contemplatur 

 praecipue simplices illas rerum Formas (quas superius Formas 

 Primce Classis nominavimus 2 ) ; quandoquidem, licet numero 

 paucae, tamen commensurationibus et coordinationibus suis 

 omnem varietatem constituunt. Secunda res, quae hanc Meta- 

 physicae partem de Formis nobilitat, haec nimirum est ; quod 

 potestatem humanam emancipet maxime et liberet, eamque in 

 amplissimum et apertissimum operandi campum educat. Nam 

 Physica per angustos et impeditos calles humanam operam 

 dirigit, naturae ordinariae flexuosos tramites imitata; sed latce 

 undique sunt sapientibus vice; Sapientiae nimirum (quae a 

 veteribus rerum divinarum et humanarum scientia 3 diffinie- 

 batur) mediorum copia et varietas semper suppetit. Causae 

 enim Physicae novis inventis, in simili materia, lucem et ansam 

 praebent. At qui Formam aliquam novit, novit etiam ultimam 

 possibilitatem superinducendi naturam illam in omnigenam mate- 

 riam, eoque minus inter operandum restringitur et alligatur 

 vel ad Mater ice Basim, vel ad Conditionem Efficientis. Quod 

 genus sciential eleganter describit etiam Salomon, etsi sensu 

 magis divino; Non arctabuntur gressus tui, et currens non 

 habebis offendiculumt Intelligit scilicet Sapientiae vias nee 

 angustiis nee obicibus obnoxias esse. 



Metaphysicae pars secunda est Finalium Causarum inqui- 



essentially different from Bacon's ascent to unity. The opinions of Parmenides would 

 be more accurately indicated by the formula !> TO ov than by fv ra iravra, or if the 

 latter be employed, it should be understood to suggest the ellipsis of /caAoi^ueVo, a 

 remark apparently confirmed by Plato's expressions in the Sophist, p. 242. " Denique 

 ut uno verbo compleetar, Parmenides statuit simplex ens, sive TO cnr\us ov, Platonic! 

 ens perfectum, sive TO iravrtKias 6v, h. e. tale in quo sit una rcav fivruv R&VTWV com- 

 plexio," is Karsten's statement of the contrast between the doctrine of Parmenides 

 himself, and that to support which he was cited as an authority. Karsten's Parmenides, 

 p. 210. 



1 This passage resembles one in the Metaphysics, i. 2. ; but I am not sure that the 

 resemblance is more than accidental. Bacon, so far as I have observed, though he 

 quotes Aristotle frequently, never refers to any passage in the Metaphysics. 



2 It is evident from this that the simple natures (the schematisms and motions) are 

 not the " Formae primae classis ;" although the literal interpretation of the passage 

 referred to in the text would make it appear that they are so. For the simple natures 

 are the proper objects of Physica Abstracta, and consequently are not identical with 

 the Forma; primae Classis, which are the subject of Metaphysica. 



The " Forma; primae Classis" are the forms of simple natures, and in the former passage 

 (v. supra p. 566.) the clause between parentheses involves an anacoluthon, and refers 

 not to that which Immediately precedes it, but to the word " formam" at the beginning 

 of the sentence. The construction would be regular if in this clause we were to re- 

 place the word "et"by''has autem" [or by " et quorum formas. " The "simple 

 natures" are the same in both passages ; but Physica deals only with the material and 

 efficient causes of them; Metaphysica with the formal and final causes. J S.] 



* See Cicero, Tusc. Quaest iv. 26. * Proverbs, iv. 12. 



