BOOK l] PURSUIT OP FANCIFUL 8PECULATI0KS. 45 



used this kind of style profusely, but Tacitus and Pbuy v;it}i 

 greater moderation. It has also begun to render itself 

 acceptable in our time. But to say the truth, its admirers 

 are only the men of a middle genius, who think it adds a 

 dignity to learning; whilst those of solid judgment justly 

 reject it as a certain disease of learning, since it is no more 

 than a jingle, or peculiar quaint affectation of words.^* And 

 so much for the first disease of learning. 



The second disease is worse in its nature than the former ; 

 for as the dignity of matter exceeds the beauty of words, so 

 vanity in matter is worse than vanity in words ; whence the 

 precept of St. Paul is at all times seasonable : " Avoid 

 profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely 

 so called."* He assigns two marks of suspected and falsified 

 science : the one, novelty and strangeness of terms ; the 

 other, strictness of positions ; which necessarily induces 

 oppositions, and thence questions and altercations. And 

 indeed, as many solid substances putrefy, and turn into 

 worms, so does sound knowledge often putrefy into a number 

 of subtle, idle, and vermicukj questions, that have a certain 

 quickness of life, and spkit, but no strength of matter, or 

 excellence of quality. yT\\\s kind of degenerate learning 

 chiefly reigned among the schoolmen ; who, having subtle 

 and strong capacities, abundance of leisure, and but small 

 variety of reading, their minds being shut up in a few 

 authors, as their bodies were in the cells of their monasteries, 

 and thus kept ignorant both of the history of nature and 

 times ; they, with infinite agitation of wit, spun out of a 

 small quantity of matter, those laborious webs of learning 

 which are extant in their books. For the human mind, if it 

 acts upon matter, and contemplates the nature of things, and 

 tlie works of God, operates according to the stuff, and is 

 limited thereby ; but if it works upon itself, as the spider 

 does, then it has no end ; but produces cobwebs of learning, 

 admirable indeed for the fineness of the thread, but of no^ 

 substance or jDrofit.'' '^ 



* Since the establishment of the French Academy, a studied plainness 

 end simplicity of style begins to prevail in that nation. 



» 1 Tim. vi. 20. 



^ For the literary history of the schoolmen, see Morhof's "Polyhist.'' 

 torn, ii. lib. i. cap. 14 ; and Camden's "Remains." 



