i 04 Of the Advancement of Learning. L i b. III^ 



§ The Second refpedt which enobles this part oi' Metaphjfick, touching 



Forffis, is, that of all other fciences, it doth moft enfranchifej andfet 



at liberty the Power of Man 5 and brings it forth into a moft ample and 



open field to exercife in. For PhjiJ(cl{^diie(ks mans labour and diligence 



through narrow and retrained ways, imitating the flexious cour(es of 



Plat, in ordinary Nature i But l4t£ undiqne ftpientilfus vite, to fapience (which 



de Fin-i^ ^^^ anciently defined to be, Rerttm divinarum d^ humnnarum fcientia) 



Tafc,4. there is ever copy and variety of means. For Phyficall caufts give light 



and oceafion to new inventions in fimili Materia ; but whofbever knows 



any Form^ knows alfo the utmoji pojJtbiUty offuperitiducing that nature up" 



on any variety of matter j and fo is lefs retrained and tied in operation, 



either to the Bafis of the «;<«f/cr5 or to the condition o^ the Efficient ^ 



which kind of knowledge, though in a more divine fence, Solomon e- 



Prov. IV. legantly defcribes, N(?« ar£tabtintur grejjits tui^ et Currens non hahebis 



offendicuhim j his meaning is, that the ways o^ fapience^ are not liable 



to ftreights, nor perplexities. 



fj The fecond part of Metaphyfick^ is the enquiry ofFinal Caufes ; which 

 we note not as omitted, but as mifplaced : for the enquiry of them u- 

 fually is made amongfl: the Vhyficks^ and not in the Metaphyfickj. And 

 yet if this were a fault in order only, I (houldnot much ftand upon it 5 

 for order is a matter of lHuftration, and pertains not to the fubftanceof 

 Sciences: but this inverfion of t?r<^cr, hath caufed a notable deficience^. 

 and brought a great decay upon Philofophy. For the handling of f i- 

 tialCatifes'mthQ Vhyfickj^ hath intercepted, and banifht the enquiry of 

 Vhyfical Caufes j and hath given men oceafion to reft (atisfied in fuch (pe- 

 cious, and umbratilous Caufes j and not thorowly to urge and prefs 

 the enquiry of real and truly rhyfical Caufes. For this I find done not on- 

 Ariftot. ly by Plato, who ever Ancreth upon that Shore , but alfo by Arijlotle 5 

 Probi. Galen, and others, who ufually likewife fall upon thefe Flats. For to 

 fay. That the eye-lids furnifln with hairs are for a quicl{-fet and fence to 

 * fortifiethe the fight : or thatthejirmnejioffl{i»s, and hides of living Crea- 

 tures, is to repel the extremities of heat and cold : or that Bones are ordai- 

 ned by Nature for Columns and Beams whereupon the frame of the Body is to 

 he built : or that Trees fioot forth leaves tof/jadow andproteS the fruit fro/ff 

 the Sun and the wind : or that the Clouds are ingendred above, to water 

 the earth helow: or that the Earth is cloje,compa[t and folid, that it may 

 he a Station and Manfion for living Creatures j is properly enquired in 

 Aletaphyjick^j but in r/j;/?t-)^they are impertinent. Nay, (topurdiethis 

 point") fuch difcourjlng Caufes as thefe, like the Remoraes (as thefi&iongoes^ 

 adhering tofl)ips, Jiay and Jlug the fay ling, and the Frogrefs of Sciences, 

 that they could not holdontheir Courfe, and advance forward to further Dip> 

 coveries : And now long ago it isfo brought topafs,that thefearch of rhyfical 

 Caufes, thus negle&ed, are decayed andpajfed over infilence. And there- 

 fore the Natural Philofophy oi Democritus, and (bme others, who remo- 

 ved God and a Mind from the frame of things j and attributed the ftru- 

 fture of the world to infinite Preludiums, and Eflays (which by one 

 name they term'd Fate or Fortune 5 and have afligned the Cau(es of Par- 

 ticulars to the neceflity of Matter,without intermixture of Final Caufes) 

 ieeraeth to us (fo far as we can con jedure from the Fragments and Re- 

 mains of their Philofophy J in refpeft of rhyfical Caufes, to have been 

 far morefolid, and to have penetrated more profoundly into Natnrej 



ihao 



