But what they might have upon a more
original tradition is not easy to affirm, for he was not the
inventor of many of them.
(5) In this third part of learning, which is poesy, I can report no
deficience; for being as a plant that cometh of the lust of the
earth, without a formal seed, it hath sprung up and spread abroad
more than any other kind. But to ascribe unto it that which is due,
for the expressing of affections, passions, corruptions, and
customs, we are beholding to poets more than to the philosophers'
works; and for wit and eloquence, not much less than to orators'
harangues. But it is not good to stay too long in the theatre. Let
us now pass on to the judicial place or palace of the mind, which we
are to approach and view with more reverence and attention.
V. (1) The knowledge of man is as the waters, some descending from
above, and some springing from beneath: the one informed by the
light of nature, the other inspired by divine revelation. The light
of nature consisteth in the notions of the mind and the reports of
the senses; for as for knowledge which man receiveth by teaching, it
is cumulative and not original, as in a water that besides his own
spring-head is fed with other springs and streams.
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