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136 u chapter 14 u The Light of Reason Is a Certain Light [119] ’Tis Lumen certum. Lamp-light as ’tis not glorious, so ’tis not deceitful, though it be but a faint and languishing light. Though it be but a limited and restrained light, yet it will discover such objects as are within its own sphere with a sufficient certainty. The letters of Natures law, are so fairly printed, they are so visible and capital, as that you may read them by this Candle-light; yet some weak and perverse beings not fit to be honoured with the name of men, slight all the workings and motions of Reason, upon this account, that they are Rolling and fluctuating, that they are treacherous and unconstant. And they look upon Logick which is nothing else but the just advancement of reason, an Art of Ripening and mellowing reason, an art of Clarifying and refining of the minde, yet they look upon it as an intelectual kinde of jugling, an artificial kinde of cheating and cozening their understanding: Nor were it a wonder if onely the dregs of people , the rude lump of the multitude, if they onely were sunk and degenerated into this folly, But I meet with a famous and ancient sect of Philosophers that delight in the name of Scepticks, who by a strange kinde of Hypocrisy, and in an unusual way of affectation pretend to more ignorance then they have, nay then they are capable of. They quarrel with all Arts and Sciences, and do as much as they can to annihilate all knowledge and certeinty; and professe nothing but a Philosophical kinde of neutrality , and Lukewarmnesse. Socrates did not please them; for he shewed himself but a Semisceptick, one that was too confident in saying that he did hoc tantum scire, se nihil scire [know this much, that he knew nothing]; for they will not allow so much knowledge as that comes to, this they tell you, that they don’t know this, whether they know any thing or no. There was the light of reason is a certain light 137 one sort of Academicks, that came very neer them, their motto was, ou ◊ katalambánw,1 their meaning was that they could not graspe or comprehend any object. Lucian (that unhappy wit) makes himself very merry with them, and laughs at one of them, that had a servant that prov’d a fugitive and ran away from him, his Master (sayes he) is very unfit to runne after him drapéthn metadiẃkein; for he will alwayes cry, ou ◊ katalamba ’nw, ou ◊ katalamba ’nw,2 I cannot reach him, I cannot come neer him; yet if these Academicks by their a ◊katalhyía3 [want of apprehension] meant no more then this, that the whole Intelligibility of any entity, could not be exhausted by them, [120] that they could not perfectly and powerfully pierce into any object as to discover all that was knowable in it, their opinion then was not onely tolerable, but very commendable, and undeniable ; for only God himself, doth thus katalambánein4 [comprehend]. There is not enough in any created lamp to give such a bright displaying of an object. Nor is there vigour enough in any created eye, so to pierce into the pith and marrow of being, into the depth and secrecy of being. But if their minde was this (as ’tis generally thought to be) that there was nothing in being so visible as that their understanding could pierce it with certainty and satisfaction, such an Error as this was very derogatory to the plenitude and exuberancy of beings that streams out in a cleer cognoscibility , and ’twas very injurious to their own rational capacities, which were not made so strait and narrow-mouth’d as not to receive those notions that continually drop from being: But they were contriv’d and proportion’dfor the well-coming and entertaining of truths, that love to spin and thred themselves into a fine continuity, as if they meant to pour themselves into the soul without spilling. But the Scepticks will bid you e ◊péxein5 [suspend judgment], and will desire you not to believe one word of this. They have no lesse then ten several bridles, ad compescendum & cohibendum assensum6 [for checking and repressing assent]; Sextus Empiricus, that grand Sceptick will give you a sight of them all, from whence they were stil’d oi ÿ e ◊fetikoi ’7 men that did check...

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