Page:Gondibert, an heroick poem - William Davenant (1651).djvu/67

 by which a man enabled to speak wisely from the principles of nature, and his own meditation, loves rather to be thought to speak by inspiration, like a Bag-pipe.

Time and Education begets Experience; Experience begets Memorie; Memorie begets Judgement, and Fancie; Judgement begets the Strength and Structure; and Fancie begets the Ornaments of a Poem. The Ancients therefore fabled not absurdly, in making Memorie the Mother of the Muses. For Memorie is the World (though not really, yet so as in a Looking-glass) in which the Judgement, the severer Sister busieth her self in a grave and rigid examination of all the parts of Nature, and in registering by Letters their order, causes, uses, differences, and resemblances; Whereby the Fancie, when any work of Art is to be performed, finding her materials at hand and prepared for use, and needs no more than a swift motion over them, that what she wants, and is there to be had, may not lie too long unespied. So that when she seemeth to fly from one Indies to the other, and from Heaven to Earth, and to penetrate into the hardest matter, and obscurest places, into the future, and into her self, and all this in a point of time, the voyage is not very great, her self being all she seeks; and her wonderfull celeritie, consisteth not so much in motion, as in copious Imagerie discreetly ordered, and perfectly registered in the Memorie; which most men under the name of Philosophie have a glimpss of, and is pretended to by many that grosly mistaking her, embrace contention in her place. But so far forth as the Fancie of man, has traced the ways of true Philosophie, so far it hath produced very marvellous effects to the benefit of mankind. All that is beautifull or defensible in building, or marvellous in Engines and Instruments of motion; whatsoever commoditie men receive from the observations of the Heavens, from the description of the Earth, from the account of Time, from walking on the Seas; and whatsoever distinguisheth the Civilitie of Europe, from the Barbaritie of the American