Page:The battle of the books - Guthkelch - 1908.djvu/159

 converts to Sir William Temple's opinion, and make a vast difference between the poor observations of these later ages and the sublime flights of the ancients.

Now though abstracted mathematical theories, which cannot be relished by one that has not a tolerable skill in mathematics before, might perhaps prudently be concealed from the vulgar by the Pythagorean school, and in their stead such grave jargon as this imposed upon them, yet even that shews how little knowledge of nature they could pretend to. Men that aim at glory will omit no probable methods to gain it that lie in their way; and solid discoveries of a real insight into nature, would not only have been eternally true, but have charmed mankind at another rate, than such dry, sapless notions as seem at first view to have something of subtlety, but upon a second reflection appear vain and ridiculous.

From Pythagoras I shall go on to the ancient sages "who were so learned in Natural Philosophy that they foretold not only eclipses in the heavens, but earthquakes at land, and storms at sea, great droughts and great plagues, much plenty or much scarcity of certain sorts of fruits or grain; not to mention the magical