&longs;eems) not onely to Phy&longs;ical Rea&longs;ons, and Common Principles <lb/>
received on all hands (which cannot do &longs;o much harm) but al&longs;o <lb/>
(which would be of far wor&longs;e con&longs;equence) to many Authori<lb/>
ties of &longs;acred Scripture: Upon which account many at their <lb/>
fir&longs;t looking into it, explode it as the mo&longs;t fond Paradox and <lb/>
Mon&longs;trous <emph type="italics"/>Capriccio<emph.end type="italics"/> that ever was heard of. </s> <s>Which thing pro<lb/>
ceeds only from an antiquated and long confirmed Cu&longs;tome, <lb/>
which hath &longs;o hardened men in, and habituated them to Vul<lb/>
gar, Plau&longs;ible, and for that cau&longs;e by all men (a&longs;well learned as <lb/>
unlearned) Approved Opinions, that they cannot be removed <lb/>
one &longs;tep from them: So great is the force of Cu&longs;tome (which <lb/>
not unfitly is &longs;tiled a &longs;econd Nature) prevailing over the whole <lb/>
World, that touching things men are rather plea&longs;ed with, de<lb/>
lighted in, and de&longs;irous of tho&longs;e, which, though evil and obnox<lb/>
ious, are by u&longs;e made familiar to them, than &longs;uch, wherewith, <lb/>
though better, they are not accu&longs;tomed and acquainted. </s> <s>So in <lb/>
like manner, and that chiefly, in <emph type="italics"/>Opinions,<emph.end type="italics"/> which when once they <lb/>
are rooted in the Mind, men &longs;tart at, and reject all others <lb/>
what&longs;oever; not only tho&longs;e that are contrary to, but even all <lb/>
that ever &longs;o little di&longs;agree with or vary from theirs, as har&longs;h to <lb/>
the Ear, di&longs;coloured to the Eye, unplea&longs;ant to the Smell, nau&longs;e<lb/>
ous to the Ta&longs;t, rough to the Touch. </s> <s>And no wonder: For <lb/>
Phy&longs;ical Truths are ordinarily judged and con&longs;idered by men, <lb/>
not according to their E&longs;&longs;ence, but according to the pre&longs;cript of <lb/>
&longs;ome one who&longs;e de&longs;cription or definition of them gaines him <lb/>
Authority among&longs;t the vulgar. </s> <s>Which authority neverthele&longs;s <lb/>
(&longs;ince 'tis no more than humane) ought not to be &longs;o e&longs;teemed, as <lb/>
that that which doth manife&longs;tly appear to the contrary, whether <lb/>
from better Rea&longs;ons lately found out, or from Sen&longs;e it &longs;elf, &longs;hould <lb/>
for its &longs;ake be contemned and &longs;lighted; Nor is Po&longs;terity &longs;o to be <lb/>
confined, but that it may, and dares, not only proceed farther, <lb/>
but al&longs;o bring to light better and truer Experiments than tho&longs;e <lb/>
which have been delivered to us by the Ancients. </s> <s>For the <emph type="italics"/>Ge<lb/>
nius's<emph.end type="italics"/> of the Antients, as in Inventions they did not much &longs;ur<lb/>
pa&longs;s the Wits of our times; &longs;o for the perfecting of Inventions <lb/>
this Age of ours &longs;eems not only to equal, but far to excell former <lb/>
Ages; Knowledge, whether in the Liberal or Mechanical Arts, <lb/>
daily growing to a greater height. </s> <s>Which A&longs;&longs;ertion might be <lb/>
ea&longs;ily proved, were it not that in &longs;o clear a ca&longs;e, there would be <lb/>
more danger of ob&longs;curing, than hopes of illu&longs;trating it with any <lb/>
farther light.</s></p>

<p type="main"> <s>But (that I may not wholly be &longs;ilent in this point) have not the <lb/>
&longs;everal Experiments of Moderns, in many things, &longs;topped the <lb/>
mouth of Venerable Antiquity, and proved many of their great<lb/>
te&longs;t and weightie&longs;t Opinions, to be vain and fal&longs;e? </s> <s>The Doctrine