A10663:947
A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soul of man With the…A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soule of man With the…
A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soul of man With the several dignities and corruptions thereunto belonging. By Edward Reynolds, late preacher to the honourable society of Lincoln's Inn: and now rector of the Church of Braunston in Northamptonshire.A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soule of man With the severall dignities and corruptions thereunto belonging. By Edvvard Reynoldes, late preacher to the honorable society of Lincoln's Inne: and now rector of the Church of Braunston in Northamptonshire.
London: printed by R. Hearne and John Norton for Robert Bostock, 1640
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
2 Another Cause of Error may be Affectation ⟨p. 490⟩of Singularity, and a Disdain of being but an accession unto other mens Inventions▪ or of Tracing their steps: when men shall rather desire to walk in ways of their own making, than in the beaten paths which have been trodden before them; to be guilty of their own invented Errors, than content with a derived and imputed Learning; and had rather be accounted the Purchasers of Heresy, than the Heirs of Truth, Quase nihil fuisse• rectum, quod primum est; melius existiman• quicquid est aliud, as Quintilian spake elegantly on another occasion: As if nothing had been right, which had been said before; they esteem every thing therefore better, because new.
2 Another Cause of Errour may be Affectation ⟨p. 490⟩of Singularity, and a Disdaine of being but an accession unto other mens Inventions▪ or of Tracing their steps: when men shall rather desire to walke in wayes of their owne making, than in the beaten paths which have been troden before them; to be guilty of their owne invented Errors, than content with a derived and imputed Learning; and had rather be accounted the Purchasers of Heresie, than the Heires of Truth, Quase nihil fuisse• rectum, quod primum est; melius existiman• quicquid est aliud, as Quintilian spake elegantly on another occasion: As if nothing had been right, which had been said before; they esteeme every thing therefore better, because new.
3 Another Cause may be the other Extreme1 (for a man may lose his way, as well by inclining too much to the right hand, as to the left) I mean a too credulous prejudice and opinion of Authority; when we bow our judgements not so much to the nature of things, as to the learning of men. Et credere, quàm scire, videtur […], we rather believe, than know what we assent unto. Tis indeed a wrong to the labours of Learned men to read them always with a Cavilling and Sceptical mind; and to doubt of every thing, is to get resolution in nothing. But yet withal, our Credulity must not be peremptory, but with reservation. We may not captivate and resign our judgements into another mans. hand. Belief, without evidence of Reason, must be only there absolute, where the Authority is Unquestion ble, and where it is impossible to […], there only