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THE SECOND BOOKE 279
ipse homo est:¹ ' The meane is clearely wonderful!
whereby spirits cleave to our bodies, nor can it be comprehended
by man, and that is very man.' Yet is
there no doubt made of him : for mens opinions are
received after ancient beliefs by authority and upon
credit; as if it were a religion and a law. What is
commonly held of it, is received as a gibrish or fustian
tongue. This trueth, with all her framing of arguments
and proporcioning of proofes, is received as a firme and
solid body, which is no more shaken, which is no more
judged. On the other side, every one the best he can
patcheth up and comforteth this received beliefe with all
the meanes his reason can afford him, which is an instrument
very supple, pliable, and yeelding to all
shapes. 'Thus is the world filled with toyes, and
overwhelmed in lies and leasings.' The reason that
men doubt not much of things is that common impressions
are neyer throughly tride and sifted, their ground
is not sounded, nor where the fault and weaknes lieth.
Men only debate and question of the branch, not of
the tree: they aske not whether a thing he true, but
whether it was understood or meant thus and thus.
They enquire not whether Galen hath spoken any
thing of worth, but whether thus, or so, or otherwise.
Truly there was some reason this bridle or
restraint of our judgements liberty, and this tyranny
over our beliefs should extend it selfe even to schooles
and arts. The God of scholasticall learning is Aristotle:
It is religion to debate of his ordinances, as those of
Lycurgus in Sparta. His doctrine is to us as a canon
law, which peradventure is as false as another. I know
not why I should or might not as soone and as easie
accept either Platoes Ideas, or Epicurus his atomes and
indivisible things, or the fulnesse and emptines of
Leucippus and Democritus, or the water of 1 hales, or
Anaximanders infinite of nature, or the aire of Diogenes,
or the numbers or proportion of Pythagoras, or the
infinite of Parmenides, or the single-one of Musseus, or
the water and fire of Apollodorus, or the similarie and
¹ AUG, De Spir. et Anim. De Civ. Dei, xxi. 10.