THE
PREFACE.
THere are a sort of narrow and confin'd Spirits, who account all Discourses needless, that are not for their particular purposes; and judge all the World to be of the Size and Genius of those within the Circle of their Knowledge and Acquaintance; so that with a pert and pragmatique Insolence, they censure all the braver Designs and Notices that lie beyond their Ken as nice and impertinent Speculations: An ignorant and proud Injustice; as if this sort were the only Persons whose humour and needs should be consulted. And hence it comes to pass that the greatest and worthiest things that are written or said, do always meet with the most general neglect and scorn, since the lesser People, for whom they were not intended, are quick to shoot their Bolt, and to condemn what they do not understand, and because they do not. Whereas on the other side, those that are able to judge, and would incourage, are commonly reserv'd and modest in their Sentences; or if they should seek to do right to things that are worthy, they are sure to be outvoiced by the rout of ignorant Contemners. Upon which accounts I have often thought that he that courts and values popular estimation, takes not
