-stone_, and _Great-Elixir_; which yet were they
_Possessors_ of, they would _consume_ upon their _Lux_ and _Vanity_.

It is not therefore to gratifie these _magnificent Fops_, whose
_Talents_ reach but to the adjusting of their _Peruques_, courting a
_Miss_, or at the farthest writing a smutty, or scurrilous _Libel_,
(which they would have to pass for _genuine_ Wit) that I _concern_ my
self in these _papers_; but, as well in _Honour_ of our _Royal Founder_,
as the _Nation_, to _Assert_ what of other _Countries_ has been
surreptitiously _Arrogated_, and by which, they not only value
themselves _abroad_; but (prevailing on the Modesty of that Industrious
_Assembly_) seek the _deference_ of _those_, who whilst it remains still
_silent_, do not so clearly discern this glorious _Plumage_ to be purely
_ascititious_, and not a _Feather_ of their own. --But still, _What have
they done?_

Those who perfectly comprehend the _Scope_, and _End_ of that noble
_Institution_; which is to _improve Natural Knowledge_, and inlarge the
_Empire_ of _Operative Philosophy_; not by an _Abolition_ of the _Old_,
but by the _Real Effects_ of the _Experimental_; _Collecting_,
_Examining_, and _Improving_ their scatter'd _Phaenomena_, to establish
even the _Received Methods_ and _Principles_ of the _Schools_ (as far as
were consistent with _Truth_, and _matter_ of _Fact_) thought it long
enough, that the World had been _impos'd_ upon by that _Notional_, and
_Formal_ way of delivering divers _Systems_ and _Bodies_ of
_Philosophie_ (falsely so call'd) beyond which there was no more
_Country_ to discover; which being brought to the _Test_ and _Tryal_,
vapours all away in _Fume_, and empty _Sound_.

This _Structure_ then being thus _Ruinous_ and _Crazy_; 'tis obvious
what they were to do; even the same which skilful _Architects_ do every
day before us; by _pulling down_ the decay'd and sinking Wall to erect a
_better_, and more _substantial_ in its place: They not only take down
the _old_, reject the useless and decay'd; but sever such _Materials_ as
are _solid_, and will serve again; bring _new-ones_ in, prepare and
frame a _Model_ suitable to so _magnificent_ a _Design_: This _Solomon_
did in order to the _Building_ of the _Material Temple_; and _this_ is
here to be pursued in the _Intellectual_: Nay, here was abundance of
_Rubbish_ to be clear'd, that the _Area_ might be free; and then was the
_Foundation_ to be deeply searched, the _Materials_