periments and discoveries (by which
notably every philosophy flourisheth), which have been wrought out and
demonstrated by us with many pains and vigils and expenses. In these
rejoice, and employ them to better uses, if ye shall be able. I know how
arduous it is to give freshness to old things, lustre to the antiquated,
light to the dark, grace to the despised, credibility to the doubtful; so
much the more by far is it difficult to win and establish some authority
for things new and unheard-of, in the face of all the opinions of all men.
Nor for that do we care, since philosophizing, as we deemed, is for the
few. To our own discoveries and experiments we have affixed asterisks,
larger and smaller, according to the importance and subtlety of the matter.
Whoso desireth to make trial of the same experiments, let him handle the
substances, not negligently and carelessly, but prudently, deftly, and in
the proper way; nor let him (when a thing doth not succeed) ignorantly
denounce our discoveries: for nothing hath been set down in these books
which hath not been explored and many times performed and repeated amongst
us. Many things in our reasonings and hypotheses will, perchance, at first
sight, seem rather hard, when they are foreign to the {iij} commonly
received opinion; yet I doubt not but that hereafter they will yet obtain
authority from the demonstrations themselves. Wherefore in magnetical
science, they who have made most progress, trust most in and profit most by
the hypotheses; nor will anything readily become certain to any one in a
magnetical philosophy in which all or at least most points are not
ascertained. This nature-knowledge is almost entirely new and unheard-of,
save what few matters a very few writers have handed down concerning
certain common magnetical powers. Wherefore we but seldom quote antient
Greek authors in our support, because neither by using greek arguments nor
greek words can the truth be demonstrated or elucidated either more
precisely or more significantly. For our doctrine magnetical is at variance
with most of their principles and dogmas. Nor have we brought to this work
any pretence of eloquence or adornments of words; but this only have we
done, that things difficult and unknown might be so handled by us, in such
a form of speech, and in such words as are needed to be clearly understood:
Sometimes therefore we use new and unusual words, not that by means of
foolish veils of vocabularies w