He delights most of all to differ in things indifferent; no matter
how frivolous they are, they are weighty enough in proportion to his
weak judgment, and he will rather suffer self-martyrdom than part with
the least scruple of his freehold, for it is impossible to dye his dark
ignorance into a lighter colour. He is resolved to understand no man's
reason but his own, because he finds no man can understand his but
himself. His wits are like a sack which, the French proverb says, is
tied faster before it is full than when it is; and his opinions are like
plants that grow upon rocks, that stick fast though they have no
rooting. His understanding is hardened like Pharaoh's heart, and is
proof against all sorts of judgments whatsoever.
A ZEALOT
Is a hot-headed brother that has his understanding blocked up on both
sides, like a fore-horse's eyes, that he sees only straight-forwards and
never looks about him, which makes him run on according as he is driven
with his own caprice. He starts and stops (as a horse does) at a post
only because he does not know what it is, and thinks to run away from
the spur while he carries it with him. He is very violent, as all things
that tend downward naturally are; for it is impossible to improve or
raise him above his own level. He runs swiftly before any wind, like a
ship that has neither freight nor ballast, and is as apt to overset.
When his zeal takes fire it cracks and flies about like a squib until
the idle stuff is spent, and then it goes out of itself.
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