Cm, adjecit But it cannot be faid Adam was inclin'd to the Searching out, and Ufing of Senfible things, mandata through a nice and exact Knowledge of the Relation and Correfpondence they might bear to his & prxcep- gocjy. For, indeed, if it had been necefTary for him to have examin'd the Configurations of the Ec!t< u.° Parts °f any Frurt? thofe likewife of all the parts of his Body, and the Agreement and Difagree- " ment refulting to each other from their refpective Conttitution, before he could judge whether. as to the prefent Temperature of his Blood, and a thoufand other Difpolltions of his Body, that Fruit was good for his Nourifhment;, it is plain that the whole Capacity of his Mind had been entirely fill'd up, with things altogether unworthy of its Application; and that too to ve- ry little Purpofe, iince we fee he was not able to preferve himfelf long, though we fuppofe him fo accomplifh'd.
Upon Confederation then that the Mind of Adam-was not Infinite, it fhould not betaken ill, that we fay he was not acquainted with all the Properties of Bodies that encompafs'd him; flnce it is certain thofe Properties are Infinite. And if it be granted, which no Man of any Atten- tion can deny, that his Mind was not made to examine the Motions and Configurations of Mat- ter, but to be continually Intent on GO D; we need incur no Blame, in Maintaining, it had been a Diforder and Irregularity, at a time when all things fhould have been perfectly adjutted, if he had been oblig'd to call offhis Mind from the View of the Perfections of his Sovereign Good, to contemplate the Nature of a Fruit, and Examine whether it was fit to Nourifh him.
Adam then was furnifht with Senfes like to ours, by which he was admonifh'd, without being taken off from the Contemplation of GOD, of what was necefTary for him to do for the Pre- servation of his Body: He was fenfible of Pleafures as we are, and alfo of preventing and inde- liberate Pains and Diflikes. But thofe Pleafures, and thofe Pains were incapable of- inflaving him, and rendring him Unhappy as they do us; forafmuch as being abfolute Matter of all the Motions excited in his Body, he could quiet them in the fame inttant (if he defir'd it) that he was aware of them: And doubtlefs he always defir'd it in refpecl of Pain. Happy had we been, if he had done the fame thing in refpeft of Pleafure too, and had he not Voluntarily divore'd himfelf from the Union and Prefence of his GO D, by flittering the Capacity of his Mind to be fill'd with the Beau- ty, and the expected Sweets of a forbidden Fruit, or poflibly with a prefumptuous Joy kindled in his Soul,' upon Reflexion on his own Natural Perfections.
But after he had Sinn'd, thofe Pleafures which before only refpectfully caution'd him •, and thofe Pains, which, not difturbing his Felicity, only gave him to underftand he was capable of lo- fing it, and becoming Miferable, preferv'd no longer that Deference and Submiffion. His Senfes and. his Paflions obey'd not his Orders, rebell'd againtt him, and enflav'd him as they do us to all kinds of Senfible Objects.
Thus the Senfes and the Paflions in no wife ow'd their Birth to Sin, but only their Power of Tyrannizing over Sinners: And that Power was not fo much a Diforder on part of the Senfes, as it was of the Mind or the Will of Man, which having loofen'd the ftrift Union which they had with GOD, rccciv'd no longer that Light and that Strength, by means whereof they pre- ferv'd their Liberty and their Happinefs.
Upon concluding thefe two Ways of Explaining the Diforders Sin has been the Caufe of, we ought to infer that there are two things necefTary to Re-inflate us in the Order of Nature. med? Thcfirftis this, That we fhould takeoff", from that weight which Jinks us down, and bends fortheDif-ui towards fenfible Goods, by a continual defalcation of our Pleafures, and by mortifying the "^'.^"^fenlibility of our Senfes by Repentance and Circumcilion of heart.
■ ■ i in xbt World, and the FoundMion of Chrijiian Mortify. The Chap. VI. 3^ &m-& after Truth. i% The fecond is this,- That we ought to implore of G 0 D the poize of his Grace, and that Pre- ventinz Deliffht which * JESVS CHRIST has particularly merited for us, without *Seettell~ which let us lighten the former Scale as much as we can, it will conftantly be lowermoft; and lufiratior.:, (though never folittle heavier,) will infallibly fink us into Sin and Diforder.
Thefe two things are absolutely neceflary to reftore us to, and continue us in our Duty. &ea* fon as we fee, agrees intirely with the Gofpel, by both which we are taught, that the Privation, Delegation, and Diminution of the Weight of Sin, are neceflary Preparatives for the Weight of Grace to re-eftablifh us and unite us unto GOD.
But though in this State of Ours, we are under a Perpetual Obligation of warring with our Senfes yet we mould not conclude from thence, they are abfolutely corrupted, or diSorder'd. For if 'it be coniider'd, that they were given us for the Prefervation of our Body, we lhall find them acquit themfelves of their Duty fo excellently well, and conduct us in that juft and faithful manner to their End, that they feemtobe injurioully charg'd with Corrnptnefs and Irregularity i They fo readily advertife the Soul by Pleafure and Pain, by agreeable and difagi-eeable Tafts and other Senfations, of what fhe ought to do, or not to do, for the prefervation of life, that it cannot but be unreasonably faid, that this Order and this Exadtnefs are the confequents Our Senfes therefore are not fo Corrupted as is imagin'd, but 'tis that which is more Inward II. to the Soul, 'tis our Liberty which is corrupted. They are notour Senfes that deceive us, but rhiit our the Will, by its ralh and precipitate Judgments, leads us into Error. When, for inftance, we fee 0lurerf^s Light, it is molt certain that we fee Light •, when a Man feels Heat, he is not miftaken in be- u the true lievins; that he feels it, whether before or after the first Sin. But thus we deceive our felves caufiofout in judging that the Heat which is felt, is out of the Soul which feels it, as we fhall explain Errorshereafter.. j The Senfes then would in no wife cart us into Error, did we not imploy our Liberty amifs, and judge of things upon their Report, without Sufficient Caution and Advertency. But becaufe it is very difficultto help this,and we are, as it were, fore'd to't, on the account of the Strift Union of our Soul and. Body, See in what manner we ought to behave our Selves in ufing them, that we may avoid falling into Error.
We ought exaftly to obferve this Rule} Never to judge by the Senfes 'what things are in them- HI* felves, but only of the Relation they have to one another: Becaufe, indeed, the Senfes were not gi- r rA ^fr ven us for the knowing the Truth of things as they are in their own Nature, but only for the /^ ^rro'r Prefervation of our Body. in the ufi But that we may be altogether deliver'd from that- Facility and Inclination we have to follow of our sen* the Guidance of the Senfes in the Search after Truth, we fhall in the Succeeding Chapters, give a-'"* Summary of the moft Principal and General Errors into which they throw us, whereby the Truth of what we have been advancing wilt be manifeft and acknowledg'd.
CHAP. VI.
I. Of the Errors of Sight in refpeB of Extenfion abfolutely confiderd. II. A Continuation of thefe Errors about invifible Obje&s. III. Of the Errors of Sight touching Extenfion relatively confiderd.
TH E Sight is the FirSt, the moft Noble and Comprehenfive of all the Senfes, infomuch that had it been given us for the Difcovery of Truth, it alone had had more to do than all the Other; wherefore if we can overthrow the Authority the Eyes obtain over our Reafon, it will be Sufficient to undeceive us; and to poffefs us with a general diftruft of all the other Senfes.
Our bufinefs therefore is to make it appear, That we ought in no wife to rely on the TefHrrlo- ny of our Sight, in our Judgment of the Truth of things, as they are m their own Nature, but only in difcovering the Relation they have to the welfare and prefervation of our Body. That our Eyes generally deceive us in all the Representations they make of things, in the Magnitude, in the Figures, and Motions of Bodies, in Light and Colours, which are the only things we fee: That none of thefe things are really what they Seem to be, that all Mankind is miftaken in them, and that hereby we fall into other Errors numberlefs and infinite. - We begin with Extenfion. Lo! then the Reafons that induce us to believe that our Eyes never of the Er* repreSent it to us Such as it is in it Self. With Glafles we difcover as often as wepleafe, Ani-ronofjigbt maismuch leSs than a grain of Sand, which is almoft invifible: * Nay, there have been Seen a;'^#eSo/ thoufaad times lefs than they. Thefe animated Atoms walk and move no lefs than other Animals; E™e7,fi°n Therefore they muft have Legs and Feet, Bones in their Legs to Support them, Mufcles to move To^deTl them, Tendons and infinite Fibres in every Mufcle; laftly, Blood or animal Spirits extreamly * Seethe Subtil and rehVd, either to fill or make thefe Mufcles move fucceffively. Without this it is imr'f°ur»*l <} pofiible to conceive they live, are nourifh'd, or tranflate their little Bodies into different places, r/f ^arh" according to the different Impreffions of Objeftsj or rather 'tis impoffible for thofe Men them- ^^g.
E felves 14 F. Male branch e Concerning Book I.
felves have fpent all their Life in Anatomy, and in difclofing Nature, to imagine the number, the diverfity, the delicacy, of all the parts thefe little Bodies are necefTarily compounded of, whereby they live and perform all thofe things we fee them do.
The Imagination is loft and confounded at fo incredible a littlenefs; it cannot catch the va- nilhing parts, nor take hold of them, as being too little to be grafp'd by it: And though Reafon juftifies our AfTertion, the Senfe3 and Imagination withftand the Conviction, and bring us back to Doubt and Uncertainty.
Our Sight is extreamly fhort and limited •, but it ought not to prefcribe limits to its Object: The Idea it gives us of Extenfion has very narrow bounds, but it does not from thence follow the bounds of Extenfion are fo. It is doubtlefs infinite in a certain Senfe; and that diminutive part of Matter which is hidden from our Eyes is capable of containing a World, in which may be hid as many things, though lefs proportionably, as appear in this great World in which we live.
Thefe little Creatures, which we have been fpeaking of, may poffibly have other little Ani- mals to prey upon them, and which are imperceptible to them by reafon of their unfpeakable fmallnefs, as the others are imperceptible to us. What an Hand-worm is in comparifon to us, That thofe little Animals are in refpecf of an Hand-worm; and perhaps there may be in Na- ture lefs, and lefs ftill to infinity, proceeding in that prodigious proportion of a Man to an Hand- worm.
We have Evident and Mathematical Demonftrations of the Divisibility of Matter in infinitum, and that's enough to perfuade us there may be Animals, ftill lefs and lefs than others in infini- tum, though our Imagination is frighted andftartsat fuch a conception. GOD made Matter only to frame his wonderful Works out of it; wherefore fince we are certain that there are no parts of it, the Minu^enefs whereof is capable of giving Limits to his power, in the forma- tion of thefe little Animals, why mould we unreafonably confine and lefTen the Idea of an In- finite Artift by meafuring the Greatnefsand Depth of his Power and Wifdom, by our finite and fhallow Imagination?
We have been in part undeceiv'd by Experiment, which hath difcover'd to us fuch Animals as are a thoufand times lefs than an Hand-worm, why fliould we fuppofe that they are the Laft and the Leaft of all? For my part, I fee no reafon to imagine: 'Tis much more reafonable to be be- liev'd, there are far lefs than thofe already difcover'd: For, in fine, little Animals are never wanting for the Microfcopes, but we want Mifcrofcopes for them. Pr. Le If one examines in the midft of Winter the Cicatricle of a Tulip-roop, with a plain Magni- germe. fying °r a Convex Glafs, or even with the bare Eye, one may eafily difcover it in the Leaves which are become green: Thofe which are to make the Flower or the Tulip, the little triangular part which contains the Seed, and the fix little Columns that incompafs it at the bottom of the Tulip. Thus it cannot be doubted but the Cicatricle of a Tulip-root contains in it a Tulip all entire.
It's reafonable to believe the fame thing of the Cicatricle of a grain of Muftard, of that of the kernel of an Apple, and generally of all forts of Trees and Plants, though it cannot be dif- cern'd with the Eye, nor yet with a Microfcope ■-, and we may with fome fort of certainty affirm, That all Trees lye in Miniature in the Cicatricle of their Seed.
Nor does it appear unreafonable to think that there are infinite Trees conceal'd in a fingle Ci- catricle -0 fince it not only contains the future Tree whereof it is the Seed, but alfo abundance of other Seeds, which may all include in them new Trees ftill, and new Seeds of Trees: Which new Seeds poffibly may be big with other Trees, and other Seeds of Trees as fruitful as the former, in an incomprehenfible littlenefs, and thus in Infinitum, So that, according to this Notion (which will not be thought impertinent or whimfical, except by thofe who meafure the Wonders of the Infinite Power of GOD, by the Idea's of their Senfes and Imagination) it may be faid, that in the fingle kernel of an Apple, may be involved Apple-trees, Apples and Seeds of Apple-trees, for infinite or almoft infinite Ages,in that proportion of a perfect Apple-tree to an Apple-tree in its Seeds. And, That Nature does only open and unfold thefe little Trees, by giving a fenfible growth to that which is out of its Seed; and infenfible, but molt real increafes, to thofe which we conceive to be in their Seeds, in proportion to their Bignefs. For it cannot be doubted but there are Bodies little enough to infinuate themfelves between the Fibres of thofe Trees, which we conceive in their Seeds, and to be ferviceable to their Nourifhment.
What has been faid of Plants and their Cicatricles, we have liberty to conceive of Animals, and of the Cicatricles of which they are produc'd. We fee in the Cicatricle of a Tulip-root an entire Tulip. * We fee in the Cicatricle of a new-laid Egg, and which had never * ike Outride or been brooded, a Chicken, which is poffibly compleatly form'd. We fee -f- Frogs in tbespermoj the Egg^ the £ggs 0f frogs, and we fhall fee other Animals ftill in their Cicatricles when we thTroTk.See^Mti- Iiave Art and Experience enough to difcover them. But 'tis not for the Mind to ftand nigh. deVpormationc ftill, when the Eyes can go no farther: For the view of the Soul is of a greater com- PulUinOva. pafs than the fight of the Body. Befides this therefore, we ought to think, That all + See Swammer- tne Bodies of Men and of Beafts, which fhould be born or produc'd till the End of <dam\?Miracuiumna- the World, were poffibly created from the Beginning of it: I would fay, That the Females of the Original Creatures were, for ought we know, created together, with all thofe of the fame Species which have been, or fhall be, begotten or procreated whil it the World Hands.
We Chap. IV. The Search after Truth. i^ We might pufii this Thought much farther yet, and it may be with a great deal of Reafon and Truth: But we have juft caufe to fear, left we mould be too defirous of penetrating too far into/ the Works of G 0 D.- We fee nothing but Infinities round about us: And not only our Sen fa and our Imagination are too limited to comprehend them \ but the Mind it felf, however pure and dif- engag'd'from Matter, is too grofs as well as too feeble to pierce into the leaft of the Works of the Almighty. 'Tis loft, 'tis diflipated, 'tis dazled and amazed at the view of that, which, ac- cording to the Language of the Senfes, is call'd an Atom. Notwithftanding, the Pure Intellect has this advantage above the Imagination of the Senfes, that it acknowledges its own Wealmejs, and the Almightinefs of GOD: Whereas our Imagination and our Senfes bring down the works of G 0 £>, and audacioufly fet themfelves above them, and fo throw us headlong and blind-fold into Error. For our Eyes furnifh us not with the Idea's of any of thofe things we difcover by Microfopes and our Reafon. We perceive not by our Sight any lefs Body than an Hand-worm, or a Mite. The half of a Hand-worm is nothing if we rely on the Report of our Eyes. A Mite is a Mathematical point in their account, which you can't divide, but you muft annihilate. Our Sight then does not reprefent Extenfion to us, as it is in it felf, but as it is in Relation to our Body: And becaufe the half of a Mite has no coniiderable relation to our Body, and has no influence either towards the Prefervation or Deftru&ion of it; therefore our Eyes entirely conceal it from Us.
But if we had Eyes made after the manner of Microfcopes, or rather, if we were as little as Hand-worms and Mites, we fliould judge of the Magnitude of Bodies in a far different manner- For, without doubt, thefe little Animals have their Eyes fo difpos'd as to fee the Bodies that fur- round them and their own Bodies, far greater than we fee them, for otherwife they could not receive fuch impreflions as were neceflary to the Prefervation of Life, and fo the Eyes they have would be altogether ufelefs.
But that we may throughly explain thefe things, we muft confider, that our Eyes are in effeft only Natural Spectacles •, that their humours have the fame way of Operating as the Glafles in the Spectacles, and that according to the figure of the Cryftalline, and its diftance from the Retina^ we fee Objefts very differently; infomuch that we cannot be aflur'd there are two Men in the World that fee Bodies of the felf-fame blgnefsj fince we cannot be aflur'd there are two Men's'- Eyes altogether made alike.
'Tis a Propofition that ought to be imbrac'd by all thofe who concern themfelves with Opticks^ That Objefts which appear equally diftant are feen fo much bigger, as the figure which is deli- neated in the fund of the Eye is bigger. Now it is certain that in the Eyes of thofe Perfons whofe Cryftalline is more convex, the Images are painted lefler, in proportion to the convexity. Thofe then who are fhort-fighted having their Cryftalline more convex fee the Objedts lefler than thofe whofe Cryftalline is of the common ftandard, or than old People, who want Spectacles to read with, but fee perfectly well at a diftance j fince thofe whofe Sight is fhort muft neceflarily havd the Cryftalline more convex, on fuppofition their Eyes, as to the other parts, are equal.
'Twere the eafieft thing in Nature to demonftrate all thefe things Geometrically, and were they not of the number of thofe which are very well known, I would infift longer upon them to make them evident. But becaufe feveral have already handled this Subject, I defire fuch as are willing to be inftru&ed therein, to turn to them and confult.them.
Since it is not manifeft that there are two Men in the World who fee Objects in the fame bulk and magnitude, and generally the fame Man fees them bigger with his left Eye than his right, according to the Obfervations which have been made, and are related in the Journal of the Lear- ned from Rome, in January 1 669, it is plain we ought not to build upon the Teftimony of our Eyes, fo as to pafs our judgment from it. It is much better to attend to Reafon, which proves to us, That we are unable to determine what is theabfolute Magnitude of Bodies which encom- pafsus, or what Idea we ought to have of the Extenfion of a Foot-fquare, or of that of our own Body; fo as that Idea may reprefent it to us as it is. For we learn from Reafon," that the leaft of all Bodies would be no longer little, if it were alone, fince it is compounded of an infi- nite number of parts out of each of which GOD could frame an Earth, which yet would be but a fingle Point in comparifon of the reft in conjunction. Thus- the Mind of Man is incapable of forming an Idea great enough to comprehend and embrace the leaft Extenfion in the World, fince the Mind has bounds, but that Idea fhould be infinite.
It is true, The Mind may come very near the Knowledge of the Relations thefe infinites have, to one another, which conftitute the World j it may know, for inftance, one of them to be dou-| ble to another, and that a Fathom is the meafure of fix Foot. Yet for all this it cannot form an.1 Idea to it felf that can reprefent thefe things as they are in their own Nature. " Well, but let it be fuppos'd that the Mind is capable of Idea's, which equal or which meafure the Extenfion of Bodies, which we fee j for it would be a difficult undertaking to convince Men of the contrary: Let us fee what may be concluded from the Suppofition. Doubtlefs this will be the Conclufion, That GOD does not deceive us: That he has not given us Eyes like Glafles, to magnifie or diminifh the Objedt, and therefore we ought to believe that our Eyes reprefent things as really they are.
'Tis true, GOD ntver deceives us, but we often deceive our felves^ by judging of things with an unwarrantable rafhnefs. For we often judge that the Objects whereof we have Idea's exift, and likewife that they altogether refemble their Idea's j when yet it often falls out that the Objects are neither like their Idea's,- nor do they exift at all the' The Exiflence of a thing does no ways follow from our having an Idea of it, much lefs does it follow that the thing is perfectly like the Idea which we have thereof. It cannot be concluded from G O D's giving us fuch a fenfible Idea of Magnitude upon the prefentation of a fix Foot-rule to our Eyes, that this Rule has the fame Extenfion, as it is reprefented to us by that Idea? For firft,All Men have not the fame fenfible Idea of this fame meafure,lince all Men have not their Eyes difpofed in the fame manner. Again, The fame Perfon has not the fame fenfible Idea of a fix Foot-rule,, when he beholds it with his left Eye, as when he views it with his right, as has been already faid. Finally, It often happens that the felf-fame Perfon, entertains quite different Idea's of the fame Objects at different times, according as they are fuppos'd nearer or farther off, as fhall be explain'd in its proper place.
It is then nothing but prejudice grounded upon no good reafon to think we fee Bodies accor- ding to their real Magnitude:, for our Eyes being not given us for any other purpofe than the fe- curity of our Body, they difcharge their Duty admirable well, in giving us fuch Idea's of Ob- jects as are proportion'd to its magnitude.
But the better to conceive what ought to be our judgments concerning the Extenfion of Bodies, from the Report of our Eyes, let us imagine GOD to have created in Epitomie, out of a por- tion of matter of the bignefs of a fmall Globe, an Heaven and Earth, and Men upon this Earth, ■with all other thin is, the fame proportion being obferv'd, as in this Grand World. Thefe little Men would fee each other, and the parts of their Bodies, as likewife the little Animals which were capable of incommoding them. Otherwife their Eyes would be ufelefs to their preferva- tion. It is manifeft then from this Suppofition, thefe little Men would have Idea's of the magni- tude of Bodies quite different from ours; fince they would look upon their little World, which would be but a Ball in our account, as ftretch'd out into infinite fpaces, juft as we do in refped of the World in which we are.
Or if this is not fo eafie to be conceiy'd, let us fuppofe GOD had created an Earth infinitely vafter than this which we inhabit, fo that this new Earth fhould be to ours, what ours would be to that we have fpoken of in the fore-going Suppofition. Let us moreover conceive GOD Almighty to have obferv'd in all the parts which went to the Compofition of this New World, the very fame proportion he has done in thofe which make up Ours. It is plain, that the Inhabitants of thft latter World would be Taller,than the fpace betwixt our Earth and the moft diftant Stars we can difcover: And this being Co, it is manifeft that if they had the fame Idea's of Extenfion of Bo- dies as our felves, they would be able to difcern fome of the parts of their own Bodies, and and would fee others of a prodigious unweildinefs; fo that 'tis ridiculous to think they would fee things in the fame Eignefs as they are feen by us.
It is apparent in thefe two Suppofitions we have made, that the Men, whether of the Great or Little World, would have Idea's of the Magnitude of Bodies very different from ours, fuppofing their Eyes to furnifh them with Idea's of the Obje&s round about them, proportion'd to the Magnitude of their own Bodies. Now if thefe Men fhould confidently affirm upon the Teftimony of their Eyes, that Bodies were of the very fame bignefs whereof they faw them, it is not to be doubted but they would be deceiv'd; and I fuppofe no Man will make aqueftion of it: And yet it is certain that thefe Men would have as Good Reafon to juftifie their Opinion, as we have to defend our Own. Let us acknowledge then, from their Example, That we are very uncertain of the Magnitude of Bodies, which we fee, and that all which can be known by us concerning them from the Teftimony of Sight, is only the mutual Relation there is between Them and Us.
In a word, that our Eyes were never given us whereby to judge of the Truth of things, but only to give us notice of fuch as might either moleft or profit us in fomething or other.
JL But 'tis not thought fufficient for Men to credit their Eyes only, in order to judge otVifible AComi- Objeds: They think they are to be trufted farther, even to judge of thofe which are Tnvifble.
?iuatio>i o/Becaufe there are fome things which they cannot fee, they conclude they do not exifi, attributing thefe Er- t0 ^heir sight a Penetration in a manner Infinite. This is an Impediment which prevents their InviftiT ''difcovering the real Caufes of abundance of Natural Effects: For that they afcribe them to ImaobjeEhs g'mary Faculties and Qualities, is often meerly for want of difcerning the True, which confift in the different Configurations of thefe Bodies.
They fee not, for Inftance, the little parts of Air or Flame, much lefs thofe of Light, or of a matter frill more fine and fubtil: And upon this fcore they are ready to believe, they are not in being, at leaft, conclude them void of force and a&ion. They betake themfelves to Occult Qua- lities, or Imaginary Faculties to explain all the Effects, whereof thofe Imperceptible parts are The True and Natural Caufe.
They had rather have recourfe to the horror of a Vacuum to Explain the Elevation of water in the Pump, than impute it to the Gravitation of the Air. They chufe to afcribe the Flux and Re- flux of the Sea, to the dualities of the Moon, rather than to the prefTure of the Atmofphere, that is, to the Air which furrounds the Earth; and the Elevation of Vapours to the Attractive Facul- ties of the Sun, than to the iimple Motion of Impulfe, caufed by the parts of the Subtil Matter, which it continually diffufes abroad.
They look upon thofe as Men of trifling and impertinent Thought, who have recourfe only to the Flefh and Blood, in accounting for all the Motions of Animals: Likewife for the habits, and the Corporeal Memory of Men: And this partly proceeds from the Conception they have of the littlcncfs of the Brain, and its incapacity thereupon to.preferve the Traces of an almoft in- finite number of things, lodg'd in it. They had rather admit, though they can't conceive how, a Soul Chap. VI. The Search after Truth.. ij a Soul in Beafls, which is neither Body nor Spirit; Qualitiesand Intentional Sfecies, for the Habits and Memory of Men; or fuch like things, notwithftanding they have no particular Notion of them in their Mind.
I mould be too tedious mould I Hand to reckon up all the Errors we fall into through this Pre- judice. There are very few in Natural Philofophy, to which it has not given fome occafion •, and if a Man mould make a confederate Reflexion thereupon, he would poffibly be aftonifh'd at it.