1000000030

'~nd

m.!al\ions, \vhieh beiog nolV palt, and having

longer any exillenee, eould not lVithout this eonveyanee,

ha,'e faU,o under our eognizaoee.

, Here then we,hove lhree fouodations of human judg–

ment, froOl whieh lhe "hole

f~lIem

our knolVledge

may with

e.fe

and advaouge be derived. Firlt,

in/,';·

,/ion,

which refpeéls our ideas themfelves, aod Iheir re–

Iatioos, aod is the

foun~ation

of that fpeeies of reafooiog,

\Vhieh \Ve eall

da/lo/ljlra(ion.

For wlmever is dedueed

'froOl pur iotuitive pmeptions, by a clear aod eonoeélive

{eries of proofs, is faid to be demor.llrated, aod produ·

ces abfolOle eeminly in the mind. HeneeIhe koowledge

obtained in this maooer, is what we properly term

fei.

'enee;

beeaufein " ery lIep of the procedure, it carries its

n evideoee along witlt it, and leaves no room for doubt

or htrttatioo, And, what is highly \Vonhy of notiee, as

the trulhs of this

c1~fs

exp"rs Ihe relations between our

ideas, and the fame relalioos moll ever and invariably

fubC,1I hetweenthe fame ideas, our deduélioos io the way

of feienee, eooflitute what we eaU eternal, oeeelrary, aod

immutable truths , If it he Irue that Ihe whole is equal

'to

aU ils pans, it mull be fo unehangeably; beeaure the

Telatioo of equalily being attaehed to the ideos them·

felves, mufl ever intervenewhere Ihe fame ideas are eom·

pared. Of Ihis oature are alllhe truths of nalural reli·

gion, morality, and mathematieks, aod io geoeral, whal–

'ever may be galhered from the bare view and eoofidemion

of our ideas.

The feeond grouod of human judgment is

txp"ienu ;

from whieh we infer the exiflenee of Ihofe objeéls Ihal

{urround us, and fall under the immediate notiee of our

feofu . When we fee tbe fun, or eafl our eyes lowards

building, lVe nOI only have ideas of thefe objeéls with·

'in ourrelves, bUI aferibe to Ihem a real exiflenee OUI of

lhe mind. It is alfo by the information of the feofes,

lhat we judge of Ih qualities of bodies ; as when we fay

that fnow is white, firc hOI, or fleel hard. For as we

are \Vholy tinaequainted wilh the internal Itruélure and

(oollilUlionof the bodies that produ,:e thefefenfations in

us, and are unable to trace any eonn,élion between that

f1ruélure aod the feof,tions themf,lves, it is evident, that

we build our judgments altogether upon obfervation, a·

[cribing

bodles fueh qualities, as areanfwerable

Ihe

pereeplions they excite in uso BUI this is not the ooly

advantage derÍl'ed from experienee; for we are likewile

indebted to it for all our knowlcdge regarding the co·

exillepee of fenfible qualities in objcéls, and the opm·

tions of boJics one uponanolhee. Ivory, for inflanee, is

hard and elanie ; thi. IVe knowby experience, and in–

deed by that alone, For being allogelher flrangers

Ihe rrue n" nre both of elaflieilY .nd hardnefs. we can,

Dot by the bare contemplation of Our ideas demntine,

howfar thepne 'necdraril), implies the olher, or wherher

lhere maynot be a repugnance between Ihem. But " hen

we obrerve them

exil! bOlh in the fame obje8, IVe are

Ihen , lrurcd from experíenee, lhat they are not incom·

patible; and when we alfo find that a Oone is hard and

not elaOie, and that ai r Ihr,uth dallie is not hard,

we alfo conelude upon Ihe fame fnundation,

th~t

rhe i.

dcas are nnt nertlr"ily conjnined; but may exill fepa–

rarely in ddfm nt ohjcéls. In like maDDer with regard

VeLo11. N° 68.

to the opemions of bodies one úpon anofher; ir is n i:

dent, that our knowledge this way, is all dcrived froO!

obfervarion.

Aq/lfl rrgia

dilrolv,s gold, as has beln

found by frequent trial, nor is there any olher

arriving at tbe difeovery. Naturalills may tell us ifrhey

pleafe, that the parlS of

aqua rrgia

are of a teXlure apt

to infinuale between the corpufdes of gold, aod thueby

loofen and Olake tbemafunder. If Ihis is a lrue aceoont

of the maner, lVe believe it \ViII ootwilhllanding be al–

lowed, that our conj,8ore in regard to the conformalion

of thefe bodies is dcdueed from the expcriment, and OOt

the experimeot from the conjeélure.

was not from

any previous knowledge of the intintate flru8ure of

a–

qua rrgia

and

g./d,

aod the aptncfs of Iheir pans to aél

or be aéled upon, thar: IVe carne by the conclufion ábove

Olentioned. The internal eonflilution of bodies is in a

manner IVholly unknolVn to us, and eould lVe cveo fur'

mount rhis dlfficulty, yet as the f' patatioo of lhe parts

of gold, impliesfomethiog likean aéli.e force in the

111m·

jlruul/J,

and IVe are unable to eooeeive ho\V it come3 to

be polrelfed of litis aélivity; the e[ ,él mufl

owned' to

be altogether beyond our comprehenfion, But IVhen re–

pealed trials had once confi rmed it, iofontuch that it \'las

admitted as ao eflablilhed IrUlh in natural knowledge, ir

IVas theneafy for men, to fpin out theories of their oIVn

invention, and contrive fuch a IIruaure of pans, both for

go/d

and

gqlla ngia,

as would befl

ferv~

to explain 'he

phznomenoo, upon Ihe priDeiples of that fyllemof phi.

lofophy they had adopted.

From IVhal has

b~eD

[aidit is evident, that as inlui:ioD

is the foundation of what we calJ

feitnlijica/

knolVkJge,

fo is experienee of

na/llra/.

For this lall, being wholly

laken op wilh obje8s of feofe, or thofe bndies that COD–

Rilute the natural world; ando their propenies, as far as

IVe can difeover them, being tO be traced only by a long

and paioful feriesof obfervatioDs,

'pparent, that in

order to improve this branch of knowledge, we mull be–

take ourfelves to the method of

ial and experimento

But though experienee is \Vhat IVe may term the ¡m–

mediate found.tion of natural kno\Vledge, yet with re–

rpea to particular perfons, its influenee is very narrow

and eonfined, The bodies that furround us are numc.

rous, many of them lie at a great dillanee, ,nd

fom~

quite beyond ourre" h. Life toois Ihort, and focrouded

\Vith cares, thar but liule time is left for any fingle man

to employ himfelf in 'unfolding Ihe mylleries of nature.

Henee it is necelrary tO admit many things upon the te.

flimooy of others, whieh hy this meansbecomes thefoun–

dation of a great rart of our knoivledge of body. No

mandoubts of the po\V" of

nqlla rrgia

to dilrolve gold,

Ihough perhaps he never hi"lfdf n"lde Ihe experimento

In thefe therefore and fu eh like cafes, we judge of the

fa-éls and opera;ions of nature, upon the mm ground of

ttllimony. However, as we eanalw,ys have rccourfe lO

experi, nce, whm any dO\lbt or feruple arifes, litis is

julUy confidmd as thetrue foundationcfnatural philofo.

phy; being indeed Ihe ultimate fuppon upon \Vhieh ouf

alrent rens, and \Vhereto

~¡e

appeal,

henthehighdl de·

gree of evidenee is required.

Bu: Ihere are many faéls Ihat will not allow of an aro

peal to the feofes, aod,in this eafe Idlimony is Ihe \lue

aod