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and only foundation of our judgmenu . AII human ac·

tions of whmv<r kind, "hen cunfidered as already pafi,

are of the nature here dtCcribcd; becauf, having now no

longer any cxifience. boll. the

f.lb

themfelves, and the

circumO.ncu amnding them, can be koown only from

Ihe relations of fu eh as had fufiicient opponunities of

arriviog at the truth .

'.!IimDnI

therefore is jull ly ac·

couoted athird gronod of humao judgment; and as from

the other two we have deduced

frienliftcRI

aod

nalural

knowledge, fo m.y we from this derive

hijlorical;

which we mean, not mercly a knowledge of the civiltranC–

aDions of tlates and kingdoms, but of,11 faDs wbatfoever,

whm tenimony is the nltimate foundation of our bclief.

Of A/jirlllalive and mgalive propojilionl.

HILE the comparing ofour ideas. is coofidered mere·

Iy al aoaD of the miod, alfembling tbem together, aod

joining or disjoiniog th,m according to the refult of its

preceptions, .e call it

jlldgw,nl ;

bUI wheo our judg.

ment& are put ioto words, they then bear the oame of

propojiliM/.

A propofilioo therefore is a fentence ex·

prefliog fome judgmeot of the miod, whmby

t~'O

more ideas are aflirmed tO agree or difagree. No\V as

our judgmeots iodude a lean twO ideas, ooe ofwhich is

aflirmed ordenicd of the other, fo mufi a propofitionhave

term! anCwering to thefe ideas. The idea of which \Ve

DAirm or deny, and of courCe the lerm exprefling that i·

dea, is called Ihe

fubj,n

9f the propofition. Tbe idea

allirmed or deoied, as alfo the term anCwering it is called

Ihe

p"dicale. ·

Thus in the propolitioo, '

Cod

j¡

olllnipo·

Iml : Cod

is the fubjeD, it being of him that we .ffirm

omnipotence; and

onmipoltnt

is the predicate, bec.ufe we

a/!irm the idea exprelfed by that word to beloog tOGod.

But as in proyofitions, idm are either joioed or dif·

joined ; it is not enough tO have terms exprefling thofe

ideas, unlcfs we have alCo Come words to denote their a·

-grccmeot ot difagmmenl. That word in a propofitioo

which conoetls two ideas togelber, is called the

(opula;

and if anegatige particle be ¡nnexed, IVe thereby unde r·

fiand that the ideas aredisjoined. The

jubjlanl;v( v(rb,

ís commonly made uC. of for the copula, as in the above·

mentioned propofition,

Cod

omnipol<nl;

whm

j¡

re·

preCents the copula, and fignifies the agreement of the

ideas of

Cod

and

¡mnip.tmc<.

But if we mean to fepa.

rate tWO ideas: lhen, befid" the fubfiantioe verb, we

mufi alfo uCe COOle partide

olf

negation, to exprefs this

repugnance. The propofition,

Man

j¡

nol p"fin

; may

ferve as ao example of thi! kiod, IVhere the notioo of

ptrf(fliM,

being removed from the idea of

mon,

!he neo

j!atioe panicle

nol

is inferted after the copula, to figoify

Ibedifagreement betweeo the fubjetl and predicate.

Emy propofition necelfarily confins of thefe lhree

pam, but then it

not alike needful that they be all fe·

'Verally expreífed in words; becauCe Ihe copula is ofren

nc!u¿ed in the term of the predicate, as when we

f~y,

jil/;

which impom the fame as

h( i/ jiuing.

In the

'Lafin

language, a

fin~le

IVord has often the force of a

"'hole fentence. Thus,

ambulal

is the fame as

il/e

QmhulalJJ

01/10,

'KO

fU11I

timan¡

i\nd

in ionume·

n ble other innances; by ,,'hich it appears, that ";c are

not

mcch tOregard tbe numhcr of words io a Centence,

as lhe ideH they repreCent, andthe m¡nner in which they

a~e. p~ttogeth:r.

Fondwe e\'ertwoiJeas are Jllined or

?1!Jo~ned

10 ao

exprcflio~,

Ihllu.:n r.r but a lingle word it

ts , ..

deO! that we have a fubjc.'! p.tJicm , and copula,

aod of confequence acomplete propufition.

.Whcn

the mind joios t\Vo ideas , we call it an

afirma.

live

judgment; whcn it feparates them,. a

n!gativ:

; and

as any two iJeas compared togtther, mufi necelfuilyd.

ther agree or not agree, it is evident, that all our juJg.

mems fallunder tbefe two divifions. Henc. like' ife, the

propofitions exprefling th& juJgmenls, areall cither af–

tirmative or negatioe.

Hence \Ve f.e Ihe reafon of the rule commonly laid

clown by logician!; tbat in all negati"e prorofition" the

negatioo ought to afl'ea the copula. For as the copula,

wheo plmd by :tCelf, bet",een the fubjeD and the predi.

cate, maoifefil) binds them together ; it is evident, th. t

in order tO render a propofition

ne~atioe,

the partic!e of

negation mult enter it in fuch roanner, as tO dellroy this

union. .In a IVord, lhen only are two ideas disjoined io

a propof,tioo. when the 'negatioe pmicle may be fo re.

ferred tO the copula, as to.break the aflirmation induded

in it, and, undo tha! conneQion il would otherwif. ella·

blilh. \Vhenwe Cay, for infiance,

ilion

ptrfttl;

take away the negalion, and the copula of itfelf plainly

uniles the ideas in Ihe propofitioD. On the eonmry, in

this feoteoce;

'!h(

lIJan 'Whodeparl/ nol froman upright

hdaviour,

b(/owd

Cod;

the predicate

h,loV/d of

Cod,

isevidemly affirmed ofthe fubjeé!

an uprighlll1''';

fo that notwithnanding the negatioe partide, the propó–

fition is flill a!lirmatioe. The reafon is plain; the oega·

tion here a/feDs not Ihe copula, but making properly a·

parl of the fubjeé!, Cenes ",ith other terms in the fen·

tenee, to formone 'complex idea, of which 'the predicate

pdo"d ofCod,

is diretlly affirmed.

Of univufal andparlicular propojilionf.

THE neXI confiderable divifion of propofition, is ioto

un;v'1al and particular.

Our ideas, are all finglllar

they enter the mind, and rcpreCent individual ohjeQs.

But as by abfiratlion we can render themunioerfal, fo as

comprehend awhole clafs of things, and fometimes fe·

veral c1aífes at once ; hence the ierll)s exprefling thef.

i·

deas, mu(l be iD like manner Ilniverfal. (See META·

'Hvsles .)

therefore we fuppofe aoy genml terro

btcome the fubjeD of a propofition, it is evideot, that

whateoer is affirmed of the ab(l'ratl idea belooging to that

term, may be a/!irmed of all the indi"iduals

which that

ideaextends. Thuswhen we fay,

Mw are l1mlal

; we

confider monality, not as coofined to ooe or any number

of panicular men, but as what may be Rffirmed wilhout

re(lriDion of the whole fpecies. By thislJleans the pro·

pofilion becomes as general as the idea which makes the

fubjeD of it, and iodeed derives its univerf.lity enlircly

from that idea, being more or lefs fo, according as this

may be extended to more or felVer individoals. Bút Ihete

eener,l terms Cometimcs enter a propofition in Iheir full

latitude, as in the example given abo"e; and fOOletÍmes

appear with amark oflimitatioo. In this 11(l café IVe : re

given tounderfiaod. that

th~

predicm ag'ecs not to tho

whole unil'crfal iJea, but only

a pan of it; as ill the

proJofitÍon .