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Show lntroduf1ion. Book I. moderate our Perfwalions. In Order whereunto, I !hall purfue this fol·· lowing Method. , . Firjl, I 111all enquire into the Original of thofe Jd,a s, Notions? or what-ever elfe you pleafe ro call them, which a Man obferves, and IS confcious to himfelfhe has in his Mind; and the ways whereby the Underllanding comes to be furnifhed with them. Secondly I !hall endeavour to I!Jew, what Kno1vledge the Underllanding hath by th~fe Idea's; and the Certaint:>:, Evidence, and Extent of it. 1birdly, I 1!1all make fome Enqmry tnto the Nature and 0 :cunds of Faitb, or Opinion : whereby I mean that A!Tent, which we give to any Propolition as true, ofwhofe Truth yet \~e bave no cerram Knowledge: And here we 1!1all have Occaf1on to examme the Reafons aud Degrees of Ajfent. . . . §. 4. If by this Enqmry mto the Nature of the Undedl.andmg, I can difcover the Powers thereof; at bow far they reach ; to whid! dungs they are in any Degree p~oportionare; ·and '~here they fail us, I fuppofe it may be ofufe, to p~evaii With the bulic Mmd of Man, to be more cautious in meddling w1th dungs exccedwg ItS Comprchenlion i to Hop, when it is at the utmoll Extent of 1ts Tether; and to lit down m a quiet Ignorance of thofe Things, which, upon Examination, arc found to be beyond the reach of our Capacities. We I!JOu!d not then perhaps be fo forward, out of an AffeCtation of nn univerfall\nowledge, to raife ~ell: ions, and perplex our felves and others With D1fpures about ·Tlungs, to which our Underllnndmgs are not fmted; and of wluch we cannot frame in our Minds any clear or dillinCl: Perceptions, or whereof (as it has parhaps too often happen' d) we have not any Notions at all. If we carl find out how far the Underllanding can extend its view; how f.1r it has FacultiC.: to attain Certainty; and in. what Cafes it can only judge and guefs, we may learn to content our felves with what is attainable by us in this State. §.f. For though theComprehenfion of our Underllandings,comes exceed· ing fhort of the vall Extent of Thmgs; yet,we ll1all have Caufc enough to magnifie the bountiful Author of our Being, for that Portion, and Degree of Knowled~;~e, he has bellowed on us, fo tar above all the rell of the Inhabitants of this our Manfion. Men have Rea !On to be well fatisfied with what God hath thought fit for them, Iince he has given them (as St. p,. tu fays, miVf« '11'~·~~"'"' >1, lu.rlJ!>a«v, Whatfoever is ncce!Tary for the Conveniences of Life, and Information of Vertue; and has put within the reach of their Difcovery the Provilions, that may fupport, or fwecten this Life, and" the Way that leads to a better. How ll10rt foever their Knowledge may come of an univerfal, or perfeCt Comprehenlion of whatfoe· ver is, it yet fecures theirgreat Concernments,that they have Light enough to lead them to the Knowledge of their ~aker,and the Difcovery of their own Duties. Men may find Matter fuflicient to bufie their Heods, and employ their Hands with Variety, Delight, and SatisfaCtion; if they will not boldly quarrel with their own Conllitution, and throw away the Bleffings their Hands are fill'd with, becaufe they are not big enough to grafp every thing. We !hall not Ill ve much Reafon to complain of the narrownefs of our Minds, if we will but employ them about what may be of ufe to us ; for of that they are very ca;>able : And it will be an un· pardonable, as well as Childifl1 Peevifhnefs, if we undervalue the Advantages of our Knowledge, and negleCt to improve it to the ends for which is was given us,becaufe there are fome Things that are fet out of the reach of it. It will be no Excufe to an idle and untoward Servant, who would not Chap. II. IntroduCiion. not attend his liuflrlefs by Candle-light, tb ple:id that he had not bfo1d Sun·fhihe. The Candle, that is fet up in us, 111iries bright enough for all otlr Purpofes. The Diftoveries we can make witl1 this, ought to r.,. tisfie us: And we !hall theh ufe our Underll:andings right, when we entertain all ObjeCts in that Way and Proportion; that they are fuited to our f:lclllties ; and upoll thofe Grounds, they ate capable of being propos'd to us ; and not peremptorily, or intemperately require Demonllratiori and demaml Certainty, where Probability only is td be had, artd whicl; is fufficient to govern all our Concernments. If we will disbelieve every thing, becaufe we cannot certamly know all tlungs; we flml! do muchwhat as wifely as he, who would not ufe his Legs, but fit ll:ill and perilh, becaufe he had no Wings to fly. §. 6. When we know our own Strength, we fl1all the better know what to undertake \\·ith hopes of Succers: And when we have well furvey'd the Po•ver£ of our own Minds, and made fome Ef1imate what we rna y expeCt from them, we !hall not be inclined either to fit flill, and not fet our Thoughts on work at all in Defpair of knowing any thing; nor on the other lidc queflion every thing, and difclaim all Knowledge, becaufe fome Things are not to be underllood. 'Tis of great ufe to the Sailor to know the length of his Line, though he cannot with it fathom all the depths of the Ocean. 'Tis weU he knows, that it is long enough fo reach the bottom at fuch Places, as are neceffary to direCt his Voyage, :i!ld caution him againll running upon Shoals, that may tuine him. Our Buftners here is not to know all things, but thofe which concern our Condud:. If we can find out thofe Meafures, whereby a rational Creature put in that State, which Man is in, in this World, may, and ought to govern his Opinions and ACtions depending thereon, we need not be trou• bled, that fame other things fcape otlr Knowledge. §. y. 'This was that which gave the llill Rife to this Effiiy Cortcerning the Underll:anding. For I thought that the firll: Step towards fatisfying feveral Enquiries, the Mind of Man was very apt to run into, was To take a Survey of our own Underftandings, examine our own Powers' and fee to what things they were adapted. Till that was done,! fufpeCl:e<l we began at the wrong end, and ih vain fought for SatisfaCtion ill a quiet and fecure PolTeffion ofTruths,that moll: concern'd us, whilfl we let loofe our Thoughts into the vall Ocean of &ing, as if all that boundlefs Extent; were the riauiral, and undoubted Po1Teffion of our Underllandings, wherein there was nothing exempt from its Decilions, or that efcaped it:S Comprehenlion. Thus Mert, extending their Enquiries beyond their Ca:- · pacities, and letting their Thoughts wander into thofedepths, where they can find no fure Footing; 'tis no Wonder, that they raife Qgellions, and multiply Difputes, which never coming to any clear Refolution, are proper only to continue and incrcafe their Doubts, and to confirm them at !all in perfeCt Scepticifm. Whereas were the Ca.pacities of our Underf1andmgs well confidered, the Extent of our Knowledge once difcovered, and the Horizon found, wJ1ich fets the Bounds between the enlightned ancl dark Parts of Things; between what is, arid what is not comprehenfible by us, Men would perhaps with lcfs fcrupl~acquiefce in the avO\v'd Ignorance of the one,and imploy their Thoughts and Difcourfe, with mote Ad vantage and Satisfaction in the othef. §. 8. Thus much I thought rteceffiry to fay concerning the Occalion of this Enquiry into humane Underf1anding. But, before I ptoceed on to what I have thought on this Subject, I mufi here in the Elltrance btg Pardon of my Reader, for the frequent ufe of the Word Idea, which · B,. he |
