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Show 'Duration, and its jimple Modes. Book II. cHAP. XIV. Of 1Juratiol1, and its fimple Modes. THere is another fort of Difiance, or Length, the JJea where- §. 1 • of we et not from the permanent parts of Space,. but &om · g t lJ erilhing parts of Succellion. Th1s we call the fleetmghandfi perlpee MuaJes p whereof are any different lengths of it, DuratiON t e 1mp .,.. & -r· d whereof' we have difiind: Ideas, as Hours, Days, ,ears, c. nme, an Eternity. 1 ked h t T' ~ Th A fwer of a great Man, to one w 10 as w a 1me was (S . • :z.. e n u· wh"1ch amounts to this· the more I fet my felf to 1 non rogas znte Jgo, ' r. d Tl h' k f"t the Iefs I umlerfiood it;) might perhaps per.~a e one, 1at ~m ~hi~h reveals all other things, is it felf not to be dtfcovercd. Du- raJtmroen, ,-Ir"z' me,a nd Et•.. rnit:.•n are ' not without reafon, thought 1t·o have fofcm e-thing very obflrufc in their nature. But however !emote t u~ may. eem from our Comprehenfion, yet if we trace them nght to the•r Ongmais, I doubt not but one of thofe Sources of all our Knowledge, 'III<. Sen{atro• and Ref/eflion, will be able to furnilh us with thofe Ideas, as clear and d' fi' a: s many others which are thought much leiS obfcure; and we fualtnfind, that the Ide; of Eternity it felf, is derived from the fame com-mon Original with the refi of our Idea~. . . ~ To underfiand Time and E.ternrty anght , we ought With atten-tio; :~confider wh~t Idea it is we have of Duration, and !1o~ we came by it.'Tisevidenttoanyone whowillbutobfervewhat paife.'! 10 Ius own Mmd, that there is a train of Ideas, wluch confiantly fucceed one another 10 Ius Underflanding, as long as he is awake. Ref/eCf_Ion on thefe appe~rances of feveral Ideas one after another in our Mmds, IS that wh1ch furn.thes us with Idea o[Sumffion: And the difiancebetween any parts of that Succellion, or between the appearance of any _tw? IdeaJ 10 ?Ur Mmds,_ ts that we call D•ration. For whilfi we are thtnkmg, or whtlfi we recetve fuccel!ively feveral Ideas in our Minds, ~e know that we do extfi ; and fo we call the Exiflence, or the Contmuauon of the Elnfience of our felves, or any thing elfe, Commenfurate to thefucccllion ?f any Id:•~ m our Minds, the Duration of our !elves, or any fuch other thmg co-cxtfimg with our Thinking. . . ~. 4, That we have ouGnotion of Succeflion and Duratianfrom tlus On· gina!, viz. from Reflection on the train of Ideas, ~h1ch we find to appear one after another in our own Mimls, feems plato to me , 111 that we have no perception of Duration, but by _confidering the train of !dear, that take their turns in our Underfiandmgs. When that fuccellion of ldeaseeafes, our perception of Duration ceafes with it; which every one clearly experiments in himfelf, whilfi hefleeps f?undly, whether an hour, or a day ; a month, or a year; of which Duration of thm~s, wlulfl he fleeps, or thinks not, he has no perception at all, but 1t. 1s qmte lofl to him; and the moment wherein he leaves off to thtnk, till the moment he begins to think again, feem to him to have no diflance. And fo l doubt not but it would be to a waking Man, if it were pollible for l~un to keep only one Idea in his Mind, without variation, and the fuccell1on of '?'hets: And we fee, that one who fixes his Thoughts very intently on one thing, fo as to take but little notice of the fuccellionof l<leas that pafs ttl Chap. XIV. 'Duration, and its fimple Moder in his Mind~ whilfi he is taken up with that ear~efi ContempMion, lets fhp out of Ius Account a good part of th:it Duratton,and thinks that time fl10rter than it is. But if fleep commonly unite the difiarit parts of Dura~ ion, it is, becaufc during that time we have no Succel!ion of Ideas in our Minds. For if a Man,during his Sleep, dream, and variety of Idea1 make themfelves _pcrcepti.blc in his Mind one after another, he hath then, during fud1 dreammg, a Scnfe of Duration, and of the length of it. By which tt ts to me very clear, that Men denve the~r Ideas o£ Duration, from their Rej!eflion on tbe train of the IdeaJ, they obferve to fucceed one another in their own Undcrflandings, without which Obfervation they can have 'no Notion of Duratio11, whatever may happen in the World. §. 5'· lndeetl a Man, having from reflecting on the Succel!ion and Number of his own Thcughts, got the Notion, or Idea of Duration, he carl apply that Notion to things, which exifl whilfihe does not think; as he that has got the J.dea of Extenfion from Bodies by his Sight or Touch, ca~ apply it to diflances, where no Body is feen or felt. And therefore,thouglt a Man have no Perception of the length of Duration, which pafi whilfl he flept, or thought not: Yet having obferved the Revolution of Day~ and Nig11ts, and found the length of their Duration to be in Appearance regular and conflanr, he can, Upon the ftippofition, that that Revolution has proceeded after the fame manner, whilfi he was afleep or thought not, as it ufed to do at other times, he can, Ifay, imagine and make allowance for the length of Duration, whilfi he flept. But if Adam and Eve (when they were alone in the World) inflead of their ordinary Nights Sleep, had pafl'ed that, and the following +4 hours in, one continued Sleep, the Duration of tliat "'4 hours had been irrecoverably lofi td them, and been for ever left out of their Account of time. §. 6. ThljS fry rej/efling on the appearing of variow Idea!!, one afttr anotber in our Vnderftandi•gs, we get tl~ Notion of Succe.flion ; which if any one fhould think, we did rather get from our Obfervarion of Motion by our Senfes , he will, perhaps, be of my Mind, when he confiders, that even Motion produces in his Mind an Idea ofSuccel!ion, no otherwife than as it produces there a continued train of difiinguifhable Ideas. For a Man looking upon a Body really moving, perceives yet no Motion at all, unlefs that Motion produces a conflanr train of jiicce.flive IdeaJ. v.g. a Man becalmed at Sea, out of light of Land, in a fair Day, may look on the Sun, or Sea, or Ship,a whole hour together, and perceive no Motion at all in either ; though it be certain, that two, and perhaps all of them, have moved, during that time, a great way : But as foon as he perceives either of them to have changed diflance with fame other Body , · as foon as thisMorion produces any new Idea in him, then he perceives, that there has been Motion. But where-~ver a Man is, with all things at refl about him, without perceiving any Motion at all; if during this hour of quiet he has been thinking, he will perceive the various Ideas of his own Thoughts in his own Mind, appearing one after another, and there· by obferve, and find Succellion, where he could obferve no Motion. ~-7· And this, I think, is the Reafon, IVby MotionJ very flow, though thoy are confhnt, are not perceived by us; becaufo in their remove from one fenfible part towards another, their change of diflance is fa llow, that it caufes no new Ideas in us, but a good while one after another: And fo not cauflng a conflant train of new !deaJ, to follow one another immediately in our Minds, we have no Perception of Motion ; which confifling in a conflant Succellion, we cannot perceive that Succellioo, without a conflant Succellion of varying Ideas arifing from ir. §. 8. On |