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Show Wrong lJ/ent or Erorr. Book IV. find all thefe ili\l carried away from them, by Men of lower COndition, whofurpafs them in Knowled~e .. They who are bhnd,. Will ahvays be led bv thofe that fee, or elfe fall mto the D1tch ; and he IS certamly the moil-fubjeelecl, the moil enllaved, who is fo in his Underilanding. In the foregoing in fiances, fame of the Caufes have bee!' ll1ewn of wrong Afi"ent and how it comes to pafs, that probable Doelnncs are not alwoy& receiv~d with an Affent proportionable to the Reafons, which are to be had for their Probability; but hitherto it has been only offuch Probabilities, whofe Proofs do only exiil, but do not appear to him that embraces the Errour. §. 7• FoMrtbly, There remains y~t the. !oil fort, who even where the real Probabilities appear,and are plamly lmd before them,yet do not adm1t of the conviaion, nor yield unto manifeil Rea fans, but do either hrlx.~v, fufpend their Affent, or give it to the lefs probable Opinion. And to · this danger are chafe expofed, who have taken up wro11!. meafues of Pro· bahi!itJ, which are, . 1. Propojitions that are not in tbemftlves certain and evide.•t, ~Itt doubt· jMI and falje, taken up for PriHciples. z. Reaived Hyporhefts. 3· Predomi11ant Pa.flions or Iltclinations. 4· Authority. §. 8. Fir/1, The firil and firmeil gro~nd of Probability, is the conformity any thing has to our own !\now ledge; efpecially that part of our Knowledge which we have embraced, and continue to look o~ as Principles. Thefe hayefo,great an influence upon our Opinions, that 'tis ufually by them we judge of Truth; and meafure,Probability to that degree, that what is inconliilent with our Principles, is fo far from palling tor probable with us, that it will not be allowed poflible. The reverence ~to thefe Principles is fo great, and their Authority fo paramount to all other, that the Teilimony not only of other Men, but the Evidence of our own Senfes are often rejeCled, when they offer to vouch any thing contrary to thefe ellabliiiJed Rules. How much the Doelrine of innate Principles, and that Principles are not to be proved or queilioned, has contributed to this, I will not here examine: This I readily grant, that one Truth cannot contradiCl; another; but withal I take leave alfo to fay, that every one ought very carefully to beware what he admits for a Principle; to examine it ilriCIIy, and fee whether he certainly knows it to be true of it fclfby its own evidence, or whether he does only with affurance believe it to be fo,upon the Authority of others. For he hath a ilrong bmfs put mto h!S Underftandmg, wluch Wlll unavoidably mifguide his Affenr, who hath unbtbed wrong P~inciples ~ and has blindly giveo himfelf up to the Authonty of any Opauon 111 It felf not evidently true. §. 9· There 1S notlung more ord1nary, thall that Children fhould re.., ive into their Minds Propolitions (efpeeially about Matters of Religion) from rhe1r Parents, Nurfes, or thofc •.bout them ; which being inlinuated 111to rhe1r unwary, as well as uobtafs d Underfiandings, and fallened by degrees, are at !aft (equally, whether true or falfe) rivited there by long Cufiom and Education, beyond all poilibility of being pull'd ·out again. For Men, II hen they are gro\\'n up, rdleCiing upon their Opinions, and lindmgdtofe of tillS (orr to be "' aoc1ent in their Minds as their very Memones, not having obferved their early iutinuation, nor by what means they got them, they arc apt to reverence them as {acred Things, not to fuffer them to be profaned, touched, or qudlioned, but look on them as the Vrim and TbHmmim fer up in their Minds immediately by GOD Chap, XIX. Wrong Af{ent or Error, G 0 D Himfelf, to be the great and unerring Dec;ders of Truth and FalflJood, and the Judges to wl11ch they are to appeal in all manner of Controvcrlies. .~· 1 o. This Opioio.n of his frinciples_ (Jet them be wl11it they will) bemg o•ce ejlaUc(bed 1n '"Y ones frlmd, 1t 1s ealie to be imagined what ~ece~tion any Propoliri~n !hall find, how clearly fcever pr01·ed, that fl1aJl mvahdate thm Authonty, or at all thwart with thefe internal Oracles. whereas the grolfefl: Abfurditiesand Improbabilities, being but agreeabl; to fuch Pnnc1pb, go down .gl,bly, and arc ealily digeiled. The great obllmacy, that IS to be found lll Men firmly believing quite contrary Opi-' mons,_ though many umes equolly abfurd, 10 the various Religions of Mankmd, areas ev1denr a Proal, as they are an uoavoidoble conlequence of ti11s way. of lteafoomg from received traditional Principles: So that Men will d!Sbchcvc the!t own Eyes, renounce the Evidence of their Sene f~, and give tbeir own Experience the lye, rather than· admit of any thmg_ d1fogrcemg With thcfc f.1cred Tenets. Take a~J intelligent RomaniJ'tl that !rom the very .firil dawmn~s of any Nouons 111 his Undcrilanding, hath had the< Pnnc1ple conftamly mculcated, viz. That he mull believe as the Church believes, or that the Pope is Infallible : and this he nel'et fo much as heard queilioned, till at forty or fifty years old he mer with one of other Principles: How is he prepared eafily to fwallow, nat only agamil all ProbabliJty, but even the clear Evidence of his Senfes the Doelrinc ofTranfubllantiation, and will believe that to be Flefh, whi~h he !ces to be Bread 1_ And what way will you take to convince a Man of any ImprobableOpmwrt he holds, who, wuh fame Pl11lofophers , hath laid down this as a foundation of Reafoning, That he mull believe his Reafan (for fo Men improperly call Arguments drawn from their Principles) againil their Senfes! Let an Enthuf~afl be principled, that he or his Teacher is infpired, and aded by an immediate Com,~mnication of the Divine Spirit; and you in vain bring the Evidence of clear Reafons againft his Dodrines. Whoever there!ore have imbibed wrong Princij? les, are not, in Things inconliilent with thcfe Principles, to be moved b'y the moft apparent and convincing Probabilities, till they are fo can· did and ingenuous to themfelves, as to be perfiraded to examine even thofc very Principles, which many never fuffcr themfelves to do. §.I I. Seco,dly, Next to thefe, are Men whofe Underfiandings arc cafi into a Mold , and fafhioned juil to the lize of a received Hypueh•Jis. The difference between thefe and the former,is,thnt they will admit of matter ofFall,and agree with Dilfenters in that; but differ only in afligning of Reafons, and explaining the manner of Operation. Thefe are not at that o· pen deftance with rheir Scnfes, as the former; they can endure to hearken to their Intelligence a little more patiently :but will by no means admit of their Reports, in the Explanation of Things, nor be prevailed on by Pro! JUbilities which would convince them that Things are not brought abou! juJl after the l1me manner, that they hal'e decreed within themlelves thae they are. Would it not be an infufferable a thing for a learned Profeffor, and that 1rhich his Scarlet would blufh for, to have his Authority of forty years llandiog wrought out of hard Rock Greek and Larin , with no fi11all expense ol Time and Condie, and confirmed by general Tradi· tion, and a reverend Beard, in an iollant overturned by an upftart NoveJill; and he made to confefs, That what -he taught his Scholars thirty years ago, was all Errour and Mifiake; and that he fold them har_rrWords and Ignorance at a very dear rate? What Probabilities,! fay, arc ioffic1ent to prevail in fuch a cafe! And wlw ever by the moll cogent Arguments will |