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Show No innate Principler in the Mind. Book I. -------children do. It might very well be ex\'e<'lcd, that thefe Principles fuould be erfe<'lly known to Naturals; winch bemg llampcd rm':. 'edrate- 1 on th/ Soul (as thefe Men fuppofe) can have no dependepcc on the tonllitutions, or Organs of the Body, the only confelfed difference b~tween them and others. One would dunk, accordmg to thefe Mens Principles, That all the native Beams of Lrgbt (were there an~· fuch) fuculd in thofe, who have no Referves, no Arts of Concealment, fl1me out in their full Lullre,and ]eave us in no more doubt of the<r bem~ there, than we are of their love of Pleafure, and . abhorrence. of ram. llut alas, •· mongO: Children, Jd<ots, Savages, and the groflf rlhterate, what general Maxims are to , be found ? What unrverfal Pnncrples of 1\nowledge 1 Their Notions are few and narrow, borrowed only from thofe ObJects 1 h ve had moO: to do with andwhrchhavc made upon therrSenfcsthe ~ 10y atefi and O:rongefi Imt'~ellion. A Child knows his Nurfe and his ,cre qudeien and by degrees the Play·tI u .n gs o f a ).1 tt Ie more a d vancec I Ag e: A~d a young Savage has, perhaps,his Head fill'd with Love and Huntrng, according to the falhion of his Tribe .. But he that from a Chrld untaught, or a wild Inhabitant of the Woods, writ exl'ect thcfe abllract Max1ms, or the Principles of Sciences, will I fear find lu~fclf mrO:aken. Such kmdof general Propolitions, are feldom mennoned m the Huts of lnd,an;: m!'ch Jefs-are they to be found in the thoughts of Chrldren, or any Impreflrons of them on the Minds of Naturals. They are the D1fcourfes of the Schools, and Academies of learned Nations, accuO:omed to that fort of Converfation, or Learning, where Difputes are frequent: Thefe Max1ms berng fuited to artificial ArgumentatiOn, and ufeful lorCoov1ct10n; but n.ot much conducing to the diicovery of Truth, or advancement of 1\nowledgc. But of their [mall ufe for the improvement of Knowledge, I fhall have oc· calion to fpeak more at large, I. 4· c. 7. . ~. ~s. I know not howabfurd this may feem to the Mailers of Demon: firation: And probably, it will hardly down wrth any Body at lir!l Hearing. I mufr therefore beg you a little to lay by your prejudice? nnd fufperrdyour cenfure, till you have heard mcout1n the fequcl ofthrsDrfcourfe, being very willing to fubmrt to better Judgments. And Iince I impartially fearch after Truth, I !hall not be forry to be convmced, that U1a•e been too fond of my own Notrons; wluch I confefs .we ~re aft apt to be when Application and Studv have warmed our Heads wrth them. Upon the whole matter, I cannot fee any ground, to think thefe tWO famed fpeculative Maxims innate: Iince they arc n·ot umverfally aiTented to; Since thea!fent they fo generally find, rs no other tha~ what feveral Propolitions, not allowed to be innate, equally partake m W!th them; And fince the aifent is given them, is produced another way,and comes not from natural Jnfcription, as I doubt not but to make appear in the following Difcourfe. And if thefe firfl Principles of Knowledge and Scr· ~nee, are found not to be innate, no or her fpecularn·e Maxrms can (I fuppofe) avith ~etter Right pretend to be jo. CHAP. III. Chap. III. No innate praCiica/ Principles. C H A P. Ifl. No illllate praEiical Pri11ciples. •J §. r.IF thofe fpeculative Maxims, whereof we difcourfed in the fore-go-rng Chapter, have not an actual univerfal affect from all Man· l<ind, as we there proved , it is much more vifible concerning praliical PrmCJp!es, that they con" /hort of an umver{.! Recep-tion: and I think it writ be hard to rnllartce any one moral Rule, which can pretend to fo general and ready an a !Tent as, W11at 1i, JJ, or to be fo manifefi a Truth a~ tins, lbat it is irKf'>ffible for t}g fomlf thing to b., and not to k. Whereby 1t "ev!clent,That tl1ey are farthorremoved from a title to be innate· and th? doubt of their being. native Imprellions on the Mind, is !\ranger agarnO: thefe.moral Pnncrples than the other. Not that it brings their Truth at all m quellro~. The~ are equally true, though not equally evi· dent. Thof~ ff>eclllauveMaxrms carry the1r own Evidence with them: but moral PrUJcrples requ1re Reafoning and Difcourfe, and fame Exercifc of the Mmd, to chfcover ~he Certainty of their Truth. They lie not open as natural Characters mgraven otl the Mind; which if any fuch were, they mull needs be vrlible by themfelv~, ~nd ~y their .own light be ccrtmn and known to every Body. But thrs rs no Derogat10n to their Truth and Certarnty,. no mor~ than it is to the Truth or Certainty of the Thre~ Angles of a Tna~gle bemg equal to two nght one5,becaufe it is not fo evrqenr as The whole u lngger tbaH a part;nor fo apt to be alfented to at firfi hearmg. It may fuffic7, ~hat thefe moral Rules are capable of Dem. onllrat!Dn: and therefore It 1s our own faUlts, if we come not to a cerum Knowledge of them. But the Ignorance wherein many Men are of them, and the flownefs of a!fent wherewith others receive them are mamfeO: Proofs that they are not innate, and fuch as offer thcmfelv~s to their view without fearching. §. 2_. Whether there be any fuch moral Principles, wherein all Men do agree, I appeal to any, who have been but moderately converfant in the HiO:ory of Mankind,. and look'd .abroad beyond the Smoak of their own Chrmneys. Where 1s that pr~ct1cal T':'t~, that is univerfa!Iy received W!thqntdou?t orque0:1?n, as rt mull be 1fmnate/ J•flice,and keeping of Contra.cts, 1s, that wh1ch mo/1 Men feem to ag"e in. This is a Principle, wh1ch 1s thought to extend 1t fe!f to the Dens of Thieves, nnd the Troops of Robbers~ and they who have gone farthell towards the putting off of Humanrty 1t felf, keep Farth and Rules of Ju!lice one with another. 1 grant that Outlaws themf':'lves do this one amongllanother: but 'tis, without recervmg thefe as the mnateLawsof Nature. They practice them as· Rules of con.venience within their own Communities: But it is impollible to conce1ve,that he u_nbrncesJullice as a practical Principle, who ads f.1Irly wrth hrs Fellow-Hrgh-way-men,and at the fame time plunders or krlls the next h_onefi Man he meets with. JuO:ice and Truth are the common tres of Soc1ety; and therelore, even Outlaws and Villains, who break wrth all the World belides, muO: keep Faith and Rules of Equity amongO: themfelves, o! elfe they cannot hold togcthe~, But will any one loy, Thatthofe that hve by Fraud and Raprne have !Onate Principle.! of Truth and Jullice, which they allow and a!fen~ to' ' ~· 3· Perhaps it will beurged, That the tacit affint of tbeir Minds agrees to wbat their Praf/JcecontradiE/s. I anfwer, Fi,jl, J have always thought |