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Show Names of Subjlances. Book Ill ther not. But if the Enquiry be made concerning the fuppofcd real Effcnce . ~nd whether the internal O,nfl:itution and Frame of thefe fever.[ Crea~res be fpecifically different, it is wholly impolliblc for us to anfwer, no part of that goin~ inw our fpecifick Id:a: only we have Reafonto think that where the bcult!es, or outward Frame fo much dtffcrs, the 10• tcrnal Confl:itution is not exaCl:ly the f.1me: But what difference in the internal real Conlhtution, makes a fpecifick difference, is in vain w enquire; whilfl: our meafures of Species, be, as they arr, o~ly our abj}raC/ Ideas, which wo know ; and not that internal Confiltlrtwn, whrch makes no part of them. Shall the difference of H~ir only on the Skin, be a mark of a different internal fpecrfick Confl:rtutton between a Changelmg and a Drill when they agree in Shape, and want of Reafon, and Speech ? And !hall ~ot the want of Reafon and Speech, be a fign to us of different real C..onfl:itutions and Species , between a Changeling , and a rcafonable Man ! And fo of the refl:, if we pretend, that the di!linCl:ion of Species is fixedly efl:ablifhed by the real Frame, and fecret O,nfl:itutions of Things. ~. ~l · Norlctanyone fay, that the real Species of Animals, are dij/i11· guifhed by a Power of Propagati•n, by the mixture of Male and Female, and Plants by Seeds, for this would help us no farther, than in the difiin· chon of the Species of Animals , and Vegetables : What mufl: we do for the refl:? Nor isitfufficient in them: For if Hifl:ory lie not, Women h~ve conceived by Drills, ; and what real Species, by that meafure, fuch a ProduClion will be in Nature, will be a new ~efl:ion; and we haw Reafon to think this not impolliblc, fince Mules, and Gimars, the one from the mi<ture of an Horfe, and an Afs, the other from the mixture of a Bull, and a Mare, are fofrequent in the World. I once faw a Creature, that was the Illite of a Cat, and a Rat, and had the plain marks of both about it; wherein Nature appear'd to have followed the pattern of neither fort alone, but to have jumbled them both together. g. 14. Upon the whole matter, 'tis evident, that 'tis· their own Collelli· ons qf fenfiblc ~alities, that Men make the E(fences of their fevcral forts of Subfl:ances; and that their real internal StruCl:ures, are not confidered by t[je greatefl: part of Men, in the [orting them; much lefs any {ubjlan· tial Forms were ever thought' on by any, but thofe who have in this one part of tljc World, learned the Language of the Schools: and yet thole ignorant Men, who pretend not any infight into the real E(fences , nor trouble themfelves about fubfl:antial Forms , but are content with knowing Things· one from another, by their fenfible ~alities, are often better acquainted with their Differences; can more nicely difl:inguiflt them for .-heir ufes; and better know what they may expeCl: from each, than ""!f.ofe learned quick-lighted Men, who look fo deep into them, and talk fo confidently of fomething more bidden and elfential. §.~5. But fuppofing that the real Elfences of Subfl:ances were difcovera· ble,by thofe, that would feverely apply themfelves to that Enquiry; yet we could not reafonably think, that the ranking of 7hings under general Nam.s, was regulated by thofe internal real Confl:itutions, or any tlung elfe but their olruious appearances : Since Languages, in all Counrnes, have bfen e!labliflted long before Sciences; fo that they ha vc not been Philofophcrs, or Logicians, or fuch who have troubled themlel vcs about Forms and E(fences, that have made the general Names that are in ufc amongfl: the fcvcrel Nations of Men: But thofe, more 0 ; lefs comprehcn· five tern~s, have, for the mofl: part, in all Languages, received their Brrth and Srgmficat•on, from tgnorant and illiterate People . who forted and ' denominated Chap. V, Names of Subjlancer; denominated Thing<, by thofe fenfible ~alities they fourid in thcmj thereby to lignifie them, when abfent to orhers, whether they had ali OC· cafion·ro mention a Sort, or a partrcular Tlung. §.15. S!nce then it is evident, that we fort and name Subfl:~nces by their Nominal, and not by their real Elfences, the next thing to be confi~ dered is, I row, and by whom thefe Effinces come to be made. As to th& latter 'tis evident they are made by the Mind, and not by Nature: for were ~hey Nature's Workmanfltip, they could nof be fo various and diffe; rent in feveral Mcn,as 't is evident they are. For if we will ellllmine it, we !hall not find the nominal Elfence of any one Species of Subfl:a nces, in all Men the fame; no not of that, which of all others we are the mofl: intimately acquainted with .It could not pollibly be, that the abfiraCl: lilen,to which th~ name Man is given, Otould be different in feveral Men, if it were of Nature's making 1 and that to one it fhould be Animal rationale, and to another Animai implum• bipes !at is unguibuJ. He that annexes the name' Man, to a complex Idea, made up of Senfe and fpontaneous Motion, join 'd to a Body of fuch a Ota pe, has thereby one E(fence of the Species /1/•.: A.nd he that, upon farther examination, adds Rationality, has another E«ence of the Species he calls Man : By which means, the fame Individual will be a true Ma. to the one, which is not fo to the other. I think there is fcaree any one will allow this upright Figure, fo well know~ to be the e«ential difference of the Species Man; and yet how Jilr Me~ determine of the forts of Animals, rather by their Shape, tha!t l>efcent is very vifrble ; fince it has been more than once debated, wh~ thcr fev~ral humane FIJJtUJ !hould be preferved, or received to Baptifm, or no, only becaufe of the difference of their outwa~d Configuration, from the ordinary Make of Chrldren , wtthou~ knowtng whether they were not as capable of Reafon , as Infants cafl: tn another Mold : Some whereof, though of an approved fhape, are never capabl.e of as much appearance of Reafon all their Lives, as 1< to be found tn an Ape, or an Elephant; and nev~r give any figns of being aCl:ed by a rational Soul. Whereby it is evident, that the outward Frgur~, wluch only was found wanting, and not the Faculty of Reafon , wl11ch no body could know would be wanting in its due feafon, was made errentral to the humane Species. The learned Divine and Lawyer, mufl:, on fuch occafions, renounce his facred Definition of Anim•l Rationale, and fubfl:1tute fame other E!Tence of the humane Species. ~. >6. Wherein then, would l gladly know, conlifl:s the precife and ••movable Boundaries of that Species! 'Tis plain, if we e.amine, there is "' fuch thing mad~ by Nature, and efl:abliflted by He,ramo_ngfl: Men. The real E«encc of th1t, or any other fort of Subfl:anccs, .'IS evrdent we kn~w" not: and therefore are fo undetermmed rn our t\ommal Elfences, wluch We make our fdves that if feveral Men were to be asked, concerning fame odly·fhaped FII:tur, as foon as born, whether it were a Man, or no; 'tis pafl: doubt, one fltould meet with different Anfwers: Wluch could nor bappen,ifthe nominal E«ences, whereby we hm1t and drfl:mgmfh theSpe• cies cf Subfiances were not made by Man,» ith fome liberty; but were exactly copied from' precife Boundaries fet by Nature, whereby it difl:inguifh'd aiiSubflanccs into certain Species. Who would undertake to refolve,what Species that Mon!ler was of, which is mentioned by Licetus, lib. I. c. l • With a Man's Head, and Hog's Bocly! Or thofe othCI", » lucb to the Bo- · dies of Men, had the Heads of Beafl:s, as Dog<, Horfes, I'!! c. If any of thefe Creatures had lived and could have fpoke, it would have tncrcafed the difficulty. Had th~ upper part, to the middle, been of humane fhape, and Ff ill 217 |
