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Show Wr.ong .AJ!ent or Error. Book IV. neceliary to make out many, nay, mofi of the ,Propo)itions, that in the Societies of Man are judged of the grcatefi MomeQt ; or to 6od out .GreunG!s of Alfur~oce {o great, as the Belief of the Points he would buil4 on them, is thought .neoeiTary. So ~ba~ a great. part of ~~okmd are, by the natural and unalterable State of Tlungs_Jn tlu• World, ~nd the Confiitution of humane Affairs, unavoidably gtven over to mvmt tble Jgnorance. of thofe Proofs, on .which others build, and wluoh are necelfary to e!labliJh thofe Opinions: The grcatcfi ,part of·(\1eQ, havmg 111ucb to do to get the Means_of Livin~, _are not m aCondttton ,to look after thofc of learned and labonous Enqumes. · ~- 3. What !hall we f.1y thefl ? Are the grcatefi pm of Mankind, by the neceffity of their Condition, fubjected to unavmdable Ignorance m thofe Things, which are of greatdl Jmport'lnGe to them ? ( tor of th?fe, 'tis obvious to enqmre ?) Have the Bulk of Mankmd tW other. Gutde, but Accident and blind Chance, to conduct them to tltetr Happtncf~, or Mifery ? A;e the current Opinio_ns, .and licenfcd Guides of every_ Country fufficient Evidence and Secunty to every Man, to venture Ius greatell Concernments on; n.1y, his everlalling H~ ppinefs, pr Mifery ? Or -can thofe be the certain and infallible Oracles and Standards of Truth, which teach one Thing in Cbr.if/endom, and another in Turkey ! Orlhall a poor ·Omntry-man be eternally happy, ~or hllving the Chance to be born in Italy; or a Day-labourer be unavmdably Jolt, becaufe he had tbe ,ill Luck to be born in Engla11d! How ready fome M~n may be to fay ,fomeof thefe Things, I will not here examme ; QUt tlus I ~m furc, that Men mull allow one or other of thefe to be true, (let them chufe whicj1 !they plcafe ;.) or elfe grant, that GOD has fumiil1ed M_en witlt Faculties fufficient to diretl: them in the Way they l110pld take, tf, they w1ll but ,fe•iou(ly employ them that Way, when theirordin~zy V ocatioos allow thcfjl the Leifure. No Man is fo wholly tAken up with the Attendence on the Means of Livin~, a_s to have no fpare ~ime at all to tl1ink on his Soul, and inform himtelf 10 Matters of Reltg10n. Were Me11 as mtent 1Jpon this, as they are on Things of lower Concernment, tbere are no~e fo enflaved to the Necellity of Life, who might not find many Vacanctes, that might be husbanded to thts Adv,aotage of thetr Knowledge. . ~ . 4· ,Befides thofe, whofe Jmpr.ovements and Informations are firaitned by the narrownefs of their Fortunes, there are others, wh9fe la rgcnef• of Fortune woul<\ plentifully enough )upply nooks, a11d other Opportunities of clearing of Doubts, and difcovering of\ruth: But they are cooped in clofe, b the lAws of. their Countries, and the llrictGuards of thofc, · whofe Interell it is to keep them ignorant, Jell, knowing more, they lltould . believe theJefs in thew, that they arG as far, nay farther, from the Liber-ties and Opportunities of a fair Enquiry, than thofe poor and wretched La· bourers we before fpoke o£ Thefe Men, however they1 may feem !ugh and great, are confined to oarrownefs of Thought, and enOaved in dt~t ' which lhould be the freefi part of Man, their Under!landings. ThiS ts generally the Cafe of all thofe, who live in Places where Care is taken to propagate Truth, without Knowledge; wl1cre Men are forced, at a venture, to be of the Religion of the Country ; and mull therefore. [wallow down Opinions, as filly People do Empiricks Pills, without knowmg what they are made of, or how they .will work, and have nothing to do, but belteve that they will do tbe Cure; but in thif, are much more mtferablc than they, in that they are not at hberry to refufe fwallowing what, perhaps, they had rather let alone; or to chufe the Phyfician,to whofe Con· duct they would troll themfelves. ~- 5· Secondly, Cbap.XIX. /IVrong /ljfent or Ei-ror. &. 5· Stco.d!y, Thofe that rv.r•t .dill to nfe 1bn{e Evitle.cts t/gy /;.,ve of Probabilitie<, that con not c.trry a train ol' Gonfcguences in their Heads, nor wetgh exltl:ly the preponde ra ncy of contrary Proofs and Tcllimonies making every Circum(bnce it-; due allowance , may be eaftly miOcd t; atTcnt tO Politiom that arc not probable. There are kline Men of one fame but of two Syllogifim, and no more ; and others that 'can but ad: vn ncr onellcp fa rther. Thcfc ca nnot always difcern that fide on which the llrongell Proof, lie, cannot conOaht ly follow that whiclt in its felf is the more probable Opinion. Now thl t there is fuch a difference between Men, in rcfpctl: of their Undcrthnding<, I think no body will que/lion who has had any Convcrf.1tion with his Neighbours , tlwuglt he neve;. was at Weflr~>i•{lcr-Ha/1 or the Exclwrge on the one hand, nor at Alms. Houfes or Bedi.;m on the other; which great clillerence in Men's lntcJIcchrals, whether it ri li:s from any defect in the Organs of the Body, particularly adapted to Thinking, or in the du lne(> or untratl:ablencfs ofthofe Facul ties, for \Vant of u[e ; or, as lome think, in the natur:1l difft:renccs of Men's Soul> thcmfclves, or fame or all of thefc together, it matters not here to examine : Only thi1 is evident, that there ts a difference of de• grees in Men's Underllanding> , 'Apprehenlions, and- Reafoning1 , to (o great a btitudc, that one may, wi thout doing injury to Manki nd, affirm, that there is a grea ter difl:ancc between fame Men and others in th is rcfpect, than between fomc Men and fomc Bea lls. But how this comes about, is a Speculation, though of great collfcqucnce, yet not necd fa ry to 0 11r prcfcnt purpofe. §.6.71Jirdly,T here are another fort of People that rva•t Proofi,not becau fe they are out of their reach, but becauje tbey 1vill not ufe tbem ' Who though they have Riches and leifure enough,_ and want neither Parts nor Learning, may, yet through thetr hot purflllt of Plcafure, or Buftnefs, or el fe out of lazinefs or fear, that the Doctrmes, whofe Truth they lhould enquire into would not fuit well with their Opinions, Lives, or Deflgns, 111ay never c~me to the knowledge of; 1:or give their !\ffcnt to thofe Probabi lities which lie fo much wttlun thctr Vtcw, that to be convmccd of them, they need but turn thei~ Eyes that way: . But we know fame Mcrt will not read a Letter, wluch IS fu ppofcd to bnng til news ; and many Men forbear to call up their Accompts, ?r fo much as think upon their Efhtes who have reafon to fear thetr Afratrs are not m a very good po! lu rc. ' How Men, whofe plentiful Fortunes allow them lcifure to imJlfove their Underllandings, can fatisfie themfelves with a la~y }gnorance, 1 cannot tell: !lut methinks they have a low Opmton of thetr :iouls, who Jay out all their Incomes in Provifions for the Body, and ethploy none of it to procure the Means and Helps of 1\nowlcdge; who take great care to appear al ways in a neat and fplendtd outftde, and would tlunk themfclvcs mifcrable in courfe Cloaths, or a patched Coar, and yet contentedly fulfcr their Minds to api>ear abroad m a pte-bald Ltvery of courfe Patches, and borrowed Shreds, fu ch as 1t . has pleafcd Chance, or thetr Country-Tailor, 1 mean the common Optmoo of thofe they have converkd with, to cloath them. I wdl not here mentton how unrcafonable tillS is for Men that ever thin I< of a future fiatc, .:lnd thc1r concernment m.tt, which no rational Man c•n avoid to dofometuncs: nor lhl lll tal<e nottce what a fhame and confulion it is, to the greatell Contemners of 1\nowlcdgc, to be lo~ nd ignorant in 1 hings they are concerned to know. Jl·Jt this at \call is worth the conlideranon of thole who call thcmfelves Ge~tlemen, That however they may_ think Credit, Relpect, PO\rer, and Authority the Concomitants of thclf Bll'th and Fortune , yet they Wtll z z ~, find |