Book II. This fo defperate and unphilofophical Advice expreffes only this,That human Knowledge cannot fupport itself but by Reafon, that is unreafonable, foolish, and mad; • but that it is yet better, that Man, to give himself a Cre• dit, make Ufe of this, and any other Remedy, how fantaftic foever, than to confefs his neceffary Ignorance; • a Truth fo difadvantageous to him. He cannot avoid owning, that the Senfes are the fovereign Masters of his Knowledge; but they are uncertain, and falfifiable in all Circumstances: 'Tis there that he is to fight it out to the laft, and if just Forces fail him, as they do, he must supply that Defect with Obftinacy, Temerity, and Impudence. In case that what the Epicureans fay be true, viz. < That we have no Knowledge, if what the Senfes make appear be false; and if that alfo be true, which the Stoics fay, That what appears from the Senfes is fo false, that they can furnish us with no manner of Knowledge;' we shall conclude, to the great Disadvantage of these two Dogmatical Sects, that there is no Knowledge at all.' As to the Error and Uncertainty of the Operation of the The Error and Senfes, one may furnish himself with as maUncertainty of ny Examples as he pleases; fo common are the Operation the Frauds and Tricks they put upon us. of the Senfes. In the Eccho of a Valley, the Sound of the Trumpet feems to meet us, which comes from a Place behind. Extantefque procul medio de gurgite montes Claffibus inter quos liber patet exitus, iidem Apparent et longe divolfi licèt, ingens Infula conjunctis tamen ex bis una videtur. Et fugere ad puppim colles, campique videntur Quos agimus præter navim m. i. e. And Rocks i' th' Seas, that proudly raise their Head, Lucret. lib. iv. v. 398, &c. Thus ! Thus Ships, tho' driven by a profperous Gale, Ubi in medio nobis equus acer obbafit i. e. Thus, when in rapid Streams my Horfe hath ftood, } Like a Mufquet Bullet, under the Fore-finger, the Middle-finger being lapped over it, which feels fo like two, that a Man will have much ado to perfuade himself there is but one; the End of the two Fingers feeling, each of them, one at the fame Time. fometimes impofe upon our Reafon. For that the Senfes are, very often, Mafters of our Reason, and conftrain it to receive Impref- That the Senfes fions which it judges and knows to be falfe, is frequently feen: I fet afide the Senfe of Feeling, that has its Functions nearer, more lively and fubftantial; that fo often, by the Effect of the Pains it brings to the Body, overthrows all thofe fine Stoical Refolutions, and compels him to cry out of his Belly, who has refolutely eftablifhed this Doctrine in his Soul, that the Cholic, as well as all other Pains and Difeafes, are indifferent Things, not having the Power to abate any Thing of the fovereign Felicity, wherein the wife Man is feated by his Virtue. There is no Heart fo effeminate, that the Rattle and Sound of our Drums and Tabors will not inflame with Courage; nor fo fullen, that the Harmony of our Mufic will not roufe and chear; nor fo ftubborn, that will not feel itself ftruck with fome Reverence, in viewing the vaft Gloominefs. of our Churches, the Variety of Ornaments, and the Order of our Ceremonies, and to hear the folemn Mufic of our Organs, and n Lucret. lib. iv. v. 422. • Mr. Creech. the the compofed and devout Harmony of our Voices: Even those that come with Contempt, feel a certain Shivering in their Hearts, and fomething of Dread, that makes them doubt of their own Opinion. For my Part, I do not think myself hardy enough to hear an Ode of Horace, or Catullus, fung by a pretty young Mouth without Emo The Voice the tion And Zeno had Reafon to fay, That Flower of the Voice was the Flower of Beauty A Beauty. certain Person would once make me believe, that a Man, whom all we Frenchmen know, had imposed upon me, in repeating fome Verses to me which he had made; that they were not the fame upon the Paper that they were in the Tune, and that my Eyes would form a contrary Judgment to my Ears: So great a Power has Pronunciation to give Fashion and Value to Works that are left to the Modulation of the Voice. And therefore Philoxenus was not so much to blame, when he heard one give an ill Accent to fome Composition of his, for spurning and breaking certain Furniture of his, faying, I break what is yours, because you spoil what is mine.' To what End did thofe Men, who, with a pofitive Refolution, destroyed themselves, turn away their Faces rather than fee the Blow they gave themselves? And why is it, that thofe, who, for their Health, defire and command Incifions and Caustics, cannot endure the Sight of the Preparations, Inftruments, and Operations of the Surgeon ; confidering, that the Sight is not, any way, to participate in the Pain? Are not these proper Examples, to verify the Authority which the Senfes have over Reafon? 'Tis to much Purpose to know these Treffes were borrowed from a Page, or a Lacquey; that this Vermilion came from Spain, and this Cerufs from the Ocean: Our Sight will, nevertheless, compel us to confefs the Subject of it more agreeable, and more lovely, against all Reason : For, in this, there is nothing of its own. Auferimur cultu: gemmis, auroque teguntur Diog. Laert. in the Life of Zeno, lib. vii. fect. 23. Sape Sæpe ubi fit quod ames inter tam multa requiras, i. e. By Drefs we're won: Gold, Gems, and rich Brocades What a strange Power do the Poets attribute to the Senfes, who feign Narciffus fo defperately in Love with his own Shadow ! Cun&taque miratur, quibus eft mirabilis ipfe, Se cupit imprudens, et qui probat, ipfe probatur. i. e. Admireth all, for which to be admir'd; Narciffus in Love with his his own Perfon And Pygmalion with his Statue. Who feeks, is fought, th' Inflamer is inflam'd. Ofcula dat, reddique putat, fequiturque tenetque, i. e. He kiffes, and believes he's kifs'd again, Let Ovid. de Rem. Amor. lib. i. v. 343. Ovid. Met. lib. iii. Fab. v. et vi. v. 85, &c. How we are deceived by the Let a Philofopher be put into a Cage of fmall thin fet Bars of Iron, and hang him on the Top of the high Tower of Noftredame at Paris; he will fee, by manifeft Reason, that he cannot poffibly fall, and yet he will find (unless he have been used to the Tilers Trade) that the exceffive Height will unavoidably frighten and aftonifh him: For we hardly think ourfelves fafe in the Galleries of our Steeples, if they are railed with an open Ballafter, altho' of Stone; and fome there are that cannot endure fo much as to think of it. Let there be a Beam thrown over betwixt the two Towers, of Breadth fufficient to walk upon, there is no Philofophical Wisdom fo firm, that can give us the Courage to walk over it, as we fhould do if 'twas upon the Ground. I have often tried this upon our Mountains; and, tho' I am one who am not extremely fearful, yet I was not able to look down that vaft Depth without Horror, and Trembling of my Hams and Legs, tho' I ftood above my Length from the Edge of the Precipice, and could not have fallen down, unless I chose it. Here I alfo obferved, that what Height foever the Precipice were, provided there were fome Tree, or fome jutting out of a Rock, a little to fupport and divide the Sight, it fomewhat eases our Fears, and gives fome Courage, as if thefe Things might break our Fall: But that we are not able to look down steep smooth Precipices without being giddy Ut defpici vertigine fimul oculorum animique non poffit; which is a manifeft Impofition of the Sight. And therefore it was, that the famous Philofopher put out his own Eyes", to free his Soul from being corrupted by them, and that he might philofophife at greater Liberty. But, by the fame Rule, he should have dammed up his Ears, which, Theophraftus fays, are the moft dangerous Organs about us, for receiving violent Impreffions to alter and disturb us; and, finally, fhould have deprived himself of all the other Senfes, that is to fay, of his Life and Being; for they have all the Power to command our Soul and Reason: Fit etiam fæpe fpecie quadam, "Democritus in Cic. de Finibus, lib. v. c. 29. But Cicero only spoke of it as of a Thing uncertain; and Plutarch fays pofitively, that 'tis a Falfehood. See his Difcourfe of Curiofity, c. xi. |