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ERRAT A.

Pag. 19. lin. 15. dele fuch

34. 55. lin. ult. read Bouju, 144. lin. penult, read conviction 218. lin. 7. dele the

227. lin. 24. for eminence read note

248. lin. penult. read Avers

253. lin. antepenult. read wineμIVOI

361. lin. 5. for fame read fome

528. lin. 22. read poffibly

INTRODUCTIO N.

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O thofe who love learning and mankind, and who are more ambitious to distinguish themselves as men, than as difputants, it is matter of humiliation and regret, that names and things have fo oft been mistaken for each other;' that fo much of the philofopher's time muft be employed in afcertaining the fignification of words; and that fo many doctrines, of high reputation, and of ancient date, when traced to their first principles, have been found to terminate in verbal ambiguity. If I have any knowledge of my own heart, or of the fubject I propofe to examine, I may venture to affure the reader, that it is no part of the defign of this book, to encourage verbal difputation. On the contrary, it is my fincere purpose to avoid, and to do every thing in my power to check it; convinced as I am, that it never can do any good, and that it has been the cause of much mischief, both in philofophy and in common life. And I hope I have a fairer chance to escape it, than fome who have gone before

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before me in this part of science. I aim at no parodoxes; my prejudices (if certain inftinctive fuggeftions of the understanding may be fo called) are all in favour of truth and virtue; and I have no principles to fupport, but thofe which feem to me to have influenced the judgements of a great majority of mankind in all ages of the world,

Many will think, that there is but little merit in this declaration; it being as much for my own credit, as for the intereft of mankind, that I guard against a practice, which is acknowledged to be always unprofitable, and generally pernicious. A verbal difputant! what claim can he have to the title of Philofopher! what has he to do with the laws of nature, with the obfervation of facts, with life and manners! Let him not intrude upon the company of men of science; but repofe with his brethren Aquinas and Suarez, in the corner of fome Gothic cloifter, dark as his understanding, and cold as his heart. Men are now become too judicious to be amused with words, and too firm-minded to be confuted with quibbles. Many of my contemporaries

temporaries would readily join in this -apoftrophe, who yet are themselves the dupes of fome of the most egregious dealers in logomachy that ever perverted the faculty of speech. In fact, from fome instances that have occurred to my own obfervation, I have reafon to believe, that verbal controverfy hath not always, even in this age, been accounted a contemptible thing; and the reader, when he comes to be better acquainted with my fentiments, will perhaps think the foregoing declaration more difinterested, than at first fight it may ap¬ pear,

They who form opinions concerning the manners and principles of the times, may be divided into three claffes. Some will tell us, that the prefent age tranfcends all that have gone before it, in politeness, learning, and good fenfe; will thank Providence (or their stars) that their lot of life has been cast in fo glorious a period; and wonder how men could poffibly support existence amidst the ignorance and barbarifm of former days. By others we are accounted a generation of triflers and profligates, fciolifts in learning, hypocrites

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