Clavis universalis

Prefatory Note

By this edition of Collier's "Clavis Universalis" it is hoped to call attention to a book otherwise inaccessible, which, though curiously parallel to Berkeley's contemporary works, has undoubted independent value; and which anticipates Kant's first two antinomies. The whole history of philosophy perhaps presents no more striking example of undeserved neglect, and no more curious coincidence of thought than the eighteenth century in England. By entirely different modes of approach and unknown to each other, Berkeley and Collier reached the same conclusion, — that matter, as conceived by traditional philosophy, is non-existent.

This edition of the "Clavis Universalis" is an exact and verified copy of the essay as it appears in Dr. Parr's "Metaphysical Tracts of the Eighteenth Century," a book now out of print. The Introduction and Notes are modified extracts from a Master's thesis accepted by the faculty of Wellesley College. They aim to show the direct dependence of Collier upon Des Cartes, Malebranche, and Norris, as well as the parallelism of Collier and Berkeley.

The thanks of the editor are due to Professor iv CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS

Mary Whiton Calkins who suggested and directed the work; to Dr. Benjamin Rand, of Harvard University, who has given counsel at several points; and to Mr. James Van Allen Shields who consulted the British Museum copy of Taylor's translation of Malebranche's "Recherche de la Verite."

The Conclusion of the Whole - - 118

Notes 133

Introduction

In the early eighteenth century, metaphysical speculation turned from the material world toward the inner life of man. Des Cartes and Malebranche in France, and Locke in England, had stripped the external world of its warmth and light and color and had left to it little save the character of extension. The completely idealistic theory of matter was formulated at nearly the same time, and in apparent independence, by George Berkeley and by Arthur Collier. And yet Berkeley alone commonly has credit for the metaphysical discovery, while Collier's little volume of scarce a hundred pages remained practically unnoticed for more than fifty years.

The book seems to have attracted little or no attention even at the time of its publication. Had not Dr. Reid chanced upon it in the library at Glasgow, it might never have been known. Reid appreciated the value of the book, and in his "Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man," published in 1785, gives it brief notice. After a discussion of Norris's "Essay toward the Theory of the Ideal or Intelligible World," he says that he ought not to omit mention of "an author of far inferior name, Arthur Collier. . . . His arguments are the same viii CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS

in substance with Berkeley's; and he appears," Reid adds, "to understand the whole strength of his cause. Though he is not deficient in metaphysical acuteness, his style is disagreeable, being full of conceits, of new-coined words, scholastic terms, and perplexed sentences." Reid ends by saying, "I have taken the liberty to give this short account of Collier's book, because I believe it is rare and little known. I have only seen one copy of it, which is in the University library of Glasgow." 1 This notice attracted Dugald Stuart to the work, and in his "Dissertation: Exhibiting the Progress of Metaphysical, Ethical, and Political Philosophy" he compares Collier with Norris. "Another very acute metaphysician," he says, "has met with still greater injustice. His name is not to be found in any of our Biographical Dictionaries. In point of date, his publication is some years posterior to that of Norris, and therefore it does not possess the same claims to originality; but it is far superior to it in logical closeness and precision, and is not obscured to the same degree with the mystical theology which Norris (after the example of Malebranche) connected with the scheme of Idealism. Indeed, when compared with the writings of Berkeley himself, it

1 Thomas Reid, Essay II, p. 287 of his works, edited by Sir Wm. Hamilton, 1846.

CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS ix yields to them less in force of argument, than in composition and variety of illustration.

These notices attracted the English philosphers of this time to Collier's writings, and further traces of his life and works were sought. Sir James Mackintosh and Dr. Parr corresponded on the subject, 3 but their efforts met with no important success. But interest in Collier had been aroused; and when, some time before 1837, the History of Modern Wiltshire was published, the absence of his name from the history of the county", in which his family had held a living for four generations, called forth a remonstrance. This finally resulted in the publication of the only book which is a direct authority on Collier outside of his own few published writings.

Robert Benson had inherited, with other documents, all that remained of the Collier papers. Many of these papers had, to be sure, disappeared before Robert Benson looked into them, for they were, as Benson says, "so conveniently placed for the housemaid who lighted an adjoining bed-room fire, that it is not easy to guess how many of them have been consumed." 4 The bulk of those that remained were the sermons of Arthur Collier and his brother William, and a few manuscript essays and

2 Originally published in 1821. Collected Works of Dugald Stuart, edited by Sir Wm. Hamilton, 1354, p. 349.

3 Robert Benson's "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Rev. Arthur Collier, M. A.," London, 1837, Preface p. IX.

4 Benson's 'Memoirs," Preface, page XIII.

x CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS

letters. The letters and essays which pertained to his metaphysical studies, as well as to the details of his life, were collected and published by Benson. The awakened interest in Collier evidenced itself at the same time in a second edition of the u Clavis." The copies numbered forty, and were "exclusively bestowed as presents." 5 The third and last edition of the "Clavis Universalis," still accessible in the large libraries, was brought out in 1837 in a small volume prepared by Dr. Parr, entitled "Metaphysical Tracts of the Eighteenth Century." Dr. Parr had in his "remarkable library" rare metaphysical tracts of English authorship. Realizing their interest, he had thrown off a small impression of five of them, with an abridgment of the sixth. He intended to publish these, with an introduction which should include "an historical disquisition on Idealism, with special reference to the philosophy of Collier." But his death interrupted the work before it was completed. His library was sold, and the impression of the six tracts was purchased by a Mr. Lumley, a respectable London bookseller, 6 who was about to publish the "Memoirs of Arthur Collier" which Benson had prepared. 7 This collection of tracts, in which the

5 Benson's "Memoirs," Preface, page XIV.

6 "Idealism; with Reference to the Scheme of Arthur Collier" by Sir Wm. Hamilton (published originally in the Edinburgh Review in April, 1839), in "Discussions on Philosophy and Literature," London, 1852, p. 187.

7 Dr. Parr's "Collection of Metaphysical Tracts" Advertisement.

CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS xi

"Clavis Universalis" holds first place, includes the only other work of Collier which was ever printed in full, "A Specimen of True Philosophy; in a Discourse on Genesis ;" and also an abstract of the Logology or "Treatise on the Logos." Through this collection, the "Clavis Universalis" is known to English speaking philosophers.

In Germany, Collier met with recognition sooner than in his own country, through a full and able abstract of the "Clavis Universalis" made in the year 1717. This was published in the sixth supplemental volume of the "Acta Eruditorum," a Leipzig publication devoted to general interests. In concluding the article the reviewer says : "These are the paradoxes of our Author, which doubtless will be received with no more approbation than those, which to the same import, though with different arguments, a contemporary of his, George Berkeley, attempted to defend in 'Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous.' " 8 Through this notice Collier became known to German philosophers, as is shown by the quotations from him made by Wolf! and Bilfinger, and by the full translation which followed. But John Christopher Eschenbach, Professor of Philosophy in Rostock, was the first to make the full text of the "Clavis" available for German scholars; and Sir William Hamilton quotes him as saying, " If any book ever cost me trouble to obtain it the Clavis

8 Translated from the original Latin.

xii CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS

is that book." 9 Eschenbach published this translation, in 1756, as part of a work entitled "A Collection of the most distinguished Authors who deny the existence of their own bodies, and of the whole material world; containing the dialogues of Berkeley, between Hylas and Philonous, and Collier's Universal Key translated, with Illustrative Observations, and an Appendix, wherein the Existence of Body is demonstrated, by John Christopher Eschenbach, Professor of Philosophy in Rostock." In this work, according to Hamilton, the "remarks are numerous and show much reading. The Appendix contains : — ( 1 ) An exposition of the opinions of the Idealists, with its grounds and arguments. (2) A proof of the external existence of body." 10 This translation is now itself rare and little known.

Of Collier himself even less is known than of his writings, for the Wiltshire records and the papers found by Benson are the only sources. The family came from Bristol and settled in Wiltshire where, in 1608, one Joseph Collier was presented to the rectory of Langford Magna, commonly called Steeple Langford, near Sarum or Salisbury, and as he also owned the advowson, the benefice was handed down to his descendants. His son, Henry, who succeeded him, was ejected from his

9 "Discussions on Philosophy and Literature," p. 190.

10 Note S. S., p. 584, Vol. I., "Collected works of Dugald Stuart," edited by Sir Wm. Hamilton, 1854.

CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS xiii

parish during the Revolution and Protectorate, and he and his family suffered many hardships. After the Restoration, Henry Collier returned to Langford Magna, and remained there until his death in 1672. His youngest son, Arthur, succeeded him; and to him and his wife Anne, daughter of Thomas and Joan Currey, of Misterton in Somersetshire, was born Arthur Collier. Of his early youth and education we know little. He probably attended the grammar-school of Salisbury, after early studies at home. He entered Pembroke College, Oxford, in July, 1697, DUt > upon the entrance of his younger brother, William, to the University, left Pembroke to be entered at Baliol with his brother on the twenty-second of October, 1698. 11

Of his studies and of his interests during his college course, there is little indication. In his manuscripts "there is no trace of his having made any proficiency in mathematical studies, nor even that the mathematics formed a part of his education. [A] . . . letter ... in answer to a scriptural objection then often urged against the Copernican and Newtonian systems of the world, shews that he was not indifferent to the progress of natural philosophy." 12 There are few indications of an interest in literature; but as he says in the opening page of the "Clavis" that he adopted his theory of the universe in 1703, a year before he took xiv CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS

up his residence at Langford Magna, his philosophical studies must have occupied much of his time and thought in college. With what systems he was familiar, one can judge only from the references in the "Clavis" and in the "Specimen of True Philosophy." He evidently knew Aristotle only through the Schoolmen, for his quotations are never made directly. Plato he quotes but once, 13 although Norris's "Theory of the Ideal World," well-known to Collier, is filled with Platonic references. But the scholasticism of the following centuries was a far stronger influence on Collier, interested as he was in theological studies. His work shows the influence of scholastic principles and habits of thought; and to him, as to the Schoolmen, the interest of metaphysics lay in its relation to Scripture. St. Augustine, Porphyry, Apollinaris, Cassian, Vincentius, Lirinensis, Suarez are mentioned. Through the "books of Metaphysicks" of Scheibler and Baronius, according to Sir Wm. Hamilton, 14 he gained all his knowledge of the Metaphysic of the Schools. The original thinkers with whom he was directly familiar and whose works formed the starting point of his own were the French writers, Des Cartes and Malebranche, and his own English neighbor, John Norris.

Six months after Arthur Collier had entered

13 "Clavis Universalis," p. 42. (This reference, and all which follow are to this edition of the "Clavis").

14 Sir Wm. Hamilton's "Discussions on Philosophy and Literature," p. 192.

CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS xv

Pembroke College, his father died. During the seven years that intervened before the son could take upon himself the duties of the living, Francis Eyre held the benefice, which finally in 1704, passed to Arthur Collier, the fourth of his family to hold the office. The years that followed seem to have been uneventful. From the dates of his sermons one may argue that, until his death in 1732, he discharged the duties of his parish with regularity, and the allusions in his brother William's diary, give a hint of his daily life. This brother, who had been his college mate and close friend, was "rector of Baverstock, about two miles and a half to the south of Langford; and his Ms. remains form by far the greater portion of the Collier papers." 1S The brothers evidently were much together, and joined in the diversions of the neighborhood, attending the races and country dances and taking a hand at cards with their friends. Arthur, at least, seems to have been "intimate at the palace of Salisbury during Bishop Burnet's time; and we learn that he occasionally filled the cathedral pulpit." 15 There is no mention in either his brother's papers or his own of travels, or even prolonged absence from home; so it is reasonable to conclude that his outward life was bounded by the limits of his parish. He was married to Margaret, daughter of Nicholas Johnson, a paymaster of the army, and his wife, a sister of Stephen Fox. The parish

15 Benson's "Memoirs," pp. 140 and 141.

xvi CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS

records give the birth of the eldest child as October 13, 1707. Of his children little is known. Two sons and two daughters survived him; and one of the latter, Jane Collier, is known as the writer of a clever book called "The Art of Ingeniously Tormenting." 16 Owing to financial difficulties during the latter part of his life, he finally sold the "reversion of Langford Rectory to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, for sixteen hundred guineas."

That Collier had little care for the practical matters of everyday life can easily be believed, but his intense interest in matters ecclesiastical and theological is evidenced by his activity in church politics and by the close union of his philosophical and religious beliefs. His philosophical system was to be the "universal key" by which to unlock the secrets of the Scriptures. Yet his sermons have no suggestion of his theory. 17 Indeed, at this period, only his manuscript works and his letters contain his exposition of the idealistic theory which so absorbed him. Among his papers there is an "outline of an essay, in three chapters, on the question of the visible world being without us or not," dated January, 1708. Dated 1712, are "two essays, still in manuscript, one on substance and accident, and the other termed 'Clavis Philosophical " 18 In 1713, he published the "Clavis Universalis, or a new In-

CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS xvii

quiry after Truth, being a Demonstration of the Non-Existence, or Impossibility of an External World," which gives his perfected theory of the non-existence of matter. After this, a period of almost twenty years elapsed, with only his correspondence to show his interest in the application of his theory until in 1730, he published the "Specimen of True Philosophy." This was followed in 1732 by his "Logology," which is the last of his published writings. The monumental work of his life, the explication of the Scriptures, of which the "Genesis" and "Logology" were the beginnings, was never completed, for he died in the year in which the latter was printed. He was buried in the Langford Church, September 9th, 1732.

But although Collier himself laid such stress upon the theological bearing of his theory, the treatises which discuss the interpretation of the Scriptures have little value when compared with the one philosophical essay, which seemed to him to serve mainly as an introduction to what was to follow. At most, the interest of these theological treatises lies in the more definite suggestions of the positive aspect of his philosophic thought. Disentangled from its scholastic phraseology, his system is a theistic spiritualism. It rests on two fundamental propositions: (1) "God made heaven and earth, or the whole material world, ,E " ' a px^," and (2) "the visible or material world exists in mind, i. e., immediately in the mind of him that seeth or xviii CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS

perceiveth it," 19 and has no existence independent of mind. The first of these propositions Collier accepts "as an unquestionable axiom," 19 inasmuch as it is the word of God. The second he has demonstrated in the "Clavis Universalis." But, though he has there proved that body must exist in mind, he has not, beyond bare suggestions, shown how this is possible. In the "Clavis," the quasiexterneity of visible objects is spoken of as the "effect of the will of God, — (as it is his will that light and colours should seem to be without the soul)." 20 Also Collier speaks** of the "great mundane idea of created (or rather twice created) matter, by which all things are produced, or rather .... by which the great God gives sensations to all his thinking creatures." To the more careful study of the implications of the doctrine that "the material world exists in mind," Collier devotes the "Specimen of True Philosophy." In brief, he holds that matter is an accident or form of mind and has no existence apart from mind; that the sensible world of each individual exists by reason of his perceiving it, and has the relation of similitude, not of absolute identity, to that of every other individual ; and, finally, that these individual minds or spirits exist only in dependence on, and as far as they participate in, the one original substance, which is itself mind or spirit.

19 Specimen of True Philosophy, p. 115 in the Parr edition.

CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS xix

Collier's claim to recognition lies, however, in the negative aspect of his teaching. Both he and Berkeley opposed the theory current in the philosophy of that time, that matter, though practically unknown to us, has an existence of its own, and at least one property, extension, by which it arouses in us the idea of the sensible world. Berkeley argues against the conception of matter as "unknown support" which Locke upholds in his "Essay on Human Understanding." Collier, on the other hand, aims to prove the non-existence of matter as conceived by Des Cartes and Malebranche, and by their English disciple, John Norris. Upon the philosophy of Des Cartes, Malebranche had made one important advance. With Des Cartes, matter, though dependent upon the will of God, has an existence of its own in its property, extension, by which it affects finite minds. Malebranche likewise grants to matter an existence outside of its being in God; yet the material world plays no part in his system. In the fact that he does not discard this vague something, which he has practically proved to be nothing, lies his great inconsistency. His forward step is in the demonstration that not even by the Cartesian "unknown motion of unknown parts" can body become known to a finite mind; that this knowledge is only possible if both knower and known are taken up and united in one spiritual substance. In criticism, Collier points out that Malebranche himself claims xx CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS

that the external world cannot be an object of sense since the idea which we perceive must be intimately united to the mind and hence cannot be of a different nature. 21 But whereas Malebranche still clings to this vague unknown something as cause of sensible ideas, Collier claims that the very existence of body lies in its being perceived.

But despite its close dependence upon the theories of Des Cartes and Malebranche, the "Clavis" refers much more closely to the system of Norris. John Norris, rector of Bemerton, near Sarum, had apparently received much the same philosophical education as Collier, that is, he had a knowledge of the early Greeks through the Schoolmen, and a familiarity with the modern French philosophers. His "Theory of the Ideal or Intelligible World," is designed to complete the system of Malebranche, who, as Norris thought, had not carried sufficiently far his theory that "all things are seen in God." To quote his own words, "Mr. Malebranche has ventured the farthest of any that I know of upon this Discovery [into the Ideal World.] . . . But even this great Apelles has drawn the Celestial Beauty but halfway." 22 Although Norris in reality only enlarges upon Malebranche's doctrines instead of pressing this "Discovery" to its logical conclusion, his book is valuable to students of idealistic

21 "Recherche de la Verite," Livre 3 me , 2nde Partie, Chap. I.

22 An Essay towards the Theory of the Ideal or Intelligible World," by John Norris, Rector of Bemerton, London, 1701-1704, Part I, p. *.

CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS xxi

thought. According both to Malebranche and to Norris, reality is of two kinds, spiritual and material; and God, the supreme spirit, contains both the intelligible world of Ideas and the finite spirits, who are thus in direct communion with him. Since these two are, both alike, in him and of his substance, the divine ideas are directly intelligible to finite minds without proof or intervention. These divine ideas are the representative forms of material bodies in a natural world, which is somehow caused by God, and inadequately represents him, but is yet outside and apart from him. The existence of this material world Norris practically disproves, though he still clings to its reality on the foundation of faith. Sir Wm. Hamilton remarks that Malebranche as a Catholic was "obliged to burden" his theory with the incumbrance of matter, but that to Norris as a Protestant, little credit is due for not rejecting this material world. It remained for Collier and Berkeley to give up the material world altogether as a sacrifice to the received philosophy of ideas. 23

The fact that these two men, Collier and Berkeley, came to the same conclusion at precisely the same time, seems to many critics a coincidence too curious to be accidental; and the reputation of Berkeley, compared with the neglect of Collier, seems hardly due to chance alone. Yet the facts

23 Sir Wm. Hamilton in "Discussions on Philosophy and Literature," pp. 199 ff.

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of the case as we know them point to the independence of Collier's thought. In point of time, the promulgation of these doctrines is almost identical. In 1709, George Berkeley published his "Essay toward a New Theory of Vision," which contained suggestions of his metaphysical theory. For the purpose of his arguments he grants, in this work, the external existence of tangible matter, but he teaches, by implication, that visible matter exists only in the mind of him who sees it. In 1710, Berkeley published the "Principles of Human Knowledge," which contains the exposition of his doctrine in detailed form. This was followed, in 171 3, by the "Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous," intended, as Berkeley says, "to introduce the notions I advance into the mind in the most easy and familiar manner." In this same year, 1713, appeared Collier's little volume, the "Clavis Universalis." The facts that Berkeley's first suggestion of his theory was published four years before Collier's theory was advanced, and that his finished arguments were made public three years before Collier's, seem at first glance to settle in the negative the question of Collier's independence. But two further considerations make the conclusion doubtful. In the first place, we know by Collier's own word 24 that he had adopted his own theory ten years before he put it into outward form, which brings the date of its conception not

24 "Clavis Universalis," p. 5.

CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS xxiii

later than 1703. Berkeley gives no direct date of the birth of his theories, but it can be supplied approximately from his "Commonplace Book." In this book, according to Fraser, he "seems to have set down . . . stray thoughts which occurred to him in the course of his mathematical and metaphysical studies at Trinity College, Dublin. These common-places seem to have been formed gradually, apparently in 1705 and some following years. . . . Considerable portions imply that he was at the time maturing his thoughts with a view to the publication of the Essay on Vision and the Principles of Human Knowledge; but the form which the projected work (or works) was to take does not appear to have been finally settled in his mind." 25 It is not possible to compare definite dates here. We can only say that in 1703 Collier was convinced of his theory, and that in 1705 Berkeley was testing his doctrine by applying it to all branches of knowledge. If these dates bear any weight, we may conclude that the two men, while they were both under the age of twenty-five and while they were still continuing their college studies, independently conceived this new theory of matter. From the references in the letters written in the few years following the publication of the "Clavis," it is evident that in the meantime Collier had become acquainted with some one book of Berkeley; and the further reference in the "Speci-

25 Note 1 by Fraser on p. 419 of the "Collected Works," Vol. IV.

xxiv CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS

men of True Philosophy" identifies this book with the "Dialogues." 26

Whatever one's conclusion about the relation between Collier and Berkeley, there can be no doubt that Collier's "third" and "fourth" arguments anticipate Kant's first and second antinomies. Just as Kant argues that "the world is not a whole existing in itself" from the fact that it can be proved to be both finite and infinite in time and in space, so Collier argues that "an external world .... must be both finite and infinite," and that "that which is both finite and infinite in extent is absolutely non-existent." 27 And as Kant argues that material substances are "nothing outside our representations" from the fact that they can be shown to be both infinitely divisible and ultimately indivisible, so Collier affirms "in like manner as before, that external matter is both finitely and infinitely divisible, and, consequently, that there is no such thing as external matter." 28

It must be granted that the "Clavis Universalis" is more than a "metaphysical curiosity."

26 As Leslie Stephen points out, in his article on Collier in the Dictionary of National Biography, this reference (on p. 114 of the "Specimen of True Philosophy" as given in the Parr edition) is the only one in Collier's published writings. Stephen credits Collier with entire independence in the conception of the theory.

27 "Clavis Universalis," p. 63.

28 Since this introduction was written, in its first form, the comparison has been made in more detail by Professor Arthur O. Lovejoy in a paper on "Kant and the English Platonists" in "Essays Philosophical and Psychological in honor of William James" by "His Colleagues at Columbia University." Longmans, Green & Co., 1908.

CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS xxv

Although the greater length and detail of Berkeley's arguments, combined with his grace of literary style, make his works more desirable for the general introduction to idealism, Collier's book is of real value to the student in connection with the study of Berkeley. The "Clavis" gives in conclusive form Berkeley's chief arguments. It adds, moreover, two of the arguments which Kant later made famous. More than this, the two systems together show how an idealistic theory of the universe was an inevitable result of the thought of the early eighteenth century.

OR, A

New Inquiry after Truth.

BEING

A DEMONSTRATION

OF THE

Non-Existence, or Impossibility, OF AN

EXTERNAL WORLD.

BY ARTH. COLLIER,

RECTOR OF LANGFORD MAGNA, NEAR SARUM.

Mr. Maleb. De Inquir. Verit. Lib. iii. P. 194.

LONDON, S

rs.

Printed for ROBERT GOSLING, at the Mitre and

in Fleet-ftreet. 171 3.

The CONTENTS.

THE INTRODUCTION.

Wherein the question in general is explained and stated, and the whole subject divided into two particular heads - 5

Part I.

Chap. I. Wherein the first question is considered, viz., Whether the visible world is external or not - 14

Sect. I. That the seeming Externeity of a visible object, is no argument of its real externeity - - - - - - - 16

Sect. II. That a visible object, as such, is not

external 29

Chap. II. Objections answered - - - 43 Part II

That there is no external world, and that an external world is a being utterly impossible - - - - 55

Chap. I. Argument I. - - - - 55

Chap. II. Argument II. - - - - 59

Chap. X. Objections answered - - 101 The conclusion of the whole

Of the use and consequences of the foregoing

treatise 118

The INTRODUCTION,

Wherein the Question in general is explained and

stated, and the whole subject divided into

two particular heads.

THOUGH I am verily persuaded, that in the whole course of the following treatise, I shall or can have no other adversary, but prejudice; yet, having by me no mechanical engine proper to remove it; nor, being able to invent any other method of attacking it, besides that of fair reason and argument; rather than the world should finish its course without once offering to enquire in what manner it exists, (and for one reason more, which I need not name, unless the end desired were more hopeful;)! am at last, after a ten years pause and deliberation, content to put myself upon the trial of the common reader, without pretending to any better art of gaining him on my side, than that of dry reason and metaphysical demonstration.