therefore naturally immortal. 219

sequences of its being aJimple or uncompound-edsubftance ; for if it were made up of parts,as matter is, it might be contended that itcould naturally be resolved into these partsagain, by the action of something or otherupon it; whereas if it hath no parts, or is butone single uncompounded thing, we shall besatisfied in our own way, that it is liable butto one change, or casualty, viz. to be anni-hilated, or to be destroyed by a Being towhose power that effect is competent. In or-der to this, and to help us to get the betterof some of our prejudices, whereby we arestill applying the properties of matter to spi-rit, by which, in propriety we should alwaysmean immaterial substance (a ); I shall pre-mise the following observations,

II. No

(a) Mr. Locke, in his controversy with the Bishop ofWorcejier mentioned above, endeavours to justify hisusing the word spirit for a thinking substance, withoutexcluding materiality out of it, by the authority of Vir-gil and Cicero; where he says-Whether they

" thought right in this [that the foul might be only a“ subtil matter, which might come under the name of** aura, or ignis or æthers] I do not fay: that is not theu question; but whether they spoke properly, when theycalled an active thinking substance, out of which they

" excluded