of the soul considered. 387

the instrument he plays on be out of order;nor can the most common Mechanic exertthe perfection of his skill, if the tools heworks withal are unfit for his purpose. Nowto apply this; the foul is forced in this stateof union, to have recourse to a material sen-sory, where the impressions of things are firstmade, and still preserved, as to its repositoryor diary , if I may so fay. From all thathas been said in the three last sections, andthe beginning of this, it appears that the foulis as different from this material sensory, asa Musician is from the harpsicord or instru-ment he touches. The foul can apply tothis repository, examine the nature of whatit finds there, chafe this, reject that, com-pare things, join them together, reason fromthem, and (so to express it) make up mu«sick and harmony out of them: for all thisdoth not recede far from the comparisonmentioned. In this the perfection of rati-onal thinking consists, since here the powerar *d activity of the foul is exerted, and all*he art and ikill manifested. But if theseimpressions are darkened , as in steep ; or ifthey are disordered and jumbled , as in manycasualties (which the objection hints at) theyC c 2 may;