INTRODUCTION.

18

have seen the contrary. For because this philosophy profesies;modestly to keep within the extent of our faculties, and isready to confess its imperfections, rather than to make anyfruitless attempts to conceal diem, by seeking to cover die de-fects in our knowledge with die vain ostentation of rash andgroundless conjectures; hence has been taken an occasion to.insinuate that we are led to miraculous causes, and the occultqualities of the schools-

17. But the first of these accusations is very extraordina-ry. If by calling these causes miraculous nothing more ismeant than only, that they often appear to us wonderful andsurprizing, it is not easy to fee what difficulty can be raisedfrom thence ; for the works of nature discover every wheresuch proofs of the unbounded power,, and the consummatewisdom of their author, that the more they are known, themore they will excite our admiration: and it is too manifestto be insisted on, that the common sense of the word mira-culous can have no place here, when it implies what is abovethe ordinary course of things. The other imputation, that:these causes are occult upon the account of our not perceivingwhat produces them, contains in it great ambiguity. Thatsomething relating to them lies hid, the followers of this.philosophy are ready to acknowledge, nay desire it shouldbe carefully remarked, as pointing out proper subjects for fu-ture inquiry. But this is very different from the proceedingof the schoolmen in the causes called by them occult. Foras their occult qualities were understood to operate in a man-ner occult, and not apprehended by us; so they were ob-x truded.