Euph. — Hence probably the great number of Minute Philofophers.
Cri.— - It is to this that feci; is owing for fo many ingenious proficients of both fexes. You may now commonly fee (what no former age ever faw) a young lady, or a Petit Jllaitre, nonplus a divine, or an old~fafhioned gentleman, who hath read many a Greek and Latin author, and fpent much time in hard methodical ftudy.
Euph. — It flrould feem then, that method, exa&nefs, and induftry are a difadvantage. Here Alciphron, turning to Lyficles, faid he could make the point very clear, if Euphranor had any notion of painting.
Euph. — I never faw a firft-rate picture in my life, but have a tolerable collection of prints, and have feen fome good drawings.
Alc — You know then the difference between the Dutch and the Italian manner.
Euph. — I have fome notion of it.
Alc — Suppofe now, a drawing finifhed by the nice and laborious touches of a Dutch pencil, and another off hand fcratched out in the free manner of a great Italian mafter. The Dutch piece, which hath cofl fo much pains and time, will be exact indeed, but without that force, fpirit, or grace, which appear in the other, and are the effects of an eafy free pencil. Do but apply this, and the point will be clear.
Euph. — Pray inform me, did thofe great Italian mailers begin and proceed in their art, without any choice of method or fubject, and always draw with the fame eafe and freedom? or did they obferve fome method, beginning with fimple and elementary parts, an eye, a nofe, a finger, which they drew with great pains and care, often drawing the fame thing, in order to draw it correctly, and fo proceeding, with patience and induftry, till after confiderable length of time, they arrived at the free mafterly manner you fpeak of. If this were the cafe, I leave you to make the application.
Alc. — You may difpute the matter if you pleafe. But a man of parts is one thing, and a pedant another. Pains and method may do for fome fort of people. A man muft be a long time kindling wet ftraw into a vile fmothering flame, but fpirits blaze out at once.
Euph. — The Minute Philofophers have, it feems, better parts than other men, which qualify them for a different education.
Alc — Tell me, Euphranor, what is that gives one man a better mein than another; more politenefs in drefs, fpeech and motion? Nothing but frequenting good company. By the fame means, men get infenfibly a delicate tafte, a refined judgment, a certain politenefs in thinking and exprefling one's felf. No wonder if you, countrymen, are ftrangers to the advantage of polite converfation, which conftantly keeps the mind awake and adtive, exercifing its faculties, and calling forth all its ftrength and fpirit on a thoufand different occafions and fubje&s, that never come in the way of a book-worm in a college, no more than of a ploughman.
Cri. — Hence thofe lively faculties, that quicknefs of apprehenfion, that flinefs of ridicule, that egregious talent of wit and humour, which diftinguifh the gentlemen of your prqfeflion.
Euph —It (hould feem then, that your feci: is made up of what you call fine gentlemen.
Lys.— Not altogether, for we have among us fome contemplative fpirits of a coarkr education; who, from obferving the behavior and proceedings of apprentices, watermen, porters, and affemblies of rabble in the ftreets, have arrived at a profound knowledge of human nature; and made great difcoveries about the principles, fprings, and motives of moral actions. Thefe have demolifhed the received fyftems, and done a world of good in the city.
Alc— I tell you, we have men of all forts and profeflions, plodding citizens, thriving ftock-jobbers, skillful men in bufinefs, polite courtiers, gallant men of the army; but our chief ftrength, and flower of the flock, are thofe promifing young men, who have the advantage of a modern education. Thefe are the growing hopes of our fe6t, by whofe credit and influence, in a few years we expe£t to fee thofe great things accompliflied, that we have in view.
Euph.-— I could never have imagined your feci: foconfiderable.
Alc. — There are, in England, many honeft folk as much in the dark about thefe matters as yourfelf.
XII. To judge of the prevailing opinion among people of fafhion, by what a fenator faith in the houfe, a judge upon the bench, or a prieft in the pulpit, who all fpeak according to law, that is, to the reverend prejudices of our forefathers, would be wrong. You mould go into good company, and mind what men of parts and breeding fay, thofe who are beft heard, and moft admired, as well in public places of refort, as in private vifits. He only, who hath thefe opportunities, can know our real ftrength, our numbers, and the figure that we make.
Euph.— -By your account, there muft be many Minute Philofophers among the men of rank and fortune.
Alc. — Take my word for it, not a few, and they do much contribute to the fpreading our notions. For he who knows the world, muft obferve, that fafhions con* 4o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.]
ftantly defcend. It is therefore the right way to propagate an opinion from the upper end. Not to fay, that the patronage of fuch men, is an encouragement to our authors.
Euph. — It feems then, you have authors among you.
Lys. — That we have, feveral, and thofe very great men, who have obliged the world with many ufeful and profound discoveries.
Cri. — Mofchon, for inftance, hath proved that man and beaft are really of the fame nnture: That confequently a man need only indulge his fenfes and appetites, to be as happy as a brute. Gorgias hath gone further, demonftrating man to be a piece of clock-work, or machine; and that thought, or reafon, are the fame thing as the impulfe of one ball againft another. Cimon hath made noble ufe of thefe difcoveries, proving as clearly as any propofition in mathematics, that conscience is a whim, and morality a prejudice; and that a man is no more accountable for his actions than a clock is for ftriking. Tryphon hath written irrefragably on the ufefulnefs of vice. Thrafenor hath confuted the foolifh prejudice men had againft atheifm, fhewing, that a republic of atheifts might live very happily together. Demylus hath made a jeft of loyalty, and convinced the world there is nothing in it. To him, and another philofopher, of the fame (lamp, this age is indebted for difcovering, that public fpirit is an idle enthufiafm, which feizeth only on weak minds. It would be endlefs to recount the difcoveries made by writers of this feft.
Lys.— But the mafter-piece, and finiming ftroke, is a learned anecdote of our great Diagorasy containing a demonftration againft the being of God, which it is conceived the public is not yet ripe for. But I am afiured by fome judicious friends, who have feen it, that it is as clear as day light, and will do a world of good, at one blow demolifhing the whole fyftemof religion. Thefe difcoveries are publifhed by our philofophers, fometimes in volumes, but often in pamphlets and loofe papers, for their readier conveyance through the kingdom. And to them mult be afcribed that abfolute and independent freedom, which groweth fo faft, to the terror of all bigots. Even the dull and ignorant begin to open their eyes, and to be influenced by the example and authority of fo many ingenious men.
Euph. — It fhould feem, by this account, that your feet extend their difcoveries beyond religion; and that loyalty to his prince, or reverence for the laws, are but mean tilings in the eye of a Minute Philofopher.
Lys. — Verv mean; we are too wife to think there is any thing facred, either in king or conftitution, or indeed in any thing elfe. A man of fenfe may, perhaps, feem to pay an occafional regard to his prince, but this is no more at bottom, than what he pays to God, when he kneels at the facrament, to qualify himfelf for an office. Fear God and honor the king, are a pair of flavifh maxims, which had for a long time crampt human nature, and awed not only weak minds, but even men of good understanding, till their eyes, as I obferved before, were opened by our philofophers.
Euph. — Methinks, I can eafily comprehend, that when the fear of God is quite extinguished, the mind muft be very eafy with refpecl: to other duties, which become outward pretences and formalities, from the moment that they quit their hold upon the confeience: and confeience always fuppofeth the being of a God. But I ftill thought, that Englijhmeny of all denominations (how widely foever they might differ as to fome particular points) agreed in the belief of a God, and of fo much at leaft as is called natural religion.
Alc. — I have already told you my own opinion of thofe matters, and what I know to be the opinion of many more.
F Cri. — Probably, Euphranor, by the title of Deiftsy which is fometimes given to Minute Philofophers, you have been mifled to imagine, they believe and worfhip a God, according to the light of nature: but by living among them, you may foon be convinced of the contrary. They have neither time, nor place, nor form of divine worfhip: They offer neither prayers nor praifes to God in public: and, in their private practice, fhew a contempt or diilike even of the duties of natural religion. For inftance, the faying grace before and after meals, is a plain point of natural worfhip, and was once univerfally pra&ifed; but, in proportion as this fe£t prevailed, it hath been laid afide, not only by the Minute Philofophers themfelves, who would be infinitely afhamed of fuch a weaknefs, as to beg God's bleffing, or give God thanks for their daily food; but alfo by others, who are afraid Of being thought fools by the Minute Philofophers.
Euph. — Is it poflible, that men, who really believe a God, mould yet decline paying fo eafy and reafonable a duty, for fear of incurring the contempt of atheifts?
Cri. — I tell you, there are many, who believing in their hearts the truth of religion, are yet afraid, or afhamed, to own it, left they mould forfeit their reputation with thofe, who have the good luck to pafs for great wits, and men of genius.
Alc. — O Euphranory we mud make allowance for Crito's prejudice: he is a worthy^gentleman, and means well. But doth it not look like prejudice, to afcribe the refpe£t, that is paid our ingenious free-thinkers, rather to good luck than to merit?
Euph. — I acknowledge their merit to be very wonderful, and that thofe authors muft needs be great men, who are able to prove fuch paradoxes: for example, that fo knowing a man, as a Minute Philofopher, mould be a mere machine, or at beft no better than a brute.
Alc.— It is a true maxim, that a man fhould think with the learned, and fpeak with the vulgar. I (houM be loth to place a gentleman of merit in fuch a light before prejudiced and ignorant men. The tenets of our philofophy have this, in common with many other truths in metaphyfics, geometry, aftronomy, and natural philofophy, that vulgar ears cannot bear them. All our difcoveries and notions are in themfelves true and certain; but they are at prefent known only to the better fort, and would found ftrange and odd among the vulgar. But this, it is to be hoped, will wear off with time.
Euph.— I do not wonder, that vulgar minds fhould be flartled at the notions of your philofophy.
Cri. — Truly a very curious fort of philofophy, and much to be admired!
XIII. The profound thinkers of this way have taken a direct: contrary courfe to all the great philofophers of former ages, who made it their endeavor to raife and refine, human kind, and remove it as far as pofTible from the brute; to moderate and fubdue men's appeties; to remind them of the dignity of their nature; to awaken and improve their fuperior faculties, and direct them to the nobleft objects; to pofTefs men's minds with a high fenfe of divinity, of the fupreme good, and the immortality of the foul. They took great pains to ftrengthen the obligations to virtue; and upon ail thofe fubjects have wrought out noble theories, and treated with lingular force of reafon. But it feems, our Minute Philofophers act the reverfe of all other wife and thinking men; it being their end and aim to erafe the principles of all that is great and good from the mind of man, to unhinge all order of civil life, to undermine the foundations of morality, and, inflead of improving and ennobling our natures, to bring us down to the maxims and way of thinking of the moil uneducated and barbarous nations; and even to degrade human kind to a level with the brute beads.— And all the while they would pafs upon the world for men of deep knowledge. But in efFe£t, what is all this negative krfowledge better than downright favage ignorance? that there is no providence, no fpirit, no future ftate, no moral duty: truly a fine fyftem for an honeft man to own, or an ingenious man to value himfelf upon!
Alciphrony who heard this difcourfe, with fome uneafinefs, very gravely replied, difputes are not to be decided by the weight of authority, but by the force of reafon. You may pafs, indeed, general reflections on our notions, and call them brutal, and barbarous, if you pleafe: But it is fuch brutality, and fuch barbarifm, as few could have attained to, if men of the greatefl genius had not broke the ice; there being nothing more difficult than to get the better of education, and conquer old prejudices. To remove and caft off a heap of rubbifh, that has been gathering upon the foul from our very infancy, requires great courage, and great ftrength of faculties. Our philofophers, therefore, do well deferve the name of Efprits forts, men of ' Jlrong heads. Free-thinkers, and fuch like appellations, betokening great force and liberty of mind. It is very poffible, the heroic labours of thefe men may be reprefented (for what is not capable of mifreprefentation?) as a piratical plundering, and ftripping the mind of its wealth and ornaments; when it is in truth the diverting it only of its prejudices, and reducing it to its untainted original ftate of nature. Oh nature! the genuine beauty of pure nature!
Euph. — You feem very much taken with the beauty of nature. Be pleafed to tell me, Alciphron, what thofe things are, which you efteem natural, or by what mark I may know them.
XIV. Alc. — For a thing to be natural, for inftance, to the mind of man, it muii appear originally therein, it-muft be univerfally in all men, it muft be invariably the fame in all nations and ages. Thefe limitations of original, univerfal, and invariable, exclude all thofe notions found in the human mind, which are the effecl: of cuftom and education. The cafe is the fame with refpecl: to all other fpecies of beings. A cat, for example, hath a natural inclination to purfue a moufe, becaufe it agrees with the forementioned marks. But if a cat be taught to playtricks, you will not fay thofe tricks are natural. For the fame reafon, if, upon a plumbtree, peaches and apricots are ingrafted, no body will fay they are the natural growth of the plumbtree.
Euph. — but to return to Man: It feems you allow thofe things alone to be natural to him, which fliew themfelves upon his firft entrance into the world; to wit, the fenfes, and fuch paflions and appetites as are difcovered upon the firft application of their refpe&ive objects.
Alc— That is my opinion.
Euph.-— Tell me, Alciphron, if from a young appletree, after a certain period of time, there mould fhooi forth leaves, blofibms, and apples *, would you deny thefe things to be natural, becaufe they did not difcover and difplay themfelves in the tender bud?
Alc— I would not.
Euph. — And fuppofe, that in man, after a certain fezfon, the appetite of luft, or the faculty of reafon, fhall moot forth, open, and difplay themfelves, as leaves and bloflbms do in a tree; would you therefore deny them to be natural to him, becaufe they did not appear in his original infancy?
Alc. — I acknowledge I would not.
Euph. — It feems, therefore, that the firft mark of a thing's being natural to the mind, was not warily laid down by you; to wit, that it mould appear originally in it. Alc. — It feems fo.
Euph. — Again, inform me, Alciphrcn, whether you do not think it natural for an orange-plant to produce oranges?
Alc— I do.
46 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I] Euph.—- But plant it in the north-end of Great-Britain > and it fhall with care produce, perhaps, a good fallad; in the fouthern parts of the fame ifland, it may with much pains and culture thrive, and produce indifferent fruit; but in Portugal, or Naples, it will produce much better, with little or no pains. Is this true, or not?
Alc — It is true.
Euph. — The plant being the fame in all places, doth not produce the fame fruit; fun, foil, and cultivation, making a differenee.
Alc. — I grant it.
Euph. — And fince the cafe is, you fay, the fame with refpecVto all fpecies, why may we not conclude, by a parity of reafon, that things may be natural to human kind, and yet neither found in all men, nor invariably the fame where they are found?
Alc — Hold, Euphranor, you muft explain yourfclf further. I fhall not be over hafty in my concefhons.
Lys — You are in the right, Alciphron, to ftand upon your guard. I do not like thefe enfnaring queftions.
Euph. — I defire you to make no concefhons in complaifance to me, but only to tell me your opinion upon each particular, that we may understand one another, know wherein we agree, and proceed jointly in finding out the truth. But (added Euphranor, turning to Crito and me) if the gentlemen are againft a free and fair enquiry, I fhall give them no further trouble.
Alc — Our opinions will ftand the teft. We fear no trial. Proceed as you pleafe.
Euph. — It feems then that, from what you have granted, it fhould follow, things may be natural to men, though they do not actually fhew themfelves in all men, nor in equal perfection; there being as great difference of culture, and every other advantage, with refpecl: to human nature, as is to be found with refpe£t to the vegetable nature of plants; to ufe your own fimilitude. Is it fo, or not?
Alc — It is.
Alc — It is.
Euph. — Anfwer me, Alciphron^ do not men, in all times and places, when they arrive at a certain age, exprefs their thoughts by fpeech?
Alc. — They do.
Euph. — Should it not feem then, that language is natural?
Alc. — It mould.
Euph* — And yet there is a great variety of languages.
Alc. — I acknowledge there is.
Euph. — From all this, will it not follow, a thing may be natural, and yet admit of variety?
Alc. — I grant it will.
Euph. — Should it not feem, therefore, to follow, that a thing may be natural to mankind, though it have not thofe marks, or conditions, affigned 5 though it be not original, univerfal, and invariable?
Alc — It mould.
Euph. — And that confequently religious worfhip, and civil government, may be natural to man, notwithftanding they admit of fundry forms, anda different degrees of perfection?
Alc — It feems fo.
Euph. — You have granted already, that reafon is natural to"mankind.
Alc — I have.
Euph. — Whatever, therefore, is agreeable to reafon, is agreeable to the nature of man.
Alc — It is.
Euph. — Will it not follow, from hence, that truth and virtue arc natural to man?
Alc — Whatever is reasonable, I admit to be natural.
Euph. — And as thofe fruits, which grow from the moft generous and mature flock, in the choiceft foil, and with the bed culture, are moft efteemed; even fo ought we not to think, thofe fublime truths which are the fruits of mature thought, and have been rationally deduced by men 43 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I/J of the beft and mod improved understandings, to be the choiceft productions of the rational nature of man? And if fo, being in fa£t reafonable, natural, and true, they ought not to be efteemed unnatural whims, errors of education, and groundlefs prejudices, becaufe they are raifed and forwarded, by manuring and cultivating our tender minds; becaufe they take early root, and fprout forth betimes, by the care and diligence of our inftru£tors.
Alc — Agreed, provided ftiil they may be rationally deduced. But to take this for granted, of what men vulgarly call the truths of morality and religion, would be begging the queftion.
Euph. — You are in the right; I do not, therefore, take for granted, that they are rationally deduced: I only fuppofe that, if they are, they muft be allowed natural to man, or in other words, agreeable to, and growing from, the mod excellent and peculiar part of human nature.
Alc. — I have nothing to object to this.
Euph. — What (hall we think then of your former affertions? That nothing is natural to man, but what may be found in all men, in all nations and ages of the world: That to obtain a genuine view of human nature, we muft extirpate all the effects of education and inftruction, and regard only the fenfes, appetites, and paffions, which are to be found originally in all mankind: that, therefore, the notion of a God can have no foundation in nature, as not being originally in the mind, nor the fame in all men. Be pleafed to reconcile thefe things with your late conceffions, which the force of truth feems to have extorted from you.
XV. Alc. — Tell me, Euphranor9 whether truth be not one and the fame uniform invariable thing: And, if fo, whether the many different and inconfiftent notions, which men entertain of God and duty, be not a plain proof, there is no truth in them.
Euph That truth is conftant and uniform I freely own, and that confequently opinions repugnant to each other cannot be true: But I think it will not hence follow, they are all alike falfe. If among various opinions about the fame thing, one be grounded on clear and evident reafons; that is to be thought true, and others only fo far as they confift with it. Reafon is the fame, and, rightly applied, will lead to the fame conclusions, in all times and places. Socrates, two thoufand years ago, feems to have reafoned himfelf into the fame notion of a God, which is entertained by the Philofophers of our days, if you will allow that name to any, who are not of your feci:. And the remark of Confucius, that a man mould guard in his youth againft luft, in manhood againft faction, and in old age againft covetoufnefs, is as current morality in Europe as in China, Alc. — But Hill it would be a fatisfa&ion, if all men thought the fame way, difference of opinions implying uncertainty.
Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron, what you take to be the caufe of a lunar eclipfe.
Alc. — The fhadow of the earth interpofing between the fun and moon.
Euph. — Are you allured of this?
Alc — Undoubtedly.
Euph.— Are all mankind agreed in this truth?
Alc. — By no means. Ignorant and barbarous people aflign different ridiculous caufes of this appearance.
Euph. — It feems then, there are different opinions about the nature of an eclipfe.
Alc— There are.
Euph. — And neverthelefs one of thefe opinions is true.
Alc — It is.
Euph. — Diverfity, therefore, of opinions about a thing, doth not hinder, but that thing may be, and one of the opinions concerning it may be true.
5o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.]
Euph. — It fhould feem, therefore, that your argument againft the belief of a God, from the variety of opinions about his nature, is not conclufive. Nor do I fee, how you can conclude againft the truth of any moral or religious tenet, from the various opinions of men upon the fame fubject. Might not a man as well argue, that no hiftorical account of a matter of fa£t, can be true, when different relations are given of it? or may we not as well infer, thatbecaufe the feveral fe£ts of Philofophy maintain different opinions, none of them can be in the right, not even the Minute Philofophers themfelves?
During this converfation Lyficles feemed uneafy, like one, that wifhed in his heart there was no God. Alciphron^ faid he, methinks you fit by very tamely, while Euphranor faps the foundation of our tenets. Be of good courage, replied A/ciphron, a fkilful gamefler has been known to ruin his adverfary, by yielding him fome advantage at firft. I am glad, faid he, turning to Euphranor ■, that you are drawn in to argue and make your appeals to reafon. For my part, wherever reafon leads, I fhall not be afraid to follow. Know then, Euphranor^ that I freely give up what you now contend for. I do not value the fuccefs of a few crude notions, thrown out in a loofe difcourfe, any more than the Turks do the lofs of that vile infantry, which they place in the front of their aranes, for no other end but to wafte the powder, and blunt the fwords of their enemies. Be allured, I have in referve a body of otherguefs arguments, which I am ready to produce. I will undertake to prove.
Euph. — O Alciphron! I do not doubt your faculty of proving. But before I put you to the trouble of any farther proofs, I fliould be glad to know, whether the notions of your Minute Philofophy are worth proving. I mean, whether they are of ufe and fervice to mankind?
XVI. Alc. — As to that, give me leave to tell you> a [Dial. IJ MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 5i thing may be ufeful to one man's views, and not to another's: But truth is truth, whether ufeful or not, and mult not be meafured by the convenience of this or that man, or party of men.
Euph. — But is not the general good of mankind to be regarded as a rule or meafure of moral truths, of all fuch truths as direct or influence the moral actions of men?
Alc. — That point is not clear to me. I know, indeed, that legillators, and divines, and politicians, have always alledged, that it is neceflary, to the well-being of mankind, that they mould be kept in awe by the flavifh notions of religion and morality.* But granting all this, how will it prove thefe notions to be true? convenience is one thing, and truth is' another. A genuine Philofopher, therefore, will overlook all advantages, and confider only truth itfelf, as fuch.
Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron> is your genuine Philofopher a wife man, or a fool?
Alc. — Without queftion, the wifeft of men.
Euph. — Which is to be thought the wife man, he who a&s with defign, or he who a£ts at random?
Alc— He who a£ts with defign.
Euph. — Whoever ads with defign, acts for fome end. Doth he not?
Alc. — He doth.
Euph. — And a wife man for a good end?
Alc. — True.
Euph. — And he fheweth his wifdom, in making choice of fit means to obtain his end.
Alc. — I acknowledge it.
Euph. — By how much, therefore, the end propofed is more excellent, and by how much fitter the means employed are to obtain it, fo much the wifer is the agent to be efteemed.
Alc — This feems to be true.
* The moral virtues are the political offspring, which flattery begot upon pride. Fable of the Bees, part the firft p. 37.
Euph. — -Can a rational agent propofe a more excellent end than happinefs?
Alc. — He cannot.
Euph. — Of good things, the greater good is moil excellent* Alc. — Doubtlefs.
Euph. — Is not the general happinefs of mankind a greater good, than the private happinefs of one man, or of fome certain men?
Alc — It is.
Euph. — Is it not, therefore, the moil excellent end?
Alc-— It feems fo.
Euph. — Are not then thofe who purfue this end, by the properefl methods, to be thought the wifeft men?
Alc. — I grant they are.
Euph. — Which is a wife man governed by, wife or foolifh notions.
Alc. — -By wife, doubtlefs.
Euph. — It feems then to follow, that he, who promotes the general well-being of mankind, by the proper neceffary means, is truly wife, and acts upon wife grounds.
Alc. — It mould feem fo.
Euph. — And is not folly of an oppofite nature to wifdom?
Alc. — It is.
Euph.— —Might it not, therefore, be inferred, that thofe men are foolifh, who go about to unhinge fuch principles, as have a neceflary connexion with the geheral good of mankind?
Alc — Perhaps this might be granted: but, at the fame time, I muft obferve, that it is in my power to deny it.
Euph.— How! you will not furely deny the conclufidri, when you admit the premifes.
Alc — I would fain know upon what terms we argue i whether, in this progrefs of queftion and anfwer, if a man makes a flip, it be utterly irretrievable? For, if you are on the catch, to lay hold of every advantage, without allowing for furprife or inattention, I mud tell you, this is not the way to convince my judgment.
Euph. O Alciphron! I aim not at triumph, but at truth. You are therefore at full liberty to unravel all, that hath been faid, and to recover, or correct, any flip, you have made. But then, you muft diftin&ly point it out, otherwife it will be impoflible ever to arrive at any conclufion.
Alc. — I agree with you, upon thefe terms, jointly to proceed in fearch of truth, for to that I am (incerely devoted. In the progrefs of our prefent inquiry, I was, it feems, guilty of an oversight, in acknowledging the general happinefs of mankind to be a greater good than the particular happinefs of one man. For in fact, the individual happinefs of every man alone conftitutes his own entire good. The happinefs of other men making no part of mine, is not, with refpecl: to me, a good; I mean a true natural good. It cannot therefore be a reafonable end, to be propofed by me, in truth and nature (for I do not fpeak of political pretences) fmce no wife man will purfue an end which doth not concern him. This is the voice of nature. Oh nature! thou art the fountain, original, and pattern of all that is good and wife.
Euph. — You would like then to follow nature, and propofe her as a guide and pattern for your imitation.
Alc- — Of all things.
Euph. — Whence do you gather this refpect for nature?
Alc. — From the excellency of her productions.
Euph. — In a vegetable, for inftance, you fay there is ufe and excellency, becaufe the feveral parts of it are fo connected, and fitted to each other, as to protect and nourifli the whole, make the individual grow, and propagate the kind; and becaufe, in its fruits, or qualities, it is adapted to pleafe the fenfe, or contribute to the benefit of man.
Alc- — Even fo.
Euph. — In like manner, do you not infer the excellency of animal bodies, from obferving the frame and fitnefs of their feveral parts, by which they mutually confpire to the well-being of each other, as well as of the whole? Do you not alfo obferve a natural union, and confent, between animals of the fame kind, and that even different kinds of animals have certain qualities, and initin&s, whereby they contribute to the exercife, nourifhment, and delight of each other? Even the inanimate, unorganized elements, feem to have an excellence relative to each other. Where was the excellency of water, if it did not caufe herbs and vegetables to fpring from the earth, and put forth flowers and fruits? And what would become of the beauty of the earth, if it was not warmed by the fun, moiftened by water, and fanned by air? Throughout the whole fyftem of the vifible and natural world, do you not perceive a mutual connexion and correfpondence of parts? And is it not from hence, that you frame an idea of the perfection and order, and beauty of nature?
Alc. — All this I grant.
Euph. — And have not the floics heretofore faid (who were no more bigots than you are) and did you not yourfelf fay, this pattern of order was worthy the imitation of rational agents?
Alc. — I do not deny this to be true.
Euph. — Ought we not therefore to infer the fame union, order, and regularity, in the moral world, that we perceive to be in the natural?
Alc — We ought.
Euph. — Should it not therefore feem to follow, that reafonable creatures were, as the philosophical emperor * [Dial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 55 obferves, made one for another; and confequently, that man ought not to confider himfelf as an independent individual, whofe happinefs is not connected with that of other men; but rather as the part of a whole, to the common good of which he ought to confpire, and order his ways and actions fuitably, if he would live according to nature?
Alc.« — Suppofing this to be true, what then?
Euph. — Will it not follow, that a wife man mould confider, and purfue his private good, with regard to, and in conjunction with, that of other men? in granting of which, you thought yourfelf guilty of an overfight j though, indeed, the fympathy of pain and pleafure, and the mutual affections, by which mankind are knit together, have been always allowed a plain proof of this point: And though it was the conftant doctrine of thofe, who were efteemed the wifeft, and moft thinking men among the ancients, as the platonifts, peripatetics, and ft'oics; to fay nothing of chriftians, whom you pronounce to be an unthinking, prejudiced fort of people.
Alc — I fhali not difpute this point with you.
Euph. — Since, therefore, we are fo far agreed, mould it not feem to follow, from the premifes, that the belief of a God, of a future ftate, and of moral duties, are the only wife, right, and genuine principles of human conduel:, in cafe they have a necerTary connexion with the well-being of mankind? This conclusion you have been led to by your own conceffions, and by the analogy of nature.
Alc. — I have been drawn into it, ftep by ftep, through feveral preliminaries, which I cannot well call to mind; but one thing I obferve, that you build on the neceffary connexion, thofe principles have with the well-being of mankind; which is a point neither proved nor granted.