1863.] 135 [Carleton. 



do or say on the way will require the repetition of the same process, 

 motive, volition, action. 



THE WILL. 



All controversies on Liberty and Necessity are made to turn upon 

 the supposed powers of the Will. 



Locke says the only object of the Will is some action of ours, no- 

 thing more. 



Mallebranche thinks it is the province of the W^ill to reason. 



Bielfield, that its quality is that of determining. 



Hume, a power by which new actions and thoughts are produced. 



Cousin resolves it into attention, consciousness, or measure of time, 

 and says it can act against motive, 



Edwards says : '' The very act of volition itself is doubtless a de- 

 termination of the mind," and that it does not difier from the aifec- 

 tions. 



Luther, that the foreknowledge of God is a thunderbolt that strikes 

 free will into atoms. 



Calvin thinks that volitions, as well as all other events, come to 

 pass by the decrees of God. 



Hobbs, Collins, and Edwards think they are necessitated by mo- 

 tives. 



Reed and Clarke say the Will is the last determination of the 

 mind. 



Stewart says that it has no power over thought. 



Gall and Spurzheim affirm it is merely the decision of the under- 

 standing. 



Dr. Brown seems to identify it with desire. 



Payne and Young are inclined to the same opinion. 



Morrell says it is a spontaneity, or self-acting power. 



Spinoza, that free will is a dream, a vulgar prejudice. 



Descartes thinks that the Will is free, but cannot tell how. 



Leibnitz held to necessity, in virtue of a pre-established harmony. 



A hundred other instances might be adduced, from which it 

 would appear that no two writers agree in their definition of the 

 Will. The reason is plain. Its agency being purely imaginary, they 

 take care to invest it with attributes to suit their respective theories; 

 as writers of romance adapt their actors to the part they have to 

 play. 



The Will has proved a prolific source of bookmaking to metaphysi- 

 cians. It is their darling theme, unexhausted and inexhaustible to 



