[ Id ] 



But how do we know, that there muft be fuch a principle in 

 every reafonable being ? — This implies, that other reafonabfe 

 beings are like us ; and that they are Co is to be difcovered only 

 by experience. When by experience we have difcovered, that 

 in limilar cafes they adt in the fame manner that we do ourfelves, 

 we then infer, that they have the fame tendencies, the fame paflions, 

 the fame regard to truth that we ourfelves have. So that this infe- 

 rence is precifely of the fame nature with that, which we make re- 

 fpefting the phxnomena of nature. We have found that a piece of 

 lead finks in water ; another piece of metal occurs, which is found 

 by experience or obfervation to refemble lead ; whence we infer, 

 that it likewife will fink in water. So that our inference in this 

 cafe is founded on that conflitution of our nature, by which we 

 have a confidence in the future from our experience of the paft :. 

 and our confidence in teflimony has no other origin. 



Having now ihewn, that our belief in a courfe of nature 

 and in human tefiimony is equally derived from experience, that 

 the degree of probability is proportional to the number of 

 previous experiments when they are very numerous, and that 

 any given degree of probability is juftly exprefled by a fra(5tion 

 which denotes the value of our expedation ; it follovi^s, that 

 thefe probabilities derived from our experience refpedling any 

 fpecies of natural pha:i;omena, and the veracity of htiman tefii- 

 mony are homogeneous quantities; and therefore may be iu.lly 

 compared with each other. 



But. 



