Chap. VI. A N T I E N T M E T A P H Y S I C S. j 03 



years of their life ; and the only uCe, whic1\ whole nations, or rather 

 herds of men, had for many generations before arts and civility were 

 introduced among them : But, as foon as that happened, the latent 

 powers of the human mind exerted themfelvcs, and the lutelleB began 

 to compare the perceptions of fenfe, in order to invcftigate the nature 

 of things, and, for that purpofe, to form ideas. 



For explaining their nature, it will be proper to recolle<St what we 

 have faid before, That all fenfible or corporeal objecls are matter and 

 fonn joined together. Of thefe, the 7natter is not the proper objcd 

 of hitelkd^ but the form is ; which is fo congenial to intelle^y 

 that it was faid, by fome philofophers of old, whom Ariflotle com- 

 mends, to be the place, or region oi/ortns, or fpeciefes * ; and the pro- 

 per bufmefs of the human mind, in this its ftate of exiftence, and the 

 only way in which it can employ its fuperior faculties, and truly enjoy 

 itfelf, is, by inveliigating iht^Qforms^ and evolving them out of the 

 matter in which they are immerfed. 



This is done, by comparing together the perceptions of fenfe, not 

 for the purpofe of animal life only, for that the brutes do as well as 

 we, and it is there, as I have faid, that the brute ends, and 7nan be- 

 gins ; but, in order to difcover the nature of thofe external things, 

 which operate upon the fenfes, and to find out ihdxform which con- 

 ftitutes xhtfitbjiance or ejjence of every one of them. 



For this purpofe, the mind makes the review of its fenfations ; and the 

 way in which it proceeds is this ; As all our knowledge, in this flate, is 

 derived from the fenfes, we obferve,that not only different natural fub- 

 ftances affed; our fenfes differently, but alfo the fame fubftance. For 

 example, a rofe affeds our fenfes of fight, touch, and fmcll. Now, 

 that quality which affeds any one of our fenfes, fuch as the colour, 

 for example, we abflrad from the other qualities affeding the other 



fenfes, 



f Lib. 3. de ^nima, cap. 5. 



