S02 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IL 



Thus, it appears that liberty is fo much of the eflence of ivill, that 

 thofe adions only which proceed from ivill are 'voluntary and free 

 a<3:ions. And therefore, thofe who fpeak of ivill being moved or de- 

 termined in the fame manner as body is moved by external force, do 

 not underftand what they fay ; for, as ivill muft be determined 

 from within, and of itfelf, it is the fame thing as if they faid, that ivill 

 is not ivilL 



But, is not the ivill neceffarily determined by what appears to in- 

 telledl to be the beft reafon ? It no doubt is fo ; nor is it poflible to 

 conceive any creature iviUing what he does not think beft. But this 

 is improperly called necejfity ; for necejfity is always from without, 

 and cannot be without two things ; an agent', who applies force or 

 violence, and a patient who fuffers it. Nothing, therefore, can force 

 itfelf: So that, when we fay, that the intellect is necelTarily determi- 

 ned by the ftrongeft reafon, we can mean nothing, but that neceffity, 

 which is in the nature of every thing, and is the fame by which a 

 triangle, or any other geometrical figure, has all the properties belong- 

 ing to its nature. 



The neceflity, therefore, which is afcribed to ivill., is no other than 

 that neceffity, by which every thing is what it is. And in this fenfe, 

 not only every thing in nature is neceffary, but the great Author of 

 Nature himfelf is neceifary, both in his exiftence and in his attributes, 

 and particularly with regard to his ivill ; for it is admitted by all 

 philofophers and divines, that the Deity muft, of neceffity, always 

 ivill and do what is beft : And this neceffity is eflential to his nature, 

 refulting from his perfed. wifdom and goodnefs. The neceffity of 

 the ivill of man is fo far of the fame kind, that it is internal, 

 and arifing entirely from the agent himfelf: But he differs in 

 this important refped, that (ht Divine Will \s neceffarily determi- 

 ned by the moft perfed vv'ifdom and goodnefs, without inquiry 



or 



