311 ANTIF. NT METAPHYSICS. Book III. 



an univerfal fcience, for it was the fcience of the univerfe^ and of all 

 things therein contained, divine and human. 



It may be alked, How t;ic human capacity can acquire or contain 

 the knowledge of all thin^a ? Of individuals, the knowledge muft be 

 admitted to be infinite and incomprehenfible by us : .And even the 

 Jpeciefcs of things are fo many, as not to be numbered, and far lefs the 

 knowledge of them to be acquired by mortal man — How then is the 

 philolopher to know all things ? 



The anfv^'er is, that there are only two ways of acquiring this uni- 

 verfal knowledge — The firft is, by knowing the elements and confti- 

 tuting principles of this univerie — The fecond is, by knowing, in ge- 

 neral, the nature of all things exifting in it ; that is, by reducing them 

 to general clafles, and underftanding the nature of each ot tbefe claf- 

 fes ; of which, every genus, fpecies, and individual, comprehended un- 

 der that clafs, muft neceflarily participate. Of the firft of thele kinds 

 of univerfal knowledge, 1 have already treated, and have endeavoured 

 to explain the nature of motion^ energy^ action, paj/ion, viaKer^Jorm^ 

 mind^ and the other things above mentioned ; which are, undoubtedly, 

 the elements or principles, of which, or by which, this univerfe may 

 be faid to have been made or conltituted : And, under this head, are 

 to be found the materia^ efficient^ Siudjinal caufes of all things. And I 

 am now to proceed, according to the method I propofed, to treat of 

 the fecond kind of univerfal knowledge, by which we learn to know 

 the formal caufes of all things : For, as metaphyfics is the fcience of 

 principles ov frjl caufes^ it is neccflary that it fliould treat of all thefe 

 four caufes. 



By the knowledge of the three firft: caufes, We know what may be 

 called iojmogony^ or the generation and production of all things 5 and, 



by 



