Chap.III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 155 



cafion, If it had not been to obferve, that, by our fenfes, we only 

 perceive the Accidents of things : But it is by our Intellect only that 

 we perceive the Subftance of any thing ; for the Intelle£t, colle£bing 

 together the feveral Accidents of the thing, and perceiving that they 

 muft exift in fome Subjlratum or Subjedt, does, in this way, form 

 the Idea of Subftance. 



Having premifed thefe obfervations, I will now apply them to the 

 Human Intelledl. And, in ihcjirji place, I think it is evident, that, 

 in our entrance upon this ftage of our exiftence, it exifts only Po- 

 tentially, not Adually : For, though our Soul be, as I hold, im- 

 mortal and divine, yet, being fo intimately connedled with the Body, it 

 is fo far mortal and in generation, and therefore muft have the fame 

 progrefs from Potentiality to Adluality, that all things mortal and in 

 generation have. I hold, therefore, Ariftotle's comparifon to be juft, of 

 our Mind in that ftate to an unwritten tablet *, or, as we would fay, 

 to a blank fheet of paper : For, whether we fuppofe, with Ariftotle, 

 that our Ideas originate in this ftate, and are formed by the Mind 

 from objeds of Senfe, — or with Plato, that thefe obje<3:s only excite 

 and refufcitate them, as it were, from the dormant ftate they are 

 in at our birth, — it is certain that then we have them not, at leaft, in 

 Energy and Ufe. 



And not only is there this progrefs, from Potentiality to Aduality, 

 in the Individual, but, as I hold, alfo in the Species. To be convinced 

 of this, we need only confider how flow the progrefs of our chil- 

 dren is in underftanding, notwithftanding the intercourfe they have 

 with IntelleQual creatures, and how much they learn by imitation 

 and inftrudiion. But how much more flow muft the progrefs of 

 the perfedt Savage be, without fuch advantages ? And, indeed, it 



U 2 appears 



• Lib 3. De Anima, cap. 5. injtne. 



