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An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 26

Machine transcription. Not an edition. Errors are expected: about 8% character error rate on Latin and French lines, higher on German. Mean line confidence on this page: 0.93.

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The machine reads it as

  1. No innate practicat Principles
  2. rith the reproach, ertrich is every erhere prepared For thole, irho dare
  3. venture todissent trom the received Opinions ol their Counery or Party:
  4. And wrhere is the man to be found, thar can patienty prepare himselt
  5. eobear thename oF Whimlical, Sceptical, or Atheist, Which he is lure to
  6. meet ith, wrho does in the least scruple any of the common Opinions:
  7. And he ill be much more afraid o question those Principles, Wvtien he
  8. MalI chin them, as most men do, the Scandards set up by Ciod in his
  9. Mindu to be the Rule and Fouchstone oFall ottrer Opinions. And ertrat
  10. can hinder him trom chinkins them sacred, hen he finds them the
  11. eartiest oF all his omn Thoughus, and the most reverenced byy o
  12. thers:
  13. 5. 26. It is calie to imagine, hou by thele means it comes to pats, that
  14. Men worthip the Idols have been set up in cheir Minds; groir tond ot
  15. the Norions they have been lorig acquainted with there; and stamp the
  16. Characters of Divinity, upon absurdities and Frrors, Decome Zcalous Vo-
  17. taries to Bulls and Munkies; and contented too, Aghe, and dic in detence
  18. oEtheir Opinions. Dum solos credit habendos esse Deos, quos ipse colii.
  19. For lince the realonine F’aculties of the Soul, ertrich are almolt constant-
  20. Iy, thoush not alvars arily nor wilels emploz d rould noclnor hom
  21. tomore for rant ot a foundation, and Footins, in mostMen, whothrouxh
  22. lazinels or arocation, donot; or for mant ol time, or truehelps, or orher
  23. causes, cannot penetrate into the Principles ot Rnomledse, and traco
  24. Truth, to its Fountain and original, tis natural for them, and almost
  25. unavoidable, to takse up with lome borromed Principles; Wrhich Deing re-
  26. puted and presumed tobe the erident proots ol other things, are thoushe
  27. notto necd any ocher proot chemselres. Whoever Mall receire any ot
  28. chele into their choustes, without due examination, bur belicve them,
  29. because ther are to bebeliered, may tatce up trom his Education, and the
  30. factrions of his Countey, any absurdity for innate Principles; and by long
  31. porins on the same Objects, (0 dim his Lighe, as to talce Moncters lodged
  32. in his omn brain, for the Imases ofthe Deity, and the Wortimanchip ot his
  33. TTands.
  34. 5. 27. By this progress, hor many there are, who arrire at Principles,
  35. Wrhich ther beliere innate, may becasils observed, in the variety ol op.
  36. posite Principles, held, and contended For, by all sorts and degrees of
  37. Men. And he that Mall deny this to be the method, rherein most Men
  38. proceed, tothe alturance thes have of the unalterable truth and evidence
  39. OEcheir Principles, ill, perhaps, find it a hard matter, ans other way to
  40. account For the contrary Tenets, which are trmls beliered, contidentiy
  41. asserted, and ertrich great numbers are reads at any time to seal with their
  42. Blood. And, indecd, if it be the privilese of innate Principles, to be re-
  43. ceiredupontheir own Authoritr, without examination, lkno not what
  44. may not be beliered, er hor ans ones Principles can De queltioned. IE
  45. thermaz, and ouche ro be examined, and tried, I desire to tnom ho Airst
  46. and innate Principles can Detried; or at least it is reasonable to demand
  47. the martes and characters, whereby che genuine, innate Principles,
  48. may be distinguited trom ochers; that lo, amidit the great variety ot
  49. Pretenders, Imar be kepe trom miltatces, in lo material a point as this.
  50. When this is done, I Mall be ready to embrace such elcome, and usetul,
  51. Propositions; and till then I may ith modesty doube, since I Fear uni-
  52. versal Consent, Which is the onty one produced, rill scare prove a susti-
  53. cient marie to directmy Choice, and alture me of any innate Principles.
  54. From irhat has been laid, Ithinte it is past doube, that there are nO Pra-
  55. Aieul Principles wherein all Men aeree; and theresorenoneinnate.
  56. DTTAP

Cite

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 26. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0042?run=74