Watts - BX5200 .W3 1813 v.7

CHAPTER V!. 38E 'The-Arta of Logic is not to furnish, us with tite perceiving faculty, but only to direct and assist us in the use, of it;, it dodt Out give us the oltjects of our ideas, but only casts such a light on those objects which nature furnishes us with,, that they may be the inure clearly and distinctly known ; it loth. not add new parta er properties, to things, but it discovers the various parts, pro- perties, relations and dependencies of one thing upon another, and by ranking all things under general and special heads, it renders the nature, or any of the properties, powers and uses of a thing, more easy to be found out, when. we seek inl what rank of beings it lies, and wherein it agrees with, and wherein it differs from others. If any comparisons. would illustrate this, it may be thus re- presented :-- I. When Logic assists us to attain a clear and distinct con- ception of the nature of things by definition, it is like those glas- ses whereby we behold such objects distinctly, as by reason of their smallness, or their greet distance, appear in confusion to the naked eye so the telescope discovers to us distant wonders in the heavens, and shews the milky way, and the bright cloudy spots in a very dark sky, to be a collection of little stars, which the eye unassisted beholds in mingled confusion. So when bodies are too small for our sight to survey them distinctly, then the mi- croscope is at hand for our assistance, to spew us all the limbs and features of the most minute anittsals, with great clearness and distinction. II. When we are taught by Logic to view a thing completely in all its parts, by the help of division, it has the use of an ana- tomical knife which dissects an animal body, and separates the veins, arteries, nerves, muscles, membranes, &c. add shews us the several parts whiéh goto the composition of a complete animal. III. When Logic instructs us to survey an object com- prehensively in all the modes, properties, relations,. fares, and appearances of it, it is of the same use as a terrestrial. globe, Which turning round on its axis, represents to us all the variety of lands and seas, kingdoms and nations on the surface of the earth, in a very short succession of time shews the situations and various relations of them to each other, and gives a compreheu- give view of them in miniature. IV. When this art teaches us to distribute anyetdeasive idea into its different kinds of species, it may be compared to the pris- matic glass, that receives the sun - beans or rays of light, wleióh teem to be uniform when falling upon it, but it separates and distributes them into their different kinds and colours, and ranks them in their proper succession. Or if we descend to subdivisions and subordinate ranks of bthngi then distribution may also be said Lb form the eesetubbutce

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