370 THE ORIGINAL OT OUR IDEAB. and assured that these ideas of sensible qualities haveno external resemblances to theobjects whichexcite them, and thus they may undeceive themselves. Now in forming these ideas of secondary or sensible qualities, there is no need that the traces upon the brain, which are the more immediateoccasion of them, should any way resemble the ideas, since there is no real resemblance in the outward objects themselves, which are the prime or remote occasions of them : But God bath ordained, that whensoever such motions and traces are formed in the brain; the soul should immediately form such ideas, or have such perceptions raised in it. 3. The last sort of perceptionswhich the soul acquires by its union to the body, are such as have real proper objects with- out itself, which are the true originals and exemplars of these ideas or perceptions, as well as the causes or occasions of them; such are ethe ideas of extension; solidity, body, with all the primary qualities of it, such as shape, rest, motion, size and situation. It is most highly probable, if not sufficiently evident, that these do exist without us in such a manner as we perceive them ; and that for this reason among others, that we have no- tice of them by the touch as well as bythe sight and'we cannot suppose that God has so formed our natures, that two senses should join to deceive us, when we have no way left to undeceive ourselves. In order to prove yet further that these ideas of the third sort have real objects which resemble them, I add, it is very possible that theremay be such real objects, and then we need seek for no other reason why God appoints us to have such ideas, besides the similarity of their objects, since God and nature do every thing the shortest and plainest way ; whereas it is impossible that the ideas of the first and second sortshould have any real objects that resemble them, and therefore they must be traced to another spring, even to the divine wisdom and volition without any simi- larity in the object. And indeed, :Unless this be allowed, the world of bodies in which we dwell, and of which our bodies are a part, must be a mere chimerical and fantastic universe ; but it is highly impro- bable that God has made so vast a creation of spirits to.dwell in a world of phantasms for six thousand years successively ; or rather that each single human spirit should contain in itself sucli a fantastic world with endless and unavoidable illusions, mistakes and suppositious that such a world exists without us. And how-. ever some ingenious men have erected such a fantastic world in their philosoplremes, I can hardly think that any man ever be- lieved it : A late author of the Enquiry into the Nature of the laman Soul bas refuted this opinion, Sect, 7.
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