SECT. I. THATI may proceed orderly, I will begin with defining the Term. BY Free-Thinking then I mean, The Ufe of the Understanding, in endeavouring to find out the Meaning of any Propofition whatfoever, in confidering the nature of the Evidence for or against it, and in judging of it according to the feeming Force or Weakness of the Evidence. This Definition cannot, I conceive, be excepted against by the Enemys of Free-Thinking, as not including the Crime with which they charge Free-Thinkers, in order to render them odious to unthinking People (for if there is any Crime in FreeThinking, that Crime muft be contain'd in a Definition which lays no manner of reftraint upon Thinking) and they must allow, that if I vindicate Man's Right to think freely in the full extent of my Definition, I not only apologize for my felf, who profefs to think freely every day de quolibet ente, but for all the Free-Thinkers who ever were, or ever shall be. TO prove this Right to think freely, I argue, F ift. IF the Knowledg of fome Truths be requir'd of us by God; if the Knowledg of others be useful to Society; if the Knowledg of no Truth be forbidden us by God, or hurtful to us; then we have a right to know, or may lawfully know, any Truth whatsoever. And if we have a right to.. know any Truth whatfoever, we have a right to think freely, or (according to my Definition) to use our Understandings, in endeavouring to find out the Meaning of any Prop fition whatfoever, in confidering the nature of the Evidence for or against it, and in judging of it according to the feeming Force or Weakness of the Evidence: because there is no other way to discover the Truth. 2dly. AS in manual Arts we do only by free Trial, Comparison, and Experience of every thing, come to know what is best and perfect in each Art; fo in the Sciences, Perfection is only to be attain'd by FreeThinking. LET Painters be fo far confin'd in their Art by the Religion of their Country, as to have it thought unlawful to paint any living Creature; it is evident the Art in that particular would be narrow'd and reftrain'd, and we fhould want many beautiful Pieces, for which Pagan and Chriftian Divinity fur nish nifh the Painter with Matter. And if And if any bold and free Painter fhould tranfgrefs the eftablish'd Law of Painting, and venture upon painting either a God or Goddefs, or any Paffage of the Life of our Bleffed Saviour; nothing is more plain than that the firft Draught would be as fhort of the Perfection of our beft Pictures, as the Painter himself must be fhort of our beft Painters in Experience. Nay, let free Painting be allow'd, Perfection will never be reach'd in that Art, unless futable Encouragements be given to free Painters for what is excellent in its kind, to the end there may be numbers of Men employ'd, who by Emulation may ftrive to exceed one another in their Performances. Thus the Italians, by the publick Encouragement given, excel us Britans in Painting (tho free Painting is allow'd in each Country) and we in all likelihood, for want of many Hands being employ'd and encourag'd, fhall continue for ever in our barbarous State, with refpect to any tolerable degree of a juft Taste, or Ability to perform in that Art. IN like manner, let Men be reftrain'd from thinking on any Science or any part of a Science, they must be ignorant fo far as the Restraint goes. And if a few Men take now and then a little liberty, and break thro the establish'd Restraint, their Thoughts will never be fo perfect as if all Men were A 4 allow'd allow'd and encourag'd to think of that matter: but their Progrefs in thinking will be only proportionate to that degree of Free-Thinking which prevails. Thus before the Restoration of Learning, when Men were fubject to the Impofitions of Priests, a prodigious Ignorance prevail'd. And when they began to think, their firft Notions were rude and imperfect, and Time and Pains were neceffary to bring them to that degree of Juftness they are at prefent. It was by gradual Progrefs in Thinking, that Men got fo much Knowledg in Aftronomy, as to know that the Earth was of an orbicular Figure, and that it moves about the Sun. It was by that means, that we are arriv'd at a Demonstration of the Existence of but one God, and at that ftrict aud philofophical Notion of him, as a Being deftitute of all Parts and Paffions. And thus it has been with respect to all our other Discoveries. BESIDES, we are not only fo far ignorant in the Sciences, as we are under any restraint from thinking about them; but we must be ignorant in thofe Sciences whereof we pretend to think, if we refuse to think of any Science whatfoever. For there is a Relation, Harmony, Dependency, and * Omnes Artes, quæ ad humanitatem pertinent, habent quoddam commune vinculum, & quafi cognatione quâdam inter fe continentur. Cicero pro Archiâ Poeta. Con Connection between all things; and the Knowledg of one Science or Art can never be thorowly obtain'd without the Knowledg of other Arts and Sciences. Nay, take any Book that is a Mafter-piece in its kind, and you will find it has a relation to them all, and that a very general and extenfive Knowledg was necessary to its Compofition. In the Iliad of HOMER, there is not an Art or Science, or Branch of any Art or Science, but there are fome parts which have relation to it, and which the nature of the Work requir'd; and those parts are as accurately and juftly perform'd, as if each part had been done by one who was particularly vers'd in the Art or Science refer'd to. As for inftance, HoMER could never have defcrib'd as he ought, nor in the manner he has done, a Chariot or a Chariot-Wheel, without the particular Knowledg of a Coachmaker: and fuch Knowledg was abfolutely neceffary to his purpose, for if he had talk'd of those things without that accurate Knowledg, he had certainly fallen into those Mistakes which Men ever do, when they venture to talk of what they do not understand; and if he had omitted fuch Defcriptions, his Poem which he defign'd for Eternity to please and inftru&t Mankind had been imperfect. It is this univerfal Knowledg of things display'd in the Iliad, which makes it efteem'd fo perfect a Work, and is the Foundation of that known Commendation of HOMER |