To The Confidence Of These Objections It May Be Replied, That By
Presuming To Determine What Is Fit, And What
Is beneficial, they
presuppose more knowledge of the universal system than man has
attained; and therefore depend upon principles too
Complicated and
extensive for our comprehension; and that there can be no security
in the consequence, when the premises are not understood; that the
Second Sight is only wonderful because it is rare, for, considered
in itself, it involves no more difficulty than dreams, or perhaps
than the regular exercise of the cogitative faculty; that a general
opinion of communicative impulses, or visionary representations,
has prevailed in all ages and all nations; that particular
instances have been given, with such evidence, as neither Bacon nor
Bayle has been able to resist; that sudden impressions, which the
event has verified, have been felt by more than own or publish
them; that the Second Sight of the Hebrides implies only the local
frequency of a power, which is nowhere totally unknown; and that
where we are unable to decide by antecedent reason, we must be
content to yield to the force of testimony.
By pretension to Second Sight, no profit was ever sought or gained.
It is an involuntary affection, in which neither hope nor fear are
known to have any part. Those who profess to feel it, do not boast
of it as a privilege, nor are considered by others as
advantageously distinguished. They have no temptation to feign;
and their hearers have no motive to encourage the imposture.
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