SECT. LV. What Man's Reason is.


It is certain my reason is within me, for I must continually
recollect myself to find it; but the superior reason that corrects
me upon occasion, and which I consult, is none of mine, nor is it
part of myself. That rule is perfect and immutable; whereas I am
changeable and imperfect. When I err, it preserves its rectitude.
When I am undeceived, it is not set right, for it never was
otherwise; and still keeping to truth has the authority to call, and
bring me back to it. It is an inward master that makes me either be
silent or speak; believe, or doubt; acknowledge my errors, or
confirm my judgment. I am instructed by hearkening to it; whereas I
err and go astray when I hearken to myself. That Master is
everywhere, and His voice is heard, from one end of the universe to
the other, by all men as well as me. Whilst He corrects and
rectifies me in France, He corrects and sets right other men in
China, Japan, Mexico, and in Peru, by the same principles.


SECT. LVI. Reason is the Same in all Men, of all Ages and
Countries.


Two men who never saw or heard of one another, and who never
entertained any correspondence with any other man that could give
them common notions, yet speak at two extremities of the earth,
about a certain number of truths, as if they were in concert. It is
infallibly known beforehand in one hemisphere, what will be answered