BOOK I PART IV
This I take to be the true state of the ques-
tion, and cannot approve of that expeditious
way, which some take with the sceptics, to re-
ject at once all their arguments without enquiry
or examination. If the sceptical reasonings be
strong, say they, it is a proof, that reason may
have some force and authority: if weak, they
can never be sufficient to invalidate all the con-
clusions of our understanding. This argument
is not just; because the sceptical reasonings,
were it possible for them to exist, and were they
not destroyed by their subtility, would be suc-
cessively both strong and weak, according to
the successive dispositions of the mind. Rea-
son first appears in possession of the throne,
prescribing laws, and imposing maxims, with
an absolute sway and authority. Her enemy,
therefore, is obliged to take shelter under her
protection, and by making use of rational ar-