BOOK I PART III
effect. This connexion or constant conjunction
sufficiently proves the one part to be the cause
of the other. As the belief which we have of
any event, encreases or diminishes according
to the number of chances or past experiments,
it is to be considered as a compounded effect,
of which each part arises from a proportionable
number of chances or experiments.
Let us now join these three observations, and
see what conclusion we can draw from them.
To every probability there is an opposite pos-
sibility. This possibility is composed of parts,
that are entirely of the same nature with those
of the probability; and consequently have the
same influence on the mind and understand-
ing. The belief, which attends the probability, is
a compounded effect, and is formed by the con-
currence of the several effects, which proceed