[priests Are] The Pretenders To

The Whole Is A Riddle, An Enigma, An Inexplicable Mystery. Doubt, Uncertainty, Suspence Of Judgment Appear The Only Result Of Ourmost Accurate Scrutiny, Concerning This Subject. But Such Is The Frailty Of Human Reason, And Such The Irresistible Contagion Of Opinion, That Even This Deliberate Doubt Could Scarcely Be Upheld; Did We Not Enlarge Our View, And Opposing One Species Of Superstition To Another, Set Them A Quarrelling; While We Ourselves, During Their Fury And Contention, Happily Make Our Escape Into The Calm, Though Obscure, Regions Of Philosophy.

All Knowledge Resolves Itself Into Probability. ... In Every Judgment, Which We Can Form Concerning Probability, As Well As Concerning Knowledge, We Ought Always To Correct The First Judgment Deriv'd From The Nature Of The Object, By Another Judgment, Deriv'd From The Nature Of The Understanding.

Human Nature Is The Only Science Of Man; And Yet Has Been Hitherto The Most Neglected.

A Pleasant Comedy, Which Paints The Manners Of The Age, And Exposes A Faithful Picture Of Nature, Is A Durable Work, And Is Transmitted To The Latest Posterity. But A System, Whether Physical Or Metaphysical, Commonly Owes Its Success To Its Novelty; And Is No Sooner Canvassed With Impartiality Than Its Weakness Is Discovered.

Manufacturers...gradually Shift Their Places, Leaving Those Countries And Provinces Which They Have Already Enriched, And Flying To Others, Whether They Are Allured By The Cheapness Of Provisions And Labour.