Cap. I. All our endeavours or desires so follow of necessity from
our nature that they may be understood either by that nature alone
as their immediate cause, or only by regarding ourselves as a part ot
nature, which cannot be adequately conceived by itself apart from
other particular things.
C. 2. The desires which follow from our nature in such wise that
they may be understood by it alone are those which are ascribed
to the mind in so far as it is conceived as consisting of adequate
ideas ; but other desires are ascribed to the mind only in so far as it
conceives things inadequately, and their strength and increase must
be defined not by the power of man but by the power of things out-
side us. And therefore the former are justly called actions, the latter
passions. For the former ever denote our power, the latter our im-
potence and maimed knowledge.
C. 3. Our actions (that is, those desires which be determined by
man's power or by reason) are always good ; the rest may be either
good or bad.
C. 4. It is therefore of exceeding use in life to perfect, so far as
we can, the understanding or reason, and herein alone consisteth the
highest happiness or blessedness of man. Blessedness, indeed, is //^

nothing else than the contentment of mind arising from the intuitive
knowledge of God. And to perfect the understanding is nothing
else than to understand God and the attributes of God, and the actions
that necessarily follow from his nature. Wherefore the final aim of a

1 Many persons seem to think that the question here involved is, and is only, w^hether
verbal falsehood is ever justified : vv^hich is a shallow and erroneous opinion.
