Page:An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding - Hume (1748).djvu/153

 But he has the Tooth-ake, or has not din'd. A stupid Fellow discovers an uncommon Alacrity in his Carriage: But he has met with a sudden Piece of Good-fortune. Or even when an Action, as sometimes happens, cannot be particularly accounted for, either by the Person himself or by others; we know, in general, that the Characters of Men are, to a certain Degree, inconstant and irregular. This is, in a Manner, the constant Character of human Nature; tho' it be applicable, in a more particular Manner, to some Persons, who have no fix'd Rule for their Conduct, but proceed in a continu'd Course of Caprice and Inconstancy. The internal Principles and Motives may operate in a uniform Manner, notwithstanding these seeming Irregularities; in the same Manner as the Winds, Rain, Clouds, and other Variations of the Weather are suppos'd to be govern'd by steady Principles; tho' not easily discoverable by human Sagacity and Enquiry.

it appears, not only that the Conjunction betwixt Motives and voluntary Actions is as regular and uniform, as that betwixt the Cause and Effect in any Part of Nature; but also that this regular Conjunction has been universally acknowledg'd amongst Mankind, and has never been the Subject of Dispute, either in Philosophy or common Life. Now as it is from past Experience, that we draw all Inferences