Page:The Works of John Locke - 1823 - vol 01.djvu/335

 Ch. 21 views of good, as it appears in contemplation greater or less to the understanding, which is the state of all absent good, and that which in the received opinion the will is supposed to move to, and to be moved by, I do not see how it could ever get loose from the infinite eternal joys of heaven, once proposed and considered as possible. For all absent good, by which alone, barely proposed and coming in view, the will is thought to be determined, and so to set us on action, being only possible, but not infallibly certain; it is unavoidable, that the infinitely greater possible good should regularly and constantly determine the will in all the successive actions it directs: and then we should keep constantly and steadily in our course towards heaven, without ever standing still, or directing our actions to any other end; the eternal condition of a future state infinitely outweighing the expectation of riches or honour, or any other worldly pleasure which we can propose to ourselves, though we should grant these the more probable to be obtained: for nothing future is yet in possession, and so the expectation even of these may deceive us. If it were so, that the greater good in view determines the will, so great a good once proposed could not but seize the will, and hold it fast to the pursuit of this infinitely greatest good, without ever letting it go again: for the will having a power over and directing the thoughts as well as other actions, would, if it were so, hold the contemplation of the mind fixed to that good.

This would be the state of the mind and regular tendency of the will in all its determinations, were it determined by that which is considered and in view the greater good; but that it is not so is visible in experience: the infinitely greatest confessed good being often neglected to satisfy the successive uneasiness of our desires pursuing trifles. But though