Mozley: A Treatise on the Augustinian Doctrine of

3<D2 Conclusion. CHAP. XT.
do not know it is probably a mercy to them ; for the very
same hasty and audacious temper of the intellect which
leads them to build so much upon assumptions, the nature
of which they have never examined, would, had they
examined it, and so arrived at a real perception of their
unknown nature, have inclined them to reject such truths.
Thus, in compassion to the infirmity of man, a merciful
Providence hides his ignorance from him ; and by a kind
deceit, such as parents use to their children, allows him to
suppose that he knows what he does not know. He is thus
saved from unbelief, and only falls into a well-meaning,
though foolish and presumptuous, dogmatism.
And now, to bring these remarks to bear on the subject
of this treatise, the question of Divine grace is a question
of Divine Power. Grace is power. That power whereby
Grod works in nature is called power. That power whereby
He works in the wills of His reasonable creatures is called
grace.
With respect, then, to the attribute of the Divine
Power, S. Augustine and his school took up, in the first
instance, a hasty and ill-considered position, which, once
adopted, committed them to extreme and repulsive results.
And the reason of their adopting such a position was, that
they were insufficiently acquainted with the limits of
human reason. For it must be evident to any person of
reflection, that a want of discernment on this is subject not
only an error in itself, but can hardly fail to be the source
of other errors ; because persons who entertain a certain
idea with respect to their knowledge, naturally proceed to
act upon it and to make assertions ; and it must be a chance
whether assertions made under such circumstances are
correct. I would not be understood, however, to cast any
blame upon these writers. The limits of human reason
are not easy to discern. It is not easy, as I have said, to
judge our own pretensions, and distinguish between one
part and another of that whole body of ideas and assump
tions which we find within our minds. Some philosophers
have settled the question summarily, by saying that we
know nothing ; others have extended the range of human