aid, and rejects this adventitious instructor. To be a
philosophical Sceptic is, in a man of letters, the first and most
essential step towards being a sound, believing Christian; a
proposition which I would willingly recommend to the attention of
P/AMPHILUS\: And I hope C/LEANTHES\ will forgive me for
interposing so far in the education and instruction of his pupil.

     C/LEANTHES\ and P/HILO\ pursued not this conversation much
further: and as nothing ever made greater impression on me, than
all the reasonings of that day, so I confess, that, upon a
serious review of the whole, I cannot but think, that P/HILO\'s
principles are more probable than D/EMEA\'s; but that those of
C/LEANTHES\ approach still nearer to the truth.

                                

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2Thomas Hayter, Remarks on Mr. Hume's Dialogues, concerning
natural religion, Cambridge, 1780, T. Cadell.
3Joseph Milner, Gibbon's account of Christianity considered:
together with some strictures on Hume's Dialogues concerning
natural religion, London, 1781, G. Robinson and T. Cadell, pp.
199-221.
4John Ogilvie, Inquiry into the causes of the infidelity and
scepticism of the times, London, 1783, Richardson and Urquhart.
After considering Philo's four hypotheses concerning the causes
of the universe, Ogilvie writes "Philo, the author's sceptical
dialogist, is the speaker upon this occasion. But, as his
opinions are not impugned or confuted by Cleanthes, they appear
to be those of the author" (pp. 68-69). The context of Ogilvie's
other comments on the Dialogues make it clear that Philo speaks
for Hume except when Philo concedes the existence of a creative
Mind.
5Nicholas Capaldi, "Hume's Philosophy of Religion: God Without
Ethics," International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 1970,
Vol. I, pp. 233-240.
6 James O'Higgins, "Hume and the Deists: a Contrast in Religious
Approaches," Journal of Theological Studies, 1971, Vol. 23, pp.
479-501. In Hume's Philosophy of Religion (Atlantic Highlands,
1988),
7 Norman Kemp Smith Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, p. 24.
Kemp Smith bases his view on the conclusions to the "Natural
History" and Dialogues, and Hume's 1743 letter to William Mure.
8 B.A.O. Williams "Hume on Religion," in David Hume A Symposium,
e.d. D.F. Pears, London, 1963, pp. 77-88.
9 Ernest C. Mossner, "The Religion of David Hume," Journal of the
History of Ideas, 1978, Vol. 39, pp. 653-663.
10 Donald Livingston,  "Hume's Conception of True Religion," in
Hume's Philosophy of Religion (Winston-Salem, 1986), pp. 33-73.
11 James Noxon, "In Defence of 'Hume's Agnosticism,'" Journal of
the History of Philosophy, 1976, Vol. 14, p. 470.
12 Chrysippus apud Plut. De repug. Stoicorum. [Chrysippus (c.
280-207 BCE.), as appears in Plutarch's Stoic Inconsistencies,
Ch. 9, 1035 a-b - Ed.]
13 [John Milton, Paradise Lost, Bk. 2. - Ed.]
14 L'art de penser. [Antoine Arnauld (1612-1694), La Logique ou
l'art de penser (The Port Royal Logic, 1662). - Ed.]
15 Mons. Huet. [Peter Daniel Huet (1630-1721), Traite
philosophique de la faiblesse de l'esprit humain (1723) - Ed.]
16 Recherche de la Verite, liv. 3, cap. 9. [Nicholas Melbranche
(1638-1715), The Search after Truth, Bk 3, Ch. 9 - Ed.]
17 [In his letter of March 10, 1751 to Gilbert Eliot, Hume
comments on Cleanthes' argument in this paragraph. "If you'll be
persuaded to assist me in supporting Cleanthes, I fancy you need
not take Matters any higher than Part 3. He allows, indeed, in
Part 2, that all our Inference is founded on the Similitude of
the Works of Nature to the usual Effects of Mind. Otherwise they
must appear a mere Chaos. The only Difficulty is, why the other
Dissimilitudes do not weaken the Argument. And indeed it woud
seem from Experience & Feeling, that they do not weaken it so
much as we might naturally expect. A Theory to solve this woud be
very acceptable."
18 [Cicero, De Natura Deorum, Bk. 1:22 - Ed.]
19 [Senna is a laxitive drug made from various plants. - Ed.]
20 Lib. XI. 1094. [Lucretius (98-55 BCE.) On the Nature of
Things, Bk. 2: "Who can rule the sum, who hold in his hand with
controlling force the strong reins, of the immeasurable deep? Who
can at once make all the different heavens to roll and warm with
ethereal fires all the fruitful earths, or be present in all
places at all times." - Ed.]
21 De Nat. Deor. Lib. 1. [Cicero (106-43 BCE.), De Natura Deorum,
Bk. 1: 8: "For with what eyes of the mind could your Plato have
beheld that workshop of such stupendous toil, in which he
represents the world as having been put together and built by
God? How was so vast an undertaking set about? What tools, what
levers, what machines, what servants were employed in so great a
work? How came air, fire, water, and earth to obey and submit to
the architect's will?"]
22 Dr. Clarke. [Samuel Clarke (1675-1729), A Demonstration of the
Being and Attributes of God. - Ed.]
23 Republique des Lettres, Aout 1685.