Had men, in the discoveries of the material, done as they have in those of the intellectual world, involved all in the obscurity of uncertain and doubtful ways of talking, volumes writ of navigation and voyages, theories and stories of zones and tides, multiplied and disputed; nay, ships built, and fleets sent out, would never have taught us the way beyond the line; and the Antipodes would be still as much unknown, as when it was declared heresy to hold there were any.

But having spoken sufficiently of words, and the ill or careless use that is commonly made of them, I shall not say anything more of it here.
31.

Extent of Human Knowledge in respect to its Universality.
Hitherto we have examined the extent of our knowledge, in respect of the several sorts of beings that are.

There is another extent of it, in respect of UNIVERSALITY, which will also deserve to be considered; and in this regard, our knowledge follows the nature of our ideas.

If the ideas are abstract, whose agreement or disagreement we perceive, our knowledge is universal.