479.

Most commonly the weakest are most wilful; and they that have the least reason have the most self-conceit.-Dr. Whichcote.

480.

A man has as much right to use his own understanding in judging of truth as he has a right to use his own eyes to see his way; there fore it is no offence to another, that any man uses his own right.-Dr. Whichcote.

481.

Every man has a right to give his opinion, and no man has a right to dictate to others; if the first was not done, there could be no discussion; if the second was done, all discussion would be precluded, or something worse would be substituted in its stead.-W. Danby.

482.

The freest possible scope should be given to all the opinions, discussions, and investigations of the learned; if frail they will fall, if right they will remain; like steam they are dangerous only when pent in, restricted, and confined. These discordancies in the moral world, like the apparent war of the elements in the natural, are the very means by which wisdom and truth are ultimately established in the one, and peace and harmony in the other.-Lacon.

483.

I persuade myself that the life and faculties of man, at the best but short and limited, cannot be employed more rationally or laudably than in the search of knowledge; and especially of that sort which relates to our duty and conduces to our happiness. In these enquiries, therefore, wherever I perceive any glimmering of truth before me, I readily pursue and endeavour to trace it to its source, without any reserve or caution of pushing

the discovery too far, or opening too great a glare of it to the public. I look upon the discovery of any thing which is true as a valuable acquisition of society, which cannot possibly hurt or obstruct the good effect of any other truth whatsoever, for they all partake of one common essence, and necessarily coincide with each other, and, like the drops of rain which fall separately into the river, mix themselves at once with the stream and strengthen the general current.-Dr. Middleton.

484.

Though men's reasons and opinions vary, as de their faces, yet truth is homogeneous, uniform, and ever of the same complexion, in all ages and nations.—Dr. T. Fuller.

485.

With regard to authority, it is the greatest weakness to attribute infinite credit to particular authors, and to refuse his own prerogative to Time the Author of all authors, and therefore of all authority.-Bacon.

486.

Disregard for the mere authority of great names has occasioned most of our best things, yet is commonly viewed with the utmost suspicion and ill-will. Thus it was with Copernicus on reviving the Pythagorean doctrine respecting the Solar system; with Harvey in reference to the circulation of the blood; not to mention the contempt attached to Lord Bacon by so many writings of his time, Sir Edward Coke among the number, for disabusing the world of the speculative absurdities which had led it astray. The Reformation itself was nothing but an insurrection of individual judgment against the most extensive, potent, and, in some respects, most venerable authority ever exercised by man.W. B. Clulow.

487.

Let no man, upon a weak conceit of sobriety or an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain that a man can search too far, or be too well studied in the book of God's word, or in the book of God's works-divinity or philosophy; but rather let men endeavour an endless progress or proficience in both only let men beware that they apply both to charity and not to swelling, to use and not to ostentation; and again, that they do not unwisely mingle or confound these learnings together.-Bacon.

488.

No opinion can be heretical but that which is not true. Conflicting falsehoods we can comprehend; but truths can never war against each other. I affirm, therefore, that we have nothing to fear from the results of our enquiries, provided they be followed in the laborious but secure road of honest induction. In this way we may rest assured that we shall never arrive at conclusions opposed to any truth, either physical or moral, from whatsoever source that truth may be derived; nay rather (as in all truth there is a common essence) that new discoveries will ever lend support and illustration to things which are already known, by giving us a larger insight into the universal harmonies of nature.Professor Sedgwick.

489.

are

A proper estimation and acknowledgment of the difficulties of an abstruse question perhaps the best means of producing an agreement between persons who entertain opposite opinions upon it. It is an appeal from their prejudices, or their biasses, to the standard of reason and common sense.-W.Danby.

490.

The more men really know, the more they will agree together; it is ignorance that breeds disputes and discord. But this real knowledge must first be attained; and perhaps the giving and receiving it may both be difficult. Without it they never can understand one another; and misunderstanding is quarrelling.-W. Danby.

491.

As long as there are different degrees of understanding among men, and as those understandings are influenced by their passions, so long will it be impossible to make them agree upon any subject that requires a right understanding and feeling to judge of it.-W. Danby.

492.

A variety of opinions seems to have been meant to be allowed to men, and to be in a certain degree disconnected with their responsibility. If this is the case, can we wonder that these different opinions (and on the most important subjects) should admit of that defence which precludes both the power of absolute refutation, and the right of determining the merit or demerit of those who hold them?-W. Danby.

493.

As the understanding may be injured, so may the opinions. We form both by social intercourse, and thus Society, whether good or bad, tends either to form or to impair them. It is, then, above all things important to choose such Society whereby they may be formed and not impaired; and the choice cannot be properly made if they have not been already formed and not impaired. In this manner the whole forms a circle; happy those who can deviate from it without danger!-Pascal.

494.

Live not on opinions, but think for thyself and act with reason; and shun carefully the contagion of minds which communicates itself by the ways and manners of those we converse with. -Dr. T. Fuller.

495.

What we think has often to be corrected by what we ought to think. I do not mean by this that we should make a sacrifice of our reason, but that our reason should examine whatever is before it with a due sense of our own limited powers, and that the examination should not be a partial one. By observing this rule, if we are not always sure of making a right decision, we may at least be pretty sure of not making a wrong one; and many are the cases in which it is better to suspend our judgment than to run the risk of making an improper use of it. Suspending our judgment is not suspending our opinion; for I believe the human mind is so constituted, that it cannot help forming an opinion on whatever it adverts to.-W. Danby.

496.

more

He that shortens the road to knowledge, lengthens life; and we are all of us indebted, than we believe we are, to that class of writers whom Johnson termed "the pioneers of literature, doomed to clear away the dirt and the rubbish for those heroes who press on to honour and to victory, without deigning to bestow a single smile on the humble drudge that facilitates their progress."-Lacon.

497.

Some writers write nonsense in a clear style, and others sense in an obscure one; some can reason without being able to persuade, others can persuade without being able to reason; some dive