Note. Thofe miftakes of this fort which all mankind drop and lofe in their advancing age, are called mere prejudices of infancy, but thofe which abide with the vulgar part of the world, and generally with all men, till learning and philofophy cure them, more properly attain the name of prejudices of sense.

These prejudices are to be removed feveral ways. (1.) By the afliftance of one fenfe we cure the mistakes of another, as when a stick thruft into the water seems crooked, we are prevented from judging it to be really fo in itself, for when we take it out of the water, both our fight and our feeling agree and determine it to be ftrait. (2.) The exercise of our reason, and an application to mathematical and philofophical ftudies, cures many other prejudices of fenfe, both with relation to the heavenly and earthly bodies. (3.) We fhould remember that our fenfes have often deceived us in various inftances, that they give but a confused and imperfect reprefentation of things in many cafes, that they often reprefent falfly thofe very objects to which they feem to be fuited, fuch as the shape, motion, fize and fituation of grofs bodies, if they are but placed at a diftance from us; and as for the minute particles of which bodies are compofed, our fenfes cannot diftinguish them, (4.) We fhould remember alfo, that one prime and original defign of our fenfes, is to inform us what various relations the bodies that are round about us bear to our own animal body, and to give us notice what is pleasant and useful, or what is painful and injurious to us; but they are not fufficient of themselves to lead us into a philofophical acquaintance with the inward nature of things. It must be confeffed it is by the affiftance of the eye, and the ear efpecially (which are called the fenfes of difcipline) that our minds are furnished with various parts of knowledge, by reading, hearing, and obferving things divine and human; yet reafon ought always to accompany the exercife of our fenfes whenever we would form a just judgment of things propofed to our enquiry.

Here it is proper to obferve also, that as the weaknefs of reafon in our infancy, and the dictates of our fenfes, fometimes in advancing years, lead the wiser

part of mankind aftray from truth; fo the meaner parts of our fpecies, perfons whofe genius is very low, whofe judgment is always weak, who are ever indulging the dictates of fenfe and humour, are but children of a. larger fize, they fstand exposed to everlasting mistakes in life, and live and die in the midst of prejudices.

III. Imagination is another fruitful fpring of false judgments. Our imagination is nothing elfe but the various appearances of our fenfible ideas in the brain, where the foul frequently works in uniting disjoining, multiplying, magnifying, diminishing and altering the feveral fhapes, colours, founds, motions, words and things that have been communicated to us by the outward organs of fenfe. It is no wonder therefore if fancy leads us into many mistakes, for it is but sense at fecond-hand. Whatever is ftrongly imprefed upon the imagination, fome perfons believe to be true. Some will choofe a particular number in a lottery, or lay a larger wager on a fingle chance of a dye, and doubt not of fuccefs, because their fancy feels fo powerful an impreffion, and affures them it will be profperous. A thoufand pretended prophecies and inspirations and all the freaks of enthusiasm have been derived from this fpring. Dreams are nothing else but the deceptions of fancy a delirium is but a fhort wildness of the imagi nation; and a settled irregularity of fancy is distraction and madness.

One way to gain a victory over this unruly faculty, is to fet a watch upon it perpetually, and to bridle it in all its extravagancies; never to believe any thing merely because fancy dictates it, any more than I would be-lieve a midnight-dream, nor to truft fancy any farther than it is attended with fevere reafon. It is a very useful and entertaining power of human nature in matters of illuftration, perfuafion, oratory, poefy, wit, converfation, &c. but in the calm inquiry after truth and final judgment of things, fancy fhould retire, and ftand afide, unless it be called in to explain or illuftrate a difficult point by a fimilitude.

Another method of deliverance from these prejudices of fancy, is to compare the ideas that arife in our ima ginations with the real nature of things, as often as we

have occafion to judge concerning them; and let calm and fedate reafon govern and determine our opinions, though fancy fhould fhew never fo great a reluctance. Fancy is the inferior faculty, and it ought to cbey.

IV. The various paffions or affections of the mind are numerous and endleis iprings of prejudice. They dif guise every object they converfe with, and put their own colours upon it, and thus lead the judgment aftray from truth. It is love that makes the mother think her own child the faireft, and will fometimes perfuade us that a blemish is a beauty. Hope and delire make an hour of delay feem as long as two or three hours; hope inclines us to think there is nothing too difficult to be attempted; despair tells us that a brave attempt is mere rafhness, and that every difficulty is unfurmountable. Fear makes us imagine that a buih fhaken with the wind has fome favage beaft in it, and multiplies the dangers that attend our path: but ftill there is a more unhappy effect of fear when it keeps millions of fouls in flavery to the errors of an established religion: what could perfuade the wife men and philofophers of a popish country to believe the groffeft abfurdities of the Roman church, but the fear of torture or death, the galleys or the inquifition? forrow and melancholy tempt us to think our circumstances much more difmal than they are, that we may have fome excufe for mourning and envy reprefents the condition of our neighbour better than it is, that there might be fome pretence for her own vexation and uneafinefs. Anger and wrath and revenge, and all those hateful paffions excite in us far worse ideas of men than they deserve, and perfuade us to believe all that is ill of them. A detail of the evil influence of the affections of the mind upon our judgment would make a large volume.

The cure of these prejudices is attained by a constant jealously of ourselves, and watchfulness over our paffions, that they may never interpofe when we are called to pafs a judgment of any thing; and when our affections are warmly engaged, let us abftain from judging. It would be alfo of great ufe to us to form our deliberate jadgments of perfons and things in the calmeft and ferencft hours of life, when the paflions of nature are

all filent, and the mind enjoys its most perfect compofure and thefe judgments fo formed thould be treasured up in the mind, that we might have recourse to them in hours of need. See many more fentiments and directions relating to this fubject in my doctrine of the paffions.

V. The fondness we have for SELF, and the relations which other perfons and things have to ourselves, furnish us with another long rank of prejudices. This indeed might be reduced to the paffion of felf-love; but it is fo copious an head that I choose to name it as a diftinct fpring of falfe judgments. We are generally ready to fancy every thing of our own has something peculiarly valuable in it, when indeed there is no other reafon, but because it is our own, Were we born among the gardens of Italy, the rocks of Switzerland, or the ice and fnows of Ruffia and Sweden, ftill we should imagine peculiar excellencies in our native land. We conceive a good idea of the town and village where we first breathed, and think the better of a man for being born near us. We entertain the beft opinion of the perfons of our own party, and easily believe evil reports of perfons of a different fect or faction. Our own fex, our kindred, our houses, and our very names, feem to have fomething good and defirable in them. We are ready to mingle all thefe with ourselves, and cannot bear to have others think meanly of them:

So good an opinion we have of our own sentiments and practices, that it is very difficult to believe what a reprover fays of our conduct; and we are as ready to affent to all the language of flattery. We fet up our own opinions in religion and philofophy as the tests of orthodoxy and truth; and we are prone to judge every practice of other men either a duty or a crime, which we think would be a crime or a duty in us, though their circumftances are vaftly different from our own. This humour prevails fometimes to fuch a degree, that we would make our own tafte and inclinations the ftandard by which to judge of every dish of meat that is fet upon the table, every book in a library, every em ployment, ftudy and bufinefs of life, as well as every

recreation.

It is from this evil principle of setting up felf for a model what other men ought to be, that the antichriftian fpirit of impofition and perfecution had its original: though there is no more reason for it than there was for the practice of that tyrant, who having a bed fit for his own fize was reported to ftreach men of low ftature upon the rack, till they were drawn out to the length of his bed; and fome add alfo, that he cut off the legs, of any whom he found too long for it."

It is alfo from a principle near a-kin to this that we pervert and ftrain the writings of any venerable authors, and especially the facred books of fcripture, to make them speak our own fenfe. Through the influence which our own fchemes or hypothefis have upon the mind, we fometimes become fo fharp-fighted as to find thefe fchemes in thofe places of fcripture where the holy writers never thought of them, nor the holy spirit intended them. At other times this prejudice brings fuch a dimnefs upon the fight that we cannot read any thing that opposes our own scheme, though it be written as with fun-beams, and in the plaineft language; and perhaps we are in danger in fuch a cafe of winking a little againft the light.

We ought to bring our minds free, unbiaffed and teachable to learn our religion from the word of God; but we have generally formed all the leffer as well as the greater points of religion before-hand, and then we read the prophets and apoftles, only to pervert them to confirm our own opinions. Were it not for this influence of felf, and a bigotry to our own tenets, we could hardly imagine that so many strange, absurd inconfiftent, wicked, mifchievous, and bloody principles fhould pretend to fupport and defend themfelves by the gospel of Christ.

Every learned critic has his own hypothefis; and if the common text be not favourable to his opinion, a various lection fhall be made authentic. The text must be fuppofed to be defective or redundant, and the sense of it shall be literal, or metaphorical, according as it beft fupports his own fcheme. Whole chapters or books fhall be added or left out of the facred canon, vor be turned into parables by this influence. Luther