CHAPTER HL' 433 place of mÿself,. and myself in the place of my neighbour, rather . than be bribed by this corrupt principle of self -love to do injury to our neighbours. Thence arises that golden rule of dealing with others as we would have others deal with us: In the judgment of truth and falsehood, right and wrong, good and evil, we ought to consider that every man has a selfas well as we ; and that the tastes, passions, inclinations and inter- ests of different men are very different, and often contrary, and that they dictate contrary things : unless therefore all manner of different and contrary propositions could be true at once, self can never be a just test or standard of truth and falsehood, good and evil VI. The tempers, humours,-and peculiar turns of the mind, whether they be natural or acquired, have a great influence upon our judgment, and become the occasion of many mistakes. Let us- survey a few of them. (1.) Some persons are of an easy and credulous temper, while others are perpetually discovering a spirit of contradiction. The credulous man is ready to receive every thing for truth, that has but a shadow of evidence ; every new book that he reads, and every ingenious man with whom he converses, has power enough to draw him into the sentiments of the speaker or writer. He has so much complaisance in him, or weakness of soul, that he is ready to resign his own opinion to the first objection which he hears, and to receive any sentiments of another that are asserted with a positive air and muchassurance. Thus he is under a kind of necessity, through the indulgence of this credulous humour, either to be .often changing his opinions, or to believe inconsist- encies. The man of contradiction is of a contrary humour, for he stands ready to oppose every thing that is said ; he gives a slight attention to the reasons of other men, from an inward scornful presumption that they have no strength in them. When he reads or hears a discourse different from his own sentiments, he does not give himself leave to consider whether that discourse may be true ; but employs all his powers immediately to confute it. Your great disputers, and your men of 'controversy, are in continual danger of this sort of prejudice they contend often for victory, and will maintain whatsoever they have asserted, while truth is lost in the noise and tumult of reciprocal contradictions ; and it frepuently happens; that a debate about opinions is turned into a mutual reproach of persons. The prejudice of credulity may in some measure be cured, by learning to set a high value on truth, and by taking more pains to attain it ; remembering that truth oftentimes lies dark and deep, and requires us to dig for it as hid treasure ; and that false- hood often puts on a fair disguise, and therefore we should not VOL, vil. E E
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