CHAPTER XIII. 9I ridiculous, all ludicrous turns and jocose or comical airs should be entirely excluded, lest young minds become tinctured with a silly and profane sort of ridicule, and learn tojest and trifle with the awful solemnities of religion. 7. Nor should sarcasm and reproach, or insolent language ever be used among fair disputants. Turn not off from things to speak of persons. Leave all noisy eontests ,`allicenodestclonours, brawlinglanguage, and especially all personal scandal and stur- rility to the meanest part of the vulgar world. Let your manner be all candor and gentleness, patient and ready to hear, humbly zealous . to inform and be informed : you ..should be free anti pleasant in every answer and behaviour, rather like well-bred gentlemen in polite conversation, than like noisy and contentious wranglers. 8. If the opponent sees victory to incline to his side, let him be content to spew the force of his argument to the intelligent part of the company, " without too importunate and pendent demands ofan answer," and without insulting over his antagonist, or putting the modestyof the respondent to the blush. "Nor let the respondent triumph over the opponent, when he issilent -and replies nomore." On which side soever victory declares herself, let neither ,of themmanage with such unpleasing and insolent airs, as to awaken those evil passions of:pride,.anger,. shame or resent- ment on either side, which alienate the mind from truth, render it obstinate in the defence of an error, and never suffer it to part with any of its old opinions. In short, when truth evidently ap- pears on either side, "let them learn to yield to conviction " When either party is at a nonplus, let them confess the diffi- culty, and desire present assistanceor further time and retire- ment to consider of the matter, and not rack their present in- vention to find out little shifts to avoid the force and evidence of truth. 9. Might it not be a safer practice, in order to attain the best ends of disputation, and to avoid some'of the ill effects of it, if the opponents were 'sometimes engaged on the side of truth, and produced their arguments in opposition to error ? And what if the respondent was appointed to support the error, and defend it as well as he could, till he was forced to yield at least to those arguments ofthe opponent's which appear to be really just and strong and unanswerable ? In this practice, the thesis of the respondent should only he a fair stating of the question, with some of the chief objections against the truth proposed and solved. Perhaps this practice might not so easily be perverted and abused to raise a cavilling, disputative, andsceptical temper in the minds of youth. I confess in this method which I now propose, there would
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