CHAPTER III, 185 am not so fond as to think.I have placed,the subject in such lights, as to throw you on a sudden into a new track of thinking, or to make you immediately lay aside your present opinions or de- signs ; all that I hope is, that some hint or other which I have given, is capable of being improved by you to your own convic- tion, or possibly it may lead you into such a train of reasoning, as in time to effect achange in your thoughts. Which hint leads m eto add, IX. Labour as much as possible,. to snake the person you would teach, his own instructor. Human nature may beallowed, by a secret pleasure and pride in its own reasoning, to seem to find out by itself the very thing that you would teach ; and there are some persons that have so much of this natural bias towards self rooted in them, that they can never be convinced of a mis- take by the plainest and strongest arguments to the contrary, though thedemonstration glare in their faces ; but they maybe tempted by such gentle insinuations to follow a track of thought, which you propose, till they have wound themselves out of their own error, and led themselves hereby into your''opinion ; if you do but let it appear, that they are under their own guidance rather than yours. And perhaps there is nothing which shows more dexterity of address than this secret influence over the minds of others, which they do not discern even while they fol- low it. X. If you can gain the main point in question, be not very solicitous about the nicety with which it shall be expressed. Mankind is so vain a thing, that it is not willing to derive from another, and though it cannot have every thing from itself, yet it would seem at least to mingle something of its own with what it derives elsewhere ; therefore when you have set your own sentiment in the fullest light, and proved it in the most effectual manner, an opponent will bring in some frivolous and useless distinction on purpose to change the form of words in the ques- tion, and acknowledge that he receives your proposition in such a sense, and in such a manner of expression, though he cannot receive it in your terms and phrases. Vanillas will confess he is now convinced, that a man who behaves well in the state, ought not to be punished for his religion ; but yet hewill not consent to allow an universal toleration of all religions that do not injure the state, which is the proposition I had been proving. Well, let Vanillus therefore usehis own language, I am glad he is convinced of the truth ; he shall have leave to dress it in his own way. To these directions I shall add two remarks in the conclu- sion of this chapter, which would not so properly fall under the preceding directions. I. When you havelaboúred to instruct a person in some con-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=