19¢ THE IMPROtIEMENT OF THE MIND. CI-IAP. V. Of treating and managing the Prejudices of Men' . IF we had nothing but the reasonof men to deal with, and that reason were pure and uncorrupted, it would then be a mat- ter of no great skill or labour to convince another person of common mistakes, or to persuade him to assent to plain and ob- vious truths. But alas! mankind stand wrapt round in errors, and intrenched in prejudices ; and every one of their opinions is supported and guarded by something else beside reason. A young bright genius, who has furnished himself with a variety of truths and strong arguments, but is yet unacquainted with .the world, goes forth from the schools like a knight errant, pre- sumingbravely to vanquish the follies of men, and to scatter light and truth through all his acquaintance. But he meets with huge -- giants and enchanted castles, strong prepossessions of mind, habits, customs, educations, authority, interest, together with all the various passions of men, armed and obstinate to defend their old opinions ; and lie is strangelydisappointed in his gene- rous attempts. He finds now that he must not trust merely to the sharpness of his steel, and to the strength of his arm, brit he must manage the weapons of his reason with mucli'dexterity and artifice, with skill and address, or he shall never be able to subdue errors and to convince mankind. Where prejudices are strong, there are these several methods to he practised in order to convince persons of their mistakes, and make a way fortruth to enter into their minds. I. By avoiding the power and influence of the prejudice, without any direct attack upon it ; and this is done, by choosing all the slow, soft and distant methods of proposing your own sentiments, and your arguments for them, and by degrees lead- ing the person step by step into those truths which his prejudices would not bear if they were proposed all at once. Perhaps your neighbour is under the influence of superstition and bigotry in. the simplicity of his soul; you must not immediately run upon him with violence, and skew him the absurdity or folly of his own opinions, though you might be able to set them in a glaring light ; but you must rather begin at a distance, and establish his assent to some familiar and easy propositions, which have a ten- dency to refute Isis mistakes, and to confirm the truth ; and then silently observe what impression this makes upon him; and pro- ceedby slow degrees as he is able to bear ; and you must carry on the work, perhaps at distant seasons of conversation. The tender or diseased eye cannot bear a deluge of light at once. * For the nature and causes of prejudices, and for the preventing or euring there in ourselves, see the Doctor's System of Logic, Part` II. Chap. Ill. Of the springs of false judgment, or the doctrine of prejudices. r
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=