tit> THE IMPROVEMENT OA THE MIND. XLV. A$ you should carry about with you a constant and sincere sense of your own ignorance, so you should not be afraid nor ashamed to confess this ignorance, by taking all proper op- portunities to ask and enquire for farther information ; whether it be the meaning of a word, the nature of a thing, the reason of a proposition, the custom of a nation, &c. never remain in ignorance for want of asking. Many a person had arrived at some considerable degree of knowledge, ifhe had not been full of self-conceit, and imagined that lie bad known enough already, or else was ashamed to let others know that he was unacquainted with it. God and man are ready to teach the meek, the humble, and the ignorant; but he that fancies himself to know any particular subject well, or that will not venture to ask a question about it, such a one will not put himself into the way of improvement by inquiry and diligence. A fool may be wiser in his own conceit than ten men who can render a reason, and such a one is very likely to be an everlasting fool ; and perhaps also it is a silly shame renders his folly incurable. Stultorum incurata pudor malus ulcera eclat. Hor. Epist. 16. Lib. 1. In English thus : 1f fools have ulcers and their pride conceal 'em, They must have ulcers still, for none can heal 'em. XV. Be not too forward, especially in the younger part of life, to determine any question in companywith an infallibleand peremptory sentence, nor speak with assuming airs, and with a decisive tone of voice. A young man in the presence of his elders should rather hear and attend, and weigh the arguments which are brought for the proof or refutation of any doubtful proposition ; and when it is your turn to speak, propose your thoughts rather in way of enquiry. By this means your mind will be kept in a fitter temper to receive truth, and you will be more ready to correct and improve your own sentiments, where you have not been too positive in affirming them. But if you have magisterially decided the point, you will find a secret unwil- lingness to retract, though you should feel an inward conviction that you were in the wrong. XVI. It is granted indeed, that a season may happen, when some boldpretender to science, may assume haughty andpositive airs to assert and vindicate a gross and dangerous error, or to renounce and vilify some very important truth ; and if he has a popular talent of talking, and there be no remonstrance made against him, the company may be tempted too easily to give their assent to the impudence and infallibility of the presumer. They may imagine a proposition so much vilifiedcan never be true, and that a doctrine which is so boldly censured and renounced can never be defended. Weak minds are too ready to persuade themselves, that a man would never talk with so much assurance
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