hov/ever another objetftion which has been urged againft them, built upon the fuppofed inexpediency of inculcating upon the peo- ple at large the propriety of occafional refiflance to the authority of government. " Obedience," fay thefe objecSlors " is the rule; refiftance the exception. Now what can be more prepofterous, than perpetually to infift with all the pomp of eloquence upon an expedient, to which only an extreme neceffity can oblige us to have recourfe*?"
ft has already been fhewn that obedience, that is, a furrender of the underftanding to the voice of authority, is a rule to which It can never be creditable to human beings to conform. Tran- quillity indeed, a ftate in wlilch a man fhall leaft be difturbed in the exercife of his private judgment by the interpofition of violence, Is an object we fhould conftantly endeavour to promote 5 but this tranquillity the principles here inculcated have little tendency to difturb.
There is certainly no truth which It can be for the general Intereft to conceal. It muft be confeffed indeed, that a fmgle * This argument, nearly in the words here employed, may be found in Hume's Eflay on Paflive Obedience. Eflays, Part II, EfTay xiii.
F f truth 2i8 OF POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS.
PHAP ^n' ^^^^^^^ ^^J ^^ ^^ detached from the feries to which it belongs, as, .!; ^ —;-;' when feparately told, to have the nature of falfliood. But this is by no means the cafe in the prefent inftance. To infornj mankind of thofe general principles upon which all political in- fiitutions ought to be built, is not to difFufe partial information. To difcover to them their true interefts, and lead them to conceive of a ftate of fociety more uncorrupt and more equitable than that in which they live, is not to inculcate fome rare exception to a general rule. If there be any government which muft be indebted for its perpetuity to ignorance, that government is the curfe of mankind. In proportion as men are made to under- ftand their true interefts, they will condu£t themfelves wifely,. both when they a£t and when they forbear, and their condudt will therefore promife the moft advantageous iflue. He,, whofe- mind has carefully been inured to the didates of reafon, is of all men leaft likely to convert into the rafh and headftrong invades; of the general weal..
SECTION- SECTION IV.
OF THE SPECIES OF REFORM TO BE DESIRED.
OUGHT IT TO BE PARTIAL OR ENTIRE? — TRUTH MAY NOT BE PARTIALLY TAUGHT. PARTIAL REFORMA- TION CONSIDERED. — OBJECTION. — ANSWER. PARTIAL REFORM INDISPENSIBLE. — NATURE OF A JUST REVOLU- TION— HOW DISTANT?
THERE is one more queftion which cannot fail occa- BOOK IV. CHAP. ir. fionally to fuggeft itfelf to the advocate of fecial reform- * v ' Section IV.
atlon. " Ought we to defire to fee this reformation introduced Ought it to be partial or gradually or at once?" Neither fide of this dilemma prefents <^"t'r^ • US with the proper expedient.
No project can be more injurious to the caufe of truth, than Truth may not be parthat of prefenting it imperfedtly and by parcels to the attention t^'^'b' taught. of mankind. Seen in its juft light, the effedt produced cannot fail to be confiderable; but, fhewn in fome partial and imperfetl: * way, it will afford a thoufand advantages to its adverfaries. Many obje£lions will feem plaufible, which a full view of tlie fubjeft would have diffipated. Whatever limits truth is error; and of confcquence fuch a limited view cannot fall to include a OF THE SPECIES OF S?.R^5. ^Yr conficierable mixture of error. Many ideas mary be excellent as ^ — —;* parts of a ereat whole, which, when violently torn from their conned:ion, will not only ceafe to be excellent, but may in fome cafes become pofitively injurious. In this war of pofts and fkirmiihes victory will perpetually appear to be doubtful, and men will either be perfuaded, that truth itfelf is of little value, or that human intelledl is fo narrow as to render the difcoverj of truth a hopelefs purfuit.
Partial re- formation confidered.
Objeftion.
It may be alledged, that " one of the confiderations of greateft influence in human affairs is that of the gradual decline of ill things to worfe, till at length the mifchief, having proceed- ed to its higheft climax, can maintain itfelf no longer. The argument in favour of fecial improvement would lofe much of its relative energy, if the opportunity of a fecret comparifon of pofllble good with actual evil were taken away. All partial reforms are of the nature of palliatives. They Ikin over the difeafed part inftead of extirpating the difeafe. By giving a fmall benefit, perhaps a benefit only in appearance, they cheat us of the fuperior good we ought to have demanded. By ftripping error of a part of its enormities, they give it freft vigour and a longer duration."
Anfwer. We muft be cautious however of pufhing this argument too far. To fuppofe that truth Hands in abfolute need of a foil, or that fhe cannot produce full convidion by her native light, is REFORM TO BE DESIRED. 221 a conception unworthy of her enlijrhtened advocates. The true BOOK IV.
folution will probablybe found in the accurately diftiuguifhine "^ * Section IV.
the fources of reform. W hatever reform, general or partial, iliall be fuggefted to the community at large by an unmutilated view of the fubjed, ought to be feen with fomc degree of complacency. But a reform, that fhall be offered us by thofe whofe intereft is fuppofed to lie in the perpetuating of abufe, and the intention of ^ which is rather to give permanence to error by diverting it of its moft odious features, is little entitled to our countenance. The true principle of focial improvement lies in the corredling public opinion. Whatever reform is ftolen upon the community un- regarded, and does not fpontaneoufly flov»' from the energy of the general mincj, is unworthy of congratulation. It is in this refpedl with nations as with individuals. He that quits a vicious habit, not from reafon and convidion, but becaufe his appetites no longer folicit him to its indulgence, does not deferve the epithet of virtuous. The objea it becomes us to purfue is, to give vigour to public opinion, not to fmk it into liftleffnefs and indifference.
When partial reformation proceeds from its legitimate caufe, Gradual re the progrefs fociety has made in the acquifition of truth, penfibie. it may frequently be entitled to our applaufe. Man is the creature of habits. Gradual improvement is a moft confpicuous law of his nature. When therefore fome confiderable advantage is fufficiently underftood by the community to induce them to defire 222 OFTHESPECIESOF BOOK IV. defire its eftablifhment, that eftablifliment will afterwards read CHAP. II.
' V ' to the enlightening of intellect and the generating of virtue. It Section IV.
is natural for us to take our Hand upon fome leading truth, and from thence explore the regions we have ftill to traverfe.
There is indeed a fenfe in which gradual improvement is the only alternative between reformation and no reformation. All human intelleds are at fea upon the great ocean of infinite truth, and their voyage though attended with hourly advantage will never be at an end. If therefore we will ftay till we fhall have devifed a reformation fo complete, as fhall need no farther re- formation to render it more complete, we fhall eternally remain in inadion. Whatever is fairly underftood upon general prin- ciples by a confiderable part of the community, and oppofed by none or by a very few, may be confidered as fufficiently ripe for execution.
Nature of a 'j'q recapitulate the principal obie(£l of this chapter, I would ^'°"" once again repeat, that violence may fuit the plan of any political partifan, rather than of him that pleads the caufe of fimple juf- tice. There is even a fenfe in which the reform aimed at by the true politician may be affirmed to be lefs a gradual than an entire one, vvithout contradifting the former polition. The complete re- formation that is wanted, is not inftant but future reformation. It can in reality fcarcely be confidered as of the nature of action. It confifts in an univerfal illumination. Men feel their fitua- 7 tion, REFORM TO BE DESIRED. 223 tion, and the reftraints, that Ihackled them before, vanifh like a EOOK iv, mere deception. When the true crifis fhall come, not a fword "^ v * Section IV.
will need to be drawn, not a finger to be lifted up. The adver- faries will be too few and too feeble to dare to make a ftand againft the univerfal fenfe of mankind.
Nor do thefe ideas imply, as at firft fight they might feem to Howdlftant? imply, that the revolution is at an immeafurable diftance. It is of the nature of human affairs that great changes fhould appear to be fudden, and great difcovcries to be made unexpedledly, and as it were by accident. In forming the mind of a young perfon, in endeavouring to give a new bent to that of a perfon of maturer years, I fliall for a long time feem to have produced little effedl, and the fruits will fliew themfelves when I leall ex- pedted them. The kingdom of truth comes not with oftentation.. The feeds of virtue may appear to perifh before they germinate..
To recur once more to the example of France, the works of her great political writers feemed for a long time to produce little profpedt of any pradical effeft. Helvetius, one of the lateft, in a work publifhed after his death in 1 771, laments in pathetic ftrains the hopelefs condition of his country. " In the hiftory of every people," fays he, " there are moments, in which, uncertain of the fide they fliall choofe, and balanced between political good and evil, they feel a defire to be inftruded; in which the foil, fo to exprefs m^felf, is in fome manner prepared, and may eafily be impregnated SECTlOr 224 OF THE SPECIES OF r.OoK IV. imprerrnated with the dew of truth. At fuch a incment the pubhcation of a vahiable book may give birth to the moft aufpicious reforms: but, Vv-hen that moment is no more, the naticn, become infenfible to the beft motives, is by the nature of its government phmged deeper and deeper in ignorance and ftupidity. The foil of inteliefh is then hard and impenetrable; the rains may fall, may fpread their moifture upon the furface, but the profpedt of fertility is gone. Such is the condition of France. Her people are become the contempt of Europe. No falutary crifis fhall ever reflore them to liberty*."
But in fpite of thefe melancholy predi£lions, the work of re- novation was in continual progrefs. The American revolution gave the finifhing ftroke, and only fix years elapfed between the completion of American liberty and the commencement of the French revolution. Will a term longer than this be neceflary, * " Dans chaqne nation U eft des moinens ou les citoyens, incertains du parti qu'ih doivent prendre, et fiifpendus entre tin ton et tin mauvais gouvirnement, eprouvtnt la foifde I'inJlriiBion, olt les efprits,ft je Voje dire, preprres et ameublis peuvent etrefa- silement p'cnetres de la rofte de la verite. ^u'en ce moment un ban ouvrage paroijfe, il pent opcrer d'l'enreufes reforvies: mais cet injlant pajfe, les citoyens, infenjihles cl la gloire,fojtt par la forme de leur gotivernement invinciblement entratnes vers I' ignorance et Vahrutijfemcnt. Alors les efpriis font la terre endurcie: I'eau de la verite y tombe, y coule, mais fans lafeconder. Tel eji I'itat de la France. Cetie nation avilie efl au- jourd'hui k nupris de V Europe. Ntille crife falutaire ne lui rendra la Uberte."
De I'Homme, Preface.
before REFORM TO BE DESIRED, tzs before France, the moft refined and confiderable nation in the 529^ T* world, will lead other nations to imitate and improve upon her <- — ^ plan? Let the true friend of man be inceflant in the propaga- tion of truth, and vigilant to counteract all the caufes that might diuU'rb the regularity of her progrefs, and he wUl hays every ' " rtaron to hope an early and a favourable event.
CJHAP.
CHAP. III. OF TYRANNICIDE.
DIVERSITY OF OPINIONS ON THIS SUBJECT. ARGUMENT IN ITS VINDICATION. THE DESTRUCTION OF A TYRANT NOT A CASE OF EXCEPTION. CONSEQUENCES OF TYRAN- NICIDE. ASSASSINATION DESCRIBED. IMPORTANCE OF SINCERITY.
QUESTION, connected with the mode of effedtlng re- volutions, and which has been eagerly difcufled among Diverfity of opinions on political rcafoners, is that of tyrannicide. The moralifts of antithisfubjeft. ^ ' ■' qiiity warmly contended for the lawfulnefs of this prailice; by the moderns it has generally been condemned.
Argument in The arguments in its favour are built upon a very obvious its vindica- tion, principle. " Juftice ought univerfally to be adminiftered. Upon leffer criminals it is done, or pretended to be done, by the laws of the community. But criminals by whom law is fubverted, and who overturn the liberties of mankind, are out of the reach of the ordinary adminiftration of juftice. If juftice be partially admi- niftered in fubordinate cafes, and the rich man be able to opprefs I the OF TYRANNICIDE.
the poor with impunity, it muft be admitted that a few examples BOOK IV.
CHAP. III.
of this fort are infuflicient to authorife the laft appeal of human ^-^ ^ ' beings. But no man will deny that the cafe of the ufurper and the defpot is of the moft atrocious nature. In this inftance, all the provifions of civil policy being fuperfeded, and juftice poi- foned at the fource, every man is left to execute for himfelf the ■ decrees of eternal equity."
It may however be doubted whether the deftrudlion of a ty- The deflmc- rant be in any refpedl a cafe of exception from the rules proper rant not a to be obferved upon ordinary occafions. The tyrant has cer- tba. tainly no particular fandity annexed to his perfon, and may be killed with as little fcruple as any other man, when the objed: is that of repelling immediate violence. In all other cafes, the ex- tirpation of the offender by a felf-appointed authority, does not appear to be the proper mode of counteracting injuftice.
For, firft, either the nation, whofe tyrant you would deftroy, Confequence» is ripe for the affertion and maintenance of its liberty, or it is not. cide!"^^""' If it be, the tyrant ought to be depofed with every appearance of publicity. Nothing can be more improper, than for an affair, interefting to the general weal, to be conduced as if it were an aft of darknefs and ihame. It is an ill leffon we read to man- kind, when a proceeding, built upon the broad bafis of general juftice, is permitted to fhrink from public fcrutiny. The piftol and the dagger may as eafily be made the auxiliaries of vice as «a8 OF TYRANNICIDE.
«a8 OF TYRANNICIDE.
<^Ap!'in, °f"^i'''^u^' 1"° profcribe all violence, and negled no means of *'~~^' ' information and impartiality, is the moft efFedlual fecurity we can have for an iflue conformable to the voice of reafon and truth.
If the nation be not ripe for a flatd of freedom, the man, who affumes to himfelf the right of interpofmg violence, may in- deed ihew the fervour of his conception, and gain a certain de- gree of notoriety. Fame he will not gain, for mankind at pre- fent regard an a£t of this fort with merited abhorrence; and he will infli£t new calamities on his country. T he confequences of tyrannicide are well known. If the attempt prove abortive, it renders the tyrant ten times more bloody, ferocious, and cruel than before. If it fucceed, and the tyranny be reftored, it pro- duces the fame effed upon his fucceffors. In the climate of def- potifm fome folitary virtues may fpring up. But in the midft of plots and confpiracies there is neither truth, nor confidence, nor love, nor humanity.
AfTaffinatJon Secondly, the true merits of the queftion will be ftill farther defcribed.
underftood, if we refled on the nature of aflaflination. The miftake, which has been incurred upon this fubjed, is to be im- puted principally to the fuperficial view that has been taken of it. If its advocates had followed the confpirator through all his windings, and obferved his perpetual alarm left truth fhould be- come known, they would probably have been lefs indifcriminate 4 in OF TYRANNICIDE. 229 in their applaufe. No adtlon can be imasined more dircdlv at BOOK iv.
^ ^ CHAP. III.
war with a principle of ingenuoufnefs and candour. Like all ^^ ^ ' that is moft odious in the catalogue of vices, it delights in obfcu- rity. It Ihrinks from the penetrating eye of wifdom. It avoids all queftion, and hefitates and trembles before the queftloner. It ftruggles for a tranquil gaiety, and Is only complete where there is the moft perfect hypocrlfy. It changes the ufe of fpeech, and compofes every feature the better to deceive. Imagine to your- felf the confplrators, kneeling at the feet of Ccefar, as they did the moment before they deftroyed him. Not all the virtue of Brutus can fave them from your indignation.
There cannot be a better inftance than that of which we are Importance treatmg, to prove the importance of general Imcerity. We fee m this example, that an a£tIon, which has been undertaken from ' • the beft motives, may by a defedl In this particular tend to over- turn the very foundations of juftlce and happlnefs. Wherever there is aflafli nation, there is an end to all confidence among men. Protefts and affeveratlons go for nothing. No man pre- fumes to know his neighbour's intention. The boundaries, that v have hitherto ferved to divide virtue and vice, are gone. The true Interefts of mankind require, not their removal, but their confirmation. All morality proceeds upon the aflumption of fomething evident and true, will grow and expand in proportion, as thefe indications are more clear and unequivocal, and could not exift for a moment, if they were deftroyed.
CHAP. IV. OF THE CULTIVATION OF TRUTH.
JjERHAPS there cannot be a fubjeft of greater political -*- importance, or better calculated to lead us in fafety through the mazes of controverfy, than that of the value of truth. Truth may be confidered by us, either abftraftedly, as it relates to certain general and unchangeable principles, or pi-a£tically, as it relates to the daily incidents and ordinary commerce of human life. In whichever of thefe views we confider it, the more deeply we meditate its nature and tendency, the more fhall we be ftruck with its unrivalled importance.
SECTION SECTION I.
OF ABSTRACT OR GENERAL TRUTH.
ITS IMPORTANCE AS CONDUCING — TO OUR INTELLECTUAL IMPROVEMENT TOOUR MORAL IMPROVEMENT. VIRTUE THE BEST SOURCE OF HAPPINESS. — PROVED BY COMPARI- SON— BY ITS MANNER OF ADAPTING ITSELF TO ALL SITUATIONS BY ITS UNDECAYING EXCELLENCE — CAN- NOT BE EFFECTUALLY PROPAGATED BUT BY A CULTI- VATED MIND. IMPORTANCE OF GENERAL TRUTH TO OUR POLITICAL IMPROVEMENT.
ABSTRACTEDLY confidered, it conduces to the perfedion BOOK iv. CHAP. IV. of our underftandings, our virtue and our political infti- '.^ ' Section I. tUtionS. Its importance as con- ducing In the difcovery and knowledge of truth is comprifed all that toourintdleiTtual iinwhich an impartial and reflefting mind is accuftomed to admire, proveracnt; It is not poffible for us ferioufly to doubt concerning the pre- ference of a capacious and ardent intelligence over the limited perceptions of a brute. All that we can imagine of angels and Gods condfts in fupcrior wifJom. Do you fay in power alfo? It will prefently appear that wifdom is power. The truths of general 232 OFTHECULTIVATION BOOK IV. p-cncral nature, thofe truths which preceded, either fubftantially ' -' ■' or in the nature of things, the particular exiftences that fur- Section I.
round us, and are independent of them all, are inexhauftible. Is it poffible that a knowledge of thefe truths, the truths of ma- thematics, of metaphyfics and morals, the truths which, accord- ing to Plato's conception '*, taught the creator of the world the nature of his materials, the refult of his operations, the confe- quences of all poffible fyftems in all their detail, fhould not exalt and elevate the mind? The truths of particular nature, the hif- tory of man, the chara£l:ers and propenfities of human be- ings, the procefs of our own minds, the capacity of our natures, are fearcely lefs valuable. The reafon they are fo will beft ap- pear if we confider, fecondly, the tendency of truth in con- ducing to the perfedion of our virtue.
to our moral Virtue Cannot exill In an eminent degree, unaccompanied by an extenfive furvey of caufes and their confequences, fo that, having ftruck an accurate balance between the mixed benefits and injuries that for the prefent adhere to all human affairs, we may adopt that condud which leads to the greateft poffible ad- vantage. If there be fuch a thing as virtue, it mull admit of degrees. If it admit of degrees, he muft be moft virtuous, who choofes with the foundeft judgment the greateft poffible good of his fpecies. But, in order to choofe the greateft poffible good, * See the jParmenides.
he muft be deeply acquainted with the nature of man, its gene- 529 p t v' ral features and its varieties. In order to execute it, he muft *; -^ — -^ Section I.
have confidered all the inftruments for imprefllng mind, and the different modes of applying them, and muft know exadlly the proper moment for bringing them into adlion. In what- ever light we confider virtue, whether we place it in the adion or the difpofition, its degree muft be intimately connected with the degree of knowledge. No man can love virtue fufficicntly, who has not an acute and lively perception of its beauty, and its tendency to produce the only folid and permanent happinefs. What comparifon can be made between the virtue of Socrates and that of a Hottentot or a Siberian? A humorous example how univerfally this truth has been perceived might be drawn from Tertullian, who, as a father of the church, was obliged to maintain the hollownefs and infignificance of pagan virtues, and accordingly afllires us, " that the moft ignorant peafant under the Chriftian difpenfation poflefled more real knowledge than the wifeft of the ancient philofophers *."
We ftiall be ftill more fully aware of the connedion between viitu? the virtue and knowledge, if we confider that the higheft employ- ofhapphiefs: ment of virtue is to propagate itfelf. Virtue alone is happinefs. proved by compaiifuii: The happinefs of a brute that fpends the greater part of his life in liftleflhefs and fleep, is but one remove from the happinefs of a plant that is full of fap, vigour and nutriticn. The happinefs * Apologia, Cap. xlvi. See this fubjedl farther purfued in Appendix, No. I.
Skction I.
234 OF THE CULTIVATION of a man who purfues licentious pleafure is momentaiy, and his inten^als of wearinef^ and difguft perpetual. He fpeedily wears himfelf out in his fpecious career; and, every time that he em- ploys the means of delight which his corporeal exiftence affords him, takes fo much from his capacity of enjoyment. If he be wdfe enough like Epicurus to perceive a part of thefe difad- vantages, and to find in frelh herbs and the water of the Ipring the trueft gratification of his appetite, he will be obliged to feek fome addition to his flock of enjoyment, and like Epicurus to become benevolent out of pure fenfuality. But the virtuous man has a perpetual fource of enjoyment. The only reafon on account of which the truth of this affertion was ever contro- verted, is, that men have not underftood what it was that con- ftituted virtue.
by Its manner It is impoffiblc that any fituation can occur In which virtue of adapting itfdftoall cannot find room to expatiate. In fociety there is continual Situations: opportunity for its adive employment. I cannot have inter- courfe with any human being who may not be the better for that intercourfe. If he be already juft and virtuous, thefe qua- lities are improved by communication. It is from a fimilar principle that it has been obferved that great geniufes have ufually exifted in a clufter, and have been awakened by the fire Ilruck into them by their neighbours. If he be imperfed; and erroneous, there mufl be always fome prejudice I may contri- bute to deftroy, fome motive to delineate, fome error to remove. 7 If If I be prejudiced and imperfe£t myfelf, it cannot however happen BOCK iv.
that my prejudices and imperfedlions fhall be exactly coincident ^■; — ^ — 7^ with his. I may therefore inform him of the truths that I know, and even by the coUifion of prejudices truth is elicited. It is impoffible that 1 fhould flrenuoufly apply myfelf to his mind with fincere motives of benevolence without fome good being.•:--.
the refult. Nor am I more at a lofs in folitude. In folitude I may accumulate the materials of focial benefit. No fituation can be fo defperate as to preclude thefe efforts. Voltaire, when fliut up in the Baftille, and for ought he knew for life, deprived of books, of pens and of paper, arranged and in part executed the projedt of his Henriade *. vv..
Another advantage of virtue in this perfonal view, is that, by its undecaying excclwhile fenfual pleafure exhaufts the frame, and paffions often ex- icnce: cited become frigid and callous, virtue has exadtly the oppofite propenfities. Paffions, in the ufual acceptation of that term, having no abfolute foundation in the nature of things, delight only by their novelty. But the more we are acquainted with virtue, the more eflimable will it appear; and its field is as end- lefs as the progrefs of mind. If an enlightened love of it be once excited in the mind, it is impoffible that it fhould not con- tinually increafe. By its variety, by its activity it perpetually * Fie de Voltaire, par M*** (faid to be the marquis de Villette). A Geneve, 1"]%^. Chap. iv. This is probably the beft hiflory of this great man which has yet appeared.. * ■ H h 2 renovates 236 OF THE CULTIVATION renovates itfelf, and rend( ever new and ever young.
BOOK IV. renovates itfelf, and renders the intelled in which it refides CKAP. IV. ' SliCTlON I.
cannot be ef- All thefe reafonings are calculated to perfuade us that the moft fcClually propagatedbut precious boon we can beftow upon others is virtue, that the by a culti- ^ vatedmind. higheft employment of virtue is to propagate itfelf. But, as virtue is infeparably connected with knowledge in my own mind, fo can it only by knowledge be communicated to others^ How can the virtue we have jufl been contemplating be created, but by infufmg comprehenfive views and communicating ener- getic truths? Now that man alone is qualified to give thefe views, and communicate thefe truths, who is himfelf pervaded with them» Let us fuppole for a moment virtuous difpofitions as exifting without knowledge or outrunning knowledge, the laft of which is certainly poflible, and we ihall prefently find how little fuch virtue is worthy to be propagated. The moft generous views will in fuch cafes frequently lead to the moft nefarious aftions. A Calvin will burn Servetus, and a Digby generate the gun- powder treafon. But, to leave thefe extreme inftances, in all cafes where miftaken virtue leads to cruel and tyrannical adlions^ the mind will be foured and made putrefcent by the adlions it perpetrates. Truth, immortal and ever prefent truth, is fo powerful, that, in fpite of all his inveterate prejudices, the upright man will fufped himfelf^ wheu he refolves upon an a£tion that is at war witli the plaineft principles of morality. ^^^5- ^X: He will become melancholy, clifTatisfied and anxious. His firm- ^ ^ — — ^ ^ ' Section I.
nefs will degenerate into obftinacy, and his juftice Into inexora- ble feverity. The farther he purfues his fyflem, the more erro- neous will he become. The farther he purfues it, the lefs will he be fatisfied with it. As truth is an endlefs fource of tranquil- lity and delight, error will be a prolific fountain of new raiftakes and new difcontent.