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power of sin and error . We shall more easily live than write down prejudice , and the boundaries of our Zion will best , can only , be extended by our assuming , en masse , an attitude of active and energetic beneficence . We have spoken of imperfections—let it nctt be supposed that we see no excellence in the spirit of Unitarianism . The first , it is the business of the Watchman to exhibit , lest the safety of his charge should be endangered ; the second , every one will know for himself . Something of what has been said may , we know , be perverted by the hostile and designing ; still truth must be spoken . Movy Ovreov . -nj cxXyjOei ^ is our motto . We have no party interests to serve , and if we had , the exhibition of defects , with a view to their removal , would do more good than the silence and indifference of misjud ging partisans .
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III . We have stated that , in the most philosophical minds , ideas are classed in the order of Cause and Effect . In this manner alone can the true relations of things be ascertained : by this method alone can our experience be made useful to us , or our present circumstances become conducive to dur future good . Though we have no knowledge of the nature of the connexion between causes and effects , and can only reason from the fact that certain
antecedents have invariable consequents , it is plain that without a distinct apprehension of this truth , there can be no real knowledge . This distinct apprehension , in the mind of the most ignorant of mankind , will produce rational conduct , in so far as its influence extends : while its obscurity may subject the profound philosopher to error at which he will hereafter stand astonished . The child who , having been stung , fears a wasp , is inspired by a more rational terror than the many wise men who in former days
dreaded that the downfal of a kingdom would be the consequence of an eclipse of the sun . In the present infancy of our faculties and of our knowledge , we are subject to error in every speculation , and to hindrance in every pursuit , by our imperfect perception of the important relation of which we speak : but by steadily adhering to established truth , and by enlightened efforts to extend the inquiry , we may obtain substantial knowledge and enlarge out capacity for an increasing store . dreaded that the downfal of a kingdom would be the consequence of an eclipse of the sun . In the present infancy of our faculties and of our knowledge , we are subject to error in every speculation , and to hindrance in every pursuit , by our imperfect perception of the important relation of which we speak : but by steadily adhering to established truth , and by enlightened efforts to extend the inquiry , we may obtain substantial knowledge and enlarge out capacity for an increasing store .
A chemist wishes to ascertain the cause of a particular phenomenon . If he be unenli ghtened , he will mix his materials together at random , and thus fail entirely , or succeed only by a fortunate accident . If he be rendered somewhat wiser by an exercise of observation , he will discover that the appearance arose after the combination of a certain set of ingredients : he will combine these substances anew , and place them in the same circumstances as when he first observed them ; and will thus obtain the desired result . If he be wise , however , he is not yet satisfied ; but continues his experiments till he has discovered whether all , and which , of the ingredients he uses are necessary to the production of the phenomenon under observation . He takes away first one and then another substance , and simplifies the process by degrees , till he can affirm , with certainty , that such and such a cause will produce such and such an effect : and this' fact
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Essays on the Art of Thinking . 707
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3 c 2
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ESSAYS ON THE ART OF THINKING .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1829, page 707, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2577/page/35/
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