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Untitled Article
the intuitive and the discursive . By the former we perceive $ n < i accept the obvious , but the agency of the latter oeeomes necessary when there is a shadow for a doubt to lurk in . The fault is that too much is considered as obvious—too much
taken for granted on the authority of antiquity , custom , or high names . Some dullards may be willing to be thought for , upon every subject , and fall languidly into a quietism which is a stigma on their own intellect , whilst others may be the
fanatical champions of the idols of their own prepossessions and affections ; but no man of sound understanding and active mind will rest contented under the notion of being prejudiced — of being the mere vessel passively retaining whatever has been introduced . He will inquire , he will meditate , he will discuss , he will infer —he will decide for himself . Who can
contemplate his material organization—itself a world of marvels — feel that system pervaded by an essence still more wondrous , an essence he believes immortal , and not pant to bring its varied and glorious powers into their noblest action ? Who can feel within himself the
lightning rapidity of Thought , the mysterious agency of Will , the subtle magnetism of Sympathy , the electric play of Passion —the whole Soul bounding as if in disdain of its " dull prison-house of clay , —and yet be content to plod
sluggishly on , guided by just so much of intelligence as is sufficient to impel the animal , — the slave either of stubborn prejudice or of tame and sickly acquiescence ? Who can view the mighty achievements of human intellect , and not cultivate his own ? That more men do not nourish a noble emulation
to free their minds from " the shackles which in their youth had been imposed upon them , " and feel an intellectual confidence , is to be attributed to educational dogmatism , to indolence of mind , and proneness to imitation . Let that dogmatism be pared away , and reflection and reason substituted . If b y this improvement in the spirit of education we cannot make a nation of philosophers , we can at least incalculably increase the number of thinkers .
It is not for us to enter here upon the vast and interesting subject of the perfectibility of man , whether it be a hypothesis grounded upon sober reason , or but a glorious vision of philosophy . Be that as it may ; or be it , as some have imagined ,
that there have been things greater than things that are—that a more subtle Chymistry , a higher and more refined Ontology , a more perfect Beauty , a race of beings gifted with a diviner Intelligence , have been swept away from the earth—that the Present is a poor and feeble resemblance of the great
arche-• " Let us look back that we may profit hy tlio experience of mankind , but let ua not look back as if the wiadom of our ancestors wa «* such as to leave no raom for future improvement . "—Gvdivin- ~ -PolitioaI Justice .
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3 j € CurtoryRemarks on Prejudice *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1836, page 376, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2658/page/48/
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