Without this, _Reason_ would be given us in vain, _Study_ and
_Converse_ wou'd be useless and unprofitable Things. It would be
much happier for us to have no Advantages for better Instruction, or
no Capacity to improve by them, if we must necessarily be staked down
to those Apprehensions of Things, either in _Religion_ or
_Politicks_, which we have happened to light upon.
That Man only, who is ready to change his Mind upon proper
Conviction, is in the Way to come at the Knowledge of Truth. He who
is neither _ashamed_ of his own Ignorance, nor _unwilling_ to receive
Help from any Quarter towards the better Information of his Mind, or
_afraid_ to discard an old and _favoured_ Opinion, upon better
Evidence; he, I say, will find Truth kindly open before him, and
freely offer it self to him: He will be surprized with the noble
Pleasure of a new Discovery, and his Knowledge will be always
progressive as long as he lives. But a Man _tenacious_ of his _first
Thoughts_ is necessarily concluded in Error, if ever he happens to
mistake: For when People once arrive to an Opinion of Infallibility,
they can never grow wiser than they already are.
It is an Argument indeed of _Levity_ and _Weakness_ of Mind, to
change our Opinion upon every slight Appearance, or to give it up to
the Authority of others: But it argues a _real Greatness_ of Soul, to
have always a regard for Truth, superiour to every other
Consideration, and to feel an undissembled Pleasure upon the
Discovery of it.
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