uthority on which it is asserted is of a nature on which we
can fully rely, and that the statement contains all the facts to which
our attention ought to be directed. It consequently guards us against
those limited views, by which party spirit or a love of favourite dogmas
leads a man to receive the facts which favour a particular opinion, and
neglect those which are opposed to it. The sound exercise of judgment,
which is connected with this love of truth, differs therefore from the
art of ingenious disputation, and is often found directly at variance
with it. The same principle is applicable to the truths which are
derived as deductions from processes of reasoning. It is thus opposed
to all sophistical arguments, and partial or distorted reasonings, by
which disputants strive to establish particular systems, instead of
engaging in an honest and simple inquiry after truth. The love of truth,
therefore, is of equal importance in the reception of facts, and in the
formation of opinions; and it includes also a readiness to relinquish
our own opinions, when new facts or arguments are presented to us which
are calculated to overturn them. The practice of this sincere and candid
search after truth, on every subject to which the mind may be directed,
ought to be cultivated in early life with the most assiduous care. It is
a habit of the mind which must exercise a most important influence in
the culture both of moral and intellectual character.

In the reception of truth, especially on the evidence of testimony, we
acquire by experience a degree of caution, arising from having been
sometimes deceived. In minds of a certain description, this may be
allowed to produce a suspicion with regard to all evidence,--in other
words, _Scepticism_. The want of the necessary and proper caution,
again, leads to _Credulity_. It is the part of a well-regulated mind to
avoid both these extremes, by attentively weighing the evidence and the
character of the witnesses, and giving to each circumstance its due
influence in the conclusion.

(2.) Closely connected with the love of truth in receiving, is the
exercise of veracity in the statement of facts, whether derived from our
personal observation or received by testimony from others. It consists
not only in the most scrupulous accuracy of relation, but also in giving
it in such a manner as to convey a correct impression to the hearer. It
is consequently opposed to all those methods by which either