herefore that we should have so much faith in authority
as shall make us repeatedly observe and attend to that which is said to
be right, even though at present we may not feel it so. And in the right
mingling of this faith with the openness of heart, which proves all
things, lies the great difficulty of the cultivation of the taste, as
far as the spirit of the scholar is concerned, though even when he has
this spirit, he may be long retarded by having evil examples submitted
to him by ignorant masters.

The temper, therefore, by which right taste is formed, is first,
patient. It dwells upon what is submitted to it, it does not trample
upon it lest it should be pearls, even though it look like husks, it is
a good ground, soft, penetrable, retentive, it does not send up thorns
of unkind thoughts, to choke the weak seed, it is hungry and thirsty
too, and drinks all the dew that falls on it, it is an honest and good
heart, that shows no too ready springing before the sun be up, but fails
not afterwards; it is distrustful of itself, so as to be ready to
believe and to try all things, and yet so trustful of itself, that it
will neither quit what it has tried, nor take anything without trying.
And that pleasure which it has in things that it finds true and good, is
so great that it cannot possibly be led aside by any tricks of fashion,
nor diseases of vanity, it cannot be cramped in its conclusions by
partialities and hypocrisies, its visions and its delights are too
penetrating, too living, for any whitewashed object or shallow fountain
long to endure or supply. It clasps all that it loves so hard, that it
crushes it if it be hollow.

Sec. 11. The large scope of matured judgment.

Now, the conclusions of this disposition are sure to be eventually
right, more and more right according to the general maturity of all the
powers, but it is sure to come right at last, because its operation is
in analogy to, and in harmony with, the whole spirit of the Christian
moral system, and that which it will ultimately love and rest in, are
great sources of happiness common to all the human race, and based on
the relations they hold to their Creator.

These common and general sources of pleasure are, I believe, a certain
seal, or impress of divine work and character, upon whatever God has
wrought in all the world; only, it being necessary for the perception of
them, that their contraries should also be set before us, these divine
quali