Page:Counsels to young men (1).pdf/4

(4) The firſt caution which I ſhall give you is this: Be not eaſily perſuaded to abandon your principles. It is not my intention by this caution to diſcourage you in the free inquiry after truth; principles which will not bear examining, are not worth retaining. It is the indiſpenſable duty, as well as the unalienable right of every rational being, to "prove all things," that he may, in the reſult, "hold faſt that which is good." Review, as accurately as you have opportunity, the grounds of thoſe religious and moral principles in which you have been educated; examine all opinions, diſcuſs all queſtions, as freely as you pleaſe. Perfect freedom is the birth-right of man; and Heaven forbid, that any human authority ſhould infringe or reſtrain it! But in the exerciſe of this right, be modeſt and diſcreet. If the principles, which in the courſe of your education you have embraced, have appeared to you ſupported by ſolid arguments and ſatisfactory evidence, continue to regard them as true, till arguments more ſolid, and evidence more ſatisfactory, on the other ſide, oblige you to relinquiſh them; and before you part with any article of your creed, be very certain that you do not miſtake ridicule or ſophiſtry for ſound reaſoning.

My next caution is; Be not aſhamed of your principles, nor afraid to follow them.