Page:The Works of Samuel Johnson ... A journey to the Hebrides. The vision of Theodore, the hermit of Teneriffe. The fountains. Prayers and meditations. Sermons.v. 10-11. Parliamentary debates.pdf/386

 confidence in private judgment; a dislike of all established forms, merely because they are established, and of old paths, because they are old.

Into this temper have men been insensibly led by a warm assertion of the right of judging for themselves, a right not to be called in question, since God himself gave us a claim to it, in making us reasonable beings; and the apostle doubtless admits it, when he directs us to give the reason of our faith to any that shall demand it.

But this privilege, ill understood, has been, and always may be, the occasion of very dangerous and pernicious mistakes; it may be exercised without knowledge or discretion, till errour be entangled with errour, till divisions be multiplied by endless subdivisions, till the bond of peace be entirely broken, and the church become a scene of confusion, a chaos of discordant forms of worship, and inconsistent systems of faith.

There are some men, we now find, to whom separation and disagreement appear not such formidable evils as they are generally represented; who can look with the utmost calmness and unconcern at a rising schism, and survey, without any perturbation, the speedy progress of an increasing heresy. Let every man, say they, enjoy his opinions, since he only is answerable for them.

There are men, who, for the most part, value themselves, and are sometimes valued by others, for their enlarged views and generous sentiments; who pretend to look with uncommon penetration into the causes of human actions, and the secret motions of the mind; but, perhaps, this opinion is no proof that their pretensions are well grounded, or that they are better acquainted with human nature than those whom they affect to ridicule and insult.

If it be granted that it is the duty of every man to publish, profess, and defend any important truth, and the truths of religion be allowed important, it will follow, that diversity of sentiments must naturally produce controversies and altercations. And how few there are capable of managing debates without unbecoming heat, or dishonest