is exemplified in that listless and indifferent habit of the mind in which there is no exercise of correct thinking, or of a close and continued application of the attention to subjects of real importance. The mind is engrossed by frivolities and trifles, or bewildered by the wild play of the ima gination; and, in regard to opinions on the most important subjects, it either feels a total indifference, or receives them from others without the exertion of thinking or examining for itself. The individuals who are thus affected either become the dupes of sophistical opinions imposed upon them by other men, or spend their lives in frivolous and unworthy pursuits, with a total incapacity for all important inquiries. A slight degree removed from this condition of mind is another, in which opinions are formed on slight and partial examination, perhaps from viewing one side of a question, or, at least, without a full and candid direction of the attention to all the facts which ought to be taken into the inquiry. Both these conditions of mind may perhaps, originate partly in constitutional peculiarities or erroneous education; but they are fixed and increased by habit and indulgence, until, after a certain time, they probably become irremediable. They can be corrected only by a diligent cultivation of the important habit which, in common language, we call sound and correct thinking; and which is of equal value, whether it be applied to the formation of opinions, or to the regulation of conduct.

II. The judgment is vitiated by want of due regulation; and this may be ascribed chiefly to two sources, prejudice and passion. Prejudice consists in the formation of opinions before the subject has been really examined. By means of this, the attention is misdirected, and the judgment biassed, in a manner of which the individual is often in a great measure unconscious. The highest degree of it is exemplified in that condition of the mind in which a man first forms an opinion which interest or inclination may have suggested; then proceeds to collect arguments in support of it; and concludes by reasoning himself into the belief of what he wishes to be true. It is thus that the judg

Its particular effects? Conditions of mind formed by it? Remedy. Want of regu. lation. Sources? Prejudice-what?

ment is apt to be misled, in a greater or less degree, by party spirit and personal attachments or antipathies; and it is clear that all such influence is directly opposed to its sound and healthy exercise. The same observations apply to passion, or the influence exerted by the moral feelings. The most striking example of this is presented by that depraved condition of the mind, which distorts the judgment in regard to the great principles of moral rectitude. "A man's understanding," says Mr. Locke, "seldom fails him in this part, unless his will would have it so; if he takes a wrong course, it is most commonly because he goes wilfully out of the way, or at least chooses to be bewildered; and there are few, if any, who dreadfully mistake, that are willing to be right."

These facts are worthy of much consideration, and they appear to be equally interesting to all classes of men, what ever may be the degree of their mental cultivation, and whatever the subjects are to which their attention is more particularly directed. There is one class of truths to which they apply with peculiar force,-namely, those which relate to the moral government of God, and the condition of man as a responsible being. These great truths and the evidence on which they are founded, are addressed to our judgment as rational beings; they are pressed upon our attention as creatures destined for another state of existence; and the sacred duty from which no individual can be absolved, is a voluntary exercise of his thinking and reasoning powers,it is solemnly, seriously, and deliberately to consider. On these subjects a man may frame any system for himself, and may rest in that system as truth; but the solemn inquiry is, not what opinions he has formed, but in what manner he has formed them. Has he approached the great inquiry with a sincere desire to discover the truth; and has he brought to it a mind neither misled by prejudice, nor distorted by the condition of its moral feelings;-has he directed his attention to all the facts and evidences with an intensity suited to their momentous importance; and has he conducted the whole investigation with a deep and serious feeling that it carries with it an interest which reaches into

Passion? Locke's remark. Important application of these principles. The real question in regard to our opinions?

eternity? Truth is immutable and eternal, but it may elude the frivolous or prejudiced inquirer: and, even when he thinks his conclusions are the result of much examination, he may be resting his highest concerns in delusion and falsehood.

The human mind, indeed, even in its highest state of culture, has been found inadequate to the attainment of the true knowledge of the Deity; but light from heaven has shone upon the scene of doubt and of darkness, which will conduct the humble inquirer through every difficulty, until he arrive at the full perception and commanding influence of the truth;-of truth such as human intellect never could have reached, and which, to every one who receives it, brings its own evidence that it comes from God.

Finally, the sound exercise of judgment has a remarkable influence in producing and maintaining that tranquillity of mind which results from a due application of its powers, and a correct estimate of the relations of things. The want of this exercise leads a man to be unduly engrossed with the frivolities of life, unreasonably elated by its joys, and unreasonably depressed by its sorrows. A sound and well regulated judgment tends to preserve from all such disproportioned pursuits and emotions. It does so, by leading us to view all present things in their true relations, to estimate aright their relative value, and to fix the degree of attention of which they are worthy ;-it does so, in a more especial manner, by leading us to compare the present life, which is so rapidly passing over us, with the paramount importance and overwhelming interest of the life which is

to come.

The truth within the reach of every mind. Effect of sound judgment in producing mental tranquillity. How does it produce this effect?

OF THE USE OF REASON IN CORRECTING THE IMPRESSIONS OF
THE MIND IN REGARD TO EXTERNAL THINGS.

THIS Subject leads to an investigation of great and extensive interest, of which I cannot hope to give more than a slight and imperfect outline. My anxiety is, that what is attempted may be confined to authentic facts, and the most cautious conclusions; and that it may be of some use in leading to farther inquiry.

We have seen the power which the mind possesses of recalling the vivid impressions of scenes or events long gone by, in that mental process which we call conception. We have seen also its power of taking the elements of actual scenes, and forming them into new combinations, so as to represent to itself scenes and events which have no real existence. We have likewise observed the remarkable manner in which persons, events, or scenes, long past, perhaps forgotten, are recalled into the mind by means of association ;—trains of thought taking possession of the mind in a manner which we often cannot account for, and bringing back facts or occurrences which had long ceased to be objects of attention. These remarkable processes are most apt to take place when the mind is in that passive state which we call a revery; and they are more rarely observed when the attention is actively exerted upon any distinct and continued subject of thought.

During the presence in the mind of such a representation, whether recalled by conception or association, or fabricated by imagination, there is probably, for the time, a kind of belief of its real and present existence. But, on the least return of the attention to the affairs of life, the vision is instantly dissipated; and this is done by reason comparing the vision with the actual state of things in the external world. The poet or the novelist, it is probable, feels him

Caution in regard to the ensuing discussion? Conception? Imagination? Association? In what state of mind are these processes most frequently performed? Belief of the reality of these representations. How dispelled?

self, for the time, actually imbodied in the person of his hero, and in that character judges, talks, and acts in the scene which he is depicting. This we call imagination; but were the vision not to be dissipated on his return to the ordinary relations of life, were he then to act in a single instance in the character of the being of his imagination,-this would constitute insanity.

The condition of mind here referred to does actually take place; namely, a state in which the visions or impressions of the mind itself are believed to have a real and present existence in the external world, and in which reason fails to correct this belief by the actual relations of external things. There are two conditions in which this occurs in a striking manner; namely, insanity and dreaming. Considered as mental phenomena, they have a remarkable affinity to each other. The great difference between them is, that in insanity the erroneous impression being permanent, affects the conduct; whereas, in dreaming, no influence on the conduct is produced, because the vision is dissipated upon awaking. The difference, again, between the mind under the influence of imagination, and in the state now under consideration, is, that in the former the vision is built up by a voluntary effort, and is varied or dismissed at pleasure; while in dreaming and insanity this power is suspended, and the mind is left entirely under the influence of the chain of thoughts which happens to be present, without being able either to vary or dismiss it. The particular chain or series seems, in general, perhaps always, to depend upon associations previously formed; the various elements of which bring-up one another in a variety of singular combinations, and in a manner which we often cannot trace, or in any degree account for. The facts connected with this branch of the subject form one of the most interesting parts of this investigation.

There are some other affections which come under the same class; but insanity and dreaming are the two extreme examples. In dreaming, the bodily senses are in a great measure shut up from external impressions; and the influ ence of the will upon bodily motions is also suspended, so

Example. The vision sometimes not dissipated. Two cases? State of the mind in these cases? State of the bodily senses in dreaming?