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    of accomplishments , perhaps even to the formation of amiable and benevolent dispositions , neglect that which ought to be the priitfary object , and which , if made

    so , would interfere with no worthy pursuit , but , on the contrary , would encourage every pursuit ihat would promote their welfare , and foster every other right affec * lion ? L . C .

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    On Prejudice ; from Pkitosophijsdl Essays , hy Dvgald Stewart , Esq . ** I have only to repeat once Iftore , before the close of this

    dissertation , that the correction of one single Prejudice has often beea attended with consequences more important and extensive than could be produced by any positive accession to the stock of our sci

    entific information . Such is the Condition bf man , that a great part of a philosopher ' s life must fiecefcsarily be spent , not in enlarging the circle of bis knowledge , but iti unlearning the errors c > f the crowd , and the pretended wisdom of the schodls ;

    mnd that the most substantial benefit he can bestow on his fellowcreatures , as well as the noblest species of Power to which he can Aspire , is to impart to others the lights he has struck out by his

    meditations , and to encourage human reason , by his example , to assert its liberty . To what did the discoveries made by Luther amount , but to a detection of the

    impostures of the Romish church , and of absurdities sanctioned by the authority of Aristotle ? Yet , how vast th& space which is filled by his name in the subsequent history of Europe ! Attd how proud

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    his rank among the benefactors <* ff mankind ! I am doubtful if Bacon himself did so much by the logical rules he gave for guiding the in . quiries of his followers , as by the resolution with which he inspired

    them to abandon the beaten path of their predecessors , and tomaig excursions into regions untrodden before ; or if any of his sugges * tions concerning the plan of ex . perinfienting , can be compared in value to his classification and iU

    lustration of the various prejudice * or idols , which mislead us from the pure worship of Truth . If tht ambition of Aristotle has been compared , in the vastness of its

    aim , and the plenitude of its sue * cess , ( and who can say that it has been compared unjustly ?) to thai of his Royal Pupil who conquered the world ; why undervalue tht efforts of those who first raised

    the standard of revolt against his universal and undisputed despo * tism ? Speedily after the death of Alexander ^ the Macedonian em * pire was dismembered among his principal officers * The empire , founded by the philosopher , con * tinued one and undivided for the

    period of two thousand years ; and , even at this day , fallen as it i * from its former grandeur , a few faithful and devoted veterans , shut up in its remaining fortresses , frtiU bid pfoud defiance , in their

    master ' s name , to all the arrayed strength of Human Reason , fa consequence of this slow and gradual emancipation of fhe Mind , the means by which the

    finaFiesult has been accomplished , attract the notice only of the reflecting inquirer ; resembling in thii * silent , but irresistible operation * the latent ' and imperceptible in * fluence of the roots * which , hf

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    14 & Dugald Stjeyar t oh Prejudge .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1811, page 148, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2414/page/20/