We do not then seem to be sufficiently warranted in the opinion that truth, i. e. all truth, will prevail.
“Men are more willing to embrace error than truth.” No one will admit this imputation in his own case; but by an easy generalization, each one applies it to all other men.
It may be doubted whether a love of truth or of error, for their own sake, is a primary principle of our moral nature. A love of one’s own happiness, or interest, or reputation, in a word, of one’s self, is primary. Truth and error are regarded with complaisance or aversion, accordingly as they oppose or favor the interests of men. If there were but one being in the universe, it would be of little moment whether he passed his existence in truth or falsehood. In society, he, whose basis is falsehood, is derided by his fellows, and his interests are endangered. As truth, on the whole, is most conducive to the interests of men, it is most generally sought after. Few are willing to oppose a fashionable error. There are portions of every man’s whole life, which he passes in error, without being in the least concerned. Many minds are so preoccupied, that they cannot examine the evidence requisite for the admission of a new truth. More are so prejudiced that they will not. With many men a fear of results is stronger than love of truth, and they are induced by a prospect of consequences, to abandon the pursuit. An entire devotion to truth itself, to truth for its own sake, is a rare sight, and one of high moral sublimity.
A FATHER TO HIS CHILD.[1]
I cannot say, I cannot say, my beautiful and wild,
I’ve ever seen so fair a one as thou my pretty child—
A form so full of elegance, a cheek where roses blow,
And a forehead where the glossy curls seem braided over snow—
A lip whence sounds of music gush, that might with ease unsphere
Some spirit from its airy halls and witch that spirit here.