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Show 46 KNOWLEDGE OF REALITIES. New-Holland; and which, to external appearance, has the bill of a duck, the body of an otter, the feet of a turtle or water tortoise, and the spurs of a cock. ~hat creature actually seems to combine the properties of quadruped, bird, and reptile ; and, therefore, to one who did not see farther than the surface, the knowledge of its existence would tend to confirm the man's belief in your story of the winged antelopes. But suppose, again, that a third party, whom the credulous man had known less intimately than he had known yon, or 'who had "hoaxed" him on a former occasion, were to ridicule the notion of the four legs and the feathered wjngs; and even to say that these two sets of extremities were quite incompatible with each other, that would still confirm rather than shake the man's belief. Thus it is dangerous for hoaxers to tell ignorant people the truth, or to tell the truth hoaxingly; for in both cases error is fortified against it. If however any one were to instruct the credulous man in the anatomy of quadrupeds and birds, or if he were to learn it from actual observation of the parts, or from representations which, in his belief carried the same weight as observation, so as t~ rnable him to see that legs and wings so jumbled together could not act ; and if he were further convinced that no animals, in their natural and perfect state, had either legs or wings that they could not use; the? he would not only disbelieve your story of_the winged antelopes, but his faith in all that you s;ud would be shaken. . ';y ~ can, th~refore, _have no ?ertain knowledge of Ie~htws, that IS, of bemgs or thmgs, but what we obtan~ from actual observation, or from that which we believe t? be _tr~e, and capable of abiding the test of observatw~, If It were brought to it; and in both c~ses our Judgments are either mere prejudices or "mdgments without or against evidence," or dtey ) DECISION AND INDECISION. are ?Pen to be changed by new observation or new testimony. View the matter as we may, therefore we find that, if we be not diligent in observino- w~ never can avoid error. o' There yet remains one other use of a habit of close and co~1stant obse~vation, which is, perhaps, more conducive to the dignity of our character, and our success in the world, than any of those more general ones that have been hinted at; and that is, the readiness and rapidity with which we can, not only judrre, but judge rightly. That is what is called "decision of character:" and when genuine, and exercised within the proper bounds, it is probably the most valuable temperament of mind that man can possess. It stands opposed to " indecision," in which a man cannot weigh the evidence; and "fastidiousness," in which the time and attention are wasted upon trifles which form no important part of the evidence at all. The first of these is a vice arising from want of thought to accompany observation, and make it ready for use; and as such it may be considered as a characteristic of the "shallow-minded," as we call them. The second is the vice of those who think { more than they observe ; and it is a characteristic of the "little-minded," among the learned. But there are also counterfeits of decision of character; and they are vices of rude and vulgar minds. There is "headlongness," which rushes forward to decide and act, with little or no attention to the evidence ; and " stubbornness," which will not reverse the judgment, although the new evidence be conclusive against it . A genuine decided character,-one which will 1 enable a man to carry all his plans into effect with success, and to ride lmo yant upon every wave of the ) sea of_ tro_uble, ~s perhaps not to be attained, at least \ early m hfe, without a certain degree of stubbornl ness ; and as that stubbornness produces a sort of contempt for advice and new information, even in |
