OPINION AND CONVICTION. 81 



in spite of all his mental resistance, to appear and to be 

 just what it is and what he perceives it to be ; and such a 

 perception is a Conviction. It is self-evidenced and 

 independent of our will ; for a Conviction is a perception 

 either of the mind or the senses which is unalterable by 

 the exercise of will or choice. But suppose that two per- 

 sons looking at a tree go into a discussion as to the ago 

 of the tree which is not cut, and the age of which cannot 

 be accurately ascertained till it is cut and the transverse 

 section of the stem with its rings revealed and that, with- 

 out knowing anything of the number of those rings the 

 two persons dispute and argue, one, that the tree is only 

 eighty years old, the other, that it is upwards of a hundred 

 years these are Opinions. The one holds by the one 

 view, and the other holds by the other, on the maxim that 

 every one is entitled to his opinion, and that one man's 

 opinion is as good as another. Yes, but what of the 

 truth involved ? Will the tree become only eighty years 

 old to please the one person, or a hundred years old to 

 please the other ? Are the opinions worth anything as a 

 matter of fact where the absolute truth, and it alone, is 

 requisite ? And when is it not requisite, if anything be 

 requisite about the matter at all ? Can either opinion be 

 relied on and accepted as truth if a question of the slightest 

 importance depended upon it ? They may be called ap- 

 proximations to the truth. But are approximations the 

 truth ? And is anything that is not the truth other than 

 untruth ? In every instance in which the actual truth is 

 required an opinion is worth absolutely nothing. Con- 

 viction is a perception of the truth itself ; Opinion is only 

 a guess at it. No man is entitled to hold it as the truth, 

 or act upon it as such, for it is plain that he can at will 

 change his opinions, but the truth will not change. 



But we are told that men must form opinions and act 

 upon them in the business of life. Perhaps many men 



a 



