DIFFICULTIES IN SEARCHING FOR TRUTH. 657 



latter's own reason and judgment. Too many are, by these intellectual mastiffs, 

 completely frightened out of all future claim of right to their own opinion, on 

 the very erroneous supposition that what is so positively asserted must be true. 

 On the contrary, the more carefully and honestly one has examined all phases of 

 a much-disputed question, the more of truth does he see on both sides, and the 

 more hesitancy he feels in positively pronouncing his convictions : whereas, he 

 who has seen only one side is thoroughly convinced (like the negro judge, who 

 could decide best before the arguments for the defense had confused him) that 

 the case is so clear already that further argument is superfluous. So true is 

 this that, perhaps, no better rule can be given for estimating the value of an 

 author's statements on mooted topics than this: the weight of his opinion is in 

 inverse 'ratio to the positiveness with which he asserts it. 



The field in which a single individual can be an absolutely original investi- 

 gator, is a very narrow one. No one can examine all the facts bearing upon any 

 important subject of discussion. AH are, therefore, compelled to take on trust, 

 to a greater or less extent, the observations and often the interpretations of others. 

 With the severest scrutiny and most scrupulous care, this is often hazardous and 

 misleading. No two persons see exactly alike, even when both have sight and 

 judgment in normal condition. Each observer sees a different rainbow, and 

 even the two eyes of the same observer, as in a stereoscopic view, see different 

 phases of the same object. Such physical defects as near-sightedness or color- 

 blindness of which often the individual himself is not aware, may materially 

 modify the appearance of things he has carefully examined. Moreover, one's 

 powers of discrimination are liable, often unconsciously, to be warped by per- 

 sonal interest or by prevailing opinions and habits of thought, and, through 

 ignorance of this fact, far too high an estimate may be placed upon the results 

 attained by him. Again, with perfectly normal vision, and totally free from 

 miental bias in any direction, one may fall far short of the soundest conclusions 

 through lack of training in observation, comparison, and judgment. The conclu- 

 sions of a novice should not be graded with those of a trained investigator. He 

 may be possessed of equal powers by nature, but has not learned to use them 

 with equal discrimination and effect. Nor does it follow, because one is an adept 

 in a single line of effort, that he is equally trustworthy in every or in any other. 

 The old truth, taught by yEsop, that nature does not confer every good upon 

 one, is too often forgotten. An authority in theology, for instance, is not neces- 

 sarily an expert in science or philosophy. That he is necessarily not an expert 

 in these would, doubtless, from the nature of the case, be equally true. So, high 

 official position, or even eminent success in certain directions, often carries with 

 it, in the judgment of the masses, an authority far above its real value. Ad- 

 vancement in position or circumstances may be due to brass, selfishness, favor- 

 itism, or accident, and not to real worth. 



These considerations and many others are too often overlooked or ignored 

 in reaching conclusions. To weigh correctly the stated results of every investi- 

 gator, it is necessary to have his personal equation, or error, as carefully deter^ 



