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first dictate of its nature, is to believe everything, to receive 
and to assimilate all that it hears and reads. If it be replied 
that it has sufficient evidence upon which to rest this habit in 
its experience of its father’s and mother’s trustworthiness, 
I would ask what parents would not be distressed to suppose 
that a child’s confidence was based upon a mere calculating 
estimate of this kind ? The essence of the filial relation is 
a moral confidence antecedent to experience, and capable, in 
fact, of sustaining severe apparent contradictions to that 
experience. 
5. The case, however, of trust between adults is perhaps a 
still stronger instance of this principle. Life would be imprac- 
ticable unless it were the primary rule to believe what is told 
us. There is not a single relation in adult life in which we 
are not compelled to depend upon the word of another — of a 
husband, a wife, a friend, an agent. We believe certain things 
respecting them — in their honour, their chastity, their affec- 
tion, their faithfulness. To what kind of condition would life 
be reduced if we were to apply to these matters “ the univer- 
sal duty of questioning all that we believe ” ? In some, at all 
events, of these relations, it may be observed, it is in the 
nature of the case impossible that we should have “ sufficient 
evidence ” for our belief. It is an unquestionable fact that 
many a man who has been trusted, and who has for years 
borne an unexceptionable character, has proved faithless ; and 
it is quite impossible I can be sure upon grounds of evidence 
respecting any particular man that he is incapable of this 
baseness. But the first condition of a genuine and honour- 
able friendship is to believe this, to refuse to entertain a doubt 
of it, and, if need be, to uphold a friend’s honour until he 
is absolutely proved dishonourable. With respect to trust 
exercised in commercial relations, it might perhaps be said 
that it is a mere application of the principle of probabilities. 
As a matter of experience, if customers are trusted, the ma- 
jority of them will fulfil their engagements. It may be doubted 
whether tradesmen really do act in practice on this mere cal- 
culation of probabilities; but at all events the principle does 
not apply to the other relations of life just referred to. It 
would be an insult to a friend to say that you trusted and 
loved him because you thought it more probable he was true 
than that ho was false. He expects from you, as the primary 
condition of true friendship, that you believe firmly concerning 
him that of which you cannot possibly have certain evidence. 
G. This habit of mutual faith is, in fact, the necessary corre- 
lative of the primary duty of men. That duty is the observa- 
