* The English are, I conceive, misrepresented in a letter
published in one of the papers, by a gentleman thought to be a
dissenting minister.- When writing to Dr. Price of the spirit which
prevails at Paris, he says: "The spirit of the people in this place
has abolished all the proud distinctions which the king and nobles had
usurped in their minds; whether they talk of the king, the noble, or
the priest, their whole language is that of the most enlightened and
liberal amongst the English". If this gentleman means to confine the
terms "enlightened" and "liberal" to one set of men in England, it may
be true. It is not generally so.
YOU see, Sir, that in this enlightened age I am bold enough to
confess that we are generally men of untaught feelings, that,
instead of casting away all our old prejudices, we cherish them to a
very considerable degree, and, to take more shame to ourselves, we
cherish them because they are prejudices; and the longer they have
lasted and the more generally they have prevailed, the more we cherish
them. We are afraid to put men to live and trade each on his own
private stock of reason, because we suspect that this stock in each
man is small, and that the individuals would do better to avail
themselves of the general bank and capital of nations and of ages.
Many of our men of speculation, instead of exploding general
prejudices, employ their sagacity to discover the latent wisdom
which prevails in them.
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