The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca

26 SERMONS*attempted to bring tiicm In fafliion :but do they whoinfill upon the utility of thefe rules, and know them.beft, reafon always with the greateft accuracy ? Arenot their reafonings commonly as vague, as feeble andincoherent, as thofe of untutored, and undifciplinedpeople ? The rules may be exa6l enough, and if onecan reafon already, they may alTifk him to detect quibbles,and from being impofed upon by the jargon ofwords, or the fpecious fophiftry of argument: but onemay fafely venture to affirm, that, to this day, theferules have never, in any inftance, taught the youngmind to reafon corre£lly. It was indeed the heightof folly to expect that they could ever have that effect.Is a child taught to walk by fpeeches and directionsfrom his nurfe ? Or, is a perfon taught to fwim,lDy full and accurate difcourfes upon the whole artof fwimming? It is inconteftibly by exercife and habit,that the lirft is taught to walk and the other to fwim :and, in like manner, it is by reafoning that a habitof reafoning juflly is acquired. Converfation whettensthe mind ; and, as " iron fharpeneth iron, fo dotha man the mind and countenance of his friend." For,2d, Frequent conference with one another, hatha ftrong and diredl tendency to improve the mind inhuman and divine knowledge ;perhaps a flrongertendency than any thing elfe. In comparifon of it, orat leaft without being affifted by it, the ftudy of booksis but a languid and fruitlefs affair. Conferencewarms us, it cxercifeth us, and at the fame time inilru6lsus. "When we confer with a fenfible man, heprefTeth hard upon us, he woundeth us on every fide,his imagination raifeth up ours to a more than ordinarypitch: ftimulated by jealoufy, by glory, by contention,we are elevated to fomething above ourfelves :the foul is roufed from its lethargy, and all its ftrengthis exerted : the air, the looks and countenance of himwe converfe with, keep it on the ftretch : and, frequently,before one word hath been faid on a fubjei^