The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware register., 1824-08-12
ON PREJUDICE.
From the Retrospective Review.

From the Retrospective Review.
Is there human being -.ho is not in some
measure under the domir IN of prejudice
who is not carried along ~ the violence Of
party, the hostility of sectism, OF the force
of habit; who has not, in short, arrived at.
conclusions without the process ofreasoning,
or adopted opinions without examining their
reasonablcncss and truth? If there be, he
has removed one Of the greatest barriers to
human happiness ard human Improvement;
but it is to be feared, the existence Of such a
being is rare. The influence Of prejudice is
no doubt exerted with very different degrees
of force, according to the natural impotency
or power of the mind on which it operates.
Some minds it rules with despotic and un-
mitigated sway, whilst others display it only
in it's chastened and sublued, and sometimes
amiablc effects. But since all do feel its in
flucncc, it becomes an enquiry of the great
est interest and importance how far it con-
tributes to the happiness or misery of the
human species--whcthert be some pre-
iudiccs, Gas il has been contended) some dear
dclusions, which the heart may still cling to
and cherish, which it would not only be dam
gcrons to remove, but which it is for the pos
tive interest and happiness of man to retain
or whether our intellectual eye is suffi-
cicntlv strong to behold the resplendant face
! Vi lIulll UllNc cilEk. ENdlulC, WiiSh isio iiit-
PLANTED III animals certain mechanical dispo..
I stions, or instincts, 10 supply their wants,
has endowed man with the pre-eminent gift
of reason 20 guide his motions to govern his
dispositions, and advance himself and others
in the scale of intellect and of happiness. 1t
must be confessed, however, that instead OF
excrting their own reasoning faculties, and
/ adopting opinions and modes of action from
their own conviction of their fitness and
truth, men generally adopt opinions from
custom, habit, or education but when once
they are enviro ed with those shackles, they
too often feel the constraint occasioncd by
them, for life. But we are told that reason
is weak and faliible,
Drn as the borrowed beams Of moon and stars,
To lonelv weary wand ring travellers.
Be it so-then let us strengthen, cultivate,
and elevate, instead OF depressing it below its
just level Instead of hoodwinking reason,
and allowing our opinions and actions to be
governed by custom, error, and prejudice.
let it have FULL free, and untettered scope to
range the fields of thought, in the investiga-
ton and discovery of truth. Does not our
happiness depend on the knowledge of the
various relations which man bears to his fell
low men, and to his God, and the practice Of
the duties which they impose-and how are
we to discover these relations, except by the
assistance of reason operating on experience.
Can false views of human nature and its at
tributes increase the happiness of the human
race individually, or can political society,
framed on such erroneous principles, attain
the end for which alone society was formed9
" Deception and mendacity are always re-
gartlcd in the common and every day inter-
course of life as base and odious it is then
only upon subjects of the highes. import to
|
ger or dctcstation." Dreadful indeed, and
unlimited, is the power of prejudice-we
imbbe it with life ITSELF and its strength and
! influence increase until it's closets preva-
lence may be detected in all human institu-
tons--covernment, which from its nature,
is framed for the maintenance of society,
| for the concentration of its force, and the
preservation of its peace and security, be-
comes by fatal pewcrsion, the principle Of
| its destruction-the cause of vice, misery,
and oppression, which gradually conduct ma
tons to decline and ruin--f we direct our at.
tention to the municipal laws of communi-
ties, we find the natural liberty of man, bound
and fcttered by the chains of despotsm-the
immutable rules of justice and equity cut
down and varied to suit the caprces of opin.
ion, custom, or tyranny; and the welfare
and happiness of millions sacrificed to the
1
and wealth, and power, showered down on
the few, and the great living mass of society.
with all their feelings and affections about
them, robbed of the very rights of humans
ty. If we look into domestic lfe-if we ex-
anime into the effects of education, we find
its tendency is to establish certain systems
of opinions, without allowing them to be ex.
amined--to check the noble aspirations of
the soul, and to bind down reason to the stake
of custom. Thus prejudice feeds OH the hu-
man mind, to the annihlation of reason,
like the insect larva, which is deposited in
the body of the living caterpillar. on which
it feeds and strengthens, leaving the vital
parts only untouched till its maturity, when
having destroyed these also, it bursts into the
world, an unnatural and monstrous birth,
The 7lger.-Thc following anecdote Of
the sagacity of a tiger, is related in an inter
1.A Al das.