Besides that suspending doubting being Ignorant argue an imperfection and this fault may have the name of Busibodiness viz. When out of love of being Busie meerly to be always doing somewhat and that with vigour and smartness Men employ their Thoughts in Observing and Judging other Mens either Qualities or Actions Not out of any Neighbourly or Charitable Principle not because they see a great deal of good they may do by it and therefore would do it accordingly that is not out of Reason Prudence Charity Men oft-times Bussle and are Busie in the World and they know no other Reason but that they love to be so and nothing more often occurs about which they may be so than what other Men are or do Sect. III. Thirdly The third cause is sometimes Curiosity that is a Mans pleasing himself meerly and ultimately in knowing something he did not know before and being very much conceited of himself there for not directing his knowledg to those things which are most profitable which he can make best use of do most good withal nor attending to them Hence it comes to pass that Men are not content to mind and know themselves or their own minds if it was less difficult than it is nor yet things more nearly Relating to themselves which is more easie But they are also more inquisitive into and desirous to know the. Affairs of others what they are and do and observe them and consequently to pass Judgment of them which is a sign to them but oft a very false one that they do know Because we use to do so and should do so viz. Pass Judgment only of things we do know If we should not pass Judgment but doubt or suspend we should seem to our selves to be Ignorant which we would not do because we will ultimately and please our selves not to be so To doubt or to suspend ones Judgment because one does not know is but very rare and in few Tempers but it should be always and is to be preferred before Knowledg because it is a better thing a greater excellency to withhold a Mans Judgment where there is no Reason seen where one doth not know or see the Connexion of what he affirms and does the Truth it self than it is to know the Truth it self The one is but a perfection of our Understanding t'other a great virtue of our Wills and we shall be the wiser the more we thus judg and accordingly behave our selves I say rather to say and think we do not know when we indeed do not then to know though never so certainly Sect. IV. Fourthly A fourth cause may be an Instance or Branch of Pride that is to please our selves too much meerly either that we have or are reputed to have an ability and sufficiency to understand and direct others and their affairs too better than they themselves can When 't is only so conceitedly by us and we know not others Circumstances or were we in them we would do the like or worse or if we had this ability perhaps we had better be without it whilst it makes us less able to understand and direct our selves by using our minds to Wander abroad and to attend to others and depriving us of the opportunities of Self-reflection It is very often seen that those who are extraordinary forward not out of some sence of Duty to give Counsel Advice or Judgment of other Mens Concerns are very negligent and careless and unapt to follow the very same when it is as useful and profitable for themselves Sect. V. Secondly For some of the Causes of too great a Proneness to judg on the worst side whether truly or falsly but not therefore or because they are true or false in our selves they are all either Ignorance or some Ill-disposition of Will 1. Ignorance viz. Of the bad effects or consequences of this our too great Proneness which Ignorance may proceed from Ill-dispositions of Will either on set purpose or designed then when we judg and we wilfully shut our Eyes and do not attend to what might better inform us or it may be contracted before But it may proceed too sometimes even from Love and Charity So we see sometimes Persons much desirous of their Relations or others Good and Well-fare very apt always to suspect the worse of them and to observe their Beginning bad Inclinations and to think them so but not so much to take notice of the contrary good ones in them and this partly that they might timely prevent any evil that may happen to them thereby And so may it be in publick Affairs and of very great and universal Concernment especially and yet soon out of our power nay so we see it in our selves sometimes Some Men being too apt to look upon their Faults and Imperfections and to magnifie them and to take no notice of what 's good in themselves and consequently to judg falsly concerning themselves on the worst side Though this is but rare in compare with the other extream and proceeds from an imprudent and ignorant love not attending that they ought and may do themselves as much good by their being pleased with and encouraged by and thankful for the good they have as by being afraid of removing and preventing any evil fallen upon them or that may fall upon them and not considering still that it 's best be sure all things considered to judg always according to Reason and Truth not to trouble and perplex our selves with vain fears and endeavours and for other good effects thereof Sect. VI. Sixthly But I doubt the far more usual Causes of too great Proneness to judg on the worst side are ill-dispositions of Will in general Self-love and Self-pleasing ultimately in various Instances such as are more particularly Self-pleasing by 1. Hatred of or Malice an habitual Hatred against any Person in general Than which there is nothing in the World more detestable because the most Mischievous and it is the greatest degeneracy from the most opposite and contrary to the most excellent perfection in the World which is Goodness and is usually attributed to the Devil that is the worst of Beings This is when a Man pleaseth himself ultimately in doing mischief to in vexing and hurting another Man other Persons It is easie to see how this disposeth a Man to the greatest readiness to judg any thing bad in the Person to whom he is thus affected For if we thus please our selves in doing Mischief we shall endeavour that we may still please our selves so to do and that we may so do we 'll represent Persons as bad as we can as great evils whether true or false it matters not as we can This I say manifestly is a Cause in us of being mischievously affected and of doing what we can to them And this again is a Cause to such Persons of Pleasures and Delight He therefore that wills the End viz. Pleasing himself by the mischief of others will will the Means
Arguments commend justifie or excuse any Action of our Friends and with as many discommend or aggravate that of our conceited Adversary whom we are in hatred with or bear grudge against or are wrathful and angry with Hence therefore we give false Judgments concerning Persons qualities or actions judging them much better or worse than they are we having only Arguments and Proofs on one side brought to our Mind by our passions and those on the other kept out by them Which is like as if corrupted or bribed Officers should permit no Witnesses to come into or appear in the presence of the Judg but those that shall serve for that side or the Cause that they are bribed for And yet often our Mind and Reason the Judg not attending and taking notice of this Bribery and Partiality of these Officers the Passions though it might and should may think it very truly judged at least as it ought according to the Evidence that it had and set down and be content and think all was well done and truly they were very honest and sincere in their Judgments This is one of the most slie and close Cheats and Tricks we by our Passions put upon our Reasons The more had we need here to be cautious and now more especially when the Deceit and Cozenage is discovered And both on this and the two following as well as other accounts it is a special Maxim of Wisdom not to trust those Judgments where Passions have gone before Reason But do one of these three things Either 1. Be calm and and have no Passions at all Or 2. If thou wilt for Invention-sake have any then passionate thy self equally on both sides Or 3. Raise up in thy self a greater and commanding passion for Truth which will make all the Evidence and Proof thou hast in thy keeping appear equally on all sides But here I may prevent what is to be said in another Head 2. And very briefly Our Passions cause us to judg in favour of themselves by bringing into our Minds not only what is true on one side and keeping back what is so on the other but also by thrusting into them more than is true And therefore we observe in our Friends and in our Enemies that is to whom we are so more virtues or faults fine or foul things and more of them too than any Body else not alike prejudiced can see or than indeed there are And 3. When things on both sides do come to our Minds as especially when suggested by another who would discourse or defend the Person we are passionated for or against I say when this is by thrusting them on one side away again or turning a Man from them or causing one wilfully not to attend to them or if that cannot be not to the Proof and Evidence that is in them nay not to be able it confounding and agitating our Minds and drawing their force another way And so it is by every days Experience observed that he that is under the passions of Hatred and Anger against any thing or Person will not attend to what can be said or proposed in their Commendations or Defence nor will nor can oft-times apprehend the Proof or Consequence thereof So on the other hand Timidity or Fear or Scruple to judg amiss concerning Persons especially on the bad side may cause many not to judg according to the best probability that doth appear to them without any prejudice from any Person or ill disposition of Will But this is an effect of Passions more visible and more to be observed by the Person himself mis-judging than the former and therefore in that respect more easie to be prevented And here we see manifestly one of the principal mischiefs of Passions as there are also very good use of them and how much therefore it concerns us to govern them well Sect. XV. 7. Another Cause of false Judgment either on the good or bad part may be all Appetites whatsoever besides those which have Truth and universal Justice for their Objects By which Justice I mean nothing else but such a love of and desire to do Good to each particular as is most consistent with or productive or effective of the greatest Good of the whole that always with regard to measured and moderated by this I say all Appetites besides those not only those which cause it on the bad side as Malice Pride Envy Revenge which two last seem mixed of the two former and others which have been formerly mention'd but those also which cause it on the favourable side as in Flattery when a Man by passing his Judgment before another concerning himself or his Friend desires to please him and to gain his good opinion and favour nay partial and imprudent Charity it self may be the Cause As when a Man having no Self-end more than the pleasure of the Action in giving his Judgment concerning a Person to whom he hath a strong inclination to do good but without that due actual heed to or fore-sight of the Hurt or Evil that may come of this his Beneficence to him or to others else-where or at some other time that is partially or imprudently judgeth him more deserving than in truth he is To give particular Instances of false Judgments from these Causes would be endless only one may be observed for Example which is frequent and of consequence Contradicting the Judgment of others passing Judgments contrary to those of others and oft-times the more by how much the Number or Reputation of those others are the greater When we see one praised or dispraised by them contrariwise to dispraise or praise either in general or quoting particulars and multiplying and magnifying of them Generally this is out of Pride that we might Equalize or be Superiour to others in our Invention or Discretion or Honesty the Abilities which fit us for Judging that we might not at least seem to our selves or others to be inferiour in those Qualities that others might not seem as if they were only able and fit to do it In all which there is affectation of Superiority Vain-glory and Ostentation Envy which are several Branches of Pride And this we see not only among the Vulgar and in ordinary Conversation but among the Learned who often when any Author is generally commended and it may be too much set themselves to multiply and magnifie his Faults and Defects but to diminish his commendable Qualities by concealing or extenuating them And on the contrary when an Author is now out-done and thought to be much exceeded by another and therefore comparatively undervalued they endeavour to multiply and magnifie what is Good and Deserving in him but to neglect conceal or lessen what is Bad and Defective And consequently by this unobserved prejudice they give false Judgments concerning them I know these Instances may proceed from a careful Veracity and Justice because Men commonly both praise and dispraise excessively and their Judgments may be true but
true which before he did but say was so though he thought the contrary And here it may be observed that as too great a Proneness to judg on the worst side doth proceed from these Causes mentioned So it is a most ordinary thing for the passing and especially declaring ones Judgment and Opinion on the advantagious side i. e. That a Man hath more of some good thing than indeed he hath to proceed from some of the same Causes too viz. Hatred Envy Indignation For Example That a Man hath more Revenue Treasure Honour Power Ease Pleasure than indeed he hath only to expose him more to the Envy or Indignation of others And in general Men judg thus in a thing which they account a reward to him who they think doth not or they would not have him either to merit or receive it most commonly it is an easie thing from Circumstances to discern from what Principles such Judgment proceeds But some may be so cunning as to conceal or dissemble Sect. VII Seventhly For the Causes of rash Judgment and Censure they must be the same with those of the two former particulars The Causes of rash Judgment in general Idleness Busibodiness Activity Curiosity Pride and of rash Censure or Judgment without Reason but a Man 's own Will on the worst side as such are among others Hatred Revenge Pride Affectation of Superiority Envy Contempt Flattery To which we may add Anger and Wrath which if a Man be not very careful disposeth us to as much uncharitable and unreasonable Judging as the former and a Man is seldom or never to trust his Judgment of any Person after that fierce and confounding Passion but refer it to another time when calmness and freedom from Passion gives him more ability to see the Truth and more impartiality to judg And now all these Causes methinks are so Unreasonable Inhumane and Unchristian when thus nakedly represented that they cannot but stir up in Souls not quite degenerate or corrupted dead and sensless of what 's good many of these very Passions against themselves and seem the ugliest Objects that can be beheld These are those which compose a Devil more and are more essential to him than any other shape Sect. VIII IV. The Causes some of them of false Judging as false or of falsity errour of Judgment concerning Persons whether on the good or bad side may as in all other false Judgments be reduced to two within us in General 1. Defect in our Understanding which here in this case is but one viz. Ignorance in a large sense viz. the Absence or want of Apprehension or of the actual Knowledg of something which would influence our Judgments 2. In our Will a meer inclination to any certain false Judgment whether it be from Custom and Use or from the Love and for the sake of any certain Object In this particular case of false Judgments some of the most frequent Causes more or less remotely and some way or other reducible to these two are these Sect. IX 1. In general meer Ignorance of the truth of things where there is no defect of Will So a Man may judg an action in respect of the effect and principle of it to be well or ill done when it is the contrary and it was the case of the Jewish and Gentile Christians passing Judgment of one anothers Eating and abstaining from certain Meats and observing or not observing some certain Days and Times and consequently imposing them upon one another from their own private Opinions not as determined by their rightful Superiours or Governours Rom. 14. Some of them through Ignorance judged that those who took the Liberty to eat forbidden Meats contrary to the Mosaical Law which they thought was still even under the Messias to be observ'd did an evil Action and out of an evil Principle too possibly viz. Prophaneness or want of that respect for God's Commands which they ought And this probably too because they found in themselves that if they should do so it would proceed from such a Principle which will be a second Cause presently to be named The other Gentile Christians judged right concerning the action of abstaining from Meats that it was not right and the Non-observation of or Liberty from the Jewish Law was a Christian priviledg or it did not belong to the Christian Religion But possibly too they might if they did not judg wrong concerning the Principle of these Jewish Christians viz. That it was out of Superstition or Pride that the Gentiles might not be in all things equalized to themselves and that the Ancient Constitutions of their Religion might seem more considerable From hence also more particularly it proceeds that even very Honest and Just Persons though much oftner in the World it proceeds from ultimate Self-love or a mixture of it judg themselves Comparatively more Superiour to others in good qualities and truly more valuable than they are viz. They know and observe more their own Perfections and good Qualities their Number their Nature the degrees of their worth and excellency from their effects than they do those of others They can tell better all the Good qualities they have in themselves than what are in others many of which or but few they may ever have had occasion to observe They may also and do see and take notice of all the uses and good effects of any Perfection which is in themselves having frequent occasion to observe them but hardly of any of that which is in another when he possibly could quote as many more of his And hence a little further it comes to pass that every one extols and crys up his own Art though never so trivial and prefers it before others really believing what he saith Hence also it is together with some Rashness and Precipitancy in inferring that Men judg others too generally and too confidently to be Ill or Good qualified Persons to have more of Defects or Perfection comparatively each with other than they really have that they have for Christ such or such ill qualities and imperfections which may be true but none or much fewer good quallities to balance them than indeed they have and than they themselves would have known if they had had some other opportunities of knowing them They have had only occasion or means to know the defects and Ill qualities and not the Good and so perhaps on the contrary and yet they do not observe so much nor reflect upon it nor attend unto this Caution Now Men ought to pass Judgment first distinctly that at such or such a time in such or such a performance or action there appeared to them such defect or commendable quality and then from thence according to the degree of probability or likelihood in the Consequence which if the observation be but once is oft but very small if there be just occasion to infer and conclude concerning the Qualities of the Person in general as to number degree and