ThepracticewhichobtainsamongsttheAmericansoffixingthestandardoftheirjudgmentinthemselvesalone，leadsthemtootherhabitsofmind。Astheyperceivethattheysucceedinresolvingwithoutassistanceallthelittledifficultieswhichtheirpracticallifepresents，theyreadilyconcludethateverythingintheworldmaybeexplained，andthatnothinginittranscendsthelimitsoftheunderstanding。Thustheyfalltodenyingwhattheycannotcomprehend;whichleavesthembutlittlefaithforwhateverisextraordinary，andanalmostinsurmountabledistasteforwhateverissupernatural。Asitisontheirowntestimonythattheyareaccustomedtorely，theyliketodiscerntheobjectwhichengagestheirattentionwithextremeclearness;
theythereforestripoffasmuchaspossibleallthatcoversit，theyridthemselvesofwhateverseparatesthemfromit，theyremovewhateverconcealsitfromsight，inordertoviewitmorecloselyandinthebroadlightofday。Thisdispositionofthemindsoonleadsthemtocontemnforms，whichtheyregardasuselessandinconvenientveilsplacedbetweenthemandthetruth。
TheAmericansthenhavenotrequiredtoextracttheirphilosophicalmethodfrombooks;theyhavefounditinthemselves。ThesamethingmayberemarkedinwhathastakenplaceinEurope。ThissamemethodhasonlybeenestablishedandmadepopularinEuropeinproportionastheconditionofsocietyhasbecomemoreequal，andmenhavegrownmorelikeeachother。
Letusconsiderforamomenttheconnectionoftheperiodsinwhichthischangemaybetraced。InthesixteenthcenturytheReformerssubjectedsomeofthedogmasoftheancientfaithtothescrutinyofprivatejudgment;buttheystillwithheldfromitthejudgmentofalltherest。Intheseventeenthcentury，Baconinthenaturalsciences，andDescartesinthestudyofphilosophyinthestrictsenseoftheterm，abolishedrecognizedformulas，destroyedtheempireoftradition，andoverthrewtheauthorityoftheschools。Thephilosophersoftheeighteenthcentury，generalizingatlengththesameprinciple，undertooktosubmittotheprivatejudgmentofeachmanalltheobjectsofhisbelief。
WhodoesnotperceivethatLuther，Descartes，andVoltaireemployedthesamemethod，andthattheydifferedonlyinthegreaterorlessusewhichtheyprofessedshouldbemadeofit？