To support my opinion I can produce very respectable authority; and the
authority of a cool reasoner ought to have weight to enforce
consideration, though not to establish a sentiment. Speaking of the
general laws of morality, Dr. Smith
observes, -- 'That by some
very extraordinary and unlucky circumstance, a
good man may come to be suspected of a crime of which he was altogether
incapable, and upon that account be most unjustly exposed for the
remaining part of his life to the horror and aversion of mankind. By an
accident of this kind he may be said to lose his all, notwithstanding his
integrity and justice, in the same manner as a cautious man,
notwithstanding his utmost circumspection, may be ruined by an earthquake
or an inundation. Accidents of the first kind, however, are perhaps still
more rare, and still more contrary to the common course of things than
those of the second; and it still remains true, that the practice of
truth, justice, and humanity, is a certain and almost infallible method of
acquiring what those virtues chiefly aim at, the confidence and love of
those we live with. A person may be easily misrepresented with regard to a
particular action; but it is scarce possible that he should be so with
regard to the general tenor of his conduct. An innocent man may be
believed to have done wrong: this, however, will rarely happen. On the
contrary, the established opinion of the innocence of his manners will
often lead us to absolve him where he has really been in the fault,
notwithstanding very strong presumptions.'
