It may be looked upon as the result of an extraordinary atavism, that the ordinary man, even at present, is still always for an opinion about himself, and then instinctively submitting himself to it; yet by no means only to a good opinion, but also to a bad and unjust one (think, for instance, of the greater part of the self appreciations and self depreciations which believing women learn from their confessors, and which in general the believing Christian learns from his Church).