exercised or accustomed to obedience and order. But one, who hath made it the study of his life to be acquainted with himself, is soon disposed to enter into a free and familiar converse with his own heart; and in such a self-conference improves more in true wisdom, and acquires more useful and substantial knowledge, than he could do from the most polite and refined conversation in the world. Of such excellent use is self-knowledge in all the duties of piety and devotion.

CHAPTER XII.

Self-Knowledge, the best preparation for death.

XII.

SELF-KNOWLEDGE will be an habitual preparation for death, and a constant guard against the surprise of it,' because it fixes and settles our hopes of future happiness. That which makes the thoughts of death so terrifying to the soul, is its utter uncertainty what will become of it after death. Were this uncertainty but removed, a thousand things would reconcile us to the thoughts of dying.

Distrust and darkness of a future state,

Is that which makes mankind to dread their fate:
Dying is nothing; but 'tis this we fear,

To be we know not what, we know not where.'

Now, self-knowledge, in a good degree, removes this uncertainty: for, as the word of God hath revealed the certainty of a future state of happiness, which good men shall enter upon after death, and plainly described the requisite qualifications for it; when a good man, by a long and laborious self-ac quaintance, comes distinctly to discern those quali

fications in himself, his hopes of heaven soon raise him above the fears of death; and though he may not be able to form any clear or distinct conception of the nature of that happiness, yet, in general, he is assured that it will be a most exquisite and satisfying one, and will contain in it every thing necessary to make it complete, because it will come immediately from God himself. Whereas, they who are ignorant what they are, must necessarily be ignorant what they shall be. A man that is all darkness within, can have but a dark prospect forward.

O! what would we not give for solid hope in death! Reader! wouldst thou have it, know God, and know thyself.

A

TREATISE

ON

SELF-KNOWLEDGE.

PART III.

Showing how Self Knowledge is to be attained.

FROM what hath been said under the two former

parts of the subject, self knowledge appears to be in itself so excellent, and its effects so extensively useful and conducive to the happiness of human kind, that nothing need further be added by way of motive or inducement to excite us to make it the great object of our study and pursuit. If we regard our present peace, satisfaction, and usefulness, or our future and everlasting interests, we shall certainly value and prosecute this knowledge above all others, as what will be most ornamental to our characters, and beneficial to our interest, in every state of life, and abundantly recompense all our labour.

Were there need of any further motives to excite us to this, I might lay open the many dreadful effects of self-ignorance, and show how plainly it appears to be the original spring of all the follies

and incongruities we see in the characters of men, and of most of the mortifications and miseries they meet with here. This would soon appear, by only mentioning the reverse of those advantages before specified, which naturally attend self knowledge: for what is it, but a want of self-knowledge and self-government, that makes us so unsettled and volatile in our dispositions? so subject to transport and excess of passions in the varying scenes of life? so rash and unguarded in our conduct? so vain and self-sufficient? so censorious and malig. nant? so eager and confident? so little useful in the world, to what we might be? so inconsistent with ourselves? so mistaken in our notions of true religion? so generally indisposed to, or unengaged in, the holy exercises of it? and, finally, so unfit for death, and so afraid of dying? I say, to what is all this owing, but self-ignorance? the first and fruitful source of all this long train of evils. And, indeed, there is scarce any, but what may be traced up to it. In short, it brutifies man, to be ignorant of himself. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not (himself especially), is as the beasts that perish.' Psalm xlix. 20.

Come home, then, O my wandering, self-neglecting soul! lose not thyself in a wilderness or tumult of impertinent, vain, distracting things. Thy work is nearer thee: the country thou shouldst first survey and travel is within thee, from which thou must pass to that above thee; when, by losing thyself in this without thee, thou wilt find thyself, before thou art aware, in that below thee. Let the eyes of fools be in the corners of the earth; leave it to men beside themselves, to live as without themselves; do thou keep at home, and mind thine own business; survey thyself, thine own make and nature, and thou wilt find full employ for all thy most active thoughts. But dost thou delight in the mysteries of nature? consider well the mystery

of thy own. The compendium of all thou studiest is near thee, even within thee; thyself being the epitome of the world. If either necessity or duty, nature or grace, reason or faith, internal inducements, external impulses, or eternal motives, might determine the subject of thy study and contemplation, thou wouldst call home thy distracted thoughts, and employ them more on thyself and thy God.'-Baxter's Mischief of Self-ignorance,

Now, then, let us resolve, that, henceforth, the study of ourselves shall be the business of our lives; that, by the blessing of God, we may arrive at such a degree of self-knowledge, as may secure to us the excellent benefits before mentioned: to which end we would do well to attend diligently to the rules laid down in the following chapters.

CHAPTER I.

Self-Examination necessary to Self-Knowledge.

1. THE first thing necessary to self-knowledge is self-inspection.'

We must often look into our hearts, if we would know them. They are very deceitful; more so than any man can think, till he has searched, and tried, and watched them. We may meet with frauds and faithless dealings from men; but, after all, our own hearts are the greatest cheats, and there are none we are in greater danger from than ourselves. We must first suspect ourselves, then examine ourselves, then watch ourselves, if we expect ever to know ourselves. How is it possible there should be any self-acquaintance without self-converse?

Were a man to accustom himself to such selfemployment, he need not live till thirty before he