I know myself now: and I feel within me A peace above all earthly dignities, A still and quiet conscience. SHAKESPEAR.-HENRY VIII. SELF-KNOWLEDGE, AND KNOW LEDGE OF THE WORLD. SELF-KNOWLEDGE, and knowledge of the world, are very different. The utility of each is exceedingly great; but it is difficult to acquire both, since the method and means are diametrically opposite. Self-knowledge is best obtained in soli tude, in retirement, in the seclusion of the closet, and in the cool shade of reflectiveness. There the student of nature will receive lights, which will elevate him to the highest dignity of man; since there he can not only commune with himself, but even address his Creator. There no attrac K 5 tive imagery, no false glare of riches, or of perishable honors, will dazzle and divert his views: truth alone will be his adviser, and his guide. The knowledge of the world cannot be acquired thus. We must see men, in order to know them; we must mingle in the world, in order to be able to judge of it. The closeted moralist, or the studious bookworm, who expects to gain a knowledge of men and of manners in his library, will find himself in continual error when he comes into actual contact with society; he will be just like the peruser of history and travels, who conceives that he can judge of the present by past times, recorded, but not seen. As well might a man expect to gain experience intuitively, as to come to this imagined perfection seated by his fire-side, in his morning-gown and slippers. Living scenery is as different from the painted canvass which represents it, as the living |