I have represented a just self-knowledge as of very great importance;
but it is a science of vast extent, as well as of vast importance. A
thorough knowledge of one's self includes, first, a knowledge of man in
general, in his whole character--compounded as it is--and in all his
relations to surrounding beings and things; and, secondly, a knowledge
of the peculiarities produced by particular circumstances, condition,
mode of life, education and habits.

She who merely understands all the little arts to which I have alluded,
which enable us to pass current with a fashionable and grossly wicked
world, will find her self-knowledge exceedingly small, when she comes
to compare it with the standard of self-acquaintance set up by such
writers as Mason, Burgh, Watts, &c.; and, above all, when she comes to
compare it with the standard of the Bible. How little, nay, how
contemptible will all mere worldly arts and shifts appear--things which
at most belong to the department of manners--when she comes to
understand her three-fold nature, as exhibited by the natural and
revealed laws of Jehovah!

The Subjects of Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene alone--and they teach
us little more than the laws and relations of the mere body or shell of
the human being--are almost sufficient for the study of a long life;
and yet no individual can ever thoroughly understand herself without
them: it is impossible. Anatomy shows us the _structure_ of this
body, which the Psalmist, long ago, taught us was fearfully and
wonderfully made. Physiology teaches us the _laws_ by which the
living machine operates--is kept in play for seventy, eighty, or a
hundred years; and Hygiene teaches us the _relations_ of the
living, moving human body to surrounding beings and objects. This,