I NUMB. 28. SATURDAY, June 23, 1750.. Illi mors gravis incubat, Qui, notus nimis omnibus, Ignotas moritur fibi. To him, alas, to him, I fear, The face of death will terrible appear, SENECA. COWLEY. HAVE fhewn, in a late effay, to what errors men are hourly betrayed by a mistaken opinion of their own powers, and a negligent infpection of their own character. But as I then confined my obfervations to common occurrences, and familiar fcenes, I think it proper to inquire, how far a nearer acquaintance with ourselves is neceffary to our preservation from crimes as well as follies, and how much the attentive study of our own minds may contribute to secure to us the approbation of that being, to whom we are accountable for our thoughts and our actions, and whose favour must finally constitute our total happiness. If it be reasonable to estimate the difficulty of any enterprise by frequent mifcarriages, it may justly be concluded that it is not eafy for a man to know himfelf; for wherefoever we turn our view, we shall find almost all with whom we converfe fo nearly as to judge of their fentiments, indulging more favourable conceptions of their own virtue than they have been able to impress upon others, and congratulating themselves upon degrees of excellence, which their fondeft admirers cannot allow them to have attained. Those representations of imaginary virtue are generally confidered as arts of hypocrify, and as fnares laid for confidence and praife. But I believe the fuspicion often unjust; those who thus propagate their own reputation, only extend the fraud by which they have been themselves deceived; for this failing is incident to numbers, who feem to live without defigns, competitions, or pursuits; it appears on occafions which promife no acceffion of honour or of profit, and to perfons from whom very little is to be hoped or feared. It is, indeed, not eafy to tell how far we may be blinded by the love of ourselves, when we reflect how much a fecondary paffion can cloud our judgment, and how few faults a man, in the first raptures of love, can difcover in the perfon or conduct of his mistress. To lay open all the fources from which error flows in upon him who contemplates his own character, would require more exact knowledge of the human heart, than, perhaps, the moft acute and laborious obfervers have acquired. And fince falfehood may be diverfified without end, it is not unlikely that every man admits an impofture in fome refpect peculiar to himfelf, as his views have been accidentally directed, or his ideas particularly combined. Some fallacies, however, there are, more frequently infidious, which it may, perhaps, not be useless to de tect, tect, because though they are grofs, they may be fatal, and because nothing but attention is neceffary to defeat them. One fophifm by which men perfuade themselves that they have thofe virtues which they really want, is formed by the fubftitution of fingle acts for habits. A mifer who once relieved a friend from the danger of a prison, fuffers his imagination to dwell for ever upon his own heroick generofity; he yields his heart up to indignation at those who are blind to merit, or infenfible to mifery, and who can please themselves with the enjoyment of that wealth, which they never permit others to partake. From any cenfures of the world, or reproaches of his conscience, he has an appeal to action and to knowledge and though his whole life is a course of rapacity and avarice, he concludes himself to be tender and liberal, because he has once performed an act of liberality and tenderness. As a glafs which magnifies objects by the approach of one end to the eye, leffens them by the application of the other, fo vices are extenuated by the inversion of that fallacy, by which virtues are augmented. Thofe faults which we cannot conceal from our own notice, are confidered, however frequent, not as habitual corruptions, or fettled practices, but as cafual failures, and fingle lapfes. A man who has, from year to year, fet his country to fale, either for the gratification of his ambition or refentment, confeffes that the heat of party now and then betrays the fevereft virtue to measures that cannot be seriously defended. He that fpends his days and nights in riot and debauchery, owns that his paffions oftentimes overpower his refolution. But each comforts himself that his faults are not without precedent, for the beft and the wifeft men have given way to the violence of fudden temptations. There are men who always confound the praise of goodness with the practice, and who believe themfelves mild and moderate, charitable and faithful, because they have exerted their eloquence in commendation of mildness, fidelity, and other virtues. This is an error almost universal among thofe that converfe much with dependents, with fuch whofe fear or intereft difpofes them to a feeming reverence for any declamation, however enthufiaftick, and fubmiffion to any boast, however arrogant. Having none to recall their attention to their lives, they rate themselves by the goodness of their opinions, and forget how much more easily men may fhew their virtue in their talk than in their actions. The tribe is likewife very numerous of those who regulate their lives, not by the standard of religion, but the measure of other men's virtue; who lull their own remorie with the remembrance of crimes more atrocious than their own, and seem to believe that they are not bad while another can be found worse. For escaping these and a thousand other deceits, many expedients have been propofed. Some have recommended the frequent confultation of a wise friend, admitted to intimacy, and encouraged to fincerity. But this appears a remedy by no means adapted to general ufe: for in order to fecure the virtue of one, it prefuppofes more virtue in two than will generally be found. In the firft, fuch a defire of rectitude and amendment, as may incline him to hear his own accufation from the mouth of him whom he esteems, and by whom, therefore, - he will always hope that his faults are not difcovered; and in the fecond fuch zeal and honefty, as will make him content for his friend's advantage to lofe his kindness. A long life may be paffed without finding a friend in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whofe opinion we can value at once for its juftnefs and fincerity. A weak man, however honest, is not qualified to judge. A man of the world, however penetrating, is not fit to counfel. Friends are often chofen för fimilitude of manners, and therefore each palliates the other's failings, because they are his own. Friends are tender, and unwilling to give pain, or they are interested, and fearful to offend. These objections have inclined others to advise, that he who would know himself, fhould confult his enemies, remember the reproaches that are vented to his face, and liften for the cenfures that are uttered in private. For his great business is to know his faults, and thofe malignity will discover, and refentment will reveal. But this precept may be often frustrated; for it feldom happens that rivals or opponents are fuffered to come near enough to know our conduct with fo much exactnefs as that confcience fhould allow and reflect the accufation. The charge of an enemy is often totally falfe, and commonly fo mingled with falfehood, that the mind. takes advantage from the failure of one part to dif |