PREFACE. WE consider Mason on Self-Knowledge one of the best books which we have ever read. It was our good fortune to fall in with an old copy of this work early in our ministerial course, and the impressions which its perusal left upon the tablet of our heart are not yet erased. We have uniformly recommended it, especially to the young, as eminently adapted to prepare the mind for efforts in the pursuit of various knowledge. If we are ignorant of ourselves, what else can we know to any good purpose? And in our efforts to acquire this knowledge, I am persuaded, no book, except the Bible, will render us more effective aid. Its great practical principles should be deeply impressed upon the mind of the Christian, the scholar, and the man of business. The teacher of religion especially should become perfectly familiar with them. In preparing the present edition, it has been our object to give it to the reader in as perfect a form as possible. We have consequently used two different editions, and have availed ourselves of the excellences of both, We have retained the notes in their appro priate places as inserted by the author, which, by some editors, have been thrown into an appendix, and by others omitted altogether. We have also left the text perfect, which in some editions is mutilated: thus giving to the public an edition of the work more complete than any which has been issued, either in Europe or in this country, in modern times. The author, in a few instances, proceeds upon philosophical principles which are now exploded. Such passages we have not scrupled to retain, presuming that the intelligent reader will recollect the period in which he lived, and, moreover, that these principles are not at all essential to the general scope of his argument. We preferred this course to printing the work in a state of mutilation, which would make it appear like a work of more recent date than the times of the author. If the writers of the last century are defective in some branches of learning, they are not barren of thought, a commodity not always so abundant in the authors of our own time as to surfeit their readers. We would by no means undervalue the improvements of the present age in physical and mental philosophy; but we are free to confess, that we would, in some instances, readily exchange a considerable portion of these for a tithe of the intellectual and moral power wielded by the giants of the preceding century. We love the old English authors, and we would not lay hands upon the venerable monuments of their piety and learning without the utmost necessity. With these explanations, we now put this invaluable treasure into the hands of the reader, most devoutly praying that it may be made to him a present and an eternal blessing. GEORGE PECK. December 11, 1842. CONTENTS. I. The nature and importance of the subject. II. The several branches of self-knowledge. We must know what sort of creatures III. The several relations in which we stand to God, to Christ, and our fellow-creatures. IV. We must duly consider the rank and sta- tion of life in which Providence hath placed us, and what it is that becomes V. Every man should be well acquainted with his own talents and capacities; and in what manner they are to be exercised and improved to the greatest advantage VI. We must be well acquainted with our ina- bilities, and those things in which we are |