Of wisdom three books / written originally in French by the Sieur de Charron ; with an account of the author, made English by George Stanhope ...

OF WISDOM, THE FIRST BOOK; Which consists of the Knowledge of a Man's own self; and the Condition of Humane Nature in general.

An Exhortation to the Study and Knowledge of ones self.

The Introduction to this whole First Book.

[unspec 1] THERE is not in the World any Ad∣vice more excellent and divine in its own Nature, more useful and bene∣ficial to us, nor any at the same time less attended to, and worse practis'd than that of studying and attaining to the Knowledge of our selves. This is in Truth the Foundation, up∣on which all Wisdom is built, the direct and high Road to all Happiness. And sure no Folly can be compar'd to that which draws off Mens Attention, and employs their Diligence and Pains in the Search of other Objects, and fixes them every where, any

where, rather than upon themselves: For when all is done, the true Learning is at home, and the pro∣per Science and Subject for Man's Contemplation, is Man himself.

[unspec 2] Were this Advice thus generally neglected for want of being seasonably or sufficiently given, the Omission were more excusable:* 1.1 But the Matter is quite otherwise: For God, Nature, Wise Men, the World, All conspire to inculcate it; and both by the Instructions they give, and the Examples they set, preach this Doctrine, and loudly call upon Man to make Himself the Employment of his own Thoughts, and the Object of his own Studies. God we know, is perpetually taken up with the Con∣templation of himself; and the unspeakable Happi∣ness, as well as constant Business of that vast Eterni∣ty, is the viewing, considering and knowing his own infinite Perfections.

The World is so contriv'd, as to have all its Eyes turned inward; and the several Parts of this Uni∣verse are ever beholding the Beauties and Conveni∣ences of themselves, or of one another:

For Hea∣ven, and Earth, and Air, and Sea may seem so ma∣ny independent Bodies, yet are they in reality but so many distinct Parts of one Body; and the mu∣tual Regards of these to each other, are but the se∣veral Prospects which one vast united Whole takes of it self.

So perpetually are the Eyes of the World open upon it self, so necessarily contracted and determin'd to it self alone. But why should we go abroad for Arguments, who have such convincing ones at home? For Man hath this Engagement to study and know Himself, which no other Part of the World hath, that it is Natural to him to think. This is the peculiar Character, the very Essence of Man, and nothing is so near, nothing presents it self so im∣mediately to his Thought, as Himself. So that Nature here hath plainly taught our Duty, and shewed that

this is the Work she cuts out for every Man. No∣thing can be so easie, as for a Man to meditate, and entertain his Thoughts. It is incomparably the most frequent, most common, most natural Practice. Thought is the Food, the Support, the Life of the Mind; it must needs be so indeed, since the very* 1.2 Essence of Mind is Cogitation. And where, I pray, shall this Mind begin? where will you find a more proper Subject for its Exercise and Entertainment than its own self? Can there be any more natu∣ral, any that hath a greater Right to this Contem∣plation? any that is nearer related, or that more high∣ly concerns it to be well acquainted with? Cer∣tainly to ramble abroad and fix upon Foreign Mat∣ters, and at the same time quite overlook and for∣get ones self, is the greatest Injustice, and the most unnatural Neglect that can be. No doubt, every Man's true Business, and the Thing he is properly call'd to, is the thinking of Himself, and being well employ'd to see how Matters go at home. These are our Trade and our Concern; the rest but Entertainment and Diversion. And thus we see it is in every other Creature. Each of these takes care of it self, makes the Study of its self the first and principal Business, hath Bounds set to its De∣sires, and employs not it self, nor hath any Aim be∣yond such a certain Compass: And yet thou, O vain Man, who wilt be grasping at the Universe, who pretendest to Knowledge unlimited, and takest upon thee to controul and to judge every thing, art perfectly ignorant of thy own self, and not at a∣ny Pains to be otherwise. Thus whilst thou labour∣est to render thy self the most accomplish'd Part of the Creation; whilst thou sittest like a Censor upon Nature, and determinest magisterially, and with an Air of Wisdom; Thou, in reality, art the greatest

Ignorant; Thou, all the while, the only Fool in the whole World: Thou art the emptiest and most wanting, the most impotent and most wretched; and yet in despight of all these Mortifications, the proudest and most conceited, the most arrogant and disdainful Creature upon Earth. Look at home then for shame; turn thine Eyes inward, and em∣ploy thy Senses there. Call back thy wandring Mind, thy Understanding and thy Will, which rove and spend their Strength unprofitably abroad, and fix them in the Consideration of themselves. Thou art Busie, and yet Negligent; Beggarly, and yet profuse: For thou losest and wastest thy self in things without, and forgettest quite what is thy own within. Thus thou art a Thief and a Traytor to thy self: Restore then what thou hast thus falsely stolen away; and instead of gazing round, and looking always before thee, collect thy self, and confine thy Thoughts at home: Look diligently within thee; search curiously there, and know thy self perfectly. Thus our wise Masters have ad∣vised.

* 1.3 * 1.4* 1.5Weigh no Merit by the common Scale. The Conscience is the Test of every Mind; Seek not thy self without thy self to find. Please not thy self the flatt'ring Crowd to hear; 'Tis fulsom Stuff to feed thy itching Ear. Reject the nauseous Praises of the Times:— Survey thy Soul;* 1.6 not what thou dost appear, But what thou art, and find the Beggar there.

* 1.7Sift well thy Soul, its Product nicely view, And learn from whence thy Tares and Darnel grew; Which are to Nature, which to Custom due. If the thin Crop sprung from a Soil too lean, Or long neglected Weeds have choak'd the generous Grain.

[unspec 3] The Knowledge of a Man's self is a Step to the Knowledge of God: The best and shortest Method we can possibly take of raising our Minds up to Hea∣ven.* 1.8 It must needs be so, because there is no other thing capable of being known by us, which carries such lively Stroaks, such express Images and Chara∣cters, such clear and convincing Testimonies of God, as Man does: And also because whatever there is of this kind, may be more perfectly known by us: For a Man must be of necessity more sensible of those Faculties and Motions, which are within him∣self, and better qualify'd to give an Account of them, than he can be of those which belong to any other Creature; because these are at some distance from him, and he cannot possibly be alike conscious of them.† 1.9 Thou hast fashioned and closed me in,* 1.10 and laid thy hand upon me: therefore is thy Knowledge become won∣derful. That is, The Knowledge of thea, which results from the Contemplation of my self, and the Resem∣blance of the Humane to the Divine Nature (as some interpret that Passage.) From hence perhaps it was, that Apollo (who among the Heathens was esteemed) the God of Knowledge and of Light, had this Inscri∣ption KNOW THY SELF, engraven in Cha∣racters of Gold upon the Front of his Temple, as a necessary Greeting, and Advertisement from the God, to all that should approach him; intimating

that this was the first Motion from Ignorance and Darkness; the most necessary Qualification for gain∣ing Access to such a Deity: That upon these Terms only they could be admitted to his Temple, and fit for his Worship; and that all who were not acquaint∣ed with themselves, must be excluded from that Place and Privilege.* 1.11 * 1.12 If thou know not, who thou art, O thou fairest among Women, go thy way forth and follow thy Kids.

Would a Man make it his Business (as every Man sure ought to do) to lead the most regular,* 1.13 composed, and pleasant Life that can be, we need go no further to fetch Instructions for it, than our own selves. Had we but the Diligence and Appli∣cation, as we have the Capacity and the Opportu∣nity to learn, every Man would be able to teach himself more and better than all the Books in the World, and all his poring there can ever teach him.

He that shall remember, and critically observe the extravagant Sallies of his Anger, to what Fu∣ries and Frenzies this raging Fever of the Mind hath formerly transported him, will more distinctly see the Monstrous Deformity of this Passion, and con∣ceive a juster Abhorrence, and more irreconcilable Hatred against it, than all the fine things that Ari∣statle and Plato have said upon the Point, can e∣ver work him up to. And the same in Proportion may be expected from a Reflection in all other Cases, where there is a vicious Excess, or violent Con∣cussion of the Soul. He that shall recollect the ma∣ny false Conclusions, which an erroneous Judgment hath led him into, and the Slips and Miscarriages which an unfaithful Memory hath been guilty of, will learn to be more Cautious, how he trusts either of these for the future: And especially when a Man calls to mind, how many Cases he is able to quote to himself, wherein he thought, all Difficulties

sufficiently considered, that he was a perfect Master of his Point; how assured and peremptory he hath been, how forward to answer to himself, and to all he conversed with; nay, to stake his Reputation for the Truth of an Opinion; and yet Time and After-Thought have demonstrated the direct Contrary; This bold confiding Man, I say, will be taught from hence to distrust such hasty Arrogance, and abandon all that unreasonable and peevish Positiveness and Pre∣sumption, which, of all Qualities in the World, is the most opposite, most mortal Enemy to better Information and Discovery of the Truth. The Man that shall reflect upon the many Hazards and Sufferings, in which he hath been actually involved, and the many more that have threatened him; how slight and trifling Accidents have yet given great Turns to his Fortunes, and changed the whole Face of his Affairs; how often he hath been forc'd to take new Measures, and found Cause to dislike what once appeared well design'd and wisely manag'd: This Man will expect and make Provision for Chan∣ges hereafter, will be sensible how slippery Ground he stands upon, will consider the Uncertainties of Humane Life, will behave himself with Modesty and Moderation, will mind his own Business, and not concern himself with other People, to the giv∣ing them any Offence, or creating any Disturbance, and will undertake or aim at nothing too big for him. And were Men all thus disposed, what a Hea∣ven upon Earth should we have? Perfect Peace and Order and Justice every where. In short, the truest Glass we can consult, the most improving Book we can read, is Our own selves, provided we would but hold our Eyes open, and keep our Minds fixed with all due Attention upon it; so bringing to a close and distinct View, and watching every Feature, every Line, every Act and Motion of our Souls so narrowly, that none may escape us.

[unspec 5] But alas! this is the least of our Care, and the far∣thest thing in our Thoughts.* 1.14

* 1.15 Into himself none labours to descend.

And hence it is that we fall so low and so often. To this must be imputed our perpetual Relapses into the same Fault, without being ever touched with a Sense of our Errour, or troubling our selves at all about the matter. We play the fool egregiously, at our own vast Expence: For Difficulties in any case are never rightly understood, except by such as have measur'd their own Abilities. And indeed as a Man must thrust at a Door before he can be sure that it is shut against him; so there is some degree of Appli∣cation and good Sense necessary in order to the per∣ceiving the Defects of ones own Mind. And we cannot have a more infallible Demonstration of the universal Ignorance of Mankind than this, that e∣very body appears so gay, so forward, so under∣taking, so highly satisfy'd; and that none can be found, who at all question the Sufficiency of their own Understanding. For were we throughly ac∣quainted with our selves, we should manage our selves and our Affairs after quite another manner: We should be ashamed of our selves and our Con∣dition, and become a new kind of Creatures. He that is ignorant of his Failings, is in no pain to cor∣rect them; and he that knows not his Wants, takes no manner of care for Supplies; and he that feels not his Disease and his Misery, never thinks of repair∣ing the Breaches of his Constitution, or is solicitous for Physick.† 1.16 You must know your self before you can mend your self; the first Step to Health and Recovery, is the being sensible, that you need a Cure. And this very thing is our Unhappiness; that we think all is safe and well.

We are highly contented with our selves, and thus all our Miseries are doubled. Socrates was pronounc'd the wisest Man; not for any Excellencies of natural or acquir'd Parts, which render'd him superiour to all the World: But because he understood himself better, behaved himself with Modesty and Decen∣cy, and acted like a Man. Thus Socrates was a Prince among Men, as we commonly say, He that hath one Eye is a King among them that have none. Such as are doubly blind, and have no Sense at all left; (For so are the Generality of the World;) Nature makes them weak and wretched at first; but they make themselves doubly so afterwards, by their Pride and lofty Conceits of their own Sufficiency, and an absolute Insensibility of their Wants and their Miseries. The former of these Misfortunes Socrates shared as well as others; for he had his blind Side too: That is, he was a Man, and consequently had the same Allay of Infirmity and Misery with other Men: But here was the difference, that he knew he was but a Man: He consider'd his Con∣dition, and made no difficulty to acknowledge all the Imperfections of it; and therefore he dealt ho∣nestly and acted wisely; for he lived, and behaved himself as a Man should do. To this Purpose may that Reply be taken, which Truth it self made to the haughty Pharisees,* 1.17 who in Derision said unto him, What then? Are we blind also? If you were blind (says he) that is, if ye were sensible of your Blind∣ness, ye would see better; But because you say, we see, therefore ye remain stark-blind. For those who have an Opinion of their own good Sight, are really blind, and those who are conscious of their own Blindness, are the Men that see best. How wretch∣ed a Folly is it to degenerate into Beasts, by not consi∣dering carefully that we are Men?* 1.18 Since Nature hath made thee a Man, take care constantly to remember that thou

art such. We read, that several great Persons have order∣ed that their Attendants should often ring it in their Ears, That they were Men, intending that Admoniti∣on for a Curb to their Exorbitancies. And sure the Practice was admirable, if, as the Sound struck upon their Ears, the Consideration entred their Hearts too. What the Athenians said to Pompey the Great, was not much amiss, You are so far a God, as you acknowledge your self a Man. For thus much at least is beyond Contradiction, That the way to be an excellently good Man, is to be throughly possest with the sense of one's being a Man.

[unspec 6] Now this Knowledge of ones self (a thing by the way, very difficult to be attain'd,* 1.19 and scarce to be met with; as, on the contrary, the mistaking and passing wrong Judgments of one's self, is exceeding obvious and easie) This Knowledge, I say, is ne∣ver to be acquir'd by the help of others. My mean∣ing is; Not by comparing our selves with others, measuring by them, depending upon their Chara∣cters, or observing what Agreement or Disagree∣ment there is between our Practice and their Ex∣ample, so that a Man shall applaud or condemn himself, for doing or not doing as they do, or as they like or dislike.

* 1.20What the World says thou art, believe not true, This Credit only to thy self is due.

Nor indeed can we depend upon our own Word or Opinion in the case; For This oftentimes is short∣sighted; it discovers not all that is to be seen, and it makes a false Report of what it discovers; like a treacherous or a bribed Witness, that shuffles in his Evidence, and is afraid to speak out. Nor can we form a Judgment from any single Action; for this

may come from a Man without being intended, or so much as thought of; it may be a sudden Push upon an unusual pressing occasion; the Work of Necessity, or the Work of Chance; a lucky Hit, or a sudden Sally; and owing to Heat or Passion; to one, to all of these, to any thing indeed, ra∣ther than to the Man himself. And therefore we can fix no Character from a thing which is not of our own growth. One courageous Action no more proves a Man Brave, nor one Act of Justice Just, than the breadth and depth of a River, and the strength of its Current, is to be taken from a sud∣den accidental Flood, when all the neighbouring Brooks empty themselves into it, and swell it above its Banks. For thus there are Circumstances and Accidents in Humane Life too, which like strong Winds, and rapid Torrents, change our usual Course, and carry us beyond our selves; and this in so surprizing a manner, that Vice it self hath sometimes put Men upon doing very good things: So extremely nice a thing it is, to know Men tru∣ly. Again, We can learn nothing to purpose by all the outward Appendages of the Man; his Em∣ployments, Preferments, Honours, Riches, Birth, good Acceptance, and general Applause of great and common Men; no, nor yet by his Deport∣ment when he appears abroad; for there the Man plays in Check, stands upon his Guard, and eve∣ry Motion is with Reserve and Constraint. Fear, and Shame, and Ambition, and a thousand other Passions, put him upon playing the Part you see then acted. To know him throughly, you must follow him into his Closet, see him in the Tireing-Room, and in his every-day Garb. Alass! he is oftentimes quite another thing at Home, than what he appears in the Street, at Court, or upon the Exchange; one sort of Man to Strangers, and an∣other to his own Family. When he goes out

of his House, he dresses for the Stage, and the Farce begins; you can lay no stress upon what you see of him there. This is not the Man, but the Character he sets himself to maintain: And you will never know any thing of him, till you make a difference between the Person of the Come∣dian that plays, [unspec 7] and the Person represented by him.

The knowledge of a Man's self then is not to be compassed by any,* 1.21 or all of these four ways, nor can we relie upon, or make any sure Conclusions from them. The only way to arrive at it, is by a true, long, constant study of a Man's self; a seri∣ous and diligent Examination, such as shall observe and nicely weigh, not only his Words and Actions, but even his most secret Thoughts, (and that so critically, as to discern how they are first born, upon what they feed, and by what degrees they grow, the time of their Continuance, the manner and the frequency of their Returns upon him.) In short, no Motion of his Mind must escape his no∣tice; no, not his very Dreams: He must view himself near, must be eternally prying, handling, pressing, probing, nay pinching himself to the quick: For there are many Vices in us, that lurk close, and lie deep; and we know nothing of them because we do not take the pains to search far e∣nough, and ferret them out: As the venomous Ser∣pent while numm'd with cold, is handled safely, and stings not till he is warm'd. And further yet, when all this is done, a sense and acknowledg∣ment of particular Failings, and personal Faults, and an endeavour to mend them, will not do the business; but a Man must be convinced of his Weakness and Misery throughout, that every part of him is tainted with it; and from thence he must proceed to amend the whole, and make the Re∣formation equally general.

[unspec 8] To this purpose we will now apply our selves in the first Book of this Treatise, to consider and understand Man; by taking him in every sense,* 1.22 looking up∣on him in the several Prospects he is capable of; feeling his Pulse, sounding him to the bottom, go∣ing into him with Candles, searching and ransack∣ing every Hole and Corner, every Maze and La∣byrinth, every Closet and false Floor, and all the subtil Windings of his Hypocrisie. And all this Niceness little enough, God knows; for he is the cunningest and most dissembling, the closest and most disguised Creature alive, and indeed al∣most incapable of being perfectly known. Upon this account we will attempt the Considerati∣on of him under the Five Heads represented by the Table here annexed, which sets before you at one general View, the Substance and the Method of this First Book.

Five Conside∣rations of Man, and the Conditi∣on of Human Nature, taken as follows.

• I. Natural, consisting of the Parts where∣of he is compounded, with their se∣veral Appurtenances.
• II. Natural and Moral; by stating the Comparison between Him and Brutes.
• III. By giving a Summary Account of his Life.
• IV. A Moral Description of his Qualities and Defects, under Five Heads,
  • 1. Vanity.
  • 2. Weakness.
  • 3. Inconstancy.
  • 4. Misery.
  • 5. Presumption.
• V. Mixt of Na∣tural and Mo∣ral; resulting from the Dif∣ferences be∣tween some Men and o∣thers, in,
  • 1. Their Temper.
  • 2. Their Minds and Accomplishments.
  • 3. Their Stations and Degrees of Quality.
  • 4. Their Professions and Circumstances.
  • 5. Their advantages and disadvantages; and, these again either
    • Natural,
    • Acquired, or
    • Accidental.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The Di∣ctates of U∣niversal Reason.
• * 1.2

  Cujus vivere est cogitare.
• * 1.3

  Nosce teipsum!—nec te quaesiveris extrà. Respue quod non es.— Pers. Sat. 1.

  Tecum habita, & noris quam sit tibi curta supellex.

  Pers. Sat. 4.
• * 1.4

  Dryden.
• * 1.5

  Dryden.
• * 1.6

  Dryden. Eng. Pers.
• * 1.7

  —Tu te consule. Teipsum concute, nunquid vitiorum, Inseverit olim natura, aut etiam consuerudo mala.
• * 1.8

  A State leading to Divine Wisdom.
• † 1.9

  Mirabilis facta est scientia tua. i. e. tui ex me.
• * 1.10

  Psal 1 39.5.6.
• * 1.11

  Cant. 1.8.
• * 1.12

  〈…〉〈…〉 O pulcherrima, egredete. & abi post hoedos tuos.
• * 1.13

  It disposes Men to be wise.
• * 1.14

  Against those who know not themselves.
• * 1.15

  Nemo in sese rentat descendere.
• † 1.16

  Deprehendas te oportet priusquam emendas; sanitatis ini∣tium sentire sibi opus esse remedio.
• * 1.17

  Joh. 9.41.
• * 1.18

  Homo cùm sis, id fac semper intelligas.
• * 1.19

  Means of coming to the Know∣ledge of one's self. False ones.
• * 1.20

  Plus aliis de te quam tu tibi credere noli.
• * 1.21

  True ones.
• * 1.22

  The Divi∣sion of this First Book.