MAGAZINE. No. 28.] APRIL, 1813. [VOL. 3. ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE UNDERSTANDING. "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding." To the Editor of the Freethinking Christians' Magazine. SIR, ONCE NCE more I obtrude myself on your notice, in continuance of my former subject. It may, perhaps, be a dry one to many of your readers; but if the above sentiment be correct, its dryness will be lost in its impor tance. Another impediment to mental improvement is, confusion in study, or a want of method and arrangement. Some men are so confused in their mode of study, that although they read a great deal, and think a great deal, yet comparatively they know nothing; to-day they read Virgil, tomorrow Locke, and next day something as widely different from both; and so they go on, till, in the course of time, their heads become as full of incongruous scraps as Johnson's folio dictionary; or else they confuse their memories so much, and exercise them so little, that notwithstanding they wade through an immense number of books, yet they cannot remember, forty hours together, what they have been reading. These men would never advance in wisdom, if they were to live a thousand years, for although they collect a great deal of information, yet they lose it again; and one might as well pour water into a sieve, as to attempt to enlarge their understandings. They have no method in what they do, nor have they any distinct object before them: when they read, it is for amusement, and when they reason or reflect, it is only to drive away ennui. These are errors which too many are apt to fall into; we seem to think that the mind can be improved any how; that simply taking up a book to read, or joining in conversation, or writing an essay, or sitting down now and then to reflect, is quite sufficient for all the purposes of improvement; but when it is too late, time will discover the illusion, we shall then find that occasional exertions will answer no purpose. The human mind, to be well conducted, requires regulations and management as well as a family or a nation; it requires laws and restrictions, and a steady observance of them. A man should first determine what is the most important object he has in view, and having so determined, Let him never lose sight of it, but choose books that treat on it, and conversations that lead it. If he begins a course of reading, let him pursue it with a steady perseverance, nor suffer his attention to be taken off until he has finished what he began; for where is the use of beginning twenty books, and not reading one? If he wants to be master of the contents of a book, he must read it; and if he will not read it through, or at least so far as to see the drift and reasoning of the author, he had better let it entirely alone; for when men just dip into works, they frequently get hold of the wrong end of a story, and mistake and confound the meaning of the writer. Books should also be chosen and read in order, for if they be suffered to interfere one with the other, the associations of the mind are confused, and improperly united; and as one book is not usually sufficient to take a man through any branch of science or knowledge, let him, when he has determined on what he will pursue, get the best books he can that treat on that subject, and read them without allowing more than necessary delay or interruption. By this plan, all his ideas on that head will be regularly associ ated together, without any improper intrusion; and for the better assistance of his memory, it would be well perhaps for him to make extracts of all those ideas that are remarkbly pleasing, and well expressed; for the mind that is formed of select ideas may not be so extensive as one who grasps at all it can retain, but it is a much richer collection. A similar attention to order is equally necessary in all the exercises of the mind. If a man writes, let him first, by reflec tion, make himself master of his subject, and arrange it in proper order in his own mind: he will then be able to write clearly and concisely; so if he reflects, let him carefully examine every idea, one by one, as they present themselves, and having determined their nature, put each in its proper place; this may at first be difficult, but a little industry will soon make it easy. Those who have not practised it, are not aware of the pleasure they will then experience in looking into their minds, and finding all its ideas so well arranged, that they will be ready at all times to examine, with accuracy and precision, any point that may come before them for judgment. Order and economy in the use of time are also objects too material to be passed over. There is hardly any man that gives time its sufficient importance, because hardly any man thinks about its end. He who daily remembers that time has an end, and that he himself must shortly arrive at that end, will be inclined to make the best use he can of that which he' knows he must lose; but men never think about the end of time, and consequently they use it as though it were eternity. We forget that the great business of this life is to fit ourselves for the next, and that he who makes the best use of his time for that purpose, is in reality the best man. Every other object should be pursued only as subservient to this, and the moment we suffer ourselves to pass this line of demarcation, that moment we strike into a maze fatal to our present and future happiness. The only way to be fitted for the next state is to be virtuous in this; and the only way to be virtuous is to improve our understandings, and apply our knowledge to our actions. But we cannot have mental improvement without steady application; and the time which we can properly devote to this object, although fully sufficient, is yet so small, that one would think it would be seized with avidity, and used with all possible care. Such, however, is not the case, and this shews the corrupt judgment of mankind with regard to the proper objects of pursuit. The conduct of the world therefore must not be imitated; for if it is, they who do so will most assuredly do wrong. The leisure time which men in general have, they conceive to be designed for ease and recreation, which, by the bye, is often the most laborious of all their pursuits; and thus they spend in idleness and folly that which was really intended for the promotion of virtue and knowledge. This is an error that every lover of wisdom will study to correct. Time is the only staple property, that a man has ; if he uses it well, he will ultimately be rich in all that is worth having: but the moments pass by with such silent rapidity, that our calculations never keep pace with them, nor are we generally aware how much may be accomplished in a short time, when each minute is made to do its duty. A man, for instance, by devoting only one hour a day, may read through at least twenty-five full sized octavo volumes in one year! There are not many perhaps who read so many volumes even in the course of their whole life; and yet one hour's daily attention for one year, would bring a man thus far in this useful and salutary employment. : I know it will be urged as an excuse by many that they have not an hour a day to spare; this may very possibly be true, because some of their time is improperly occupied ; but could they not have it if they chose, without infringing on other duties? What if they were to rise one hour sooner in the morning, or retire to rest one hour later it is not likely their constitutions would be impaired by this detrac tion from the hours of rest, but most likely they would be improved, for mankind in general are more apt to indulge in this respect than otherwise. There are, without doubt, some exceptions; some who have not really a moment to spare from the pursuit of necessary duties; but these exceptions are not very frequent, and even then they are not wholly destitute of means of improvement; for it is not absolutely necessary that a man should read, in order to be virtuous, although it is a most desirable mode of obtaining information. Thus far at least we may venture to advance, that he who has it within the reach of possibility to find time for the improvement of his mind, and does not do it, neglects the most important duty incumbent on himthe consequences of which he will ere long experience to his sorrow. But there are many who have time, who are also aware that they have it, and who know the use to which it ought to be applied, and yet push off its proper exercise from day to day, telling themselves that they will soon begin in right earnest to get wisdom. "Of man's miraculous mistake this bears It is strange indeed that men should push off the acquirement of that which is absolutely necessary to their welfare, and which in a few years will be past acquiring. Surely the least degree of reflection would shew its impolicy: sooner or later wisdom must be acquired, and why not chuse the most favourable opportunity for beginning? Besides, if a man would make himself happy, he must make himself wise and virtuous; for there is nothing else in this world that will produce it; even the very employment of time, in the pursuit of wisdom is itself a pleasure. It is only the beginning that we dread-we don't like to set about what we know must be done, and we hold off from time to time, until it is too late to begin. This practice is extremely fatal in its consequences; for the promise which a man thus makes, that he will begin, prevents him from looking at the reasons why he should do so; and it is the want of contemplating these reasons, that causes a deficiency in that energy which is necessary to stimulate him to action. So that none are more likely never to begin, than those who promise themselves they will shortly do so. Time flies rapidly, and the life of man is so short and precarious, that he who puts off till to-morrow what may be done to-day, may never have a morrow to do it in. "Be wise to day, 'tis madness to defer. Inconstancy is also an impediment to the progress of wisdom, more so perhaps than we are generally aware. Addison observes, that, "irresolution in the schemes of life which offer to our choice, and inconstancy in pursuing them, are the greatest causes of all our unhappiness." This observation appears to be founded in the very nature of things; for if a man does not make up his mind as to what are the proper objects of pursuit, it is impossible he can make much progress in any; and if he have not constancy to follow up his resolutions, he may as well never resolve. The finest talents in the world, joined to the best opportunities of exercising them, will in this case avail him nothing; for what he resolves to-day he will to-morrow re-resolve; and what he performs the next day will be forgotten the day after. Thus he will go on doing and undoing, until he arrives at the end of life, where he will indeed find his infancy in old age. There are many inclinations which are naturally attendant on human nature; some of these are common to all men, others are confined to particular constitutions, and it is these natural and constitutional propensities that require our principal attention; for there is no difficulty in doing right when we have no inclination to do wrong; but when reason points one way, and disposition another, then it is that the vigour of the inental faculties is to be tried if they can in such cases command obedience to judgment, it is well; if not, that power of controul must be obtained, before the man can be uniformly either wise or good. Inconstancy is one of these propensities, and more or less it is common to all |