The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1872-05-02
CHE Uribuue.
SELFHOOD.
No 1.-Self knowledge.
BY J. S. ANDERSON.

A great author tells US that ;he proper
study of mankind is man, Yet good
deal depends on which man we study. 1t
comes easy and natural to US to study our
nelghbors. We can more readily perceive
the mote in our neighbours eye than the
beam In our own.
He who studies mankind only through
his observation of others can learn but
little of human nature. He must dive
down into the depths of his own mind,
must weigh his own motives and impuls
es IN order that he may know the motives
and impulses of others.
1t is an absolute necessity that a man
should know himself and know himself
Intimately and well, so that he may take
his proper place in society so that be may
do that thing and fill that station in life
tor which he is hest adapted
:. Emerson in his address to the law stu,
dents of Howard University few weeks
ago advanced the proposition that each
man and woman who came into this
world was totally and radically different
from all others, that each had different
bias and adaptability 10 certain work from
all the rest, aud that each failed to fulfill
the destiny of his OF her life if they failed
to follow out to its end the natural bent
Of mind.
There is deep truth and significance
in this proposition. And yet when we
look around US, we are forced to the con-
clusion that to carry it out into practical
life is an impossibility. A very great
number of men mistake their adaptable
ty to the vocation they have chosen We
all can readily call to mind exampIesof men
who have left one vocation where they
did good work to follow another where
they arelbut botchers A good carpen-
ter leaves the bench to follow the profess
sion of law and becomes miserable pet
tifogger. A man who made good shoes
thinks the Lord has called him to preach.
He forthwith casts away his last. He
leaves his little daol and afterward finds
he must have overheard the Lord calling
somebody else. Men leap into callings
and professions without sufficient thought
and selfexamination. They do not look
ahead. They do not measure themselves
with Others. They do not put their
strength to the test Of battling against
adverse circumstances. They do not COM
pare the result of effort already made, with
the further effort necessary to reach the
desired goal.
How shall man know himself? Can
he ever see himself as others see him
ever know himself as others know him
Perhaps not precisely, and yet he may
know himself far better and with more
certainty. Not by the application of any
exact scientific rules, not by means of any
Phrenology. Phrenology can never shad-
ow forth the possibilities for good and
evil that exist in a man. Were it so, all
that would be necessary to know each
ones place and vocation is chart of his
skull by some expert.
Yet there is means of knowledge. In
each and every rational human being, is a
faculty by which he may take cognizance
of his emotions and mental processes.
BY Its means even man may learn of him.
self and be law unto himself
This faculty Of consciousness is co exten
siye with our knowledge Of external facts
aud by means Of it we can know and fix
our mental processes. Hence it serves as
as measure Of our mental power. By
it we can trace our thoughts and reason
ing upon outward things and by its aid
we can form judgments upon which to
base our actions. If we would become
speakers or writer's we must first become
thinkers, and not only have the power of
thought but also the power of cognizing
and fixing in the memory our thought
processes. The mind may leap to
a conclusion with such swiftness that we
do not know upon what reasoning it is
founded, and without statement of the
basis of our knowledge we cannot con-
sistently expect others to accept our con-
cusions
He who cultivates his consciousness
most, who most accustoms himself to
habits of reflection makes the most pro-
gress on the royal road to wisdom. He
becomes not merely man of knowledge
but man of thought.
To such a man all natural objects are
but so many starting points from which
his mind wings its flight upward.
He is the very opposite of that coarse
undeveloped mind of which W Wordsworth
speaks when he says:
"a cowslip by the rivers brim
yellow cowsp was to him
And it was nothing more"
To the thoughtful mind it would be
much more, how much more only that
mind itself could estimate.
Robert Burns could find in mountain
daisy, little homeless mouse, a wounded
hare and similar objects, opportunities for
the deepest, most philosophic thought,
little texts for great sermons on humanity
and kinship with nature.
Mere cognizance and memorizing of
facts whether scientific, historical or other
wise may give much knowledge but can
not confer;wisdom. Facts may be studied;
the thoughts of other men may be mast
cred but yet there may be no application
of them. Their owner may be simply
that often heard of thing-a walking die
tionary. Cowper mentions this distinction