Aids to Self-Culture.

No. I.

THE possession of intellectual existence involves momentous responsibilities. Human power and human duty are co-ordinates. The capabilities of becoming and achieving, which are potentially inherent in humanity, present a just measurement of his obligations. The faculties with which man is endowed are the truest and best indices of what he may and ought to become, as well as of what he can and should achieve. Each individual of the human race has his part in the great “Life-Drama" to enact; and for this he must fit himself by culture. The full, free, equal, and just development of the whole general and special capacities of our nature, constitutes culture. Man is essentially a self-developing and spontaneously-active intelligence. Activity is the law of human life; and happiness is the result of obedience.

"Omission to do what is necessary

Seals a commission to a carte blanche of danger."

Duty is the great man's constant spur; and to live well is to be truly great. Although— "The ample proposition that hope makes

In all designs begun on earth below

Fails in the promised largeness,"

yet "joy's soul lies in the doing" of all that is wrapped up in that one grand word-Duty. "If," says Goethe, "we do our duty to our own minds, we shall soon come to do it to the world." Hence we believe that the primary and the most indispensable business of life is Self-Culture. "Persistive constancy" in that seldom fails to yield "peace of conscience," as well as the ability to aid in forwarding the happiness and brotherhood of man. A noble life can only result from noble aims nobly executed; and the lowliest born of human beings may thus more truly ennoble himself than by attaining all the tinselry of rank. Virtue is the only heraldry of heaven.

As man is situated, in his present state, some little development is necessarily forced upon him. This arises inevitably from the law of existence, which, in so far as relates to human beings, may be propounded under the following formula, viz.:-Man, while he retains all cognate and specific individual characteristics, constantly endeavours to assimilate all outward things to himself, and becomes himself, in part, assimilated to them. From this mutual action and reaction there results a gradual and progressive education of his various faculties, so far as opportunity is given for their manifestation and exercise. This culture, which is, as it were, forced upon man, and not self-originated, is never praiseworthy, and seldom greatly advantageous. Thus, to pass wind-piloted

"Adown the fretful tide of circumstance,"

and never tack a sail to reach a given point along the shore, is both unworthy and dishonourable; nay, it is even far from being worldly wise,

"For Emulation hath a thousand sons,

That one by one pursue; if you give way,
Or edge aside from the direct forthright,
Like to an entered tide, they all rush by,
And leave you hindmost."

E

To live, i. e., to be a fully developed and constantly energetic being, ought to be the great primary aim of all men. Everything else should be subordinate to that, or, rather, should be chosen and followed only as it is conducive to that. Life ought not to be one continued round of sweet sensations, selfish luxury, and dreamy gratification. For far other and different purposes was it granted us. It has higher and holier objects. As are the powers within us and the relationships which surround us, so are our duties. The relative happiness which man is capable of feeling depends upon the manner in which he exerts those powers and acts in these relationships. Self-Culture is the voluntary development of the individual powers of man in accordance with the laws of his being and the relationships which environ him. The subsequent pages are intended to be devoted to a consideration of the motives for Self-Culture, and the method by which it may be most successfully accomplished.

To avoid ambiguity and indistinctness, it will be advisable to remark here, that the culture of which we now speak is general, as opposed to specific and professional,—is the education of the whole nature and faculties of man, as differing from those particular acquisitions of skill and learning necessary for each in his respective avocation. Enjoyment is apportioned to human beings in the precise ratio of their individual culture and the manner in which they employ the talents thus educed. To each human power there exists a definite pleasure, specifically adapted to the perception which that power manifests. The keener the sensibilities, the more acute the judgment, the more delicate the taste, the more refined the moral feelings, the more subtle the intelligence, the loftier the religious instincts and aspirations, the purer and intenser are the gratifications which existence yields. How redolent of beauty and glory is the universe to the man of imagination—how full of lofty teaching to the scientific mind-how exquisitely attuned to sing its almighty Maker's praise to the pious and devout! The grace of art—the delicious rapture of music -the semi-divine influence of poesy-the adaptations of mechanic skill-the wonderful revelations of science-the delights of social converse-the abstruse yet sublime speculations of philosophy-the intense pleasure derived from duty conscientiously performed, and the enthusiastic thrill with which devotion fills the fervent soul-can only be duly appreciated by those who have had the several faculties to which these several productivities appeal-in whom culture has educed zest and developed keenly discriminative nicety of apprehension. To acquire the greatest possible amount of power of enjoyment is to lay up the best provision for a happy life. It must be recollected, however, that life is not exhausted in this single phase of being. We are believers in

"That head and mighty paramount of truths,

Immortal life in never-fading worlds."

Such a culture as confines itself to this poor, pitiable speck—the earth,—such sordid calculations as limit man's exertions to that which is presently profitable-such "circumscription and confine" as enchains all human aspirations within the petty circle of "the vain things of this world,"'—we desire to rise beyond, and to appeal to higher, loftier, and nobler conceptions. We anxiously and earnestly wish each one of our readers to say with Fleming, in "Hyperion,"-" Henceforth be mine a life of action and reality. I will work in my own sphere. Nor wish it other than it is. This alone is health and happiness. This alone is life.

'Life that shall send

A challenge to its end,

And when it comes, say-Welcome friend!'"

The culture which we desiderate for each human being is such as shall morally exalt, by teaching the love of the good, the pure, the honourable, and the just,-intellectually refine, by developing within him a love, a reverence, and an appreciation of truth, whether found in the "harmonious round" of external nature, the vortex of political or social life, or the inner and self-conscious soul by which truth is perceived,-esthetically quicken, by imparting a knowledge of the principles of taste, a ready and accurate relish for the beautiful, the decorous, and the sublime,—and religiously renovate, by the eduction of the ideas of God, Eternity, and Heaven-the expansion of Faith, Hope, and Love. This is a culture which in its comprehensiveness embraces the education and development of the entire personality, and is capable of fitting man for forming just notions of his own peculiar status in the universe of matter, the circles of social life, and among the immortal intelligences of creation. The essential universality of culture which would result from the coagency of these several activities, could not but tend to elevate humanity,-could not but increase immensely the pleasures and the extacies of intellectual existence. And yet in all this there is nothing attempted but the mere culture of man as man-the mere activization of the inherent faculties of the mind. Is it an Utopian dream to fancy that such development could be coextensive with the race? It may be; but what hinders each in his own sphere to aim at the accomplishment of so much of this culture as may be within the compass and range of his powers and circumstances? "Every man (to use again the words of Goethe) has his own success in his hand, just as the sculptor has the rough material which he intends to fashion into a statue. But it is with this art as with every other; capacity for it alone is born with us; to succeed in it, we must learn it and practise it."

Does any one ask the ever-reiterated query of our age, "Of what use is this culture which you so loudly laud?" We answer, in the language of Professor Young, "The use is to be realized in the mental satisfaction and the mental elevation it communicates. You do wrong to estimate culture solely and exclusively in proportion as it visibly contributes to our animal wants and enjoyments; there is an intellectual pleasure in the very process of acquiring knowledge, while the conscious possession of it raises the human being in the scale of creation, and thus enables him to contemplate its wonders from a more exalted position. . Study is productive of advantages to the student altogether distinct from the benefits conferred by its applications to the practical purposes of life; it invigorates and enlarges the faculties-refines and elevates the desires, and adorns and dignifies the whole character, withdrawing our minds from what is mean and degrading, and inclining them to the noblest and worthiest of objects-to the love and veneration, and therefore to the practice, of truth."

The educative capacity of the human race forms one of its chief distinctions. Not that we deny that the instincts of animals may be cultured and improved, any more than that the skill of the farmer and the gardener are inefficacious in improving vegetation; but we contend that there is a great and remarkable difference between the unerring instincts and the irresponsibility of the brute creation, and the errable and responsible being, man. Well

and truly has Fichte said, "Had it been the whole purpose of our existence here to produce any earthly condition of humanity, the thing required would have been some infallible mechanism by which our actions might have been invariably determined; we need have been no more than wheels fitted to such a machine; free agency would be not merely useless, but positively injurious, and our good intentions-our virtuous will-entirely superfluous. The world would seem, in such a case, most ill regulated, and the purposes of its existence to be attained by the most wasteful and circuitous methods. Had the divine Author of it, instead of bestowing upon us this freedom, so hard to be reconciled with the other parts of his plan, chosen rather to compel us to act in the manner most conformable to them, these ends might have been attained by a shorter method, as the humblest dwellers in this his world can see. But I am free; and therefore such a plan as would render freedom superfluous and purposeless cannot include my whole destiny. I am free; and it is not merely my action, but the free determination of my will to obey the voice of conscience, that decides all my worth." This free agency-this power of willing-demonstratively shows that man is a being whose highest culture results from his own will, and not from the animal instincts with which, in common with the lower creatures, he is gifted. From this the idea of human personality springs; and culture, as we have before remarked, is the genial and voluntary forthgrowth of the personal being-of each human nature per se. The selfhood of each individual chiefly requires culture.

"Life is real, life is earnest," is the burden of the "Psalm of Life." So many have been and are the sage reflections which men have made regarding "the brevity of human life,” and so little has been the practical result of them, that we can scarcely hold ourselves excusable in adding to their number. Yet we cannot forbear remarking, that when the portions of our life which necessity demands should be employed in maintaining the animal frame in healthy action; those, namely, which sleep, labour, &c., imperatively require— are subtracted from the sum total of our days,—when the hours requisite for recreation and friendly good offices are deducted from life's little span, the remainder is very small indeed. And this is all of life that is really ours-this is all the time granted us for the culture of those energies which are to enable us to act our part in the several combinations of circumstances amid which our lot is to be passed-for the discipline and training of the capacities which are lodged by the Eternal in every human soul-for the preparation of the mind to send forth its actions through the various phases of civilization—and to add its observations, experience, and example, as component elements, to the life-current of humanity.

Habits are the elements of practical action, and are the results of frequency of repetition. To acquire good habits is to gain the art of being happy. Habit originates in thought; but the more frequently the act follows the thought, the greater is the tendency acquired to act from habit than from thought. The greater prominence and importance the habit gains by frequency of practice, the less impression does the thought make on the mind. To start from noble thoughts, to act from noble aims, to be influenced at all times by virtuous motives, is essential to the consolidation of good habits, and consequently to the attainment of happiness. There are two species of habits-mental and physical. The latter is, however, the result of the former. Culture superintends the mind, and hence operates upon the initiatory elements of habit. To establish by culture habits of elevated

thought, moral reflection, industry, and self-control, and to increase the efficacy and readiness of these habits by exercise, cannot fail to be greatly advantageous to all, but especially to the young. The state in which we exist demands the possession of certain qualities as the conditions of success. We are only endowed with these qualities in a potential manner. It is our duty to mature and develope these qualities. Knowledge excites our curiosity, experience enlarges and corrects our knowledge, and habits render us fit for acting with instantaneous promptitude and readiness. The acquisition of good habits-of such habits as shall free us from the need of lengthy consideration before acting when emergencies occur-we proclaim as one of the great uses of self-culture.

As it is not our intention to reiterate what has already been said on this topic, we shall conclude the present paper by referring to a few of such books relating to the present paper, as ought to be upon the shelf of every one engaged in self-culture, viz:—

THE LIBRARY OF SELF-CULTURE.

On the general question-Fichte's "Vocation of the Scholar."

On the object of life, &c.-Todd's " Student's Manual."

On the nature and power of habit-Butler's "Analogy," Part I. chap. v.
On the process of culture-Locke's "Conduct of the Understanding."
Exeter Hall Lectures, 1853-4. II. J. B. Gough, Esq., "On Habit."

Our next paper shall be "On Reading;" and the succeeding article shall be a continuation of the present prelection, so far as regards "the means and method of self-culture."

Philosophy.

HAVE WE SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO PROVE THAT COMMUNICATIONS ARE NOW MADE TO MAN FROM A SPIRITUAL WORLD?

NEGATIVE ARTICLE.-I.

THE present age has often been charac- | of time, may have become polluted by acciterized as one that will take nothing for granted as one that must have everything analyzed as one that will at least prove all things, whether or not it hold fast that which is good. There is a great deal of truth in this description; and we must confess it does not greatly displease us. Where would be the wisdom of taking without proof that which we can put to the test, knowing, as we do, man's liability to error? If it is true that we may fall into error, it is as true that others may do the same. But here is the superiority of our own proof. The propounders of an opinion, or the instituters of a system, might be selfishly inclined and wish to deceive-we are in earnest. Their opinions, having meandered along the course

dent or by design-ours are fresh from the fountain. Our editors are, of course, thoroughly convinced of this, since a candid and philosophic examination of every subject that falls under their notice is the main design of their work. They know that though falsehood may often bruise the heel of truth, truth shall yet in time bruise the head of falsehood.

We propose, then, to take a wrestle with that proud Philistine-ignorance, clothed in the dubious garb of error, and we hope that if nothing of more importance engages the attention of the editors of this serial, they will kindly stand by and see "fair play."

We have a great desire to see the question now before us brought to a satisfactory con