An Author has three points to settle: to what sort his work belongs,
for what description of readers it is intended, and the specific end,
or object, which it is to answer. There is indeed a preliminary
question respecting the end which the writer himself has in view,
whether the number of purchasers, or the benefit of the readers. But
this may be safely passed by; since where the book itself or the known
principles of the writer do not supersede the question, there will
seldom be sufficient strength of character for good or for evil, to
afford much chance of its being either distinctly put or fairly
answered.
I shall proceed therefore to state as briefly as possible the
intentions of the present volume in reference to the three
first-mentioned points, viz. _What?_ For _Whom?_ and _For_ what?
I. WHAT? The answer is contained in the title-page.[3] It belongs to
the class of _didactic_ works. Consequently, those who neither wish
_instruction_ for themselves, nor assistance in instructing others,
have no interest in its contents. _Sis sus, sis Divus: sum caltha, et
non tibi spiro._
II. FOR WHOM? _Generally_, for as many in all classes as wish for aid
in disciplining their minds to habits of reflection--for all who,
desirous of building up a manly character in the light of distinct
consciousness, are content to study the principles of moral
architecture on the several grounds of prudence, morality, and
religion. And lastly, for all who feel an interest in the Position, I
have undertaken to defend--this, namely, that the CHRISTIAN FAITH (_in
which I include every article of belief and doctrine professed by the
first Reformers in common_)[4] IS THE PERFECTION OF HUMAN
INTELLIGENCE,--an interest sufficiently strong to insure a patient
attention to the arguments brought in its support.
But if I am to mention any particular class or description of readers,
that were prominent in my thought during the composition of the
volume, my reply must be; that it was _especially_ designed for the
studious Young at the close of their education or on their first
entrance into the duties of manhood and the rights of self-government.
And of these, again, in thought and wish I destined the work (the
latter and larger portion, at least) yet more particularly to Students
intended for the Ministry; _first_, as in duty bound, to the members
of our two Universities: _secondly_, (but only in respect of this
mental precedency _second_) to all alike of whatever name, who have
dedicated their future lives to the cultivation of their race, as
Pastors, Preachers, Missionaries, or Instructors of Youth.
III. FOR WHAT? The worth of an author is estimated by the ends, the
attainment of which he proposed to himself by the particular work;
while the value of the work depends on its fitness, as the Means. The
objects of the present volume are the following, arranged in the order
of their comparative importance.
1. To direct the reader's attention to the value of the Science of
Words, their use and abuse (see _Note, p. 5_) and the incalculable
advantages attached to the habit of using them appropriately, and with
a distinct knowledge of their primary, derivative, and metaphorical
senses. And in furtherance of this Object I have neglected no occasion
of enforcing the maxim, that to expose a sophism and to detect the
equivocal or double meaning of a word is, in the great majority of
cases, one and the same thing. Horne Tooke entitled his celebrated
work, "Επεα πτεροεντα, Winged Words": or Language, not only the
_Vehicle_ of Thought but the _Wheels_. With my convictions and views,
for πεα I should substitute λογοι, that is, Words _select_ and
_determinate_, and for πτεροεντα ζωοντες, that is, _living_ Words.
The _Wheels_ of the Intellect I admit them to be; but such as Ezekiel
beheld in _the visions of God_ as he sate among the captives by the
river of Chebar. _Whithersoever the Spirit was to go, the wheels went,
and thither was their Spirit to go: for the Spirit of the living
creature was in the wheels also._
2. To establish the _distinct_ characters of Prudence, Morality, and
Religion: and to impress the conviction, that though the second
requires the first, and the third contains and supposes both the
former; yet still Moral Goodness is other and more than Prudence, or
the Principle of Expediency; and Religion more and higher than
Morality. For this distinction the better schools even of Pagan
Philosophy contended. (_See pp. 20, 21._)
3. To substantiate and set forth at large the momentous distinction
between Reason and Understanding. Whatever is achievable by the
Understanding for the purposes of worldly interest, private or public,
has in the present age been pursued with an activity and a success
beyond all former experience, and to an extent which equally demands
my admiration and excites my wonder. But likewise it is, and long has
been, my conviction, that in no age since the first dawning of Science
and Philosophy in this island have the truths, interests, and studies
that especially belong to the Reason, contemplative or practical, sunk
into such utter neglect, not to say contempt, as during the last
century. It is therefore one main object of this volume to establish
the position, that whoever transfers to the Understanding the primacy
due to the Reason, loses the one and spoils the other.
4. To exhibit a full and consistent Scheme of the Christian
Dispensation, and more largely of all the _peculiar_ doctrines of the
Christian Faith; and to answer all the objections to the same, which
do not originate in a corrupt Will rather than an erring Judgment; and
to do this in a manner intelligible for all who, possessing the
ordinary advantages of education, do in good earnest desire to form
their religious creed in the light of their own convictions, and to
have a reason for the faith which they profess. There are indeed
Mysteries, in evidence of which no reasons can be brought. But it has
been my endeavour to show, that the true solution of this problem is,
that these Mysteries _are_ Reason, Reason in its highest form of
Self-affirmation.
Such are the special Objects of these "Aids to Reflection." Concerning
the general character of the work, let me be permitted to add the few
following sentences. St. Augustine, in one of his Sermons, discoursing
on a high point of theology, tells his auditors--_Sic accipite, ut
mereamini intelligere. Fides enim debet præcedere intellectum, ut
sit intellectus fidei præmium._ Now without a certain portion of
gratuitous and (as it were) _experimentative_ faith in the writer, a
reader will scarcely give that degree of continued attention, without
which no _didactic_ work worth reading can be read to any wise or
profitable purpose. In _this_ sense, therefore, and to _this_ extent,
_every_ author, who is competent to the office he has undertaken, may
without arrogance repeat St. Augustine's words in his own right, and
advance a similar claim on similar grounds. But I venture no further
than to imitate the sentiment at a humble distance, by avowing my
belief that he who seeks _instruction_ in the following pages, will
not fail to find _entertainment_ likewise; but that whoever seeks
entertainment only will find neither.
READER!--You have been bred in a land abounding with men, able in
arts, learning, and knowledges manifold, this man in one, this in
another, few in many, none in all. But there is one art, of which
every man should be master, the art of REFLECTION. If you are not a
_thinking_ man, to what purpose are you a _man_ at all? In like
manner, there is one knowledge, which it is every man's interest and
duty to acquire, namely, SELF-KNOWLEDGE: or to what end was man alone,
of all animals, endued by the Creator with the faculty of
_self-consciousness_? Truly said the Pagan moralist, _e cælo
descendit_, Γνωθι σεαυτον.
But you are likewise born in a CHRISTIAN land: and Revelation has
provided for you new subjects for reflection, and new treasures of
knowledge, never to be unlocked by him who remains self-ignorant.
Self-knowledge is the key to this casket; and by reflection alone can
it be obtained. Reflect on your own thoughts, actions, circumstances,
and--which will be of especial aid to you in forming a _habit_ of
reflection,--accustom yourself to reflect on the words you use, hear,
or read, their birth, derivation and history. For if words are not
THINGS, they are LIVING POWERS, by which the things of most importance
to mankind are actuated, combined, and humanized. Finally, by
reflection you may draw from the fleeting facts of your worldly trade,
art, or profession, a science permanent as your immortal soul; and
make even these subsidiary and preparative to the reception of
spiritual truth, "doing as the dyers do, who having first dipt their
silks in colours of less value, then give them the last tincture of
crimson in grain."
[ADVERTISEMENT.[5]--In the bodies of several species of animals there
are found certain parts of which neither the office, the functions,
nor the relations could be ascertained by the Comparative Anatomist
till he had become acquainted with the state of the animal before
birth. Something sufficiently like this (for the purpose of an
illustration at least) applies to the work here offered to the public.
In the introductory portion there occur several passages, which the
reader will be puzzled to decipher, without some information
respecting the original design of the volume, and the changes it has
undergone during its immature and embryonic state. On this account
only, I think myself bound to make it known, that the work was begun
as a mere selection from the Writings of Archbishop Leighton, under
the usual title of "The Beauties of Archbishop Leighton," with a few
notes and a biographical preface by the Selector. Hence the term
_Editor_, subscribed to the notes, and prefixed, alone or conjointly
to the Aphorisms, according as the passage was written entirely by
myself, or only modified and (_avowedly_) interpolated.[6] I continued
the use of the word on the plea of uniformity; though, like most other
deviations from propriety of language, it would, probably, have been a
wiser choice to have omitted or exchanged it. The various Reflections,
however, that pressed on me while I was considering the motives for
selecting this or that passage; the desire for enforcing, and as it
were entegrating, the truths contained in the original author, by
adding those which the words suggested or recalled to my own mind; the
conversations with men of eminence in the literary and religious
circles, occasioned by the objects which I had in view; and, lastly,
the increasing disproportion of the Commentary to the Text, and the
too marked difference in the frame, character, and colours of the two
styles; soon induced me to recognize and adopt a revolution in my plan
and object, which had in fact actually taken place without my
intention, and almost unawares. It would indeed be more correct to
say, that the present volume owed its accidental origin to the
intention of compiling one of a different description than to speak of
it as the same work. It is not a change in the child, but a
changeling.
Still, however, the selections from Leighton, which will be found in
the Prudential and Moral sections of this work, and which I could
retain consistently with its present form and matter, will both from
the intrinsic excellence and from the characteristic beauty of the
passages, suffice to answer two prominent purposes of the original
plan, that of placing in a clear light the principle which pervades
all Leighton's writings--his sublime view, I mean, of Religion and
Morality as the means of reforming the human Soul in the Divine Image
(_Idea_); and that of exciting an interest in the works, and an
affectionate reverence for the name and memory of this severely tried
and truly primitive Churchman.