184 
to treat are, knowledge, virtue, and hap- 
piness, in connection with a life of retire- 
ment. 
Knowledge, the author considers, as 
‘embracing three objects: the knowledge 
of God, of ourselves, and of the world. 
‘The first, he thinks, may be best obtain- 
ed in retirement from the world, but not 
merely by the light of nature: the word 
of God must be studied with the aid of 
prayer. The next branch is the know- 
ledge of ourselves; or, in other words, 
the knowledge of our moral situation. 
In order to acquire this, “we must 
know,” our author remarks, “ the law 
of our creation, or the duties required of 
us, and our défection from that law; 
then we must learn in what degree we 
should conform to this law, in order to 
secure our present peace, and final hap- 
piness, and in what manner it is most 
usual for men to deceive themselves upon 
this subject.” In this pursuit, Mr. Bates 
deems it necessary that we should with- 
draw ourselves as much as possible from 
the contagion of error, but that in doing 
this a just medium should be observed ; 
since when seclusion from society is 
earried beyond certain limits, it tends to 
conceal a man from himself, in respect 
both of his vices and his virtues, his in- 
capacities and his abilities. 
«© Upon the whole it may appear, that re- 
tirement and society are suited to contribute 
in their turns to self-knowledge. The for- 
mer, as being peculiarly favourable to the 
investigation of truth, will supply us with 
higher standards by which to try ourselves ; 
while the latter is more likely (in some in- 
stances at least) to shew us our strength and 
weakness, and to detect those principles 
which lie deep and latent in the heart.— 
What proportion they should bear to each 
other for the attainment of the end here in 
view, must be left to every individual to de- 
termine for himself, after a due consideration 
of his particular constitution, his habits and 
his circumstances.” 
In a knowledge of the world, Mr. 
Bates comprises, first, the knowledge of 
its exterior, or of its visible manners, with 
the nature and forms of its business ; se- 
condly, the knowledge of its interior, or 
of its sécret principles, views, and dispo- 
sitions ; and lastly, of its va/ue, or of the 
rate we ought to set upon the various 
objects which it offers to our pursuit.’ 
As the manners ‘of Englishmen are not 
fixed and unalterable as those of the 
Orientals, the recluse is not’so well fitted 
to acquire a knowledge of them asthe man 
THEOLOGY AND ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. 
of the world ; but in what remains, Mr, 
Bates conceives he has just claims to sue 
periority ; since by attending to his own — 
heart, and diligently perusing the page 
of history, he may gain as great an in- — 
sight into the principles and views of the 
world, as by mixing in its busiest scenes. 
To know the value of the world, the re- 
tired man has abundant means; he can- — 
not fail to learn that it is transitory, 
unsatisfying, and dangerous; and this 
branch of the knowledge of the world, 
though attafned by few, is the most im- 
portant of all. - 
Under this head many very valuable — 
and impressive practical reflections oc- — 
cur. The following passage deserves — 
the serious consideration of those, who, — 
in order to gain, as they pretend, a _ 
knowledge of the world, ransack the — 
shelves of a circulating library. 
«« But of all the mirrors fabricated by the 
press, and held up to the public, there are 
none more common, or more fallacious, 
than those fictitious histories which go under — 
the name of novels and romances, where, — 
for the most part, the modesty of nature is — 
overstepped, where reason is degraded inta — 
sentiment, and where human language and — 
human manners are almost lost in rant, af- — 
fectation, and intrigue. When the world is — 
viewed in such representations it is scarcely 
to be known again ; instead of men and wos 
men soberly engaged in business or innocent 
society, we are presented with a race of bes 
ings who have withdrawn themselves into 
a region of their own, and whose days and 
nights are wasted in fantastic pursuits, sen-— 
timental babble, and mad extravagance. For 
any one to take his ideas from such exhibi- 
tions, would be no less an injustice to the 
world, than a disgrace to his own under — 
standing, 
** Among the many portentous evils that 
threaten both the present age and posterity, 
there are few which are more to be deplored — 
than the general diffusion of these visionary 
writings; for what can be more deplorable 
than that young persons, instead of being 
taught to consider the present life as a state 
of serious trial, where much is to be endur- 
ed and much to be forbsrne, should be 
flattered with the destructive imagination, 
that its great end is pleasure and amusement? 
What is more to ie Jamented, than that, 
by wrong principles early imbibed, the few 
days of man on ‘earth should fle embittered 
by perpetual disappointment, and at length 
terminated by a queralous and miserable old 
age, without any cheering prospect beyond 
the grave? This certainly is but ill to know 
the world even in point of present enjoy- 
ment, and to know it still Jess in its relation 
to the world to come.” ¢ 
The second part of this treatise consists 
