/ 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 A LECTURE 
 
 BY THE REV. 
 
 ALEX. M. POLLOCK, 
 
 A. M., 
 
 CHAPLAIN OF THE MAGDALEN ASYLUM, 
 
 LEESON-STREET. 
 
 Published under the sanction of the Committee of The Dublin 
 Young Men’s Christian Association in connexion with the United 
 Church of England and Ireland. 
 
 DUBLIN : 
 
 HODGES, SMITH, AND CO., 104, GRAFTON-STREET, 
 
 BOOKSELLERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 
 REEPENCE. 
 
THE 
 
 jjttMin jtag Ubns Christian ^ssodatmit 
 
 IN CONNEXION WITH 
 
 THE UNITED CHUECH OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 
 
 patron— His GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN. 
 LECTURES, 1860-61. 
 
 1860. 
 
 December .5+h — 44 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Youth.” 
 
 Ven. JOHN GREGG, D. D., Archdeacon of Kildare. 
 
 1861. 
 
 January 11th — 44 The City of Rome and its Vicissitudes . ’ 
 
 Right Hon. JAMES WHITESIDE, Q. C., LL. D., M.P. 
 
 February 6th — 4 4 Self-Formation. ” 
 
 Rev. ALEXANDER M. POLLOCK, A. M. 
 
 March 6th — 44 Sketches from Life.” 
 
 Rev. NORMAN M‘LEQD, D. D., Glasgow. 
 
 April 3rd — 4 4 The Association of Ideas, and its Influence on 
 the Training of the Mind.” 
 
 Rev. JAMES M‘C0SH, LL. D., Queen’s College, Belfast. 
 
 May 1st — 44 Arctic Voyages, and their Effect in Developing 
 the Finest Qualities of the Seaman.” 
 
 Rev. S. HAUGHTQN, F. T. C. D., 
 
 Professor of Geology in the University of Dublin. 
 
 June 5th — 44 Popular Lectures and General Preaching.” 
 
 Rev. WILLIAM ALEXANDER, A. M,, Rector of Camus- 
 juxta-Mourne. 
 
Sjelf- Jf0tmali0iT : 
 
 Jl %ttkn 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REY. ALEXANDER M. POLLOCK, A.M., 
 
 orfjaplatn of tfje ijRag&alen 5aspXunt, ILeesotustreet : 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 DUBLIN YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
 
 IN CONNEXION WITH THE 
 
 UNITED CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 ROTUNDO, FEBRUARY the 6th, 186], 
 
 THE REY. S. BUTCHER, D.D., 
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY, TRINITY COLLEGE. 
 
 IN THE CHAIR. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/selfformationlecOOpoll 
 

 n\ 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, 
 
 Our subject to-night is Self-Formation. And a greater 
 or a nobler one we could scarcely have. Topics might readily 
 be found which would give wider room for the play of the ima- 
 gination, or which would tax more severely the powers of the 
 understanding. But this that comes before us has an attraction 
 of its own. It is pre-eminently practical, personal, of direct and 
 immediate interest to every individual, whether he be, or be 
 not, gifted with the faculty of fancy, or the talent necessary 
 for entering into profound disquisitions. Furthermore, it leads 
 to the consideration of some of the greatest and most funda- 
 mental principles belonging to human nature and governing 
 human life — principles which are vital to our well-being, and 
 lie at the root of all true existence and all healthful progress. 
 
 Man was evidently made to go forward — to rise in the 
 scale of being. The very possession of life itself implies 
 progress. This is true in a certain sense of all life, even the 
 merely physical : but when we come to make account of man , 
 a being who is “not like the horse or mule which have no 
 understanding,” then, indeed, the thought becomes invested 
 with not only a great but a most solemn emphasis/ Perhaps in 
 the future world we shall be shown the limits beyond which we 
 
 A 2 
 
4 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 were incapable of improvement during our present course of 
 probation and of education ; but just now these limits seem 
 almost undiscoverable. Life, I say, and progress are insepa- 
 rably linked together. The stone is dead, and it consequently 
 lies unmoving, unimproving in its earthy sepulchre : the only 
 change it shows is, when raised from the quarry and exposed 
 to the breezes and the frosts, the disintegrating properties of 
 the atmosphere work upon it, breaking it up and crumbling it 
 into sand or dust. But plant the tree, and if it live at all, 
 its effort will be to send out roots and branches — roots below, 
 that will fix it firmly in the soil, and moor it so strongly in 
 its position that it can defy the storm; and branches above, 
 to form a canopy of shadow, and to enrich the landscape. 
 Just so wherever there is life. It cannot and will not stagnate. 
 Stagnation is equivalent to death. Mark the wayside pond, 
 and contrast it with the mountain river. The water in the 
 one is silent, calm, and perhaps fresh at first: but no stream 
 Hows into it nor out of it ; and soon the filthy weeds cover it 
 with their rank floating leaves, and the putrid gas is generated 
 which fits it for the abode of noisome creatures, the horse- 
 leech and the newt. The water of the other is never at rest. 
 It rushes headlong over its rough glittering bed. It sports 
 merrily, seeming to repeat and thank, in a thousand bright 
 sparkles, the sunbeam that shows its beautiful transparency ; 
 and all the while it is possibly doing good too, as it moves 
 along, turning the miller’s wheel, or washing far away into 
 the sea the impurities of some great city. 
 
 Thus man was intended not to sit still but to advance: 
 and God has indicated this to us by the simple fact of His 
 having “ breathed into our nostrils the breath of life,” and 
 formed each of us a 66 living soul.” 
 
 Now there are two ways in which man may attempt to 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 5 
 
 fulfil this law of his being : — the one is by help derived 6i ab 
 extra the other is by energy brought into play u ab intra” 
 The former depend for their progress upon others ; the latter 
 owe it mainly to themselves. A certain class of persons exist 
 in the world who do undoubtedly get on in some degree — 
 never very far indeed, but still the advance is perceptible. 
 If you observe them, however, you will find that they are 
 indebted, almost altogether, for any advance they may make 
 to assistance furnished “ ab extra.” They remind us of those 
 parasite vegetables which we frequently meet with. The 
 misleto is very healthy, and its leaves and stems are full of 
 sap ; its berries also seem to have secreted so much of the 
 clammy juice that their skins are on the point of bursting. 
 But while we admire the vigorous growth of the dark green 
 shoots, let us. not forget that every drop of the sap which 
 swells these fat leaves and rounds these berries, is so much 
 of the life blood of another tree drawn from it. Plant the 
 mistleto itself in the earth where it must fight on its own 
 account : it makes no attempt to grow : it perishes : it can 
 live only by eating out another life. But bury the brave 
 acorn under the sod, and in a year or two you find the 
 grassy surface perforated by a hardy twig. While coming 
 into life, it has asked no care at your hands ; and its only 
 petition now is to be let alone. Keep the browsing cattle off 
 — above all keep off the donkeys and the goats ; and, if you 
 give it time enough, and room enough, it will rise to be the 
 king of the forest. 
 
 You may find examples of the class of our fellow creatures 
 I now refer to very commonly in the world. They flock 
 into view whenever a situation or place of easy profit and 
 slight employment happens to be in want of a person to fill 
 it. Such persons are perfectly voracious for letters of re- 
 commendation, and indefatigable in their applications to this 
 
6 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 and the other member of the board at whose disposal the 
 place lies. Their petition is, that you will u interest yourself 
 personally in their favour” ; which accredited form of expres- 
 sion really means, that in some way or another they shall 
 be put into the place through private and partial influence. 
 Their idea of justice and friendship is, not that a man should 
 be got for the place, but a place should be got for the man, 
 whether he be fitted for it or not. Hence the clamour for 
 these recommendatory letters — the refusal of such a docu- 
 ment being considered a personal affront and act of down- 
 right cruelty. The poor feeble creature cannot recommend 
 himself : therefore you must do it for him. He or she 
 lives essentially the parasitic life ; and the whole catalogue of 
 their acquaintance is ransacked, in order that they may be so 
 posted that they may themselves be “ made comfortable” — -in 
 other words that they may feed on the society or institution in 
 question, sucking out its substance, and putting as much of 
 that substance as is possible into their own frying pan or tea 
 kettle ! I might readily give other illustrations. Few are 
 unaware of the manner in which stupid youths are occasionally 
 worked up in our public schools to pass an examination. By 
 nature they are very lean ; but when the time for being 
 examined comes, they look as if they were very fat : how 
 so? because they have been u crammed” (so runs the phrase) 
 — which process of mental cramming ordinarily operates like 
 that other process of which domestic fowls are the subjects, 
 and from which the name is derived — it induces a diseased 
 condition of the biliary organs, and an entire disrelish for 
 all kinds of natural food for a long time afterwards ! And, 
 in this instance, if I mistake not, the parallelism between the 
 physical, and the intellectual or social life, is very instruc- 
 tive: for a bird or beast brought forward to a state of 
 preternatural perfection by the unnatural process 1 have 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 7 
 
 referred to, will quickly, if left to itself, sicken and pine and 
 die. 
 
 So much for that system of progress which relies upon 
 external help. 
 
 But there is another road to the same end, and the mention 
 of it introduces at once the subject for our consideration to- 
 night. We are to speak not only of Formation , but of Self- 
 Formation. Here the individual sets to the work of 
 “ making himself” — boldly, perseveringly. His ambition is to 
 walk alone, and to be his own tutor : and it is a lofty and 
 manly ambition — worthy of a young fellow of strength and 
 nerve and sinew and determination. He wishes to throw 
 away the crutches as soon as possible, and to forsake the 
 apron strings the very moment that he finds his head steady 
 enough to guide him without their aid. Not that such a 
 desire or ambition at all implies a disregard of, or proud con- 
 tempt for. all legitimate help which may be within reach : but 
 it does mean that he so utilizes the help, that his own exertion, 
 and not the help, is what carries him through. 
 
 And, allow me to say that the reason of my choosing this 
 subject as that on which I would wish to address you, was not 
 only its own intrinsic importance, but the special and parti- 
 cular applicability of it to such voluntary associations for 
 mutual improvement as that which has called us together to- 
 night. For here the members meet for other purposes besides 
 that of hearing lectures or being brought forward in knowledge 
 through the assistance of elder friends presiding at their meet- 
 ings. No: self-reliance, and mutual improvement, looking 
 for the Divine guidance in all things — these are the funda- 
 mental principles of such Institutions as ours. In truth we may 
 say that our object is defined in the one word, Self-Formation. 
 This is our characteristic. Each one for himself uses the 
 
8 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 library : Each one selects his own companions : Each one acts 
 as an individual, though he be enrolled in the congregate 
 body. Our design and purpose is just that stated so truly 
 and beautifully by St. Paul when he wrote (Eph. iv. 14.) 
 “ That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, 
 and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of 
 men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive ; 
 but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all 
 things, which is the head, even Christ : from whom the whole 
 body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every 
 joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the mea- 
 sure of every part, maketh increase of the body to the edifying 
 of itself in love.” 
 
 And this reminds us of that which is one of the highest 
 privileges of the British Christian, I mean freedom in the in- 
 terchange of thought. We are cramped by no restrictions on 
 our press. Nor in our social gatherings are we embarrassed 
 with the fear of any police espionage being present, destroying 
 mutual confidence, and making us speak with bated breath. 
 We are free ! Thank God and the Gospel for it : and let 
 every one who hears me carry away a grateful recollection of 
 the fact, that except the constitution of our country was founded 
 upon the basis of that Word of Truth which makes us free, such 
 an Institution as this of yours would be both unprofitable and 
 impossible. Every member of it would be in hourly danger 
 of being brought before some inquisitorial tribunal to answer 
 for his conduct ; nay, to give account of, or to suffer for, some 
 of his most casual expressions ! Oh ! how much more have 
 we to praise God for in the possession of the Bible, than we 
 ordinarily make reckoning of. The train of thought is invit- 
 ing and might readily be carried out at length till we felt 
 ourselves, on the one hand, burning with indignation at the 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 9 
 
 injustice of other lands, and, on the other, ready passionately 
 to exclaim, u What shall I render unto the Lord for all the 
 benefits which He hath done unto me.” 
 
 This has been a slight digression : we return from it. 
 
 Such a subject as “ Self Formation” leads at once to many 
 most important and interesting enquiries. Let the first of 
 these to which we shall attend be 
 
 I. How is it to be set about ? And in reply we would counsel 
 all who desire to engage in this work successfully, to estimate 
 carefully three things : — the difficulties that are to be encoun- 
 tered : the powers which lie at our command for surmounting 
 them : and the opportunities you possess for using these powers. 
 
 (a). The difficulties of the work. These are not slight, and it 
 becomes us to look them in the face steadily and resolutely. 
 For example (and this must never be lost sight of ) we inherit 
 from our birth an evil and depraved nature. Eeally high and 
 noble aims or intentions are not natural to man. I say really 
 high and noble aims. For we find many aims and objects 
 proposed to themselves by irreligious people which look very 
 lofty and elevated, until they are brought to the standard of 
 true nobility and virtue. Thus, one will resolve that by in- 
 dustry and application he will rise in the social scale till he 
 have made for himself a name and a fortune in the walks of 
 commercial life. Another will enter the army, his heart 
 beating high with chivalrous feelings and with the thirst for 
 military fame. A third will set himself doggedly to the drud- 
 gery of a professional education, in love with the dust, and the 
 red tape, and the calf-skin volumes, because he has before him 
 some very dim and distant idea of perhaps one day ascertain- 
 ing by personal experience how comfortable the woolsack is, 
 or how becoming a silk gown would be draping his shoulders. 
 Now people call these noble and worthy aims ; and so they 
 
10 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 are if we consider them simply in contrast with those many 
 base purposes to which youth’s fine powers are often prosti- 
 tuted ; and they are so too, if we consider man only as a piece 
 of vitalized and rationalized clay. But surely we have a 
 grander element belonging to our existence than the mere 
 flesh and blood which we have to clothe and feed, or even 
 that wondrous thinking mind which directs us in our varied 
 pursuits ! Each of us is endowed with a moral and spiritual 
 principle — an eternal principle, a being which will live for 
 ever on and on, after the poor body has turned again to 
 its parent dust, and the brain has ceased to receive or to 
 convey one thought. Therefore, surely we cannot call that 
 pursuit high or noble which does not aim continually at 
 the preparation of our undying self for our deathless destiny ! 
 Would you have fulfilled the purpose of your being should 
 you amass riches enough to buy an empire ? — or, should your 
 intellect succeed in exploring the wondrous problems of 
 science until you had, as it were, laid all nature bare at your 
 feet, would you then be justified in resting content as if you 
 had accomplished all required from you, or of which you are 
 capable? Ah! no. When all that was done, and you had rea- 
 son to feel that the u other thing ” had been left undone, you 
 should rather be torn with remorse that your life had been 
 spent not on Self-formation, but on perfecting a deformity ! 
 While therefore you seek to become Wealthier, seek always to 
 become Better too. While you labour after Knowledge, 
 labour likewise after Goodness. While you strive to rise to 
 Eminence, strive at the same time to rise in Virtue. Bear in 
 mind that you have been both created for and called to, not 
 a corruptible, but an incorruptible inheritance — created and 
 called to take your place at last at the right hand of God — to 
 be put in possession of that wealth and that dignity and that 
 light, in comparison with which all the gold of the earth is 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 11 
 
 dross, and all the honours of earth are tinsel, and all the 
 knowledge of earth is but as the ignorance of the clown or the 
 stammerings of the babe ! 
 
 Now it is in the prosecution of this part of self-education 
 that the power of our evil nature makes itself felt. A young 
 man may prove a capital officer without knowing much 
 about it, or paying any regard to it. And so may he become 
 an able lawyer, or an expert surgeon, or an admirable man 
 of business, and never experience the least uneasiness on this 
 score. But there is one thing which he can never rise to, 
 namely, the dignity of the elevated Christian — the true noble- 
 man of the world, the heir of glory. This is a crown 
 which is only to be gained by fighting for it ; and to fight 
 successfully we must know our enemy. Hence our very 
 earliest advice would be, “ take unto you the whole armour 
 of God, whereby ye shall be able to withstand in each evil 
 day, and having done all to stand. Let the cincture of truth 
 gird your loins ; let the breastplate of righteousness defend 
 your heart ; let the Gospel of peace guard your feet against 
 the thorns and ruggedness of the road ; carry on your left 
 arm the shield of faith ; place upon your head for an helmet 
 the hope of salvation ; and have drawn in your right hand 
 the Holy Spirit’s two-edged sword : and, if thus equipped, 
 you go forth in the spirit of prayer, you have nothing to 
 fear ; you will prove more than conquerors through Him who 
 loved you ! 
 
 Thus would I dispose at once of a difficulty which, as some 
 have thought, embarrasses our present question. They have 
 feared, lest in speaking much upon the importance of self- 
 help, we should lead the young especially, to forget the abso- 
 lute necessity of our relying on Divine help for all success in 
 the work of our mental or spiritual culture. Most perfectly 
 am I convinced that man can do nothing truly great or good, 
 
12 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 except so far as the Almighty blesses him and enables him. 
 But, I believe just as firmly, that man mistakes his position 
 wofully, unless he regards himself as a fellow-worker with 
 God. In a certain sense I admire and applaud the feeling of 
 those who raise the objection just mentioned. It indicates a 
 high and holy jealousy for the doctrines of the blessed Gospel ; 
 it is the expression of that anxiety which belongs to every 
 heavenly-minded believer, that the spirit of a secularizing 
 age should meet with no encouragement at the hands of pro- 
 fessing Christians. But I am not in the least deterred by it. 
 My faith is not to paralyse my exertions, but rather to give 
 them a fresher, because a more holy, fire. I am certainly 
 not stopped from labouring, because I have learned the grand 
 truth that “it is God which worketh in me, both to will and 
 to do of His good pleasure.” 
 
 Another difficulty which many find exceedingly embarass- 
 ing when entering on the work of self-formation is that they 
 have begun to think about it rather too late in life . Possibly 
 they have chosen irrevocably their path and occupation in 
 the world: it cannot now be changed, and it may have a 
 powerful influence in moulding and shaping their characters. 
 Possibly, also, habits have been formed which it is exceed- 
 ingly difficult to get rid of or even to modify. Were they 
 young again they would take (so they thinkj better care so 
 as not to fall into these ways. Permit an illustration or two 
 from vices not of the worst order. One person has got into 
 the habit of dining late, and falling asleep immediately after- 
 wards, only waking up at tea-time, and even then enjoying 
 so short a lucid interval, that he has hardly partaken of the 
 cup “ which cheers but not inebriates,” before he begins to 
 look over towards the side-table to see whether the bed-room 
 candles have been brought up, for already he has got visions 
 of night caps before his eyes. “Well,” he says, “I wish I 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 13 
 
 were less drowsy of an evening ; but then its a habit I have 
 fallen into, and so I suppose I must put up with it.” Such 
 an one, if he would be a u self-educator,” feels that this 
 stereotyped indulgence interferes most tremenduously with 
 those few spare quiet hours he has to give to the improve- 
 ment of his mind. And on Sundays it is fatal, so that he 
 rarely or never even attempts evening church. He pleads as 
 his excuse, “ I really cannot keep awake !” and in truth it is 
 the dinner which is the radical cause of the entire. The cook 
 is the one who spoils the congregation. I wish I could get 
 all our fashionable cooks together, and I would deliver them 
 a lecture on the subject of late Sunday dinners, and incite 
 them to rise en masse and rebel against a regulation which to- 
 tally deprives themselves, and most of their fellow-servants, 
 of the enjoyment of at least the latter portion of every day 
 of worship, and which so powerfully tends to lead to the belief 
 (by their masters and mistress’s example) that Isaiah really 
 meant nothing when he spoke against the sin of our u doing 
 our pleasure on God’s holy day.”* Here is another who 
 has got a habit of saying sarcastic things. He is not con- 
 stitutionally ill-natured ; but then, possessing naturally, it 
 may be, a vein of humour and a perception of the ludicrous, 
 he cannot refrain from taking a hit whenever an occasion for 
 doing so presents itself ; and this occurs so frequently, that at 
 length he comes with regret to find that he is dreaded and 
 avoided, just as you would avoid a cat that had got the habit 
 of scratching — all in good humour, of course ! A third has 
 so addicted himself to light reading, that anything of the 
 more solid order is felt to be a positive drudgery. And there 
 are a variety of other habits, which, when once contracted, 
 are very difficult to shake off. 
 
 Isaiah, lyiii. 13. 
 
14 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 But now, let it never be said that these should be accounted 
 as insuperable barriers in the way of self-formation. They 
 may make the task more arduous than it would be if they 
 were not there. But, I do believe, that by the exercise of a 
 manly controul, and through the grace of God, an individual 
 may subdue any and all of these so called tyrants. Rest 
 assured, however, that the longer the struggle is put off, the 
 harder will become the battle ; and that the sooner it is com- 
 menced, the easier will be the victory. Habit is simply the 
 result of repeated acts, therefore the oftener the acts are 
 repeated the deeper root the habit takes. I have seen lec- 
 tures to young men with this title — u The Tyranny of Habit.” 
 I never took the trouble of reading them, the title was 
 quite enough : it involves an absurdity. Habit may be a 
 tyrant, but is not necessarily so. It is possible to form 
 habits of virtue and of goodness that will be the solace 
 of your life and the joy of your days. “It is a beautiful 
 arrangement in the mental and moral economy of our 
 nature, that that which is at first performed as a duty, may, 
 by frequent repetition, become a habit; and the habit of 
 stern virtue, so repulsive to others, may hang around our 
 person like a wreath of flowers.” To talk of the u Tyranny of 
 Habit” is therefore to talk nonsense. I understand what is 
 meant by the tyranny of evil habits, but habit in itself is a 
 perfectly neutral expression. A habit may be to you a bright 
 robe of adorning, or it may be the cord of the executioner 
 knotted about your neck, ready, when the trap is drawn, to 
 send you to destruction. 
 
 And now how very solemn is the admonition to the young, 
 and as yet unformed, which is thus conveyed. My young 
 friends, be not deceived into the belief that our fallen nature 
 is purer in youth than in later life. That is a falsehood. As 
 well might you maintain that the field newly sown with the 
 
SELF- FORMATION. 
 
 15 
 
 seeds of some poisonous weed is in a cleaner condition than 
 the one adjoining it which was sown in the same way some 
 months before, and which is now covered with the crop in 
 rank yellow blossom. Both are equally infected, and it is only a 
 question of time when the former will appear as bad as the 
 latter. All human nature is alike, from the babe in arms to 
 the grandsire with his staff ; it is inclined to ill, and all ages 
 alike have need to apply to the purifying blood of Christ for 
 pardon, and to the sanctifying Spirit for renewal. But the 
 young have this vast advantage over the old, that evil habits 
 have not been formed, and this tremendous additional difficulty 
 has not to be surmounted. Therefore, we counsel you, if you 
 would succeed in this great work of self-formation, begin it early. 
 Know thyself in thy impotence and iniquity, and know your 
 Saviour in His majesty and His redeeming power ; and, whereas 
 otherwise your growth might be one where evil was daily more 
 and more bending your inclination to Satan’s will, it may be 
 that, fearing the Lord from your youth, you may feel progres- 
 sively the easiness of his yoke and the lightness of his 
 burden. 
 
 ([3.) Having said so much on the difficulties attendant on 
 this work, let us now attend for a little to the Powers we have 
 at hand for surmounting them. And these are very great. 
 To some of the chief of them we have already made reference. 
 We have pointed your view to that panoply of armour, both 
 defensive and offensive, with which the Christian has been 
 furnished in the economy of the new dispensation. We delight 
 to think of it ; for, as we do so, we feel inclined to sing with 
 Luther “ God is our refuge and strength : a very present 
 help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear though the earth 
 be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the 
 
16 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 midst of the sea. . . . The Lord of hosts is with us ; 
 
 the God of Jacob is our refuge.” 
 
 But subordinate to these Divine assistances, other powers 
 have been granted to us which are most important. For 
 instance, has not each of us been gifted with the power of 
 intellect — with the power of memory — with the sensitiveness 
 of feeling — with a greater or less degree of delicacy in taste 
 and perception ? Then besides these, which are inherent in 
 yourselves, have you not assistance of various kinds ? There 
 is the experience of others chronicled in their biographies ; 
 shall we set no value upon that ? And there is the wisdom 
 of the great thinkers of our race recorded in their works ; 
 shall we set no value upon that ? And there, besides, is the 
 living voice of kind Christian friends, ready to hear our story 
 of perplexity, and to give us the very best advice in their 
 power ; is that of no importance ? Let us rest assured that 
 when we hear the cry “ I can’t,” indolence far oftener prompts 
 it than the want of power. Few know what they can do till 
 it is proved to them by trial. May I refer to an incident 
 which recently occurred in our city, exciting an amount of 
 interest and of wonder almost unparalleled. The principal 
 club house of Dublin is on fire. The flames rush up the 
 staircases, and shoot their fierce tongues through the window 
 frames. All egress from below has been cut off ; and no 
 help is at hand. Awful sight, just when the fire was roaring 
 in its might and fury, and casting contempt on all efforts to con- 
 fine or extinguish it, three human beings were seen at one of 
 the casements of the very upper story ! — A leap into the street 
 would have been certain destruction ; and so, quite as surely, 
 would have any waiting for the aid of friends. Ascent upon 
 the roof was the only chance ! But oh ! that terrible over- 
 hanging cornice ! — I go on not with the story : you all know 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 17 
 
 how the gallant man lifted himself up, and drew his fellow 
 prisoners after him — saved so, indeed, as by fire. But had 
 James Wilson Hughes, and Teresa M’Nally been asked on the 
 morning of that day when all was quiet and peaceful, whether 
 they could have managed such an exploit, we may rest assured 
 they would have laughed at it as perfectly impossible. Yet 
 when obliged by dire necessity to attempt it, they did, and they 
 succeeded : and if the hero of that night’s adventure (he deserves 
 the name) never benefitted his generation in any other way than 
 this, I do trust that his name will be gratefully remembered by 
 us all so long as we live, as having taught us a wholesome lesson 
 on the folly of counting anything impossible before we have 
 tried it ! But we were not devoid of proof of this truth 
 before the recent occurrence to which I have alluded. How 
 continually have instances been met with where the most 
 sensitive and delicate females have exhibited an amount of 
 strength, and of courage, and of endurance too, in the hour of 
 necessity, which, beforehand, everyone would have reckoned 
 to lie quite beyond their strength or fortitude. Night after night 
 has the sick bed of some well-loved sufferer been waited on. 
 Operations of the most painful order have been performed, 
 and the child has been held by its own mother. I have seen 
 such things myself an hundred times : and my greatest 
 amazement has been on finding how comparatively slight has 
 been the reactionary influence after the time of excitement 
 had passed. The mind was sustained during the struggle 
 with the persuasion that what was being done was right ; 
 and even subsequently, when, as we might imagine total 
 prostration would have ensued, still the refreshing and invi- 
 gorating thought returned — better than all the cordials of 
 the apothecary — u I did my duty ! ” Be assured that each 
 of us has more force at our command than we (poor indolent 
 and timid creatures) are disposed to believe. 
 
18 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 (7.) But, thirdly, some may object on the score of the want 
 of Opportunities for putting forth their powers. The plea of not 
 a few, we know to be, “We have no time.” Now, I am quite 
 aware of the impediments which beset the course of a young 
 man engaged in the ordinary routine of business life. His 
 leisure hours are few; and they commonly occur after his 
 physical vigour has been so largely drawn upon, that he is 
 well nigh u done up.” How can he sit down to improve his 
 mind when he has been on his legs, and has had his tongue 
 everlastingly going for the past ten hours? How can you 
 ask him to sit down to a useful book, when ribbons, and 
 trimmings, and fastidious ladies, have left him, as he says 
 himself, not worth a farthing? I confess I fully feel the 
 force of this objection ; and have, not once nor twice, seen 
 such a case practically exemplified. But still it is won- 
 derful what can be accomplished by the economy of time. 
 Give but one hour a day to the study of some profitable sub- 
 ject, and, at the end of the year, you will have cause for 
 amazement at the accumulation of precious knowledge you 
 will have stored up. 
 
 But we are all naturally impatient. We cannot bear to 
 wait. We want to see great results achieved, and quickly. 
 Likewise we are all inclined to despise small beginnings. Now, 
 we should put a note on the page of our memorandum book, 
 never to do that. Small beginnings may lead to great end- 
 ings, and have continually done so. Had any of us seen the 
 instrument wherewith Galileo “ counted the stars and called 
 them all by their names,” we should assuredly have laughed 
 at it as the precursor of the grand telescope of Lord Rosse. 
 Nevertheless, the one contained in it the germ of the other. I 
 saw not long since a print representing the first planting of 
 the potato in Ireland. Sir Walter Raleigh was there in his 
 high-crowned hat, doublet, hose, and cloak; he was shown as 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 19 
 
 working away diligently, though not much as if he had been 
 bred to the business, in getting a hole made in which to in- 
 sert a few tubers of the wonderful root just then lately 
 brought from North America,* and smoking away lustily 
 all the while. Around him stood or reclined a group of 
 peasants, with as much astonishment in their faces as they 
 would have had, had they seen him sowing a crop of twelve- 
 penny nails. Nevertheless, the roots budded and multiplied, 
 so that the plant became, until very recently, the staple food 
 of the country ! Again, many of you may have heard of the 
 famous sculptor, Chantry, whose marbles are worth almost 
 their weight in gold. A story is told of him when he was a 
 boy. He was then living near Sheffield ; and was one day 
 observed by a gentleman to be engaged in cutting a piece of 
 stick most attentively and carefully with a penknife. The 
 gentleman asked the lad what he was about. He answered 
 quietly, u I am cutting old Fox’s head.” Fox was the vil- 
 age schoolmaster. Whereupon the gentleman asked to see 
 what he had done, and pronounced the likeness perfect, pre 
 senting the boy at the same time with sixpence.; which, most 
 probably, was the first sum Chantry ever earned by the prac- 
 tice of his art ! Such and many like examples, teach us 
 never to despise small beginnings, or to think they can lead 
 to nothing. Hear medical men while they assure you of the 
 fact, that in the egg of every animal, even the ostrich, the 
 point of life is so minute as almost to defy the microscope ! 
 And how it expands is another marvel. Hour after hour, 
 under the brooding mother’s wing, it enlarges and increases until 
 it has filled the shell, eaten up the yolk, and is ready to come 
 forth the full-formed bird. So with knowledge. Its advance 
 reminds us of the advance of age. You look into the mirror 
 
 b 2 
 
 * A. D., 1565. 
 
20 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 to-day, and you behold there precisely the same face that was 
 reflected yesterday. It will seem to be so to-morrow, and for 
 a great number of to-morrows, to all appearance. But after 
 a while a gray hair here and there attracts your attention and 
 startles you. A progress has been going on all the while, 
 though its silentness, and slowness, and imperceptibility, have 
 prevented you from noticing it. So, precisely, it is with 
 the accumulating of wisdom, and making way in the upward 
 course of both mental and spiritual progress. You may think 
 that your commencement is contemptible ; but despise it not 
 on that account. Persevere, persevere, persevere ; and after 
 a comparatively short time, it will both astonish and delight 
 you to discover what advances you have quietly, yet surely, 
 made. Hear the apostle, reminding us, “ Behold how a great 
 matter a little fire kindleth.”* And this is as true of godli- 
 ness as it is of iniquity. Let only the kindling spark be of 
 the right order — let it be taken from the sacrifice on God’s 
 altar, and not from the sulphureous flames of the nether pit — 
 and its one small particle of light, if generously fed and wisely 
 trimmed, will, in the end, blaze up so as to illuminate and 
 warm many an extensive circle. 
 
 It may be objected, however, on other hands, u We have 
 no means. Had we at our command extensive and well-fur- 
 nished rooms of books, learned tutors, and all such like appli- 
 ances, we might make way ; but as we stand, deprived of the 
 most of these, it is impossible.” Now I declare that to be the 
 most complete nonsense. Recollect, be it again repeated, that 
 what we speak of to-night is not Formation, but ^//’-Forma- 
 tion. Our desire is to remind you of your own self-possessed 
 powers, and to stir you up to the use of them. Many persons 
 think when looking upon a beautiful specimen of art, that they 
 
 * James iii. 6. 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 21 
 
 could do nearly as well, if they only had the same appliances. 
 Now, many of our cleverest workmen not only use their own 
 tools, but both invent them and superintend their manufacture. 
 The objection is absurd. Does the organ make the organist? — 
 or, were I to place in the hands of an illiterate person a box 
 full of the choicest colours, would he have a better chance of 
 producing me a finished drawing than if his materials had cost 
 only one shilling ? On the contrary, the man furnished with 
 fewest appliances, has been frequently the one from whom the 
 grandest results have proceeded. Hugh Miller was only a poor 
 stonemason when he began to study geology ; and of all other 
 books I ever met, his “ Schools and Schoolmasters,” or the 
 story of the education of his own mind, was to me the most 
 convincing, that the greatest things might be accomplished 
 in the face of the severest difficulties, and that what lies at 
 the root of all true progress is, the earnest mind animated 
 by the grace of God ! 
 
 II. Our first head has led us so far, that I feel almost obliged 
 to remind you of its title. It was, How shall we set about the 
 work of Self-Formation ? Let me now go on, though much 
 more briefly, to the second branch of the subject — How the 
 WORK IS TO BE CARRIED OUT WHEN IT HAS BEEN COMMENCED. 
 
 Now I beg you not to misunderstand me either at the be- 
 ginning or the close, as if when speaking of “ Self-Formation” 
 I would forget for a moment that grand truth of the Gospel, 
 that we “ can do all things,” but only “ through Christ, who 
 strengthened us.”* Most firmly do I believe and hold that 
 man is nothing, and that God is everything in this great busi- 
 ness of life. If the soul is to be renewed, the Holy Spirit 
 must renew it; and if the life is to be consecrated, that conse- 
 cration must be by the mighty power of the Lord. But then, 
 
 Philippians iv. 13 . 
 
22 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 this immutable truth does not in the least interfere with our 
 present line of inquiry. We look upon man’s exertions not 
 as superseding the necessity for Divine assistance, nor as in 
 the slightest degree tending to alienate our dependance on our 
 Heavenly Father for all effectual advancement. When we 
 speak of self-help, we would desire always to keep in view 
 Divine help, as that which alone can make the struggling soul 
 either willing to struggle at all, or successful in its stragglings. 
 
 (a). Talking, however, as from man to man, suggestions of 
 the practical order may not be out of place, even while we carry 
 with us the recollection of this great principle. And in pur- 
 suance of this, I would remark, that if you would be Self- 
 Formers, your aim must be concentrated. You must fix sternly 
 and stedfastly on the matter in hand. Never, if possible, think 
 of attempting two things at a time. Whatever you take in 
 hand, try to do it well, nay, perfectly. There is no greater 
 bar to progress than desultoriness, or dissipation of attention. 
 Probably you have often watched a person packing in haste 
 for the railway ; shirts and collars and coats, and even boots, 
 are all hurried in indiscriminately, and without order ; and 
 then, at last, it is found that the unfortunate portmanteau 
 refuses to lock or even close, and that the carpet bag has to 
 be forced to swallow its contents by the aid of a kick and 
 thrust of the foot : whereas if the whole process had only been 
 conducted more leisurely and systematically, both one and 
 other package would have been found capable of containing 
 at least a half more actual substance than the quantity at 
 which they now so provokingly rebel ! A lesson may be 
 learned from this as to the packing of the mind. If you would 
 put much in, put the things in carefully, and with due regard 
 to order. Do not be in too great haste ; the dinner which is 
 too quickly eaten often does not digest ; and you will be cer- 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 23 
 
 tain to enjoy the society of the nightmare if you go on swal- 
 lowing incongruities at the same moment. For my own part, 
 it is a marvel to me that some of our modern young ladies do 
 not go mad, owing to the educational process through which 
 they are put. Herr Sour-kraut comes at 11 o’clock, and ad- 
 ministers a very heavy dose of German. That has barely 
 passed down through the oesophagus, when the knock of 
 Signor Antonelli is heard at the door, prepared to give an 
 equally large portion of Italian. Then, quick as thought, 
 comes Mr. Scales, the music-master, to furnish a dose of me- 
 lody, received with murmuring ; and then there’s the English 
 teacher, and the French teacher, and the Latin, perhaps 
 the Hebrew, and I know not how many more besides ; 
 until, probably, towards the end of the weary day, the poor 
 stuffed creatures are sent off to Mons. Deuxtemps’ academy, 
 to shake down all that they have contrived to swallow, by the 
 addition of a dancing lesson. No wonder we hear of shallow 
 minds and wearied heads ; and furthermore, of all these things, 
 on which fortunes have been spent, being totally given up and 
 forgotten, except perhaps the last, (for M. Deuxtemps is not 
 allowed to go out of sight quite so quickly as his less “ light 
 and fantastic” co-professors,) once that great goal of the 
 fashionable young lady’s life is reached — her marriage with the 
 Hon. Mr. Fourinhand ! Better, far better, to know three sub- 
 jects well, than to have a mere smattering of twenty. If show 
 is your aim, by all means attempt the twenty ; but if solidity 
 is your aim, then confine yourself, at first at least, to the three 
 — you can go on after that : and let one of these three be in 
 every case a knowledge of the history of your own land, and 
 the grammatical construction of your own mother tongue. 
 
 (/3). Another great point to be attended to in the matter of Self- 
 Formation is to cultivate habits of observation . It is wonderful 
 
24 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 bow many things we all see day after day 5 and yet we do not 
 see them, because we make no note of them by our eye or in 
 our memory. I have noticed persons looking admiringly at a 
 rainbow, and yet gazing about at the same time to find out 
 whereabouts the sun was, — as if they thought it might be be- 
 side the rainbow (only under a cloud), or at right angles to 
 it. The broad face of common nature itself is full of instruc- 
 tion day after day, if we would only take it in ; curiosities are 
 all around us. But then, the things thus presented are so 
 common that we make no account of them, and learn nothing 
 from them. And as with the appearances of the material 
 world, so *with the discernment of human character. How 
 constantly do we find well-intentioned people grossly taken 
 in and deceived by impostors, which any one with half an eye 
 eye in his body ought to have detected at once ! And on the 
 other hand, the individual who has a vein of real goodness in 
 him under an uncouth exterior, is despised and neglected, 
 until something occurs to bring forth into view his latent ex- 
 cellence. And then comes the exclamation, “ Well, I would 
 never have thought it all the while, your want of discern- 
 ment, much less than his want of display, being the cause of 
 the mistake — issuing in many a pain to him, because of the 
 slights he had to endure. 
 
 But then, to profit by observation, three things require to be 
 borne in mind. In the first place, you must observe accu- 
 rately; and in the next place, you must observe comprehen- 
 sively ; and thirdly, you must reflect on what you see . This 
 is a work in which clumsiness or narrowness destroys the 
 worth of the result completely. The reports from the 
 best astronomer in the world would have no value what- 
 ever unless he used the micrometer with his telescope, and 
 also unless his deductions were the result of a large number 
 of observations. Referring to this last point, I recollect once 
 
SELF-FOFMATION. 
 
 25 
 
 reading a story of a French medical student who was lodging 
 in London. In the same house was a poor man ill of fever, 
 who was continually perplexed by his nurse urging him to 
 drink. At length, quite wearied out by the quantity of liquid 
 which had been administered to him, he cried out petulantly, 
 “ Give me a salt herring, and I will drink as much as you 
 please.” It was given : the man drank abundantly, perspired 
 profusely, and recovered. The French student instantly 
 inserted in his case-book — “ A salt herring cures a man 
 in his fever.” On his return to France, he prescribed the 
 same remedy for the first fever patient he had charge of. 
 The man died : whereupon the note-book was immediately 
 enriched with the following entry — “ A salt herring cures an 
 Englishman, but kills a Frenchman !” Now, this may be only 
 a true storey; but it exemplifies what we speak of. If obser- 
 vation is to profit us, it must be conducted carefully and 
 broadly ; so that our deductions may rest on premises which 
 are sound and well-founded, and extensively based. 
 
 Then, again, let your observation be accompanied by re- 
 flection: observation gathers facts; reflection reduces them to 
 order. The gatherings made by observation, are like the straw 
 and the feathers of which the bird’s nest is composed : when 
 we reflect, we, so to speak, build these strange materials into 
 one compact and solid structure. Eecur in thought again and 
 again to whatever has struck you at the moment of its happen- 
 ing ; digest it, reconsider it, wrangle with it in your mind ; 
 and let your desire always be to reach the ulterior truth 
 towards which isolated facts seem to point you. 
 
 (y). But I have no time for continuing our remarks on this 
 head longer. Another subject remains to be noticed, and it of 
 itself is so large that, had it not been already treated with 
 great power by other pens, I should feel myself inclined to 
 
26 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 ask your Association to let me deal with it in a sub- 
 sequent lecture, devoted to itself exclusively. What I 
 speak of is the importance, in order to self-formation, of 
 what we read , and how we read it. But my remarks shall be 
 brief. 
 
 Read, I would say, selectively . This day of ours is unquestion- 
 ably the day of books. You can get almost any thing which the 
 human mind has ever given birth to, at a cost which is perfectly 
 amazing for its cheapness. But now, as in every other case of 
 abounding supplies, the fact of plenty existing, obliges us to the 
 duty of discrimination. W r e cannot read every thing that comes 
 forth. Whether we will or not, we must select and choose. 
 Now, just as in going through a richly-stocked garden, the 
 perfection of your bouquet will depend upon the wisdom of 
 taste you exercised in taking some flowers and rejecting others ; 
 so here. This age of abundant literature may be to each of 
 us either a supreme blessing or a mortal bane. Multitudes 
 of works are being poured forth by the Pres?, which are 
 simply and truly moral poison of the most noxious order, 
 because dressed up in such a style of elegance that they cap- 
 tivate and controul, and so inject their vices — like the vam- 
 pire of Eastern lands, the flapping of whose wings lulls his 
 victims to sleep, while his mouth is drinking out their blood. 
 Such are many of those cheap French importations which 
 crowd some of our bookseller’s counters. 
 
 Whatever you find worth reading, read it thoroughly. I 
 would rather feel that I had five books perfectly mastered, 
 than to be able to say, that I had gained a sketchy notion of 
 the contents of five times five, without really knowing them. 
 When you really know the contents of a book, the wisdom in 
 it becomes a part of yourself ; whereas, when you merely read 
 a book, its contents only become a part of your library. 
 And in order to our reading a work thoroughly, there is no 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 27 
 
 greater help than the making an analysis of it as you go 
 along. This may be done on the margin of the page, or still 
 more perfectly on some separate sheets of note paper. In 
 any case, as you read, carry a pencil in your hand. Mark 
 carefully the several points as they follow on one another; 
 distinguish the heads (many of which neither the author nor 
 the printer will have distinguished for you). In this way 
 alone will you succeed in putting up the substance of the 
 work in the archives of your memory, and enabling yourself 
 to recal its contents, and use them at need. 
 
 Once again ; read to reproduce , if possible/ Reading is 
 like the sowing of the husbandman. The grain cast into the 
 ground is lost except it germinate and groAV. So Avith our 
 acquirements. Do not be contented with mere acquisitions ; 
 regard these as the deposit from which a return is to be reaped. 
 A system of reading, disassociated from the object of bringing 
 the knoAvledge thus acquired into actual practice, often results 
 in an exceedingly unhealthy and morbid tone of mind. A 
 visionary and dreamy state ensues. Gather wealth, that you 
 may labour by its means. “ It is told of a religious recluse, 
 who, in the early ages of Christianity, betook himself to a 
 cave in Upper Egypt, which, in the times of the Pharaohs, 
 had been a depository for mummies ; that he prayed there, 
 morning, noon, and night, eating only of the dates Avhich 
 some neighbouring trees afforded, and drinking of the water 
 of the Nile. At length the hermit became Aveary of life, and 
 then he prayed still more earnestly. After this duty, one 
 day he fell asleep, and the vision of an angel appeared to 
 him in a dream, commanding him to arise, and cut doAvn a 
 neighbouring palm tree, and make a rope of its fibres, adding 
 that, after it was done the angel Avould appear to him again. 
 He travelled long in search of an axe before he found one ; but 
 during this journey he felt happier than he had been for many 
 
28 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 years. His prayers were now even more fervent than before, 
 but they were much less lengthy. Having returned with the 
 axe, he felled the tree, and, with much labour, wrought the 
 fibres into a rope. After many weeks his task was finished. 
 That night the angel visited the hermit, and spoke thus, ‘ You 
 are now no longer weary of life, but happy. Know, then, 
 that man was made for labour, while prayer also is his duty. 
 Arise in the morning, and take the cord, and gird up thy 
 loins, and go forth into the world ; and let it be a memorial 
 to thee of the truth, that what God expects from man, if he 
 would be blessed with happiness on earth, is prayer offered in 
 faith, trust upon his word, and both enjoined with exertion.’ ” 
 This tradition is instructive. Read to gain information ; read 
 to meditate thereon ; but let thy hours of silent reading, or 
 of silent prayer, be only preparations for engaging in the 
 active service of God ! 
 
 Now, much more might be added besides what we have 
 noticed. Under the head of self-formation we ought to 
 advert to such things as the general cultivation of the mind, 
 its tone , its tastes . I have no time to say anything on these, 
 except, labour to be pure in tone and true in taste. Avoid the 
 taste for the showy. Many young persons aim laboriously at 
 grand writing, grandiloquent speaking, exhibiting themselves 
 to the best advantage, and displaying their acquirements. 
 Have you ever seen a profusion of jewels on an apprentice 
 boy or girl ? Has not your instinct told you that such orna- 
 ments could not be real gold or gems ? So with knowledge 
 obtrusively exhibited. We doubt it, and with reason. Be it 
 your summit of excellence to speak forcibly, to write (where 
 you do write) plainly and convincingly. Words spoken, or 
 written from the heart, ordinarily go to the heart. There is that 
 indescribable something about them which penetrates. If you 
 have nothing to say, say nothing : but if you have something 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 29 
 
 to say, say it (whether by pen or word of month) like a down- 
 right honest man, who knows that time is short, and that the 
 power of attention is quickly exhausted. At all events, let 
 the ornaments come in last ; they are the least needed, and 
 they will redound least to your credit. Be pure. The Eng- 
 lish language is a noble tongue. It possesses as great power 
 of expression, when rightly used, as any language ever 
 spoken upon earth, except perhaps the highest style of Attic 
 Greek. Therefore never be ashamed of using it, or trusting 
 to it for force. Many half-learned writers think that they add 
 to the power and point of what they put on paper, by be- 
 strewing the page liberally with phrases gathered from other 
 tongues. Bemember how Horace ridicules the “ two-tongued 
 Canusians.”* * Rest assured, those models of style are to be 
 avoided rather than admired, which seem, by their repeated 
 introduction of French or Italian forms of expression, to cast 
 a contempt upon the good old Saxon English, as too feeble to 
 convey their ideas. Real scholars laugh at the look of these 
 italicised pages, and cast the book aside. 
 
 Then, further, as belonging to our present subject, and very 
 
 44 patriis intermiscere petita 
 
 Yerba foris malis, Canusini more bilinguis ? 
 
 Atqui, ego quum Grascos facerem, natus mare citra, 
 Versiculos, vetuit tali me voce Quirinus, 
 
 Post mediam noctem visus, quum somnia vera: 
 
 * In silvam non ligna feras insanius, ac si 
 Magnas Grascorum malis implere catervas.’ ” 
 
 Sat. lib. i. 10, vv. 29-35. 
 
 44 Jam pridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes 
 Et linguam, et mores, et cum tibicine chordas 
 Obliquas, nec non gentilia tympana, secum 
 Yexit ” 
 
 Juv. Sal. iii. 62. 
 
30 
 
 SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 closely, the choice of companions should be noticed. A man is 
 known by his friends. Remember that. We should, conse- 
 quently, be most careful as to the character of any indivi- 
 dual upon whom we confer the sacred title of “ friend.” A 
 friend, wrongly chosen, may prove a very devil of darkness 
 to seduce you into the grasp of Satan : a friend, rightly chosen, 
 may be found like an angel of light, encouraging you in the 
 paths which lead to honour in this life, and in walking along 
 that brighter path also which leads to everlasting glory ! 
 
 I must stop. Carry away this one great thought in your 
 minds as the conclusion of the whole matter. Whether we 
 choose to think so or not, we are all undergoing the process, 
 more or less, of “ Self-Formation.” No tutor, no parent, no 
 friend, can do for us what we are daily doing for ourselves. 
 Recollect also, that what you make yourself now, will be your 
 enduring character hereafter, whether it respects this world 
 or the world to come. As youth is to age, so is time to eter- 
 nity. Think seriously of this doctrine of unavoidable prepa- 
 ration (if I may thus designate it) in all its many bearings 
 and applications. Look upon it as true, 
 
 Socially . It is in your power to rise to honour and respec- 
 tability, if not renown, according as you employ in a right 
 spirit the talents entrusted to you by the Almighty ; and it is 
 similarly in your power to sink and become degraded through 
 the abuse of these gifts, however, advantageously and favour- 
 ably you may have been started in your course. — But chiefly' 
 dwell upon the doctrine in its 
 
 Spiritual aspect . This present life of ours is the seed-plot 
 of immortality. Hence the deep importance of consecrat- 
 ing it to the glory of God. Know the Lord and serve 
 Him. Know and trust and glorify Him as He is made 
 known to you in the face of His beloved Son, a recon- 
 ciled and gracious Creator. His word gives us full 
 
SELF-FORMATION. 
 
 31 
 
 warranty for believing that there will be gradations of glory 
 in the kingdom of light. Seek by grace to become heirs of 
 the very loftiest rank among the princes of heaven. You may 
 say that it will be quite enough to satisfy you if you are saved 
 and taken up to blessedness at all. I grant that, to be brought 
 to partake of the vision of God, will be to all an unspeakable 
 joy, and that the lowest place at His right hand will be one 
 of transcendant dignity — but, mighty Saviour ! as Thou hast 
 called on us to strive for masteries, we will, thy spirit helping 
 us, seek to attain to the higher and the more excellent ! 
 
I 
 
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 2s. 6d. Forms of Application for Membership may be had from the 
 Assistant Secretary. 
 
 Charles Stuart Stanford, D. D. ) 
 
 Hercules H. Dickinson, A. M. ( lion . 
 Thomas Mills, A. M. I Secs . 
 
 Richard J. Greene, A. M. ) 
 
 Samuel E. Busby, t.c.d., Assistant Secretary 
 
 In rotation, on Friday evenings, at 8 o’clock. 
 
 [700 Members have joined— February 11 th, 1801.]