Consider first, that besides the obligation we are under of daily consideration, in order to know God and our duty to Him, there is another branch of necessary knowledge, which also calls for our serious attention and meditation; and this is the knowledge of ourselves. "This is the highest and most profitable lesson," says the devout a Kempis, "truly to know, and to despise ourselves." The knowledge of ourselves is the foundation of true humility, which is the virtue that teaches us to despise ourselves; and humility is the foundation of all other virtues; they have all a necessary dependence upon it. So that the knowledge of ourselves is, in effect, the foundation of all virtues. Now this knowledge of ourselves is not to be acquired without frequent and serious consideration. For to know ourselves aright, we must consider attentively our origin and extraction; what we have hitherto been; what we are now at present; and what we shall be by-and-by: and such considerations as these will open our eyes and will convince us, what poor wretches we are, and how little reason we have to be proud; and, on the contrary, how many urgent reasons we have to despise ourselves, and to be thoroughly humble.

Consider therefore, 2ndly, your extraction; as to your body, out of dirt and corruption; as to your soul, out of nothing; and that whatsoever you have, either as to body or soul, above mere nothing, is not of your own growth, but the property of your Maker. Reflect that you no sooner came into being but you were defiled with sin, and were children of wrath; that your whole life has hitherto been one continued course of sin and ingratitude. And ah! how often have you fallen into the worst of evils, that bottomless pit of mortal sin? And what a dreadful figure did you then make in the sight of God and His holy Angels? What confusion, what horror, what an eternal damnation was then your due! And is not this still your case at this day? And what title have you then to any regard, either from God or man? What claim to any benefit or service from any of God's creatures? or what just complaint can you make, if all the world should abhor you as a traitor to God, a slave to the devil, and a victim of hell; and all creatures should join together against you, to revenge upon you the cause of their Creator? Reflect also on the many miseries you daily lie under; the small light there is in you for the discerning true good from that which is only so in appearance; the strength of your passions and self-love; your perpetual repugnance to the taking true pains for acquiring real goods, and the violent bent of your inclinations to evil. And then consider how soon death will be with you, and send your bodies to the worms, and your souls to the bar of divine justice, under a dreadful uncertainty as to your eternal lot. And see if, in the consideration of these things, you will not find matter enough to cure your pride, and to bring you to a true sense of your manifold misery and corruption; that so you may learn entirely to distrust yourselves, to be ever humble, and to place your whole confidence in God.

Consider 3rdly, the other great advantages which the soul acquires by often entering into herself, by the means of serious consideration, and taking an impartial view of the whole state of her own interior. Here she discovers her spiritual maladies, (to which before she was a stranger,) and she is enabled by this discovery to seek and to apply proper remedies to all her evils. Here she finds out the secret ambushes of her enemies, especially those more subtle ones of pride and self-love, which are continually seeking to impose upon her and deceive her. Here she learns to discern between the different motions of nature and grace, to watch over her own heart, to regulate its affections and inclinations, to guard against her passions, and to order her whole interior in such a manner, as to be agreeable to Him who desires to make it His everlasting temple. O how happy is it for the soul thus to know herself! Ah! what will it avail a man to know all things else, if he be a stranger to himself!

Conclude to make the knowledge of thyself one of thy principal studies for the future. The Saints have always considered the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of themselves, as the most necessary of all the sciences. O study well, by means of daily meditation, this science of the Saints in both its parts. Daily pray with St Augustine, noverim te, noverim me. Lord, give me grace to know thee. Lord, give me grace to know myself.

Consider first, my soul, that not very long ago thou hadst no being at all, nor any share in the transactions of the world; thou was not even so much as thought of by any creature upon earth. In this low abyss of nothing thou hadst been ingulphed from all eternity; and there of thyself thou must have remained to all eternity, infinitely beneath the condition even of the meanest insect, or the most inconsiderable of all God's creatures; so that whatsoever thou hast at present above this mere nothing is no acquisition of thy own, nor any property of thine, but the pure gift of thy Maker. Down, then, with all self-conceit and presumption; down with all vain-glory; acknowledge thy true original, thy original nothing; sit always down in the lowest place; ascribe nothing to thyself as of thy own growth, but thy manifold sins; give the whole glory of all the rest to thy Maker.

Consider 2ndly, who it was that drew thee out of the deep abyss of nothing into this being which thou now enjoyest; who gave thee this power of thinking, this conscious life, this will, this memory, this understanding; who made for thee this soul and body. No other but He that made heaven and earth--even the eternal, immense, infinite Deity. and how came this great God to think of making thee? What did He see in thee that could move Him to love thee, and to bestow this being upon thee? O! it was nothing but His own infinite goodness, for there could be nothing in thee worthy of His love: He stood in no need of thee; thou couldest do Him no service. O! embrace, then with all the powers of thy soul, this infinite goodness of thy God. Give thy whole being to Him who has given it all to thee. Dedicate thy whole self to His love and service, for time and eternity.

Consider 3rdly, that God made thee after His own image and likeness, that He might engage thee the more to love Him. This image and likeness is in thy soul, which is a spiritual being; and in the spiritual powers of thy soul; in thy free will, which nothing controls, and which can be satisfied with nothing less than God; and in thy understanding which is capable of soaring above all things, visible and invisible, and reaching to the contemplation of God Himself. O! let not, then, this noble spirit lie any longer groveling in the mire of the earth! Let not this will, that was made to be a queen, be a slave to flesh and blood. Let not this understanding, this mind, this thought, that should contemplate heavenly truths, be bowed down to empty earthy toys.

Conclude to be ever mindful of thy own nothingness, and that thou hast received all thou hast from the pure bounty of God. The sense and remembrance of this truth will teach thee always to despise thyself, and to love thy Maker with all thy strength.

Consider first, my soul, why thou camest hither--what is thy business in this mortal life--for what end has God made thee--upon what errand has He sent thee hither. This should have been the subject of thy meditation from thy first coming to the use of reason: and hast thou ever yet seriously thought of it? Thou canst not here plead ignorance, for one of the first things thou wast taught was, that thou wast made for God, and that the business for which thou camest into the world was to know him, love Him, and serve Him here, and so to come to enjoy Him hereafter in a happy eternity. O how noble, how glorious, how blessed is this end for which thou wast made! O how good is thy God, who has made thee for Himself, and for heaven; and even from all eternity has designed this happiness for thee!

Consider 2ndly, that, properly speaking, thou hast but one thing to do in this mortal life; and that is no other than to answer this end for which thou wast made, by dedicating thyself, in a good earnest, to the love and service of thy Maker. This is that "one thing necessary," Luke x 42. If thou apply thyself seriously to this great business, all is well; if thou neglect this, all will be lost, whatever success thou mayest meet with in any thing else. O! "what will it avail a man to gain the whole world if he lose his own soul;" and with his soul lose his God and a happy eternity? O let all other business, then, be subordinate to this; let all that no way conduces to this be despised as vain and unprofitable; let all that is opposite to this be avoided, rejected, and abhorred, as hurtful and pernicious. O how true is it, "vanity of vanities, and all is vanity," besides the loving God, and serving him alone. Kempis.

Consider 3rdly, the great blindness and misery of worldlings who live in a continual neglect and forgetfulness of this their only business; whose pursuits are after mere vanities; who weary themselves like children, in running after butterflies; in catching at bubbles and empty shadows, such as vain honours, false riches, and deceitful pleasures that last but one moment; and for these they forfeit God and eternity. And has not this, O my soul, been hitherto thy own case? O be confounded at the thought of thy having been so strangely senseless and so very wretched. Detest the errors of thy past life; and now at least resolve to mind thy true and only business, and to turn to thy God with all thy heart.

Conclude, since God is both thy first beginning and thy last end - since thou art made by Him and for Him, and all thy powers, senses, and faculties are designed to bring thee to Him--to employ them all henceforward in serving and glorifying Him: thus only shalt thou find true comfort here, and heaven hereafter.