The first principles of things are few. The axioms from which men date their reasoning are chiefly personal. They are expressed in an infinite variety of ways, occasioned by the various conceptions of those who conceive them, and by the different capacities to which they are adapted when offered for the instruction and guidance of others. But this must not mislead us as to the number, and overwhelm us with a sense of complexity, where in fact simplicity reigns. Those who have the power of self-analysis make for themselves rules of conduct, and the best are originated in this way--for when a man recasts his acquirements of sense and education, in order to see on what all rests, and what are essential standards of action and judgment, he resolves all into few, and those the clear and strong. Rob Roy's self-examination paper is presented to us in those lines which Sir Walter Scott, with grace and justice, characterised as the 'high-toned poetry of his gifted friend Wordsworth.' Say, then, that he was wise as brave, As wise in thought as bold in deed; For in the principles of things He sought his morai creed. Said generous Rob, 'What need of Books? Burn all the statutes and their shelves! They stir us up against our kind, And worse, against ourselves. We have a passion, make a law, Too false to guide us or control; And for the law itself we fight In bitterness of soul. And puzzled, blinded, then we lose Distinctions that are plain and few; These find I graven on my heart, That tells me what to do. Sir Walter Scott himself has enforced the same views:--'How much do I need such a monitor,' said Waverley to Flora. 'A better one by far Mr. Waverley will always find in his own bosom, when he will give its still small voice leisure to be heard. All that hath been majestical In life or death, since time began, Is native in the simple heart of all,-- The angel heart of man.--Lowell. To awaken the senses and instruct them and direct them aright in the art of observation, is a great and essential undertaking. All scattered aids need collecting together. De la Beche in 'Geology,' and Miss Martineau have written books, entitled 'How to Observe.' This quality is the distinction between the natural and artificial man--the natural man observes what is in nature--the artificial notes what he finds in books--the one depends on himself--the other on an encyclopaedia. We want contrast, in order to know as well as to explain. Foreigners observe us better than we observe ourselves. The common escapes our attention. To know a fact fully we seek its opposite to compare it with.