The moral powers of your nature are divided by Dr. Reid and Mr. Stewart into appetites, desires, affections, self-love, and the moral faculty. They call those feelings which take their rise from the body, and which operate periodically, _appetite_. By _desires_, they mean those feelings which do not take their rise from the body, and which do not operate periodically. Under the title of _affections_, they comprehend all those active principles whose direct and ultimate object is the communication of joy or pain to your fellow creatures. According to them, _self-love_ is an instinctive principle in the human mind, which impels you to preserve your life and promote your happiness. The _moral faculty_ they define to be an original principle of your nature, whereby you distinguish between right and wrong. To treat this subject adequately, or to give all the rules and maxims by which your active and moral powers may be stimulated and regulated, would belong to a treatise on ethics. Your moral nature may be classed under two great principles, the _self-seeking_, and the _disinterested_; and the most important part of moral discipline is to depress the former, and exalt the latter. The control of the _selfish feelings_ is essential to moral growth. To live to gratify the flesh, or to become rich, or to be distinguished in places of fashion and amusement, is to be less than women. Destitute of the high power of which we are speaking—if no predominant passion has yet gained the ascendancy—you will yield to the pressure of the multitude, and be fashioned by your companions. But if the passions be strong, by-and-by you will become the slaves of vice. The noblest endowments will not save from such a catastrophe; indeed, the danger of being seduced is greatest to minds of high sensibility. We could name not a few, of the largest sympathies, the noblest sentiments, the most splendid genius, who have been degraded and destroyed, because they failed in the maintenance of self-control. “Reader, attend: whether thy soul Soars fancy’s flight beyond the pole, Or darkling grubs this earthly hole In low pursuit; Know, prudent, cautious _self-control_ Is wisdom’s root.” To be able, amidst the multiplied vexations of life, to exercise comprehensive and sustained self-control, is worth more than the proudest victory ever achieved in the field, and it is a battle you may win. The great idea of _duty_, which springs up within you in opposition to interest, must be cultivated above all others, for on it all others depend. Conscience has a regulative power over all the faculties of your nature. “Its slightest touches, instant pause, Debar all side pretences, And resolutely keep its laws, Uncaring consequences.”