IF our self-action be not true action, what is our Self? of what are we conscious? We are conscious of defect; man's consciousness of self is the feeling of his want of being.

There is in this conception nothing abstruse, or remote from our ordinary modes of thought. It is as familiar to us to be conscious of defect, as of the contrary. When we are conscious of cold, for example, we are conscious of defect of heat. There is a certain heat natural to the human body, defect of which we are conscious of as cold; or in many other respects we may have consciousness of defect; of weakness for example, or of the loss of a member, or a sense. So we might equally be conscious of defect of being—of want of the true being of man within us.

Man is defective. This we know. The perfection of man has never been maintained by any. Therefore, being conscious, man should be conscious of being defective; conscious, therefore, of defective being, and of defect of being. To be true, man's consciousness must contain this element of defect. And can it be doubtful that it is this element of his consciousness to which the name of Self has been assigned? Is it not an emptiness, that we are conscious of within, and call it Self? If it be asked, what then is conscious of self, if the self be defect? it maybe answered: man is conscious of it. Man is conscious of defect of being. We constantly distinguish, in our language, between the man and the self.