THE PRINCIPLE OF HABIT.

THE principle of habit holds a most important place in the moral condition of every man; it applies equally to any species of conduct, or any train of mental operations, which, by frequent repetition, have become so familiar as not to be accompanied by a recognition of the principles from which they originally sprang. In this manner good habits are continued without any immediate sense of the right principles by which they were formed; but they arose from a frequent and uniform acting upon these principles; and on this is founded the moral approbation which we attach to habits of this description. In the same manner habits of vice, and habits of inattention to any class of duties, are perpetuated without a sense of the principles and affections which they violate; but this arose from a

frequent violation of these principles, and a frequent repulsion of these affections, until they gradually lost their power over the conduct; and in this consists the guilt of habits. Thus, one person acquires habits of benevolence, veracity, and kindness-of minute attention to his various duties-of correct mental discipline, and active direction of his thoughts to all those objects of attention which ought to engage a well regulated mind; another sinks into habits of listless vacuity or frivolity of mind-of vicious indulgence and contracted selfishness of neglect of important duties, disregard of the feelings of others, and total indifference to all those considerations and pursuits which claim the highest regard of every responsible being; and the striking fact is, that, after a certain period, all this may go on without a feeling that aught is wrong either in the moral condition or the state of mental discipline; such is the power of a moral habit.

The important truth, therefore, is deserving of the deepest and most habitual attention, that character consists in a great measure in habits, and that habits arise out of individual actions and individual operations of the mind. Hence the import

ance of carefully weighing every action of our lives, and every train of thought that we encourage in our minds; for we never can determine the effect of a single act or a single mental process, in giving that influence to the character or to the moral condition, the result of which shall be decisive and permanent. In the whole history of habits, indeed, we see a wondrous display of that remarkable order of sequences which has been established in our mental constitution, and by which every man becomes, in an important sense, the master of his own moral destiny. For each act of virtue tends to make him more virtuous; and each act of vice gives new strength to an influence within, which will certainly render him more and more vicious.

These considerations have a practical tendency of the utmost interest. In subduing habits of an injurious character, the laws of mental sequences, which have now been referred to, must be carefully acted upon. When the judgment, influenced by the indications of conscience, is convinced of the injurious nature of the habit, the attention must be steadily and habitually directed to this impression. There will thus arise a desire to be delivered from

the habit-or, in other words, to cultivate the course

of action that is opposed to it. cherished in the mind, is then

This desire, being

made to bear upon

every individual case in which a propensity is felt towards particular actions, or particular mental processes referable to the habit. The new inclination is at first acted upon with an effort, but, after every instance of success, less effort is required, until at length the new course of habit is confirmed, and overpowers the habit to which it was opposed. But that this result may take place, it is necessary that the mental process be followed in the manner distinctly indicated by the philosophy of the moral feelings: for if this is not attended to, the expected effect may not follow, even under circumstances which appear, at first sight, most likely to produce it. On this principle we are to explain the fact, that bad habits may be long suspended by some powerful extrinsic influence, while they are in no degree broken. Thus a person addicted to intemperance will bind himself by an oath to abstain, for a certain time, from intoxicating liquors. In an instance which has been related to me, an individual under this process observed the most rigid

sobriety for five years-but was found in a state of intoxication the very day after the period of abstinence expired. In such a case the habit is suspended by the mere influence of the oath; but the desire continues unsubdued, and resumes all its former power whenever this artificial restraint is withdrawn. The effect is the same as if the man had been in confinement during the period, or had been kept from his favourite indulgence by some other restraint entirely of an external kind. The gratification was prevented, but his moral nature continued unchanged.

These principles may be confidently stated as facts in the moral constitution of man, challenging the assent of every candid observer of human nature. Several conclusions seem to arise out of them, of the utmost practical importance. We perceive, in the first place, a state which the mind may attain, in which there is such a disruption of its moral harmony, that no power appears in the mind itself capable of restoring it to a healthy condition. This important fact in the philosophy of human nature, has been clearly recognised from the earliest ages, on the mere principles of human