“We must not conceive, however, that habit is powerful only in strengthening what is evil—though it is this sort of operation which, of course, forces itself more upon our observation and memory, like the noontide darkness of the tempest, that is remembered when the calm and the sunshine and the gentle shower are forgotten. There can be no question that the same principle which confirms and aggravates what is evil, strengthens and cherishes also what is good. The virtuous, indeed, do not require the influence of habitual benevolence or devotion to force them, as it were, to new acts of kindness to man, or to new sentiments of gratitude to God. But the temptations to which even virtue might sometimes be in danger of yielding, in the commencement of its delightful progress, become powerless and free from peril when that progress is more advanced. There are spirits which, even on earth, are elevated above that little scene of mortal ambition with which their benevolent wishes for the sufferers there are the single tie that connects them still. All with them is serenity; the darkness and the storm are beneath them. They have only to look down with generous sympathy on those who have not yet risen so high; and to look up with gratitude to that heaven which is above their head, and which is almost opening to receive them.” You must form habits of one kind or another; but you can choose what your habits are to be. We rejoice that at the present time there is much to cheer and encourage. Reformatories, the extension of education among the lower classes, Sunday schools, cheap and healthy literature, interesting lectures on instructive themes addressed to the million—all these are centres whence radiate powerful aids to the formation of great and noble character.
TWOFOLD OPERATION OF MIND.
The incontestable, although inexplicable, deliverance of consciousness is, that there are two great movements which take place within the mind—the one spontaneous, and the other reflex; the one movement prompted only by the native activity of the mind itself, and the other the movement of the will. Now, those who push their phrenology into materialism, having discovered that the tendencies to peculiar modes of thought and peculiar modes of action are to some extent dependent upon bodily organization, are not slow to tell us that their characters are formed for them, not by them. But this reasoning completely overlooks the fact that they have got a rational will, armed with complete power to control and regulate these tendencies; therefore it is altogether illogical. Even were we to admit that the mental spontaneity is directly influenced by the bodily organization, the asserted consequence would by no means follow. For just as the farmer can plough and sow and harrow, and thus subordinate the spontaneity of nature, and direct that power into the useful channel of producing food, instead of the useless channel of producing briers and thorns, so you can modify, control, and regulate the spontaneity of the mind. Experience teaches you that you can break the threads of the web of thought, arrest the procession of the grand and beautiful, and throw discord into harmony: and where power exists, there exists responsibility.
We say, then, that in the concession we have made of a spontaneity directly influenced by material organization, there is no proof whatever that you are not accountable both for your belief and your actions; because consciousness teaches you that above and beyond every such influence there presides reason, and there exists a will. This important subject is most admirably discussed in a small pamphlet by Professor Martin, of Aberdeen, entitled, “Creed and Circumstance.” To adopt the well-chosen words of the professor: “May the day soon come when it shall be deemed of as great importance to the wellbeing of society that the laws of that chemistry, of which the human mind is the laboratory, shall be the subject of instruction, as the laws of that other chemistry whose laboratory is the world. Enough, however, is it for us at present, that in the domain, both of the material and the mental, there is ample scope for the highest energies and the most enlightened reason.”
It is peculiarly desirable that this subject be insisted upon. The work of individual self-formation is a duty not only to yourselves and your immediate relations, but to your fellow-creatures at large. On the use you make of your early energies; the conduct of your intellect, when it is capable of the most vigorous action; the discipline of your heart, when it is susceptible of the most lively impressions, will mainly depend what you shall henceforth be. This will involve much sacrifice, yea, lifelong struggle; yet we venture to press the demand. Should you never rise higher in society, you have already gained an honoured and holy position. You carry with you a blessed charm to lighten toil, to assuage affliction, to purify attachment, to conquer death. Yon have trained yourself in the way in which you should go, and when you are old you will not depart from it. Sisters, have you courage for the conflict? For in the Divine order, fighting precedes victory, and labour goes before reward.
“’Tis first the true, and then the beautiful;
Not first the beautiful, and then the true;
First the wild moor, with rock and reed and pool;
Then the gay garden, rich in scent and hue.
’Tis first the good, and then the beautiful;