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In the more learned and illustrious avocations of life, it iy 

 only industry and talents that can bestow celebrity. But 

 knowledge the most profound, and genius the most exalted, 

 would be useless to the possessor on the most critical occa- 

 sions, were it not for the power of habit. It is by constantly 

 calling them into exercise, that they become as ready instru- 

 ments in his hand, as a tool in the mechanic s. The expe- 

 rienced physician has scarcely ascertained the symptoms, 

 until the hidden seat of the disease discovers itself to his 

 sagacity, and his judgment as instantly decides on the ap- 

 propriate remedy. The legal practitioner as speedily deve- 

 lopes the rights of contending parties, and evolves the in- 

 tricate avenue to justice — with confidence and fluency he 

 stigmatises the conduct of one individual, and justifies that of 

 another — and with the same astuteness and presence of mind, 

 eviscerates truth from an evasive witness ; or replies to the 

 arguments, and retorts on the wit, of a dextrous adversary. 

 The parliamentary orator is no less indebted to habit, for the 

 skill with which he brands his opponents without breach of 

 decorum ; — the pertinacity of hollow argument, with which 

 he ppholds the cause of corruption ; or the lightening of 

 eloquence, with whose flashes he confounds its abettors. 



What a variety of habits is necessary to form the com- 

 mander of armies. To discern at a glance the strong and 

 weak points of a country — to calculate the sum of its re- 

 sources — to combine extensive and even I'emote operations — 

 to move in all its involutions and dependencies the vast ma- 



