THE LAW OF HABIT. 51 



would be injurious the voice of habit interferes to prevent that 

 »rowth which would without it be unavoidable. And thus we find 

 that our bitter disappointments and anxieties are after a while calmed 

 down, through the beneficent operation of laws that enter into our 

 very constitution, and in such manner as even to render greater our 

 appreciation of after enjoyments. And in the same way, even those 

 bitter bereavements which come to us through loss of some object of 

 tender affection, which must for a time run their course in parox- 

 ysms of grief, are gradually abated in the healthy constitution until, 

 after lingering for a while, grief and lamentation give way to cherished 

 memory, and the most cruel anguish shades gradually into a tender 

 melancholy that has even its element of pleasure. Crrief fades away, 

 but the " pleasures of memory " ai'e still ours, and the love remains 

 unchangeable, and the ordinary intei'ests of life come back, and its 

 duties take on again their customaiy attractiveness, bringing at last 

 a joy which at first would have seemed a mockery. In this way the 

 tears of the mourner are wiped away, while the affections of his 

 heart are still true ; he is preserved true to affection, and yet capable 

 of duty ; and those unavoidable accidents of bereavement are deprived 

 of their power to destroy thi'ough the very sensibilities which most 

 feel their influence. 



It remains to treat of the law of habit in relation to our moral 

 nature. Its importance in this connection cannot be over-estimated, 

 When its energies are directed in the line of virtue, it is as an army 

 of power to aid in withstanding temptation. It strengthens and 

 makes sure our resistance, and it renders comparatively easy of ac- 

 ceiitance the most ai-duous commands of duty. This it does by add- 

 ing to the virtuous tendency and weakening opposing forces, each 

 victory helping to further conquests. He who has made a practice 

 in his daily life of preferring the higher to the lower, he wlio steadily 

 repels the base promptings of the lower impulses, will in time find 

 that they will cease to rise in opposition, and may even be brought 

 into helpful agreement with the promptings of his better nature. 

 Issuing victorious from the hard conflict in the beginning, he goes 

 on without limit to greater and more important deeds and sacri- 

 fices, gives to life itself one grand and inspiring purpose, and finally 

 forms a character that will last eternally. His frequent victories in 

 time instil into his whole character their accumulating and perma- 

 nent consequences. The stability of virtue is thus founded upon the 



