CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



them under these two divisions. But first of all, 

 it may be desirable to say a few words here 

 regarding the formation of habits, which power- 

 fully affects men in performing both sets of duties. 



FORMATION OF HABITS. 



Man is said to be the creature of habit He 

 certainly is what his habits make him. A man's 

 character is the sum of his habits. So powerful is 

 the force of habit, that it is able to give a man 

 inclinations and capacities wholly different from 

 those which he originally possessed. It seems to 

 be a law of our nature that those physical acts are 

 most easily and well done which are most fre- 

 quently performed. The man who uses a flail, an 

 axe, a scythe, a gun, or a pen, can use it the better 

 the oftener he repeats the operation, until he arrives 

 at a point of excellence at which his power of im- 

 provement stops. The same rule holds good with 

 respect to mental acts. Persons who accustom 

 themselves to extemporaneous speaking, acquire a 

 surprising ease and readiness in the complicated 

 action of conceiving, uttering, and expressing, by 

 sounds, looks, and gestures, whatsoever they 

 would impress upon an audience. There are few 

 acts, of which either body or mind are capable, 

 which may not be made habitual by constant 

 repetition. If a man accustoms himself to speak- 

 ing civilly to others, he will become habitually 

 civil-spoken. The general habits of life are 

 formed with greater ease and facility during the 

 period of youth, than during the years which 

 follow our arrival at manhood ; a fact which has 

 found expression in the proverb, 'the child is 

 father of the man,' and which also demonstrates 

 the importance of encouraging the formation of 

 proper habits in children and young persons. 

 The child who has been systematically trained in 

 the practice of industry and honesty is not likely 

 to forsake them in after-life, even under the pres- 

 sure of exceptional circumstances. Thief-trainers 

 invariably select children as their pupils, because 

 they are more easily taught the nefarious arts of 

 the professional pickpocket or housebreaker than 

 adult persons. This has led to the establishment 

 of reformatories, in which young persons, who are 

 in the way of acquiring habits calculated to make 

 them dangerous members of society, are brought 

 under the influence of a wholesome training, and 

 taught to exchange the evil habits in which they 

 have been reared, for those which enable their 

 possessors to become good and useful members of 

 the community. 



The moral deduction which we make from a 

 consideration of the phenomena of habit is this 

 that there is a continual craving in human nature 

 to do some act to obtain some object ; or a con- 

 tinually recurring necessity to do some act to pre- 

 vent an evil or inconvenience. The frequency of 

 this call upon us to do something, whether it be 

 for eventual good or evil, leads to the practice, 

 custom, or habit of doing ; and in some cases the 

 impulse to act becomes so powerful, that reason, 

 self-respect, the laws of society, and even the 

 warnings and prohibitions of religion, present ' 

 no sufficient barrier to the impulse. It is to ! 

 this all-important truth in the nature of man 

 that we earnestly invite the attention of the young. 

 The capacity to create habits is the consequence 

 of the power given to us to promote our own wel- 



546 



fare, individually, socially, and as accountable 

 beings. Like everything else with which we are 

 intrusted, it may be rightly or profitably used, or 

 it may be misused and perverted to our certain 

 ruin. In youth, the character is plastic and 

 readily moulded into any shape j and habits, as 

 we have said, are easily formed. How vitally im- 

 portant, then, is it that care should be taken to 

 accustom the young to the regular performance 

 of those duties on which their future well-being 

 in life depends ! If they have been taught 

 through the twofold discipline of precept and 

 example to love justice and truth, to cultivate a 

 spirit of benevolence, to control anger, to subdue 

 envy, to abhor intemperance, to practise polite- 

 ness, then the temptations to which in later years 

 they will often be exposed, to neglect or violate 

 these duties, will lose half their power. What 

 others do with difficulty, or altogether fail to do, 

 they will perform, not only with ease, but with 

 pleasure. While others succumb helplessly to 

 pernicious suggestions, or are driven by evil pas- 

 sions like chaff before the wind, they stand firm 

 as a rock. The gambler, the drunkard, the prof- 

 ligate, are examples of the power of habit ; but 

 so are all who illustrate in their lives the virtues 

 that adorn and dignify human nature. 



PERSONAL OR PRIVATE DUTIES. 



It has been already pointed out that none of our 

 duties are merely personal that is, merely affect 

 ourselves ; and that the only ground for adopting the 

 distinction into personal and social, is that, though 

 in their issues all duties may and do affect the 

 welfare of society, yet some more immediately and 

 directly concern the individual who has to dis- 

 charge them. It is the duty of a man to be 

 temperate, first for his own sake, and only 

 secondarily for the sake of others ; but it is the 

 duty of a man to be an honest elector or juror, 

 first of all as a member of society. The principal 

 duties which we mean to consider under this 

 first head are : TEMPERANCE, INDUSTRY, PRE- 

 SERVATION OF HEALTH, SELF-SUPPORT, SELF- 

 IMPROVEMENT, FORMATION OF OPINIONS, CON- 

 TENTMENT, ANGER, and SELF-RESPECT. 



Temperance. 



To maintain health and strength, every person, 

 whether old or young, requires a certain amount 

 of food ; some require more than others. There 

 is with every one a certain quantity which may be 

 called enough, according as he is a strong and 

 healthy, or a slender and weakly person ; and no 

 one can take more than this enough without hurt- 

 ful consequences. It is also important that no 

 one should take too large a proportion of animal 

 food, or of very finely dressed and spiced food, 

 for all such excesses are productive of bodily ail- 

 ments, and, if much persisted in, permanently 

 injure health. 



He who eats much more than he ought to do, 

 is called a glutton : he who is fond of fine food, is 

 called an epicure. When any one thus seeks 

 more enjoyment from his food than prudence 

 would justify, he greatly lowers himself in the eyes 

 of all who think and act rightly. We should take 

 a pleasure in our food, and eat it in moderation, 

 with cheerfulness and gratitude ; but to think 

 much about it, and to take great pains about its 



