Loudon free press. (Loudon, Tenn.) 1852-1855, 1854-07-19

need Of praise for noble exertion ever equal,
to those whose, age and numbers, give them
much more prominence in society. The few
remarks may submit, upon this subject, is in
tended principally for parents and teachers, and
I wish to urge upon them the Importance OF
sending their children to Sabbath School, and
there intoxicating, the great truths set forth in
the Bible; and also the Importance of early con-
traction of habits Of piety. "Habit Is second
nature" is proposition no less important than
true. Every one has experienced the difficulty
of acting differently, from what he has long
been accustomed to act. So that habits once
formed are seldom changed, nerer wholly aban-
doned. As we'll might, the Ethiopian change
his skin, or the leopard his spots" Like a
tyrant it forces its victim whithersoever it will.
1t rules him with n rod of iron and sway of
onipotence and the manacles of its despOtism he
cannot sever. Mature life acts almost entire
m ere edition of the volume ofyouthful habits
with perhaps few marginal notes; an acting
embodiment, living comm ent upon the text
early habits. Habits are not only easily formed
but they Wi7 be tormed. The very necessity of
our nature and the constitution of things under
which we live render the on-centraction of
habits an absolute impossibilty and / viii re-
mark by way Of episode 10 the main idea, that
it is necessity in the constitution Of things by
no reans inauspicions to virture.
Fixed principals, and fixed habits constitute
the only reliable character; rs hahitless extern.
pore, life would leave the victim a foot ball for
every present impulse and circumstance to toss
about at their will. But ,chen and ho,r nre
these habits formed? answer chiefly at
very early age and by very gradual. but
very sure process. The moment the infant steps
upon the threshold of its immortal existence
the process begins IT steps into life universe
Of various powers, endowed with unresting
activity whose every exertion is grade in the
Constitution of habit and an advance 10 the
maturity of character.
By slow and mpcrcertibe degrees, the mind
invests itself with habit. and wears its web of
character. until it stands forth in full attire.
clothed in habilaments of which it cannot de-
nude itself at pleasure. What to dav seems of
little consequence will grow and strenthen bv
imperceptible degrees, until ii holds with the
strength of a cable. That cable, though, form
ed by twisting one thread at a time, when once
completed will hold the proudest ship in sub.
lection to its power. So with habit and char
&c Co. al orI toll;cboI f-,,,, taocb
ings of tire Bible. The mind highly susceptible
of moral impressions at a very early age, in the
language ofthe great Upper:
"The bent unto good or evil may be given in
the hours Of infantcy:
Scratch the green rind ola sapling or wantonly
twist it in the SOIL
The SCARED and crooked oak will tell Of thee for
centuries to come;
For disposition is buldrd up in tbs fashioning
of first impressions,
For child is in new world and lcarneth some
what every moment;
His eye is quick to observe, his memory storeth
in secret
His ear is greedy of knowledge, and his mind
plastic rs soft wax"
And another whose fame MS a moralist and
Poet as wide as the civilized world says:
Otis education forms the common mind,
Just as the twig is bent the tree inclines."
And a greater than Upper or Pope, has said:-
"Train up child in the way he should go ard
when he is old he will not depart from it,
The long interlapsing period between infancy
and mature life is kindly given for intellectual
and moral training and education-for the for
of bobi
will fit them for engaging in the active scenes
of busy world, and for taking part in the
great drama of human life Were the infant
to bound into existence, with the full statue of
manhood, and without the long preparatory
training, of infantry, childhood and youth be
thrown into the midst of lifes giddy whirl of bu-
siness--to engage on the vast arena in its excl
ting conflicts of passion and interest, he wonld
be borne away by the dashing current of hut
man affairs, no one knows where-!ike a bark
upon the stormy world of waters, without COM
pass or pilot, he would be driven wreck upon
fierce breaches or sink in hapless impotence,
in fatal and unavailable quicksands. Every
step in lfes pathway is beset with enemies.
The destinations of pleasure, the allurements
of wealth, and splendor of fame-evii example
and vicious mpanouship--all that can pre-
vent the way or corrupt the heart overspread
the whole palestra o. life How important then,
to the individual and to the world, that the ten
der age of lifes first years, should be supplied
with fixed principals and habits,-that charac-
ter should be formed established and matured,
that habits should Re acquired of thinking and
feeling and acting in strict conformity to the
rigid principals of moral right set forth in the
Bible.
Unless the character have acquired firmness
and substanciability, and the habits strength
and fixed before going forth to mingle with the
corruptions, and grapple with the vices of the
world every influence that pours in from every
quarter, will leave its color and impress.
trust / shall not fall under tine imputation
of discussing topic irrelevant to the occasion,
and out side the scope of my representative au-
thority. Not so, the general principals promised,
important even in themselves are doubly so,