The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-01-22
For The CTTfzrS.



evening of the 3lst of December, TO a
large audience. l was present and rs
tened to it with much interest, and the
audience seemed highly entertained, for
indeed the lecture was a literary treat,
and showed vast eruditiOn and consld-
cradle study. The speaker entered INTO
a region OF thought that L think was !
new to most of his hearers, and sald |
many things that were highly beautiful
and much that was instructive; and
while i do not feel myself capable OF
passing a criticism on his effort, there
were some propositions announced with
which L could not agree, and only one
OF which ] shall mention at present, and
I think it was the first one announced
bv the sneaker. and was about in these
words: eThe man who does coed from
| force of habit, deserves no credit Tor
| it, and he is like the dutch clock, which
would tick, tick, tick, and would strike,
! strike, and was wound up every Sunday
morning." And when he dies his cpl
taph should be, "here lies the body of
human machine, who did good from
| force of habit" / have quoted from
memory and may not have gotten his
words exactly but I think this is the
| substance of them. Now l do not agree
with the speaker that there are any men
that do good ''from force of habit"
think it impossible in the very nature OF
things, But fortunate by far for this
world, there is a class who do good so
uniformly, and whose lives are so con-
sistant with duty from day to day, that
they may seem to edo good from force
of habit;" and think the proposition
is calculated to take from that class
some of the credit the world has hereto
fore given them, and which think they
richly deserve, hence l notice it.
Mr.. Webster says, "Habit is that
which is held or retained, the effect OF
custom, or frequent repetition" And
this is the generally accepted definition
of the term. We speak Of good habits
f an evil habits; each class is acquired
no one was ever born into the world
with either; they are inherent IN nc
one. There is q time in the life OF eV-
cry man when he is not under the intiu-
ence of any habit, whether good or evil
, Then how is habit formed? We answer
by frequent repetition of the same act
Then it necessarily requires some effOr
: of the party forming the habit. TIT
;. first, second, third and many ether act
f may be done before the party even be
;. gins to feel the influence of the habit
and it may require very great effort II
II some cases. For instance, any one ma!
r wish to acquire the habit Of studying
III MnECA4 hOAAzN OC a. . r wv Ae+D
it, and he may have a social nature, ant
it would far better accord with his ma
} ture to spend his time with some bOOl
t. companions in many kinds of socia
amusements; and indeed he may hav
positively a distaste for books and a.
aversion 20 study of any kind, and ye
by repeated efforts he can overcome a
of his natural disposition, and his aver
~ sion to books, and learn to love thin
> he once disliked exceedingly; but it ma
u cost a heroic struggle. Now if any on
I, does this, does he not deserve credit
is The werld would say so, and would
n not say correctly? None other tina
- the highest motives would be apt to il
aU duce any one to come directly in cor
flict with all the natural predispositioI
and inclinations, and to conquer then
Il We would have no right to presume tn;
any other than very exalted motive
would induce him to do this, and
a would seem that if any one could d.
a. serve any credit or any merit in any
thing any one could do in this life, thel
: would be in this. And SO with referenC
l. to any other good habit that may
l. formed. For as is stated in the defin
We ton, habit is acquired. We are not boz
90 with it. 1t costs effort, and repeated e
forts, and in some instances, heroic e
&c forts.
4 Now if there is no merit for acquirin
rs good habits, the converse of the prOp'
,+ sition must be likewise true, and the
can be no blame or cepsure attached
any one for acquiring evil habits, and
" presume that no one would contend Il
ne such proposition. For evil habits to
no are acquired as well as good ones, and
the same way, TOO, that is by repeatt
Al acts of the same kind. For althoug
IN there is enough of the old Adam in e
a cry one to incline them to do evil instes
n OF good, yet whoever starts IN tn;
course will run counter to some admt
CO nitions and some sense OF duty WhiC
at cost an effort and some stiDgs of col
ne science at first, though these grow feeb
n and feebler until the habit is formed
\, until he is a complete victim so to spea
III to a being whom he himself has create
ks And does he deserve no censure for this
of and is he not responsible for it?
g. would be a strange philosophy tn
\ would say he is not. Look at the result
= of the two courses. The one by acqui
C. ng good habits may not only bless hin
h. ielf and gain the highest heights
nm usefulness, but his example may have
:, halloYed influence on many others, an
IA may, like the pillow of cloud by da
er and the pillow of fire by night, guiC
ce many "A pilgrim through this Wilderne
ve and to the promise land. The other, /
acquiring evil habits, may not Onl
&C blight his own prospects for happine
ga ana usefulness here, but his example al
he influence may drag many with hi
in down, both to temporal and eternal II
% in.
To do good from force of habit, is
80 term that is difficult to understand. tt
its word good has very extensive meal
" ing. Any one may do good in so man
thousand ways. He may relieve cha
~ ity to-day, and assist some suffering OF
ne tomorrow, and aid some noble eau
It the next day, and so on through Il
,st whole of life, and yet every act pc
!. formed may be essentially different fro
ST. every other act he ever performed, an
al yet they may ali be good, and he ms
er do good both by precept and exampl
- and in the former he may teach diffe
ent lesson every day, and yet they ma
all be consistent with each other, al
as all be good. So with reference to b
ey acts. He may perform different &C
en- every day, and yet these acts may
"a consistent with each other, and consi
az tent with right and duty. Now if al
III, being ever lived in this world who
'p- good in so many many ways ''thrOus
MT force of habit" we certainly have !
"a account of him. And even If it we
Su possible in this life for any one to ga
ng that heighth in the path Of virtue VIII,
lst he could do good without having to T
IN sist evil, where all the prOmptin
=; and impulses of his nature led him
:, "a do good, and only good continual
IL (and this would be more like don
de good from force of habit than an
tv thing else l can imagined then mol
- other would deserve so much credit
40 he would, for he would have to fig
II and conquer his way up to that su
N lime height, and no other being cou
he be so sure of the crown of life, unle
-, he, too, had attained that height.
SYLVANUs.