Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-05-05
sEHABIT."
The Second of n Series of Lectures
to Young Men.

W
Rev Mr. Thrall, of the Congregational
Church, has entered upon a course of lee
lures to young men. The course is de-
signed to reach class OF young men very
numerous in our community, viz.
those who are very careless regarding their
moral standing and character. The
second of the series was delivered In the
Independence Hall building last Sunday
evening. Notwithstanding the varied
attractions in other parts of the city In
the way of lectures and addresses, fair
sized audience turned out to hear the
reverend gentleman discourse on the sub
iect of Il" Habit" The following is a
synopsis of the lecture:
When the habits we form cease to be
! the masters we obey, and the Fates that
control our destiny, it will be time to give
! this subject a subordinate place, but not
till then. A good test would be remark
of Paley's, Mankind act more from
habit than reflection, man is a bundle of
habits" Forming habits is building a
man. Each new habit becomes part of
our very being. Breaking up habits is
simply untying the bundle of life-taking
the man to pieces. A man is not himself
while he is trying to reform; he is I'M
borned so to speak; a mere wreck of
himself Cowper's language on this sub
ject is not an eXaggeratlon:
Habits are soon assumed,
But when strive
To strip them, tits being hayed alive"
A man and his habits are one and the
same thing. But, in another sense,
habit is something quite apart from the
man himself, something which he pos
sesses and uses for his pleasure or SER
vice, like a toy or tool, Or something
which possesses and controls him, like a
tyrant The very word comes from the
Latin hdbere, which means to hare. At
first, habit is that which we have. AT
last, habit is that which has us. We in |
herit the habits of our ancestors, and |
these are our nature. We form habits of |
our own, and these become our second |
nature We call them ours as if we pos |
sessed them, but when we try to get rid |
of them we find that they really possess |
us.
Looked at in another light, habit is the
working law of the man. He thinks and
feels and acts along the line of his hab-
its. No man acts except according to
some law. 1t may be bad law, law
less law, traversing the laws of nature
and God, but it is memorable as the Deca-
logue, and the man obeys it like a serf.
Even our emotions, which seem to be
mere things of impulse, are creatures of
law. We laugh and weep by habit.
Even wlll-power, which is the most in
dependent faculty man possesses, follows
the lines of habit as naturally as the loco
motive works along the rails. And the
stronger and more fixed the habit the
more powerfully and swiftly the power of
will manifests itself. When will power
leaves its accustomed grove of habit, it is
evident that there is trouble somewhere.
Such unusual and unnatural acts of vO-
ltiOn are as violent and noisy as loco
motive humping over the ties. There is
no quality that is permanent and worth
having, no vice that can DESTROY the
nan, but is the result of habit
Again, habits are more reliable than
impulses or individual acts of volition. A
iXed habit can be depended on under all
circumstances. The regular soldier is
outrageous by habit, which is better than
o be courageous by impulse. A man ,
Who can't help being good is more trust ,
worthy than the man who can help it. A :
mans word is not entirely trustworthy /,
ntil, like George Washington, he can :
ay, 81 can't tell lie" A man who is
labitually. generous, and performs his ,,
Inns unconsciOusly, is better than the :
nan who is only given to freakish gener- ;;
sity. In habit we find morals and man !
ers at home, in their proper abode. ,,
Judge of man by his habits, not by his
impulses, or even by what he calls his
principles. What man calls his princi-
les are often nothing but his notions,
is prejudices and his bad habity. Some
len's principles are the worst thing about T
hem. A good habit is more valuable
han good principle. 1t is principle /
rown ripe. t
Mr.. Thral proposes to deliver several !
lore similar lectures on subjects of gem
raj interest. 1t is a much needed work, |
nd 1t is to be hoped it will go on. I