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earthly and impure within us . Surely there can be no comparison between the devotional excitement of our youthful days , whose excess was invariabl y followed by a proportionate depression , and which in its best state was flickering ; and uncertain , and that confirmed state of habitual piety in which the soul is endowed with a heavenly strength to endure , and a boundless capacity to enjoy : when every object glows with sunshine from another world , and every voice speaks in the music of a higher sphere . In no instance is the influence of habit more evident in the renovation of
feeling than in the exertion of benevolent principle . When the selfishness natural to childhood has so far given way as to allow of the exertion of benevolent principle , we sometimes feel dissatisfied with ourselves , because we perform acts of kindness from an impulse of conscience only , having our own peace of mind in view more than the good of the object of our care . This is assuredly a very imperfect kind of benevolence , yet it is one which all must practise before they can attain to any thing higher and better . Here , also , steady perseverance will overcome our difficulties . Various
pleasures will arise from the gratitude of the object , the new interests thus opened to us , the consciousness of useful employment , and , perhaps , a large portion from the society and co-operation of friendship ; and these pleasurable feelings , becoming associated with the act and the object , will render a repetition of such offices of kindness more an impulse of the inclination
and less an effort of conscience continually , till we come to do good naturally , and without any express regard to our own peace of mind . By the same means we have transferred our personal interests to the objects of our care , and they consequently awaken in us the same sympathies which were formerly expended on ourselves . The pleasures of benevolence , however faint and imperfect at first , afford sufficient inducement to us to seek their
continuance and extension ; new objects are found , and these introduce others , and so on ; we are led to think less of ourselves and more of others perpetually , till we gain a glimpse of that glorious prospect which to some exalted spirits seems to have been realized even in this world , when the joys and sorrows of others become matters of as intimate concern to the mind as ever were its own in its most selfish days ; and every thing that- lives and breathes finds ready access to the open heart , and a secure asylum in the expanded affections . Such was Howard : in childhood , selfish , no doubt ,
like other children ; in youth , impetuous and precipitate ; in mature age , cairn , persevering , inflexible , in action ; ingenuous and disinterested in character ; simple and mild in manners ; in feeling , sensitive in the highest degree . In his career of benevolence , he set out from the same point as other men : by constant adherence to principle , by perseverance in virtuous action , his affections became enlarged , and his sensibilities refined , till this part of his character became divine , purified from all corruption , and incapable of deterioration . What further encouragement do we need than an example like this ? What further instruction ? What more abundant
source of pure and grateful hope ? If any further exemplification of our leading fact were needed , it might be found in a variety of instances , whose moral import is not so great as those already adduced , or where the process tends to deteriorate the mind . If the fine arts were not cultivated , our emotions would be incapable of excitement if the most perfect specimens were to drop from the clouds ; and it is by the study of them alone , that any individual mind can derive more than a low degree of pleasure from the contemplation of their grandest
Untitled Article
160 On the Agency of HabiU in the Regeneration of Feelings .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1829, page 160, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2570/page/8/
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