mingled together, not merely to render us either sad or happy, but to try, to purify, and to discipline the soul. How beautiful, and even sublime, it is to bear in patience the evils which are our allotment, while we learn in quietude and thankfulness the salutary lessons they impart! It cannot be doubted that a patient spirit, in the circumstances in which we are placed, is absolutely necessary to that propriety and evenness of deportment which is implied in consistency of character. No one can pursue the regular and even tenor of his way, on a path so beset with inequalities as that of human life, who is not able to guide and to subdue the storms, whether of anger or impatience, which at times arise in every one's bosom. When, in the providence of God, we are made the subjects of various sorrows, it is our duty to bear them without murmuring. When we are injured by our enemies and are angry with them, it is still our duty to forgive and to bless them. But how can we possibly do this? In what way can we quell our impatience and subdue our anger, if there be not, distinct from the passions and altogether above them, another and authoritative power, to which they can be compelled to render obedience? It may perhaps be said, in all these cases, that we are not obliged to throw ourselves on the volitional power, because we have the power of the conscience, the ability implanted within us, to judge of the right and wrong. But it should be kept in mind that the act of conscience is merely advisory or consultative; that it merely pronounces a thing to be just or unjust, merely approves or disapproves; and that, without some other power to carry its decisions to their appropriate results, it would be wholly without effect. The whole topic, therefore, of consistency of character (one of the most practical and interesting that can be presented to our notice) is closely, and even inseparably, connected with the doctrine of the nature, powers, and laws of the Will. This, however, is only one instance of the applications of this great subject, which will be found to weave itself into every variety and aspect of the philosophy of human conduct. So that we may say, in a single word, that it is impossible for us to have a correct understanding of the elements, and operations, and diversities of human nature, in its various aspects, both of feeling and action, without an acquaintance, and a thorough acquaintance too, with the nature of the Will. CHAPTER V. DISCIPLINE OF THE WILL. § 194. Importance of a due discipline of the will. In all the various treatises having relation to mental discipline that have from time to time issued from the press, while much has been said of the discipline of the memory, the reasoning power, the imagination, and other intellectual powers, but little has been said of the discipline of the affections, and still less of that of the Will. It seems even to have been imagined that the volitional power, in consequence perhaps of its acknowledged pre-eminence and control over the other powers, is placed in a sphere so entirely distinct and remote as not to be approached in the way of discipline. And when we consider what ignorance and misconception of this part of our nature has prevailed, it is not surprising, on the whole, that such a notion, erroneous and prejudicial as it is, should have obtained currency. But if the views hitherto given in the preceding chapters be correct, we shall see that the discipline of the will is not an unmeaning proposition, and that it is as important as it is practicable. Of the importance of this discipline it will not be necessary to say much, after what has just been remarked on the subject of CONSISTENCY of character. If a man would sustain himself with any sort of credit amid the storms which blow from every point of the compass; if he would covet the reputation of possessing any fixedness of belief or of acting on any fixed ness of plan, it is certain that he must have within himself a regulative power. And this regulative power, in order to meet and sustain the requisitions that are made upon it, must be strengthened in every possible way. In these views of the importance of the discipline and culture of the Will, we are happy to find ourselves sustained by the authority of an eminent writer, whose opinions would be entitled to great weight on a matter far less obvious.--"The faculty of the Will requires not only to be directed aright in infant life, but to be fortified and strengthened by a course of exercise and discipline, as much as any faculty whatever. This we may say as physiologists; but as moralists we may speak a bolder language, and maintain that it demands the spur and trammel of education even more than all the other faculties put together, since it is designed by nature to be the governing power, and to exercise an absolute sway over the rest, even over the desire itself, by which, however, it is moved on all ordinary occasions."* § 195. A due balance of all the powers the most favourable state of things to the just exercise of the will. In this connexion, and as preparatory to what we have further to say in this chapter, we are led to make the remark, that the most favourable occasion for the action of any mental power is to be found in the exact adjustment and harmony of the mental powers generally. When they are all in their natural place, when they are all properly and precisely adjusted in reference to each other, without any of that interference and jarring which always result from a transgression of their natural limits, they may all be expected to act vigorously, because there is nothing in the way of their thus acting; all obstructions, at least all extrinsic obstructions, are removed; and we may reasonably anticipate, that whatever ability they possess will be put forth to the full extent of its exist * Good's Medicine, NEUROTICA, ORD. I., Gen. vi. ence, and in the most available and best manner. And, accordingly, we may lay it down as a general principle, that wherever there is perfect harmony in the mind, everything will be right in its action; every exercise of the mind will be in accordance with the truth of things; that is to say, it will be just such as it ought to be. But every careful observer of human nature (saying nothing of the testimony from Biblical sources) assuredly knows that this is a state of things which, as a general statement at least, does not exist among men. The parts of the human mind, however wonderfully they may have been arranged in the first instance, and whatever realizations of harmony they are capable of attaining to in the future, exhibit at the present time but too mournful evidence of a dislocated and jarring movement; one part of the mind contending against another; the appetites and passions attempting to enforce their claims against the requisitions and authority of conscience; the love of the world, in its various forms of enticement and attraction, earnestly and fiercely contesting against the love of God and of heavenly things. And now it should be kept in mind, that all these forms of violent contest bear directly upon the Will; and it is too often the case, that this higher and controlling power, this great arbiter of the internal conflict, gives its decision in favour of the appetites and against the moral sentiments, in favour of the world and against Him who is the world's creator and ruler. But this is a state of things which ought not to be. And it is truly a great practical question, in what way the energies of the will can be strengthened, and directed to their appropriate and rightful issues. It is admitted that we know the right. And the question is, How shall we obtain strength to do it? How shall we redeem ourselves from our voluntary thraldom, and walk forth in the light of our own conscience and in the smiles of an approving God, regenerated and free? The answer to these questions might be greatly expanded, but the limits of our plan require us to dismiss the subject, practical and interesting as it is, with some general views given in as few words as possible. § 196. Of the culture of the appetites, propensities, and passions, as auxiliary to the discipline of the will. Keeping in view the general statement, that an entire harmony of the mental powers is a condition of things the most favourable for the perfect exercise of the Will, we are the more fully prepared to enter into the examination of particulars. We proceed, therefore, to remark, that it is highly important, in the discipline of the will, to keep the appetites, propensities, and passions in due subjection. While it is true that the volitions are capable of operating upon these various desires, and that they can check and subdue them both by a direct and indirect action, and particularly by a combination of both, it is likewise not the less true that these appetitive, propensive, and affectional parts of our nature are also capable in their turn of operating on the volitions, and that they do thus operate, although it is not necessary at the present time to enter into any explanation of the precise nature of this reciprocal influence. In other words, there is in the economy of the mind a fixed relation between the two classes of mental states; between the voluntary power or will on the one hand, and the desires, including the propensive and affectional principles, on the other. Each of them has its place; each, in a perfect state of the mind, has its appropriate limits; each has its nature, its object, and its relations. Hence, in order to illustrate the alleged importance of keeping the desires, in their various forms, under suitable control, as a prerequisite to the proper exercise of the will, it seems to be necessary to present but one view. It is a fact, susceptible of as clear demonstration as subjects of this nature generally admit of, that any appetite or propensity whatever, whether it be the desire of mere sensual pleasure, or of knowledge, wealth, or power, which is indulged for |