rom the future commission of a similar crime;
and this affords us another powerful argument in favour of early
instruction and moral training. By attending early to this duty, the
mind of the child is made up, and sentence has been pronounced on
certain acts, before selfishness or the passions have had an opportunity
of blinding the mind, or silencing the conscience. By proper moral
training the pupil is fortified and prepared for combating his evil
inclinations when temptations occur; but without this, he will have to
encounter sudden temptations at a great disadvantage.

10. Another circumstance connected with this subject is, that the moral
sentiments and feelings above all others, are improved and strengthened
by exercise; and are weakened, and often destroyed by disregard or
opposition.--Every instance of moral exercise or moral discipline,
invigorates the executive powers of conscience, and renders the moral
perceptions of the person more acute and tender. Every successful
struggle against a temptation, implants in the mind of a child a noble
consciousness of dignity, and confers a large amount of moral strength,
and a firmer determination to resist others. In this respect, the good
derived from the mere knowledge of a duty and its actual performance is
immense. A child who is merely told that a certain action is
praiseworthy, is by no means so sensible of the fact, or of its value,
as he is after he has actually performed it; and when, on the contrary,
he is told that a certain action is wrong, he is no doubt prepared to
avoid it; but it is not till he has been tempted to its commission, and
has successfully overcome the temptation, that he is fully aware of its
enormity. When he has successfully resisted the first temptation, he is
much better prepared than any exhortation or warning could make him for
resisting and repelling a second;--while every successive victory will
give strength to the executive powers of the conscience, and will render
future conflicts less hazardous, and resistance more easy. For the same
reason, an amiable action frequently performed does not pall by
repetition, but appears more and more amiable, till the doing of it
grows into a habit; and the approval of conscience becoming every day
more satisfactory, the person will be stimulated to its frequent and
regular observance.

But the opposite of this is equally true.--The continued habit of
suppressing the voice of conscience will great