unerring certainty where at first great difficulty
was experienced. It is not so much the soul or abstract principle of
mind which is thus changed, as the organic medium through which mind is
destined to act in the present mode of being.

The necessity of judicious repetition in mental and moral education is,
in fact, too little adverted to, because the principle on which it is
effectual has not hitherto been generally understood. Practice is as
necessary to induce facility of action in the organs of the mind as in
those of motion. The idea or feeling must not only be communicated, but
it must be represented and reproduced in different forms till all the
faculties concerned in understanding it come to work efficiently
together in the conception of it, and until a sufficient impression is
made upon the organ of mind to enable the latter to retain it. Servants
and others are frequently blamed for not doing a thing at regular
intervals when they have been but once told to do so. We learn, however,
from the organic laws, that it is presumptuous to expect the formation
of a habit from a single act, and that we must reproduce the associated
activity of the requisite faculties many times before the result will
certainly follow, just as we must repeat the movement in dancing or
skating many times before we become master of it.

We may understand a new subject by a single perusal, but we can fully
master it only by dwelling upon it again and again. In order to make a
durable impression on the mind, repetition is necessary. It follows,
hence, that in learning a language or science, six successive months of
application will be more effectual in fixing it indelibly in the mind,
and making it a part of the mental furniture, than double or even treble
the time if the lessons are interrupted by long intervals. The too
common practice of beginning a study, and, after pursuing it a little
time, leaving it to be completed at a later period, is unphilosophical
and very injurious. The fatigue of study is thus doubled, and the
success greatly diminished. Studies should not, as a general thing, be
entered upon until the mind is sufficiently mature to understand them
thoroughly, and, when begun, they should not be discontinued until they
are completely mastered. By this means the mind becomes accustomed to
sound and healthy action, which alone can qualify the student for
eminent usefulness in after life. Much of the want of success in the
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