Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1830-06-17

nc more dTeSdiui To- them tban 10 He Hd"s@S
in his chains? And will not the very extinc
ton Of reason, at which the victim Of insanity
trembles as bis own evil, be counted By them
their greatest blessing"
True, true, my father! You bring rae to
the very gates Of perditon."
| 'EAnd vet, my son, | have carried rny as
sertioa perhaps too far, for the very vices Of
which We speak, are kind Of madness. tx
! anime the groaad Of your duties 10 Cod and
man. Are they the laws Of selfish, inIqult-
on. tvrant who profits ~ your objections
and imposes restraints, only that nc may find
occasion of iaAicting punishment? OF ere
they founded IN the very principles Of your
nature, and directed 70 the noblest ends of
| your eXIstonCe!"
Doubtless the latter. They are the con
ditions Of ny Happiness, which the Crea-
tor himself cannot remove without first
changing the nature he has given me"
"Virtue, then, V only the thorough. practi
| cal knowledge Of ourselves, our nature, our
| duty. and our destination. Add Vice is bot
| the perpetual absence Of this knowledge, or
rather moral darkness, interrupted at inter
| 7a}5, W. q raonc REary CLEAN Of light, which
/ laws bare the rains Of the mind. Ask like
wise The opinion OF the world. 1t gives to
vice all Ne lapes ofmadncss from the Lesser.
foIEes of inGrmity 10 tie widest eXcesses Of
anger, and its treatment Of this GLASS Of mani
dcs Is Ric same as IFS treatment Of the other
II imprisons them, chains them, chast,,es
them: or ifit suffers them TO 20 free, they
are at best hot Wretchsd wanderers, hike
those bewiidered. but less iracted minds
which cal! forth the sympathy OF hs humane,
and Inc dtrision OF the populace.'
90 nay father, you have gwen me such Al
picture Of vice.
Chat is what desired fwished to make
thcsimpressions we have this day received,
an occasion eff lasting benefit to as both. To
suffer agony for those unhappy beings IS use
less alike 70 rs and them all we gam. at last
Is simply this: that We have had a human
feelings feeling SO humllsting las TO palsy
al Our energies, and which IL IS better never
to have ks0un. But the view We have ia
ken may DC productive Of real benefit III
NAV teach US to dread the contaxIcn Of vice,
IN proportion as it is more terrible even THAI
madness itselIn
yet vice may be avoided, my father; but
insanity cannot"
'f'ifue, and what is the inference 10 he
drawn from this remark? That we sIoplt
wander carclessly on, regardless OF the dan
. gers y aich surround IA? Or that we should
marx ctr footsteps, with an ever watchiul
eye, and t5is avoid the fighful abyss thai
bofders else upon tho path OF iIicE Rec all
the images which have 20 ovefpaWegcd your
feelings, and imagine yoursel in the place O.
that rretchcd man who feels the first st7up-
toms Of insanity, tie FIRST dreams of dcl.r:ua
aPProach;agl In this awful moment suppose
there is possibility ofescape; and say would
every desire of your soul centre in the single
prayer, that you might be preserved from Ibis
impending r6Ho'
"Oh.---"
''tice also has It's symptoms, my son, and
its silent approaches; aud woe to the man
that can perceiye IFS workings within hlm, and
feel no horror! These symptoms appear "
the violence Of the passions and desires: and
in the want Of dat thorough knowledge OF ou2I
own hearts, which constitutes, as / have said,
the essence ofSTue vrtNe. tthoe"el, there
fore, IS harried by the violence OF his desires
beyond The bounds moderation; and, in tha
warmth Of passion. forgets the more saered
duties thar devolye upon him, has surely the
greatest reason to trembls and beware. Hsj
IS go much desreF than other men TO the fatal
madness efviee."
The son understood but two well The afFec-
Tomato, yet earnest look Of his father. He
thought of his past course of life, and many
deed Of wckedness required 30 his rssshac-
ton, with en- overwhelming power.
"But," continued the father, "what means
do the young possess Of securing to calm rca
son the victory ever tina impetuous tide 81
passion and desire? Reason, indeed, is
powerful IN resisting the approaches Of Ftce,
and, with men OF meturor years and esfab
hshed principle, IS sometimes c.fsstual. But,
IN the young, imagination and ieehag are
usually predominant, and the bost, nav the
only security which they can nave, is, so to
connect and associate sense Of duty with
the finest, tenderest ssnsbihties ef the soul,
that at the first whisper OF conscience, the
very ardour fyouth may bo enlisted m the
support Of virtue. Theirs are rnomentsj in the
life OF every man, which briHg with tiism inn
pressions so deep aad lasting, that solemn
resolution then formed, to DC always tYUo to
dnty, always jest and honorable, would never
fail of successful performance Such mo-
nsnt Of deep excitement we have TINS day
experienced, and theheart-rending morning
is just at hand--wRen we must bid each 9th
er long and ast--laTewell------"
His voice hars faltered, and tho SOC, over
powered by feeling, threw himself into his
fathers arms, with Loud expressions Of sor-
row. As soon % the power sfspeech return
ed, he laid his hand upon bis heart. in the
presence of his father, and swore that the
mem0ry of this dag should never iorsai<o
him; that it shOnld be TO him constant and
powerful excitement to virtue: and this sol
emn oath was never forgotten. Often when
temptation allVred his sense, and passion