Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1841-07-24
From The ~ Y. Sunday Mercury.
PATENT SERMONS.


From The ". Y. Sunday Mercury.
PATENT SERMONS.
The editor of the Chicago Denocra
has requested me to preach from the fol
lowing;
Go it while you're young,
For when you're old, you can't.
My hearcrs-thc old provcrb says
"Irain up u child in the way be si,ouIc
90, and when he is old he will not depart
from it," but this, modernizcd, reads
''Irain up Il child in the way he roud 90,
and before he is old he will go it." Yes,
my friends there is no mistake about lift
you let a child run loose ovcr the fonceIess
fields of his own inclination, he will wear
out more moral shoe leather il one day
than an old man will in SIX weeks, who
walks moderately along the gravelIy high
way of sin. | would, however, have you
understand that ] have no objection to the
sons and daughters of earth going it while
they are young, provided they don't 20 it
too strong for | know that the honey
sucklcs OF pleasure grow only in the green
valley of youth, and that they all shed
their sweetness in the morning of life :;
that the declining sun of age casts but Il
sickly glare on the tomb of worldly enjoy
mcnt-and that old men, lettering towards
the lone tenement of death, are often times
compelled to bear the insults and ieors of
thoughtless Juveniles, who run after them
shouting, 600 it, ye cripples!' when the
young saoodls know that they arc no long
cr able to go it as they once did, when the
wheels of life were neW-when every thing
in the physical machinery operated without
squeaking-and when their hearts taIlow
was always kept melted by the warm blaze
Of youthful enthusiasm.
My dear children! go it while you are
young, but be careful how you go it. Lie
down and roll over as much as YOU please
upon the pcrfu,ned beds of indulgence, but
mind and not roll into the brambles of
everlasting misery. Kick up your heels
along the gay walks Of pleasure, but don't
crush the tender buds of virtue, beneath
your careless tread and above all, don't
run SO swiftly as to produce a spontaneous
combustion Of morality-for when that
spiritual essence is once destroyed, you are
just as surely done up and bursted as though
you were obliged to borrow a shirt to keep
up appearances. Drink deep from she cup
of rational en- oyment, but shun the incbria-
ting bowl as you would the small pox G.
the double-width measles. Don't mcddle
with it, my young friends-lor, when you
once get your sucker in, you will find it
scorched before you can get it ~out--your
fine sympathics crisped TO synders-and
your reputation blasted forever. In a spirit
of mildncss, mercy and modestv, ! warn
you against that worst Of all vices, gam
bling. 1t is but a trick Of the devil to en-
tice YOU into his sIaughter-housc. It in
duces YOU to lie, cheat, and indulge in pro-
fame language; and it moreover offers you
invitation 10 get your living by other
means than those prescribed in the golden
decaloglie of honest industry. Be careful,
also, how you go it in ycur approximations
towards tie female sex. Let your love be
Ct the p4rest and most exalted nature. IN
stead of hankering after tho flesh, YOU
to have your affections placed on
those heavenly virtues with which it is
s~tuffed--for it is the stulIing alone that
contains the true spice Of reciprocal love.
Go it Young man new in the days Of
your youth! Revcl in the sweets Of cnIoy-
mont while L'ancy's flowers are in their
fullest bioom-while p;nions Of hope droop
not in the cold storms Of advcrSity-whI!e
the sun Of ambition still shines upon the
far distant summit Of fame. Let your
heart abound with good cheer-banIsh
every suicidal thought from your mind
and let the soul surteit upon the I~uxuries Ct
mental bliss: but while You are partaking
of these bcunties, you must try, young
to lay up a portion OF them to feast
upon when you become old and no longer
able to go it with that looseness with which
YOU are now privileged. The time will
come when the sweetest soup OF lie will
taste as insipid as dish watcr--when every
of Joy will loose its s2asonlnss-when
your bread Ct hope won't rise for want OF
Ieaycn-and when like q dried sapling,
YOU will have grown SO stiff and old that
you can't bend without cracking.
Nv dear friends-When you are old you
can't 90 it any more than u broken down
stage horse; and if you don't enjoy your
self while you feed upon the oats Of youth
full anticipation, you will find cut that you
can never do it when you come to Craze IN
the barren pastures of age. If compare
YOU to horses, my respected hearers, crust
YOU will forgive the comparison, inasmuch
as the moral part of man is subject to the
same decay which horse flesh is heir to.
Yes, the juices of our bodies become dried
in the autumnal winds Of age-our hearts
are robbed of all their former delights
and the few Jewels that remain in tllh ss17f
kct of memory, although pure pr"