Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1855-05-10
FOR YOUNG MEN.
HE DRlSKs.

How ominously that sentence fallsI-
How we pause in conversation anC
calculate it's a pity How his mothel
hopes be viii not when he grows older
and his sisters persuade themselves tha
it is only few wild oats that he is sow
ing. And yet old men shake their head.
and feel sad and gloomy when they
speak of it; for whoever stopped anc
did not at some time give way to temp.
tation.
1t is dangerous to trife with pleas.
ures. Each step that she leads us away
from the path of rectitude. leaves us
less desire to return. Each time thai
she induces us to deviate, we must 90
little further to obtain the same en-
joyment. Even with increased expe-
rience we resolve to walk in the path OF
duty, we follow it with more difficulty
! if we have once allowed ourselves to
wander.
Pleasure stands at gate ever open,
and she invites US to enter her gardens.
She tells us that we need not fear, for
we can return when we choose. She
calls to the pilgrim on the dusty high
way of life, and way-worn and weary
as he is, she invites him to enter. She
points him to men that are again upon
the road, men who once whiled away
some time in her dominions, but have
resumed their journey. He does not
know the self-reproach and the weak
ness they felt on leaving her bowers,
nor the increased difficulty with which
they tread the path of daily life. He
wishes, and then turns, and then books
in. He will enter for little while
But he is soon bewildered in enjoyment
His senses revel in the fragrance. He
is on enchanted ground. He is sure
that be can return. And that he will
return, after he has been little further;
yet with every step he feels less desire
to do so. OF what profit is it to him
now. that the gate stands open? AS
he wanders along. the air becomes more
exhilerating, and the fruits more highly
favored. The breezes become warmer,
the fragrance is more pungent, and the
flowers more aromatic. His senses are
intoxicated, and his desires become in
famed. The flowers that blossomed
along his morning path, the little modest
flowers that opened their meel, eyes,
sparkling with dew, and smiled on him
as he set out on his journey are forgot
ten. The duties that he owes to him.
self, to his fellow-men, TO his God, all
arc forgotten; he goes restlessly forward
to enjoy hotter breezes, more stimulat-
ing fruits, and more narcotic odors.-
What ayails to him now, that the gate
remains ever open.
But already these pleasures have be-
gun to fail. Some strange influence is
benumbing his senses. He finds apples
with ashes at the core. Hot winds are
blistering his flesh, but he feels no
wound. Excess of pleasure is becom-
ing pain. He has reached the marshes
where the garden of Pleasure borders
on the valley and shadow of death, and
he would fain take refuge in oblivion
He sits down under the shade of the
Aconite, and binds his throbbing tenn
Piles with wreaths of its dull foliage
The night of despair is fast closing in
upon him. Darkness like a blanket,
shuts out the light of Heaven, and the
trembling madness fires his BRAIN
Shiny serpents are in attendance upon
him. They glide around noiselessly,
and lull him in drowsy folds. Worms
are necessarily twisting in the seams of
his clothing. Invisible fends are gath
ering around like ravens. They wait
impatiently. He hears the rustling of
their skinny pinions and he feels the
air moved little by them. Their eyes
offre are shining on him from their
viewless bodies, and the air is thick with
muttering. Out from the darkness.
comes the voice of the worm claiming
him as her brother, and the voice of
corruption calling him my son. and
with chill he curses God and dies
CAT the last it biteth like a serpent and
stingeth like an adder"
Young man, just commencing life,
buoyant with hope, DON'T DRINK. You
are freighted with precious cargo
The hopes of your parents, of your
sisters, of your wife, of your children,
are all laid upon you. In you the aged
live over again their younger days.
through you only can the weaker ones
attain a position in society, and from
the level on which you place them must
your children go into the great stuggle
of Country Gentleman.