Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1858-07-17

from YOUR tNC Ine Duft DlOOu. not vet cor
ruptcd in its crimson flow, leaps in your Veins
and your brain throbs with the hopeful i'm
pulses of youthful life. You are guilty of no
great crimes. No ruined soul cries to Heaven
for vengeance on your head-,ho sordid inhu-
ence of wealth and trade have not vet DESTROYED
the generous freedom of your youthful mind.
You have n body, strong, healthy, and sup
pie a mind free, plastic, ard active you have
youth, confidence, hope. These are the talents
committed to your keepng--the rough materi-
ais which you are to mold, finish, and develope
into u future life which will be either bright and
useful, or a dreaming and inactive existence.
Never take backward steps, or st down in dcs-
pondency to mourn over past transgrcssions
but in tirtuous actions retrieve the losses and
correct the mistakes of the past. Ever let the
honest purposes with which you have started in
life lure you on 70 greater improvement.
Keep guard over your faculties and never
give way, for once to Incidence, to appetite, or
to improper desire. Never play with the lions
name, thinking to escape his bloody Jaws
Never let the sins Of others plead with your
conscience as excuses for your own
And, in order to be better able to practice
thls Sell-deial, acquire knowledge of your
sehi OF your body-the crowning glory of
Gods system of mechanism which are no
impracticable combinations and no supcrhuous
organs OF your mind, the training and cxpan-
sion Of which is limited only by the industry
and cultivation you bestow upon it.
by the abuse of the body, YOU can reduce il
to loathSome mass OF corruption, through
which the mental faculties receive Impressions,
nWntci and distorted, robbed Of tlcir beauty
and oycliness, and valued only as thcy minis.
ter to passion and Inst, or You car make it the
TIT tenement for a pure and cultivated intellect
Your mind by neglect may become incapable
OF active and vigorous thought or clear COM
prchersion; broodng over the III, Of life. and
never seeing the beauties which surround YOU
upon every side; or, by cultivation, you can
make 1t what God intended-activo and ,gor-
ous-capable OF seeing and comprehending the
beauty and the fitness of his works, and of rem
dering acceptable praise 10 his name
Cultivate habits of observation Open your
eyes to Natures glorious pictures that float and
dissolve in the arch of the armament, and car
pet the green earth beneath your feet to the
blushing tnts of the modest flower Just seen in
the tall hcrbage to the glorious sunrise, and
the mellow. fading sunset Listen to the niu-
SIC OF nature that comes from every thickct and
field, and murmurs from every riyulet in liquid
sweetness, or roars in thunder tones from the
mighty cataract. Let none of these escape
your notice. Let them minister to YOUR life
your mind. Let the music from the tuttcd
throats of tiny warbers echo from the noun
tain recess, the golden hues of sunset, and the
bushes of morn the murmur Of the waterfall
and the freaks of
"Earth's beautiful daughter
The lile-siying water
all contribute to your ENJOYMENT.
lhs attention to the beautiful and harmoni-
Gus III nature need not unfit YOU for the practi-
cal duties Of life or plunge you into moody
msanthropy; but will throw a charm around
earth rough realities and drive from YOUR
mind all evil forebodings twill lift YOU above
that lttleness of soul that sees everything
through the medium of self-interest. To- life
winch is productive of noble and generous
thoaght-liberal and progressive views.
FE liatts You uVesiIiii' esIiii iiliHs
all nature to minister TO your enjoyment and
lead you nearer to Him who rightly demands
your praise for his wonderful works TO his
children. You will perceive the harmony of
his arrangements and the adaptation of part to
part and you can dwell in nearer communion
with the Source Of all good, and go forward in
Life fearing no evil; for you will live. not for
the grattcation but for the improvement of
self and for the good of Your fcllow-beings.
God does not ask of YOU to exile Yourself
from the world, to cultivate selt-rightcousno,s
in solitude and selfshncss in caves; but he
does demand Your every endeayor to live Alright
IN the wo.lU-Nnere YOU are--not resistance
where there is no temptation, or Temperance
where the means Of being Incorporate are not
to be found, but your sef-denial and sef-con-
troll in the midst of temptation and luxury
your action when tempted to Incidence; your
chcsriulness in the midst of adversely. "He
loveth u cheerful givor'-not alone Of dollars
and dimes, BIT. the giyer of smiles and kind
LOOKS the dispenser Of those charities which
are the index of the soul--which are stamped
in the mint Of mind with the impress of ones
own individuality.
You are not called upon to transgress the
laws OF your nature, to practice fashionable alb
smditieS and customary foolishncss out of
respect to the customs Of men. Society has no
such claims upon you. Your fellow -mancaims
your love, your sympathy, your assistance but
not the voluntary sacrifice OF your health and
life to the capriccs of the fashionable.
viii you not, therefore, burst the fctters of
fashion, the constr0ints Of CUSTOM the nfu-
ence of public opinion, and commence a life
which shall be useful and happy in its continu-
ance and peaceful in its end9 Thereby YOU
will leave behind the rich legacy of pure ex-
ampe-the record of vrtuous life. Think of
it, R.T.H.
--Ljc INuSfy0feI