The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1859-09-01
Bad Habits Of Youth.

Bad Habits of Youth
The following article, from city cotem
porary, contains good advice to youth,
which it will be we'll for some in Strouds
burg to digest and reflect upon. We
commend it to general attention.:
"If youth still ia his teens. or scarce.
ly past the point at which the law rccog-
nizes him as q man, were seen hobbling
along upon crutches, or using any other
support peculiar to senility, we should at
once class bin With the invalid. No o3e
unnecessarily takes upon himself the
marks of decrepitude. or pretends so to
have exhausted his manhood that be can
not move without the aids which age aud
weakness require. There is generally
an honest kind of manly pride in the
young, which makes them aspire to more
strength, instead of denying what they
have. Yet there is one thing in which
too many Of our young men, capable, en-
ergetio aud hopeful though they are, yet
confess weakness, or, what is worse, as
sumo it. The wise mans rule is: "giVe
strong drink TO him who is ready to per-
ish." BY this We may understand that
if fictitious and unnatural stimulaDts are
20 be employed BY any, it is BY those
whose natural force is abated. They may
need either to desist from hard work, or
TO raise themselves 10 concert pitch with
the busy world by the use of vinous or
other stimulating drinks. The wiser way
is to relinquish labor to the younger.--
But even the old. who, by temperance iD
eating and drinking, have spared and e
conomized their vital forces. have little
need of artificial aid in later life. Their
age is "frostlS, but kindly"
1t is dreadful waste of life and ener
gy when the young seek excitement in
either of the three common follies OF civ
ilization tobacco, bieh seasoned and lux
urious food, and Intoxicating drinks. But
whep all are indals in, az all are apt to
be. the physical and mental wear and tear
is indeed fearful. One evil invites the next,
aud we have placed then in the order 10
which they are generally acquired. To
baccco is little relished except by persons
who use strong food. They may be no
great culinary skill in the preparation
Refined epieureanism is not universal
Bat strong condiments, pungeDt .pices,
and sharp acids, are necessary to rene-
trate the organs oftaste which are smoke
dried or tobacco coated. And then the
stomach pleads for aid, or will not re-
cieve and dispose of its inordlnate load
without more than its natural warmth
To tobacco, high spices, and to high spi.
ces alcohol, in some form. follow. In lieu
of the freshness OF youth, we hase the
false glow of unnatural rudiness, the
bleaohcd aud swelled look, which is even
worse symptom, or the cadayetous Wis.
sge of the dyspeptic.
The temperance movement, which was
recently SO wide and SO popular, seems
to be subeiding; and we are unwiIinely
compelled to confess our fears that toe
many of the generation Dow coming for,
ward are living faster than their years
pass. They are inviting early decay, if, in.
deed they arenot drawninto the morcrap-
id destruction of inebriety. Hcwho needs
more than plain, wholesome food to ens-
bic him to do his days work and to keep
his fscuties up to their due activity, ba.
already impaired his constitution, and
lessened bis usefulness, if he has moi
shortened bis life No young man has
any right to resort to unnatural modes
of exciting either bis capacity for bust.
ness, OF his faculty for enjoyment. 1t i.
ruin il persisted in, and whenever the hab.
il of false exctemen. obtains, the effect
is seen in the loss of nerve and stamina.
Nor are those who have thus abused
themselves safe or reliable business men
Much of tue recklessness of speculation
and the consequent depression and bank
ruptcy which attend it, arc traceable, di
reetly or remotely, TO the waste ofjudg.
ment. and the false energy which accom-
: pany free living OF the moral conse.
quences We will not to-day speak. I,
every possible view these have beer
; urged, while the particular aspect which
We have here prese nted has received
less notice than it deserves. Let tht
young consider whether they will willing
> force old age and inactivity upon them
selves. 1t they would not preeipitate th,
day when they must retire, tankrnp
in health, if not in property aud charac
ter, let them avoid the dangerous tempta
tions with which custom unhappily sur
rounds them 1t is easier to make
stand against an enemy on the outposts
than to expol an invader. We repea
! that the young have no right to abus,
} their natural strength by unnatural a
} gentsi OF to apply to the vigor of you'll
the remedies of weakness, or the soac
J and quickening appliances which are use
full only, il ever, to decaying powers.