The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1859-10-20

enough TO furnish bread for hundred
hungry mouths; a day of larguor, pain
and Incidence; damaged reputation
which may interfere with the projects and
prospects of whole life a loss of self.
respect, and deadening of moral sensi-
bANy a reduction of the capacity of en-
| Ijoyment aud of the stock of vitality -
the sullen pangs of a reproving conscience,
the tears of q mether and the sevcrer an
gulsh of a father--all these, and more,
for an hour of artificial Insanity How
does the account look?
Suppose we try another: Credit Sens
ual Pleasure for the Illicit indulgence of
a powerful passion. Then place the cost
upon the debt side Of the ledger. shame
and fear, conscious loss of purity, the
possession Of . foul secret that is to be
carried lnbo adj society, and into ali rela-
tionships, disease and remorse, or, what
lis more than all these, hardness, brutal
Ilty aad the formation Of habits whose on
ly end is ruin. | may not, through fear
.of giving offenss, enter into all the de ails
of the debit sfae Of this account. They
may be found and read Of all men in
gravcyards, in hospitals, in brothels, in
garrets, and cellars, in ruined families and
ruined hearts and hopes, Now does the
thing pay?
l have presented only the private side
of this account, and that but lmperfectly.
There is public side The innumcrable
paupers whose life is supported by the
State, owe their pauperism, directly or
remotely, in three cases out of four, to
sensualty-to strong drink, hcentious-
ness, or some form Of extravaganza that
proceeded from devotion to sensual pleas
ures. Idiots begotter in drunkenness, It,
natics through various forms of sensual
vice, criminals who are Gagged in every Jail
and prison, bike wild beasts; diseased
creatures, alike loathsome to themselves
and others, crowded into numberless pes
tilent hospitals-all these are public bur
dens, imposed by the sins of sensuality
If we run through the whole catalogue of
crimes we shall find them all growing d.
rectly or Indirectly out of this com pre-
hensive vice. In fact it may be said that
all crime, with all its consequences, is
but manifestation of the. dominance
of sense over reason and conscience. asra
In this view-and no one knows bet
ter than its victims that it is the correct
view, Sensuality rises into the position of
the grand seourge of mankind. 1t is the
mother of disease, the nuYse of crime, the
burden of taxation, and the destroyer of
souls. Oh, if the world would rise out of
this swamp of sensuality, rank witt weeds
and dark with deadly vapors-full of vi
pcrs, thick with pitfalls and lurid with
deceptive lights, and Sand upon the Sc
cure heights OF virtue where Gods sun
shines, and the winds of heaven breathe
blandly and healthfully, how would hu-
man life become blessed and beautiful ?
The great burden of the world rolled off,
how would i. spring forward into a grand
career of prosperity aud progress? This
change for this country, rests almost en-
tirely with the young men of the country.
1t lies with them more than all other
classes, to say whether this country shall
decend still lower in its path to brutality,
or rise higher than the standard of Its
loftiest dreams: The devotees of sense,
themselves, have greatly lost their power
for good, and paratively few wilchange
their course of life. ~
Woman will be pure if man will be true
Young men, this great result abides with
you. If you could but see how beautiful
a flower grows upon the thorny stalk of
self-denial, You would give the plant the
honor it deserves. If it seem hard and
homely, despise it not, for in it sleeps
tho beauty of heaven and the breath of
angels. If you do not witness the glo-I
ry Of its blossomlng during the day of
life, It's petals will open when the night
of death comes, and gladden. your clos
ing eyes with their marvellous loyelness
and fill your soul with their grateful
perfume. t
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