Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1860-11-30
mcoUSrING THE cosr.v

Common sense dictates that in what
ever men undertake, they ought frs
carefully count the cost. The strant
of life is strewn thick with the wreck,
of thousands, who, if they had bu
counted the costs, might have reached
prosperous haven in safety.
Is a young man about to choose pro
fession? Let him examine his capabili
ties thoroughly, SO as to ascertain ex
actly what he can do and what he can
not, before he commits himself irrevo
cably to any particular pursuit. Many
person has been kept struggling hi
whole life through, simply because he
chose trade, business or profession un
suited to him. Everybody has natura
qualification for some one thing. Thi:
man is a born mechanic, that a borr
orator, this merchant, that farmer
this an engineer, that sailor, this &
physician, that an author. Besides al
this, there are some pursuits which re,
quire capital, as manufacturing, ship,
ping and importing; and to embark in
these, without adequate means, is to in.
vite insolvency. Or to enter on an in.
tellectual career. without sufficient brains
or study, is to insure failure. In word
in all conditions and phases of life,
wise men, before they make ventures
rigidly " count the cost. 5-
So in the various relations Of social
life, let US, before we act, count the cost
Have we friends? Before we ALLEVIATE
them by our disregard of their feelings,
it would be prudent to calculate the cost
1t is easy to be uni just to father, a
mother, brother, IA sister, wife, OF
even child, but it is less easy to re-
cover the love we have outraged, or still
the voice of remorse, especially if the
grave has since closed over them. Even
the conventionalism of life, trifing as
they are in one point of view, cannot be
set at defiance with impunity, SO that a
wise man, who has counted the cost,
never violates them, unless duty imper-
atively requires it. To win the esteem
of our fellows is the surest road TO self
respect, to happiness, and, in the long
run, even the honor; while to practice
rudeness, meanness, hard -heartedness,
and other selfish vices, is to create dis
gust toward us first, and finally. hatred
and contempt.
Before beginning career Of extrav-
agance, sensual indulgence, vice, or
crime, it would be we'll to count the cost.
To buy fine furniture, sport fast horses,
or give elegant entertainments, is all
very pleasant; but when it leads to ruin,
as it often does, the victim bitterly re-
grets that he had not counted the cost.
To give ourselves up to the sway of the
appetites is to brutalize our natures,
and not only this, but to SOW harvest
Of pain and sickness for old age, if not to
cut short our lives; and when death
comes prematurely, or we writhe on a
bed Of agony, be sure we will lament
that we had not counted the cost. Vice
often comes in an alluring garb, but the
adder is coiled under her Paphian gar
ments, and if we yield to her seduetions,
the day will come when we will wish
that we had counted the cost. If, by
unbridled passion, or, worse still Of de-
liberate calculation, We rush into crime,
there will be time of retribution come
when we will cry aloud, but no one will
hear, and when our burden will be, "Ohl
had | but counted the cost" Count
the cost, count the cost, now while it is
tine!--P9ladeLohim Ledger