St. Mary's beacon., 1861-10-17
The End Of Little Beginnings.

Boys little think Of the cons, our nces
of small deviations from truth and hon
rs'y. If thy We're only careful to avuii
the beginnings of evil. they uecd never
fall into great sins. .Julsc Russell, in Il
Sabbath school address, few months
ago. illustrated this:
Remember how vast a difference in
your life Il little cause at tlr: outset will
make. Two boys shall vi~i, Boston on
the same day. They shall be .cnt rug
upon life, upon busy city life, seeking for
its high prizes. They shall come from
the rrn,c town and from u,rllr the same
::rcumsta:ces Let one of I'll m. as soon
a. hc enters the city visit he bar room
and take to him self the associates place
hut let him visit the prayer meeting, the
sabbath school and take to himself the
Christian con.pa,.ionship pc aud influences
hc vii. find to, re, and what difference
YOU will soon Stc in the character IF these
b"y-, You may think il is but small
mnttcr, the simple choosing between
two places of resort: but q. in twenty
Years. my boys. what wide difference
there will be.
la the western part nf New Y"rk State
| was once shown spot where there ar,
.wn li;tl. streams, with their fountain
heads c. use together. oIe running TO tue
North. the other to the south III V arc
~ near Together .ha. passing gust "f
wind would decide whether :; falling drop
"f rain should rninglc with the waters
.f the northern or the southern stream
The one luns north through the Gcncsee
River. Lake Outarip. St L1wrrnc> hiv-
~. int the gulf nf st. lawrence. and
thee" into the waters or the Nor. i.rn
AtIantic. The other RIA ming south falls
intn the Ohu. reaches the Mississippi,
anl at last -a,pti"s i::tu the war,a waters
"f the Gulf of NJ. xico. Aud i!,ink nf it.
lear child:ci; passing bre"ti, of wind
makcs the difference. This is but sim
pic. feeble symbol of the vast difference
in The ends uf human life. &hap'd and
dir. c;cl by the first steps Of youth. Let
mo illustrai" hy :. story.
There lived some yrars ago. ia the
same county. born nearly u, the same
time. two brys, whose circumstances in
life we're at their births qaitc similar
They afterwards lived some years togcth-
cr. There Was tim. you know, in the
history of h,th these boys. as Of every
b, ing tla, j. b"rn into th. world wten
neither of thens had consciously or will
linsly dHne wrnng Bu; as they grew
older both began 10 he bcs,t with temp,a
tons. Their natural desires and appytit:cs
urged them to Weld to tcmptation. but,
children. one OF the boys always resisted.
and the other always yieiicd to ,cmpta-
tion. One was di=obedi,nt boy. 'urbu-
lent. Ilarrelsumc, always seeking his own.
dishonest, covctou-, Ambitious. The orh-
cr hoy wa~ obnii"nt. truthful He stuck
to ;lie truth when TO his own cost even
He sought the light. and loved il. He
conquered bis appetifics. Well. they
lived ON They become men-how wide-
Iy different in character you will all know.
when tell vou their names. The one
was named Benedict Arnold, man who
sold himself TO the enemies Of his country.
and tried to betray the liberties Of beloved
America. The other was named George
" Wasi.ingt gtnn. n name that is above every
uninsrir, d name whose face | have seen
today pictured On some of your badges,
who-c face. whose mcmary. whose virtues |
ara engraved forever nron the heart Of
The world
Now remember. these two boys started |!
together once. neither uf them having |
dome wrong. Soon both Of them were |
tempted 10 wrong. One re- !
sisted. the other yielded q. my dear
see bow wide the differences ihe /
cLo:-c a.a.g in -! ,L-:s future sou.s.