American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1866-12-08
Lectures to Young Men!
(From the Chicago Times, 2oth ]

evening the fourth Oh the series OF
lectures to young men in the First
Baptist Church. The large audience
room was nearly filled with an ap-
preciative audience. The lectrye was
founded on the text "And sin, ,Aen
it is finished, bringeth forth d. ~,
The following is sketch of the'S, :
dress:
Everything in nature hasa ce5n-
paratively small beginning ana grad
ualIy reaches its mat .rity.s The
acorn, imbedded in the eal q aees
long series of years, bee IS The
sturdy oak, waving its brinH 's in
the sunlight and detying th ..'Corms
of centuries; and the hulnbl; ..vulet
issuing from a spring so Seal that
an elk or a moose might drink it dry,
running for miles along channel so
narrow that the hunter can step
across it, gradually widens and leep-
ems its channels as it Widcns on to
the sea, till it is capable Of boring
the commerce of cOntlnctnoe~ThI
same law Of progression exist the
human mind. The tiny infant with
its embryo intellect, after long
course of years, assumes the l",l, OF
mature manhood. SO vice, beginning
in the inception Of sinful thought,
in its progress and elimination fol
lows the same law of progress. 1t is
this law of progression, as applied
to the vices Of life, that embraces all
their terror. 1t is that when vice is
begun it is progressive, and trat
"when it is finished it bringeth
death"
How insiduous the progress, and
how unsupported the fearful cc@Sum-
nation of Sabbath breaking. One
who has been brought up to an OBJ
servance of the Sabbath stands in
awe of Gods commandment CON
cerning the Sabbath; but ate. the
lapse of years, perhaps, for some
slight cause, the law is broken, the
young man, for some trivial reason
withdraws his foot from the house Of
God. One such desecratiOn opens the
way for others, until there is pain
full vacuum in the mind and thoughts.
W hen the Sabbath was KEEP its ell
gagementS observed, his !, .ectiOns
and thoughts were placed upon their
proper objects; but now he will
lounge late in his bed, or read over
the morning papers, or make an en-
gagement with companions, or go
abroad. He becomes restless and
unhappy, worldly thoughts come in,
and his whole life uncOnSciOusly be-
comes changed; the pledge made as
he knecled at his mothers knee il
broken; the Sabbath is ho longer Il
delight to him. lie now pursues his
worldly schemes on the Sabbath day,
until at last the flood gates Of vice
sweep over him. He has become a
Sabbath breab er, and Sabbath-brcak-
ing is a hcbdomadal descent toward
perditiOn. The Sabbath breaker com
mitS a double crime; he takes away
Gods appointment, and then con
fcundS amusement with the idea Of
worship. In the cities OF the Old
World, where notwithstanding is
frequent, the people are more cor
rupt and given to vice than where
the day is observed, and it will al
ways be SO.
Another vice that is marked by
this same mode of progress from
small beginnlngsis is that profanity.
The boy thlt has been accustomed
to repeat the Lords prayer stands in
awe of His law; but at length he
breaks out in some terrible oath.
Let him tell his experience then, and
he will say that he trembled at what
he had done; but at length he be
comes fixed in habits Of profanity.
Profanity usually springs from a de
sire to hide some ignorance, or to
cover some mental capacity. E\ cry
vice is useless, but how destitute of
use is this proclamation Of the name
of God When Il man becomes a
profanc man, that habit cuts of all
acceptable approach to God. God
will not hold him guilt!eSS, bat will
spurn him away. y man who has a
God to swear by has no God to pray
to.
The vice OF untruthfulness also
steals upon one progressively. Near
ly every child, in early youth, is as
sensitive to the truth as was Wash
ington; but by mingling with the
world, and seeing its various deccp-
tions, he at length learns to deceive.
But falsehood, when it is finished,
brings death.
Gambling is a vice that grows from
small beginnings to its fearful con
summation. The world is fun OF
gambling. Men love to hazard some.
thing in various pursuits, but it is all
vicious; there is no good in 1t. For
some wise purpose, some startling
events have lately fallen upon the
public ear, and the true conscience
of the public has rightly interrupted
those events. In one place man was
shot down at race-cOurSe by an
other man. Another by fell blow
was destroyed in our midst; and
still another is shot down 10y his mis-
treSS.
These are all warnings that the
public should heed. Look at the con-
firmed gambler. Seated with his
companions, the flame burns from
the heightened wick; the lights grow
dim in the morning; at last the shrll
crow of the cock awakenS them tC
a sense of their place and condition
So there is no vice that renders {
man more fiendiSh than the perfect
mastery of gambling. When it Is