Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1867-08-15
ADVICE TO BOYS.

G. NJ. H., in the La Cross Democrat,
advises the boys to
Let liquor and tobacco alone 7! Remem-
Der that besides the expense consequent
upon indulging your appetite, you can ne
yer gain the friendship Of one person whose
good opinion is worth prizing, by imita-
ting the rordics and loaters whose distin-
gushing traits are chewing, smoking and
drinking. Never imbibe liquor, save as
medicine, and never, under amy clrcum-
stances, use tobacco in any form. [ new
err saw the inveterate chewer who did not
say he was sorry he ever contracted the
filthy and disgusting habit.
The freest thing on earth is water. The
healthiest liquib ever quafed by mortal
lips is water. It deepens the bloom on
the maiden's cheek; it heightens the bril-
liancy of her eyes; it roseates her ruby lips
each time the nectared arches battle their
sweetness in sAdam's Ale" And, what
ever it does for the girls, twill surely do
for the boys! O water! since creations
dawn thou hast been the solace of thirsty
man! Thou art free as the pure air Of
Heaven, and as abundant. Thou art seen
st early morn and dewy eve" dallying
with the scented lips of roses, nor will you
leave till Soils coursing ray drives you
hence. Sparkling in the spray; glisten-
ing in the dew; sporting in the babbling
brook, and weaving beautiful colors amid
the iris's graceful bow-thou art ever the
welcome gem set by the Infinite in the du-
adem of Gods wondrous mundane bean
ties-the emblem of innocence and purity
Then, young man, follow not the ignis
Jfatuus Of wine-cup health for you will
never catch it. You will, though, if you
persevere in your folly. catch something
the reverse of health; the gaunt, grim,
diabolical spectre of antemperance, whose
insidious wiles have been laid in artful
cunning to catch the unwary; and among
the brightest galaxy of intellects she has
reyelled and ssmarked them for her own"
How sad to reflect that the gifted and
brilliant Prentice, whose genius has lit up
the literary heavens with costliest poetic
gems, and whose prose the angels could
enrapturcd read amid the purple and
crimson clouds-and who gave the soubri-
quet to immortal "Brick," is habitual
wine and -bibber The prettiest pro-
sale gem I ever saw; yes, the most brill
| liant apostrophe ever read, was his (P's)
address to water! Yet the same man,
whose name is household word, and "to
memory DEAR" hurts. almost daily, his
manhood and individuality, and merges
all in mere being!
The gifted McDougal, too, of California,
whose rhetorical fourishes, rounded peri
DDS and oratorical displays, outshine every
other in the United States Senate, he is
beastislized by liquor, and of course signs
for the sunny days when sportive boyhood
dreamed its innocent hours away, nor
thought of the cruel monster whose shad-
ow even then was spreading towards its
shiny prey. But there are in the two
cases l have mentioned redeeming quail
ties-traits that overbalance the gloomy
sides of life, and lift Prentice and McDou-
gal into the atmosphere of popularity, and
almost hero-worship. It was these traits
and his sound constitutional principles
that carried McDougal-like the grea'
/ Webster, who was also devotee at great
ness shrine-into the N. S. S., and made
him the peer of the greatest of cotempora.
ny statesmen
Boys, initiate the rosy checked ana
laughing girls, who never chew, smoke
or drink. Why should boys or men, ans