The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1868-02-04
GtreQntellfI5Qg fQetrter.:.
s.NO VICES"
From the Philadelphia Ledoer.

sought afteriby good citizens in propor.
ton as they are exempt from evil
habits. which, although not criminal
and not always considered in the light
OF sins, are Injurious weaknesses
which so far destroy self-control asytc
expose the subject Jof. them, while suil
der their influence, to be off guard, and
therefore, liable to be deceived or en-,
trapped into harm or folly. A legal
crime is a social offence, and the law
takes hold of it. A sin is an offence
against the moral law Asvice isithat
which does injury to oneself, and, on
that account, ought to be avoided. The
law seldom attempts to punish mans
vices, unless by their influence they in.
jure society. In one of Bulwer's
novels a character is introduced who
boasts that, though guilty ofevery vice,
he never was accused of a crime. There
are thousands of young men who might
make the same boast, and many who dc
make it, whether truly or not.
And yet upon the scale of a whole
life, but few things will so much deter
mine young mans prospects of sue
cess as exemption from vice. There
are, of course, certain common and not
questionable errors which no man
will interfere with in others. A man
may keep what hours he likes, eat
whatever food pleases him, and smoke
il he please, and drink what he please,
yet so long as his conduct does not an
noy his neighbor or hurt his family, he
ca n take his own course. Yet every man
bent upon pushing his own success in
life as a student in college, as a me-
chantc, as a merchant or professional
man, very soon finds out that upon the
temperance and wisdom with which
he controls his own habits as to these
points will his success in life depend.
A man may dip into errors occasional
ly, but when they become so habitual
as to be vices he had better look out
and turn round, for bad habit is a
very serious matter. 1t soon proclaims
itself in u mans oountenanue. it
affects his health, it shortens his 'days.
a good habit may bring him to an hon
orable old age, while bad one destroys
his spirits and happiness, his independ-
ence, his fortune, and finally, NAV
take his life itself. A well-oonducted
youth and a vigorous, happy old age,
are natural counterparts. Indeed.
many whose early life, through feeble
ness, has given but little promise, have
by purity and sobriety ripened into a
hale, hearty maturity of powers, endu-
ring beyond that of many others around
who set out with superior advantages
ofrconstitution, and opportunity. To
avoid or conquer a vice in youth is not
only so much added to life, but added
to the maturest part of life, when the
faculties are ripest and the sense of
its worth is most perfect. e
Mems virtues or their vices form
their most Intimate friendships. A
common weakness may make men in
dulgent, social, and companionable for
III
excuse himself for smoking, said he
was qualifying himself for the society
of DIR. Parr. But, after all, the bsence
of vices makes the most lasting and
valuable friendships. Indeed il is the
effort at self-conquest, and the love of
a pure, unsullied course In early life,
that produces such ties of mutual trust
and fraternity that nothing earthly can
sunder. Perhaps 1t may even be said
that this is the best test of what are
truly virtuous habits and what vicious.
All vices ostracise friendship, sooner or
later, in the course of their con-
tinuance, because they are essen
TALLY selfish, and tend to in
crease, Gd 71G1LseGnli in their evil
consequences. 81 If pursued. On the
other hand, the more pure, simple and
natural the sources of mans pleas
ures, the more elevated, enduring and
beneficial the ties that bind his acquain-
tances and himself together. The body
greatly affects the mind, and that cheer
fullness and elasticity of thought
which ia SO renovating and defying to
care and disease, is more the result of a
superior and more perfect cleanliness
and temperance than most persons sup
pose. No art can make the dissipated
and Incorporate pleasant companions
in old age. In the larger number of
casesthey. DEFY the efforts of the physi-
clan to prolong life to the natural pc.
riou. But existence, if continued, is
of torture; as the -ha bits are of disgust,
so that it is true of such that they do
not live out half their days.
With so many means ofimprovement
and wholesome enjoyment as art and
science are bringing round the young
men of the present day, it requires but
the wisdom of self.conquest and,mod-
Grafton to afford them the prospects of
such an advanced life or well-preserved
serenity as no race has had before. In
this sense the world improves with the
experience and wisdom of each genera
ton, and those who survive longest
and become most influential in each
generation are, we believe, of a higher,
purer and more elevated stamp. But
then follows that the vices which would
have been pardonable in former times,
will become more intolerablegl now.
Saul was made king because he was
the tallest, but he soon had to give
place in the throne to Solomon the
wisest, and he. in turn, must yield Ito
the best and holiest. Bodily vigor and
mental brilliancy each in turn must
give way before superior moral worth,
though SO gradually and in such a
manner that the combination of the
whole shall ibeyever Increasingly influ-
entail, and valued and exhibited in
their ruling power over mankind.
SUGAR ,spAs1oN.-Rev., II. w. Beech
er, in the, Ledger. discloses his dissent
from the wisdom of Solomon in the
..tt. l., /,