Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-06-09

From the ccltivator Country Gcnicman.l
The benefccnt gifts of the gracious Infinite
Father were never intended to become curse
to man but such, through peryersion, do
they sometimes prove. Intemperanoe in
spirituous liquors is but one form of that
intempcrance which is undermining the con-
stitution, and weakening the mental forces Of
thousands Those of us who hardly deserve
to be called guttons, are still weakening the
stomach aud thickening the brain, with stinlu-
ating, irregular and over-abundant food
Those who frequent evening amusements--
theatre, opera, lccture-foom, social party and
dance religious meetings eyen--are often as
incorporate in so doing, as the one who shows
no power over his own body when he quaiis
the sparkling cup.
The habit of indulging to excess in those
.excitements connected with late hours, lights
and company, becomes in time most baneiul
to mind and body. The pale student under
the influence of his fragrant cup of tea or
choice Havana, indulging in study or writing
until the small hours warn him Of coming
dawn, does perhaps achieve some brilliant
success, but at the expense Of lost energies
which in a very short time his rccuperatiye
force fails to supply. The worlds demand
for well preserved ability might well cry out
if not too busy, p" Wherefore this waste ?"
But there is another evil abroad which is
perhaps more destructive to wcll-being and
happiness than this 1t is consuming
ambition TO be genteel. We must keep up
appearances whether there be anything to
support it or no What folly! Indeed, so
much strength and force is being expended in
this effort to be respectable" that it is be-
coming more than ioly--a positive sin.
Many young couple, in their determination
to appear what they are not, are expanding
life and health, to the utter neglect of those
sources Of improvement and joy, which every
right-mindod person Graves in some form.
There is no time or strength left to cultivate
those domestic amenities and delights which
constitute " the wine of life in well regulated
households of the humblest condition; but
ales bent on the one goal Of appearances"
all the noble pursuits and sweet charities of
life are sacrificed to dishonesty, double deal
ing, closcness selfshness and groveling aims.
II young people could but ican for the fruits
of labor, instead of forestalling them by too
early indulgence, and being determined to
begin life where their fathers left off, how
much more satisfactory would be the results
have read u story Of worthy Scotch
couple, which seems apropoS to this subject
When asked why their sou had broken down
so early in life, they replied, @ When we be-
gan life together we worked hard, and lived
upon porridge and such like, gradually adding
to our comforts as our means improved, until
at length we were able to dine off bit of
roast meat and sometimes a broilt chucke
fowl; but as for Jock, he began where we
left oG--he Jegan ,cith the cauckie first :"
1t is DR.. Chalmers, | think, who speaks of
the gingerbread gentry who remind one of
the abandoned hulls one sometimes sees at
sea- with only monkey on board. Such put
on dress and style, assume luxuries and amuse-
ments without the least right, aud the result
is sin, waste aud misery The struggle for
front seats in the amphitheatre of life is made
by fraud and desperate dashes at fortune.
Consequently, all noble self-denyng resolve
is crushed out and all fitness for " true
nobility - is obliterated
Surely, a part Of every family's training,
before sending forth its members upon the
field Of action, should be to implant within
the breast lofty independence of character
How admirable that courage which dares
seem what one really is, patiently treading
the path which God has marked out-the
valley first, then the hilltop 7, 5. II.