Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-06-25

i only 100 apt 10 % interpreted into
apology for a supposed venal spe-
cies Of sin. The purpose, Of course,
Of this apologize is 10 symbolise the
all-embraclng scope OF the Father
loving kindness, through which
such e mean, disgraceful rioter as
the prodigal Is forgiven unques.
toned, by Him who was willing 10
spare Sodom if only a congregation
Of righteous persons should be
found there. But we are often apt
to forget what a contemplate Jel.
io'0 this prOdigal is; careless SO
long as his money lasts aud the tav.
ems are open 10 him, creeping
cringingly TO his fathers knees as
soon as 1t Is gone, and forgetting
that he has spent his portion of the
patrimony. There is a necessary
and ineradicable connection be.
tween our prodigal ways and the
gathering tribulations which harass
US. He who sleeps in the grand
house must live in the counting.
room" We pay for our glitter and
gold, our lacquer and varnish, our
trinkeis and silks, with many sleep.
less hours, and much slavery in
b lsiness. The competition Of social
life runs too high. We dare not
practice economy unless by stealth
and the consequence is that the
uSurers Cypress us as they op.
press all other spendthrifts.
We have not the courage TO
practice self-denial in non.
essentials, and SO must deprive our.
selves of much that we are i'll able
to do without. This ls not only a
growing evil. {; It threatens to attain
the proportions Of a national vice,
and If our present rate Of squan.
dering and unthrift is continued
long, we shall suddenly find our.
selves to be what Sallust describes
Catiline and his companions : men
who coveted the wealth of other
men at the same time that they
threw away their own. Aud in
this stage We shall be as truly out.
cast among nations as the prodigal
is among men.
And il adds TO the calamitous
tendencies Of this vice of prodigal-
i,y il indeed It seizes upon plant
aud large spirits, prone to impul-
sive ways. Memo reptAtcfa tur-
Pisstmas, said the satirist but who
shall insure the man who has fallen
upon a hardening vice, every daily
influence of which impoverishes
his blood, unsettles his stamina,
gives callosity to his heart aud
soul, while it softens and disinte.
CRATES his mind? at is folly, says
jacob, "to build on a man who has
only disposition, without principle
to govern himself" Is not this pre-
cisely the spendthrift's case. even
when he Is taken at bis best?-
Whatever his initial disposition,
his habits are such as to drag him
down, and precipitate It into
viciousness.
The old time Beotians and Etrus-
cans used to bring their bankrupts
into the market.places on beirs,
with empty purses borne before
them, that they might suffer the
ridicule and COntumely Of the pop.
ulace. The Justian Code and the
Civil Law set guardians over the
prodigal as over the mailman, to
prevent him from undoing himself
and his family. Society and the
voice Of public opinion can set the
spendthrift in as etIectual a pillory
as was that B@otian market-place,
and thus can virtually become the
guardians and "next friends" OF
those likely to suffer from his
courses.
The prodigal is capable, perhaps,
Of being taught the wisdom which
dwells in prudent conduct, and the
comforts enjoyed by those
"qui Deorum
NUMEROUS AaDIenter uti."
For his folly is founded chiefly up.
on ignorance, and the paths by
which he goes astray are not in the
high grounds, but in the thickets
and valleys, where the view is not
clear, nor the prospect wide. Ii
will be an important and valuable
lesson to him, If VIC can teach him
the value of IN things, and
what enjoyments there are in ordi.
nary comforts, and how sweetly
life may Ue made to glide away un.
fretted by passion and not tortured
by unseemly appetite. 1t will be
the lesson that he needs, if we may
indeed teach him that pleasure does
not dwell on the heights, in cold
splendOr, or among the whitening