The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-04-12
GheGrtelI1Qetrtnr:
The Influences Of Association.

From the Phil. Record.
Whatever temperament and tendencies
one may have inherited, he will be apt 10
conform his habits and tastes and even
his character 10 those by whom he Is sur.
rounded in early life. If he has been
brought up among the pure and the
good, the evil propensity will be continu.
ally discouraged. The ruf1ian could not
have become such had lie been surround.
ed from childhood by none but good men
and women, nor would the best Of living
men have escaped vicious contamination
If brought into intimate contact from his
birth with criminals and vagabonds, and
forced 10 breath an air morally poisoned
In early life.
Not only vices, but their opposites have
their reaclionary effects. What Is good
In moderation becomes injurious when
not restrained within proper limits.
There are as many misers Of knowledge
as Of gold. Too much selipralse and ad.
ulaton, too much seeking after the ap.
plAuse Of the unthinklng, produces those
monstrosities which common.sense PEG.
pie call humbugs and prodigies,a and which
are real pests OF society. Too intense
and constant devotion to any single
theme, science or pursuit, brings out
the nightmare Of fixed idea,
the precursor of insanity, the bane
Of social and domestic happiness.
Excess consumes and destroys vital.
lly, and all that is truly invigorating, and
tl,Vs Iavo,,rs alita NI,n anHn aud rlad ~
life. Excess Of pleasure has It's inevitable
compensation In the dependency Of eX.
haustiOn and safety. Excessive desire
for wealth or happiness Is the nursery for
disappointment and misery. Too great a
caution against evil Is often itself an evil
worse than that dreaded. Excessive sus.
picion Of tho sinister intention OF others
Is sometimes worse than the occur.
renee Of the wrong feared. None are so
wretched as those who know too much TO
DO happy.
1t Is thus that in tho family the irrita.
bility and III temper Of one member Of a
household produce and develop CORES.
ponding acerbity In others and prevent
that reaction so essential TO the harmony
Of physical Life. The wife Of 4 man Of
happy temperament Is made more Joyous
by the reflection Of the light and warmth
OF her own nature. A violent, tyrannous
father wins hatred from his children
which makes him worse, while a petulant
and refractory boy Is made more 80 by
the effect Of his conduct as reflected from
his parents. How often do we see the
aerid temper Of school Of youngsters
modified and neutrallzed by the influence
OF some genial, light.hearted and cheerful
governess, while, on the contrary, q rude,
Impatient and ascetlc teacher will demon.
alize the temper and breeding Of most Of
his scholars, making them, like himself,
churlish and testy, and being himself the
worst example among them sSWell as the
cause Of their transformation.
This inscrutable reaction, which per-
Vades all society and 10 a greater or less
extent governs all our actions, Is the un-
natural mother Of vice, poisoning It's chill
dren with the food they love. 1t diStorts
beauty by the variety Of deformity which
It begets. 1t ruins the digestion, deran-
ges the mind, destroys peace, and insures
q harvest Of evil to those who sow evil
seed. It brings curses home to roost by a
force stronger than any animal instinct
force as strong and as certain TO return
as the tidal power OF the sea. Bad quail
ties reacting uponthemselves grow wone;
like spreading cancers, they make the
food they grow on. It Is In this way that
tho good and the evil In society have each
their own compensatiOns, which are sure
TO be felt in every department oflife.