The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1873-01-03

Gan you afford TO work hard all DAY,
and read, study or court the vagaries Of
society nearly oil night, thus wasting
your vitality, exhaustiug your nervous
system, and bringing on premature di.
ease, decay and old age?
Can you afford to read fine print wit
a poor light in rail car, where the mo-
tion disturbs the proper focus of vision,
thus weakening your eyes so as to nearly
deprive you Of the power to use them,
either in reading or IN the daily duties Of
lifes Even though you do not have an
oculist to pay, you may be obliged t.
wear glasses ten or fifteen years sooner
than you otherwise would can you thus
afford to spoil your eyes to save little
timer
Can you afford to cat hastily, ard ther
rush to study or business, Withdrawing
the nervous system to the brain end mus
cles. thus inducing dyspepsia. in few
years at most. to scourge and haunt and
make YOU miserable for years, or for liiel
Can you afford to live on rich and
highly seasoned focd; eat champagne
suppers, because an artificial appetite i
thus gratiied, thus rendering gout, dys-
pepsia or apoplexy, in the middle of life,
almost a certainty -.
Can you afford to commit suicide
through the indulgence of the appetite
and passion, adopting the fool's motto p
"a short life and happy one
Can you afford to keep your brain boil
ing hot in reading sensation novels, thus
unbalancing and rendering morbid your
mental and physical constitution?
Can you afford to indulge in fast liv-
ing dressing beyond your means. driv-
ing livery horses or keeping horse your
self-when your income is not adequate
to such expensesf
Can you afford to smoke aud chew to-
bacco, thus spending from Ave to fifty
dollars month and injuring your nerv-
Gus system and perverting your whole
constitution, and thereby transmitting to
your children a weakened constitution.
thus making them puny invalids for liGe'
Can you afford to burn your nervous
system and demoralze your whole char
scter by the use of alcoholic liquorsS
Can you afford to indulge in habits Of
speculation, gambling and other tricky
aud mean modes of making money!
Can you afford to make money at the
expense Of your manhood, your morals,
your just respectabiliiy anr your integ-
rity?
Cau you afford to gain even the whole
world and thereby make Of yourself a
moral wreck?
Can you afford, for the sake of mo-
men'ary amusment, to waste your youth
ful preparatory years, when, by study
you should become a scholar, or By in
dus.ry q tradesman or Useful artissnl
Can you silorl to rob your mind to
clothe your back with silks aud satins
and crafty mere love for display r
Car you a;iord to be tricky. and there
by acfraui your employer of the jus; SER
vices you owe him, even though you do
get your pay. thus making yourself a
moral bankrupt?
Con you afford to be otherwise than up.
right, truthful, faithful, temperate, and
in all respects correct?
/ Pupils in school sometimes fancy they
are doing smart thing by decciving
their teacher. that they may play instead
Of study. Apprentices often neglec,
their duty for fun and amusement, and
fail to learn their trade, which is life
long injury to them. Many people do
wrong knowingly, and thus mar their
moral nature and make themselves feel
mean, unworthy and despicable; and be-
cause the world don't know il. they think
they have done themselves no harm
but they carry the moral scar of wrong
doing through life. Can one afford to
have a motto adverse to the old adage
that Honesty is the best policy'7
Reader, stop and consider whether
what yyu are doing, or what you propose
to do, will pay; whether you can afford 70
do il. Time is money" do not throw
it away, but mako every day and every
hour tell, either for your growth, health
J mr. nrof.