Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-01-07
rHEP0KER OFHARIr.

birth his nation was under the yoke of the
Philistines, and strife and contention
everywhere prevailed. In all the quarrels
between the Jews and their rulers he en-
ployed his wonderful strength in behalf of
his own countrymen, and always to the
confusion of their enemies. So
successful had he been in
these encounters that the Philistines
feared him, and the Jews began to look to
him as deliverer. What great things he
might have done for his nation, had the
secret of his strength never been told, for
God was with him. Consorting with vile
companions wrought his ruin. He told
them wherein his great strength lay and
betrayed, bound and blind he was taken
prisoner to Gaza His tragic death, in
volving the destruction of the hosts of the
Philistines, ended story whose counter
part is found almost every day in modern
times.
Young men, now strong in
youth, with all the potential
tiles of manhood before them
are the Samsons, and the letters that bind
them are not green withes or new ropes,
but the chains of vicious habits which
they have forged themselves.
In childhood the habits are not formed
and children may be trained to go in the
right way. If boy is trained, not simp-
ly taught, but trained, in the habit of
speaking the truth, it will wind itself in
and out of life and become an integral
part of it. Every year of boys life
strengthens the habit he has formed. The
French saying SIT is the first step only that
counts" well expresses the impor-
lance of taking care of the begin
ming, which holds within itself
the end. The work of starting child
right is much easier than to set him right
after a wrong beginning. Any teacher
knows how much more readily an untaught
pupil can be trained than one who has
commenced by wrong methods. ''Trsin
up child in the way he should CO." is the
command of divine wisdom. Lord Broug-
ham said, II trust everything under God
to habit, On which, in all ages, the lawgive1,
as we'll as the schoolmaster, has mainly
placed his reliance; habit, which makes
everything easy, and casts the difficulties
upon the deviation from wonted course"
The dishonest man did not become so in
a moment 1t was bylittle deceits and acted
lies begun in youth, that the habit grew, until
lying and cheating have become as natu-
raj to him as breathing. Drunkards are
made so by the first glass. If that be not
taken the habit of intemperance will new
er be formed. The hbertine is the result
OF impure thoughts and vile associations.
No young man fresh from home and its
pure influences ever chooses harlots for
his associates. The first step downward
may have been only laugh at some vul-
gar story, when he had not the courage to
denounce, although he loathed the vulgari-
ty. In time he became the storyteller,
and 80 by little and little that Ill condi-
toned animal hbertine.
The slanderer, whose tongue runs so
glibly to backbiting and all uncharitable-
ness, was not always ouch dangerous
person. There was first the envious
thought, then the censure, until from SO
slight beginning the tongue became "set
on fire Of hell.' Not more surely was
Samson the author Of his own undoing,
when he complied with Delilah's request,
than are the young men of to day who 80
lightly enter on the ways of sin.
Habits are the defensive out works Of
character. If they are true, pure,
and strong the principles which
they defend cannot suffer from the attacks
of the world and the devil. But when they
have been carried in any part by the enc
my the whole is weakened. Let a man
who is trickster and cheat try to be true
and honest, and he will learn how powerful
habit may become, and how one vice will
corrupt the whole nature. Suppose a man
to have formed the habit of strong drink,
does not his whole manhood suffer. Is he
as much man as he was before he sur
rendered to his appetite? Is he not
in greater danger of a drunkard's
doom than if he had never taken the first
glassH Docs not every indulgence bring
him down to lower level of manhood and
intelligence How frequently is this re-
mark made by moderate drinkers, 81 can
stop when I please" Let them please
and see if they can. The shorn Samson
was not weaker than is a man in the power
of an evil habit.
What salvation is there for those whose
moral character is weakened by vicious
habits, which have insinuatsd them
selves into the little acts
of life! The Savior taught
his disciples to pray "Lead us not into
temptation" and safety lies that way.
Along the path of life, on every side, are
tempters seeking to lure young men to
ruin. They must be met and vigorously
repealed. The first temptation will be the
hardest to overcome. Each succeeding
one will prove weaker and weaker until the
good habit becomes a moral Gibraltar to
withstand the waves of temptation and
vice.
A high aim in life is tower of strength
for the young. To resolve to
do the best possible with
ones talents and opportunities;
to achieve the noblest results with the ma
terial one has; to do right, not from mo-
tives of worldly prudence, but because it
ie riybt. IN live en- that tho World ebolI he