Year: 1871

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 Lie. If he has been
brought up among the pure and the
good, the evil propensity will be contlnu-
ally discouraged. The rufllan could not
have become such had he 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 To breath an air morally poisoned
In early life.


Not only vices, but their opposites have
their reactionary 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 seli.pralse and ad.
ulaton, too much seeking after the ap.
plAuse Of the unthinklng, produces those
monstrosities which commonsense peo.
pie call humbugs and prodigiesr 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.
ity, and all that is truly invigorating, and
thus devours alike the core and rind Of
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 q
caution against evil Is of(en itsCll an evil
worse than that dreaded. Excessive sus.
picion OF tho sinister intention Of Others
Is sometimes worse than the occur.
renee ol the wrong feared. None are so
wretched as those who know too much to
DO happy.


It's thus that in tho family the irrita.
bllity 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 q 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 so 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 cheerlll
governess, while, on the contrary, rude,
Impatient and ascetic teacher viii demor-
alize the temper and breeding OF most Of
bis scholars, making them, like himself,
churlish and testy, and being himself the
worst example among them as well as the
cause Of their transformation.


This inscrutable reaction, which per-
Vades all society and to a greater or less
extent governs all our actions, Is the un-
natural mother Of vice, poisoning its chill
dren with the food they love. 1t distorts
beauty by the variety ofdelormity which
It begets. 1t ruins the digestion, deran-
ges the mind, destroys peace, and lnsures
= harvest Of evil TO those who SOW evil
seed. It brings curses home to roost by a
force stronger than any animal instinct
q force as strong and as certain TO return
as the tidal power Of the sea, Bad quail
ties reacting upon themselves grow worse;
like spreading cancers, they make the
food they grow on. 1t Is inthis way that
tho good and the evil In society have each
their own compensatlons, which are sure
TO be felt In every department Ofllfe.