habit of intemperance. Know, my dear young friend, when you have had enough, and resolutely refuse to take more. God has solemnly declared in his holy word, that the intemperate shall not enter into his kingdom.

You will have many temptations to violate the bounds of temperance. There are wretches in human shape who delight to seduce a youth from the paths of sobriety and virtue. It is very frequently the case, that there are some one or more of this description, who do not feel themselves at ease, till they have made every one around them as bad as themselves. They attempt to do this in the most insidious manner. Hence, they very commonly intimate, that he must not be singular, that he will be expected, as he is a fellow workman, to act as the others do, and to associate with them. Often they appear very generous, and will allure their victim by intimations, that, if he will accompany them, it shall cost him nothing: they will treat him; they intimate too, that they are sure he will be pleased and gratified; and not unfrequently they mingle threats with their entreaties, if they perceive any reluctance to yield to their wishes, that he must, if he would be comfortable, become even as they are. Deaf alike to their smiles and their frowns, dare to stand aloof from them, and steadily, but civilly, refuse to accompany them to the public house, or to any scene of dissipation. Do not yield, even a little, to their entreaties. Be resolutely firm in your denial, especially at first; and this will save you much

1

trouble.

If you go with them one step, it will be very difficult to leave them, without going a second, or even a third, or a fourth, in the paths of intemperance. Fear not their displeasure;

no, not for a moment; in spite of themselves, they will be compelled to respect you for your consistent conduct.

Every vice is connected with intemperance. Should you fall into this horrible gulf, there will be little hope of your ever rising again, so as to be of any real use to society, or comfort to your friends. "All things," says a good writer, "in heaven and on earth, exclaim against intemperance, with a single voice. Our health, our reputation, our safety, our reason, our usefulness, our lives, our souls, our families, and our friends, in solemn and affecting union, urge, entreat, and persuade us to abstain. God commands, Christ solicits, and the Spirit of grace influences us to abstain. Angels and glorified spirits behold our conduct with such anxiety and alarm, as happy beings can feel; and watch, and hope to see our escape. The Bible, with a terrible voice, thunders in our ears that awful denunciation, Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God.' Even hell itself follows the rest of the universe; and, in spite of its own malevolence, subjoins its dreadful admonition, by marshalling before us the innumerable hosts of miserable wretches, whom this sin has driven to its mansions of despair. Who, that does not already sleep the sleep of death, can refuse to hear, awake, and live?"

You will sometimes meet with an individual, who may labour with you in the same shop, who will often sneer at every appearance of serious piety. Learn betimes manfully to bear a sneer. Recollect, that, formidable as it often is, it proves nothing, but the malice and impiety of the person who utters it. The very best characters which have ever appeared on earth, have been sneered at, and ridiculed: but this was no proof that they were unworthy of the esteem of their fellow creatures, or of the approbation of the Most High. A man might easily ridicule his father or mother, but this would never prove that he ought not to have reverenced them. Memorable was the reply of a plain countryman, to an individual of this class, who was sneering at all serious piety," If we are so foolish as to permit you to laugh us out of our religion, till, at last we drop into hell, you will not be able to get us out again."

CHAPTER XIV.

CONSCIENTIOUSLY IMPROVE YOUR TIME.

You have no time to lose. It should all be occupied in active and useful exertion. To this the whole creation calls us; since every part of it bears perpetual testimony against sloth and idleness. Man was not to be indolent even in paradise. He was placed in that beautiful spot, "to dress it and to keep it." Indeed, evil and

misery are the certain consequences of indolence. "I went," says Solomon, "by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well; I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that travaileth, and thy want as an armed man." Industry will make difficult things easy; it will add to your comfort and health. It is as much your duty, since it is the command of God, to labour six days, as it is to rest on the Lord's day.

As I remarked before, my young friend, the whole creation seems to call on us to be diligent:

"Nature lives by toil;

Beast, bird, air, fire, the heavens, and rolling world, All live by action. Hence the joys of health; Hence strength of arm, and clear judicious thought; Hence corn, and wine, and oil, and all in life Delectable."

Nothing that is valuable to man is acquired without labour. The earth, by the Divine command, constantly furnishes us with a profusion of materials which are of great worth; but yet the assertion of the poet is correct,—

""Tis ToIL that makes them wealth."

Dr. Franklin tells us, in his Life, how he began business. "I began," says he, "to pay

by degrees the debt I had contracted; and, to insure my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be really industrious and frugal, but also to avoid every appearance of the contrary. I was plainly dressed, and never seen in any place of public amusement. I never went a fishing, or hunting. A book, indeed, enticed me sometimes from my work, but it was seldom. To show that I did not think myself above my employment, I conveyed home, sometimes in a wheelbarrow, the paper I purchased at the warehouses. I thus obtained the reputation of being an industrious young man, and very punctual in my payments. The merchants who imported articles of stationary solicited my custom; others offered to furnish me with books, and my little trade went on prosperously."

If we are not usefully and properly employed in the discharge of our duty, it is more than probable that we shall be directing our attention to that which we had better have left alone. "There are but very few," says Mr. Addison, "who know how to be idle and innocent." "The devil," remarks old Bishop Latimer, "has much more work done for him on one holiday than on many working days." "Perhaps," Dr. Johnson justly observes, "every man may date the predominance of those desires that disturb his life, and contaminate his conscience, from some unhappy hour, when too much leisure exposed him to their incursions; for he has lived with little observation, either on himself or others,