LECTURE IV.

DANGERS OF YOUNG PEOPLE.

1 COR. xv. 33.-Evil communications corrupt good manners.

Ir cannot have escaped the notice of any attentive observer of mankind, that the season of childhood and early youth is comparatively unsophisticated with error and immorality. Not that that period of life exhibits no indications of depravity; for depravity is, in all cases, coeval with the existence of moral character. Not that persons in the earlier part of life are but partially depraved; for the degree of depravity in every case. is total,—that is, there is an entire absence of holiness by nature. Not that there are no instances of children and youth committing some of the most atrocious crimes; for such instances sometimes occur. But notwithstanding these exceptions and qualifications, the general remark is still true, that persons in quite early life are com

paratively free from error in principle, and viciousness in practice. There is generally an artlessness in their manners, a simplicity in their practice, and a freedom from gross error in their faith. But when the period arrives for entrance upon the active business of life, it ordinarily constitutes an epoch in the history of the individual. What parent, who has ever sent a son to college, or bound him to an apprenticeship, or put him into a manufactory, but felt, when he was doing it, that it would probably be a crisis in the destiny of that child. Often has the anxious father, when the time of separation arrived, accompanied his son to the door, and bade him farewell, saying,

My child, the unwelcome hour is come,

When thou, transplanted from thy genial home,
Must find a colder soil, and bleaker air,

And trust for safety to a stranger's care."

Often has the affectionate mother, when called to commit her son to the temptations of the world, and exchanged with him the last adieu, gone away to her closet as her only consolation, and committed him to the keeping of Israel's God. When the inexperienced youth enters upon his new scene of life, and finds himself associated with new companions, and assailed by new temptations,

then comes the trial of his principles. What a moment in his history! It is a moment replete with interest and with danger. And what youth, who has been nurtured at home in the school of correct principles, and now brought to the trial, while his parents are trembling for the result, does not tremble for himself. Perhaps there are hundreds of youth before me, who are now undergoing this severe experiment. Many of you have but recently entered upon the active scenes of life. Many of you are far away from the safeguards of home, while the palpitating hearts of your parents, if they are not cold in death, and their midnight prayers for your safety, give evidence of ceaseless anxiety for your welfare. You are now placed in circumstances of trial, and the event alone can determine, whether "evil communications" will "corrupt" your "good manners."

My object, in this lecture, is to state,

I. The principal evils to which youth, in your circumstances, are exposed,

II. The means and process by which many youth, similarly situated, have been ruined, and

III. What can be done to rescue the young from the dangers which surround them.

I. What are the more prominent evils to which youth are exposed? Among these, intemperance

holds no inferior place. Perhaps in no village in this region, has the temperance reformation found greater favor than in this. But the means of intoxication and ruin are still here. They are sold, and their sale is licensed by law; while the vending of lottery tickets, an evil by no means as great as the other, is prohibited. I cannot forbear, in passing, to express the hope, that this traffic, instead of being encouraged by legislation, will soon be banished from the country by being made penal.

There may be youth in this village, who are now gradually and insensibly forming habits of intemperance;―habits, which may yet consume their property, blast their reputation, hurry them to a premature death, and bring down the gray hairs of their parents with sorrow to the grave. The hearts of parents are exquisitely sensitive with respect to the exposure of their children to this vice. I will illustrate this fact by an example. Some years ago, there was a bright and promising youth, who was "the only son of his mother, and she was a widow." Falling under the influence of bad company, he soon lost his love of home, and all sense of obligation to his aged dependent mother-wandered away to a distant part of the country, and spent his substance in riotous living.

Many an anxious month and year rolled slowly away, while she could hear nothing from her son, except that he was notoriously abandoned. In process of time, as she was shivering one cold December's evening over a few embers, which constituted all her fire, her heart bursting within her as she thought of her prospects and of her profligate son, she was aroused by a rap at the door. Permission being given, a stranger entered. After the customary salutations were exchanged, and the stranger seated, he kindly inquired, "Is your name Mary Judson?" for that is the designation, by which I would introduce her to your acquaintance. "Yes, sir," was her reply. "And have you a son by the name of Joseph Judson?" continued the stranger. If a flash of lightning had that instant struck her dwelling, it would not have agitated her frame more than the simple mention of that dear name. "I have, sir, if he is alive," she instantly rejoined, "and do you know him?" "Yes, madam, I saw him about six weeks since, far beyond the Alleghanies." "But how does he do?" inquired the trembling mother, endeavoring to draw from the stranger information, not so much respecting his health, as his conduct. "Bad enough," "bad enough," was the heart-breaking reply. "But I wish to know one thing in partic