ular, Is he intemperate ?" "No, madam, I am happy to say, that although he is guilty of almost every other sin, which disgraces humanity, he does not use ardent spirits." "Then," exclaimed the mother with tears of joy, "there is hope of him; Joseph, my son, my only son, is yet alive, and if he is not intemperate, I may see him before I die." Time rolled on; and finally, this abandoned youth, through the influence of his mother's prayers, and his abstinence from intoxicating drinks, became entirely reformed-returned to his broken-hearted mother-comforted her in her advanced ageclosed her dying eyes-committed her to the grave, and shed many a tear over the memory of her, who had so often prayed and wept for him. Many a parent, my young friends, feels, as did this mother, respecting the sin of intemperance. If their sons are not addicted to that vice, they feel that there is yet hope; but if they are, generally all hope is extinguished.

Profaneness is another sin to which youth are exposed. This is a sin, which can plead no temptation or excuse. No craving appetite, no irresistible propensity, no hope of gain, compels a man to swear. Neither is it any sign of politeness or veracity, but it is rather an infallible indication of vulgarity and disregard of truth. No man respects

the profane swearer, or receives his most solemn asseverations, backed by oaths, but with many grains of allowance. Lord Chesterfield, a master in the school of politeness, declares, that such language is never that of a gentleman.

"To swear, is neither brave, polite, nor wise."

Jesus Christ, who has pronounced an irreversible sentence of exclusion from the kingdom of heaven against the man of incorrigible profaneness, also says, "Swear not at all; but let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these, cometh of evil." I am happy in being able to say, that profaneness, like intemperance, is fast receiving the disapprobation of all respectable men, that it is much less practiced than formerly, and that, under the condemnation of public opinion, there is hope that it will soon entirely cease. Young men, frown upon this vice wherever you meet it, and it will shortly be banished from society.

Licentiousness is another vice, which often besets youth. This is a subject of great delicacy, and is too rarely made a topic of discussion in the pulpit. Public attention, however, has recently been directed anew to the subject, and the evil has been found to exist, in an alarming degree, not

only in our large cities, but also in the villages and towns of the country. Let every youth, who has any regard to his reputation, his peace, his happiness, his usefulness, or his eternal salvation, beware of this vice. "Flee youthful lusts." Chastise the rovings of an impure imagination. When temptation is presented, your courage will be best illustrated, and your safety best consulted, not by parleying, but by flight. Escape instantly from this enchanted, this forbidden ground. "Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."

Vain amusements, such as balls and theatrical exhibitions, are also attended with danger. I know that youth and others must have their seasons of relaxation and amusement; a proper regard to health requires them. But they should be of such physical character as to improve, not impair health; and of such moral bearing as to purify, not pollute the affections.

Young people are also more or less exposed to the contaminating influence of erroneous religious principles. Some of these principles were mentioned in the last lecture. If you were educated religiously at home, your parents and friends feel no little solicitude on this point, especially if they have reason to believe, that your religious prin

ciples are not firmly established. The heart of many a parent has been rent asunder, by hearing that an absent child had embraced some of the soul-destroying errors, which infest the community. Respect, then, whatever of sound instruction your parents have given you. Wisdom addresses you in these terms;—-" My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother; for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."

Violating the Sabbath is another sin of which youth are in danger. This may be done by unnecessary labor, travelling, walking the streets and fields, amusements, and by the indulgence of worldly thoughts and affections. A strict and conscientious observance of the Sabbath is indispensable to your highest respectability, usefulness and happiness. Revere the Sabbath, and love the sanctuary. Let no temptations, however strong, induce you to infringe, in the slightest degree, upon the hours of holy rest. Your pious parents and friends will indeed have occasion to rejoice over your prospects for life and for eternity, if you invariably "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."

Such are the dangers to which you are more particularly exposed; let us now examine

II. The means and process by which many youth have become erroneous in principle, and bankrupt in morals. The principal means are pointed out in the text.

"Evil communications

Many youth are ruined

corrupt good manners." through the example and influence of bad associates. Let us suppose the case of an artless, unsuspecting youth, who has just come from his home among the Green Mountains of Vermont, to enter a manufactory, or to engage in some other employment in a thickly populated village. The means and process of his ruin, I will attempt briefly to sketch; and the picture has had its prototype in thousands of instances in our land. It is a scene, which, I hope, has never been, and never may be enacted here. On arriving at his new place of abode, this youth finds himself in circumstances, to which he is entirely unaccustomed. The scenery around him is quite unlike that of his native hills. His boarding-house, with its paraphernalia, is a novelty. His employment is newhis associates are strangers. The tout-ensemblethe whole character of his new residence is such as makes a deep impression upon his feelings. Every thing is novel and exciting. He is now in that impressible state, which prepares him to be acted upon, with prodigious effect, by influences,