"
But his young companions had gained so much of his regard by their
frankness and courtesy that he could not leave them without warning
and remonstrance. "My friends," said he, "I have seriously
considered our manners and our prospects, and find that we have
mistaken our own interest. The first years of man must make
provision for the last. He that never thinks, never can be wise.
Perpetual levity must end in ignorance; and intemperance, though it
may fire the spirits for an hour, will make life short or
miserable. Let us consider that youth is of no long duration, and
that in mature age, when the enchantments of fancy shall cease, and
phantoms of delight dance no more about us, we shall have no
comforts but the esteem of wise men and the means of doing good.
Let us therefore stop while to stop is in our power: let us live
as men who are some time to grow old, and to whom it will be the
most dreadful of all evils to count their past years by follies,
and to be reminded of their former luxuriance of health only by the
maladies which riot has produced.
Pages:
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80