Young people are apt to be insensible to the danger they are in, until their name is stained with a blot that is very hard to wipe away. The wise man has justly observed, that “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.”
The reputation of youth, a young maiden more especially, may be compared to china ware, or transparent glass, which is very easily broken, but impossible to mend, so but what it will leave a blemish behind.
How often does the thoughtless youth, in some unguarded hour, fall into some trifling folly or other which stamps a blur upon their characters, and fills their minds with shame and remorse. And it is too frequently the case, that in order to prevent the evils of one piece of bad conduct, they run into another, which only sinks them deeper and deeper. They then begin to give up all hopes of recovery, their minds become dissipated, and they give themselves over to all the vain delusions and allurements of time and sense. And as they travel on in the paths of folly, they become lost to all sense of virtue and morality, consequently happiness is fled, and they generally become slaves to misery and discontentment.
Such a life as this would be thought scarcely worth possessing! yet how often do we behold those who appeared to be very promising when they first started in life, and presented to us the most pleasing prospects, land on these shores at last, and drag out a miserable life, with shame and ignominy: while on the other hand, it often happens, that those who make a small appearance, and are thought but a very little of, when they first set out in life; yet by attending to good instruction, and the strictest caution and prudence, they have arisen to honor and dignity in the world, and are loved and esteemed by all virtuous people.
If these are facts, they show the importance of early attending to instruction.
And that you, my young friend, blooming with virgin beauty, unsullied with vice, and unimpaired with age; that you may shun those pernicious practices that will lead you in shame and disgrace, and pursue those paths that will lead you to honor and dignity in the world, and gain you a name that is more valuable than silver or gold, I leave you the following
RULES.
1. Keep a due regard over all your thoughts, and see that they are intent upon the business in which you are employed, that you may pay a proper attention to the same.
Nothing is more dangerous than an absent mind. It is rude to indulge the thoughts to rove upon indifferent objects, even when you are in company; but more especially when attending to your domestic concerns. If your thoughts are not mostly engaged in the business before you, time will steal away faster than you are aware of; night will come on before you are ready for it, many things must go undone that you ought to have attended to, and that which you have done will be apt to be slighted, or done to the halves; and you will thereby get to yourself rebukes and reproaches, which you might have easily prevented, and you will now begin to repent when it is too late to mend a bad day’s work.
By indulging an absent mind, young people are apt to be deaf to all that is said to them, or at least, it does not make an abiding impression on their minds; by which means they are apt to do their work wrong, have it to undo, and do over again, and sometimes spoil it in the end; which will make them feel very much chagrined, and also it will fret, perplex, and weary the patience of those who employ them.