Idleness is a great source of evil, and whilst we give way to its enjoyment, we sacrifice both the duties and the best purposes of our existence.
“Delays are dangerous;—take a friend’s advice,
Begin,—be bold, and venture to be wise:—
He who defers his work from day to day,
Does on a river’s bank expecting stay,
Till the whole stream that stopt him shall be gone,
Which, as it runs, for ever will run on.”
But, it is not enough merely to avoid sloth, for you must be guarded against the allurements of pleasure—Pleasure, when it becomes a business, but too frequently makes business a torment; and as it is impossible to attend to your duty and follow your pleasures, the inevitable consequence must be loss of place, disgrace, and poverty.—Not that you are to debar yourself from innocent amusement, at proper times, and with moderation; it is not, nor can it be expected of you, who are to get your bread by the sweat of your brow, that you are not to reap the harvest of your labours; neither the laws of God nor man exact this of you; but unlawful and intemperate pleasures are interdicted, as alike detrimental to your employers,—your morals,—your character,—your health,—and your purse.
Intemperance, or excess, is a pleasurable evil,—it smiles and seduces—enchants and destroys. It assumes a variety of shapes, all tending to flatter the appetite and inflame desires;—it presents to each the allurement to which he is most prone, and to all a pleasing poison that impairs the body, enervates the mind, and imperceptibly destroys all the energies necessary to our happiness and advancement in life.
Above all things, then—Be temperate.—Avoid excess in eating and drinking—“One expensive mouth, will wear out several pairs of hands,”—and, “one shilling will appease the wants of nature as effectually as a pound.” Nor is it because you may for a time be able to indulge those vicious habits at the expense of others, that they are the less exceptionable.