wretchedness, which are the certain fruit of a life of immorality;
and will bestow upon you all the real enjoyments, within the earthly
reach of man.

As people advance in years, they perceive more and more the
importance of commencing life properly.

See that wretched outcast! Poor and miserable, shunned by all but
depraved associates, he drags out the worthless remnant of his days.
Does he think he has acted wisely? Hark to his soliloquy--"Oh, could
I begin life again:--could I but live my days over once more--how
different the course I would pursue. Instead of rushing on blindly
and mindlessly, without forethought or care, and allowing myself to
become an easy prey to temptation and sin, I would reflect maturely,
and choose wisely the path for my footsteps. Faithfully I would
search for the way of virtue, honesty, sobriety, and goodness, and
strictly would I walk therein!" The opportunity he so eagerly
covets, and to obtain which he would deem no sacrifice too great, is
now before every youth in the assembly.

This thought is beautifully elaborated in the following allegory:

"It was midnight of the new year, and an aged man stood thoughtfully
at the window. He gazed with a long, despairing look, upon the
fixed, eternal, and glorious heaven, and down upon the silent,
still, and snow-white earth, whereon was none so joyless, so
sleepless as he. For his grave stood open near him; it was covered
only with the snows of age, not decked with the green of youth; and
he brought with him, from a long and rich life, nothing save errors,
crimes, and sickness--a wasted body, a desolate soul, a breast