please. When they seek the society of the ignorant, the vulgar, the
profane and profligate, they give the best of reasons for believing
that they prefer profligacy and vulgarity to virtue and purity. To
what other conclusion can the observer come? If they preferred
virtue and purity, they would certainly seek pure and virtuous
associates. Hence society have adopted the very correct principle of
judging the young, by the character of their associates. If they
would be thought well of, they should strive to associate with those
who are known to be virtuous and good. However blameless and upright
young persons may have been, if they begin to associate with those
whose reputation is poor, and whose conduct is improper, they will
soon be esteemed no higher than their companions.

These reflections show the youthful how important it is, that their
associates should be of the right stamp. They should see the
necessity of _selecting_ their companions. The great difficulty with
the young is, that they leave this important matter altogether too
much to "chance." If they happen to fall into good company, it is
very well; and their associates and intimate friends will be likely
to be of that class. But if, unfortunately, they meet with the
vicious and unprincipled, and are, to any great extent, thrown in
their way, they are as likely to form intimacies with them as with
any others.

Such negligence is exceedingly unpromising and dangerous. Whoever
allows it, will be in far more danger of falling under the influence
of the vicious than the exemplary. Instead of this heedlessness,
they should carefully and thoughtfully _select_ their associates.
They should not be willing to form terms of intimacy with, every one
into whose society they may be casually thrown. They should inform