“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. The loss of health and the loss of character are the certain consequences; and the debauch of the evening is followed by pains and sickness in the morning, when that which was before poison, is administered as the cure! Practice becomes habitual, and thus a whole life is frequently wasted in debauchery; poverty itself only cutting off the means, not the inclination; and the unhappy object himself, destitute of health, character, and friends, is left to pine and sink in misery and contempt. Intemperance in _dress_ is another evil that ought to be carefully guarded against. In most men this argues both weakness and effeminacy; but in _men-servants_ an affectation of this kind is unpardonable—and in _females_ it opens a door to temptation and extravagance, which but too frequently ends in ruin.