A CHAPTER FOR BOYS 393 



been sunk so deep in the mire of concupiscence that 

 nothing but Ahiiighty power could have saved him 

 from utter destruction. 



Thousands of boys and young men are to-day stand- 

 ing on the slippery brink of that awful precipice from 

 which but very few are snatched away. Soon they will 

 plunge headlong over into the abyss of debasement and 

 corruption, from which they will never escape. Oh, 

 that we had the power to reach each one of these un- 

 fortunate youths before it is too late, and to utter in 

 their ears such warnings, to portray before them such 

 pictures of the sure results of a course of sin, that they 

 might be turned back to the paths of chastity and vir- 

 tue before they have become such mental, moral, and 

 physical wrecks as we every day encounter in the walks 

 of life. But not one in a thousand can be reached 

 having gone so far in sin. When they have ventured 

 once, they can rarely be checked in their downward 

 course until great harm has been wrought which will 

 require the work of years to undo. The young man 

 we have referred to made indeed a narrow escape, but 

 no one can safely run such a risk. Even he must suffer 

 all his life the consequences of a few years of sin. 



A Lost Soul.— M. M., of , was the son of a 



mechanic in humble circumstances. He was an only 

 child, and his parents spared no effort in their power 

 to insure his becoming a good and useful man. Good 

 school advantages were given him, and at a proper 

 age he was taught a trade. He succeeded fairly, and 

 their hopes of his becoming all that they could desire 

 were great, when he suddenly began to manifest pecul- 

 iar sjnnptoms. He had attended a religous revival, 

 and seemed much affected, professing religion and be- 

 coming a member of the church. To the exercises of 



