lesome advice. Were you walking in a
slippery, dangerous way, amid the darkness of midnight, you would
give the strictest heed to the friendly precaution--"Ponder the path
of thy feet. Be careful where you step. When you put your foot down,
see to it, that it rests on something well-established--some rock,
some spot of earth, that is firm and solid." This advice would be
heeded, because of your consciousness that by stepping heedlessly,
you would be in danger of stumbling into a pit, or falling over a
precipice, where your limbs would be broken, or life destroyed.
Simple discretion would bid you beware, under such circumstances.
The youthful should fully realize that they are walking in a
pathway, which to them is wholly untried and unknown. It is a road
surrounded by many dangers, unseen by the careless traveller; where
he is liable to be lured aside to ruin, by a thousand fascinations
and temptations, and where multitudes possessing the best
advantages, the highest talents, the brightest genius, the rarest
gifts, have stumbled and fallen, to rise no more on earth. While
pressing on ardently and thoughtlessly in this dangerous highway,
apprehending no difficulty, and fearing no peril, a voice from on
high calls to the young, and urges them to "Ponder the path of their
feet, and to let all their ways--their footsteps--be established!"
There is wisdom, prudence, goodness, in this exhortation.

Question the old man--the aged traveller--who has passed over this
pathway of life, and is just ready to step up into the mysterious
road of a higher existence. Ask him as to his experience--beseech
him for advice. Looking back through the vista of his long and
chequered way, of light and shadow, of joy and sorrow, he will
exclaim--"O ye youthful! Give heed to the admonition of the wise
man--'Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be
established.'"

The admonition of the text is important in reference to the _Habits_
and _Amusements_ of the youthful. We are all more or less the
creatures of habit. Our ways, from earliest infancy, are more the
result of the force of habit, than we are generally aware. The
actions, words, and thoughts of men, form for themselves certain
channels, in which they continually seek to flow, unless turned
aside by a strong hand, and a painful effort.

Habits are formed insensibly. We are not aware of any moment when
they are created; but the first consciousness of their being fixed
upon us,