and the refusal to partake was regarded as singular, yet Lawrence had not been accustomed to see this practised. But in his new sphere, surrounded by those who evidently loved to drink, he was exposed to all the unhallowed influences of a dram-selling shop. How could he refuse to partake of the proffered dram with his companions? It is not an easy matter to assert one's convictions of duty in such circumstances. Thousands have yielded to temptation in less trying positions, solely for the want of moral courage to declare their honest convictions. Even without the pressure of the example and invitation of others, it is dangerous for a youth to be in the midst of decanters and barrels of strong drink. They are within his reach-he has access to them. He has but to put forth his hand and take them at his pleasure. Let his appetite be sharpened by repeated drams, and those decanters and barrels become his ruin.

In his last days Mr Lawrence, in a letter to a student at college, spoke as follows of this critical period of his life:

"The five boys were in the habit, every forenoon, of making a drink of rum, with biscuit. After being in the shop four weeks, I found myself admonished by my appetite of the approach of the hour for indulgence. Thinking the habit might give trouble if allowed to grow stronger, without further apology to my seniors, I declined partaking with them. My first resolution was to abstain for a week, and when the week was out, for a month, and then for a year. Finally, I resolved to abstain for the rest of my apprenticeship, which was for five years longer. During that whole period, I never drank a

a spoonful, though I mixed gallons daily for my old master and his customers. I decided not to be a slave to tobacco in any form, though I loved the odour of it then, and even now have in my drawer a superior Havannah cigar, given me by a friend, but only to smell. I have never in my life smoked a cigar; never chewed but one quid, and that was before I was fifteen; and never took an ounce of snuff, though the scented rappee of forty years ago had great charms for me. Now, I say, to this simple fact of starting just right am I indebted, with God's blessing on my labours, for my present position."

It thus appears that he began to take daily drams with his companions, but perceiving that it created an appetite for strong drink, he resolved to take no more.

That deed was truly heroic! He who dares to do right is courageous. The greatest coward is he who is afraid of the scoffs and jeers of his associates when conscience urges him to duty. Doubtless, the companions of Lawrence laughed at him for such a decision, and said they would be more "independent." And yet, after all, he was more independent than they. He had the fortitude to stand up in the face of all the men and boys in the shop, and in the face, too, of a universal custom, and declare that drinking intoxicating liquors was too dangerous a habit for him to nurture. altogether a new stand for any person to take in those days, "to touch not, taste not, handle not ;" and this rendered the act more difficult to perform. It must have required a most resolute will, strengthened by a felt, impressive sense of danger and duty.

It was

Who does not admire such decision as this! A

large part of the deeds that are lauded on every hand possess far less of importance and intrinsic worth. The press teems with praises of the statesman who stands up in defence of his principles against the threats and wrath of enemies. Yet the same man might not dare to refuse a glass of wine at the festive board, even though conscience remonstrated with loudest voice. It often requires more firmness to oppose a prevailing custom, than to stand in the perilous gap when physical danger threatens. The patriot who has risked his life. upon bloody battle-fields, may be the veriest slave of For this reason, the act of Lawrence, in declining the proffered cup, is invested with special interest. We honour his sound judgment in the matter. We respect his uncompromising decision of character.

custom.

How much that single resolve of young Lawrence was worth to him! It is often the case that the whole life turns upon one decision in youth. We remember to have heard the following from the lips of an episcopal clergyman. He was the son of a pious mother, whose counsels were always excellent. As he went forth from his home in youth, she said to him, "My son, never enter a theatre. The words continued to ring in his ears for days and weeks. But the lapse of months diminished their force. In a distant city he was tempted to visit a theatre, and started for that purpose. As he reached the door of the spacious building where the anticipated play was to be enjoyed, his mother's parting words rang in his ears :-" My son, never enter a theatre." In an instant he resolved to obey her, and hastened away. "That resolve," said he, "saved me from ruin."

Had he

All the other

In the letter

says:-" Of

In like manner, the resolve of Amos Lawrence may have been the turning-point of his character. continued to drink daily with his associates, his end might have been as miserable as theirs. youths in the shop became intemperate. from which we have already quoted, he the whole number educated in the Groton shop for some years before and after myself, no one else to my knowledge, escaped; and my escape I trace to the simple fact of my having at once put a restraint upon my appetite." How much was that resolve worth to him! With what delight he must have looked back in age upon that deed of his youthful days! It is not strange that he spoke of it in his private conversations and correspondence.

That was the first temptation of his business life. All usually depends upon the manner of meeting the first temptation, if it be resisted and overcome, the moral faculties are strengthened, and the second temptation has little power. On the other hand, if it be yielded to without determined resistance, the moral powers are weakened, and succeeding temptations overcome and ruin the soul. Here we perceive the vital importance of the firm resolve of Lawrence. He resisted the first temptation successfully, and the others fell comparatively harmless at his feet.

Young persons cannot value too highly this decision. He who hesitates and delays when the path of duty is plain before him, will not be likely to escape the snares of the tempter.

The celebrated John Foster says, in his admirable essay on decision of character: "A man without deci

sion can never be said to belong to himself; since, if he dared to assert that he did, the puny force of some cause, about as powerful, you would have supposed, as a spider, may make a seizure of the happy boaster the very next moment, and contemptuously exhibit the futility of the determinations by which he was to have proved the independence of his understanding and his will. He belongs to whatever can make capture of him; and one thing after another vindicates its right to him, by arresting him while he is trying to go on, as twigs and chips floating near the edge of a river are intercepted by every weed, and whirled in every little eddy. Having concluded on a design, he may pledge himself to accomplish it-if the hundred diversities of feeling which may come within the week will let him. His character precluding all foresight of his conduct, he may sit and wonder what form and direction his views and actions are destined to take to-morrow; as a farmer has often to acknowledge that the next day's proceedings are at the disposal of its winds and clouds."

The reader has seen that Mr Lawrence regarded the use of tobacco as a filthy practice, seldom existing alone, and generally found in company with other bad habits. When he was at the head of his large mercantile house in Boston, he always had regard to this habit in obtaining employees. If two young men presented themselves for a place in his establishment, and they were equal in every particular, except that one used tobacco, he invariably employed the one who was free from this filthy habit. In a letter to the President of Williams College, a few years since, he said: "I have always given the preference, among such persons as I have employed for

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