ughts are not well trained to rigid chastity can be
only means of evil. A plea may be made for these paintings in the name
of art; but we see no necessity for the development of art in this
particular direction, when nature presents so many and such varied
scenes of loveliness in landscapes, flowers, beautiful birds, and
graceful animals, to say nothing of the human form protected by
sufficient covering to satisfy the demands of modesty.

Many of the papers and magazines sold at our news-stands and eagerly
sought after by young men and boys are better suited for the parlors
of a house of ill-repute than for the eyes of pure-minded youth. A
news-dealer who will distribute such vile sheets ought to be dealt with
as an educator in vice and crime, an agent of evil, and a recruiting
officer for hell and perdition.

Evil Thoughts.--No one can succeed long in keeping himself from vicious
acts whose thoughts dwell upon unchaste subjects. Only those who are
pure in heart will be pure and chaste in action. The mind must be
educated to love and dwell upon pure subjects in early life, as by this
means only can the foundation be laid for that purity of character which
alone will insure purity of life. When the mind once becomes
contaminated with evil thoughts, it requires the work of years of
earnest effort to purge it from uncleanness. Vile thoughts leave scars
which even time will not always efface. They soil and deprave the soul,
as vile acts do the body. God knows them, if no human being does, and
if harbored and cherished they will tell against the character in the
day of Judgment as surely as will evil words and deeds.

Influence of Other Bad Habits.--Evil practices of any sort which lower
the moral tone of an individual, which lessen his appreciation of and
love for right and purity and true nobility of soul, encourage the
development of vice. A boy who loves purity, who has a keen sense of
what is true and right, can never become a vicious man. Profanity,
falsehood, and deception of every sort, have a tendency in the direction
of vice.

The use of highly seasoned food, of rich sauces, spices and condiments,
sweetmeats, and in fact all kinds of stimulating foods, has an undoubted
influence upon the sexual nature of boys, stimulating those organs into
too early activity, and occasioning temptations to sin which otherwise
would not occur. The use of mustard, pepper, pepper-sauce, spices, rich
gravies, and all similar kinds