58
A Solemn Appeal
I have mentioned these cases to illustrate the power of this soul-
and-body-destroying vice. The entire mind is given up to low passion.
The moral and intellectual are over- borne by the baser powers. The
body is enervated, the brain is weakened. The material there deposited
to nourish the system is squandered. The drain upon the system is
great. The fine nerves of the brain, by being excited to unnatural
action, become benumbed and in a measure paralyzed. The moral
and intellectual are growing weaker, while the animal passions are
growing stronger, and being more largely developed by exercise. The
appetite for unhealthful food clamors for indulgence. It is impossible
to fully arouse the moral sensibilities of those persons who are addicted
to the habit of self-abuse, to appreciate eternal things. You cannot
lead such to delight in spiritual exercises. Impure thoughts seize and
control the imagination, fascinate the mind, and next follows an almost
uncontrollable desire for impure acts. If the mind were educated
to contemplate elevating subjects, the imagination trained to reflect
upon pure and holy things, it would be fortified against this terrible,
debasing, soul-and-body-destroying indulgence. It would become
accustomed to linger with delight upon the high, the heavenly, the
pure, and the sacred, and could not be attracted to this base, corrupt,
and vile indulgence.
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What can we say of those who are living right in the blazing light
of truth, yet daily practicing and following in a course of sin and
crime. Forbidden, exciting pleasures have a charm for them, and hold
and control their entire being. Such take pleasure in unrighteousness
and iniquity, and must perish outside of the city of God, with every
abominable thing.
I have sought to arouse parents to their duty, yet they sleep on.
Your children practice secret vice, and they deceive you. You have
such implicit confidence in them, that you think them too good and
innocent to be capable of secretly practicing iniquity. Parents fondle
and pet their children, and indulge them in pride, but do not restrain
them with firmness and decision. They are so much afraid of their
willful, stubborn spirits, that they fear to come in contact with them;
but the sin of negligence, which was marked against Eli, will be their
sin. The exhortation of Peter is of the highest value to all who are
striving for immortality. Those of like precious faith are addressed: