At an
earlier age the impression, it is true, would be lively but
inconsistent, and the levity of childhood would soon have replaced it
by another; later it would be found so superficial and trivial that
it would be soon forgotten among the multiplicity of thoughts which
absorb the mind at the age of maturity; but, during the youthful
years, everything that comes under the notice of the senses sinks
deeply into the soul, penetrating its very substance, the faculties
still retain all the vivacity of youth, while already they
participate in that firmness which is characteristic of the age of
maturity.
That thought is, perhaps, the first link in a chain of thoughts and
images which will be the torment of your conscience and the bane of
your life. That sentiment to which you imprudently pandered is
perhaps the source of countless fears, regrets, remorse and sorrows.
That imprudent glance is perhaps the first spark of a conflagration
which nothing can extinguish, and which will destroy your brightest
hopes.
If, as yet, you are ignorant of all the evil of which an imprudent
glance may be productive, recall to mind the example furnished us by
the Sacred Scriptures in the person of David, who, for his imprudent
glance at the wife of Urias, committed two crimes, the names of which
you should ignore, and suffered a life of sorrow, repentance,
bitterness and anguish: a life which even yet serves to express the
sorrow and repentance of imprudent souls who have yielded to the
allurements of the senses.
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