A Solemn Appeal - James White

which he would much regret when he had
recovered his reason. I have understood that, since
his return to his friends, he has but partially
recovered. He is demented, and is unfit for the
common avocations of life.
" 'Another young man, who was under my care
not long since, is obliged to leave his studies, and
is just going into a decline; and self-pollution is the
cause. I have conversed with him, and he is
sensible of his error, but I fear too late.'
"A letter to Mrs. Gove, narrating its writer's
experience, describes its effects on the mind as
follows:
" 'At about twelve years of age, my health
began to fail; I became dyspeptic and nervous. I
often awoke in the morning bathed in tears; and the
most indescribable and horrible sinking of spirits
was my portion during the forenoon. If I committed
any little mistake or fault, the recollection of it
would haunt me for days, and make me
superlatively wretched. I became pale as death,
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