The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-04-12 00:00:00

THE YOUTH FROM THE COUNTRY.

Rev. Dr. J. B. Thomas, of Brooklyn, lectured in
Buffalo recently on the perils of a young man coming
to the city from the country. In the course of his
remarks the distinguished clergyman said, the young
man brings with him unknown powers—a magazine
of passion, within the range of powers the depth and
sweep of which he does not know. He comes with a
disposition to know, and possibly a contempt for the
young companion he leaves behind, and who prefers to
remain among the green fields. He expects to see
wonders—and he will. He thinks there will be no
harm in seeing. The old family trail handed down
by Eve is there, and he desires to look though it may
not be his purpose to touch or handle. He goes on in
the cruel way that he should avoid. Naturally he
seeks companionship. He may have a spice of variety
and will want the good opinion of those about him,
remembering, it may be, the old proverb that when in
Rome you must do as the Romans do. Very soon he
will shed his country garb, cultivate a moustache,
probably, sport a cane perhaps, and fall into the
liking of a cigarette. In short, he wants all the
country aroma—the smell of the fresh fields—" and
everything else that is fresh" taken away. He
wishes to assimilate himself fully with the habits and
appearances of those about him, and graduate as a
city-bred young man.
All this is natural. We have no right to be uncouth,
offensive and subject of rebuke from others. Through
assimilation he ceases to retain conspicuously. This
is the beginning of evil, and then comes a reaction.
He begins to suspect very soon that he has been kept
in too closely, narrowed in his knowledge and con-
strained in his impulses. "The world loves a spice
of wickedness "—and so does he. He cultivates a
dash—an independence; is not disposed to be bound
up by old ways and says that he is not inclined to be
puritanical. He wants to gain the favour of com-
rades. He has powers of which he can make tre-
mendous use—or they will of him if not carefully
controlled. He is ingenious, pliable and usable for
the purpose that he is now about to be used. His
first impression is that there is a strange, tsolated life
in a mercantile community. About the first thing
he learns when he enters a large establishment is
to mind his own business, transact his busi-
ness and go about his business. He finds that every
man has his eye on something ahead, and is pushing
on to get it. They never saw the young man before,
don't want to see him, and never expect to see him
again. He learns that if he intends to do anything in
the city he most do it for himself. He is next im-
pressed with the relentless mathematical heartlessness
of trade. Everything goes by machinery. Young
men that come from the country to be employed come
as hands, not souls or heads. They are put into the
furnace and melted. If there is any ore, they get
credit for it, and the dross is forged away. There is a
vigorous, relentless, fidelity, and men are engaged in a
battle that is scientific and is becoming more scientific.
They do business on margins. There is no conscience,
no sentiment. They tell him "business is business."
This may make him stoical—it may harden him.
The young man may become harassed, weary and
disheartened, and feel that this is an unkind and
cruel world where men are engaged in a struggle for
life, and that's just what it is—a struggle for
life. There is & regular scramble—every man for
himself; get everybody else down in the water, but
keep your own nose above it. The dangers of the
city are that it is so big and has so many covers—so
many convenient lurking-places. Happy that young
man whose mother may still shelter him with her
love; happy that yt,;mg man whose mother drops
tears in the dry places of his heart, and keeps his
affections tender and green; happy that young man
who has choice recollections of home as a refuge—
who flies to it—bathes in the fountain of his youth,
and comes back refreshed.