Litchfield enquirer., 1842-10-20
 COUNSELS TO THE YOUNG.
BY HORACE GREELY.

of SIX and twenty one, now rapidly coming forward, to take rank as the future husbands and fathers, legislators and divineS, instruc- tors and govC rnors, politicians and voters, capitalists aud laborerS, artizanS and cuti- vators, of this vast country, whose dsSiinics are even yet so faintlv imagined, much less developed. Not one is 50 humble that he will not certainly exert an inf1uence-it may be an immense and imperishabic influence on the happiness and elevation of his coun- try and his race. The humblest cottage maiden, now tuiling thankfully aS the house. hold servant of some proud family by whom she is regarded us nobody, may yet be the mother of future Presidei,t-or, nohler still, of some unaspiring but God.dirscted man, who us teacher of righteousness, an ameli- orator of human suffering, successful re- prover Cf wrong, sensuulny, or SelfshneSs, may leave his impress on the annals of the world as lover of lis race. Nearly all our now eminent men, politically - Jackson, Clay, Van Buren. etc, were not merely of poor and humble percentage, but left orphans in early life, and thus deprived of the SUD- port and counsel which seems most eminent iy necessary to success in the worlds rugged ways.
 In the higher walks of genuine usefulness, the proportion of those enjoying no advanta- ges of family influence or hereditary wealth who attain the loftest eminence, is very great. Call to mind the first twenty names that occur to you of men distinguished for ability, energy, philanthropy, or lotty achievement, and generally three. .fourths of them will be those of men born in obscurity and dependence.
 |. All Literature is full of anecdotes illustra. tive of these encouraging truths; single fact now occurs to me which have never seen recorded: have often worshiped in . Baptist meeting-house in Vermont, Whereon at its construction some thirty years since studious and exemplary young man was for some time employed as carpenter, who at- terward qualified himself and entered upon the christian Ministry. That young man was Jared Sparks, since Editor of the North American Review, of Washington's volum- inous Writings, &c. and now recognized as one of the foremost scholars, historians and critics in America.
 propose here to set forth few important maXims for the guidance and encouragement of those youth who will hearken to me- maxims based on my own immature experi- ence and observation, but which have doubt less in substance been propounded. and en. forced by elder and wiser men long ago and often. Still, asathey do not yet appear to have exerted their full and proper effect on the ripening intellect of the country -as thousands on thousands are toilsomely, pain fully struggling forward in the race for DO. sition and Knowledge, in palpable defiance of their scope and spirit-I will hope that their presentation at this time cannot be without some effect on at least few expan- ding minds. They are as follows:
 l. Avoid the common error of esteemlng a college education necessary to usefulness or eminence in life. Such an education may k,. nd ia1 fn doubtless is so., But Greek and Latin are not real knowledge; they are only the means of acquiring such knowledge: there have heen rsaaI,-~.~A--viSc, urId SurP0ssiug uSeIul men in all ages who knew no language but their mother tongue. Beside, in our day the treasures of ancient and contemporary for eign Literature are brought home to every, mans door by translations, which embody the substance if they do not exhibit all the stances in life enable you to enjoy the ad- vantages of a college education, do not neg lect them - above all do not misimprove them. But if your lot be different, waste no time in idle repining, in humiliating begga- ry. The stern, self.respecting independence of your own soul is worth whole shelves of classics. All men cannot and need not ha- college bred-not even taoeo who are born to instruct and improve their kind. You can never be justly deemed ignorant, or your acquirements contemptable, if you embrace and fully improve the opportunities which arc fairly offered you.
 II. Avoid likewise the kindred and equal ly perncious error that you must have q profession-must be Clergyman, Lawyer, Doctor, or something of the sort-in order to be influential, useful, respected-or. to state the case in it's best aspect, that you may lead an intellectual life. Nothing of the kind is necessary--very far from it. If your ten dencies are intellectual-if you love knowl- edge, wisdom, virtue for themselves--you will grow in them, whether you earn your bread by profession, a trade, or by tlling the ground. Nay, it may be doubted wheth- CT the farmer or mechanic who devotes his leisure hours to intellectual pursuits from pure ioVo of them has not some advantages therein, over the .f9ssional man. file comes 10 his book at evening with nis ii1uua clear and his mental appetite sharpened by the manual Iabors, taxing lightly the spirit or brain; while the lawyer, who has been running over dry old books for precedents, inc doctor, who has been racking his wits for n remedy adapted to some new modification of disease, or the divine, who, immured in his closet, has been busy preparing his next sermon, may well approach the evening vol anne with senses faded and palled. There are few men, and perhaps fewer women, who do not spend uselessly, in sleep. or play. or frivolous employments, more time than would be required to render them at thirty we'll versec in History. Philosophy Ethlcs' as we'll as the Physical sciences, &c.
 III. Neither is on advantageous location essential to the prosecution of ennobling stu dies. or to an intellectual life; on this point misapprehension is very prevalent and very pernicious. A youth born in some rural or