Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1860-11-24
THE BOY.

Every sound and healthy boy, born on
American soil, though lie may draw his
first breath in a garnet or log cabin, Is
a richer heir than the love OF a Euro
pean peer. He is heir to a brave herl-
tage Of freedom, which is not merely an
abstract, empty-sounding term to wind
up the telling" sentences of a 4th OF
July speech, Lu, has a substantially OF
meaning, and is synonymous with plenty
Of bread and butter, liberty to speak
without fear Of tn. guiilo,ine, or Of any
thing except the devil; the privilege Of
putting a finger in the political pie,
along with the weaIthiest and most arls-
tocratic Of the land, jus, as soon as he
has numbered ,wenly-one years. and
the possibility Of becoming She Pres'-
dent.
No father Of a fine family .need
, look %despondingly at The row Of little
tow.heads that are around his humble
table, for provided he teaches them the
most important rud;ments Of q practical
education Ito be honest and to work
be need not fear that they will ever see
the inside of a poor house. A strong
arm, a brave heart, and cheerful, reso-
Lutte spirit are better guerdons Of success
than purses lined with gold, or miles OF
broad acres. With these, q boy under
our free skies can fight his way to for
tune and if he possesses a moderate
share of brains, to social position and to
fames Let him only keep heart within
and God o'erbead, and remember the
classic adage "hoc age" or if he chance
not to understand a dead aud mummied
language, which is nothing to his dis
credit, let him turn TO the Bible and
read it's equivalent in good honest Anglo
Saxon "Whatsoever thy hand tindeth
to do, do it with all thy might" Let
him draw off his gloves and undertake
with a hearty good will whatever he may
find to do. Work is work, if 1t be only
honest, and he vii! not fear TO soil his
gentility when he remembers the noble
presidents OUT country can boast. Ben
Franklin the printer, Clay the mill boy,
Webster TIE plough lad, are not their
names treasured in the nations archives?
and were they but living in this
gilded age, would not Eugene herself
bend her naughty head to do them rev.
erence, though their coat Of arms were
. printers case, a meal-bsg and plough?
Our country affords a broad field for
the exercise Of talent and industry.
She is becoming self-suficieut, her So
ciety no longer a parasite, drawing its
more delicate aliment from a foreign
source, is o vegetatiDg on its own
broad soil, striking down its ramifed
roots and extending them to every
point of the compass, drawing from
every part of the %sustenancs neediul for
its support.
Talent and industry Of every kind can
find a sphere for its exercise, and be paid
as we'll as appreciated ; and as society
becomes more generally refined, %cultivs-
ted tastes will open new to
genius and her hand-maideus, labor and
enterprise. The finer and more delicate
arts will be %patrouized, and literature,
painting ard architecture become a uni
versal and social necessity. Ours is des-
tined to become a self-reIiant people,
depending solely on its " ample re-
sources for mental and physical susteu-
ance, and Towering ultimately to a per-
lection and beauty never before attained
by any nation.