The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1866-12-13
The Young Penman.

r. w ell, my dear nephew this is your
| tecpybook. is il p said Uncle Henry to
George Pierce You have made great
progress since saw II last. 'Ea - s7
Yes, uncle, I am determined to sue
eeeain becoming a good penman.
$ The uncle looked thoughtfully at the
young man; then taking his hand be
drew him to seat upon the sofa where
he sat himself, and said with . serious
manner. Let me tell you short story
of two Young men that l once kneu.-
Oae Of them WAS . school boy in nv nA,
/. tive village. and a duller. pnpii teacher
never hail; while the art Of writing was
one he least loved or pracaced The
hours spent by his knd teacher in urging
him to hold his pan Alright. keep his
! copyhooka clean, sud, form the letters
well.s were all in vain - He coald not,
because be would.znot learn: and when
he left school, he could barely write his
name SO that it could be- sdeciphered. -
Since that period he has hardly placed
pen to paper His better educated wife
does nH the writing necessary in his
business, corresponds with his friends;
and the pen which lie might have learned
TO use, is as useless to him as an artists
pencil to the untanght savage, while his
self respect and feeling Of Independence
are frequently wounded when he remem.
bers what poor penman he is,
There was another boy who attended
school in neighboring academy. whose
penmanship was faultless, and his copy
book q model He could initiate any
style of writing, and bis chirography
often resembled copper plate. He was
proud OF his ability. His. friends ex-
tolled his diligence and rejoiced in his
success But he perverted his talents
for penmanship, and one fatal day he
applied his art of successful imitation,
and signed the nane of another to a
check for some thousands of dollars
The counterfeit signature was so perfect
that the banker did not question it; but,
as iniquity can never be long concealed,
the forgery was discovered, and traced
to its author That elegant penman is
in the State Prison for bad use of the
power'he possessed His good penman
ship was his curse Now, George, whose
place would you prefer, and whose path
would you pursue ? -
%, uncle, I would prefer ignorance to
crime, any day; but believe may be-
come a good penman, aud yet never
reach the States Prison. It was not SO
much the young mans apenmanship as
his covetousnesS which carried him
thither' ~ i. x.,s - r. sfs,s ssss u sssa
81 .Yet If he had not been penman hc
could never have signed the check -
'Trne, uncle; but il he had still pos.
sessed the desire to do evil. ;ae would
haze got there by some other way
mean to practice peBmans,lips that 1 may
one day be a clerk, and aid in support
ing my aged parents. If do not cher
islf desire to do wrong, and am content
TO gain wealth by industry rather than
by fraud, / have no fear that my pen
manship will do me any injury
Right-right--my noble boy. and
may God help you to succeed in your
high purposes l wished to see what
views you had on this point, and am
satisfied You need not fear to acquire
knowledge of any kind, 50 long rs you
have moral principle enough to aid you
in the right use OF it. knowledge is
power, for good or for evil; ami to give
knowledge to a bad man is like placing
deadly weapons in the hands Of an in
sane person; while to bestows it on good
man is to furnish a skillful workman
with aDDropriale toolst