The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1866-02-15
OUR YOUNG MEN.

OUR YOUNG MEN.
The following is as dictativein time
and character as 1.-THE old English Rca-
der y from which we sucked our first
inspirations OF real life. We find in the
local column of the Petersburg index,
paper that occasionally says some Bit
ter things, and frequently some good
things. We hope that our young men
will read, ponder and profit by the
advice given: Ill.
"Our two previous articles on this sub
ject, have BEEN the subject OF letleI
from young gentleman, who says tna'
the idleness in the South is through ho
cessity, and asks what is inc uusy VI
those who, us himself, can get mourning
| to do. :.
This question, put in general terms, Is
hard tn answer. because, in nine cases
ont of ten. failure to0btain employment
il the fault of the applicant. Either his
mast life was such as to excite no inter-
est I'm his welfare on the part OF that
norton of the community who, for the
better conduct of their own business,
are always ready to take by the hand
and give work to the young man who
has shown himself honest and energet-
| ic and anxious to work or the appi-
cant for livelihood is choice of the MAN.
ner and means Of employment.
Now. to which of these classes does
our correspondent belong?
If to the first, if in day of plenty to
YOU your thoughts were on enjoyment,
and money and time were alike to you,
only things given for pleasurable spend
ling; if, when not obliged to work, you
idled luxuriosly, dissipated, and wasted,
so that now, in your time of necessity,
the record is remembered against you
by the class with whom, Of necessity,
industry and economy are relfgion-it
that he your difficulty the way out of it
is plain.
| First. You can occupy your idleness
in such a way as to make 1t profitable;
you can study, read, and, above all, i'm
prove it negatively by not loafing, by
keeping out of bad company, and ny
showing that, even under the tempta-
tions of restIessness and lack of work,
yoh can avoid dissipation. The change
will soon be noticed, and you will find
that employment will seek you. But
the case of q nan who is really willing
to work, being unable to find it, is SO
very rare, that we will not discuss ii.
The most numerous class of dissatis-
fed idlers, is that whose members are
choice of work, particular as to III
gentility, its cleanliness, its hours and liz
pay. n
doesn't offer enough salary, and another
is too combining. five would do what.
ever our hands could find to do, there
|, wouId<be few idlers in the vineyard
There is work enough for all, but oul
youths are too proud to drive the plough
that Cincinnatus followed. Education
| to them is u possession which entities
the owner to q life of ease, and when II
is apparent that every man can't be q
lawyer, n doctor or a merchant, why
there rises the cry from crowd of lott
ering gentlemen. 1--WE have nothing tC
IIdo. There are too many bees for the
: flowers. God has created us without 1
purpose
: And while this piteous sound goes
forth, we hear anvils ringing with tho
strokes from stranger hands, and SCI
buildings rising as monuments to The
, skill and industry OF Northern work
men. A schooling is to he found in the
machine shops and mills of the South
graduation in whose course would leave
1
wealth and reputation the nOblest might
envy. Look through the large cities OF
| the North, and you will find that the
apprentice of twenty years ago is the
scientific machinst, the wealthy me-
cllanism of to-day; that the carpenters
boy then planning window sash, is now
! the architect whose plans for nobl.
. structures, will make him famous in
useful science while the world lasts, ano
an hour of whose work brings wha
would seem wealth to you.
Such teaching as we of the South have
[ been accustomed to give children in the
past, the teaching which fits for society
which adorns the mind, will be curse
il given to the young minds of this
generation. Education must hereafter
be practical; must be given from child.
hood, with fixed purpose. If the boy
is mechanical, teach him mathematics
thoroughly, and put him in machine
shop, even though his hands grow hard.
If he is shrewd and saving, teach him
English, and, after course in % com
mercial college, put1iim to work, thee.
retically proficient in his business. And
so, whatever be his turn, let his course
of learning be given with single view
to the trade or profession for which he is
| auapJeO anu lntenQeu.
The dead languages are not even
manure for the soil of the mind in such
sternly labOrious times as these. We
want here at the South sinew and bone,
and hard common sense and practical
information. Look around our present
society, and you will find three-fourths
, of the drones of the hive to be the col
lege graduates of five years back, men
brilliantly educated to be gentlemen of
leisure aud refinement.
The condition of society which sup
ported these elegant trifers with exist
ence 10, in the expressive language Of
the day, played out. Every man must
/ now make his own honey and if not he
goes without. A treatise on Greek roots,
adorned with all the erudition that a
Heidelberg Professor could command,
may be within the powers of many OF
these men, but it would hardly command
in our market half the price which
would be paid. for the invention of a
new rat trap, or an essay on Guanoes.
1t was all wrong with us when we
went to school, and, unless the children
now are differently instructed, the next
generation too will be hindered and i'm
peded by the number of useless, aimless,
learned luxuriants.
For us who can't undo our teaching,
you and ], Mr.. correspondent, it remains
to start fresh, and by our throwing aside