Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1866-10-22
ALEXANDRIA.
MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER %.

i
OUR YOUNG MEN AND THE Pursuits OF
LIFE.-We make the following extracts from
an excellent and suggestive article III the Rich
mond " hlg Are We under the new order
OF things, as we were under the old, 10 be
overstocked in Virginia with professional men
There is some ground to apprehend that we
shall We have seen it stated that al undue
proportion 0, the young men in some OF oUr
leading colleges are taking The law and li.edcai
tj.kc's We have now more lawyers, d"c'ors,
ard ether uon- p: odu:e-s haD are Lceded.-
Their enough 10 last for twenty Or thirty
years Agriculture the mechanic arts, manu-
Iacturcs, the honest manly industries ere The
grra. sources of wealth We want to see our
young men turn their attention and dvvote
'ter talents to them. Take an intelligent,
indus ri"u> young man, put him in an iron
mauutactury tor instance, and let him learn he
business thoroughly, and then start him In life
with licensed lawyer or medical graduate, and
ten TO one he viii, in fifteen years, be rich or
ia fair way to make fortune, when the
lawyer or the doctor will be without any con-
siderable practice, or at best with only income
enough 70 supply his comuoneGt wants. The
same result will follow if, instead Of the iron
business, any OF the great branches ii pract
cal industry are selected. The fortunes arc not
made by the professional men. TIE Influence
Of the commercial mechanical and agricultural
classes IS every year growing more potential
Formerly every young man Of any Nctenslons
studied law or medicine; or. being landed
proprietor, turned his attention 70 farming ;
or, II the son Of 4 merchant, to merchandise
Only those who had no choice between pur-
suits became mechanics and artisans. We fear
that our young men are not yet e,Dan2patcd
iI0n the fatal Influence Of this deluslon, and
that too many Of TIE present generation will
follow III the footsteps Of those of the past
generation, only to reap harvest Of liSap.
poinment-ior the patcrnal wealth that sup
ported 50 many in idleness no longer exists
We rejoice to sec so many schools and col
leges, and to know that such large numbers of
our Young men ano boys-much larger than
We had venturcd to hope lor-are attending
them. One chief object of education is to
inst!li correct ideas into the minds Of youth and
10 eradicate false ideas and opinions We
hope that our professors and teachers will not
forget TO combat that perncious error that the
4lcch0nicN occupations Of life are unworthy Of
educated young men. We have known many
instances Of boys who manifested remarkable
mechanical genius, and who, Il put in the
workshop, would have made their mark in the
world, but who, under the fatal influence CT
this deiusiOD, have been made cyphers and
0oDenttlcs for life in consequence Of the at
tempt, against their natural bent, to make
lawyers or doctors of them. Every parent
should give his children as thorough an oduca-
ton as lie can afford. The educated mcchanic
Or artisan dignifcs labor and removes the re-
Droach OF ignorance Education should en-
brace the whole range Of physical Sciencc, for in
the new era that will ere long drawn upon Iir-
giDia) we speak for her especially the hitherto
u0dcvcloped resources Of the STATE in mines,
minerals aud water. power will be brought into
requisi;ion. Our young men should be pre-
pared 10 take the lead in this great work and
prof. by is rewards. The time is not distant
when Viz jnia will be filled with workshops
ana ml4nutactories of every kind, and i our
own 2eolle are no, qualified to take charge OF
Jhrm, strangers wi come in ard rcan the
harvest 0! fame a,lr pyrir Which they will
surely yield"
Il, l.,