The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1867-08-21
A Word to our Young Men.

A Word to our Young Men.
The Young men of the South, as re-
suit of the war, are placed in state OF
dependence, requiring the exercise OF
every manly and heroic virtue. Their
own high hearts and stalwart arms must
mould their future destinies. A convlc-
tion of this fact, in it's vigorous applica-
tion to well-directed energy, will be worth
more to them than legacy of wealth. Ii
they need examples, let them look to the
past. and le.ra how most of the great
men, whose names adorn the history of
the world, were, in great measure, "selt-
made men" The light Of their expert
ence will cheer them in the midst OF pre-.
sent adversely. To "labor and to wait"
is the law of success III every department
of life. The path of prcferment is not al
ways through blooming valleys, and over
shaded uplands; yet with knowledge and
virtue as tho incentive, the fountain Of
truth at length will be gained and the
laurel of honor won. Thought opens the
avenues to success, and laboraccomplishes
it's practical ends. Devotion, in part: to
the business pursuits of life, does not ne
cessarily imply neglect to the intellectual
powers. A division of time between men-
tai and physical labor gives health and
strength to body and mind. Riches are
vain things; taking the wings of invisi-
bility, they flee away, leaving their pos
SCISSOR only the shadow of phantom as
the reward of toll Indeed, everything in
life is valueess, when compared with the
pearls of wisdom, virtue and truth. A
young man should esteem knowledge
greater than wealth; he should value
books more than orient gems; he should
remember that the very books which he
discards, during his leisure hours, for the
saloon, the card table, the place of amuse-
ment, are of such universal interest to
mankind, as not unfrequently to contain
within their neglected pages, all that is
treasured by the philosopher, the historian,
live in ignorance of the past, the wisdom
of antiquity, let him fail to improve the
opportunities, though few they be, which
he may snatch from his daily pursuits,
and the darkness Of ignorance will be his.
The institutions with which our country
has been blest, whilst opening the path of
preferment alike to all, never yet, aside
from his own eXertions, elevated a young
man to positions of usefulness. Whilst,
under our form of government the chances
of success are more generally distributed,
the necessity for personal excrtion is in
like ratio increased. Determined to cX-
eel, it matters not how formidable may
appear the obstacles in the way, the prize
at length will be won. The pages Of his
tory, philosophy, science and poetry, are
a perpetual fountain of inspiration. Let
us take, for example, the Bible. This, to
other books, is as the ocean to the rivulet.
It's highest wisdom is in its revelation Of
the origin and destiny of man. A history
of the creation of the heavens and the
earth, with a knowledge of Him whose
power and wisdom, from world of chaos,
created the universe, is something which
the young dare not ignore as a pagan
dream. Our young men cannot afford to
close their. eyes to the light of nature, and
the prccepts of experience. They should
remember also that the story Of Thcbes
and Babylon, the wisdom of moro modern
Greece and Rome, with the countless revo-
lutions in government, society, morals, re-
ligion and law, which for sixty centuries
have convulsed the world, have been
Providentially transmitted to them, as so
many historic legaces of the past. They
cannot appreciate the events of the pre-
sent, unless by the aid of knowledge they
are enabled to trace their relation to the
past. The sky that bends above them is
not en- heautifnl. without the lingering
stars the hand of science paints in the
dim twilight Of the past. If they would
learn wisdom, acquaint themselves with
their own heaven-appointed destinies,
they must give culture to their minds,
courage to their hearts, awake to the new
era upon them, and 60 forward in the
march of human progress. Everything
is onward, oaward forever. They cannot
afford to lag in progressive age: They
have duties to perform, responsibilities to
incur, whose influence is boundless as ex-
istence, and endless as the soul. They
should know that whilst living within
themselves, they yet subsist upon the food
of minds long since passed away, if they
would reach the grander summit of their
lives. If they rely upon the pleasures of
present enjoyment, they will prove as
barren of happiness as the sterile rock.
They must learn that life has but little
present existence. The things of to-day
are evanescent as the rosy tints upon the
sunset cloud. Every heart-throb, and
every impulse of the soul, must either
cling to some idol of the past, or leap for
ward with brighter anticipations to the
future. Life is either an eternal past or
an eternal future. How necessary, then,
is it to nurture it with q knowledge OF
both!
Instead of groveling in ignorance, in
stead of becoming the slaves of darkness;
our young men have cause to be thankful
that the opportunities Of acquiring knowl-
edre and wisdom arc thcirs-that cvrry