Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-06-11
BE Poor before you ar. Rleh.
ny HENRY WARD BEEoHER.


Explain to me If you can, Mr.. Bonner
why it is that so many young people are
ashamed to have 1t thought that they
have no money? or why IL Is that they
are ashamed of economy in the manage
ment Of slender means, and frugality in
living. .
There is no disgrace in being an acorn
before an oak. Young people frequently
wish that they were. grown men; but
they are not ashamed of being young
No one Is ashamed to have it discovered
that his strength, knowledge and skill
are proportioned to his years. But these
same persons will blush and suffer shame,
at being supposed not to have mony un-
der circumstances in which all the sensi-
BILE worldknows they oughtto have none.
A young fellow has been put to school
by the rigorous economy of his father
and mother. Only by the very hardest
industry and closest economy can they
sustain him at college. Every single
shilling Is important and like shingles
on the roof, the absence of one makes
th6 whole house inconvenient. And vet
this lad shall be ashamed not to bear his
part in social expenses. He is utterably
unable to say. 81 can not afford ii ?n 1t
is harder to say 1t, must confess because
in community of several hundred
young men, two-thirds of whom are poor
and the children of poor men, there Is
lurking shame of poverty which radiates
into public sentiment and reflects kind
of disrepute upon those who say, ~
must spend myself beyond the barest
necessities of life of whatever costs mon
ey." Poverty has enough trouble with
out the addition of foolish and dishon-
orable sentiments.
Who expects young men to have mon
ey to spare? Does not the whole world
know that they are starting in life-that
as yet they have earned nothing, and
that they inherit no fortune-that they
receive but7a small stipend-and that, If
they would be honest they must practice
rigorous economy? Why, then, do
young men engage In pleasure boats
which drain their pockets dry, and lay
them under temptation TO dishonesty
for fear people will think that they have
no money?
OF course, folks will think So! And
just as much if you are imveigled into
unwise giving as If you refused A poor
young man ought to be poor until he has
broken the spell of poverty by industri-
Gus enterprise and he should rather
glory In it than be ashamed of it,
1t is necessary that you should be
frugal 1t itisnotnecessary that you should
spend five dollars in taking young lady
to the opera. 1t Is necessary that one
should be honest; 1t is not necessary to
attempt to walk in circles Of society that
will swallow up the pitiful pennies of
poverty like quicksand, and leave
only irresistible temptations to dishon-
esty. 1t Is good reason, riding party,
and still more extravagant ball, THAT
you can not honestly raise the money"
Who ought to hold up his head highest,
the young man who quietly, says, "I
can not indulge in such expense" or the
fellow who is ashamed to own poverty,
but Is not ashamed to steal the money
on which he makes a false appearance ?
L hear o good deal of yankee meanness
of the spirit OF trade and dicker and
of thestinginessand parsimony of North
ern men. But while the manner of
showing economy may be unfortunate,
the essential spirit of thrift and economy
Is thousand times nobler than the free |
handed squandering of money which |
gives itspurious reputation, or generosity
to people who are on the road to bank |
ruptcy, and who have long spent money |
not their own with special graceful |
ness!
Mr.. Bonner, l heard you relate your
earliest experience in printing office
your exacting economy; your plain
clothes; your joy In adding twenty dol
lars to your In nyestments; your industry
In extra hours; your watching advanced
workmen, and learning their trade be-
lines. In the encouragement of thous-
ands OF young men, IL would be well to
let them see that your success has not
arisen from luck or glittering tricks, but
from the soundest principles of industry,
selfdenial, and attention to
business.