Des Arc weekly citizen., 1869-01-05
Self Education.

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 It is emphatically true that the grea
 men of the earth in all ages have beel
 those who in early life have had [
 buffet the current of diversity. Bori
 to the inheritance of no patrimony theirs was lot of toll and incessan labor With firm and unshaken reso lutions to surmount the tide of unfa
 vorable circumstances, they have dem onstrated the truth, that every man i the "Architect of his own fortune. In this enlightened Republic, wher, every facility is rendered for the on ward and uninterrupted progress o him who would launch his little bari for the haven of renown and distinc ton, with every breeze in his favor, ; young man is chargeable with culpabl' condition in life, morally, intellectual ly and pecuniarily. A good, thorough and practical education is within tho reach of all endowed with ordinary capacity. A want of funds is no ex. cuse for untricd effort. There are tive prerequisites the will to do, and the physical ability to execute. Witl these at his bidding, he can outride every opposing obstacle.
 Young men whose circumstances in life will not compare advantageously
 
 with those of the more favored, arc too prone to yield to a false notion oi pride, shrink from labor as as unaig- nified or humiliating, and hug with supineness and inactivity to some de- lusive schemes, which, ill their imagi- nation, by some sudden revolution ol fortunes wheel, will end in the full realization of all they hope for. No error is more pregnant with fatal con sequences. How many miserable vic tins of disappointment can cite back to this as the first point of their aber- ration from the path to success and happiness. No man should be ashamed to labor, nor should he allow the uto- plan dreams of fancy to supplant the facts of stern reality. If early habitu- ated to close and attentive application he has the two-fold advantage of be- ing equipped for untayorablc emer- gencies on the one hand, and of being the recipient of whatever fortuitous and unexpected blessings may for sooth fall 10 his lot on the other. La Dor instead of being a disgrace to a man, is an honor and recommends ton. We want no better proof that e person will be of no use to himself and society than to see him day by day lounging and loitering away the gold en hours with which benificcn; Prov idencc has favored him. Indolenee is the foster parent of vice in it's most malignant forms. Labor, aside from ensuring a direct and immediate re- muneration, excludes the possibility of corrupt and contaminating associ- ations.
 With the truth of these facts before him, demonstrated alike by observa- ton aud reason, it should be to the young man just entering the arena oi liie's struggles, an incentive to high and noble achieyements. Ii he be a person of poor pareniage, let him go to work. In short time he will, by the use of proper economy, have accu- mulated enough to support him at school until he shall acquire at least the rudiments Of an education. When his funds become exhausted, let him recur again to labor for their replen- ishment, thus to resume his studies. By so doing, he finds, in the course oi a few years, that his prerogative for claiming increased compensation is undisputed, and that he can earn in one year, what at the outset, required the toll of two and even three years. His education is practical, thorough and here, it may be observed, is the ground Of his success in after life.