Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-03-15
Some Good Advice

!. nold Magazine, Horace Greely tall
q advisedly to young men as follows:
g 1t is one Of the privileges Of thos
e who frankly confess that they al
h growing old, to offer advice to the
e prospective successors on the stage
e action. They feel that these are el
! posed to the very temptations an
e errors which the experience they hav
gained may be useful in enabling an
I and arming those SUCCESSORS to rssiI
= ana avoid. He must be perverse iH
deed, who is not wiser at sixty thai
: he was at fifteen or twenty; he mus
be intensely corrupt II his passion
= are not weaker and his reason strong
. er than in the flush Of impetuou
J youth. There Is no presumption
therefore, In the proffer OF counsel b.
} one whose locks are whitening witt
= the "snow that never melts, " to thos'
who are lust setting forth on th'
stormy voyage OF active, responsible
life. / address those only who may
be willing to look, at least, TRANQUILITY
at the problems Of existence through
my dimmed but earnest eyes; anC
for these I cOndense my conception
OF duty and convictions as to what Il
at once most true and most eXpedient
into the following maxims or rules oi
life.
/ l, BELIEVE FIRMLY IN GoD.-Not
as a speculation, nor as . probability,
but as vitality necessary to any ration
al explanation of the phenomena all
around and within US, be profoundly
and actively conscious that God lives
and reigns, and that all we see and
are, exist in conformity to His will.
"GOd said, Let light be- and light
wRs,n Is the most lucid and fOrcible,
as well as the briefest exposition Of
the nature and process of creation
which our limited faculties can COM
prehend. It is true that we cannot
answer q thousand questions like
these-"Was there ever a time when
the material universe had not yet
been spoken into being? II there
was. what did exist? If God only,
tDhere did He exist? and in what
manner was His existence evidenced
or manifested If He is infinite and
eternal, while the universe Is finite
and Of yesterday, is it not likely to
vanish in obedience to His fat, and
be known no more?" A simpleton
may thus ask questions which the
wisest man may6not be able TO ans
wer, even to his own satisfaction.
Gods existence, freely admitted, by
no means clears up the mysteries
whereby we are pressed upon from
every side; but it indicates the quar-
ter whence the solution is surely to be
vOuchsafed US in His good time. Feel
that God Is, and rules, and judges,
and the dark problems that environ,
may no longer perplex and Sdistness
US; the little we see and know be
comes an inconsiderable part of stu
pendous whole, which we need to see
in its entirety before we can safely or
wisely critieise 1t. What we depre-
cate and lament as evil is illumined
and transfiguTed We know that it is
enveloped and controlled by Univer-
sal beneficence-thati it is reined and
mastered by Him who has said to the
Hitherto shalt thou come,
and no further here shall thy proud
waves be stayed" Since we know
that God is, we are no longer orphans
in his creation; the stars in their
course may awe, but can no longer
tsrrify or appall US, and all that was
bleak and forbidden is irradiated and
warmed by the sunshine of our Faith
er's love. Whatever may perplex,
or harass, or aff1ict him, let no young !
man permit anything to cloud or !
shake his steadfast trusedn God.
.. HAVE A EAITH.-Not Bly faith, |
nor any other mans faith, !
but your faith. I advise every youth !
to accept and adhere to that OF his I
parents until he shall feel qualified to |
Judge for himself Then, having
made himself acquainted, IA a gem
eral way, with the diverse creeds and
religious systems affirmed on this
band or on that, let him consider,
abJuring prejudice, the grounds on
which they severally rest, the evil
iences adduced in their support re-
ipectively, and the accordance or in
Of each with the wisdom,
goodness and power Of the Omni-
lciently OmnipOtent, and adopt that
aith which your reason tells you Is
or most probably, the true
me. If this be the faith wherein
you were reared, rejoice in that fact,
)ut first be sure that you have given
{ no undue weight in making your
Having then deliberately adopted
aith, avow it on all proper occasions,
nd unite yourself with those who
'roclaim and uphold it. Do not shut !
our eyes stubbOrnly against further
ight, but eschew the opposite error
{ persistently balancingand sea-saw-
1g between conflicting creeds. HAY
ng enrolled your name with those
rho believe and hope essentially as I
Ou do, so act and live that they shall [
ever have reason to be ashamed of
our company or regard you as an OBJ
tacle 70 the wider diffusion and more
eneral reception Of the Divine Truth 7
ntrusted TO their keeping and cham 9
ionship. Contribute to its dissemina-
ion in generous accordance with your !
1eans, but let no one justly say of
pu that 1.-THE zeal Of the Lords '
Iouse hath eaten him up"-that YOU ]
impoverished and wrOnged your fami- S
Y in order to make an ostentatious 8
isplay of zeal for your sect or church. I
here is golden mean in this as in 9
lOst respects; many fall below, while /
ew exceed it. Avoid either error. a
3. LEARN A TRADE--I do not here l
y affirm that you must necessarily Q
blow some manual occupation throu'
fe- If you can do more good other e
rise, without making yourself bur- {
en- and a nuisance, you should cleave $
that nObler calling. Yet l insist 2
nat you should qualify yourself to i
arm usefully your living by Agri- Q
llture, or in some department of 8
before you give the best u
ears of your life to acquiring what =
termed an education. No one can o
e sure, while you are vet a raw strip q
ng, that you have the natural uuafi- q
es essential to usefulness in an intel Y
ctural pursuit; and, if you have e
lem, some casualty or disease may
ar them incurably, even before you u
ave attained the prime of life. And, II
case asthma, or bronchitis, or some
her affective dispensation, should a
squalify you to preach or plead, u
Du cannot choose to be an object of p
and charity throughout p
lur whole adult, responsible career.
1 will pursue this calling while it ci
tords me q field OF honorable use n
Ilness and gives me fair substance, "
1t, should my ability ever desert me, t.
should it ever proffer me a choice el
etween doing wrong and being un- al
Ine, l shall quietly but firmly de- h
inc either alternative, and return to Il
le trade learned in my bOyhood, D.
,pressly to fit me for an emergency il
Se this" It is clear to nv mind al
at no other than a man of inde- b
,ndent fortune is fully qualified for b
intellectual pursuit without a good oi
ade tc fall back uDOn in the Pontin- n