Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1872-12-07

/ years of youth and strength, he shall
/ step aside to chase each painted but
| terfly of folly, when ''man's estate
| is reached, he viii be laboring in
| vain on the mOuntain-side, sur
/ rounded by ''the common herdn
/ who retrospect in sorrow, who
/ dream with remOrse of wasted op-
I portunities, and OF the words of
John G. Whittier, that
| ssOf all sad words Of tongue or pen.
The saddest are these, 1t might have
BEEN"
| Man is the only progressive ami
NAL of earth. The nest of the lark
of to-day is exactly like the nest of
| the first lark that scared high up in
the heavens and bathed its plumage
! in the golden radiance of Aurora;
but the structures of men of mod
ern times bear little or no resem-
blance to the ruder fabrics of evan
ished ages.
"Aan is a fearfully complicated
and delicately constructed machine,
and comes from the omnific hand OF
his Creator with great responsible
ties resting upon him." and among
these responsibilities is tie building
ZIP Of a TRUE manhood. 1t is with
in the power of all friends of youth
to make them understand their re-
sponsibility in this respect; and it is
likewise in the power of every
youth to disregard that responsible
ity, and by disregarding it, became
one of the many blOts upon the es-
cutcheon of the human race.
/ say TO youth, |EThere is no excel
lei
of Adam" who labors not, disOboys
his Creator. Fever since the fam
ing sword of the Cherubim flashed
between Adam and his lost Eden,
all have been under the curse, and
nothing has been righteously gained
without labor. However gifted by
nature with genius, talent or
strength, without intelligent eIer-
ton you cannot rise above the COM
mon level of those who squander
the golden moments of youth in
pursuit of igRes .fatui, which lure.
at last, to the "Slough of Despond."
Even heRven-born Genius, with its
eagle wings, cannot bear up the !
dead, leaden weight of ignorance,
sensualism, and sloth. You must !
1Cork, with that ambition and that |
end in view, else you will never en- |
joy q manhood of which you will |
not be ashamed. If you feel the |
struggling of the spirit of genius !
within you; if it is your wish some |
day to stand among the noble, good |
and great of earth, you must stTire, |
in LIES spring-time and summer, |
with brain and hand. You can new !
er achieve that proud manhood for |
which God has given you the capac- |
ity, unless you lead a natural and |
dcttve life. With this view avoid |
ShUR iHe6riety as yOu |
10OUld the yellO10 feUeT, the cholera,
or the deadly fdngS of the cobra dI /
escheW base sensualism in 4
all its thousand forms; remember, |
at all times, that it is wrong to live /
for yourself alone; aim high; study /
models of piety, statesmanship, sci |
ence, and skill; and when those who 1
are now our Iaw-givers, men of sci |
ence and men of commerce shall lay 1
their gray heads to earth and disap- |
pear beneath the Violets, you will |
be qualified to WELD the wand of /
power and supply their places in the /
AlI-4Li pOA ldhS CAJOg AACuL5 VI BOfoLA NJ
ing the people and controlling the
vast and vital concerns of our be-
loved country.
In conclusion, remember that
youth is the period in which your
character will be formed, and in
which your future fate viii be de-
,ided. Employ that period well, for
when gone it can never be recalled.
The snow-drifts of Winter give /
place to the emerald bloom OF Spring /
n Nature; but "no vernal morn
will shed its freshness over the Au-
landscape of human life"