Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1872-12-07
From Godey's Lady's Book.
BuIIding Up n True Manhood.
BY v1RGINIUs HUTcHEN.

There is an oft-stated and impor-
tant fact which /, as a friend of my
race, yearn to have indellibly i'm
pressed upon the memory and felt
in the heart of every boy, youth,
and young man who may follow me
in these remarks. That fact is, that
every man is the architect of his
own fortune"
Loving parents, sweet sisters, and
kind brothers and friends may do
much to give impulse and direction
to talent or genius that may exist in
a boy or youth as the gift of God
through nature but there mast be a
kind tCiILingResS an the soul of the
bOy himself to make the best use of
his gifts, or all the promptings of
kindred and friends must prove
abortive, and end in disappointment,
modification, and regret.
Boys, by nature, are inclined-ac-
cording to d common term-to be
"thOughtless ;" but tliey are not,
strictly, thoughtless. On the con-
trary, they are always full OF tho't.
But when it is said that they are
thoughtless, it is ~ cant that their
reflections are engaged upon useless,
debasing and UNIV orthy subjects,
and thereby their mental energies
are wasted and worse than thrown
away.
BOYS should learn themselves to
undergo, frequently, 3 rigid self
examination, in order to assure
themselves that they have not miss
ed the "straight and narrow path"
of rectitude, the only path fit for
their pursuing the only path that
leads to honor and competency in
this world, and bliss in the Great
Beyond. They should become deep
ly impressed with the vital impOr-
tance of making proper and prOtita-
BILE use of the diamond years of
youth-that youth is a season in
which they shoulI prepare them
selves for entrance upon the arena
of men, and to contest successfully
in the intense competitions of life.
cart is long and Time is fleeting;;"
and they cannot afford to waste the
! bright period of youth-to which,
| in after years, they must look back
with pleasure and with pride, or
with remorse and shame-in tho't
and reflection upon idle and unwor-
| thy th0mes. Life is too short TO
admit of a sole devotion to the
heeting and cloying pleasures that
seem so alluring to youthful minds.
\ They are like the Indian flower,
| beautiful outwardly, but foul with
| the slime of a serpent that inhabits
| its heart. Then seize in youth the
means which will insure you endur-
! ing pleasures at a ripper age.
Life is seriOus-it is subject 70
be studied
"Know then thyself presume not God tC
scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
This maxim should be inculcated il
the mind of every youth; and should
he obey the injunction, he could
not find a subject nearer than him,
self. He would find that within his
own jewel-sOul, and the fleshy cask,
I ct that contains it are all the ele,
ments of an exalted and perfect
manhood, though crude and unpol
! ished. He would find that there
were not more of the elements of s
| graceful, vigorous and useful man
| hood in the bOyish soul and frame
of Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Ol
either of the other great men whose
names will 90 sounding down thC
/ corridors of time through all the
! long ages yet to be, than there art
in his own compound phySieO-Blen
| tai organization.
Culture insures the production o
superior fruit from the soil, and cul
ture, culture only, produces supe
rior men. If you suffer an appl,
tree to grow up in the forest, over
shadowed by the tall monarchs o
the wood, surrounded by bite
shrubs and foul weeds, without let
ting sunshine TO its foliage, looping
off its decayed or superfuous twig
and branches, and stirring the sol
at its roots, twill grow up dwarfe,
and barren, or producing unpalata
bic and unwhOlesome fruit. Ii
boy is suffered to grow up IN idle
ness and inertia, surrounded by tn
ignorant and vicious, he will be
dwarf in intellect, soul, and virtue
and his fruits, or deeds, will be a
acrid and bitter as "apples of Sod
ON"
a boy should be taught that
well-tempered and rightly-directe,
ambition is one of the greatest riy
tues in man. This fact known L
him, the next thing he should lear
is, that the question whether he !
to rise above the dullest mediocrit,
when he shall attain the age of man
hood and be an ornament of, an,
blessing to, his race, must be an
! swered by himSelf, and by no other
for, surely, in himself alone reside
the solution of that interesting pro
blem. If he shall heed the good ad
vice and kind monitions of thos
older and more experienced thai
himself, and thus make q right be
ginning-if he shall, at the outset
place his feet in the rugged pat
leading up the lofty Hill of Science
and shall suffer nothing to max
him deviate therefrom in youth, b
must reach the Temple of KnoWl
edge at its top; but if during tn