The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-11-29
Choosing an Occupation lori 4 Young
T2 Man.


Ta Man.
If boy is constantly whiting sticks,
fond parents say that he has marked
constructive ability orr if he Gan whis- !
tie one or two notes of an air correcny,
he will be great smusicians' or u
he can draw with reasonable accuracy,
"that child is born artist If these
presumed or assumed evidences OF
genius are acted upon, and those In au-
thority seize arbitrarily upon the young
man and force him into a trade or art
on the ground of their being better able
to Judge than he is for himself, the pos
sibility, nay, the probability is that he
will turn out Harold Skimpole, of
whose class the world has far too many
already, He sketches little tinkers
little with tools; drums a little on
piano; and in time falls into line with
the rank and file of the noble army of
ircompetents and revilers of fate. He
may protest with all his strength in his
earlier years that he is not fitted for the
occupation chosen for him he may de-
mand to be transferred into some other
calling that his soul hI1ngers after; it is
all in vain if some one in authority, be
the same parent or guardian, says !:
Your profession has been chosen of
you and you must follow it your elders
have had more experience than you and
can tell better, by reason of it, what
you need - and so the young man is
condemned for life. He goes moping
all his days and refuses to be comforted,
simply because his heart is not in what
he is doing. He is out of his element !;
he dIsturbs the machinery of the world;
he is as bad as broken wheel on a
train; everything with which he is con-
nected goes hating and humping and
jumping because of him. IF he does
not reach the highest place in his pro-
fession, his elders, with astonishing in
consistency, upbraid him, and say that
he has no ambition, no energy, no de-
sire to succeed, when the simple fact is
that he has no qualification to COM
mand success. 7'''A --'i 1.- '-s-i
GLOW can I know about a thing /
dunno nothing about?" exclaimed an
exasperated and badgered witness in the
box. Chow can have inspiration to
preach when I am always thinking
about machinery; or paint, when I am
always wishing to preach, when divine
truths fire my heart to go forth and
turn men from the errorof their WAYS ? y
A man ont of his place says these
things at heart if not in actual words.
and his whole life is embi.tered by the
blindness of his elders who would not
see, but claimed the right, because they
had the power, to squeeze a human
heart into the corner they thought il
should fill. Fer it is crushing the
heart of the man to make the boy travel
in circuit he is untitled for All his
energies and ambition reach forward to
one goal; - all his nature is bent
upon that one thing, and because you
cannot see as he sees, oh parent OF
guardian because you are not him and
do not love it as he loves it, you destroy
his future power. 1t is serious re
sponsibility to assume to direct the
calling in life a young man shall follow
an action to be taken only upon grea
deliberation. Whatever he undertake:
he must stick to- In the early years o
his life, when the world expects bu
little of him, he must study or worl
hard to be qualified for the later ones
when 1t exacts great deal. He canno
be always young; he cannot have tive
youths he must give his young life, hi,
bright hopes, his aspirations to tn,
work in hand. What if his heart is fa
from it, and he is longing with all hi
strength for that other calling whicl
you have put out of his reach2 Yo,
might as well go out into the worl(
when he is of age, as some foreign pa
rents do, and select a wife for him
With equal consistency You might say
81 have had more experience in III
world than you; you can live happie
with this woman than one of your Owl
choosing;" yet this is an action yol
would shrink from committing. Is no
a mans profession the same in degree a
his wife? Does he not live by it a
with her? Are not all his hopes cen
tered upon it, his happiness bound VI
IN 1t? Is not the contentment which
springs from congenial occupation il
some respect the same as connubial at
fiction 1t certainly is, for unless
man loves the work to which he apple
himself his labor is of no force, of it'll,
worth. He is half hearted, simply be
cause he lacks the inspiration which
enthusiasm lends to every occupation
even the humblest. The shoemaker VIII.
likes to make shoes makes better one
than the convict enforced to do so, ant
the same is true of every work unde
the sun
Let eve young man choose his owl
occupation in life. In any event, lie
him choose IT, II he has no particula
bias or bent, let him find something {,
do, all the same. A parent or guardian
may say: My son, it appears to m
that your walk in life lies this way,
and point out the advantages likely /,
accrue or that can be absolutely give
him if he adopts the suggestion, bu
this is all that should be DONE IL b
revolts. or objects and says, 1 cannot
do not retort with, You shall, or yol
are no son of mine. You will live t.
repent it. You viii wear sackcloth an,
ashes for it. Humble yourself a ittl
before you overthrow him. A boy ha
a right to his choice. He has an ina
lienable natural right-yea, constitu
tional one-to life, liberty and the pun
suit of happiness. Words mean some
thing and the choice of an occupation
, embraces all of these. How can vol
force q boy into a workshop to learn
trade when he has no aptness whateve
for it, except that he has been seen t.
make boats, or kites, things that chill,
naturally amuses himself by? Yol
cannot you have no right. If he is
, tractable, affectionate and docile boy
r so much the worse you use his natura
l affection as vehicle to work your vii
: with him, not seeing that in after Lift
he will become a listless, moody, inefh
cient laborer in the vineyard, becaus
, you have trained him to a stake, O
, spread him on wall, instead of allow
j ing him to grow free and unfettered q
! he should. Consider this matter il
! some other light than your own inclina
, tions. He will doubtless live man,
/ years after yon are gone? How shal
/ lie best perpetuate your name and fam
lily? By following his own natural in
! ciinations, or by trying to force his na
. ture to run on a track too wide or to
; narrow guage for him? Think over it
{ Signature of the Cross.
The mark which persons who are una
l ble to write are required to make il
ctaa1 of fhair cionaturec ia in tho fory