The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1873-06-19
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his soul, the old man passed on, while
his son, in disgrace, went down.
or course lie "gavc him" a start
" in life" =
Twenty thousand dollars in cool
cash, and his endorsement for double
the amount. Quite a good start we
SHOULD say.
But, reader, q start which way? Up
or DOWN. That's the question.
"Down," we say-"down"
There can be no blunderer more Ia
grant than the father who rears his
son in aGluence, pampcrs him not only
the delicacics of the flesh, but even
makes classic tit bits, and rhetorical
bon .bons his educational pabulum IN,
skilIs him in no useful trade, school
him in no economy, tones him down
with no system, and then gliding his
poor defenseless body with silver and
gold, filings him into the arena win
armed gladiators, wary Of sence ana
strong Of arm, and bids him "hold
his own, and double 1t"
One Of the most remarkable phe
nomena in American society, especial
", is the peculiar rotation Of fortunes,
that coming and going of classes by
rich families decay in the first genera
ton, and blossom again in the second,
only to decay again in the third ,
Take a rich mar who has worked
his way up from the bottom round
lie makes himself n fool about his son.
trying possibly to compensate for the
stcrility and bIeakness Of his own
Young life, in the warmth and beauty
Of his sons. He pets him, perfumes
him, handles him, humors him, IN
dulgcs him, over. dresses him, and, as
it were, rcgularlJ "parts his hair in
the middle" This is all very well as
long as he lives TO curtail the finances
and supply with gold the ~exhaustloss
void his WI hand has created. But
when Colonel Codgcr dies, and Au.
gustus Fitz Hugh succeeds him as
manager Of the business and ruler oil
the realm, a sad change comes over the
picture. Augustus (nico young man
you KNOW goes in on what he calls
- an Improvement on the old mans
plan"-drivcs at a slashing pace for a
while-then his false training begins
TO tell the lilly white hand %faIters;
the weak frame quivers; q moment oil
bcwilderment and hesitation; then "
false spIurt, and then the crash comes;
and the miserable wretch, utterly I'M
able to rally, shrinks into the vapors OF
his fathers charDel house, and soon
dies and is forgotten. In the mean
time, though, his son, rendered robust
and hardy and self-reliant through nc.
cessity. pushes his steady way into the
throng Of Earth's peoplc,..a nd with hard
ticks and plenty Of pluck, wins to q
certainty the honors Of his g%randsirc
that were dropped from bis fathers
incapable hand.
Thus the thing goes in seven cases
out Of ten! The'worthlcssness, and dis
patton, and extravaganza Of the sons
of rich men has gotten TO be almost q
proycrb. and .he reader Of this article
need exercise no great pains to call to
mind II dozen or so of these curled
darlings, living in idleness and worth
~lessncss, turning up their noses at the
communicated, by mustached fellows
(who happened to strike the poor
stratagcm in their generation who
arc building themselves up fortunes.
Fifty years off, and then the two class
es will be exactly reversed. 1t is re-
ally getting to be almost a curse to be
born the son Of n rich man in this fast
and most foolish country Of ours.
This should not be so!
And the remedy is plain. Educate
your son to work and to save, no mat
ter what your wealth may be. Make
him self reliant, above all .hines. Lin.
it his income to certain inviolable fig
urcs, and make them such that it will
require good management to live de.
Gently inside Of them. Make him al
ways pay for what he gets; the first
time that he "opens an account" he
opens u gate that leads down q very
dangerous lane. Don't stuff him with
SO much Latin and Greek that you
will force him to omit the homely but
useful multiplication table, and get him
well educated in interest and discount
calculations, even if it nccessitate his
giving up his lessons on the piano
forte. Teach him some useful, hon
orablc trade, and develop lis body by
healthful outdoor work. And when
he grows up, don't be ashamed to con-
TESS to him the poverty in which You
were born, but teach him to revere
and avoid it.
Teach him to honor labor for labor's
sake, and to work because God com
manded it.
When rich and poor alike give thcil
BOYS this sort of education, we will
have n stcadier, better and re-
liable population; but not till then.
Fathers, study the hints that these
crude thoughts would bring TO you;
accept their suggestions and ponder
over them. And you have boys to
raise, raise them honestly, carefully,
sensibly. Don't fondle them in pomp
and splendor all their lives, and when
they are grown throw them out
as you would throw out Il care
less, foolish dust-specklc, whose only
aim is to sport with the gnaL and dance
in the sunbeam.
U'hn,o,, ~ c,n MA ms, toll ,-or 4,