Smyrna times., 1873-01-29
MiSce Ella ID f D as.
Choosing an Occupation for Young
Man.

If boy is constantly whiting sticks, =
fond parents say that he has marked con- Il
structve ability y; or if he can whistle one or +
two notes of an air correctly :" he will be +
great musician =; or if he can draw with rea :
sOnable accuracy, " that child is a born art 4
ist" Ii these presumed or assumed evidences \
of genius are acted upon, and those in autho- q
rity seize arbitrarily on the young man, and +
force him into trade or art. on the ground of !
their being better able to Judge for him than he
is for himself, the possibility, nay! the prOba {
| bility is, that he will turn out Harold Skim
| pole, of whose class the world has far too many
| already. lie sketches little tinkers little
with tools; drums little on the piano, and i'll
time falls into line with the rank and file of the
noble army of incompetents and revilers of fate.
He may protest with all his strength III his ear
Iicr years that he is not fitted for them he may
demand to be transferred into some other call
ing that his soul hungers after. 1t is all in vain
if some one i'll authority, be the same parent or
guardian, says: Your profession has been
chosen for 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 lite !
He goes moping all his days and refuses to be |
: comfOrted, simply because he is not i'll his ele
ment; he disturbs the machinery of the world |
he is as bad as "a broken wheel on train every |
a thing with which he is connected goes halting
t and humping and jumping because of him. Ii
d he does not reach the highest place in his pro
fesSi0n his elders, with astonishing inconsis-
tency, upbraid him and say he has no ambition,
no energy, no desire TO succeed when the
/ simple fact is that he has no qualification to
d command success.
S. How can | know about thing | dunno no.
s. thing about?' exclaimed an exasperated aud
{. badgered witness iu the box. How can have
:. inspiration to preach when | am always think
ing about machinery; or paint, when am al
ID WAYS wishing to preach when divine truths fire
a my heart to go forth and turn men from the error
er of their ways" A man out of his place has
st these things at heart if not in actual words, and
his whole life is embittered by the blindness OF
ne ne his elders, who would not see but claimed the
Of right, because they had the power, to squeeze
ro- a human heart into a corner they thought 1t
as would fill. For it is crushing the heart out OF
rec the man to make the boy travel in circuit he
nb l5 is untitled for All his energies and ambition
Of reach forward to goal all his nature is bent
upon that one thing and because you cannot
" see as he sees, oh, parent or guardian because
ssi- YOU are not he and do not love it as he love,
ads it, you destroy his future power. 1t Is serou
the responsibility to asSume-tO direct the callIn.
zen in life young man shall follow-an action to bt
A'' taken only upon great delIberatiOn. Whateve
!, he undertakes he must stick to- In the earl.
years of his life, when the world expects bu
EH. little Of him, he must study or work hard to b.
M. qualified for the latter ones, when it exacts
Iesn great deal. He canuOt have two youths h
iO'- must give his young life, bis br ght hopes, hi
sub aspirations to the work in hand. What if hi
'Gch heart IS far from it, and he is longing, with
:, ., his strength, tor that other calling which 20
icals have put out of mis- reach? You might as We
tue go out into the world when he is of age, as som
.,,. foreign parents do, and select a wife for hin
isla- With equal consistency you might say: .
tgrf eTT have had m experience in the world tha
may you; you can live happier with this woma
coin, than one Of your own choosing" Yet this
eon- an action you would shrink from committn
,al, Is not mans profession the same in degree
let his wife Does he not live by it with her
'Gket Are not all his hopes centered upon it, his ha
king piness bound up in it? Is not the contentme
"sea which springs from cOngenial occupation
ubi- some respects the same cOnnubia affection
shall 1t certainly is; for unless man love the wO
on G Go to which he applies himself his labor Is OF
force, of little worth He is halt-heartcd, siI
shed ply because he lacks the inspiration which e
Z the thusiasm lends to every occupation, even &
on OF humblest. The shoemaker who likes to ma
|. irhG T shoes makes better ones than the convict
It not forced to do so, and the same is true of eve
sed to work under the sun.
1nted ,ad ed Let every young man choose his own ocC
patton in life. La any event let him choose
'rined If he has no particular bias bent, let him
g!ssy. something to do, all the same. parent
-nt Ly guardian may say: My son, 1t appears to
q and that your walk in life lies this way" and POI
out the advantages likely to accrue, or that
"m be absolutely given him, if he adopts the 81
word gestion; but this is all that should be done.
cuous he revolts or object, aud says g cannot,
letters not retort with You SHALL or you are no
list Of Gf of mine" You will live to repent it. You
GOV" wear sackcloth and ashes for it. Humble yO
az 10 be be self little before you overthrow him.
:. -. has a right to his choice. How can you fo
in in any him to learn trade for which he has no a
lie Letter ter ness, except that he has been to ma
Vered things that a child naturally amuses hims
post. by2 You cannot you have no right. COnsit
aia or the matter somewhat. IF he is a tractable,
rs and fectonate and docile boy, much the wOr
ent pr1 Sy You use his natural affection vehicle
poDu; work your will with him, not seeing that
I such after-fe he will become listless, moo
sFy p inefficient aborer in the vineyard because
may be trained him to a stake, or spread him o
asdseS sd eS wall instead of allowing him to grow free
unfettered, as he should. Consider this mat
q they in some other light than your own inclnato
scaSn He will doubtless live many years after
sIall are gone. How shall he best pcrpetuate y
other fsT name and family? By following his ma
to a.. abe raj nclinations by trying to force his nat
to run on track too wide or too narrow ga'
snt s,io5s 5s for him Think over l-Scentfc Aerc
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