The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1875-12-11
OUR YOUNG MEN.
From Hearth and Home.

UUh IUUNU mENs
From Hearth and Home.
The young men get good deal OF
advice When dull preacher 10 In
want of a lively topic on which to
string his platitudes, he announces q
sermon to young men. Lecturers are
constantly telling the young men what
they should do. Every few days the
papers pounce down on the young men
with articles and essays full Of sage adj
vice. Certainly IL the young men Of
the present generation do not turn out
to be heroes and sages and saints. 1t will
not be for the want OF instructions. lf
they miss the way and get lost In the
by-paths, 1t will not be for want OF
guides and guide. boards. One of the
notable features In the advic3 given
Is the abundance of things young men
are advised against. They are treated
to dispensation Of nots. They are
told not to do this, not to do that, and
not to do the other thing. At every
enticing opening they are met with
warning fingers, aud whenever they
turn their heads on this side or that
they are pulled up with verv tight
rein. Three.quarters Of the moralizing
plastered over them Is OF the negative
sort. 1t tseems to be taken for granted
that they need nothing so much as hold
backs.
We have good many excellent and
promising young men, thanks to good
homes, admirable schools, and an I'm.
proved civilization; but In proportion
to the whole nun ber there Is probably
quite as much vice and dissipation as
ever. withstahding the Sunday
schools, the pious instructions, and the
literary confectionery served upin good.
yish novels, there Is good deal Of loaf.
ing, rowdyism, and actual badness
ame ng our young men. 1t begins to be
seen that coddling and caressing and
the dispensation Of negatives are not
enough to save boys from destruction,
and make steady, stalwart useful men
Of them. A more active, vigorous dis,
cipline Is required for them. A gym.
nastic Of actual occupation and seif-
reliance, thrift and enterprise Is abso.
lutely necessary to bring out the har-
dier qualities of human nature, and
turn gristle into bone and fabby iu1-
pulses and mushy sentiments into IN
flexible principles and ind omitable will.
Innocence Is of no account whatever In
this world without grit, and the first
advice which every boy ought to have
drilled into him, line on line and pee!
cept upon precept, Is to be somebody.
The one person everywhere discounted
and despised Is the do. nothings. Horace
Greeley's patent direction to every
young man to 60 West had one merit
at the bottom OF 1t Il: 1t enjoine1 activity,
and enforced self-reliance. 1t was
equivalent to saying, Do something on
your own account. Make tracks some.
where. Invest what capital Of wit and
pluck and judgment you have In some
enterprise. Plant yourself somewhere,
and grow; and II you are an acorn the
oak will come in time, and IL you are
nothing but potato you will have the
satisfaction of producing q hill full Of
these useful esoulents. This sort Of cd
vice Is especially timely. Probably
half OF the dissipation and vice OF our
young men comes from sheer 0-n0th-
ingism. They are not earnestly euga-
ged In anything important enough 10
call out their faculties and develop
their manhood. The scum collects
from stagnati0n. The rot comes from
lying still. 1t Is perhaps unfortunate
that so many OF our youths leave school
so young. 1t would be vastly better
for them were they 10 remain In our
excellent public Institutions until they
are sixteen at the least, than to drop
into occupations OF no account, and In
nnitely better than to drop into the
streets. But after they have once be-
gun there is nothing that viii save them
from the temptations Of city life and
draw ont their laten capacity and make
strong men of them like setting tteir
hearts on a grand object, and tagging
and striving with all their might 10 re-
alize 1t, without regard to Mrs. Gundy,
the mock moralists, and the maudlin
heroics. The young chap who bravery
buttons his coat up to the chin TO cover
his ragged vest or his want OF ayest,
and sets himself squarely 10 be some
body on his own account, and goes 70
doing something that is honest. paying
his way as he goes along and making
every day tell on the final result, 10
sure to win In the end. The world y
full OF nobodies and does not need
more rubbish OF that variety. But it
has plenty Of work and room and hon:
or for the man who has the gTit ana
Rumption to be somebody.