Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1878-09-04
Our Young Men,

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string his plalitudes he announces O
sermon to young men. Lecturers arc
constantly telling the young men what
they should do, Every iew days the
papers pounce down on tho young
men with articles and essays full ol
sage advice. Certainly It tho young
men Of the present generation do not
turn out heroes aud Sages aud saints II
will not be Tor tho want Of instruc-
tlonr, II they miss tho way and GET
lost in the by,paths Il will not bc for
want of guides and guide,boards, One
Of the notable features IN tho advice
given Is the abundance OF things
young men are advised against They
ARE treated to n dispensation OF nots,
They are told not to do this, not to do
that, and not to do the other thing,
AT every entcing opening they arc
met with warning fingers, and when
ever they turn their heads on this side
or that they are pulled up with very
tight rein. Three quarters Of the
moralizing plastercd over them is Of
the negative sort, 1t seems to be
taken for granted that they need moth.
ing so much as holdbacks.
We have great many excellent
aud promising young men, thanks to
good homes, admirable schools, aud
an improved civilization; but in pro.
portion 10 the whole number there is
probably quite as much vice and dis
slpation as ever. Notwithstanding
the Sunday.schools, the pious inslruc-
tions and the literary confectionery
served up in goodyish novels, there is
q good deal Of loafing, rowdyism and
actual badness among our young men.
II begins to be seen that coddling and
caressing and the dspensation of neg
atives are not enough TO save boys
from destruction, and make steady,
stalwart, useful men of them. a more
active, vigorous, energetic discipline
is required for them. A gymnastc
Of actual occupation aud self.reliance,
thrift and enterprise are absolutely
necessary to bring ont the harder
qualities OF human nature, and turn
gristle into bone and flabby impulses
and .mushy sentiments into flexible
principles and indomitable will. In
nocencc 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 pre-
cept on precept, is to be somebody.
The one person everywhere discounted
and despised is the do'nothing. Hor-
ace Greeley's patent direction to every
young man to go West had one merit
at the bottom of tit epjolned activ-
ity and enforced self-reliauce. 1t was
equivalent to saying: Do something
on your own account. Make tracks
somewhere. Invest what capital of
wit and pluck and judgment you have
in some enterprise. Plant yourself
somewhere and grow and if you are
an acorn the oak will come in time,
and if you are nothing but a potato you
will have the satisfaction of producing
a hill full of these ustll esculents.
This sort of advice is especially time
ly. Prabably half of the dissipation
and vice of our young men comes
from sheer do .notbingism. They are
not earnestly engaged in anything i'm
portant enough to call out their facul-
ties and develop their manhood. The
scum collects from stagnation. The
rot comes from lying still 1t is per-
haps unfortunate that so many OF our
youth leave school so young. 1t
would be vastly better for them We're
they to remain in our excellent public
institutions until they are sixteen at
the least, than to drop out into occu-
pations of no account, and infinitely
better than drop into the streets. But
after they have once begun there is
nothing that will save them from the
temptation OF city life and draw out
their latent capacity and make strong
men of them like setting their hearts
on grand object and tugging and
striving with all their might to realize
it, without regard TO Mrs. Grundy,
the mock-moralists and the maudlin
heroics. The young chap who brave
ly buttons his coat up 10 the chm to
cover his ragged vest or his want of a
vest and sets himself squarely to be
somebody on his own account, and
goes to doing something that is hon
est, paying his way as he goes along,
and making every day tell or the final
result, is sure to win in the end. The
world is full of nobodles and does not
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