The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-04-06
A Few Words to the BOYS.

A Few Words to the Boys.
Boys are scarce nowadays. In II.
days of Methuselah, male human heinz
were still boys when nearly centurv
old; twenty-five years ago bays wers
still such until well out Of their .steens ~
now the interval between infancv ~
the age at which the boy becomes
young man is SO brief that boyhoodI a. :
almost a thing of the past. The happv
period of care-free, joyous innocence
which formerly interviewed between
childhood and early manhood, is now
almost undesirable. Boys grow old
too fast. They learn to initiate tia
vices and the manners of their seniors
before they reach their teens, and an
impatient to be counted as men. NJ
matter how great may be their de6,
ciencies, their unfitness for the imnor-
tant duties and responsibilities Of iife
The consequence of this inordinate
haste and Impotence to be old IS nrp.
mature decay. Unfortunately the gen.
eral tendency of the young members q
the rising generation is to copy the
vices of their elders, rather than ths
virtues of true manliness. A strong
evidence of this fact, if there were no
other, is the unnaturally old-lookinr
faces which so many of our bows pre.
sent. At the present time the average
boy of twelve knows more of vice ana
sin than the youth Of twenty of the past
generation.
1t is not so much for these human
mushrooms, which may no; inaptly be
compared to toadstools which grow mn
in single night and almost as speedily
decay, that we write, but for the old.
fashioned boys, few such there NAV
be, those who have not yet learned "a
love sin, those whose minds are still
pure and uncontaminated.. Those who
have already begun course of vice and
wickedness we have little hope Of re-
forming; but we are anxious to offer
few words of counsel and warning
which may possibly help to save, 4
brands plucked from blazing fire.
those whose moral sense is yet alive.
who have quick and tender con.
sciences, who aspire to be truly noble
and good.
What are boys forp This question was
answered with exact truthfulness by !
little boy, who, when contemptuously
accosted by man with the remark:
.'What are you good fcr?' replied:
tsMen are made of such as We Bows
are the beginnings of men. They sus-
tain the same relation to men that tho
buds do to full-blown flowers. They
are still more like the small green ap-
pies which first appear when the bios
SONS drop from the branches, compared
with the ripe, luscious fruit which In
autumn bends: the heavy-laden boughs
almost to breaking. Often, like the
young apples, boys are green; but this
is only natural, and. should be consid-
cred no disgrace to the boys. If they
grow up naturally they viii ripen with
age, like the fruit, developing at each
successive stage of life additional attrac-
lions and excellent qualities.
A Nations most valuable property Is
its boys. A Nation which has poor,
weekly, vicious boys will have still
weaker, more vicious and untrust-
worthy men. A country with noble,
virtuous, vigorous boys is equally sure
of having noble, pious, brave and ener-
getic mem Whatever debases, contain
mates or in any way Injuries the boys 81
a country, saps and undermines the Tery
foundation of the Nations strength and
greatness. Save the boys from vice and
crime, give them good training phys
ically, mentally and morally, and the
prosperity of the Nation is assured.
When skillful artist perfects work
OF art, apainting, drawing, statue or
some other work requiring great talent
and exceeding all his other efforts, it is
called his masterpiece. So man is the
noblest work of God, the MASTERPIECES Of
the Almighty. Numerous anecdotes are
told of the sagacity of dogs, horses, ele-
plants and other animals, of their in
telligence and ingenious devices in over
coming obstacles, avoiding difficulties,
etc. Our admiration and wonder are
often excited by the scarcely less than
human wisdom shown by these lowly
brothers Of the human race. We call
them noble animals, but they are only
noble brutes, at best. Compared with
man, even in his most humble form. as
seen in the wild savage that hunts and
devours his prey like q wild beast. a lion
on tiger, they are immeasurably in
ferior. And in his highest development,
man, civilized, cultivated, Christianized.
learned, generous, pious,, certainly
stands at the head of all created things
Boys, do you love what is noble. what
is pure, what is grand, what is good
You may each, if yon will, become such
yourselves. Let US consider for mo-
ment how noble character isruined
A noble character is formed by the
development Of the good qualities Of an
individual. A bad character is formed
by the development of bad traits or evil
propensities. In other words. sin is the
cause of the decentralization of character,
the debasing of the mind, the loss OF no.
biity of which we see so much around
us in the world. Sin is the transgression
OF some law, There are two kinds OF
sins those which are transgressions Of
the moral law, and those which are
transgressions of the physical law. Both
classes OF sins are followed by penalties
II person violates the laws of health
he is just as certain to suffer as though
he tells a falsehood, steals, murders, Of
commits any other crime. Perfecs
obedience to all of natures laws, M
nh IL ioaN