The Osceola times., 1882-04-15
A CHAPTER FOR BOYS.
some sensible Suggestions for Class thss
4. TO ConDoi the Republic In the ~
Good Health.

GOod Healln.
Bows, this chapter is for you. III ls
written and printed purposely ior you.
| II YOU do not read another word In tnls
magazine. read this article, If you are
old enough to do so. Read each line
carefully and thoroughly. You may not
| find ANYTHING TO make you laugh-pos-
sjblv YOU may; but YOU Will be certain
Ia find something of almost inestimapie
value TO YOU in every sentence.
Bows are scarce nowadays. In the
davs of Methuselah. male human beings
were still boys when nearly century
eld. twenty-five years ago boys were
stili snch until well out of their teens"
now the interval between infancy and
the age at which boy becomes a young
man is SO brief that boyhood is almost a
thing of the past. The happy perod Oh
care-free, joyous innocence whiGn loi
merly interviewed between chlldhoou
and early manhood IS now almost un-
observable Boys grow old 100 last
They learn to initiate the vices and man
ners of their seniors before they reach
their teens, and are impatient 10 De
counted as men, no matter now great
NAV be their deficiencies, their unttness
for the important duties and RESPONSE
bilities Of life. The consequence OF THIS
inordinate haste and impatience to be
old is premature decay. Unfortunately
the general tendency of the young men,
bers of the rising generation IS to copy
the vices of their elders, rather than the
virtues of true manlness. strong
evidence of this fact, if there were no
other, is the unnaturally old-looking
faces which 30 many of our boys present.
At the present time the average boy OF
twelve knows more of vice and sin than
the youth of twenty Of the past genera
ton.
1t is not so much for these human
mushrooms, which may not inaptly be
compared to toadstools which grow up
in a single night and almost as speedily
decay. that we write, but for the old
fashioned boys, few such there may be
those who haze not yet learned to love
sin. those whose miEds are still pure and
uncontaminatei Those who have al
ready begun course of vice and wicked
ness we have little hope of reforming
but we are anxious to offer few words
of counsel and warning which may pos
sibly help to save, as brands piucked
from blazing fire, those whege moral
sense is yet alive, who have quick and
tender consciences, who aspire to be
+ truly noble and good.
What are boys for? This question was
answered with exact truthtulness by g
little boy who, when contemptuously ac
costed by a man with the remark
What are you good for?" replied, men
are made Of such as We" Boys are the
beginnings of men. They sustain the
same relation to men that the buds do tC
full blown flowers. They are still more
ike the small green apples which irs
appear when the blossoms drop from the
branches. compared with the ripe, lus
cious fruit which in autumn bends th'
heavy laden boughs almost to breaking
.. Often, like the young apples, boys arr
green; but this is only natural, anc
! should be considered no disgrace to tn
boys. II they grow up naturally thel
|, will ripen with age, like the fruit, de
yeloping at each successive stage of lif'
additional attractions and excellen
qualities. 9.
A nations most valuable property il
its bows. A nation which has poor, weak
lv, vicious boys will have still weaker
! more vicious and untrustworthy men
; A country with noble, virtuous, vigorou,
, bows il equally sure of having noble
! pious, brave and energetic men. What
/ ever debases, contaminates, or in an,
! way Injuries the boys of country sap
and undermines the very foundation o
the nations strength and greatness. Saw
, the boys from vice and crime, give then
/. good training, physically, mentally anC
morally, and the prosperity of the nation
is assured.
! When a skillful artist perfects wori
of art, painting, a drawing, statue, o
some other work requiring great talen
/, and exceeding all his other efforts, it i
called his masterpiece. So man is Tia,
/. noblest work OF God, the masterpiece o
the Almighty. Numerous anecdotes ar,
told of the sagacity of the dogs, horses
! elephants n"d other animals, of their in
: telligence and ingenious devices in over
, coming obstacles, avoiding difficulties
: etc. Our admiration and wonder ar,
,, often excited by the scarcely less THAI
human wisdom shown by these lowl,
brothers of the human race. We cal
them noble animals, but they are onl,
noble brutes at best. Compared will
man, even in his most humble form, a
+, seen in the wild savage that hunts an,
devours his prey like wild beast,
lion or tiger, they are immeasurabl,
inferior. And in the highest develop
9 ment man, civilized, cultured, Christian
2 lied, learned, generous, pious, certainl.
t stands al the head of all created things
Boys, do you love what is noble, whs
, is pure, what is grand what is good
! You may each, if you will, become sucl
I Yourselves. Let us consider for mo
ment how noble character is ruined
A noble character is formed by tn,
! development of the good qualities of al
, individual A bad character is forme,
r by the development of bad traits o
$ evil propensities. In other words, sill
is the cause of the decentralization
of character, the debasing of the mind
l the loss Of nobility of which w
/, see 80 much around us in the world
: Sin is the transgression of some law
. There are two kinds of sins, those which
r are transgressions of the moral law, an,
those which are transgressions of tn,
physical law. Both classes of sins ar,
followed by penalties. If a person VIC
lates the laws of health he is Just a
certain to suffer as though he tells
falsehood, steals, murders, or commit,
any other crime. Perfect obedience t,
all of natures laws, including of cours,
. all moral laws, is necessary to perfec
1 health and perfect nebleness Of charac
! ter.
BY obeying all the laws which relat,
to the healthy action Of the body an,
, the mind, a noble character and health,