National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-12-30
DIR. BARTLETT OF BOYS.

Young America Graphically De-
plcted-The Glory 4 Brave Youth.
The first one in %urso Of lectures for
the benefit OF tho Foung Mems Christian
association was 5<biivorcd last evening Mt
tho CONGREGATIONAL church by Rev. DIR.
WIN. 4. BartXett to large audience upon
tho subieot/of Boys" Tho speaker was
iptroduceAby Mr.. b. II. Warner, and for
ono ho,AhcId the close attention Of his
hoare% Tho lecture was phcnomenally
bri./b aud piquant in It's plcasantries and
w/ticisms, and peculiarly touching Ia i,s
Athctic passages, all combining to make
fft rare treat.
Dealing with subject like this, no
said. was something like handling light.
ming with kid gloves. There are five
hundred million of boys upon the globe.
holding boundloss sovereignty over
myfiads Uf mothers aud fathers; using
countless dialects. dying numberlcss hltes,
/ and engaged In ccasclcss scnlilcs, boys
arc knots into which nro tied numberlesa
activlties--eggs Of hope full Of weird
mysteries. Possibilities impinging right
and left,i bounding aud rcbounding like
rubber balls In them are the ingredients
Of history, which they carry carelcssy.
Utility is tho divine test, the browning
| virtue Of life; usclossnoss the damning
sin that bars the cato Of life. Boys
comprise one-nnh tho force of tho
period, whothof gathering tea leaves
In China, spearing seal Ia Siberia,
mining coal or Setting type. The boy
mind is plant. II springs upon you
| problems vast and dilicult to solve. Its
| leading trait Is activity. Accidentally n
trait Is usolessnoss, dUstrurtivencss. Tho
most destructive elements are the most
useful.
BoYs AND LIGHTNING ARE SWIFT
to run errands. Tho boy progresses by
antagonisms. lie is constantly destruc-
tive. Plato styles him "the must forOcious
| Of animals" There have been many
prodigies in the boy family. Chattcrtan,
| who died ut is years, was n marvel of
literary ability. Mozart composed music
at 5, Paschol at II discourscd on comic
sections, II had rather meet an ichneuman
ora mastodon," said the lecturer, than
| prodigy of six years.
Motion is the great law Of nature. Tho
sun, the wind. tho 1ood--these are forces
in motion. Tho boy is surcharaed with
this element. and possesses both dc.
structive and assinililativo powers.
HE TUNNELS THROUGH DIFFICULTIES
TO FAME,
as did Thos. Lawrence, Claude Lorraine,
BENJAMIN West. How can we educate
such bundle of Inconsistencies ? Not
| by incubation not by false diagnosis
and wrong medicine The boy will pick
ZIP Knowledge as chicken does corn.
Give hin the phenomena, and he will
learn science. We err in teaching at tho
outset bad grammar aud baby talk. The
| boy spends after life in getting from
this morass back into tho road.
Wo should enlarge and educate tho
soul. Superficial education Is like
tattooing tho face. Better to miss the
nice phrasing than the thought. Ennoble
tho SOUL aud the mans life emits such
| light that all creation looks at him and
wonders If 1t is not sunfiso. Don't break
the boys spirit, nor whittle his brain to
enlarge his muscles. Boys arc pampered
| into the grave by luxury. Better the
ncwsboy life than this. Educate the oy
to inanliness, to detestation of lying and
| hypocrisy. DO not treat him with less
kindness than you would vicious horse.
The beauty of manhood Is the extension
of youth into old age, the blending Of
dew drop and hoar frost, the appearance
of the glad evergreen in December.
That spirit which in the thirteenth
century marshaled 10000 boys from oil
over Christendom to march upon
orusading campaign until scattered by
the Mediterranean seas exists In youth.
Ono cannot forecast manhood, nor tell the
future of the boy. We can, however,
with Gods help. mold and direct that
character into something useful. God
makes the boy. Mau often uninakes
him.
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