The Mineral argus., 1884-04-17
a ss1f.contro1led Youth.

Young men do not realize as they
should the Importance of early forming
habits of ~self-contrOl and self-denial.
Not a few men of genius have been
wrecked because they did not learn in
youth to deny themselves q temporary
pleasure for the sake of a permanent
benefit.
When John Quincy Adams was but
fourteen years of age, he was selected
by Francis Dana, United States Minis
ter to Russia, as his private secretary.
Boy though he was, young Adams re-
sisted the social pleasures of court life
at st. Petersburg, that he might give
himself to his official duties and to the
study of Latin, German and French,
and to a course of English history.
Subsequently he resided at Stock
holm and at Paris. In both of these
gay and dissolute cities he was his own
master. But instead of yielding to
social temptations, this boy of eighteen
resolutely continued at his studies.
While hard at work in Paris, his
father, John Adams, was appointed
minister at the Court of st. James.
London's literary aad social privileges
would have been opened to the son of
the American minister. His father
would have been pleased to have
had him in his family. The tempta-
tions to remain abroad we're many and
strong. But the youth turned his back
upon them all, and decided to return to
the United States and fit himself to
earn his W living. He wrote in his
diary:
eff ] accompany my father to Lon
don, my satisfaction would possibly be
greater than by returning to the United
States; but I shall loiter away my
precious time and not go home until
am forced to it.
my father has been all his life time
occupied by the interests of the public.
His own fortune has suffered. His
children must provide for themselves.
81 am determined to get my " liv-
ing, and not to be dependent upon nc
one. With a tolerable share ofcommon
sense, [ hope, in America, to be indie
pendent. and free, rather than live
otherwise, 1 would wish to die before
my time"
We have i~talicised several lines OF this
entry, because we would call attention tc
the fact that this boy of eighteen reso-
lutely put aside congenial pleasures tC
become self-reliant and self-supporting
He was a rising lawyer when, at the
age of twenty-seven, the president APP.
pointed him United States Minister al
the Hague.
He filled the place. His official du
ties were thoroughly attended to, and
little of his time was given to those so
cial duties which his position imposed
But most of his leisure hours were EN-
ployed in studying diplomacy, thu
English and Latin classics, and TIL,
Dutch and italian languages.
At night he reviewed the day, ant
censured himself if any duty had beer
omitted. At the close of every montl
and year he took an inventory of hi
moral and mental stock, to determin
whether he had gained or lost.
In 1909, Mr.. Adams became our min
lister at the Court of st. Petersburg
He found himself in the midst of splen
dor. Court life was full of entertain
ments, and magnificent banquets wer
given by the foreign ministers. Blu
Mr.. Adams continued to live in a simpl
style, as beftting his small salary ant
more becoming the representative ofth
Republic.
Merchants urged him to accept loan
of money. He refused the offers
though the temptation to an expensiv
style of living amounted almost to com
| pulsion. ~ will live within my in
come, and [ will not anticipate my sal
airy" he said, with Spartan frmness.
Mr.. Adams simple style of livin.
kept him in good health and gave hir
leisure to indulge his thirst for know
edge. Yet the days seemed too shor
to the student who studied astronomy
mathematics, Plato, Demosthenes, So
t crates, Hschines snd Cicero.
Il feel nothing like t~ediousness c
time" he wrote in his diary. Il suffe
nothing like ennui. Time is too shor
for me, rather than too long. If tn
day was f~orty-eight hours, instead O
} tw~enty-four, 1 could employ them all.
/, Our purpose will be served, if W
; shall have induced n young man t
initiate John Quincy Adams self-relian
, and studious habits. The country, tn
churches and society need thousands c
such self-reliant youth.-Youth's Com
Epanion.
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