Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-11-05
DELUsIoNs OF YOUTH.

All lives are tragedies. When we
get beyond the thirties and the forties,
in our pilgrimage toward tho goal OF
this life, and begin to pay the heavy
interest due on the debts incurred by
the decisions OF youth, we sigh as we
look back over the path of the van
ished years, and recall the mistakes
that might have been avoided, oppor-
| tunities for wise choice that were lost
and will never return to us again. The
delusions of young people!
ALI OF US must have our delusions. 1t
depends upon the nature of our delu-
sions, and the manner in which we be-
| come free or disillusionized, whether in
recalling them we shall have cause to
| sigh or smile. Some delusions are
harmless, some are silly, some are in
| furious. some may be beneficial in a
certain sense. Ii enumerate some of
the decisions OF young people, you will
DC able to apply them as l proceed.
One OF the delusions of young people
is the notion that other people are very
deeply interested in all that they do or
say. 1t usually requires long time
to get free of this delusion. Standing
in the center of his own horizon, he
thinks the whole world is looking at
| him. He has not yet learned that other
| people are more interested in them
selves than in him. have very dis
| tinct recollection of d circumstance of
| my boyhood that impressed upon me
Tor the first time the fact of my insig-
niiicance. My feelings had been hurt by
some supposed bad treatment, and
with hot Indignation and keen sense
| of injustice lett the house. feeling as
desperate as Byronic Manfred or
Lara. Wandering sullenly along the
| upper end of millpond, among the
| pines, the thought of sweet revenge
occurred to me. | would stay away so
long that all the family would think |
was drowned; or that some other fatal
disaster had befallen me. Thus 1
| passed all day long, nursing my
wrath to keep it warm" though
dreadfully hungry. About dark /
started home, my conscience hurting
me little on account of the anguish
my absence had caused. As drew
near the house all was still. went in,
and to my perfect disgust found that
| nobody had noticed my absence! This
was my first opening to a true percep-
| ton of my relation to the universe.
A boys first acquaintance with a
college is usually attended with
chilling sensation. The one darling
boy OF home is only one of the many.
He is received eoldly, criticized merci-
lessly, and regularly snubbed by the
seniors and pretentious Juniors. 1t is
like plunging into an ice-water bath.
1t is grand recipe for taking the con-
nait rnf # how IL.
the world is not standing still with
open mouth watching his upward pro-
gress toward fame and fortune. 1t is a
touch OF real life, and does real man
ly boy good, and he learns to wrestle
with his fellows, to give and take hard
knocks. 1t is part of his education.
1t teaches him to 90 alone. But if his |
nature is one of the best, il does not
harden him. He will remember that
there is one heart to which he is dearer |
than all the worlds and when in the
privacy of his own room he opens a
letter traced by his mothers hand,
there will be quivering of the lip and
moisture about the eyes. There is no
delusion about mothers love. Sweet
Is the solace to the homesick boy or
girl, and sacred its remembrance
through life.
There is none
In all this cold and hollow w5rld no sourt
Vi deep, strong, deatnless love, save that
within n mothers heart
my motherl Manhoods anxious brow
And sterner cares, have long been mine;
Yet turn to thee fondly now,
AS when upon thy bosom's shrine
My infants griefs were gently hushed to rest,
Aud thy iow-wnispered prayers my SAUNDERS
blest"
Young men are deluded with the be-
lief that they can be little vicious,
and not found out. The odor of bad |
company clings to .'dissipatedb
young man after he leaves it. Ii is I'M
mistakable. In the good old State IN |
which had the honor 10 be born, the |
punishment for bigamy was the brand |
ing of big "B'' on the right cheek
with red-hot iron. Thus nature |
brands the violator of her laws. Young |
men walk our streets branded with the |
insignia of evil living. A young man |
fairly entered upon his secret evil |
course would be astonised to hear the |
remarks make concerning him. Don't |
you think he looks changedP" Il am |
sorry for him. Il thought he was a |
very nice young man, but he is gone. "
So acquaintance talk. But how is he |
at home? All! there is there an eye |
quicker than all others to detect the |
change that is taking place; there are |
anxious consultations, midnight weep |
ings, and tears and prayers of agony. |
Do not hug the delusion that you de- |
ceive anybody. Whisky is in your
tongue. Cloves and parched coffee are |
a vain device. In using these devices |
young men remind me of what hap |
pened TO two well-to-do farmers in |
Gwinett County, Ga. Any trick or de- |
ceit to cover bad habit is but shad- |
dow that will not bear your weight. |
The habit of petty deceit is most ruin |
Gus to character. 1t will extinguish all |
the manhood and womanhood in the |
soul that practices it. Cowardice and |
duplicity become the normal condition,
and the poor deceiver sneaks aud |
crawls rather than walks through life.
Don't sneak. Don't crawl. Do not |
start in life with deceit as your CON-
panion, for she is from hell and will |
lead you there. Rather wed Heavenly
Truth, for she is from Heaven and will |
guide you up to it and to God. She is |
all-beautiful and glorious.
1t is one of the decisions of young |
people that they can safely toy little |
with evil-go no further than they wish |
and then safely retrace their steps |
when they choose. This delusion is,
perhaps, the most fatal of all others. |
1t is the bait which hides most effect |
ually the sharp point and the barb OF
the devils hook. Only nibble, and
he will soon have you fast. To begin
to get out of the devils trap; therefore,
keep out.
| 1t is very common delusion with
young people to think that it will be
easier for them to do right at some
future time. LET me indulge my APP
petites and passions to-day, and | will
be careful OF my conduct tomorrow"
| If you have dislocated limb. you let
it remain until it has become fixed in
its position, that you may have an
easier time in the reduction of it, The
surgeon who would propose such
course would be considered crazy. And
yet this is your logic when you propose
right conduct and good habits. (The
law Of habit. -C0ndensed from ReU.
| o. Il. Fitzgerald in Catholic World.
Lignum Vitae.
| Lignum Vita stands first among our
native woods in power to resist "inden-
tation.n which means in the census tests