Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-01-22
BURDETT,s ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN.


1t is more blessed to give than to receive
advice. The only man | ever knew who
felt that he was too young to advise other
people was ninety-eight years old, and had
Just begun to learn that he didn't know
anything. You always pay for the best
advice. Really good advice is never free.
Did you ever ask your lawyer a question,
my son? And what did the lawyer say? If
you want to be somebody in this world you
must begin by being yourself. Your great
grandfather can't help you, because he is
dead, and this is live world that wants
living men. When l hear a man talking
too much about his ancestors, l say, ''There
is man that needs them." I have known
men who were very proud of their an
cestors whose ancestors would have been
most dismally ashamed of them. We care
more for the pedigree of the horse we
buy than for that of the man who sells
him. After. all hard work is the great
secret of success. 1t accomplishes more
than genius. There are white crows, but
they are no more useful than black ones.
Hard work doesn't kill men. "Fun" kills
men. The ''good times" the boys have lay
them out. The hard workers have no time
for dissipation, so they live long. Mans
work goes on forever, but every man doesn't
60 on forever to do it. He doesn't do it all
y
must do his best and hardest work now.
When you can get $50 line for your poetry
my boy, as Mr.. TennysOn does, then you
can afford to write as poor poetry as MIR.
Tennyson does. Wearing Burnside hat
doesn't give a man war record. Twenty
eight inches of coat padded across sixteen
inches of shoulders doesn't make you a gym
mast. Men do not value turkey for its
plumage. Don't 60 into debt. you can't
get along without more than you have, don't
borrow; steal. 1t would not worry you
half so much and if you steal enough you
can 90 to Canada and become leading
light in society: "Does it pay" you ask,
'to be honest?' No, my son, not if you
are honest merely because you think it will
pay to be so not if you are honest because
you are afraid to be a rogue not if you are
honest because you believe in that mean old
saying "that honesty is the best policy"
Honesty isn't policy, it's a principle and
ifyou can't be honest because your soul hates
lie and despisesa mean action; you can't
be honest for the sake Of the dear white
truth itself, don't try to be honest; be Il ras-
cal that's what you are intended for:
Get married, my son. Look me in the
world, get married. Don't be in too big a
hurry about it, but don't be too deliberate.
1t is your duty. Don't think the girls are
all butterflies of fashion. If you want to
marry a laundress, do your courting in the
laundry but if you want a wife, marry the
girl you love. Be honest with the world.
Don't sail under false colOrs. Don't repine
over your poverty; tits good for you. We
got most of our presidents from tan-yards
and farms and tow paths. Don't envy any
great man, my boy. The great man, with
his weight of years and care, envies you
every time he passes you by. And if you
can't be a leader, double-leaded, column
long, on the second page, you can be some
thing Just as useful. You can be a little
paying four-line solid nonpareil ''ad" on the
inside, that will help to make up, and fills
its place in the paper. BE anything in the
world, my boy, that is alive and useful.
BE anything but a "dead ad."
The Two AsToRs.-The original John
Jacob Astor may have had, at some time or
another, a carriage, but we never heard
that he did. 1t would have been contrary
to the habit Of his life to spend dollar for
personal comfort or ease, while a cent devOt-
ed to the procurement of any kind of luXu-
ry would have been waste SO grievous as to
cause tears of bitter regret to trickle down
| his braZen cheek. Now, mind you, the
present John Jacob Astor is a very nice
man. There is nothing special about him,
one way or another, except his wealth. l
don't mean to imply that he leads in any
sense shoddy life. On the contrary, his
entire course is that of plain, practical,
methodical man Of business, devoted to the
accumulation Of ShekelS, and much more
interested in phase.of social prosperity
which would warrant his raising the rents
of his vast establishments five or ten per
cent. than any possible Improvement in the
condition Of the race, or any great problem,
| financial or political. The contrast, never
theless, between the John Jacob AstOr of
| to-day and the John Jacob AstOr who ped
| died knicknacks about Beaver, Wall and
! William streets is so tremendous that no
mere word painting could presume to pre-
sent its picture. The one lived in a h0vel,
the otherin palace. The one fed on crusts,
the other on the best the market affords.
The one was looked on with suspicion, as a
miserly old grub; the other is regarded as
the great landlord of the day, intent, to be
sure, upon making and saving money, ev-
erywhere respected as one who keeps his
word and cares for the protection of his
property. The one utterly unfamiliar with
| the inside Of a comfortable dwelling, the
other accustomed from his earliest days to
social courtesies in what are called our best
families. The one probably never saw Il
festive dance in all his life the other is con-
spicuous for his attendance at the society
balls and festive developments ofthe season.
The one walked through the streets with
heavy pack upon his back the other lum-
berly lolls along Broadway, conscious of his
position and proud of his wealth, or else
trundles downtown in heavy family coach,
drawn by the most respectable span of horses
in the province. Oh, yes, it is great change,
a vast distinction, and very natural was the
thought suggested by the appearance OF the
latter-day Astor.
THE ART OF SEEING.-In everyday life
it is much better to be an accurate observer
than mere book learner. | have frequent
ly seen the latter made to blush for her de-
ticiencies by the most unlearned, says cor
respondent in an English contemporary, for
in contest between eyes and no eyes, eyes
have generally got the best of it. Nature
has given us such an ineXhaustible store Of
interest that those who 60 through life with
out "Seeing' lose much of the Zest OF 1t.
The sava ge, who necessarily depends upon
his keen eye and his quick ear, cultivateS
those faculties in an extraordinary degree;
for does he not see indications and hear
sounds which to an unpracticed observer
would be utterly unintelligible" So also
with all persons who live near the heart OF
nature. The English shepherd, while per-
haps ignorant of the very formation of the
alphabet, stores up Il fund of interesting
knowledge, derived entirely from observa-
ton. He can give you simple, interesting
astronomical facts which might astonish
scientist, as well as trustworthy information
on natural history and even botany. One
may possess everything in the way of schol-
arship, but if he or she have that alone,
those who are unlearned but observing will
often make them feel very small. | would,