Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1886-09-08
TO A TOUGH BOY.

Young man, have watched you with
unqualified admiration. The first time
my eyes bchcld You | saw ut glance
that the aim and object of your existence
was to be tough boy, aud you have
since been my daily study, and each day
has added to my delight in observing
the rapid stridcsyou are making towards
your high, cnnobling ideal.
am pleased ut the martyr-like dnyo-
ton with which YOU struggle with the
cigar NJ which your face pales, your
head reels and your stomach trcmbleS,
but to which You adhere, nevertheless,
with more than Spartan lirmncss.
Again am happy at the fine, manly
instinct which leads YOU 10 mngIc
choice slang and elegant profanity
with your improving conversation, and
| feel certain that the ladies, whom you
are naturally proud to have as auditors,
must wish that you were their own OF
spring, or at least that their boys could
have the benefit of your exemplary com
partnership.
lprcsume that You are up to the state
of liquor, also, for cannot think that
one so Enthusiastically and praseworthv
tough as you appear can have neglected
SO important IN element of toughncss as
TO take Il drink now and then, and pos
sbly occasionally to get tipsy Of course
you do not like the taste of whisky any
more than you delight in the flavor of
tobacco. | understand that perfectly,
and honor you all the more for your
self denial. No worthy object can be
achieved without more or less of dis
comfort; and make sure that one day
you will be great destroyer of tobacco
and Il competent drlnkard.
Young man, the path which you have
marked out for yourself in life is per-
haps not wholly without its rough and
rugged places, but it is full of promise
for yourself and others also.
The ruddy glow in your cheeks which
betrays your youth-of which as q tough
YOU are naturally ashamcd--will short
ly turn to the livid hue which marks the
Man, with a capital M, and your elastic
step will after Il time materialize into
the elegant touch of that apothcosis of
the tough boy, the dead beat. Your
pearly teeth will long ere then have
turned to beautiful amber or still
more beautiful jet, if, indeed, you have
not succeeded in casting them from you
as reminders of childhood, and, there
fore, unworthy of so transccndcnt
character rs yourself.
In that happy day you will have risen
above the few weaknesses which yet adj
here to you. You will have overcome
the foolish pride which causes you to
wash your face every day OF your life
and which leads you to wear clothing
fashionable in cut and devoid of tatters.
You will also have risen above the Sor-
did ambition of securing IL name and
place in the world, or OF reaching that
station of afllucnce of which in your
childish moments you still dream. In a
word, you will have become the perfect
being, the butterfly of which you are as
yet q beg your pardon) but the ugly
grub.
And then the good you are destined
to accomplish. In few years you will
have succeeded in demoralizing your
stomach, and racking your nerves, and
wearing out your heart, and, in short,
knocking out your entire physical sys-
tenn, that you will be the making of the
fortunes of half score of DOCTORS and
should you succeed in finding young
woman fool enough to marry you, and |
should you have children, it will be
your proud satisfaction to know that
your greatness shall live after you, and
that your children, thanks to their par
cnt's toughncss, shall in their turn great
ly aid in making the medical profession
Il profitable one, so long-or, rather, so
short-as they shall live.
Yes, young man, you are n noble
creature. Keep on in your glorious
career, and when your epitaph is writ
ten, Il few years hence, let il consist on
ly OF these simple but proud words, "He
was Il tough. '-Ao%t0n Transcript.