The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1891-04-08
Our Sons ano Girls.
A Boy with Nothing to DO.

Did you ever see boy who had moth
ing to do? will tell you about one.
He was the son of a rich man who had
great number of servants about the
house. Willie-for that was the boys
name-had no duties to perform. His
fire was always made for him in win
ter, and his shoes were polished by a
servant every morning while he was
asleep. Willie had pony, but he was
never allowed to saddle him himself.
He had little dog but he was not
allowed to hitch the pony to it. That
work had to be done for Willie by one
of the many servants that swarmed
about the great house where Willie
lived. Willie went to school, but a
servant went along to carry his books
for him and to take the pony home.
Willie always rode to school. The
servant went for him in closed
carriage whenever it rained. When it
was very cold he was wrapped up in
furs and heavy blanket. He was not
sickly boy by any means. He was
not really a lazy boy, but his foolish
parents took notion that he ought
never to work. His dainty mother did
not like to see him wear soiled clothes.
She wanted him to have tender, clean,
white hands, and soft, delicate skin.
He was not even suffered to play with
other boys, for fear he might get hurt.
In the summer time he had to keep in
the shade. In the winter his place was
by the warm fire.
When Willie grew to be a man he
had no strength. His muscles we're
weak and flabby, his bones were soft,
and his nerves feeble. He had no
energy, no fire in his spirit, no courage.
He went to school nearly all his life,
but he never had any spur to drive him
forward. When he went into society
he was kind of Miss Nancy. The
young men all laughed at him, and all
the sensible girls made fun of him. He
tried to look after his business after his
father died, but he knew nothing about
business. His mother lived to see her
mistake.
When Willie got his share of his
fathers estate, it soon went. After
spending his own money, he began to
call on his mother, and as she always
idolized her boy, she did not, could not,
deny him anything. 1t did not take
many years for Wilie's mother TO be-
come a poor woman. She had to sell
her property. She moved out of a big,
fine house into little one, and out of
that into cabin, and then began real
poverty. Willie hung around billiard
saloons and dram-shops, and lived on
scraps until the saloon-keepers got tired
of him, and then he took to stealing
and forging names to checks.
At last he landed in the penitentiary.
His mother, poor woman, has for years
been living on charity. Willie is now
nearly fifty years old, and his mother is
a tottering old woman, without home
or friends.
Do the boys of the corner want to
live such life as Willie did! Too
many boys think their parents are cruel
and unkind because they make them
work, and do not give them everything
they want. Wise parents never allow
their children to grow up in idleness.
Every boy and girl ought to have work.
If father were worth ten millions he
should teach his children to labor with
their hands. A boy who has never
learned to WORK with his hands is worth
less. The body can not be sound and
is sound and strong, the mind is almost
sure to be feeble. If mind and body
are both weak, what may we expect of
boy or girl?
Life is battle full of hard fighting.
What could soldier do with a soft
body and weak brain? How can a
young man expect to win bis way in
the world unless he is strong and Wig
orous9 The youth. that enters the
world of business without good founda-
ton in body and mind is like cripple
in race. He can't keep up with the
runners. As soon as a fellow begins to
fall behind, his comrades look back at
him with scorn. If boy wants to get
an even start with the world he should
have something to do. Even a rich
boy ought to be required to do some
definite task of hard work every day.
He ought to be forced to bear heat, and
cold, and hunger, and to brave danger.
In no other way can he get ready for