The record-union., 1899-07-12
PRESENT DAY THOUGHTS.
by G. Grosvsaor Dave.


iof, at worst or best, these are only
acquired tastes of the human race; but
II is impossible by teaching to make
the youth Indifferent to those of the
opposite sex; for such teaching would
run counter to a deep-seated impulse
OF his nature, and nature will win.
Inc story is familiar to all Of us OF
the father who determinedly brought
Up MS son in ignorance Of the fac1
tnat there was such a creature as
woman in the world. When at last,
the boy, now grown to manhood, met
d beautiful girl = described by the
rather as "a silly creature called
goose"-his request Immediately
thereafter was that he might have
goose for himself. He was quite right,
LOO; for he was natural.
The new man as a youth will not
pe ignorant of the existence of girl
mood nor will he be Indifferent to the
charm and the polish of female So
ciety. But he will not look on woman
with bold and inquirng eyes, for he
Will already know all that is necessary
to know regarding the difference OF
sex that makes sex attractive. Ana
whence this knowledge? Learned at
mis- mothers knee, or at his father
side, little by little, as questions arose,
the whole strange provision of nature
unfolded before him as sacred page
OF divine revelation, and its personal
bearings gradually brought home to
him by the analogies that exist be-
tween the plants of the field, the
beasts and himself-the intelligent and
self-honoring apex of creation. Thus
shall his knowledge have been gained.
and not from the whisperings and
hints and filthy inscriptions of low
minded companions who learn and who
teach a divine truth, as though it
sprang from the darkness of debase-
ment.
The new man as a youth goes for
ward toward manhood, enjoying the
company of the pure of both sexes
fully as conscious of his own powers
as are the debased. But, because of
the source of his knowledge, conscious,
too-where the debased are ignorant
that he bears within him power
whose trust is as sacred as is the
virtue of woman: for in her virtue
the potentialities of pleasure merely,
but all the myriad possibilities of the
race that is yet to be. His self-knowl-
edge stimulates him to effort and does
not bind him to the value of effort
as is too often the Ncase with unholy
self-knowledge. He is right, too, for
promiscuous.
The new man as youth faces the
world fearlessly. He understands full
well that mans conquest of material
things has come from muscle under
control of mind, and he cultivates
both. He knows by the way his
parents have led him forward in his
education that there is one definite
thing which he would like to do above
all others, and yet he likewise knows
that no success will come to him even
though he be ambitious unless the am
bition is sustained by his strength and
maintained by his enthusiasm through
long stretches of time. His reading
has shown him a hundred such in
stances, like our own pine-knot Presi.
dent. He therefore watches his
strength and increases it, knowing that
even mental battle has a physical
basis and the winner is seldom the
man whose body is puny and weak.
He also knows that the mere getting
of wealth is far from the true meas
urement of the divine within us; that
his purposes in life must have a quail
ity in them far above greed, if in any
way, his journey from the cradle to
the grave is to be a benefit to the day
in which he lives. He knows that the
"tuppence" of the samaritan is a
greater power in the world than the
most bountiful gift from the selfish
rich. He also perceives that civilized
life is made up largely of give and
take, so that he soon recognizes and
curbs that tendency inherited from
savagery that would make him tram
pie rough shod over the rights and
feelings of others in order to attain
his own end.
He is a pleasant fellow to get along
with full of good red blood and yet
holding himself we'll in hand He is
not whining little prig who pro-
fesses some fancied superiority, but
manly soul who knows he is as good
as anybody else, and yet hesitates to
declare himself as any better. He
mixes with rich and poor alike, and
we'll he can. for wealth is frequently
a mere accident, and not at all dem
onstration of the merit that glorifies
life. He rejoices at his existence, and
is free from the gloom that too often
settles down upon the spirits of the
young when held close to that which
is distasteful to their instincts. He is
here, and so decidedly is he here, that
he begins to color schoolroom ethics.
making the clean. pure minded boy
seem good companion, even though
he be not blatant, boisterous and vi
cious. He is here and proving that
the good do not all die youns-mawk-
ish Sunday y-school books to the con-
trary. He is here, and good as he is.
none too good for the naughty old
world: but just good enough to make
ythe world a better, safer, wholesome
place for both women and men to live
in The new man as a youth is here
good d-hearted, generous, respectful.
deferential-yet every inch of him
man.
Above all, the new man as youth
is here to prove there is sanity enough
vet in the human race to make us
hope and believe that knowledge is
not to be the only thing cumulative
in our history, but experience also.
Hitherto we have passed on scarcely
anything but knowledge, and each