The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1899-07-13
THE new MAN.
THIS TIME AS A YOUTH,
Good and Hopeful Things in Him.
BY G. GROsvENoR DAVE.
Written for The Commonwealth.

Written for The Commonwealth.
the New Man-as Youthful is
possible, by teaching, to make youth
leave both tobacco and liquor alone );
for, at worst or best, these are only ac
quired tastes OF the human race but it
is impossible by teaching to make the
youth Indifferent to those of the oppo
site sex !; tor such teaching would run
counter to deep-seated impulse of his
nature and nature will win. The story
Is familiar to all of us of the father
who determinedly brought up his son
in Ignorance of the fact that there was
such creature as a woman in the
world. When at last, the boy, nov
grown to manhood, met a beautiful
girl-descrlbed by the father as a "silly
creature called a goose''-his request
Immediately thereafter was that be
might have goose for himself.
He was quite right too; for he was nat
ural.
The new man as a youth will not be
ignorant OF the existence OF ,girlhood
nor Will he be Indifferent to the charm
and the polish Of female society. But
he will not. look on woman with bold and
inquiring eyes, Tor he will already
know all that is necessary to know re-
garding the difference of sex that
makes sex attractive. And whence this
knowledge? Learned by his mothers
knee, or at his fathers 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
analogles that exist between the plants
of the field, the beasts and himself
the intelligent aad self-honoring apex
of creation. Thus shall his knowledge
have been gained, and not from the
whisperings and hints and filthy i'll
scriptions of low. minded companion $
who learn and who teach a divine
truth, as though it sprang from the
darkness OF debasement.
~
The new man as 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 a power whose
trust is as sacred as is the virtue of a
woman for in her virtue and in his
power are wrapped up not the poten
tialities OF pleasure merely, but all the
myriad possibilities OF the race that is
yet to be. His self-knowledge stimu-
lates him to effort, and does not blind
him to the value Of effort as is too
often the case with unholy seli-knowl-
edge. He is right, too, for to be nat
ural is to be the opposite of promis-
cuous.
The new man as youth, faces the
world fearlessly. He understands full
we'll 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
vet he likewise knows that no success
will come to him even though he be
ambitious unless the ambition is sus-
tained by his enthusiasm through long
stretches of time. His reading has
shown him hundred such instances,
like our own pine-knot president. He
therefore watches his strength and in
creases it, knowing that even a men
tai battle has a physical basis and the
winner is seldom the man whose body
is puny and weak.
Xxx
He also knows that the mere getting
of wealth is far from the true measure
ment of the divine within Us; that his
purposes in life must haye quality in
them far above greed, if, In any way,
his journey from the cradle to the
grave is to be benefit to the day in
which he lives. He knows that the
s'tuppence" of the Samaritan is great
er 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 the tendency
inherited from savagery that would
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