The Delawarean., 1900-07-07

ever on a nation of freemen without a
slave. The history of heroes is the
history of youth. Young men have
fought the battles and gained the vic
tories of the world.
Youth means action, enterprise, push.
1t is the period of romance, of hero
worship and hope What young men
lack in experience, they make up in
enthusiasm. Their youth gives them
the essential qualities that win; the
daring vigor, the bounding confidence
and the untramelled determination. We
do not claim that youth is free from
faults; it is full of failings. But bet
ter make some mistakes, while doing
something, than never bring any thing
to pass for fear of them. The method
of young men, of planning and acting
without considering all difficulties in
the way, has some advantages over the
more cautious method of summoning
the past to give its experiences of OBJ
stacles in the way. Age and expert
ence have to do with the past; youth
and enthusiasm look forward.
so near is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
Where duty whispers low. thou must
The youth replies Il can"
Emerson
Experience may guard you from mis-
takes; but it takes aggressive purpose
and burning zeal TO make things go.
Hence we find the young pressing the
path OF progress. Youth should rise
up before the man of years and rever-
ence the hoary head, and get all the
benefit possible from the experience
and advice of age; but, where some-
thing is to be brought to pass, age had
better guide the enterprise, but leave
youth to do the work. That which
makes the ornament of youth is peren-
nial enthusiasm. This is the gift of
God. 1t carries with it the possibilities
of successful endeavor. 1t is the ma
tural perfection of bodily life. Unim-
paired physical vigor, well-developed
muscular skill, and the attainment Of
the greatest possible power to do and
capacity TO endure are elements of
manliness. When this fresh and un-
faced force is just developed into it's
full activity, it should be consecrated
to Christ and His cause. Then its
glory is radiant. A lower use of it'll
dims it's lustre. Degradation to pur-
poses of sin turns it's splendor into
shame. Only life nobly lived is
worth the living. Young man. "thy
God hath commanded thy strength"
2. What is true of workers is true
of thinkers. Young men have not only
rushed farther into the thick of battle,
but have progressed deeper into the
realms of thought. The intellectual
fetes of brain-athletics have been per-
formed in the vigor of youth. The pos
session of knowledge, of mental grasp,
Of reasoning faculty, of business
shrewdness, of imaginative power and /,
strength of will, are given to young
men. King Solomon wrote that match
less production, the Book of Proverbs,
ITO give prudence to the simple and to
the young man knowledge and discre-
ton Passing by Moses, who at an
early age was learned in all the wisdom
of the Egyptians; and Solomon, whose
,Ar11 nj Il fD,, L.
was a mere boy, we are led to the con-
clusion that many of the greatest lights
of modern times famed forth with il |
in early life.
The most illustrious achievements ofI
civil prudence point to the supremacy
of youth Charles James Fox was in
Parliament at 10. The great Crom-
Well left the University at Cambridge
at IS. John Bright never was at any
school day after he was Is years old.
Gladstone was in Parliament at %,
and at "a was Lord of the Treasury.
Lord Bacon graduated at Cambridge
at 16, and was called to the bar at 81.
Peel was in Parliament at 81, and Pal
was Lord Of the Admiralty at
%. Henry Clay was in the Senate of
the United States, contrary to the Con-
stitution, at 30. Judge Storey was at
Harvard at 15, in Congress at 80, and
Judge of the Supreme Court of the
United States at 80. The great Louis
X, was Pope at 3S. Having finished
his academic training, he took thel
office OF Cardinal at 1S-only twelve
months younger than was CharlesI
James Fox when he entered Parlia-
ment. William Pitt entered the min
istry at IA, was Chancellor of the
Exchequer at %, Prime Minister at "a,
and so continued for 20 years, and
when 35 was the most powerful un-
crowned head of Europe. Webster was
in college at Is, gave evidence of his
great future before he was %, and at
80 he was the peer of the ablest man
in Congress. Statesmen don't have to
be old-see Bryan, Roosevelt and the
brilliant Raveridpa