The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1904-05-10

ULOy oil
"Give each flying minute
Something to keep in store"
They fail to seize old Cline, the common arbi-
traitor, and adjuster of all Offences" by the fore
lock and make him serve them a useful purpose;
but sit with hands folded as though all eternity
belonged to them. No wonder, then, that so few
ever amount to much; no wonder, then that since
"Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do"
they engage in such barbarous practices as kill
ing birds, rabbits, etc. Yes, it is because of idle
ness, and if Miss Peggy will watch right closely,
she will find that this idleness leads to something
worse than the occasional killing of a bird or rab-
bit; it fills our poor houses, jails, penitentiaries,
and asylums, and leads to such bad habits as
weaken us mentally, morally, and spiritually, and
hence we so often have to say "I can't" which,
sure enough, does not sound manly.
"But," you say, "why do you indulge in these
bad habits? 90 "Why do you waste your time so?
Why don't you stir around, wear out that trifing
blood, and make a man of yourselfg' Now, there
are three classes of people to blame for this con-
dition of the boy, namely, ourselves Eve boys),
our parents, and the girls,
1. So far as self-reliance goes, just so far we
boys are to blame for not making men of our
selves; and / know that self-reliance has a great
deal to do with it, and that therefore our part of
the responsibility is very great.
9. Solomon says: "Train a child in the way he
should go; and when he is old, he will not depart
from it." If this be true (and we dare not deny
it), then when the boy fails to make a man, we
know that not all the blame rests upon the boy.
Our parents these days have become so slack with
their boys and girls that it might almost be said
that the child rules the parents instead of the
parent ruling the child; that it is a wonder, that
the boys and girls are worth as much as they are.
At the very age at which the father and mother
should have the boy Gas we'll as the girl) con-
stantly under their watch-care, striving with all
that there is within them, to "bring him up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord" they seem
to have turned him aloose, and he then falls in to
bod company. under whose influence he contracts
this and that bad habit, which as I said above,
so weakens him mentally, morally, and spiritually,
until, what else can you expect of him but fail
ure?
3. Since "no man liveth to himself (nor wo-
man either), you girls have your share of the
blame to bear. Here is the reason: because you
don't refuse absolutely to associate with the boy
who has demoralized himself with such cowardly
practices as cursing, swearing, smoking cigar
cites, chewing tobacco, card playing, and gambl
In general. O1nCo he sees CndC he call prdcGlco
these things and yet is allowed to keep company
with respectable girls and young ladies, on he
goes. Of course I know that the fact that you
will keep his company is no reason why he should
persist in these habits, yet he does do so, and you
therefore have your part of the responsibility to
bear.
So now, Miss Peggy, you see that it is not nee
essary to impart a "cargo" of Gordon Keiths,