The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1908-08-27
The Country Boy.
You Want to Make a Man of
Yourself, the Brightest and
Best and Most Useful Man
That Can be Made Out of
You-Improve Your Oppor-
tunities, Arise and Use the
Means at Hand For They
Are Thick on Every Side.
Raleigh Biblical Recorder.

HlC lllCk OH Livery OlOc.
Raleigh Biblical Recorder.
Dear boy of field and wood and
brook. stop awhile your work and
play and let us talk Of the days to
be.
Iou are thinking of the time when
you will be Il man. whom you will be
! like, and what you will do. You
want to do something good and
great, to be Il force and factor in
your day, to make the world richer
while vOu live and poorer when you
die. Very well. Have your hopes
and hold them fast; and may vOu 90
beyond them.
Then learn, dweller in sunny home,
that these golden days OF the morn
ing time, they are your days of
preparation. As they fly, You must
get ready for life or live in vain. You
must sharpen your axe before you
are ready for the wood. You prepare
/ the land before you plant or SOW.
! You make ready the barn before
stock is housed or harvest gathered
And thus yourself, body, mind, and
sOul-yOur entire self-,you must pre-
pare thoroughly and well or you will
never, never be able to fill your
measure OF life.
You know this. perhaps you feel it,
and maybe you are yearning, strug-
CLING upward; ii SO, cherish this spark
of aspiration as live coal from
heavens altar for it can make of
| you IL being OF power and set you in
a large place; but if not, awake and
sec and do, or your lot is east by
your own will among the servile
''hewers OF wood and drawers OF
water
But, dear, broad-acre boy. you
want to make man of yourself, the
brightest and best and usefulest man
that can be made out of you. Then
loll not in idleness awaiting but not
ready for the opportunities OF life.
Arise and use the means at hand, for
they are thick on every side.
Manage that tricky, stubborn mule
and he will teach you to manage men.
Keep your tools in order, and rust
and dust will not be so apt to gather
on your brain.
Train soul as we'll as sinew while
you plow that stumpy field or split
that knotty log or dig shat tussocky
ditch
Broaden your vision and sympathy
under the open sky, blue with light
or black with storm.
With attent eye study Nature in
all her charming, changing moods,
and she may tell you things yet
unconfded.
And when the rainy day and leis-
ure hour come, prize them as the very
gold of Ophir.
Read the good books. Think while
you read; read again; and you will
never be the same boy again, but a
broader, larger, better!
And the first-class newspaper-yOu
must not live without it; it will be
an education in itself.
Seek the company OF the best in
formed, the sages aad wise men Ol
the neighbOrhood.
Cultivate your social instincts not
in needless gOSsip p or heartless gibe
and Jest, but in the pure, ennobling
atmosphere of the brightest and best
fellowship around you.
60 miles and miles to hear or
special occasions the speaker who
can speak, the man with a message
Attend church for the good yOr
can get and give, for nothing is more
vital than the culture of conscience
Go to school study hard, learn wei
. if not fast, and develop rOundly i
not brilliantly. Go to school, if yor
! have to borrow books, live on breaC
and water, wear patches, and 60 il
debt, Go to the best school in reach
in your heart OF hearts determine tC
. be n man in culture, character, con
duet; and keep going till your powers
have been tested, trained, capacitateC
for the best service they can render
And then-vou are ready for the rea
business of life
These things do; and your founda
tional days on the farm will, from
whatever heights you attain, glow
in memory throughout the years.
All, my lad, you often think yol
are in the weeds or woods lost tt
view, now and ever; but fret not
The world is abroad in search o
men. For all the centuries it ha
looked from its turrets to the far
deep country for strength and STAN
ina. You and your like are needed
and wanted the moment you ar
ready. Wanted, a Moses: and he re
spends from the back sideof the des
ert. Wanted, Gideon: and tn
calling angel finds him at the thresl
ing floor. Wanted, a David: and tn
amounting prophet must summon
. him from the f1ocks a-tield. Wanted
a Messiah: and He comes from th
carpenters bench Wanted, a states
man-apostle; and Paul, the tent
/ maker. answers the call. And wante,
to-day: men who can do well wha
the world needs done, men who cal
bring the worth while things topass
The worlds work is not over; it i
Just begun. To be ready for you
! part and post. you must prepare
That is your word-Prepare. Pre-
pareM Remember, "There is room
at the top" and Hitch your wago1
to q star" And God bless you, m.
lad, God bless you.