Year: 1867

NO. L.


My DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS:


l write you this letter because I do


not want you TO be kaoU nothings. By
/ a know-nothing l mean stupid, igno-
rant sort of boy or girl. God has
gwen US minds to learn, just as he has
gwen US eyes to see and ears to hear,
and 1t is just as wrong, and it will hurt
us just as much, to keep our minds
dark and empty, as it would to put out
our eyes or to pour lead into our ears.
But it is hard to learn, you say. Sup.
pose it is-which is the harder, to do
piece of hard work or to take hard
whipping? To take the whipping, eh?
Very well, studious boys and girls do
the workable ones get the whipping.
Let me tell you how people are pun
lshed Tor their Ignorance.


In the first place, they are punished
by being laughed at. Two boys were
going over lesson in primer which
had pictures in it, with words under
them to be spelled. The smallest came
to the word Quail After going
over the letters, he looked at the pic
ture, and pronounced the word lark
well, jim, said the bigger boy, 'if you
amt a great feller; don't you see the
picter? That don't spell lark, it spells
patridge! Another boy was reading
in Sunday school, when he came to
the passage, This is the heir; come, let
us kill him. which he read, This as
The hair comb; let us kill hintP Now,
the ignorance of these boys makes you
laugh, and just so, if you are ignorant,
others will laugh at you.


Again, ignorant people are punished
by being imposed upon. Isuppose you
have often heard about the man who
was told that at the foot Of the rain
bow he would fnd pot of gold. The
first time he saw rainbow he set out
to find the treasure of which he had
beer told, but the farther he travelled
the farther off the rainbow seemed to
be. He was so ignorant that be did
not know that the rainbow was only
Il bright shadow, and that he could
never get to the foot Of it. There are
not many people who would believe
such story now, but there are enough
who show their ignorance by putting
faith in ghost stories, fortune telling,
lottery swihdles, and wild goose spec
ulations, and they are constantly being
imposed upon by the 'sharpers, who
are ever ready to take advantage of
their Ignorance and rob them of their
money.


Again, ignorant people are punished
by losing positions of honor and profit
which they might otherwise fill. Not
long since | read of lad who applied
in writing for the position of errand
boy in a store. The merchant read
bis letter, and at once decided that he
would not employ him because he mis-
spelled a very common word That
word was Tuesday, and he had spelled
ut as many people pronounce it, Toos.
DAY. Now, if you don't want to be
laughed at, it you don't want to be
imposed upon, and if you don't want
to be kept down in the world, don't
be know-nothing.


Take my advice, boys and girls, and
use your brains. Get all the knowl-
edge you can from others, and try to
find out things for yourself. Do like
the little six year old girl who went
to her grandpa one day with a great
trouble weighing on her mind. Grand
pa,' said she, Mr.. So.and-so says the
moon is made of green cheese, and |
don't believe it. Don't you believe
it, said her grandpa; 'why not /? Il
know it isn't But how do you
know? is it, grandpa? 7? Don't ask
me that question: said he; you must
find it out YOURSELF How can find
1t out? 'You must study into it,
Away she went to find her Bible,
which, she thought, could tell her every
thing. After long search, she was
with success, and ran to her
grandpa, exclaiming, Tve found it out;
the moon is NOT made of green cheese,
for the moon was made before the
COWS were! l would have you all
be like that little girl-a know-some-
thing. Respect your teachers, i'm
prove your time at school, use your
brains and your books, and instead of
being laughed tyou will be honored,
instead of being imposed upon you
will be able to take care of yourself,
and instead of losing positions of pro-
fit you will gain them. In two weeks
from now you may look for another
letter from


Your friend,