These boys are to be pitied and not blamed for their sad ends, for it
is a fact that in the country towns, especially in New England, there
are more useless youths than can be found anywhere else in the land.
The harvest of the quacks is gathered from the country boys and girls.
For the boy who is to stay on the land there is but one thing to do.
Farming being his vocation, he must fit himself to get the best out
of his farm. This he can do by attending an agricultural school. No
matter if your parents do scoff at scientific farming; you must get
out of the old rut and show them their error. The boy must when he
returns to the farm during his vacation, realize that he is being
given brain-tools,――his education,――and not to dull these delicate
instruments he will have to avoid all evil companions and shows. He
can demonstrate by this attitude that his mental powers are developing
and that he is ABOVE those chaps who loaf around the store telling the
latest stories and of what they saw at “The Pavilion.”
It is your duty, as a growing man, to set this example. From a sense of
duty it will become a pleasure. It is only by such examples we can save
the thousands of country boys, for many of them, perhaps most of them,
will see a new light and a future; something that has not yet come
into their vision. You will find that taking a leading part in your
community will be far beyond any sport you formerly found at the shows
and dances, that you are growing in mind, spirit and power. The boys
who refuse to follow your example will be those whom you hire, when
they are sober, to cut your wood or pitch your hay. And all of them
will have had your opportunities.
To the boy who has wealth or knows he will have it, there is little
to say. If such a youth does not use his wealth to develop his powers
to their highest degree and also assist in every possible way the
progress of the world, there is nothing but universal condemnation. The
world to-day has no place for the mere spendthrift and idler. A man of
wealth has the right to live as luxuriously and well as he likes, but
he has no right to allow his brain to sink to nothingness or by example
lower the thinking powers of his fellow men. It does not make much
difference what kind of work a man of wealth does, so long as WHAT he
does aids instead of hinders his fellow men.
Thousands of boys have been made into MEN through the training they
have received in the navy. Most of these youths went from homes where
never a word of what should have been told them was uttered. Especially
so is this true of the country boys. Their fathers took a colt as soon
as it was old enough and commenced to train it, give it good manners
and see that it was kept from running wild and with the mares. He took
pride in daily making it step lively and surely. He saw that its food
was of the best, and proudly drove it around the neighborhood.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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