PART IX. HINTS TO YOUNG AMERICA. 1. OUR COUNTRY. WHEN we speak of our country we mean the United States of America. The State in which we reside is a small part of that country, and the town in which we live is but a small part of the State. Our government is the offspring of the popular will. The people brought it into existence to impose salutary restraints upon the States, and to insure to the people in every State the benefits of a republican freedom. We are a nation, not by the sufferance of Delaware or Ohio, but by virtue of our historical and constitutional antecedents. Each State has its rights, but among them is not the right to break up this Union by secession. A four years' war, the fiercest in the world's history, has settled that question. The most precious of our rights is that by which we claim the protection of the American flag, whether we stand on the Atlantic border of our beloved country, on the mountains of Colorado, or on the plains of Texas. Why ought we to cherish this Union? Simply because it is the guarantee of our liberties. It is not true that a diminutive nationality is favorable to human freedom. Ancient Greece, broken up into independent States, perished because of the absence of a National Union like No argument against our system can be drawn. from the vast extent of our country. The steam-engine, ours. the railroad, and the magnetic telegraph have annihilated space and time. Our grand republican experiment, already confirmed by the supreme test of civil war, and purged of one fatal inconsistency, is based on the Christian principle of justice, the equality of all men before the law. Let us rise to the full benefit of this sacred teaching. Let us realize that it is our duty to do what we can constantly to raise up those beneath us to our own level of virtue and intelligence, and to welcome all men to the political benefits which we inherit. That we live in the enjoyment of the fruits of our labors, that we live at all, perhaps, or live girt about by the blessings of civilization, we owe, under Providence, to our country. Let us prove ourselves true sons and daughters of such a mother! Let us lovingly uphold the symbol of her just authority, the glorious Flag of the United States! Let us labor to make her, by her noble example, the peaceful propagandist of justice and freedom throughout the world! Let us serve her with all our might, and defend her, should occasion summon, with our mortal lives! EPES SARGent. 2. THE YOUNG AMERICAN. SCION of a mighty stock, hands of iron, hearts of oak, Honesty with steady eye, duty and simplicity, Love that gently winneth hearts, these shall be thy only arts; -- Prudent in the council train, dauntless on the battle-plain, Ready, at thy Country's need, for her glorious cause to bleed. Where the dews of night distil upon Vernon's holy hill, Where above it, gleaming far, Freedom lights her guiding star, Thither turn the watchful eye, flashing with a purpose high; Thither, with devotion meet, often turn the pilgrim feet. Let thy noble motto be, Thy Country! Liberty! Planted on Religion's rock, thou shalt stand through every shock; Laugh at danger far or near, spurn at baseness, spurn at fear, And, with persevering might, speak the truth and do the right. So shall Peace, a charming guest, dove-like in thy bosom rest; So shall Honor's steady blaze beam upon thy closing days: Happy if celestial favor smile upon thy high endeavor, Happy if it be thy call in the holy cause to fall. ALEXANDER HILL EVERETT. 3. GETTING THE RIGHT START. THE first great lesson a young man should learn is that he knows nothing and is nothing. Bred at home, he cannot readily understand that every one else can be his equal in talent and acquisition. This is a critical period of his history. If he bow to the conviction that his mind and person are but ciphers, and that whatever he is to be and is to win, must be achieved by hard work, there is abundant hope for him. If a huge self-conceit hold possession of him, or he sink discouraged upon the threshold of fierce competition and more manly emulations, he might as well be a dead man. The world has no use for such a man, and he has only to retire or be trodden upon. The next thing for him to learn is that the world cares nothing for him, and that he must take care for himself. He will not be noticed till he does something to prove that he has an absolute value in society. No letter of recommendation will give him this, or ought to give him this. Society demands that a young man shall be somebody, and prove his right to the title, but will not take this upon trust, at least for a long time: it has been cheated too frequently. There is no surer sign of an unmanly spirit than a wish to lean upon somebody and enjoy the fruits of the industry of others. When a young man becomes aware that only by his own exertions can he rise into companionship and competition with the sharp, strong, and well-drilled minds around him, he is ready for work, and not before. The next lesson is patience, thorough preparation, and contentment with the regular channels of business-effort and enterprise. This is one of the most difficult to learn, of all the lessons of life. It is natural for the mind to reach out eagerly for immediate results. Beginning at the very foot of the hill, and working slowly to the top, seems a very discouraging process; and precisely at this point have thousands of young men made shipwreck of their lives. Let this be understood, then, at starting, that the patient conquest of difficulties is not only essential to the successes which you seek, but to that preparation of mind which is requisite for the enjoyment of your successes, and for retaining them when gained. It is the general rule of Providence, the world over, and in all time, that unearned success is a curse. It is the process of earning success that shall be the preparation for its conservation and enjoyment. So, day by day, and week by week, month after month, and year after year, work on, and in that process gain strength and symmetry, and nerve and knowledge, that when success patiently and bravely worked for shall come, it may find you prepared to receive and keep it. The development which you will get in this brave and patient labor will prove itself in the end the most valuable of your successes. It will help to make a man of you. It will give you power and self-reliance. It will give you not only self-respect, but the respect of your fellows and the public. JOSEPH GILBERT HOLLAND. 4. THE SUPREMACY OF CONSCIENCE. THE arrangement of God which makes man's conscience his guide to action, is beneficent every way. It is beneficent for the individual. The results will be seen in the end, - as with the Puritan in this country, as with the Huguenots of France, as with the band of the persecuted in the Waldensian valleys, — in a purer piety; in a nobler self-devotion; in a grander and more powerful grasp of the principles of duty; in a more exalted communion with God in His holiness; in a higher disregard of the blandishments of time; in a mightier unfolding of all spiritual force; in a deeper impression on the history of the world. It is beneficent for the State, as for the persons who compose it, that conscience thus decide. The State." What is it? It is not lands, or ports, or capitals. It is the men who form and guide it! Where these are elevated, the State is flourishing. In Italy, in Russia, under the iron system of the old despots of France, has liberty advanced? Has intelligence been diffused? |