ADVICE TO A YOUNG MAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1456, 11 October 1879, Page 24

ADVICE TO A YOUNG MAN.

And then remember, son, that the world is older than you are by several years ; that for thousands of years it has been so full of smarter and better young men than yourself that their feet Btuck out of the dormer windews ; that when they died the old globe went whirling on, and not one man in ten million went to the funeral or even heard of his death. Be as smart as you can, of course. Know as much as you can without blowing or packing out of your cylinder heads ; shed the light of your wisdom abroad in the world, but don't dazzle people with it. And don't imagine a thing is so simple because you say it is. Don't be sorry for your father beoause he knows so much less than you do ; remember the reply of Dr Wayland to the Btudent of Brown University, who said it was an easy enough thing to make proverbs such as Solomon wrote. " Make a few," tersely replied the old man. And we never heard that the young man made any. Not more than two or three, anyhow. The world haß great need for young men, but no greater need than the young men have of it. Your olotheß fit you better than your father's fit him ; they cost more money, they are more stylish, your mustache is neater, the out of your hair better, and you are prettier, oh, far prettier, than " pa." But, young man, the old gentleman ge*s the biggeßt salary, and his homely, scrambling signature on the bußinesß end of a check will drain more money out of th» bank in five minutes, than you could get out with a ream of paper and a copperplated signature in six months. Young men are useful, son, and they are ornamental, and we all love them, and we couldn't engineer a picnic successfully without them. But they are no novelties, son. Oh, no, nothing of the kind. They have been here before. Don't be so medest as to shut yourself clear out, but don't be so fresh, or you will have to be put away in the cool to keep from spoiling. Don't be afraid that your merit will not be discovered. People all over the world are hunting for you and if you are worth finding, they will find you. A diamond isn't so easily found as a quartz pebble, but people search for it all the more intently. —Burlington (Iowa) Hawkeye.