CHAPTER L YOUTHFUL PREPARATION. "Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law."-SOLOMON. "Bear a lily in thy hand; Gates of brass cannot withstand One touch of that magic wand."-LONGFELLOW. "The diminutive chains of habit are generally too small to be felt, till they are too strong to be broken."-Dr. JOHNSON. HE history of men, both as to character and condition, is influenced at a very early period. Unconsciously to itself, before a child is born, it is affected in a way that shapes its after years. Subsequently, the play of the nursery is often prophetic of the work of manhood. But strictly speaking, the season of preparation for life is included in the time spent at school, and the period devoted to the acquisition of some trade, pursuit or profession. This is a season of the utmost importance, for good or ill its results are great and permanent; yet, it is too often unheeded. "There is a day in Spring When under all the earth the secret germs Begin to stir and glow before they bud; The wealth and festal pomps of Midsummer Lie in the heart of that inglorious day Which no man names with blessing, though its work Such are the spring days of youth, lightly esteemed, sometimes utterly neglected; but pregnant with lifelong issues. B Look at the time spent at school. It is among the happiest periods of life. The class-room and the lessons may not always be pleasant, but what boy loves not the playground and the holidays? Men in their maturity look back to their school days with pleasure. "Memory ponders on each boyish scene; Broken seems almost every tie that links Yet they cherish the faded reminiscences with fond-· ness, and love to recall the beautiful dreams of early youth. In all cases the period of school education is important, and largely shapes the future life, according as it is used well or otherwise. A much greater value is attached to education now than was attached to it fifty years ago. In former days it was confined to the few; now it is the possession of the many. Formerly men succeeded in life without it, and sometimes a man who held a hundred thousand pounds at his banker's could hardly sign his name to a cheque. Such men have been known to glory in their ignorance, and delare that as they had done without learning so might their children. That state of things has passed away. Education is now needed for almost all departments of life. Even those callings which are possible without it are found to yield advantages to the educated which the uneducated cannot secure. Young people at school should bear this in mind. Now is the season for learning not only what is fundamental and elementary, but all those branches of knowledge also on which a general fitness for life rests. You must remember that, though technically scholars, yet you must be your own teachers. Books and professional teachers are only helps. The real work is your own. Consider, therefore, the bearing of these present years upon the years to come. If |